A Matter of Life and Death – The Criterion Collection (Blu-ray Review)
I was happy to put together my first write-up about an Ingmar Bergman film, and now I’ve had the chance to write at some length about a terrific film from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. A Matter of Life and Death is finally debuting on The Criterion Collection Blu-ray, and it does not disappoint. Heralded as one of the best British films ever made, the 1946 fantasy-romance has had a significant impact on cinematic storytelling, influencing so many filmmakers in the decades since its original release. Now, everyone can have access to this restored feature that looks and sounds extraordinary and features an excellent set of supplemental material.
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Long considered to be the lost film of John Carpenter, his 1978 film Someone’s Watching Me is making the leap to Blu-ray 40 years later from Scream Factory. If you’re keeping track at home (Following last night’s announcement of Starman), they have now put out 14 of the films he has directed. Including his 2 Masters of Horror episodes, that leaves them with 9 titles to go. What would be really neat, is if they put out a Blu-ray collecting his short films that most people have never seen (Including “Captain Voyeur”). This TV film, while considered forgotten, includes many important stepping stones in his career happened prior to when many people have thought they did. Someone’s Watching Me! did have a release date change, now becoming available August 7th. Pre-order using the Amazon link provided following the review, below. 
Amy Schumer scored herself a nice little hit before the summer season snapped open and turn the competition to dust with I Feel Pretty. Consider me a fan of the comedian’s cinematic output thus far. I was a huge fan of Trainwreck and while it was pretty average, I didn’t mind Snatched last summer. I Feel Pretty seemed to stir up controversy merely based on its trailer, but I guess I’m a jerk because I thought it looked like it was going to be a lot of fun. Plus, knowing Schumer, it probably wasn’t going to be exactly what the surface was telling us. Universal is bringing the comedy to home video on July 17th, skipping 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray and just settling for a standard Blu-ray combo pack. If you’re looking to check it out or a fan ready to snatch it up, you can order yourself a copy from the Amazon link at the bottom following the review. 
Scream Factory continues its roll out of new John Carpenter Blu-rays with his 1994 film In The Mouth Of Madness. This one is getting the coveted Collector’s Edition treatment, featuring plenty of new extras to stack the disc. Previously, the Warner Bros release only had a commentary track (Ported over here to this release). So Scream has whipped their normal magic into effect. Many consider In The Mouth Of Madness to be Carpenter’s last good or great film. Of course he’d go on to make some more films before taking a little hiatus and then pretty much enjoying retirement. This twisted bit of terror is a welcome addition to the Collector’s Edition series and the Scream Factory John Carpenter canon. You’ll be able to pick this one up on July 24th (Along with 
Vestron Video has made July 2018 sort of their HP Lovecraft month with the previously reviewed Beyond ReAnimator and Dagon. While Dagon gave us some Herbert West and known Lovecraft actor Jeffrey Combs, we get his usual partner in crime, director Stuart Gordon for this aquatic horror film. There had been rumor for a few months that Vestron would be adding this one to the Collector’s Series and fans were pretty excited when it turned out to be true. They’ve come through with a slew of brand new interviews and bonus materials for everyone to dig into as well. You can grab this one, along with Beyond ReAnimator, to keep your Vestron Video Collector’s Series Blu-rays up to date by using the Amazon link below. This one hits shelves (Probably more like virtual shelves) on July 24th! 
When Sony announced the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release of Sam Raimi’s The Quick and the Dead, I found myself a bit surprised. It just wasn’t a film I’d think would be leaping to the format right away. Its not hitting any sort of notable milestone this year (23 years old) and Sam Raimi doesn’t really have some big new film coming out. Oh well, though. The Western, headlined by Sharon Stone is making its way with a brand new 4K transfer and newly mixed Dolby Atmos track. They are also tossing on some never seen Deleted scenes in the mix, making this a pretty solid 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release. You’ll be able to pre-order the film from the Amazon link we have provided below. Land yourself a copy of Raimi’s Western when it arrives July 17th. 
Gravity Falls ran on both Disney Channel Disney XD (Where Star Wars: Rebels also aired) during its broadcast run from 2012 to 2016. In 40 episodes it gained a real strong following from people of all ages. I found myself seeing a lot of acclaim for it from some surprising but trustworthy sources. I had always meant to give it a go, but never got around to it…UNTIL NOW! Wanting to start fresh from the beginning and not trying to sift through OnDemand and streams, Shout! Factory is delivering the complete series Blu-ray set on July 24th. Disney and Shout! Factory teaming up? Crazy! This 7-disc set will also come with a host of impressive extras including and almost 2 hour documentary and commentaries on all 40 episodes. If you’re a fan, don’t hesitate to secure yourself a copy via the Amazon pre-order link below! 
Ready Player One, based off of the Ernest Cline novel of the same name, became one of the first bigger hits in the Spring of 2018 post-Black Panther. The film took in some nice dough and found a some popularity overseas, raking in almost 600 billion dollars on the worldwide stage. Financially its been one of Steven Spielberg’s biggest in years. Now, its coming from the theater arcade to your home video console. I’m excited for this to be a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release, but boy…how fun would it have been to include or sell separately a collector’s Beta or VHS tape of the film. And not in letterbox either, fully cropped as was per usual. Missed opportunity there. Maybe on a rerelease. Anyway, this release is pretty loaded with extras and you can check it all out when it arrives on July 24th. 
Ready Player One, based off of the Ernest Cline novel of the same name, became one of the first bigger hits in the Spring of 2018 post-Black Panther. The film took in some nice dough and found a some popularity overseas, raking in almost 600 billion dollars on the worldwide stage. Financially its been one of Steven Spielberg’s biggest in years. Now, its coming from the theater arcade to your home video console. I’m excited for this to be a Blu-ray release, but boy…how fun would it have been to include or sell separately a collector’s Beta or VHS tape of the film. And not in letterbox either, fully cropped as was per usual. Missed opportunity there. Maybe on a rerelease. Anyway, this release is pretty loaded with extras and you can check it all out when it arrives on July 24th. 
Truth be told I wanted nothing to do with The Equalizer when it came out theatrically. I even went as far as to not make any plans to attend the press screening of it when it dropped in my area. What kind of reviewer does that? I can tell you. It’s a bad one. I guess it all harkens back to the fact that whenever I heard this film being tossed around while in production my mind instantly drifted to an elder white man (Edward Woodard) from the television series back in the mid 80’s, not the bada$$ that Academy Award winner Denzel Washington really could be circa his Oscar-winning Training Day era. However, life works in mysterious ways and I reluctantly found myself in the theater checking this out. And checking this out I did…more like with my mouth wide open in complete awe and shock as to what I was seeing on screen. To say I loved what I saw would be like saying the sun always sets in the West. I was over the moon and I couldn’t be happier now to re-live The Equalizer all over again on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray with the next film in the hopefully long running series only weeks away. 
Vestron Video returns after a little while of with an exciting release of a film many have been asking for; Beyond Re-Animator. Now, I don’t think this particular entry is anyone’s favorite in the series, but us Blu-ray and horror collectors are also completionists and our collections need a buddy to place after Bride of Re-Animator on our shelves. And, every one of Jeffrey Combs wonderful turns as Herbert West should make the format jump, regardless. This is the first time the film will be available as a single release on Blu-ray, too. It contains all new interviews with Jeffrey Combs and director Brian Yuzna to go with a new restoration of the film for your visual pleasure. You can pre-order a copy to have it when it comes out at the end of the month on July 24th. 
Do any of you suffer from the same infliction I do in life?
I have been living in Austin, TX now for over five years and I have yet to attend the infamous SXSW film/music festival. Is that wrong of me? I just don’t want to contend with all the mad traffic that event brings to the area, which in my opinion can’t appropriately accommodate an event of this size anyway. However, I mention this event only because that’s where A Quiet Place first premiered this past March. A month later it opened theatrically wide to rave reviews from critics, moviegoers and even Hollywood actors themselves praising the film for its smart moves and breathtaking scares. I remember one famous actor even said he saw it three times and was on the radio encouraging all moviegoers to go see it. Needless to say I was pumped to tackle this one theatrically. I mean how could all these people be wrong about it, right? So without further ado let’s talk some A Quiet Place down below. What say you?
Many acclaimed directors get their start in the horror genre. And of those many, some of them’s first big gigs were schlock. Enter James Cameron and Roger Corman’s Piranha II: The Spawning. Its fun bit of film history trivia to see a torch passed in a series like this from Joe Dante to James Cameron. Scream Factory had tried to release this one earlier this year (January, I believe), but hit some snags delaying it, but I can confirm that it DOES exist as I’m gonna review it haha. Not a Collector’s Edition but the film does carry some extras (No, James Cameron and Lance Henriksen are not involved with any of them). This is sure to become a collector’s item, though. So, pre-order yourself a copy to have on time for its release on July 31st! 
