Displaying items by tag: M Night Shyamalan

We have no less than four new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, and--surprise!--I even managed to finish one for a change...

First, Tim has taken a look at Sidney Lumet’s excellent Murder on the Orient Express (1974) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics, as well as Hanna-Barbera’s animated Top Cat: The Complete Series (1961-1962) on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Also, Dennis has reviewed another Warner Archive title: Norman Foster’s Journey Into Fear (1943) on Blu-ray.

And finally today, I’ve shared my thoughts on M. Night Shyamalan’s Signs (2003), a tense and effective alien invasion thriller, on 4K Ultra HD from Touchstone Pictures, Disney, and Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

As always, more reviews are forthcoming this week, so be sure to stay tuned for them!

In announcement news this afternoon, there is just not much to report. But we do have a couple things for you...

First, Paramount is reissuing Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in the West (1968) as a 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray combo on 1/14, simply without the Paramount Presents packaging. It also looks like the studio is doing the same thing with Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (1974) that same day. We assume they’re the same 4K discs as before. (If otherwise, we’ll confirm and post an update here.) You can see the new cover art for the former at left and also below. [Read on here...]

All right, here are today’s new disc reviews...

Dennis has taken a look at Joel Schumacher’s 8MM (1999) on Blu-ray from Imprint Films.

Stuart has offered his take on Roberto Gavaldón’s Untouched (1954) on Blu-ray on Powerhouse Films’ Indicator label.

Tim has taken a look at Marcus Nispel’s remake of Friday the 13th (2009) in 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video. He’s also turned in a review of Lucio Fulci’s Lizard in a Woman’s Skin (1971) on Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment.

And last, but certainly not least, Stephen has taken a deep dive into Toho’s Godzilla store-exclusive version of Takashi Yamazaki’s Godzilla Minus One (2023) in 4K Ultra HD!

Also here at The Bits today, we have a brand new update of our Release Dates & Artwork section, which is a convenient way to see all of the new Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD titles that street each week. You can see the cover art, and sort by date and format. And you can click on each of the titles to pre-order them on Amazon.

On that note, I wanted to take a moment to share a challenge we’ve been having of late, which is that our Amazon Affiliate revenue has been declining. For a long time now—for over a decade—our Affiliate revenue has been a big part of helping us to keep The Digital Bits going—to help us cover our server and operating costs. It’s how we’ve been able to keep The Bits free for everyone to read for over 27 years now. In recent months, however, that revenue has begun to decline. We understand that Amazon may not always be the cheapest option these days. So for those of you who still support The Bits by shopping with them through links (in the daily news column, in our disc reviews, in the 4K Ultra HD Release List, and in the Release Dates & Artwork section), we really appreciate it very much! [Read on here...]

Boy, we’ve got a bunch of new catalog title announcements for you today, along with a TON of new Blu-ray and 4K cover artwork and Amazon.com pre-order links. But first, we have a few more new disc reviews...

Tim has taken a look at the new animated double-feature of Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan’s The Addams Family (2019) and The Addams Family 2 (2021) in 4K Ultra HD from Shout! Studios.

And Dennis has offered his thoughts on Frank Borzage’s The Shining Hour (1938) and King Vidor’s Northwest Passage (1940) both on Blu-ray from the Warner Archive Collection.

Now then, let’s dive right into those announcements...

Kino Lorber Studio Classics has just revealed that Sidney Hayers’ Circus of Horrors (1960) is coming to 4K Ultra HD on 10/29, but with an SDR only grade (probably due to limitations with the original camera negative).

Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment and HBO have set Veep: The Complete Series for release on Blu-ray on 10/22, in a new 13-disc set. This follows closely in the wake of Warner’s newly-announced release of The West Wing: The Complete Series in a new 28-disc Blu-ray set on 10/1. Both are obviously timed to the upcoming Presidential Election here in the States. They’re now available on Amazon.com and you can see the cover artwork below the break (click on each to visit the pre-order pages). [Read on here...]

Morning folks! We’ve got some great release news for you today! And unfortunately, my neighborhood here in SoCal is experiencing some kind of major power disruption (I’m looking at like 20 utility tricks outside my office window right now) or I’d have had this up for you all last night.

First, some new disc reviews, as always…

Stuart has taken an in-depth look at Imprint’s excellent new Blu-ray box set of the classic British sci-fi TV series The Prisoner: The Complete Series (1967-1968). In short: It’s excellent. Do give it a look.

Also, our new team member Sam Cohen has reviewed Peter Hyams’ Narrow Margin (1990) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

And Dennis has turned in his thoughts on Tibor Takács’ Sabotage (1996) on Blu-ray from the MVD Rewind Collection!

And more reviews are on the way this week, including (but not limited to) Furiosa and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes in 4K, so be sure to watch for those soon.

Now then… Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment has just officially announced the 4K Ultra HD release of two popular M. Night Shyamalan films on 10/22! Here’s the official press release (which continues below the break)…

TWO ICONIC M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN FILMS, THE SIXTH SENSE
AND SIGNS, ARRIVE ON 4K UHD FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER!

IN ADDITION, A SPECIAL BUNDLE INCLUDING UNBREAKABLE WILL
BE AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY AT DIGITAL RETAILERS

THE SIXTH SENSE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS!

BURBANK, CA. (August 26, 2024) – The Sixth Sense and Signs, two iconic thrillers from Oscar-nominated director, M. Night Shyamalan, will be available for the first time ever in stunning 4K UHD digital on August 27, and 4K UHD Blu-ray disc on October 22. The original negatives for both films were scanned at 4K resolution and restored in High Dynamic Range (HDR). [Read on here...]

The big news today is that Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has just set M. Night Shayamalan’s Trap (2024) for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 11/5, with the Digital release expected on 8/30. Extras on the 4K will include 2 featurettes (Setting the Trap: A New M. Night Shayamalan Experience and Saleka as Lady Raven), as well as 3 deleted scenes, and an extended concert scene. The press release doesn’t indicate the A/V specs, but it’s reasonable to expect Dolby Atmos audio and HDR10 high dynamic range.

Here’s something pretty terrific: Severin Films has just a 13-disc All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror – Volume Two box set for release on 11/12. The set includes 24 international folks horror classics, with 55+ hours of extras, and a 252-page hardcover of new folk horror fiction. [Read on here...]

We’ve got just a handful of announcement news items to share with you today...

The first is that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just set Chris Smith’s American Movie (1999) for release on 4K Ultra HD on 10/15 in honor of the film’s 25th anniversary.

This will be a Sony Pictures Classics release. The 4K disc will include Dolby Vision HDR and the original English mono audio in lossless DTS-HD MA format.

Extras will include audio commentary with the director and cast, deleted scenes, the Coven short film by Mark Borchardt, and the film’s theatrical trailer. You can see the cover artwork at left.

Elsewhere around the Interwebs, various online retailers have begun taking pre-orders for the Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD release of Eli Roth’s Borderlands (2024) and Nikhil Nagesh Bhat’s Kill (2023) from Lionsgate, M. Night’s Shyamalan’s Trap (2024) from Warner Bros, Ti West’s MaXXXine (2024) from A24, and Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs (2024) from Neon/Decal. The street date for all of these is TBA. [Read on here...]

In reviews this morning, Dennis has taken a look at Raphael Sbarge’s 2022 Laemmle Theatres documentary Only in Theaters on DVD from Kino Lorber. The film chronicles the 80+ year history of the family-owned cinema chain, which is based in L.A., and looks at the family’s efforts to see it survive the current challenges facing the industry.

More reviews are coming, so be sure to watch for them.

Now then... the big news today is two-fold: First, Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment has just revealed that Babylon 5: The Complete Series is coming to Blu-ray Disc for the first time ever on 12/5! Of course, the series was originally produced and finished in SD resolution only. But its live-action footage was shot on film, so that’s been scanned in 4K and downsampled to HD, while the CGI and VFX shots have been upsampled to HD from SD. But if you’ve seen the series recently as it appears on the Max streaming app, you’ll be familiar with the quality. (Note that it’s presented in the original 1.33 broadcast aspect ratio, and will include English SDH subtitles.) All 110 episodes of the show will be included, along with the 1993 pilot film, The Gathering. It appears that this title will be available via online retailers only, so don’t expect to find it at your local brick-and mortar shop. SRP is $99.99. You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. (Oddly, it doesn’t actually include an image of the Babylon 5 space station itself, which.. ahem... seems like very strange marketing choice.)

And second, here’s some exciting news for fans of 1980s animation: The great Ralph Bakshi has announced on his Facebook page that American Pop (1981) is finally coming to Blu-ray Disc from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on 8/22! [Read on here...]

We’ve got an early My Two Cents post for you this morning here at The Bits with a bit of breaking 4K news...

Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution has just officially announced that director M. Night Shyamalan’s Unbreakable (2000) will be released on physical 4K Ultra HD and 4K Digital on September 21st.

The film stars Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, Robin Wright Penn, Spencer Treat Clark, and Charlayne Woodard.

Unbreakable joins Shyamalan’s Split (2016) and Glass (2019)—both of which have been released previously on Ultra HD by Universal—thus completing the director’s Eastrail 177 Trilogy on the format. [Read on here...]

So I spent a couple hours up in Hollywood yesterday afternoon to cover something pretty interesting…

At a press event at the Screen Actors Guild, members of the UHD Alliance, three major consumer electronics manufacturers, and leading Hollywood filmmakers officially announced a new partnership effort to implement Filmmaker Mode as an extension of the 4K Ultra HD spec.

The idea is to ensure that when you watch a movie at home in 4K on your new Ultra HD display, whether from a disc, stream, or cable/satellite broadcast, it will look exactly as it should. UHD Alliance research suggests that as many as 80% of people who buy 4K TVs never change the settings out of the box. This means irritating features like motion smoothing and unnecessary processing are being applied to the image by default – processing that actually takes the picture away from the filmmakers’ intent.

What the Filmmaker Mode will do is to allow the user – either with one push of a button on the remote, or with a very easy and obvious menu setting – to set the TV’s display parameters to most accurately display the 4K content. This would be a baseline setting for the image – any added adjustments signaled by HDR10, HDR10+, or Dolby Vision metadata would happen on top of that setting. [Read on here...]