-Newsletter est. 4/15/97- -Website est. 12/15/97-	page updated: 10/17/11 My Two Cents (Archived Posts 10/4/11 - 9/2/11) Back to Previous Archives Back to Current Posts (LATE UPDATE - 10/4/11 - 12:30 PM PDT) All right... just a couple of quick things this afternoon... First, DreamWorks Animation has set Kung Fu Panda 2 for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/13. SRPs aren't announced, but prices are expected to be around $25 for the DVD and $30 for Blu-ray/DVD combo. Extras on the Blu-ray/DVD/Digital Copy Combo Pack will include the all-new Kung Fu Panda: Secrets of the Masters animated short, a trivia track, filmmaker's commentary, the interactive Animation Inspiration and The Animators' Corner options, deleted scenes, 3 featurettes (Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness, Kickin' It with the Cast and Panda Stories) and 2 interactive games (Kung Fu Shuffle and Ni Hao). Oh yeah, one more cool thing: As you all know, A&E is releasing Farscape: The Complete Series on Blu-ray on 11/15 (SRP $199.95). Given that, a lot of you have asked about the possible Blu-ray release status of the Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars miniseries that concludes the show's storylines. Lionsgate owns the title here in the States and they've released it on DVD previously. It's also been released on Blu-ray in Germany by another company as a Region B disc, but that's it. Well, get ready for starburst, 'Scapers! We've checked with our industry sources and have learned that Lionsgate is currently working on a U.S. Blu-ray release. We expect official details on it to emerge in the weeks ahead. Note that this should be considered Rumor Mill-worthy until the title is officially announced. By the way, if any of you are Peter Gabriel fans, his new album - New Blood - comes out on 10/11. If you visit his official website anytime this week, they're letting you listen to high-quality streaming versions of all the songs on the new album on per hour. He's also got a live concert film coming out on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD on 10/24 from Eagle Rock Entertainment. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 10/4/11 - 12:01 AM PDT) Time for more Hell Plaza Oktoberfest! Today's installment from the good Doctor is a bizarro little film by Ted Post (the guy who directed Hang 'Em High, Magnum Force and Beneath the Planet of the Apes). It's called The Baby. Here's a hint: This ain't no usual baby... creepy bugger! In news this morning, you may recall that we mentioned yesterday that Fox is releasing Sid & Nancy on Blu-ray Disc on 12/27. Well... a couple Bits readers e-mailed us yesterday to say that they've already been able to pick up the disc at their local Best Buy stores. We don't believe it's an exclusive (as Best Buy.com shows a release date of 12/13) and if it's a stocking error it'll probably get pulled quick. But the next time you're browsing the isles there you might keep an eye out for it. Meanwhile, Invincible Picture has set A Serbian Film for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/25 (SRP $19.95 each). You might have heard that this film has been called one of the most controversial in recent years for its "extreme aberrant sexual and violent content including explicit dialogue". How's that for a recommendation? We haven't seen it and so can't comment, but if you decide to check it out, don't say we didn't warn you! Also, Wolfe Video is releasing Mangus! on DVD on 12/6 (SRP $24.95). Extras will include director's commentary, a behind-the-scenes featurette and the trailer. Finally, a pair of companies - Gary Goddard Entertainment and Video Services Corp. - have announced the DVD release of Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future: The Complete Series and Skeleton Warriors: The Complete Series on 12/6 (SRP $44.98 and $19.98 respectively). The former was a 22-episode mix of live action and CGI from the late 80s, while the latter was a 13-episode CBS animated series. Both have been produced "from the original master tapes" and will include special features like featurettes, cast and crew commentaries, unreleased material, promos, concept art and more. Be sure to check back a little later this morning for Russell Hammond's weekly update of the Release Dates & Artwork section, featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, anything you order from Amazon after clicking through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we truly do appreciate it! Stay tuned... (LATE UPDATE - 10/3/11 - 2 PM PDT) All right, we have confirmation from retail sources that Best Buy will have an exclusive Blu-ray 3D version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 on 11/11 (SRP $29.99). They may also have an exclusive Blu-ray 3D version of Part 1 as well. We'll let you know as soon as we can confirm. Meanwhile, MGM has set a Sid & Nancy: 25th Anniversary Edition for release on Blu-ray Disc on 12/27. Extras will include a pair of featurettes (For the Love of Punk and Junk Love). Warner has set a Looney Tunes Super Stars: Pepe Le Pew Collection for release on DVD only on 12/27. The Collective is releasing the horror film Atrocious on DVD on 10/25. Lionsgate has set Game Time and The Hunters for release on DVD on 12/27. Kino is releasing Rapt on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/6 (SRP $34.95 and $29.95), the 1922 silent version of Sherlock Holmes starring John Barrymore on Blu-ray (SRP $34.95) and Seven Chances: Ultimate Edition on both Blu-ray and DVD (SRP $34.95 and $29.95) on 12/13, the original 1932 Best Picture-nominated version of A Farewell to Arms on Blu-ray and DVD (SRP $29.95 and $24.95) and Nothing Sacred on Blu-ray and DVD (SRP $29.95 and $24.95) on 12/20, and finally the recent Tuesday, After Christmas on DVD only on 12/27 (SRP $29.95). A Farewell to Arms and Nothing Sacred are both mastered from original 35mm nitrite prints and are authorized by the estate of David O. Selznick. Also, here's something cool: The guys who brought you the excellent Never Sleep Again documentary about the Nightmare on Elm Street films are back again with something even cooler: a new 2-hour documentary about Return of the Living Dead! It's called More Brains: A Return to the Living Dead and it streets on DVD on 10/18 (SRP $19.95). The disc includes 2 hours worth of bonus content, including 7 video segments and behind-the-scenes featurettes (A Conversation with Dan O'Bannon: The Final Interview, They Won't Stay Dead: A Look at Return of the Living Dead Part II, Love Beyond the Grave: A Look at Return of the Living Dead 3, Stacey Q Live! Exclusive "Tonight" Music Video, Even More Brains: Deleted Documentary Interviews, Return of the Living Dead in 3 Minutes and Resurrected Settings: The Filming Locations Today). In and among this footage, you'll get to see deleted footage from the film, bloopers, special effects test footage and lots more. You can order the disc here at Amazon.com, and it's also available at the official website. If you place your order directly at the official site, you'll also you'll receive a 12"x18", full-color commemorative poster created by original Return of the Living Dead poster artist Carl Ramsey and signed by Beverly Randolph (Tina), Brian Peck (Scuz) and James Karen (Frank). Sounds awesome! Here's a look at the Blu-ray cover art for Kino's Rapt, Magnolia's Page One documentary (10/18) and the DVD art for More Brains: A Return to the Living Dead... Back tomorrow with more. Stay tuned... (EARLY UPDATE - 10/3/11 - 12:01 AM PDT) Morning, folks. As promised, we're pleased as punch today to kick off this year's 5th Annual Hell Plaza Oktoberfest, featuring great horror, thriller and chiller disc reviews by our very own Dr. Adam Jahnke! To get things started off right, Jahnke's turned in a review of Universal's new Halloween II: 30th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray, which is now available in stores. The disc includes Terror in the Isles, which alone makes it worth a purchase if you're a fan. Don't miss it! And be sure to check back every weekday all this month for new Oktoberfest reviews from our mad Doctor! We'll see how long it takes to crack him this year... In release news today, Warner Home Video has set a Harry Potter: The Complete 8-Film Collection for release on DVD and Blu-ray on 11/11 (SRP $98.92 and $139.99). Each is an 8-disc set, meaning you're basically just getting a repackaging of the movie-only versions already released. However, the following lines in Warner's press release certainly caught our eye: "Hard-core Potter fans will be pleased to know that 2011 is not the end of the Harry Potter film franchise on DVD and Blu-ray. Warner Home Video plans to release a comprehensive Harry Potter film collection, with even more extras and collectible premiums in 2012. More details about the collection will be available at a later date." So not only will 2012 see the release of the Ultimate Collector's Editions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, all 8 of the films are going to be collected again in yet another new "super-ultimate" box set on Blu-ray and DVD at the same time. Rest assured we'll post more details as they become available. In other news, Universal has set Law & Order UK: Season Two for DVD release on 11/22, followed by 30 Rock: Season 5 on 11/29. Sony will release Mardi Gras: Spring Break on DVD on 10/25. They've also set 30 Minutes or Less for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/29. Speaking of Sony, Image has moved a few of their previously announced Sony deep catalog Blu-ray titles to 1/24/2012, including The Toy, Stir Crazy and See No Evil, Hear No Evil. They've also moved Adaptation, Nothing in Common and A Solider's Story to 1/21/2012. All these titles were previously announced for release on 12/6. Also coming to Blu-ray from Image are Chris Isaak: Live/Greatest Hits Live, Tom Petty: Live, Ringo Starr and the Roundheads Live and Back Door Channels: The Price of Peace on 1/3/2012, followed by Greece: Secrets of the Past IMAX on 1/10/2012. And Image will release Ghost Hunters: Season 6, Part 2 on DVD and Blu-ray on 10/11 (SRP $29.98 and $24.98). Screen Media Films is releasing the documentary JIG on Blu-ray and DVD tomorrow (10/4). Microcinema International has set Alex Cox's Highway Patrolman (El Patrullero), Sleep Furiously, Making War Horse, "Oh Mr. Faulkner, Do You Write?" and Futurist Life Redux for release on DVD only on 11/15. Eagle Rock Entertainment will release the Queensrÿche: Mindcrime at The Moore concert on Blu-ray on 10/18 (SRP $19.98). And finally, Amazon.co.uk has revealed that Fox will be releasing the 1963 epic Cleopatra on Blu-ray Disc in late January (1/20/12 is the U.K. street date). One would expect a U.S. release to be announced in the weeks ahead. Speaking of Fox and Amazon.co.uk, the retailer also has Mr. Popper's Penguins set for release on BD and DVD on 12/12, so watch for a U.S. date to be announced shortly for that title as well. Back later. Stay tuned... 9/30/11 Morning, folks! Hope you're all well on this fine Friday. To kick things off today, our own Tim Salmons has checked in with a review of Fritz Lang's legendary classic M on Blu-ray from the good folks at Criterion. This is a really great B&W thriller if you haven't seen it, so be sure to give it a look. In release news today, Warner Home Video has set Shameless: The Complete First Season for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 12/27 (SRP $49.99 and $39.98). You'll get all the episodes plus extras on 2 Blu-rays or 3 DVDs. Universal has set the romantic comedy One Day for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/29. Speaking of Universal, for those of you who are interested in picking up their Big Lebowski Blu-ray but don't want the BD book packaging, it looks as if the studio is re-releasing the disc in a regular Amaray case on 11/15. Just FYI. And retail sources tell us that Disney is getting ready to announce their remade Fright Night for Blu-ray Disc, Blu-ray 3D and DVD release likely in December. Watch for official details soon. Amazon has the cover art up already, and you'll find it below. Meanwhile, our friends over at Home Cinema Choice have learned that Fox's The Rise of the Planet of the Apes is currently set for release in the U.K. sometime in December, which likely means it'll be out here in the States then too. They've got some details on the extras you can expect thanks to the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). Should be a cool title. Thanks to Bits reader Kevin D. for the heads-up! And A&E Home Video has set Robotech: The Complete Original Series (17 discs - SRP $99.95), Top Shot: Reloaded - The Complete Season Two, American Pickers: Volume 2 and Baseball's Greatest Games: Collector's Edition for DVD release on 10/18, followed by Pawn Stars: Volume 3 and America: The Story of Us - Collector's Edition on DVD on 10/25. Also, in news from around the Net today, The Los Angeles Times has an interesting article up on how Hollywood - all too aware that physical media is on the wane - is really gearing up to try and make a go of things in the streaming/downloading arena. I'll pull out the old crystal ball and predict that it's going to be a very tough row to hoe. Revenues are going to continue declining (after all, you can't charge $39.99 for a download), the result of which is that the home video business is likely going to contract much in the way that the music industry has. Just my take. Anyway... here's a look at the Blu-ray cover art for Shameless: The Complete First Season, Disney's Fright Night (TBA) and Paramount's Mission: Impossible - Extreme Blu-ray Trilogy (12/6)... Now then... Monday is October 3rd, and you know what that means: Adam Jahnke's annual Hell Plaza Oktoberfest is nearly upon us! For this FIFTH incarnation of the ever-popular Fest, the good Doctor has cooked up another great batch of thriller, chiller and horror title reviews on Blu-ray and DVD. We'll post one each weekday throughout the entire month, with the first kicking off Monday morning, so don't miss it! We'll also be back next week with a new Classic Coming Attractions column from our own Barrie Maxwell, so be sure to watch for that as well. Don't forget that the new season of Fringe continues tonight on Fox (it started last Friday) and the new season of Storm Chasers continues on Sunday night on Discovery (that one started last Sunday). LOVE Storm Chasers, man. Just can't get enough of that show. Good stuff. Have a great weekend and we'll see you on Hell Plaza Monday! 9/29/11 All right... we've got more new announcement news for you today. First though, our own Barrie Maxwell has turned in a review of Warner's terrific new Ben-Hur: 50th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray box set for you to read. The set is pretty fantastic and the film looks absolutely incredible in 1080p. Ned Price and his restoration team at Warner have really done a wonderful job. The box is well worth a look if you're interested in great classic films in high-def, so enjoy! By the way, if you buy the Ben-Hur: UCE box set at Best Buy, you get an exclusive "Roman Figure" collectable (thanks to Bits reader Dwayne K. for the heads-up). Now then... 20th Century Fox has set the indie sci-fi film Another Earth for release on Blu-ray Combo Pack on 11/19. As with their previously-announced Tree of Life BD Combo Pack, it appears there will be no separate DVD release. The Another Earth set will include deleted scenes, 2 featurettes (The Science Behind Another Earth and Creating Another Earth), 3 Fox Movie Channel Presents featurettes (Direct Effect with Mike Cahill, In Character with Brit Marling and In Character with William Mapother) and Fall On Your Sword's The First Time I Saw Jupiter music video. The BD set will include 2 exclusive additional tracks by Fall On Your Sword as well, along with DVD and Digital Copy versions. Fox has also set The Art of Getting By for release on both Blu-ray and DVD on 11/19. Extras will include multiple featurettes, a trailer and audio commentary by director Gavin Wiesen. And don't forget: Warner and Lucasfilm have the Blu-ray and DVD release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Complete Season Three coming up on 10/18 (SRP $59.99 and $44.98). Meanwhile, director Bruce Kimmel has e-mailed us with word that The First Nudie Musical: 35th Anniversary Edition will officially street on Blu-ray on 11/5 (SRP $29.98) via Kritzerland. Extras will include "a retrospective documentary co-directed by Academy Award-nominee Nick Redman, three commentary tracks – two for the film (one with Cindy Williams, Stephen Nathan, and Bruce Kimmel, and one with Nick Redman and Bruce Kimmel), and one for the documentary (Nick Redman, Michael Rosendale, and Bruce Kimmel). Additionally, there's a deleted scene, two deleted musical numbers (one with sound and picture, one with audio only), two theatrical trailers, a radio spot, costume tests, and a stills gallery." And here's what's really cool - the first 100 copies to be pre-ordered WILL BE SIGNED by Kimmel and Cindy Williams! Click on the link to get your orders in quick! In other release news today, Warner Home Video is bowing The Essential Daffy Duck Collection of animated shorts on DVD only on 11/1 (SRP $26.99). Some 21 cartoons will be included in all, along with additional featurettes and TV specials. The Cinema Guild is releasing Matt Porterfield's Putty Hill on 2-disc DVD on 11/8 (SRP $34.95). In addition to Putty Hill, you also get the director's first film, Hamilton, and both discs include extras. IFC Films will release The Trip on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/11. First Run Features has set Fambul Tok, Out Late, The Art of Filming and Anti-Nazi Classics: Volume 2 for release on DVD only on 10/25. Image Entertainment has set A Little Help for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/25 (SRP $29.97 and $27.97). Image also has Bette Midler: The Showgirl Must Go On coming to Blu-ray and DVD on 10/4 (SRP $24.98 and $19.98). Paramount and Comedy Central have set Craig Ferguson: Does This Need to be Said? for DVD only release on 10/18. Eagle Rock Entertainment has the music documentary God Bless Ozzy Osbourne due for release on DVD and Blu-ray on 11/15 (SRP $19.98 and $14.98). For your holiday viewing, RHI and Vivendi are delivering The Santa Incident on DVD only on 11/1 (SRP $14.93). Vivendi also has Devil's Playground coming on DVD only on 10/11. And finally, Lionsgate will release Circumstance and Champions on DVD on 12/13. In other news today, the industry research firm NPD Group is reporting that the Blu-ray format is currently on pace to reach 105 million installed playback devices in the U.S. by 2015. More here at Home Media. That's interesting, because the total number of TV households in the U.S. is currently around 116 million. Here's a look at the Blu-ray cover art for Another Earth, The First Nudie Musical and Star Wars: The Clone Wars - The Complete Season Three... Back with more tomorrow. Stay tuned! 9/28/11 All right, here you go! It's finally official, Trekkers... and remember where you heard about it first! Just as we've been reporting here at The Bits for over a year now, Star Trek: The Next Generation is coming to Blu-ray in 2012 from CBS Home Video! First, here's the official trailer (be sure to watch it in 720p)... Your first real look at the project is coming on 1/31/12, with the release of the Star Trek: The Next Generation - The Next Level Blu-ray sampler disc (SRP $21.99 - we posted the cover art yesterday). [Note that we're still unsure of the originally reported U.K. date - which was in early December - still holds there.] As expected, the sampler disc will include Encounter at Farpoint, Sins of the Father and The Inner Light. Here's more from the official announcement on Star Trek.com: "Star Trek: The Next Generation will be released in high-definition Blu-ray, starting in January with a sampler of several popular episodes, followed by a season-one set to be released later on in 2012, and subsequent seasons beaming down after that. Each of the 178 episodes spanning The Next Generation's seven seasons will be transferred to true high-definition 1080p for release in the Blu-ray format and, eventually, for runs on television and digital platforms in the U.S. and across the world. Star Trek: The Next Generation will, as fans know, be celebrating its 25th anniversary in 2012. "Fans have been clamoring for a high-definition release of Star Trek: The Next Generation," Ken Ross, Executive Vice President and General Manager of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. "Transferring the series to high-definition presented difficult technical challenges, but our team has come up with a process to create true 1080p HD masters with true HD visual effects. We can’t wait to show fans how pristine the series looks and sounds with our upcoming Blu-ray releases." CBS is, in fact, returning to the original film negatives, a mother lode of material encompassing 25,000-plus reels of footage, and editing the episodes together precisely as they were when they originally aired between 1987 and 1994. Visual effects will not be upconverted from videotape, but instead will be recompositioned. The freshly cut film will ultimately be transferred to high definition with 7.1 DTS Master Audio. And all of the work is being done in conjunction with respected, longtime Star Trek figures Denise and Michael Okuda, who are on board as consultants." Very, very cool! Boy, it's nice to have some official word on all this finally. Can't wait to see how good this show looks in 1080p! That recomposited shot of the NCC-1701-D in HD sure does look sweet. And as you can see by the announcement, it sure looks and sounds like they're doing this thing right. By the way, we're told that the show's original 1.33:1 aspect ratio will be preserved (and that's what you'll get on Blu-ray), but 1.78:1 versions may be created for use in certain distribution venues. We'll post more as it's available. Back this afternoon with other news. Stay tuned! 9/27/11 All right, we've got a quick early post for you... First, our own Russell Hammond will be updating the Release Dates & Artwork section later this morning with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you buy from Amazon after you click through to them from our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we really appreciate it. Now then... Amazon.de has posted the official cover artwork for CBS's yet-to-be-announced Star Trek: The Next Generation - A Taste of TNG in High-Definition Blu-ray sampler disc. We expect that the cover art for the U.S. release should be similar, if not identical. The Taste of TNG title seems pretty silly. How about TNG Remastered? Wouldn't that have made more sense, given the Star Trek: Remastered title we already saw for The Original Series on Blu-ray? Anyway... ours is not to reason why. Sources tell us that the official preview trailer for the sampler disc (and possibly the official announcement of the Remastered project itself) may appear online as soon as tomorrow - the 24th anniversary of the show's first broadcast back in 1987. To recap: The U.S. street date is expected to be early December, on or about 12/6. Episodes should include: Encounter at Farpoint, Parts 1 and 2, Sins of the Father and The Inner Light. We'll post links as soon as they appear. Thanks to Bits reader Gustavo L. and TrekWeb for the heads-up. Here's the cover art... As you can see, we've also posted cover art for Sony's Friends with Benefits (due 12/2) and Image's Chillerama (11/29). Back with more later. Stay tuned... 9/26/11 All right, just a quick update for you: Warner got back to us with word that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 on Blu-ray 3D (which was never released theatrically) is going to be a Sony hardware exclusive. You'll be able to get it for free on 11/11 (with the 2D Blu-ray version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2) as part of something called Harry Potter 3D Experience if you purchase Sony's BDP-S780 Blu-ray 3D player, BDV-E580 Blu-ray 3D home theater system or TDG-BR250/DBL 3D starter kit (with 2 pairs of 3D glasses). Meanwhile, there's no word yet on an official U.S. release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 on Blu-ray 3D, even though it's already announced on that format for release in the U.K. on 12/2 (Part 1 is announced there as well). It could be that the title will be another exclusive here in the States, but you SHOULD just be able to import it from the U.K., as Warner BD titles are almost always non-region locked. It's also set for release in Canada on 11/11 with the regular 2D edition. [Editor's Note: We've heard from a retail source that - in addition to Sony's 3D hardware exclusive on Part I - the Blu-ray 3D versions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1 AND Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 may be available exclusively in Best Buy stores on 11/11. They're not on Best Buy.com yet and we're waiting for confirmation from WHV on this, so stay tuned.] In other announcement news, Sony has set The Smurfs for release on Blu-ray 3D Combo, Blu-ray Combo and DVD (SRP $45.99, $40.00 and $30.00 - does anyone else think those prices are a little crazy?) on 12/2. The regular Blu-ray Combo (but not 3D it appears) includes an exclusive The Smurfs: A Christmas Carol short. The BD versions also include deleted scenes, interactive games, featurettes and progression reels. Sony has also set Friends with Benefits for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 12/2 (SRP $40.99 and $30.99). Also being released by Sony on DVD only on 12/6 is a re-issue of Fright Night, as well as Life Above All on Blu-ray Combo and DVD, and Justice for Natalee on DVD only. Meanwhile, Paramount has announced that it's re-releasing the Mission: Impossible trilogy as an Extreme Edition Gift Set on both Blu-ray and DVD on 12/6. This is obviously an effort to tie into the promotion for the forthcoming Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol feature film (due in theatres on 12/21) directed by Brad Bird of The Iron Giant, Ratatouille and The Incredibles fame. Elsewhere around the Net today, Dr. Jahnke has chimed in with his two cents on the recent Netflix/Qwikster debacle over at The Morton Report. It's pretty good stuff, so do check it out. And speaking of Adam, the good Doctor celebrates his birthday today, so give him a big "Hidey-ho!" if you're of the mind. Here's BD cover art for Fox's Atlas Shrugged: Part I (due 11/8), Disney's Winnie the Pooh (10/25) and Sony's The Smurfs... Don't forget that the debut of the new Jurassic Avatar (er... Terra Nova) TV show happens tonight on Fox. Not sure if it's going to be worth watching, but it can't hurt to give it a look. Stay tuned... 9/23/11 Morning, folks! Sorry for the lack of an update yesterday. We had a code problem on the site that for a while there on Wednesday that some of you will know threw off the visual appearance of the home page in different browsers, and fixing that took a good portion of the day yesterday. All seems to be back to normal now, so that should take care of it. Meanwhile, there have been a few interesting announcements... Warner has set The Hangover, Part II for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 12/6 (SRP $35.99 and $28.98). Extras on the Blu-ray will include 4 featurettes (The Comedy Rhythm of Todd Phillips, Not Your Everyday Monkey, Bangkok Tour with Chow and Action Mash-Up) and a gag reel. You'll also get a DVD copy in the pack as well as an UltraViolet Digital Copy. The stand-alone DVD copy includes only the gag reel. 20th Century Fox has set Atlas Shrugged: Part I for Blu-ray and DVD release on 11/8. Extras will include commentary with writer/producer John Aglialoro, Brian Patrick O'Toole and Harmon Kaslow and 3 featurettes (Road to Atlas Shrugged, I Am John Galt and The John Galt Theme Slideshow). Blue Underground has set Night Train Murders for release on Blu-ray Disc on 1/31/12 (SRP $14.98). Extras will include trailers, radio spots and the Riding the Night Train interview with co-writer/director Aldo Lado. Magnolia Home Entertainment and Magnet are releasing The Last Circus on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/18 (SRP $29.98 and $26.98). And Lionsgate is releasing The Devil's Double on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/22, followed by Psychic Experiment, The Three Investigators in the Secret of Skeleton Island, Care Bears: Super Cuddly Collection and Clifford the Big Red Dog: Big Big Collection on DVD only on 12/6. By the way, for those of you who have been asking about it, it MIGHT (and I repeat MIGHT) be possible that Warner's Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 on Blu-ray 3D will initially be a Walmart exclusive title. The retailer currently has one listed on their website for release on 11/11 (SRP $34.96). We've contacted the studio for confirmation. Thanks to Bits reader Luna L. for the heads-up! [EDITOR'S NOTE: Warner Home Video has just gotten back to us and said there is NO Walmart exclusive on a BD3D version. So the Walmart listing is in ERROR. We've asked whether the studio plans to release the title on Blu-ray 3D in 2011 or 2012 - as one is not yet officially announced - and when we find out we'll let you know here.] All right, in other news, we're getting isolated reports that some of the Star Wars BD discs may be causing problems on certain models of Blu-ray player - issues including the THX "meta data" on the discs triggering unusual playback behavior and menus acting glitchy on the bonus discs. First things first: Make sure you have all updated your players' firmware to the latest version. And if you're still having issues, we'd suggest that you contact your player manufacturer's customer support service so they can get working on a new update to correct the issues. Also, there are additional isolated reports that some copies of the Star Wars BD set are missing discs, or have duplicate discs. If you've experienced this, we suggest you return and exchange the discs where you purchased them. I'm sure Fox is getting to the bottom of it, so I would expect corrected copies to be sent to retailers with bad ones fairly quickly. Speaking of Star Wars, 20th Century Fox and Lucasfilm have just announced the the BD set broke global sales records, which is probably no surprise. According to their press release, the Star Wars Saga set is now "the bestselling catalog Blu-ray Disc of all time with worldwide sales totaling one million units, including 515,000 units sold in North America in its first week alone. This represents $84 million in worldwide consumer spend including $38 million in North America - unprecedented for a nine-disc Blu-ray collection at a premium price." So there you go. Just in case you were wondering. Now then, we'll leave you with a look at the BD cover art for Criterion's The Lady Vanishes (12/6), Well Go USA's A Better Tomorrow (11/8) and Warner's The Hangover, Part II... Have a great weekend everyone, and see you back here on Monday! Peace out. 9/21/11 All right, the big news today is that Paramount has just officially announced the Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD Combo and Blu-ray/DVD Combo release of Captain America: The First Avenger on 10/25. Both will include a Digital Copy. The regular 2D Blu-ray will include commentary by director Joe Johnston, director of photography Shelly Johnson and editor Jeff Ford, deleted scenes with optional commentary, the Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor's Hammer, 7 featurettes (Outfitting a Hero, Howling Commandos, Heightened Technology, The Transformation, Behind the Skull, Captain America Origins and The Assembly Begins) trailers. Here's the cover art for both versions, which we've posted before... In other news today (as you can see by the additional cover art), Warner Home Video has set Looney Tunes Showcase: Volume 1 for Blu-ray Disc release on 1/10/12 (SRP $24.98). The single-disc release contains 25 classic shorts, all of which are also available in the Looney Tunes: Platinum Collection - Volume 1 Blu-ray set due on 11/15 (SRP $59.96). Essentially, this is just a budget priced release of Disc One of the Platinum Collection set, including the exact shame shorts and extras. Magnolia Home Entertainment will release Page One: The Inside Story of The New York Times on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/18, as part of their Magnet label (SRP $29.98 and $26.98). Extras will include commentary and extended interviews. 20th Century Fox has set Terri for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/11, starring John C. Rilley and Jacob Wyscoki. Extras will include A Look Inside Terri and deleted scenes. Kino Lorber has informed us that their upcoming The Birth of a Nation: Deluxe Edition will now be a 3-disc edition on both Blu-ray and DVD but that the packaging and prices will not change. Disc One of the Blu-ray is the 2011 remastered film in HD (SD on the DVD version), Disc Two is the Griffith Masterworks version of the film on DVD and Disc Three is a DVD that includes tons of bonus content. SRP is $39.95 for the Blu-ray set and $29.95 for DVD. A&E and Major League Baseball have set Yankeeography: Pinstripe Legends for DVD only release on 10/4 (SRP $179.95). The set includes more than 50 hours of content on 16 DVD, highlighting the careers of 37 N.Y. Yankee baseball icons. You also get a 32-page book that serves as the packaging. Raro Video is releasing one of Federico Fellini's final masterpieces, The Clowns, on Blu-ray on 10/17 (SRP $39.98). Extras will include "a rare and exclusive short film by Fellini, a video essay on the genesis of the film and a 50 page booklet with exclusive Fellini drawings." Anchor Bay has set 5 Days of War for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/19 (SRP $29.99 and $26.98). CBS and Paramount have announced Mission: Impossible - The '88 TV Season for DVD only release on 11/29. Comedy Central and Paramount have announced "Workaholics": Season One for DVD only release on 10/11. Well Go USA has set the Hong Kong actioner The Stool Pigeon for release on Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and DVD on 9/27. Well Go USA has also announced the Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack and DVD release of A Better Tomorrow for release on 11/8 (SRP $29.98 and $24.98). Extras will include deleted scenes, a photo gallery, behind-the-scenes interviews with director Hae-sung Song and the cast, and a 30-minute interview with executive producer John Woo. For you surfing fans, Shout! Factory has announced Warren Miller's Wintervention: Collector's Edition for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/1. Each will include The Making of Wintervention documentary. Finally, Adult Swim and Warner Home Video will release Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1: Season 1 on DVD only on 10/11. The 2-disc set will feature all 10 episodes of the show's first season, along with the final 7 episodes of Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Terror Phone 3. Stay tuned... 9/20/11 All right, how about an early post for you today? First, our own Russell Hammond will update the Release Dates & Artwork section later this morning to include all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover art and Amazon.com order links. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking to them through our links goes to help support our work at The Bits and we appreciate it. The big news this morning, of course, is that Warner Home Video has announced the Blu-ray Combo Pack and DVD release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 on 11/11 (SRP $35.99 and $28.98). There will also be a Harry Potter: The Complete 8-Film Collection on Blu-ray and DVD that same day, which will include the basic versions of all the films (SRP $139.99 and $98.92). The Blu-ray will include a Maximum Movie Mode hosted by Matthew Lewis (Neville Longbottom) and other cast members, deleted scenes, and 4 featurettes (A Conversation with JK Rowling and Daniel Radcliff, The Goblins of Gringotts, The Women of Harry Potter and WB Studio Tour London: The Making of Harry Potter). You'll also get a DVD copy, a LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7 game demo for the PS3 and an UltraViolet Digital Copy. The DVD version will include only the deleted scenes. For those of you who wonder about the eventual Ultimate Collector's Edition box set versions of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Parts 1 & 2, look for those to be released in 2012. Warner has also announced Crazy, Stupid, Love for release on Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 11/1 (SRP $35.99 and $28.98). Extras will include deleted scenes, 2 featurettes (Steve and Ryan Walk Into a Bar and The Player Meets His Match), a DVD and an UltraViolet Digital Copy. Again, the DVD version will include only deleted scenes. By the way, UltraViolet is essentially a digital content/rights management system that allows you to register your content and playback devices so as to ensure that you will always retain the rights to watch your Digital Copy, or downloaded or purchased movie content. It also allows you to do so more easily on portable devices. More here at the official website. Finally today, a number of you have asked for my opinions on Netflix deciding to go download-only and spin off its DVD rental by mail business off as a new company called Qwickster (you can read more on the news here, here here and here). My personal opinion is that it's ill advised. There's still a lot of life in physical media yet - especially on the rental side. There's no shortage of DVD rental subscribers. I also strongly suspect the streaming/downloading future is nowhere near as simple and rosy as adherents wish to believe. Broadband infrastructure upgrades are still way behind here in the States, and Net metering alone could prove a show-stopper to this model. As more and more businesses push cloud services and streaming content, Internet access providers are going to start asking SOMEONE - either those offering the content or those consuming it or both - to pay for the true cost of the bandwidth they're using. That means added and fees for consumers and a LOT of them. Streaming movies might not be so appealing to cash-strapped consumes as the costs to enjoy it continue to rise. The other problem with streaming is that sooner or later, the content providers (read: the Hollywood studios) are going to realize that they don't need Netflix and other content delivery middle men anymore - they can simply create their own streaming services and maximize their own profits. But Netflix's decision reflects the uncertainty all of the entertainment industry is feeling. As the world of entertainment content continues to go digital and online, and as physical media eventually takes a back seat over the next decade, nobody really knows exactly how much people are willing to pay for such content and how profitable it will be. Yes, people might pay $15 a month for downloading, but no one is going to pay $35.99 for a single movie download. Likewise, while CDs and hardback books once sold for $20 each, most music fans are eschewing albums for $.99 song downloads and most ebooks are $9.99 or less. Plus, Netflix can't exactly be reassured by the fact that the Post Office seems to be having ever growing difficulties and some politicians are actually calling for it to be abolished entirely. Mailing and distributing physical discs requires a LOT of costly infrastructure - tracking software, sorting machines, distribution centers. Yes, streaming requires infrastructure too, but a lot less of it. Which means lower costs. The bottom line is that from a purely business standpoint, Netflix's decision probably makes sense to them - especially in the long run. But in the meantime, a company that's already pissed off its customers en masse multiple times, is apparently happy to piss them off some more and is betting that it won't matter in the long run because they're the biggest player in the streaming/rental business. This is classic corporate arrogance, plain and simple. Maximize profits at all costs - even at the cost of consumer service and convenience. The bottom line is that while downloading is awesome in many ways, it's not so awesome in others. Quality suffers, content can suffer, and LOTS of jobs are going to be lost. Physical media needs to be authored, manufactured, packaged, shipped and sold in real, physical places by real, physical people. Digital downloads are stored on a server and are sent by computer to your playback device at the click of a button - all by computer with just a very tiny fraction of the human involvement physical products require. If you're a corporate shareholder, that's awesome - pure profit. If you're someone whose job is no longer required, well... maybe not so much. This is the trade off we're making as a society and it seems we're just all going to have to get used to it because it's here to stay. Welcome to the 21st Century, folks! Anyway, here's a look at the Blu-ray and DVD cover art for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, along with Crazy, Stupid, Love on Blu-ray... Stay tuned... 9/19/11 All right, hope you all had a great weekend. In announcement news today, Sony has set Attack the Block for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/25 (SLP $35.99 and $30.99). Extras will include 5 featurettes (Behind the Block, Creature Feature, Meet the Gang, Unfilmed Action and That's a Rap) and 3 filmmaker and cast commentaries (Junior Commentary with Writer/Director Joe Cornish with John Boyega, Alex Esmail, Franz Drameh, Simon Howard and Leeon Jones, Senior Commentary with Joe Cornish with Jodie Whittaker, Luke Treadaway and Nick Frost, and Executive Producer Commentary with Joe Cornish with Executive Producer Edgar Wright). Warner and the BBC have set The Office: Special Edition for DVD only release on 11/22 (SRP $39.98). The 4-disc set includes the complete original U.K. series along with new bonus features including the original pilot, 6 newly-recorded episode introductions by co-creators Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant and 2 BBC specials (Comedy Connections: The Office and Heroes of Comedy: Ricky Gervais). The previous DVD extras appear to carry over as well. Warner and the BBC have also set The Rise and Fall of Margaret Thatcher for DVD only release on 10/18 (SRP $34.98). Meanwhile, Lionsgate reminds you all that The Conversation streets on Blu-ray on 10/25, along with The People vs. George Lucas and Mothman on DVD only. Lionsgate has announced a bunch of fitness DVDs for those of you might interested. Deepak Chopra & Tara Stiles - Yoga Transformation: Weight Loss & Balance, Deepak Chopra & Tara Stiles - Yoga Transformation: Strength & Energy, The Biggest Loser: Calorie Knockout, The Biggest Loser: At Home Challenge, Billy Blanks Jr.: Fat-Burning Hip Hop Mix, Prayfit: 33-Day Total Body Challenge and Denise Austin: Shape Up & Shed Pounds will all arrive on DVD on 12/6. Speaking of Lionsgate, they've just posted the Blu-ray trailer for their Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown Blu-rays on YouTube. Both street on 10/4. Here's a look at Pulp Fiction... Here's surprising news: Kritzerland has just announced the Blu-ray Disc release of The First Nudie Musical: 35th Anniversary Edition sometime in October or November (the exact street date is still TBA). The disc is mastered from the internegative (the camera negative is lost), but the quality is reportedly terrific. Extras will include "a retrospective documentary, three commentary tracks - two for the film (one with Cindy Williams, Stephen Nathan and Bruce Kimmel, and one with Nick Redman and Bruce Kimmel), and one for the documentary (Nick Redman, Michael Rosendale, and Bruce Kimmel) - a deleted scene, two deleted musical numbers (one with sound and picture, one with audio only), two theatrical trailers, a radio spot, costume tests and a stills gallery." Sounds pretty good. For music fans, Eagle Rock Entertainment has set Placebo: We Come in Pieces for release on 11/1 on DVD, Deluxe DVD and Blu-ray on 11/1 (SRP $14.98, $19.98 and $39.98). Also, Wolf Video has set Trigger on DVD on 11/22. Vanguard has set For the Love of Amy, Alive, Act Your Age and Nightfur for DVD release on 12/20 (SRP $19.95 each). Music Box Films will release The Names of Love on DVD only on 10/18. And Pathfinder Home Entertainment has set and Street Battle Los Angeles for DVD only release on 11/22, followed by Saki the Killer on DVD only on 11/28. On a completely unrelated note, here's a STUNNING HD video you spaceflight fans should be blown away by. This video was compiled from a series of high-resolution digital still images taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station as it flew down over the California coast at night. You can see the thin veil of the atmosphere, the lights of scores of cities at night (including San Francisco and L.A.), flashes of lightning from thunderstorms and even the stars slowly moving in space. Extraordinary! Reality is always so much more interesting than any visual effect. Be sure to watch it in HD. Enjoy...! Here's BD cover art for Criterion's Tokyo Drifter (due 12/13), Kritzerland's The First Nudie Musical and Sony's Attack the Block... Stay tuned... 9/16/11 All right, here it is... I've just finally completed my in-depth review of Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox's long-awaited Star Wars: The Complete Saga box set on Blu-ray - all 6-disc films, all 9-discs, all the important details. For those Star Wars fans undeterred by Lucas' continued digital tweaking of the films, I think you'll find that this set delivers a surprisingly nice experience. While far from perfect, this is the best the classic films have ever looked at home, and the audio quality on all 6 films is fantastic. There's still a lot of fun to be found here for fans of the films, as well as plenty of unexpected treats from the Lucasfilm Archives. The discs arrive on store shelves later today, so go forth and enjoy! As for the rest of you - those who have vowed never to buy these films again - well... your mileage will vary. [Editor's Note: If there are any errors in the review - and there may be - I'll fix them over the weekend. It's late man, what can I say? I'm tired enough right now to pull the ears off a gundark.] One last thing for you this morning: The folks behind the upcoming The Muppets feature film have put together a fun new trailer that's a send-up of the recent preview for David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. If the film is as clever and fun as this trailer, we might be in for a very nice, Muppet-y treat come Thanksgiving. Fingers crossed. All right, unless there's any other breaking news today, I'm signing off for the week. Frankly, I'm all Star Wars-ed out, and I suspect many of you are going to be way too busy exploring the Star Wars set on your own to care much what happens on the Internet today. So all of you have a great weekend, enjoy your Blu-rays and we'll see you Monday. To quote Han Solo from the Star Wars Holiday Special: "Happy Life Day, pal!" 9/15/11 All right, first up here at The Digital Bits today, we've got a rare hardware review for you. I've taken a look at Epson's recent 8700UB 3-chip 1080p LCD projector, and have been pretty darned impressed by how much the technology has advanced in the last few years... and how much more affordable it's become. If you're interested in upgrading from flat-panels to a more theatre like front-projection experience in your home, the 8700UB is definitely a projector you should consider. Now then... the BIG news today is that Paramount has finally announced the Blu-ray/DVD Combo pack and standard DVD release of Super 8 on 11/22 (SRP $39.99 and $29.99). The DVD will include the following extras: audio commentary with writer/director J.J. Abrams, producer Bryan Burk and cinematographer Larry Fong and 2 featurettes (The Dream Behind Super 8 and The Visitor Lives). The Blu-ray will add deleted scenes, an interactive Deconstructing the Train Crash option and 6 more featurettes (including The Search for New Faces, Meet Joel Courtney, Rediscovering Steel Town, Scoring Super 8, Do You Believe in Magic? and The 8mm Revolution). Here's a look at the cover art for the Blu-ray... As you can see, we also included the cover art for a pair of new/recently-announced catalog Blu-ray titles: Kino Lorber's Way Down East (due 11/22) and Fox's Blue Velvet: 25th Anniversary Edition. Blue Velvet (due on 11/8) will include a new HD transfer and color correction supervised by director David Lynch. Perhaps most exciting, the disc will also include over 50 minutes of "lost footage" that's never been seen before, as well as outtakes. And obviously, you'll get English 5.1 audio in DTS-HD. Not bad. In other exciting release news today, our friends at The Criterion Collection have just announced their December Blu-ray and DVD slate, which is set to include a pair of 1930s classics on 12/6 - Ernst Lubitsch's Design for Living (cat #592) and Alfred Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes (#3) - along with a pair of 1960s Japanese New Wave gangster flicks on 12/13 - Seijun Sizuki's Branded to Kill (#38) and Tokyo Drifter (#39). All will be available on both Blu-ray and DVD. Note that The Lady Vanishes is a BD upgrade of a title already available from Criterion on DVD, while the two gangster titles are NEW special edition upgrades of titles previous available on DVD from the company. Design for Living is a completely new addition to The Collection. And in other news today, those of you who love the film Tombstone and live in the L.A. area might want to check out a 35mm screening of the film at The Autry Museum's Wells Fargo Theatre this Saturday afternoon (at 1:30 Pacific). From the website: "Jeffrey Richardson, Associate Curator of Western History and Popular Culture, will lead a discussion of the film and the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral prior to the screening. And be sure to visit the Autry's Greg Martin Colt Gallery and the newly opened exhibition The Colt Revolver in the American West. The exhibition features Colt revolvers owned by some of the greatest figures in the history of the West, including Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday." Historian Michael F. Blake - a friend of ours here at The Bits and a well-known Western historian (he's the author of the excellent book Hollywood and the O.K. Corral) will be speaking as part of the discussion, so it should be a lot of fun. Admission is $10, or free if you're a member. Now then... you Star Wars fans might want to check back here at The Bits in the wee early hours tomorrow morning, just after midnight. That's when we're posting our review of the new Star Wars Saga Blu-ray set, which hits stores in the States tomorrow. See you then! Stay tuned... 9/14/11 All right, just wanted to let you all know that Russell Hammond completed this week's update of the Release Dates & Art section and we posted it yesterday morning. Included as usual are all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game covers as well as Amazon.com pre-order links for each title. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking to them through our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and it's very much appreciated! Now then, here at The Bits today we're very pleased to present you with Barrie Maxwell's in-depth review of Warner Home Video's new Citizen Kane: 70th Anniversary Ultimate Collector's Edition Blu-ray box set. The title just arrived in stores yesterday, and it's WELL worth your attention if you're a classic film fan. Do check it out. Also here at The Bits today, we've kicked off a part of new Giveaways, offering each of you the chance to take home copies of Warner's Big Bang Theory: Season 4 and Mill Creek's That 70's Show: Season 1, Roseanne: Season 1, Grounded for Life and 3rd Rock from the Sun: Season 1 on DVD. Entries will be accepted until Noon (Pacific) on Sunday, September 25th. Click on the links for instructions on how to enter and good luck! In announcement news this afternoon, Universal has just set Larry Crowne for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/15. Extras will include deleted scenes and 2 featurettes (The Making of Larry Crowne and Fun on Set), plus all the usual interactive options on the BD. Also coming on 11/15 from Universal is Beginners on both Blu-ray and DVD. Warner Home Video has moved the street date for Meet Me in St. Louis on Blu-ray from 12/23 to 12/13 (SRP $35.99). Adjust your plans accordingly. Extras will include an intro by Liza Minnelli, audio commentary with John Fricke, Margaret O'Brien, Hugh Martin, Irving Brecher and Barbara Freed-Saltzman, audio of the Lux Radio Theater broadcast and a music-only audio track. 20th Century Fox has set Lie to Me: The Complete Third and Final Season for DVD only release on 10/4, along with The League: Season Two on both Blu-ray and DVD. Fox has also announced that it's releasing LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace on Blu-ray Disc and DVD on 9/16, the same day as the Star Wars Blu-rays arrive. (Speaking of which, be sure to check back here at 12:01 AM Pacific on Friday morning for our own in-depth review of the BD set.) Meanwhile, Sony has set The Caller for DVD release on 10/4. For you European Tintin fans, Anchor Bay is releasing The Adventures of Tintin: The Complete Collection on Blu-ray and DVD in the U.K. on 10/10. All 21 original shorts will be included. Here's one I know some of you will be happy about: Synapse is releasing Frank Henenlotter's Frankenhooker on Blu-ray on 11/8 (SRP $24.95)! The disc will feature a 2K scan, remastered 5.1 audio, audio commentary with the filmmakers, 4 behind-the-scenes featurettes and the theatrical trailer. Save your money! Maya Entertainment is releasing Dirty Little Tricks on DVD on 11/8. CBS and Paramount will release The Lucy Show: The Official Fifth Season on DVD on 12/6. Paramount and TV Land will release Hot in Cleveland: Season Two on DVD on 11/29 (SRP $29.99). And Severin Films is releasing the Brit cult series Snuff Box on DVD on 10/11. Finally, here's something interesting: Warner Archive has just added Akira Kurosawa's Dreams to the available Warner Archive DVD-R offerings. Thanks to Bits reader Tom W. for the heads-up! Here's a look at the BD cover art for Larry Crowne, Beginners and Frankenhooker. Enjoy! Stay tuned... 9/13/11 Just a quick early update for you this morning with some very big and cool news... At last night's L.A. Times/Hero Complex screening of Raiders of the Lost Ark in Los Angeles, director Steven Spielberg confirmed that the Indiana Jones films are "coming soon" to Blu-ray, but only when producer George Lucas is ready. Spielberg would apparently like that to be within 6 months, while Lucas is apparently on more of a 12-month schedule. [Editor's Note: Our industry sources continue to tell us to look for the release in the 2nd half of 2012, as part of Paramount's 100th studio anniversary celebration.] The print that was shown last night was the digital restoration that will be used for the Blu-ray, and it apparently looks terrific. Spielberg reportedly made a point of noting that nothing has been tampered with in the film and there's no added dialogue, which drew some laughs from the crowd for obvious reasons. It's not yet decided if the set will include all four films in the series or just the unreleased trilogy. Star Harrison Ford was also on hand at the event as a guest and said he'd be up for doing a 5th Indy film as long as his character "isn't going to Mars" (which drew more laughs as you can imagine). Talks for a sequel are apparently under way. Spielberg also confirmed again that E.T. is coming to Blu-ray from Universal in 2012, but likely only the original theatrical cut. He asked the audience if they'd care if the "new" version wasn't on the Blu-ray, which generated a big "NO!" Spielberg acknowledged this and said he regrets making the changes he did for the DVD. So there you go - some good news indeed! Thanks to a whole bunch of our old friends (and many longtime Bits readers - too numerous to mention, but you know who you are) who were on hand last night and who e-mailed afterwards with these details. Let's just say our inbox was pretty full by Midnight! Speaking of George Lucas, I expect to finally be getting a better look at the Star Wars Blu-rays in the next couple of days, so I'll be sure to post a full report by the end of the week. It will likely be up very early on Friday (the street date for the release here in the States), so you'll have something to read before you rush off to the store to pick up your copies. And while we're on the topic, our very own Dr. Adam Jahnke has written up a good column on Lucas and the original Star Wars film over at The Morton Report, so do check it out. Any guess as to how many Star Wars films have been nominated for Best Picture? (Hint: Just one and the words "Special Edition" had nothing to do with it.) Enjoy! Finally today, a quick note: Jahnke and I had the chance yesterday to see some of Warner Home Video's new 6K restoration of Ben-Hur (from an 8K 65mm camera negative scan) on the big screen... and holy sh-t! It looks ABSOLUTELY amazing. Trust me when I say that the new Blu-ray captures every bit of that big screen experience. The title streets on 9/27 and Barrie's already hard at work on our review, so be sure to watch for it here at The Bits soon. Stay tuned! 9/12/11 All right, we're going to start the new week with an early post for you... First, we've got some heavy-duty Rumor Mill information about CBS' Star Trek: The Next Generation - Remastered Blu-ray sampler disc. Industry sources now tell us that the disc may be announced on 9/28, which is the 24th anniversary of the show's first broadcast back in 1987. We're also told that anticipated the U.S. release date will likely be in early December, on or around 12/6. Again, keep in mind that all of this is unofficial until CBS makes the actual announcement. As Picard would say, "Make it so..." Now then, this is obviously Star Wars week here in the States. We're not sure when screener discs are arriving, so we can't yet talk about the Blu-rays. However - on a related note - I had the chance over the weekend to watch Lionsgate's The People vs. George Lucas documentary, and MAN is it funny! From the title, you might think it's just a 2-hour attack on the creator of Star Wars by angry fans. It's certainly an opportunity for fans to vent about Star Wars (the changes to the original films, the prequels, the fact that Lucas has become a business man - the very thing he most hated - instead of a filmmaker), and it's a highly amusing one at that. TONS of famous, infamous and average fans (our own Mark A. Altman among them) joke, critique and remember their experiences with the franchise, and the film is packed with glimpses of the many spoofs and fan films. But the experience of watching is like a funny and cathartic therapy session for fans, whose expectations for the prequels were almost impossibly high. Star Wars can never be what every fan wants it to be as they grow older, because - 40 years on and with whole new generations embracing the franchise now - they all want different things. But even as they deal with the most crushing disappointments, the majority of fans still seem to love and respect Lucas... and want to forgive him for being not some all-powerful Jedi wizard but rather simply human. I'll tell you, even if you don't buy the Star Wars Saga Blu-rays out of disappointment for the new changes, this documentary is an absolute must-see. And if you do buy the Blu-rays, The People vs. George Lucas is a great "after-dinner mint" for your viewing pleasure. Trust me, it'll make you laugh, it'll bring back fond memories and it'll leave you with a smile. I think even George himself might get a kick out of it. The title comes out on DVD only on 10/25. You can watch the trailer here, read reviews of the film here and pre-order the disc on Amazon here. In announcement news this morning, Lionsgate has set Miranda July's indie comedy The Future for DVD only release on 11/29 (SRP $27.98). Extras will include commentary with July, a behind-the-scenes featurette and a deleted scene. And Magnolia Home Entertainment has set HDNet's Drinking Made Easy: The First Season for DVD only release on 10/4 (SRP $29.98). Season 2 debuts on 10/5 on the cable network. Also today, Universal's Cowboys vs. Aliens is now available for pre-order on Amazon.com on Blu-ray and DVD. There's no street date available yet, but we expect the official announcement from the studio very soon. In other news, some of you may have heard that NASA just launched a pair of space probes - called Grail - to map the Moon's surface. Well, here's the cool thing: If any of you are teachers or students, you can go to a special NASA website for the mission, sign up and actually request that the probes take high-resolution photographs of any location on the moon you want! NASA will then schedule the images to be taken over the life of the mission and post the photos in a public gallery for everyone to see. It's pretty neat and it's a very cool way to get kids involved and interested in science again. More on this here at Space.com, and here's the official website: Grail MoonKAM. Finally this morning, a couple of sad notes. We wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the passing of actors Andy Whitfield and Cliff Robertson over the weekend. Whitfield, the former Spartacus: Blood and Sand star, died on Sunday of the non-Hodgkin's lymphoma he'd been fighting for the last 18 months. He was a talented actor with a lot of potential - if you've seen that first season of Spartacus you know how good he was. Whitfeld was just 39. Robertson, on the other hand, died on Saturday at the age of 88 after a long and distinguished career in film and television, including roles in Charley (for which he won an Oscar), PT-109, Three Days of the Condor, Falcon Crest, Midway, Wind, the Spider-Man films and many more. Both will be missed. That's all for now. Stay tuned... 9/9/11 Okay, let's close out the week with a bit of major release news, shall we? Paramount has just officially revealed that Transformers: Dark of the Moon will street on 9/30 in movie-only Blu-ray/DVD Combo and DVD editions (SRP $29.99 and $19.99). If you're a serious fan you'll want to wait to buy, because the studio has also revealed that more deluxe Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D and DVD special edition versions will follow "in the coming months". Here's a direct quote from director Michael Bay: "For fans who can't wait, the Blu-ray release in September will deliver an awesome ride with the movie in stunning 1080p high definition and a 7.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack that was personally overseen by our phenomenal supervising sound mixer just for the Blu-ray. As you know, we put a lot of effort into the 3D experience for the theatrical release and I want to make sure we get it right for home viewing--and that process takes time. So stay tuned for an even more incredible release that will include the film on Blu-ray 3D and loads of bonus features." In the meantime, Disney has officially confirmed the Blu-ray release of The Rocketeer on 12/13 (SRP $26.50). Sadly, it appears that there will be NO extras on the disc - it's movie-only. That's a serious bummer. Find a really great sale price, I guess. What is Disney thinking? Bare-bones Tombstone, mostly bare-bones O Brother, Where Art Thou?, bare-bones Rocketeer... yikes. Frankly, I wish they'd just license all their live-action material to a company like Criterion that cares enough about these titles to release them properly. As it is, it appears that if a title isn't animated or doesn't star Miley Cyrus, Disney doesn't seem all that interested. Speaking of which, Disney has also announced their new Winnie the Pooh for Blu-ray and DVD release on 10/25. Included will be a pair of new exclusive animated shorts (The Ballad of Nessie and Mini-Adventures of Winnie the Pooh: The Balloon), a sing-along viewing option, a behind-the-scenes featurette and deleted scenes with director commentary. Meanwhile, Music Box Films Home Entertainment has announced that they're releasing a Dragon Tattoo Trilogy: Extended Edition box set on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/22 (SRP $79.95 and $59.95). The 4-disc sets will include new versions of the films that - in total - are a full 2 hours longer than those seen in the theatrical release. (Each film is now around 3 hours long, and is apparently more faithful to the original novel.) These are essentially the versions seen on Swedish television in 2010. The set will also include a new 53-minute documentary, Millennium: The Story, which chronicles the life of author Stieg Larsson. MPI has set The Honeymooners Lost Episodes: The Complete Restored Series for DVD only release on 10/4 (SRP $129.98). This whopping 15-disc box set will include over 50 hours of rare material. From the official press release: "Among the highlights and firsts of this more-than-50-hour collection: 30 episodes and sketches never before on DVD – including the eight highly sought-after 1957 HONEYMOONERS musical hours, which have not been seen anywhere since their original broadcasts; two previously unknown HONEYMONERS radio shows; rare color home movie footage of a 1957 HONEYMOONERS rehearsal; the first home video release of the nine known surviving HONEYMOONERS sketches from the DuMont Cavalcade of Stars variety show, featuring the original Alice Kramden, Pert Kelton; and new bonus features including an interview with Joyce Randolph. Included among the 107 HONEYMOONERS live broadcasts in the collection are 14 full-length shows and 4 sketches not seen since their original airings in the 1950s. The collection has been digitally restored by the UCLA Film & Television Archive and includes a deluxe 42-page booklet containing the full HONEYMOONERS history and rare photos, compiled by HONEYMOONERS expert Robert S. Bader." Also today, Blue Underground will now release House by the Cemetery on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/25 (the original release date was 9/27 - adjust your plans accordingly). And finally, Pacific Entertainment has set Silent Night, Zombie Night (due 10/4), The Hagstone Demon (9/27) and Zombie Apocalypse: Redemption (10/18) for Blu-ray and DVD release (SRP $16.98 and $14.98 each respectively). In other news today, Sony has just unveiled a $25,000 4K home theatre digital projector, with a pixel count of 4096 x 2160 - better than most actual theatre-based digital cinema projectors! The VPL-VW1000ES 4K will arrive in December and installation will apparently be included in the price. So what does one watch on a 4K projector you might ask, given that there's no actual 4K material available here in the States? Well, apparently it's got a whopping good upconverter for regular Blu-ray content. Maybe it comes with a 4K demo disc? Yikes! More here at TIME's Techland column. Also today, it turns out that all 6 Star Wars films might not get the full 3D conversion after all. Why? Well, it seems demand MIGHT not be what Lucasfilm was expecting. Producer Rick McCallum now says they're starting with Phantom Menace and will do one per year in chronological order "if they work." Good luck with that, after pissing off fans with more pointless tweaking of the films. Hey Rick - you want to know what MIGHT get people back in theatres for these? 3D-convert the ORIGINAL theatrical versions, and then promise to release them on Blu-ray with the original versions in both 2D and 3D in PROPER, remastered quality. Yeah, I won't hold my breath. Anyway, more at TG Daily. Finally, here's something that you guys should get a kick out of: Blurry, hard-to-see footage of a practical joke that director Steven Spielberg apparently cooked up to play on Harrison Ford on the set of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom has surfaced online. In it, a dominatrix-costumed Barbra Streisand steps into a take and whips Ford for his "past movie crimes" until Carrie Fisher runs in to save him. Then Irvin Kershner walks into the frame and scolds everyone for terrible acting. Pretty damn funny. Check it out at JoBlo. [Editor's Note: Probably shouldn't be surprised, but the link has already been removed per request. I'm sure it's still out there somewhere though.] All right, here's cover art for both versions of Paramount's vanilla Transformers: Dark of the Moon, BD art for Disney's Winnie the Pooh, BD art for Kino Lorber's The Birth of a Nation (11/22) and City of Life & Death (10/25), and Image's Phantom of the Opera (11/1)... Have a great weekend, folks. Don't forget that Steven Soderbergh's Contagion arrives in theatres this weekend - we hear it's pretty good. See you Monday! 9/8/11 All right, we've got a bunch of ground to cover this afternoon, so let's get right to it... 20th Century Fox has just announced the Blu-ray Disc release of the war film Tora! Tora! Tora! on 12/6. Look for it to include all the previous DVD extras and come in Blu-ray Book packaging. [Editor's Note: I've confirmed that this will contain the 145-minute Japanese cut of the film, which contains 10 additional minutes of footage. Either the accompanying book or the disc itself will also include a gallery of rare images from the Fox Archives.] The BBC has set Doctor Who: The Complete Sixth Series for Blu-ray and DVD release on 11/22 (SRP $89.98 and $79.98). Also coming on Blu-ray and DVD on 11/8 is Doctor Who: The Sixth Series, Part Two (SRP $29.98 and $24.98). Anchor Bay Entertainment and the Weinstein Company have set Ben Stiller's Submarine for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/4. As you might guess, it's NOT a war film. Kino Lorber has offered more details on the Blu-ray and DVD release of Giorgio Moroder presents Metropolis: Special Edition on 11/15 (SRP $34.95 and $29.95). The 82-minute film will include a new 5.1 audio mix as well as the original 2.0. Other extras will include the 1984 The Fading Image documentary (produced by Moroder himself) on his original restoration of the film for the '84 release (this documentary has never been available on home video before), the theatrical trailer, a photo gallery and a liner notes introduction by Moroder. [Note: We've confirmed that the Blu-ray will include 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and LPCM 2.0 stereo, while the DVD will offer 5.1 and 2.0 in Dolby Digital.] Also coming from Kino Lorber on 11/1 are Going Places staring Gerard Depardieu (on Blu-ray and DVD - SRP $29.95 and $24.95), The Artists: The Best of Kino's Silent Classics (DVD - SRP $139.95 - includes Metropolis, Blood & Sand, The Thief of Bagdad, It, Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, Broken Blossoms and The General). Following on 11/8 is Great Directors on DVD (SRP $29.95, featuring interviews with Bernardo Bertolucci, David Lynch, Todd Haynes and Richard Linklater). Also coming on 11/8 is Reel Injun on DVD (SRP $29.95). And we've already revealed that the company will release D. W. Griffith's Way Down East and The Birth of a Nation on Blu-ray on 11/22, but we've got details on the extras. The Birth of a Nation: 2-Disc Deluxe Edition (Blu-ray and DVD - SRP $39.95 and $29.95) will include The Making of The Birth of a Nation featurette, the original 6-minute filmed prologue, Civil War Shorts by Griffith including In the Border States, The House with the Closed Shutters, The Fugitive, His Trust, His Trust Fulfilled, Swords and Hearts and The Battle, a New York vs. The Birth of a Nation archive (documenting the battles over the film's 1922 re-release, including protests by the NAACP, transcripts of meetings, legal documents, newspaper articles, and a montage of scenes ordered cut by the New York Censor Board) and excerpts from a The Birth of a Nation souvenir book (1915) and several original programs. Meanwhile, Way Down East will include excerpts from Lottie Blair Parker's original play, photos of the 1903 William Brady stage version, a clip of the "ice floe sequence" from the Edison Studio's film production of Uncle Tom's Cabin an image gallery (including the original souvenir program book and notes on the music score). Some of those extras are carried over from the previous DVD editions. Meanwhile, DreamWorks has announced a DreamWorks Dragons Blu-ray/DVD Combo for release on 11/15 (SRP $19.99). The movie portion will include 2 new animated adventures (Book of Dragons and Gift of the Night Fury). You'll also get a "game card" that grants access to a Dragons Online Video Game "in which players use the new training secrets they've learned (in the movies) to earn badges as they fight and train new dragons to become the ultimate dragon trainer." Walking Shadows and Virgil Films are releasing the Dracula: The Vampire and the Voivode documentary on DVD on 10/4. The film tells "the never-before-told true story of Bram Stoker and his legendary 1897 gothic novel, Dracula: The Vampire and the Voivode." Synapse Films will release William Lustig's Maniac Cop on Blu-ray Disc on 10/11 (SRP $24.95). Also coming that day is South of Heaven on DVD only. And Eagle Rock has set The Rolling Stones: Some Girls Live in Texas 1978 on BD/CD and DVD/CD Combos (SRP $19.98 and $14.98 respectively). In other news, our friends over at La-La Land Records have announced that they're going to be hosting a special 35mm screening of Steven Spielberg's classic 1941 on Sunday 9/25 at the Cinefamily's Silent Movie Theatre in Hollywood! There will be a Q&A with special guests (TBA) after the film. The event is being held to promote La-La Land's 2-CD release of the John Williams 1941 soundtrack coming on 9/27. Tickets are $10 available here, so act fast. We're checking with Universal to see if there's any plans for a Blu-ray release of this film. Here's a look at the BD cover art for Fox's Tora! Tora! Tora!, Anchor Bay's Submarine and DreamWorks' DreamWorks Dragons... Stay tuned... 9/7/11 All right, as promised we've got a couple new disc reviews for you today... First, our own Tim Salmons has checked in with a look at Criterion's fantastic Blu-ray release of Antichrist from filmmaker Lars von Trier. The disc is currently available in stores. Also, David Steigman gives Shout! Factory's new Mystery Science Theatre 3000 - Manos: the Hands of Fate DVD spin as well. Enjoy! Now then... the big release news today is that A&E has finally revealed the details on its forthcoming Farscape: The Complete Series Blu-ray release, due in stores on 11/15 (SRP $199.95, or $69.95 each for individual seasons). The 20-disc set will include all 88 episodes of the series "optimized for HD from the European PAL masters - the highest quality available source elements" which we presume to mean 625i resolution (or 1080p upconverted from 625i). We'll have to confirm. There's no word yet on what the exact audio format will be, though it will certainly be 5.1 as the DVDs were. In addition, ALL the extras from the previous DVD release will carry over - some 15 hours worth in all - including episode commentaries, featurettes, deleted scenes, trailers, promos and more. You'll also get a brand-new retrospective documentary, Memories of Moya: An Epic Journey Explored featuring "revealing new interviews with creators Brian Henson and Rockne O'Bannon, writer Richard Manning, and stars Ben Browder and Claudia Black as they look back at the legacy of the sci-fi classic." Sounds like it should be pretty nice set if you don't already own the DVDs. You can see the press release here at TVShowsonDVD.com. In other news today, Universal has officially set The Six Million Dollar Man: Season 1 for DVD release on 11/29. The 6-disc set should be identical to the discs in the exclusive TimeLife edition, including 13 episodes, all 3 made-for-TV movies and 2 hours worth of bonus additional content. 20th Century Fox and MGM have announced that the 1990 movie version of Captain America is now available on DVD-R as part of MGM's Limited Edition Collection MOD program. You can order the title on Amazon.com for just $17.95. Meanwhile, Image Entertainment will release The Pee-Wee Herman Show on Broadway on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/4 (SRP $24.98 and $19.98). Any fans of Will Vinton's Claymation out there? Hen's Tooth Video is releasing a 2-disc The California Raisins Collection on DVD on 11/15 (SRP $24.95). Included will be Meet the Raisins, Raisins: Sold Out, 4 classic TV spots and all 13 episodes of the Saturday morning animated TV series from CBS. Also, Wolfe Video will release Leading Ladies on DVD on 9/13. And for you classic film fans, Amazon.com has revealed that Kino Lorber plans to release D.W. Griffith's Way Down East and The Birth of a Nation: Special Edition on Blu-ray on 11/22 (SRP $34.95 and $39.95, respectively). Pre-orders for both titles are now open. Finally today, another source has corroborated those likely episodes we posted yesterday for CBS' yet-to-be-announced Star Trek: The Next Generation - Remastered Blu-ray demo disc. The German site Bluray-disc.de has listed the same episodes and adds that sampler disc is expected to be released in Germany on 12/17. The link is in German, as you'd expect, but here it is. Watch for an official announcement from CBS soon. Thanks to Bits reader Jörg H. for the link. Here's a look at the cover art for A&E's Farscape: The Complete Series, as well as marketing art for Universal's The Six Million Dollar Man: Season 1 on DVD and MGM's Captain America on DVD-R. Click on the cover to pre-order at Amazon... Stay tuned! 9/6/11 All right, hope you all had a great long weekend. We've got a little release news for you today, then we should be back with new disc reviews tomorrow... First though, our own Russell Hammond has once again updated the Release Dates & Artwork section with all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links. As always, a portion of anything you order from Amazon after clicking to them through any of our links goes to help support our work here at The Bits and we really do appreciate it. Now then... Lionsgate has set The Child's Eye and The Sylvain Experiments for DVD release on 10/11, followed by The Future and Needle on 11/29. 20th Century Fox has set the religious/family Breaking the Press for DVD only release on 9/20, followed by The Heart Specialist on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/4. Warner Home Video has announced the DVD-only release of Peanuts: Happiness is Love, Charlie Brown on 12/27 (SRP $14.97). It will include the TV special You're in Love, Charlie Brown, along with an episode of The Charlie Brown & Snoopy Show featuring five shorts (Kite Eating Tree, Sally, Camp, Lucy Loves Schroeder and Scared Snoopy). Warner has also set The Looney Tunes Show: Season 1, Volume 1 for DVD only release on 9/27 (SRP $14.97). This is the new animated series which is now appearing on The Cartoon Network. Included will be 4 episodes (Best Friends, Jailbird and Jailbunny, Members Only and Fish and Visitors), 4 Merrie Melodies (Grilled Cheese, I Blow My Stack, I'm a Martian and Chickenhawk), and a CGI Coyote/Road Runner short (Bubble Trouble). And Warner has set The Smurfs Holiday Celebration for DVD only release on 10/4. Meanwhile, RHI Entertainment and Vivendi Entertainment will release the recent miniseries adaptation of Moby Dick on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/4 (SRP $29.95 and $19.97). The program stars Ethan Hawke, William Hurt, Gillian Anderson and Donald Sutherland. Milestone Film & Video will release the You Got to Move: Stories of Change in the South documentary on DVD on 10/18. Pathfinder is releasing I'm a Cyborg, but that's OK and Dirty Like and Angel on DVD on 10/4. Phase 4 Films has set Chick Magnet for DVD release on 10/18. And Shout! Factory and Hasbro are teaming up to release Taylor Swift's Journey to Fearless on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/11. Also for you music fans, don't forget that Eagle Rock Entertainment has set Pretenders: Loose in L.A., Yes: Symphonic Live and Procol Harum: Live at the Union Chapel for Blu-ray release on 9/13. In other news, we've gotten a bit of clarification from our sources on CBS's in-progress Star Trek: The Next Generation - Remastered Blu-ray sampler disc. The disc will include FOUR episodes, two of which will include Encounter at Farpoint, Parts 1 and 2. We're told that the other two should be The Inner Light and Sins of the Father. It's still up in the air when the official announcement will happen, however it's worth noting that the 45th anniversary of the Star Trek franchise happens this Thursday - The Original Series debuted on NBC back on September 8th, 1966. Also for you Star Trek fans today, Roddenberry.com is now selling a new documentary DVD on the old Space-Con conventions in San Francisco back in the 1970s - some of the very first Star Trek conventions ever held. (I've certainly been to a few Trek conventions myself.) Pretty amusing stuff. You can view the trailer here, and buy the disc here for just $14.95. Finally, retail sources are telling us to expect Paramount to release Super 8 sometime in mid-to-late October or early November. Watch for an official announcement in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned... 9/2/11 Afternoon, guys! Welcome to Labor Day weekend - here in the States at least. Sarah and I had a fun day yesterday. After I posted the Rocketeer news, we hitched up the wagon and headed out to Palm Springs, which has a Thursday night food and craft street fair thing all summer long. Stopped at the Farm House in Beaumont for the best Ribeye steak sandwich we've ever had. And it was just a very nice day. Thanks to all those of you who sent in well wishes. Before we post anything else, here's something fun for you Star Trek: The Next Generation fans that may have doubted our reports over the last several months that the TNG: Remastered project was underway. LeVar Burton just tweeted this yesterday with a picture of the gate to CBS Television City: "Stopped by to see how the TNG conversion to HD for Blue Ray was coming along..." I trust the rest of us will have the same experience soon enough, when CBS finally announces their "sampler" BD project, which SHOULD contain (according to sources we spoke with at Comic-Con) Encounter at Farpoint and a trio of other interesting demo eps. Thanks to Bits reader Daniel S. who shared the link with us. In other news today, Lionsgate sent over the list of extras you'll find on the upcoming Evil Dead II: 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray (due on 11/15 - SRP just $14.99). The set will include the all-new, 90-minute, HD, multi-part Swallowed Souls: The Making of Evil Dead II documentary (includes Dead by Dawn, The Chosen One, Madman Sam, Dead Effects, Re-Animated, Method to Madness and Rosebud), 2 all-new featurettes (Road to Wadesboro: Revisiting the Shooting Location of Evil Dead II and Cabin Fever), the new Artifacts of the Dead stills gallery, the existing audio commentary (with writer/director Sam Raimi, actor Bruce Campbell, co-writer Scott Spiegel, and special makeup effects artist Greg Nicotero), 2 vintage featurettes (The Gore the Merrier and Evil Dead II: Behind the Screams), the theatrical trailer in HD and more. Sounds pretty cool! Our friends over at Image Entertainment have set the 1982 horror film Basket Case for release on Blu-ray on 9/27 (SRP $17.97). Extras will include commentary, short videos, deleted footage, trailers, radio spots, a photo gallery and more. Speaking of Image, they've announced more Sony catalog Blu-rays today as well: On 12/6, look for A Soldier's Story, The Toy, Nothing in Common, Adaptation, Stir Crazy and See No Evil, Hear No Evil. Suggestion to Sony and or Image... how about Thunderheart, Wind, etc? For you classic TV fans, word is that TimeLife's The Six Million Dollar Man DVDs will finally (apparently) be available widely in stores sometime soon. (Go to TimeLife.com and it's in the 5th scrolling image - "Not Available In Stores Until October 2011".) We'll post official details when they're available. Thanks to Bits reader Rob S. for the heads-up. Sony will release actor-turned-director Michael Rapaport's Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest documentary on Blu-ray and DVD on 10/18 (SRP $35.99 and $30.99). Extras will include commentary, 3 featurettes and deleted/extended scenes. Universal has set The Nutcracker: The Untold Story and Michael Jackson: The Life of an Icon for Blu-ray and DVD release on 11/1, followed by Sea Rex: Journey to a Prehistoric World on Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray Combo on 11/15. Millennium Entertainment will release George A. Romero presents Deadtime Stories: Volume 2 on DVD on 9/20 (SRP $24.99). The disc will include the shorts The Gorge, On Sabbath Hill and Dust. Don't forget, Warner has Supernatural: The Complete Sixth Season coming on Blu-ray and DVD on 9/13. And just a heads-up: The Shout! Factory store is apparently offering free shipping on thousands of items (total cart order $20+) this weekend as part of their Labor Day sale. Finally today, Bits reader Eric A. sent this Funny or Die link over today and it's pretty cute. You Star Wars fans might want to give it a look... Here's another look at Lionsgate's Evil Dead II BD cover art, as well as Image's Stir Crazy and Adaptation... Have a great weekend and we'll see you back here on Tuesday, after the Labor Day holiday on Monday. Cheers! More Archived Posts Back to Current Posts
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