We’re kicking things off this week with an early morning Monday post to deliver all of the breaking Blu-ray news out of Comic-Con in San Diego this past weekend.

First though, our own Tim Salmons has begun a new week of Pick-Ups reviews with a look at Synapse Films’ new Just Desserts: The Making of Creepshow – Special Edition Blu-ray, which arrived in stored on 7/12. It sounds like an outstanding documentary look behind the scenes on the making of the film, with a ton of great extras, so do give it a look. [Read on here…]

Welcome to a new edition of Pick-Ups!

After a two week leave of absence, I’m back. I hope all of you enjoyed all of the Comic-Con announcements and festivities if you were lucky enough to be there. I personally was excited for Shout! Factory’s announcements, as well as the Netflix Marvel shows’ trailers. Great stuff to look forward to. [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a bunch of interesting announcement news and other bits of Blu-ray-related information for you today, so let’s get right to it…

FUNimation has announced that they’ve gotten the rights to release the new Shin Godzilla film here in the States, both in theaters and on disc. Watch for more news on that soon. The company has also announced the forthcoming Blu-ray release of Ergo Proxy for the first time in the U.S. and Canada, as well as Attack on Titan live action movie releases on Blu-ray and DVD – Part One on 10/6 and Part Two TBA. They’re also releasing a Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign – Collector’s Edition and Season One, Part Two on Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital HD on 9/27. There’s still no word on Speed Racer/Mach GoGoGo, but we know they’re planned for release on Blu-ray by FUNimation in 2017, which is the series’ 50th anniversary. [Read on here…]

All right, it’s been a crazy few days here at The Bits, so I’m just going to post a quick update today.

First up, I was down at San Diego Comic-Con last night for the premiere of Star Trek Beyond. Paramount put on a great event, and I really quite liked the film. It’s definitely better than Star Trek Into Darkness, and it’s very different in tone to either of the first two films. Think of it this way: It’s the biggest, most action-filled episode of The Original Series you’ve ever seen, for all the good and bad that implies. The key thing is that it’s fun. It has a decent (and novel) sci-fi concept for a change, the action is imaginative, all of the cast gets involved, and there are a ton of great character moments. Karl Urban’s Bones gets his biggest part yet and he really makes the most of it.  [Read on here…]

In announcement news today, Warner Home Video has set Shane Black’s The Nice Guys for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 8/23, with the Digital HD release due 8/9. Extras will include a pair of featurettes (Always Bet on Black and Worst. Detectives. Ever.: Making The Nice Guys).

Universal has set Free State of Jones for Blu-ray, DVD, and On-Demand release on 9/20, with a Digital HD release due on 9/6. The only extras will be The History of Jones County featurette.  [Read on here…]

Okay... we’ve got a couple things for you today...

First up, our own Michael Coate is debuting a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column here at The Bits, this time honoring the 30th Anniversary of James Cameron’s Aliens. It features a look back at the film’s original theatrical release in 1986, plus an interview with experts on the film, including Andrew David Clark, Willie Goldman, Harry Harris, and documentary producer Charles de Lauzirika. Don’t miss it!   [Read on here…]

“It’s a fun film that also demanded you to take it seriously. I think some people missed all that and just wanted to indulge in the ‘bug hunt’ war porn of it all. But beneath its rollercoaster surface, Aliens is a pretty sophisticated genre classic.” — Documentarian Charles de Lauzirika

The Digital Bits and History, Legacy & Showmanship are pleased to present this retrospective article commemorating the 30th anniversary of the release of Aliens, the action-packed follow-up to Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi/horror classic featuring Sigourney Weaver (Ghostbusters, Working Girl) in her Saturn-winning and Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated reprisal of Ellen Ripley, the lone survivor of an Alien attack on her ship, the Nostromo. In the sequel, after several decades in hypersleep, she returns to exomoon LV-426 along with a team of Marines — and awesome sound and visual effects — to destroy the Aliens.  [Read on here...]

All right, we’ve got a rare Saturday update for you, as there’s some major news to let you all know about since yesterday’s post…

First up, Criterion has announced their October slate of Blu-ray releases, which is set to include the Trilogía de Guillermo del Toro set (Cronos, The Devil’s Backbone, and Pan’s Labyrinth) and Pan’s Labyrinth separately (Cat #838 - Blu-ray and DVD) on 10/11, Richard Linklater’s Boyhood (Cat #839 - Blu-ray and DVD) and Robert Altman’s Short Cuts (Cat #265 - Blu-ray and DVD) on 10/18, and Ermanno Olmi’s The Tree of Wooden Clogs (Cat #840 - Blu-ray and DVD) and Luis García Berlanga’s The Executioner (Cat #841 - Blu-ray and DVD) on 10/25. Note that Criterion is also working on a Blu-ray box set of Linklater’s “Before” Trilogy (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, and Before Midnight) for release at a later date.  [Read on here…]

All right, there’s not much in the way of announcement news today, but we do have a couple things to share with you.

First, there’s a brand new official behind-the-scenes video and poster for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story that were shared earlier today at Star Wars Celebration in London. You can see the poster at the left there.

And you can watch the video via YouTube here (be sure to watch it in 1080p)…  [Read on here…]

Let’s run down some of the latest Blu-ray and DVD announcements this week...

The big news is that Scream Factory has announced a cool set of FIVE “limited-run” Blu-ray titles (1,000 copies each) that will only be available from the Shout! Factory website (click on the following title links to pre-order). They include a double feature of Deathstalker (1983)/Deathstalker II (1987) and Up from the Depths (1979) due on 8/30, and Message from Space (1978), Timewalker (1982), and The Velvet Vampire (1971) on 9/27. They’re being released as a bit of an experiment by Scream/Shout, partly because new HD masters were available, but also because they want to see if there’s interest/demand for such obscure, deep catalog material. If it turns out there is, they’ll probably make these kind of limited releases a more regular thing.  [Read on here…]