Displaying items by tag: Flicker Alley

I think it’s time we caught up. Walking outside during this Oklahoma summer is like tasting something after it’s been in the microwave about eight minutes. The heat and stupidity started even before Memorial Day and has not abated. It’s like we’re living on Mars – I’ve been pricing those spacesuits which protected Matt Damon.

But thank goodness for the movies. Especially the kind one watches in the comfort of one’s own home. Let’s discuss.

Here’s a serious complaint – as I learned over the years, watching a great film is a multi-sensory experience – you see, you listen, you emote. And for me, always a major component of that experience is the music score. For those who pay attention, music is usually the heart of the movie – name a classic up through about 1990 or so for which you can’t hum a main theme. Or name a dud or two with a score that is better than the picture. [Read on here...]

I’m trying to remember when I put it all together, when it dawned on me that there were these wonderful movies, shown, at the time, when there were only three local stations and local guys programmed the movies, after the last late show. They were cheap, even I could see that, but there was just something about these black and whites that kept me fascinated and many a long night I would suffer through local commercials just to see either justice done or perverted.

And the titles – Private Hell 36, Shack Out on 101, Kiss the Blood Off My Hands and Five Against the House. And the actors, has-beens and wanna-bes, but they were just terrific. Tom Neal and Ann Savage and Dennis O’Keefe and Preston Foster and Lawrence Tierney. And this was the “B” list.  [Read on here...]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to follow us on Twitter @thedigitalbits @BillHuntBits and on Facebook here and here.]

First up today, Tim Salmons has posted a new Pick-Ups edition of his Dailies column which will offer up a few more reviews of recent Blu-ray titles. The first of those for this week is Robert Zemeckis’ The Walk, now available on Blu-ray from Sony. Do give it a look. It’s a much better film than we were expecting. [Read on here…]

(Photo by Robin Holland Photography)

Robert Altman said his last “that’s a wrap,” can you believe it, some eight or nine years ago and it seems as though any hope of mainstream studio films with emotional weight, sharp characters, social satire and natural, cliché free dialogue was buried right next to him.

Every Hollywood director since the beginning of the medium owes a debt to Robert Altman. His style was so distinctive, so fresh and so natural that people would say to themselves, “Oh that’s what directors do.”  [Read on here...]

Now where was I?

Sorry, I’ve not been here. I missed a bit – I’ll admit it and it for sure wasn’t to do with health or disinterest or a lack in passion. I just had to do stuff. But now I’m back.

But I come with good stories. Specifically regarding how movie awards season works.  [Read on here...]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for breaking news, site updates on the go, discussion with our staff and other readers, giveaways and more!]

The big unofficial release news today is that we now finally have a release date for director Ridley Scott’s Exodus: Gods & Kings. Per Amazon, look for it on 3/17 on Blu-ray and DVD from 20th Century Fox. The Blu-ray is now available for pre-order on Amazon here.  [Read on here…]

[Editor’s Note: Be sure to like TheDigitalBits.com page on Facebook for breaking news, site updates on the go, discussion with our staff and other readers, giveaways and more!]

We’ve got a pair of additional Blu-ray reviews for you today...

First of all, Tim has checked out a 1968 film from Sydney Pollack in Kino’s The Scalphunters. I’ve also updated and ported over (from the original Bits site) my own review of review of Fritz Lang’s science fiction classic Metropolis (1927) as released, restored and at long last complete, on Blu-ray by Kino in 2010. Don’t miss them. And note that I’ll be back with another new Blu-ray review tomorrow.  [Read on here…]

Slow news day today, but we do have a couple of things for you...

First, Universal has revealed a few more catalog titles coming to Blu-ray on 7/1, including Bring It On, Cry Baby, Kindergarten Cop and The Little Rascals.

Universal has also set Non-Stop, starring Liam Neeson, for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 6/10. Does anyone else keep mixing this film up with 3 Days to Kill, or is it just me? “Old Guys Kicking Ass” seems to be a real growth genre these days. [Read on here…]

Morning, folks. Or good afternoon, good evening or good night, as the case might be.

El Doogan has turned in a new Gripe Soda with his weekly Doogan’s Queue column running down the highlights of this week’s Blu-ray and DVD release schedule. Do check it out.

Also today, Warner Home Video has announced another Blu-ray version of Woodstock: 3 Days of Peace and Music, specifically a new 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Revisited box set on 7/29 (SRP $39.96) that includes everything from the previous (but apparently not truly) Ultimate Collector’s Edition and adds new and unseen concert footage from Jefferson Airplane, Joan Baez, Santana, The Who, and more, as well as new swag (including a reproduction of the original Woodstock Festival tickets and vintage articles from Life Magazine and The New York Times). [Read on here…]

We’ve got a couple more new Blu-ray reviews from our own Tim Salmons this afternoon, and they couldn’t be two more different titles: Disney’s Robin Hood: 40th Anniversary Edition and Raro Video’s Nightmare City. So there’s casting a wide net for you today.

In announcement news, Olive Films have 108 Media have announced a new multi-year distribution partnership, starting in June with the titles Honour and Autumn Blood. Future titles will include Daisy: The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly, Fugly!, and Shame the Devil.  [Read on here…]