My Two Cents
Greetings, Bits readers!
I trust you’re all having a lovely evening. This is Bill, and I just wanted to check in here tonight with a quick update.
Some of you may have noticed that I’ve posted fewer My Two Cents news columns in the last couple of weeks, despite the fact that there seems to be more disc news than ever as we head toward the finish line in 2025.
And it’s true, there have been fewer news posts here. The reason for this is simple: I had a pretty significant prostate surgery a week ago today. It wasn’t a serious issue, thank goodness—fortunately, not a cancer scare.
Rather, I’ve been suffering these past few years from straightforward prostate enlargement, which runs in my family and which, in fact, as much as 75% of all men begin to deal with when they reach their 50s.
Luckily, my doctor is fantastic, the surgery itself went very well, and my recovery has been ahead of the curve. I’ve still got about 6-8 weeks of healing to do before I’m back to normal. But I’ve spent most of the last week in bed resting. And of course, the week ahead of my surgery was stressful indeed. [Read on here...]
All right, we’ve got a ton of new disc reviews that we’ve shared here at The Bits over the past week, including…
My reviews of the fixed Superman: The Movie, Superman II, and Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut 4K Ultra HD discs from Warner Bros.
My review (with Todd Doogan) of Akira Kurosawa’s Stray Dog (1949) on Blu-ray from the BFI, as well as my review (with Tim) of the new Back to the Future: 40th Anniversary Limited Edition Gift Set in 4K from Universal.
Stephen’s thoughts on Arūnas Žebriūnas’s The Devil’s Bride (1974) on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile, Hideaki Anno and Shinji Higuchi’s Shin Godzilla: Deluxe Collector’s Edition (2016) from GKids, and Abel Ferrara’s Ms. 45 (1981) on 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video.
Tim’s reviews of Hanna-Barbera’s Wacky Races: The Complete Series on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection, StudioCanal’s Dead of Night: 80th Anniversary Collector’s Edition in 4K Ultra HD, the first titles—One-Armed Swordsman (1967) and Return of the One-Armed Swordsman (1969)—from Arrow’s Shawscope: Volume Three Blu-ray box set.
Dennis’ look at Mark L. Lester’s The Ex (1996) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics and John Cromwell’s The Racket (1951) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
And Stuart’s take on Stuart Heisler’s I Died a Thousand Times (1955) and the Bette Davis Collection (which includes The Letter, Dark Victory, Jezebel, and The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection as well as José Giovanni’s Last Known Address (1970) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
We’ve also got lots more new disc reviews coming today and all this week, so be sure to check back for them!
Now then… in announcement news today, the good people at Radiance Films have revealed that they’re releasing Richard Rush’s The Stunt Man (1980) in 4K Ultra HD on 2/23/26. The film will feature Dolby Vision HDR, and the package will include a bevy of new and legacy special features, including the acclaimed documentary The Sinister Saga of Making The Stuntman (2001). You can see the cover work above left. [Read on here...]
We’re starting the new week here at The Bits with a host of new disc reviews for the team, including...
My thoughts (with longtime Bits contributor Todd Doogan) on Antony Hoffman’s Red Planet (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video.
Tim’s take on Terence Fisher’s The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) in 4K Ultra HD from the Warner Archive Collection, as well as Warner Archive’s Hollywood Legends of Horror: 6-Film Collection on Blu-ray, Jag Mundhra’s Hack-O-Lantern (1988) in 4K from Massacre Video, and Tom Savini’s Night of the Living Dead (1990) in 4K Steelbook from Sony.
Dennis’ thoughts on Dan Curtis’ Dead of Night (1977) on Blu-ray from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.
Stuart’s take on Richard Thorpe’s The Prisoner of Zenda (1952) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.
And Stephen’s reviews of John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness (1994) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, and the new Evangelion: 1.11 You Are (Not) Alone (2007) and Evangelion: 2.22 You Can (Not) Advance (2009) anime films on Blu-ray from GKids via Shout! Studios.
More reviews are definitely on the way all this week, so be sure to keep checking back.
Now then, we’ve got a bunch of release news to report today... [Read on here...]
Morning folks! We’ve got some good release news for you today, along with more new disc reviews as always. The reviews include…
Tim’s take on Jonathan Liebesman’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, as well as Jim Stenstrum’s animated Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998) on Blu-ray from Hanna-Barbera via Warner Bros. “Terror Time” line.
Also today, we’ve just posted our latest update of the Release Dates & Cover Art section featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD covers with Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, whenever you purchase literally anything from Amazon after clicking to them through one of our links, you’re helping to support our work here at The Bits and we appreciate it!
Now then, we’ve been talking about this next title on our Patreon page for subscribers for a few months at this point, but here’s some great news: William Wyler’s epic Ben-Hur (1959) is officially coming to 4K Ultra HD disc from Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment! [Read on here...]
All right, we’ve got a bunch of new disc reviews for you today, including…
Tim’s looks at Marcus Nispel’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and Michael Gornick’s Creepshow 2 (1987) both in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video, as well as Mike Hodges’ Get Carter (1971) in 4K Ultra HD from our friends at the Warner Archive Collection.
Stephen’s thoughts on Tsui Hark’s Peking Opera Blues (1986) in 4K Ultra HD from Shout! Studios’ new Hong Kong Cinema Classics line.
Dennis’s take on Daniel Petrie’s Lifeguard (1976) on Blu-ray from Paramount via Imprint Films, as well as Ryan Archibald’s Screamityville (2025) on Blu-ray from MVD Entertainment.
And finally, Stuart’s review of Peter Fleischmann’s Weak Spot (1975) on Blu-ray from Gaumont Distribution via Radiance Films.
Trust me when I say this next bit: We have a LOTN more reviews in the works from the entire Bits review team, so definitely be sure to keep checking back over the coming days.
Now then… my apologies for not sharing a My Two Cents post here on the site yesterday. I’d fully intended to have one up, and suddenly a bunch of calls, emails, and messages came in from sources and I found myself going down a rabbit hole of chasing down some really interesting bits of industry news and title release rumors. You’ll see the result of that effort here over the next couple of weeks.
In terms of today’s news items, here’s the big one: Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has just finally officially announced the 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital release of the animated The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) on 12/9, just as we expected and have been reporting for a few months now. [Read on here...]