All right, this is just a quick Black Friday update with news about a few more great new BD and DVD title announcements.

First, Amazon.com is now taking pre-orders for MGM’s Skyfall on Blu-ray, distributed by Fox. There’s no street date yet but we hear March is the likely timeframe. (Retail sources tell us 3/12 is the likely date, though remember it’s officially still TBA.) SRP is $39.99 but Amazon has it for $27.99. See the cover artwork below.

Also, Universal has announced End of Watch, Death Race 3: Inferno and For a Good Time, Call... for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 1/22. On DVD only they also have The Six Million Dollar Man: Season 3 coming on 2/19, followed by Law & Order: The Twelfth Year on 2/26.

And finally, Warner has officially set Westworld for release on Blu-ray on 3/5 (SRP $19.98).

Here’s a sneak peek at the fresh new BD cover art for Skyfall, Westworld and End of Watch. Again, all are now available for pre-order on Amazon.com by clicking on the covers...

Have a great weekend!

- Bill Hunt

We’ve got a couple things for you to enjoy today after your turkey and stuffing…

First, our own Tim Salmons has turned in a new Dailies column with reviews of a pair of great Blu-ray titles from Criterion featuring the legendary Charlie Chaplin: The Great Dictator and Modern Times!

Also, Russell has updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking to them through our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it.

Now then… hope you’re having a great day with family and friends, eating lots of food and enjoying a ton of excellent movies on Blu-ray, DVD and in your local theater. Happy Thanksgiving!

- Bill Hunt

Since the holidays are here and chances are very good that a lot of us will be gathered around the TV for some entertainment after stuffing ourselves silly, here are some reviews of a couple of high-class (but clean) Blu-ray titles that everyone can enjoy: Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times and The Great Dictator.

Modern Times (Criterion)

The Great Dictator (Criterion)

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, and please be careful when you go out shopping for those awesome Black Friday deals this weekend!

- Tim Salmons

Afternoon, folks! We've got a couple good news items to report for you today…

First, our friends over at Shout! Factory have announced a terrific batch of new Scream Factory titles coming on Blu-ray and DVD in 2013. Some have already been revealed but there are great new titles as well.  Look for The Island and Death Valley on 12/11, Deadly Blessing on 1/22, The Nest, Prison and a TerrorVision/The Video Dead double feature on 2/19, and From Beyond and Phantasm II in March (street date TBA). And here’s the great news: There are LOTS more great titles coming later in 2013 (street date TBD) including Vampire Lovers, Town that Dreaded Sundown/The Evictors, The Incredible Melting Man, X-ray (aka Hospital Massacre), Schizoid, The Godsend, Scanners II, Scanners III, The Horror Show, The Vagrant, The Fog, The Howling, Lifeforce, Night of the Comet, The Burning and Day of the Dead! Watch for more details on those TBD titles in the weeks ahead.

Also, here’s something interesting: As we’ve reported previously, Sony is gearing up to start selling 4K Ultra HDTVs in 2013 and the company is now promising that it will make free Sony 4K theatrical films available for viewing on them as a way of solving the “chicken and egg” content problem. Presumably these would be delivered digitally but specific details haven’t yet been revealed. More here at ars technica.

In other news, this was interesting: Paramount Pictures’ EVP of Operations Mark Christiansen told theatre owners at the Showeast conference recently that they should make the switch to digital projection as soon as possible because the various manufacturers of physical film stock are gradually stopping production. The implication is that at some point in the near future, digital will be the only option for film production and distribution. Interesting. More here at Digital Trends.

Finally today, a quick shout out: As it happens, our friend Guido Henkel of DVD Review is also a video game producer. He’s just started a new Kickstarter to fund his latest game project – an RPG called Thorvalla! Do check it out.

Here's a look at a couple of those upcoming Shout!/Scream BD titles, as well as the 2D Blu-ray of Sony’s Hotel Transylvania (due 1/29)...

All right, we’ll probably still check in regularly over the next few days, but we know a lot of your are traveling to visit family for the Thanksgiving holiday. So from all of us here at The Digital Bits, we’d like to wish you and yours safe travels and a wonderful holiday!

Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

All right, we’ve got a couple more bits of announcement news for you today on a couple major titles...

First up, Sony has set the sci-fi action thriller Looper for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/31 (SRP $35.99 and $30.99). Both versions will offer audio commentary with director Rian Johnson and actors Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt, 2 featurettes (Looper: From the Beginning and Scoring Looper), 5 deleted scenes with optional commentary (by Johnson and actor Noah Segan) and an animated trailer. To this, the Blu-ray will add an additional featurette (The Science of Time Travel) and 17 more deleted scenes with optional commentary (by Johnson and Segan). You’ll find BD cover art below.

Sony has also set Hotel Transylvania for release on Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 1/29/2013  (SRP $55.99, $40.99 and $30.99). Extras will include audio commentary with director Genndy Tartakovsky, producer Michelle Murdocca and VFX supervisor Daniel Kramer, 4 featurettes (Goodnight Mr. Foot, Prologue, Cast and Making the Hotel), 3 Progression Reels (Genndy Blur, Mavis Ventures Out and Look of Picture), a music video, making of the music video and links to online content. You’ll find cover artwork for the BD3D version below.

For you MOD fans, Sony will release the following titles on DVD-R on 1/1/2013: Dead by Sunset, How to Save a Marriage (and Ruin Your Life), I Dream of Jeannie: 15 Years Later, Love Walked In, Once More, With Feeling, Who Was That Lady?, It’s All Gone Pete Tong, Love and Pain and the Whole Damn Thing, Flight Into Nowhere, Charlie’s Angels: The Complete Fifth Season and The Three Stooges: Rare Treasures from the Columbia Pictures Vault.

And Sony has set Pan Am: The Complete First Season for release on standard DVD on 1/29/2013 (SRP $30.99).

Also, HBO and Warner have set Game of Thrones: The Complete Second Season for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/19/2013 (SRP $79.98 and $59.99). Extras on both versions will include 3 featurettes (Creating the Battle of Blackwater Bay, Game of Thrones: Inner Circle and The Religions of Westeros), 7 Character Profile clips and 12 audio commentaries with the cast and crew (including David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, George R.R. Martin, Emilia Clarke, Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington and more). The Blu-ray will exclusively add the War of the Five Kings interactive guide, 19 Histories & Lore clips, an In-Episode Guide to characters, locations and histories and hidden Dragon Eggs (aka Easter eggs). See the BD cover artwork below.

By the way, Amazon currently has a deal for $8 off Disney’s Peter Pan: Diamond Edition on Blu-ray Disc (due 2/5/2013). Just click on the link and look for the “Save $8.00 with this Coupon” text.

Here’s a look at the BD cover art for Looper, Hotel Transylvania 3D and Game of Thrones: The Complete Second Season. All three titles can now be pre-ordered on Amazon.com by clicking on the covers...

Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

Morning, folks! All right, the Thanksgiving holiday is nearly upon us. As you know, that means this is Black Friday week! And that means that you’ll find all kinds of crazy great deals on Blu-rays and DVDs and other goodies over on Amazon.com - at prices up to 70% off on many items! Some examples: You can get Thor, Monty Python and the Holy Grail for just $10 each, E.T. and Prometheus (2-disc) for just $13 each, Jaws for $14, Titanic, Prometheus 3D and Avengers (2-disc) for $15 each, Alien Anthology and Brave for $19 each, Looney Tunes Platinum: V1 for just $25, The Dark Knight Trilogy for $30, Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures for $49, the Star Wars Saga for $70 (etc, etc - click on the links to order). You get the idea. Hell, Bond 50 is just $129 - 57% off! If there’s a title you’ve been wanting, now’s the time to buy because the prices will never be better!

There are new deals going up each hour throughout the entire week, so we’ve created a couple of links for you to use to make it easier to take advantage of all the savings. First of all, you can check out Amazon’s Black Friday page for Blu-ray and DVD here...

Amazon Black Friday Deals on Blu-ray and DVD

And here’s a link for you to check out the home theatre deals as well...

Amazon Black Friday Deals on TV, Video and Audio Gear

Remember, any time you purchase something from Amazon after clicking through to them from our links, not only will you get a great deal but a portion of the sale goes to help support our work here at The Bits. It really makes a difference and we surely do appreciate it! 

We’ll be back later this morning with our regular news update, so we’ll see you then. In the meantime, happy deal hunting!

- Bill Hunt

All right, we’ve got some exciting (and as yet unofficial) Disney Blu-ray news. Retail sources have informed us that not only are they preparing to announce the Blu-ray and DVD release of Frankenweenie, they’re also gearing up to release Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. 3D in Blu-ray 3D Combo format. Street date and details on features are still TBA, but we have a sneak peek at the cover artwork below.

Also today, 20th Century Fox has set Taken 2 for release on Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 1/15 (SRP $39.99 and $29.99). No word yet on extras. Fox has also set French Kiss and One Fine Day for Blu-ray release on 1/8 (SRP $16.99 each).

Meanwhile, MGM has set Sleeper and Hannah and Her Sisters for Blu-ray release on 1/15 (SRP $24.99 each).

Lionsgate will release Brothers Grimm (2005) on BD on 1/8.

Shout! Factory has set Joshua Tree for release on Blu-ray/DVD Combo on 2/26/2013 (SRP $19.93). They also have a Prison: Collector’s Edition and The Next (we’ve mentioned that one before) due on BD on 2/19.

And Kino will release 15-disc The Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection Blu-ray Box set for release on 12/22 (SRP $299.95). It’s set to include(BD - includes Buster Keaton: Short Films Collection - 1920-1923, The Saphead, Our Hospitality, Sherlock Jr., Three Ages, The Navigator, Seven Chances, Go West, Battling Butler, The General, College (exclusive to this set until next year), Steamboat Bill, Jr. and Lost Keaton) on 12/11.

In other news, don’t forget there’s a new installment of the Battlestar Galactica: Blood and Chrome web series on Machinima today.

Also, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln arrives in theaters today, as does the final Twilight film Breaking Dawn. I wonder how many parents today are going to drop their kids off at Twilight and then sneak in to see Lincoln...

Finally, here’s something cool: Our friends at Trek Movie have confirmed that the first trailer for next year’s Star Trek into Darkness is going to be attached to non IMAX screenings of The Hobbit on 12/14, while IMAX screenings of The Hobbit will have the first 9 minutes of the Trek film as a preview. That’s a twofer right there. Count us in!

We’ll leave you this week with a look at the BD cover artwork for Disney’s Frankenweenie, Disney and Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. 3D, Fox’s Taken 2, Kino’s The Ultimate Buster Keaton Collection and Baron Blood (due 12/11), and Warner Archive’s Deathtrap (available online on 11/20)...

Have a great weekend and we’ll see you back here on Monday!

- Bill Hunt

We’ve got a bunch of new announcement news to report this afternoon, so let’s get to it…

First though, Amazon has a great Gold Box Deal of the Day going on The Lord of the Rings Trilogy: Extended Edition Blu-ray box set – just $44 or more than 60% off the SRP! Act fast and don’t miss it!

Now then… Lionsgate has set Dredd for release on Blu-ray 3D Combo and DVD on 1/8/2013 (SRP $39.99 and $29.95). Both will include 6 featurettes (Mega-City Masters: 35 Years of Judge Dredd, Day of Chaos: The Visual Effects of Dredd 3D, Dredd, Dredd’s Gear, The 3rd Dimension and Welcome to Peachtrees) along with a Dredd motion comic. Check out the cover artwork below.

Our friends at The Criterion Collection have revealed their February Blu-ray and DVD release slate, set to include Keisuke Kinoshita’s The Ballad of Narayama (Cat #645 – BD and DVD – due 2/5), Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne’s The Kid with a Bike (Cat #646 – BD and DVD – 2/12), Elia Kazan’s On the Waterfront (Cat #647 – BD and DVD – 2/19), Jean Rouch and Edgar Morin’s Chronicle of a Summer (Cat #648 – BD and DVD – 2/26) and Kenji Mizoguchi’s Sansho the Bailiff (Cat #386 – BD – 2/26). More great Japanese cinema and classic Brando in high-definition too!

And here’s something exciting: The Warner Archive Collection has just announced its first Blu-ray Disc releases, including Deathtrap and Gypsy! They’ll be available starting next week – 11/20. Then starting in February 2013, Warner Archive will release 2 additional BD titles each month (SRP $21.99 each). Future titles will include the Coen Brothers’ The Hudsucker Proxy and Fearless. From the studio’s press release, “All will leverage high-quality 1080p masters.” They’ll be produced in limited quantities and fulfilled on demand. Cool news indeed!

Also today, Summit Entertainment has set The Perks of Being a Wallflower for Blu-ray and DVD release on 2/12 (SRP $39.99 and $29.95). Extras will include audio commentary with screenwriter/director Stephen Chobsky, a second commentary with Chobsky and the cast, dailies footage, the Best Summer Ever featurette and deleted scenes with optional director’s commentary.

Warner has also set Gossip Girl: The Complete Sixth and Final Season for DVD release on 2/19.

Shout! Factory will release Quincy M.E.: Season 4 on DVD on 12/18 (SRP $39.97).

And Anchor Bay Entertainment has set Seeds of Destruction for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/19 (SRP $24.99 and $19.98).

Here’s a look at the cover art for both versions of Lionsgate’s Dredd and BD art for Summit’s The Perks of Being a Wallflower and Criterion’s On the Waterfront and Sansho the Bailiff and Warner Archive’s Gypsy (Dredd is available for pre-order on Amazon.com now – just click on the covers. We'll update the others with pre-order links as they become available.)…

Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

Morning, folks. Thought we’d start out today with a nice early update for a change, so start that coffee perking and read on...

Here at The Bits today, Dr. Jahnke and I weigh in on Sony’s long-awaited Lawrence of Arabia on Blu-ray Disc! Specifically, the Doctor’s taken a look at the film itself as well as Sony’s 2-disc Blu-ray version, while I’ve added my own thoughts on the studio’s 4-disc Fiftieth Anniversary Limited Edition box set. Whichever version you choose, you’re in for a real treat – it’s one of the best releases of the year.

And around the Net today, you fans of The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are in for something special as well – Empire has made Howard Shore’s score for The Hobbit available for listening online. All 105 minutes worth of it. For free. Click here… and try not to sprain your clicker-fingers in haste! You’ll be able to purchase the CD on Amazon.com on 12/10 in the regular and deluxe editions picture here (click on the cover art to pre-order)…

That’s all for now. Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

Afternoon, folks! We’ve got a release news update for you on today. First though, our own Russell Hammond has updated the Release Dates & Artwork section to include all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you purchase from Amazon after clicking through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it!

Now then…

Warner Home Video has set Scooby-Doo! and the Mask of the Blue Falcon for Blu-ray and DVD release on 2/26. They also have a Hats Off to Dr Seuss Collector’s Edition due on Blu-ray and DVD on 2/19 (includes The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham and Other Stories, The Lorax, How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Horton Hears a Who!) and Tom & Jerry: Pint Sized Pals due on DVD only on 3/5.

Universal has set Hit & Run for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 1/8. Extras will include deleted scenes and a trio of featurettes (Street Legal, Run and Gun and Love on the Run). They studio will follow with The Awakening on Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 1/29 - extras are TBA. They’ve also announced a batch of new Blu-ray 3D releases due on 1/29, including Amazing Ocean 3D, Fascination Coral Reef 3D and Fascination Coral Reef 3D: Mysterious Worlds Underwater. All three will also include a 2D Blu-ray viewing option.

Lionsgate has updated their January release slate with some additional titles. Newly announced are Hansel & Gretel: Warriors of Witchcraft, LeapFrog: The Magnificent Museum of Opposite Words, LeapFrog: Adventures in Shapeville Park and The Men Who Built America (Blu-ray and DVD) on 1/22 and Bangkok Assassins, The Cold Light of Day (Blu-ray and DVD), The Liability and That Obscure Object of Desire on 1/29. All titles are DVD only unless otherwise noted.

Sony has set Now Is Good for DVD only release on 1/8. That’s followed by The Intouchables on Blu-ray and DVD on 1/15.

Paramount and Comedy Central will release Chris Hardwick: Mandroid for DVD only release on 1/22. Paramount and CBS have also set Gunsmoke: The Seventh Season, Volume Two for DVD only release on 2/5, followed by Bonanza: The Official Fifth Season, Volume One, Bonanza: The Official Fifth Season, Volume Two and Matlock: The Eighth Season on 2/12.

Disney has set Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: The Wizard of Dizz for DVD only release on 2/5.

Finally, MPI Home Video has set Samsara, Ron Fricke’s new sequel to Baraka, for Blu-ray and DVD release on 1/8 (SRP $34.98 and $27.98). If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it. Like Baraka, the film was shot in 70mm, transferred to 8K digital and then the original digital file was down-converted to 1080p for BD release. It should look and sound spectacular.

Here’s a look at the BD cover artwork for Universal’s Hit & Run, MPI’s Samsara and Sony’s The Intouchables. The first two are available for pre-order on Amazon.com by clicking on the cover art…

Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt