All right, the big news today is that our friends at the Criterion Collection have just announced their December Blu-ray and DVD release slate. And it includes a film that I’ve been waiting for a long time on Blu-ray... the extended director’s cut of Wim Wenders’ melancholy sci-fi road movie Until the End of the World.

I have so much love for the film and managed to record a TCM showing of it a couple years ago on my DVR. I’m glad I’ll finally be able to free up the drive space! Here’s the full slate...

Look for Stephen Roberts’ The Story of Temple Drake (Spine #1006 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Ronald Neame’s Tunes of Glory (Spine #225 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 12/3, followed by Wim Wenders’ Until the End of the World (Spine #1007 – Blu-ray and DVD) and Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy (Spine #1008 – Blu-ray and DVD) on 12/10. We’ve updated the relevant pages of our Criterion Spines Project here at The Bits accordingly. [Read on here...]

We’ve got some more new reviews for you today, and some interesting news as well. So let’s get to it.

First up, the reviews...

I’ve offered my thoughts on Luc Besson’s Anna on 4K Ultra HD from Summit and Lionsgate.

And Tim has turned in looks at Roy Ward Baker’s Scars of Dracula (1970) on Blu-ray, a Hammer title from Scream Factory, as well as Scream’s Humanoids from the Deep Steelbook Blu-ray.

With a little luck, we’ll have at least a couple more reviews tomorrow as well, so be sure to check back.

We’ve also got a street date update for you on a few titles: Look for Warner’s It: Chapter Two on BD, DVD, and 4K on 12/10. Lionsgate will release Red Heat on 4K on 10/8 (coming from Studio Canal in the UK). And Fox is expected to release The Art of Racing in the Rain on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K on 11/5. [Read on here...]

All right, we have more new disc reviews for you today... and we’ll have a few more tomorrow as well. On tap this afternoon are...

My thoughts on Jon Favreau’s Iron Man 2 on 4K Ultra HD from Marvel and Disney. (And yes, I am working on Iron Man3, and I’ll be reviewing Dr. Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the original Ant-Man in 4K when they street early next month too.)

Dennis’ take on Jim Jarmusch’s zombie comedy The Dead Don’t Die on Blu-ray from Focus Films and Universal.

And Tim’s look at Aldo Lado’s 1972 giallo film Who Saw Her Die? from Arrow Video.

Enjoy, and be sure to check back tomorrow for more disc reviews! And now for some release news... [Read on here...]

We’ve got no less than three new disc reviews today, including my own thoughts on Disney’s classic animated Aladdin (1992) in 4K Ultra HD.

We also have Dennis’ take on Guy Ritchie’s new remake of Aladdin (2019) on both Blu-ray and (with my assistance on the technical side) 4K Ultra HD. We hope you enjoy.

And just so you know, there will be more disc reviews every day this week, including both Blu-ray and 4K Ultra HD titles. So be sure to watch for the next batch starting tomorrow morning.

In announcement news today, Paramount has just set Night Hunter for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/15. The film stars Ben Kingsley, Henry Cavill, and Alexandra Daddario. [Read on here...]

We’ve got more new disc reviews for you today, including...

My thoughts on Marvel’s new Thor and Thor: The Dark World on 4K Ultra HD.

My thoughts on the Disney Movie Club’s exclusive new Blu-ray release of The Black Hole (1979).

Tim’s take on Second Sight Film’s new all-region Blu-ray release of Disney’s Flight of the Navigator (1986).

And Dennis’ thoughts on Universal’s new Blu-ray release of Tate Taylor’s Ma.

Don’t forget that Tim also posted his thoughts on Warner’s Scooby-Doo: Where Are You? – The Complete Series Blu-ray box set on Monday as well. More reviews are in the works. [Read on here...]

The big news today is that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just set Spider-Man: Far From Home for release on Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD on 10/1, with the Digital release due on 9/17. The 4K disc will include Dolby Vision HDR and Dolby Atmos audio.

Special features on the Blu-ray and 4K will include the all-new short Peter’s To-Do List, 11 featurettes (Teachers’ Travel Tips, Stepping Up, Suit Up, Far, FAR, Far From Home, It Takes Two, Fury & Hill, The Ginter-Riva Effect, Thank You, Mrs. Parker, The Brother’s Trust, The Jump Off, and Now You See Me), plus Stealthy Easter Eggs, Select Scene Pre-Vis, a Gag Reel & Outtakes, and Alternate & Extended Scenes.

You can see the cover artwork at left and also below. [Read on here...]

We certainly hope you’re all enjoying the long Labor Day weekend here in the States. And Happy Monday for the rest of you!

Given the holiday, we’re taking a much needed break today. But we do have a couple of new Blu-ray reviews for you to enjoy...

Tim has just turned in his in-depth thoughts on the long-awaited Scooby-Doo: Where Are You? Complete Series Blu-ray set from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. The package streets tomorrow, and it sounds like it’s pretty good. You can read that review here.

Also, Tim has posted his thoughts on Gary Sherman’s Vice Squad (1982) from Scream Factory, as well as the Akio Jissôji: The Buddhist Trilogy box set from Arrow Academy, both on Blu-ray.

And Dennis rounds things out with his thoughts on A Dog’s Journey on Blu-ray from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

So enjoy those and we’ll be back tomorrow with our regular news update and more. Stay tuned!

-Bill Hunt

(You can follow Bill on social media at these links: Twitter and Facebook)

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...]

We’ve got a bunch of new disc reviews for you to enjoy today, including...

My in-depth thoughts on Lionsgate’s new Apocalypse Now Final Cut: 40th Anniversary Edition on 4K Ultra HD, which could end up being the best 4K of the year. It’s definitely one of the most comprehensive catalog special editions in recent years, and is not to be missed.

Also today, we have new Blu-ray reviews from Tim and Dennis, including...

The President’s Lady (Twilight Time), Missing Link (20th Century Fox), Poms (Universal), and Drive-In Delirium: Dead by Dawn and Drive-In Delirium: With a Vengeance (Umbrella Entertainment).

All are worth a look so do check them out and enjoy. [Read on here...]

All right, it’s official.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has just announced that they’ll release The Wizard of Oz on 4K Ultra HD on 10/29, in honor of the film’s 80th anniversary.

The original Technicolor camera negative has been scanned in 8K and graded for high dynamic range in both HDR10 and Dolby Vision (the disc will include both).

Per the studio’s press release, “The process was supervised by MPI colorist Janet Wilson, who has overseen ever remaster of The Wizard of Oz for the past 20 years.” SRP for the release is $41.99. The package will include both the 4K and a Blu-ray.

You can see the cover artwork at left and below. [Read on here...]