All right, just a quick heads-up today.  I’ve got limited e-mail and Internet connection all week here so release news updates may be a little slim for the next few days.  Rest assured though, I’ll check back when contact is restored to update you all on any major announcement news.

In the meantime, Michael Coate returns again this morning with another new History, Legacy & Showmanship column detailing the roadshow engagement history of Fox’s Cleopatra, which is newly released on Blu-ray Disc and officially celebrates its 50th anniversary today.  Enjoy!

Also today, we’ve got Jeff Kleist’s new review of Disney’s Oz: The Great and Powerful on Blu-ray 3D for you – sounds like a great 3D experience but the lack of extras on the BD3D version is an epic fail.  FYI, the disc arrived in stores yesterday.

Cleopatra, 20th Century-Fox’s well-publicized epic starring Elizabeth Taylor, was the most popular movie of 1963/64… even though history informs us the movie was a failure.  Presented here in commemoration of the golden anniversary of it premiere, and its recent Blu-ray release, is a (work-in-progress) list of the film’s original theatrical roadshow engagements in the United States and Canada.  These engagements of Cleopatra were shown exclusively in major cities prior to the film being given a traditional nationwide release and included reserved seating with an advanced admission price with an average of ten scheduled showings per week.  Much like a Broadway production, these presentations included an overture, intermission, entr’acte and exit music.  The roadshow engagements were presented in 70-millimeter and six-track stereophonic sound. As well, souvenir programs were sold.

Morning, folks!  Hope you’re all enjoying your Tuesday so far.

The good Doctor has checked in with his weekly Burnt Offerings column updating you all on the latest Warner Archive MOD releases for this week.  He’s also included a review of Warner Archive’s A Guy Named Joe, now available on DVD-R from the company.  Enjoy!

Adam’s not done today though – he’s also turned in a review of Shout! and Scream Factory’s new Blu-ray release of The Howling: Collector’s Edition, which streets on 6/18.  Yet again, Scream has delivered another great title, so do check out Adam’s review.

Also here at the site today, Russell Hammond has posted the weekly Release Dates & Artwork update with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover artwork and Amzon.com pre-order links.  As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon in the same session after clicking though to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it.

Now then, we wanted to let you Los Angeles area reader know about a couple of cool screening events coming up in Hollywood this weekend.  On Friday night (6/14 – 7:30 PM), The Egyptian Theatre is hosting a screening of the original 1978 Battlestar Galactica feature film!  The following evening (Saturday, 6/15 – 7:30 PM), they’re showing 1974’s Earthquake.  Both films are being shown with special speakers installed to recreate the original Sensurround experience!  Our good friends Joe Russo II and James A. Fino are programming the screenings, and I’m pleased to tell you that our very own Jeff Kleist and I have been working with them to arrange some pretty cool special guests for the Battlestar screening!  We can’t confirm who’s coming just yet, but the plan is for members of the cast and crew to participate in a Q&A after the screening, and there may be the chance to purchase autographs as well.  It’s going to be pretty cool, so be sure to visit the American Cinematheque website for all the details and to purchase tickets.

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

All right, we’re pleased as punch today to offer you a brand new History, Legacy & Showmanship column by our very own Michael Coate!  In this installment, Michael goes in depth on last year’s 50th anniversary of the James Bond franchise by interviewing a roundtable of leading (and published) authorities on the subject, including Jon Burlingame, John Cork, Bill Desowitz, Paul Duncan, Charles Helfenstein, Mark O’Connell, Lee Pfeiffer, Steven Jay Rubin, Bruce Scivally and Dave Worrall!  It’s a really great read, so we hope you all check it out and enjoy 007… Fifty Years Strong: An Interview with Bond Historians!

Also today, the good Dr. Jahnke has turned in a review of Shout! and Scream Factory’s hot new Blu-ray release of the Lifeforce: Collector’s Edition, which hits stores on 6/18.  It’s another terrific release from Scream, so you’re definitely not going to want to miss it.

Let us continue the James Bond 50th anniversary celebration, shall we?  Last autumn, around the time Skyfall was being released to theaters, the Blu-ray set was hitting retailers and the anniversary hype was in high gear, I had this idea that it might be interesting if I could round up a few of my James Bond historian friends, turn on a recorder… and talk James Bond, and then perhaps turn that into an article.  It didn’t happen (primarily for logistical reasons).  But a few months later the next best thing did happen. That is, separately-conducted interviews that have been edited into a round-table format.

Okay… we’ve got some good announcement news for you guys this morning…

First up, Warner Home Video has set NBC’s Revolution for Blu-ray and DVD release on 9/10.  Revolution: The Complete First Season (SRP $69.97 and $59.98) will feature all 20 episodes and over 90 minutes of bonus content.  Both formats will include 2 featurettes (An In-depth Look at the Revolution Pilot and Creating a Revolution), deleted scenes, the NBC.com “webisodes” and a gag reel.  To this, the Blu-ray will exclusively add video of the Revolution cast and creative team at the 2013 Paley Festival, as well as UltraViolet digital copy versions of all 20 episodes.

Meanwhile, Universal has set The Place Beyond the Pines for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 8/6.  The film stars Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Ray Liotta.  Extras on both versions will include deleted and extended scenes, as well as audio commentary with director and co-writer Derek Cianfrance.

All right, let’s get to a few new announcements…

Warner Home Video has set a double feature of Eastwood Directs:  The Untold Story/The Eastwood Factor: Extended Version for DVD release on 9/3.  They’ve also set Doctor Who: Spearhead from Space – Special Edition for BD release on 8/13, along with Doctor Who: The Green Death – Special Edition on DVD.  And on the TV front, look for Mike & Molly: The Complete Third Season on 8/20, The Mentalist: The Complete Fifth Season on 9/17 and 2 Broke Girls: The Complete Second Season on 9/24, all on DVD only.

Speaking of Warner, sources tell us that they’re still working on a Blu-ray release of Philip Kaufman’s The Right Stuff for later this year.  The film celebrates its 30th anniversary on 10/21, so you should expect to hear something in the next couple of months.  Gotta say, The Right Stuff is a film that’s a must have on Blu-ray for me.  I’m actually surprised it’s take this long, but better late and done right than never.

Before we get started today, we wanted to let you know that Amazon.com is having a big sale on Criterion Blu-ray titles right now – many titles are as much as 50% off (including Repo Man, Seven Samurai and lots more).  Amazon is also running a weekly special on Farscape: The Complete Series on Blu-ray for 53% off.  Be sure to take advantage if there are titles you’re looking for.

Afternoon, folks!  We’ve got a couple good things in store for you today…

First up here at the site this afternoon, our very own Dr. Jahnke has kicked off his new weekly Burnt Offerings column here at The Bits in which he plans to run down the latest MOD/DVD-R release and announcement news, specifically including the list of titles newly added to the Warner Archive each week.  Going forward, Jahnke also plans to cover news about all the other different major studio MOD programs as well.  He’ll also review a new MOD title each week – this week’s column features a review of Warner Archive’s Sincerely Yours on DVD-R.  And as always, you can always contact Adam with comments, thoughts, encouragement and input here.  We hope you enjoy it!

Since the Warner Archive Collection introduced the concept of Manufactured On Demand DVDs, I’ve written a number of times about my enthusiasm for the format.  As a longtime champion of forgotten and obscure movies with my JET’s Most Wanted project, I immediately recognized that MOD was the best way for many of these movies with an admittedly limited appeal to finally be released on DVD.  For awhile now, we’ve been trying to figure out a way to increase our coverage of MOD discs on The Bits.  This column is the result of these efforts.

Every week, Burnt Offerings will take a closer look at what’s newly available from Warner Archive and other MOD programs from Sony, 20th Century Fox, MGM, and Universal.  I’ll run down what’s new and take a look at what’s coming down the pike.  I’ll also be digging through the Warner Archive Collection and reviewing titles I think are particularly exceptional, noteworthy or unusual.  Some of these will be recent additions to the collection, others will be titles that have been available for awhile.  There are over 1,500 titles available on Warner Archive alone, so it’s easy for stuff to fall through the cracks.  Burnt Offerings will try to catch them.