Displaying items by tag: Clean and Sober

We’ve got one new disc review for you to enjoy here at The Bits today...

Tim has updated Barrie Maxwell’s 2011 Criterion Blu-ray review of Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le cercle rouge (1970) to reflect the company’s more recent 4K Ultra HD release. As long time Bits readers will know, Barrie was our dear friend and a classic cinema expert who wrote reviews and a Classic Coming Attractions column here at the site for many years. Barrie sadly passed away back in 2012. We can’t think of a better way to honor his memory than to ensure that his writing continues to find new audiences. So enjoy the review!

The big release news today is that our friends at the Warner Archive Collection have just announced their May catalog release slate, which includes not only great Blu-ray titles but also WAC’s next 4K Ultra HD release! That 4K title is none other than Charles Walters’ classic High Society (1956), starring Bing Crosby, Grace Kelly, Frank Sinatra, and Louis Armstrong!

The film has been remastered from new 13.5K scans of the original VistaVision negative. The 4K disc will include Dolby Vision HDR on a 100GB disc, with disc authoring and compression by Fidelity in Motion. The remastered film will also be included in the package on Blu-ray, a BD-50. [Read on here...]

We’ve got several new disc reviews for you to enjoy here at The Bits today, including...

My thoughts on Anthony Harvey’s The Lion in Winter (1968) in 4K Ultra HD from StudioCanal, as well as Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024) in 4K Ultra HD from 20th Century Studios.

Stuart’s look at Mitchell Leisen’s The Lady Is Willing (1942) on Region B Blu-ray from Powerhouse Films’ Indicator label.

And Stephen’s take on David Twohy’s Below (2002) in 4K Ultra HD from Kino Lorber Studio Classics.

More reviews are forthcoming all this week, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled for them.

In announcement news today, Kino Lorber Studio Classics has officially set John Frankenheimer’s Prophecy (1979) for 4K Ultra HD release on 5/20. As expected, the company has also revealed that Ken Finkleman’s Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) is coming soon to 4K UHD.

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has just set Starman (1984) for 4K Ultra HD Steelbook release on 5/27. Previously the disc has only been available on the format in the Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection: Volume 4 box set, released in early 2024. You can read our review of that disc here at The Bits now. [Read on here...]