• 701      Persona
• 702      The Great Beauty
• 703      The Freshman
• 704      Riot in Cell Block 11
• 705      Breaking the Waves
• 706      Master of the House (BD)
• 707      Il Sorpasso
• 708      Like Someone in Love
• 709      Red River (BD)
• 710      Judex (BD)
• 711      A Hard Day’s Night (BD) (4K)
• 712      Scanners (BD)
• 713      The Essential Jacques Demy
• 714      Lola (Jacques Demy box)
• 715      Bay of Angels (Jacques Demy box)
• 716      The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (Jacques Demy box)
• 717      The Young Girls of Rochefort (Jacques Demy box)
• 718      Donkey Skin (Jacques Demy box)
• 719      Une chambre en ville (Jacques Demy box)
• 720      The Big Chill
• 721      Love Streams
• 722      Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!
• 723      Y tu mamá también
• 724      All That Jazz
• 725      Eraserhead (BD)
• 726      Macbeth (BD)
• 727      The Innocents (BD)
• 728      Sundays and Cybèle
• 729      The Complete Jacques Tati
• 730      Jour de fête (Jacques Tati box)
• 731      Parade (Jacques Tati box)
• 732      My Darling Clementine (BD)
  
• 733      La dolce vita
• 734      The Shooting (Monte Hellman set)
• 735      Ride in the Whirlwind (Monte Hellman set)
• 736      It Happened One Night
• 737      Les Blank: Always for Pleasure
• 738      Tootsie
• 739      Safe
• 740      The Bitter Tears of Petra Von Kant
• 741      My Winnipeg
• 742      The Palm Beach Story
• 743      La ciénaga
• 744      Every Man for Himself
• 745      Don't Look Now
• 746      A Day in the Country
• 747      Fellini Satyricon
• 748      Watership Down (BD)
• 749      The Soft Skin
• 750      Ride the Pink Horse
• 751      Gates of Heaven (Errol Morris double feature)
• 752      Vernon, Florida (Errol Morris double feature)
• 753      The Thin Blue Line
• 754      Odd Man Out
• 755      Le silence de la mer
• 756      Limelight (BD)
• 757      The Rose
• 758      The Merchant of Four Seasons
• 759      The Confession
• 760      State of Siege
• 761      Valerie and Her Week of Wonders (BD)
• 762      A Master Builder
• 763      The Bridge
• 764      The Fisher King (BD)
• 765      The Black Stallion
• 766      Here Is Your Life
• 767      My Beautiful Laundrette
• 768      The French Lieutenant's Woman
• 769      Day for Night (BD)
• 770      Dressed to Kill
• 771      Two Days, One Night
• 772      Blind Chance
• 773      Breaker Morant
• 774      Mister Johnson
• 775      A Room with a View
• 776      Moonrise Kingdom
• 777      The Brood (BD)
• 778      A Special Day
• 779      Mulholland Dr. (BD) (4K)
• 780      Code Unknown
• 781      In Cold Blood
• 782      The Apu Trilogy
• 783      Pater Panchali (Apu Trilogy)
• 784      Aparajito (Apu Trilogy)
• 785      Apur Sansar (Apu Trilogy)
• 786      Don't Look Back
• 787      Jellyfish Eyes
• 788      Speedy
• 789      Burroughs: The Movie
• 790      Lady Snowblood
• 791      Lady Snowblood: Love Song of Vengeance
• 792      Bitter Rice
• 793      The American Friend
• 794      Inside Llewyn Davis (BD)
• 795      Gilda
• 796      The Emigrants (Jan Troell double feature)
• 797      The New Land (Jan Troell double feature)
• 798      Death by Hanging
• 799      The Kid (BD)
• 800      The Graduate

Morning, folks!

Criterion has just announced their March Dual Format BD/DVD release slate, and here’s what’s coming: David Gordon Green’s George Washington (Cat #152 – due 3/11), Errol Morris’ A Brief History of Time (Cat #699 – 3/18), Akira Kurosawa’s The Hidden Fortress (Cat #116 – 3/18), Paul Sorrentino’s The Great Beauty (Cat #702 – 3/25), Ingmar Bergman’s Persona (Cat #701 – 3/25) and Fred C. Newmeyer and Sam Taylor’s The Freshman (Cat #703 – 3/25).  [Read on here…]

All right, we’ve got one more quick update for you with late breaking release news...

Summit Entertainment has just officially set Ender’s Game for Blu-ray Combo and DVD release on 2/11.  The digital window starts on 1/28.  The Blu-ray and DVD (SRP $39.99 and $29.95) will both include audio commentary with producers Gigi Pritzker and Bob Orci and deleted/extended scenes with commentary by director Gavin Hood.  To this, the Blu-ray will exclusively add the 8-part/45-minute Ender’s World: The Making of Ender’s Game documentary.

Here’s a look at the cover art for both versions, along with the BBC’s Sherlock: Season Three (due 2/11)...

Stay tuned!

- Bill Hunt

All right, we’ve got a quick early update for you today.

First, in the event you missed it, we posted a new History, Legacy & Showmanship column from our own Michael Coate yesterday, featuring a look back at the original theatrical release of Superman: The Movie.  Yesterday marked the film’s 35th Anniversary.  The piece features a good interview component too, so do check it out if you haven’t read it yet.

Also today, after noting the passing of the legendary actor Peter O’Toole yesterday, this morning we must acknowledge the death of Tom Laughlin as well, star of the Billy Jack films.  He was 82.  You can read more on this here at the L.A. Times.  Sadly, actress Joan Fontaine also died this past weekend at the age of 96.  Fontaine was known for roles in such films as Jane Eyre, Ivanhoe, The Constant Nymph and Letter from an Unknown Woman, in addition to starring turns in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rebecca and Suspicion (for which she was best known).  More here at the New York Times.  Both will surely be missed.  [Read on here…]

All right, we’re back as expected today with a great new History, Legacy & Showmanship column from our very own Michael Coate.

But first, we wanted to take a moment this afternoon to acknowledge a bit of sad breaking news: The legendary film and stage actor Peter O’Toole has died.  He passed away yesterday at the age of 81.  Cinephiles will of course know him from his performance as T.E. Lawrence in David Lean’s 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia, but other favorite film roles include such titles as Becket, The Lion in Winter, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, The Stunt Man, The Last Emperor and My Favorite Year.  Younger readers may best recall him for voicing a character in Pixar’s Ratatouille.  If you’re one of them, I envy you – it means you have so many great O’Toole films yet to discover.  In fact, I think a fresh viewing of Lawrence just might be in order in O’Toole’s memory.  Our hats off to him.  You can read more here at The New York Times.  [Read on here...]

REMEMBERING “SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE” ON ITS 35TH ANNIVERSARY

It has been a big year for the Man of Steel. The year 2013 marked the 75th anniversary of Superman’s debut (in Action Comics issue #1), a new movie was made starring Henry Cavill and directed by Zack Snyder, and, of course, it represents the 35th anniversary of the release of the classic cinematic adventure starring Christopher Reeve and directed by Richard Donner.  The Digital Bits celebrates the occasion with a look back at Superman: The Movie’s opening weekend and features a reflective interview with some Superman authorities.  [Read on here...]

So it turns out The Desolation of Smaug is pretty good.  I mustered up the energy to catch a double-feature screening last night with a friend, and it was a fine evening’s entertainment.  If you enjoyed the first Hobbit film, I think you’ll like this one a great deal more.  The pacing is much more engaging.  Fans of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy will definitely feel more at home here, as in this film the prequel trilogy really begins to reveal its connections to the previous films more strongly… and not just in the fact that Legolas (Orlando Bloom) features prominently.  As one would hope, Smaug himself is wonderfully realized.

Smaug aside, with any luck you have a good art house theater in your neck of the woods, because there are a number of fine indie films worth seeing this holiday season: American Hustle, the Coen’s Inside Llewyn Davis, All Is Lost, Nebraska, Her, 12 Years a Slave and many more.  This is the time of year when all the great dramas get dumped into limited theatrical distribution so they quality for Oscar nominations, so be sure to head out to your local theater over the next 2 or 3 weeks.  [Read on here…]

Well… tonight’s the big night for your Tolkien fans.  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug opens tonight at Midnight at theaters around the world, so I’m guessing there will be at least a few people standing in lines over the coming hours.

In announcement news today, Universal will release Closed Circuit on Blu-ray Combo and DVD on 1/7.

Kino Lorber has set Andrei Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia for release on Blu-ray and DVD on 1/21.

Music Box Films has The Returned: The Complete First Season coming on Blu-ray and DVD on 1/21 as well.  [Read on here…]

Couple more things for you today...

First, our own Tim Salmons has returned with a review of Sony’s Olympus Has Fallen on Blu-ray Disc.  Sounds like a decent rental at least.

Also today, MPI and IFC Midnight have set Argento’s Dracula 3-D, directed by Dario Argento and starring Rutger Hauer, for Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray release on 1/28.

Scream Factory has set The Slumber Party Massacre for Blu-ray release on 3/18.  [Read on here…]

Well, folks... I continue to battle this damn flu, but I think I’ve got the better of it today at least.  At any rate, we’ve got some good stuff here at the site today.

First, we’ve got a new review for you.  Actually, it’s a rare hardware review here at The Bits.  You see, we’ve found a piece of hardware so awesome, so useful and cool, that we just couldn’t help ourselves but have a little fun with it: Factory Entertainment’s Jaws: Collectible Bottle Opener.  So here’s our very own Todd Doogan to put old Bruce through his paces.  It’s definitely gets the Bits recommendation for great holiday stocking stuffer ideas.

Also today, Russell Hammond has posted the weekly Release Dates & Artwork section update featuring all the latest Blu-ray, DVD and Video Game (now including Xbox One and PS4) cover art and Amazon.com pre-order links.  And 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 we really do appreciate it.

Now then, we’ve got some interesting announcement news for you today... [Read on here...]