Midsommar (Blu-ray Review)
Ari Aster wound up making one of my 10 favorite films of the year last summer. This summer he’s back and he’s on course to repeat and claim an annual spot on my list. Midsommar is a step even further and one that surely weirded some people out. It’s not for everyone, but it definitely was for me. The film wound up with good reviews, nice buzz and wound up being a success at the box office. So, imagine the disappointment when the film was announced and wasn’t receiving a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release from Lionsgate. The company that gave Snitch and The Lincoln Lawyer and is giving box office disappointment Anna a 4K release. Midsommar features such as gorgeous photography (Best of the year maybe) that would have looked incredible on the format. Oh and that director’s cut we’ve heard about; iTunes exclusive. Talk about some bullshit. Yes, I’m bitter. But I’ll be happy to own this great film any way I can. You can order your copy to have when it arrives on October 8th.
Continue reading ‘Midsommar (Blu-ray Review)’
Woody, Buzz, Jesse and the rest of Bonnie’s toys are back and ready to reacquaint with old friend Bo Peep and find help from newbie daredevil Duke Kaboom! Toy Story made its fourth outing in cinemas a big deal, cracking the billion-dollar mark worldwide. Surprisingly, just usurping Aladdin but still falling well behind The Lion King in the fight to be Disney’s 2nd place movie behind Avengers: Endgame. The film will be arriving on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on October 8, with all-new bonus features and some digital exclusives. Disney had previously issued new 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray editions of the original three films earlier in the summer, so this fourth one will sit neatly next to those in your collection. Once the pre-order link goes active you can order from it below.
This holiday season, every Universal Pictures film from the most popular comedy duo of all time comes home when Abbott and Costello: The Complete Universal Pictures Collection hits Blu-ray™ for the first time as a complete collection on November 19, 2019 from Shout! Factory. The Complete Universal Pictures Collection comes loaded with bonus features, including 10 new audio commentaries, a collectible book, and a bonus disc with more than eight hours of content. Celebrating the 80th anniversary of Abbott and Costello’s first film One Night in the Tropics, the massive 15-disc set is the ultimate tribute to two of the funniest and most enduring comedians in contemporary history.
Following last year’s well-received and highly lauded debut of the first Stanley Kubrick film on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with 2001: A Space Odyssey, Warner Bros is returning to the well (Or hotel) for more. Coming this year will be probably the next likely choice in his adaptation of Stephen King’s The Shining. Largely looked upon as one of the crowning achievements of not only Kubrick’s career but the entire horror genre, it is getting a brand new 4K transfer and I’m sure is going to look stunning on the format (Keep on reading to find out). Unfortunately, no new extras have been commissioned for this release. BUT, as I’ve become accustomed to, the important thing is just getting the film itself upgraded. And in all honesty, the DVD and Blu-ray formats have already put out much of what we would want already in these films for bonus features (Though, I don’t think a couple more on The Shining would hurt, wink wink). You can return to the Overlook on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on October 1st.
Well, score Annabelle. The spin-off has passed its man series The Conjuring now in installments with her third. This gives us an Annabelle Trilogy now. This one was released at a time this past summer that was all about dolls/toys come to life and affecting the lives of youths in certain ways (The Child’s Play remake and Toy Story 4 were released the week before). She did her normal success at the box office (Though on a slight down click). Now Annabelle Comes Home can come to your home on October 8th on Blu-ray. A shame these shadows and fog type movies aren’t taking advantage of the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray technology and HDR/Dolby Vision because they would look quite stunning I’d imagine. Anyway, the film is available for pre-order now and you are more than welcome to use the Amazon link below to get yourself a copy delivered to you on the day of release.
Warner Archive Collection’s September releases includes the Peter O’Toole film My Favorite Year. The film is inspired by real life instances that happened to the one and only Mel Brooks while writing for Sid Caesar. The film also stars Suspiria icon Jessica Harper and was the feature film directorial debut for actor Richard Benjamin. There are many characters and such based upon real life Hollywood personalities. The film is a pretty popular one, receiving a pretty warm reception when announced finally to be put out onto the Blu-ray format on September 17th. Its available now, which you can secure yourself a copy of this little classic by using the Amazon link that follows the review and also helps this website out a little here and there.
Warner Archive Collection’s September slate includes a Robert Wise film, The Set-Up. The film is found to be very influential for many director’s to follow. The Set-Up comes out swinging as one of the great films about the so-called sweet science. Robert Wise directs, shaping real-time events into an acclaimed and unsparing film-noir look at the stale-air venues, bloodthirsty fans, ring savagery and delusional dreams of boxing’s palooka world. Robert Ryan embraces perhaps his fi nest screen hour as Stoker. Audrey Totter, an icon of the noir genre like Ryan, plays Stoker’s steadfast wife. In a sport that would take their last flicker of dignity, the Thompsons are reclaiming theirs. The film was released on September 17th, and you can pre-order using the link below.
One of Guillermo del Toro’s many masterpieces, Pan’s Labyrinth, is wandering on over to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on October 1st. For us collector’s, this is a fun problem to have. It feels like yesterday that we just traded it in for the upgraded Criterion Collection edition of the film. Now it feels we are going to bump up the presentation quality but sacrifice some extras. Though, I’m A-okay with holding onto both as the solution, though for some fellow fans, it might not be that simple. Nonetheless, this is an exciting new release from Warner Bros and we can only hope that more surprises like this one are around the corner as 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray continues to be a curious place where not everything is going to be expectedly hitting the format (Midsommar-damnit Lionsgate!). Speak with your wallet, merely based on the title not whether the edition is nit picky perfect or not, and that’s really all we are able to do. Anyway, pre-order this one through the link available below.
The fear goes deeper in this thrilling, must-see underwater sequel when 47 Meters Down: Uncaged arrives on Digital 4K Ultra HD October 29 and on Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital), DVD, and On Demand November 12 from global content leader Lionsgate (NYSE: LGF.A, LGF.B). Starring Sophie Nélisse (The Great Gilly Hopkins), Corinne Foxx (TV’s “Beat Shazam”), Brianne Tju (TV’s “Light as a Feather,” “iZombie”), Sistine Rose Stallone (TV’s “Entertainment Tonight”), Khylin Rhambo (TV’s “Teen Wolf,” Ender’s Game), Nia Long (TV’s “Empire,” Are We There Yet?), Brec Bassinger (TV’s “Bella and the Bulldogs”), and John Corbett (The Silence), the terrifying, claustrophobic film has everything you could want from a killer shark movie.
Power Of Grayskull: The Definitive History Of He-Man And The Masters Of The Universe (Now that’s a lengthy title if I’ve ever seen one), calls to be THE documentary of the one who shouts “I have the power!” Netflix has a fantastic series called The Toys That Made US (FANTASTIC series, especially if you were an 80s kid) which spent an episode focusing on He-Man. Being the prime audiences for that product then and now (With retrospectives), I was immediately intrigued and wanted to see what could be done with an even deeper dive. Which now brings us to Power of Grayskull: TDHOH-MATMOTU for…short? Its arrived on DVD September 3rd from High Octane, which we will now be checking out. Its purely the documentary (With 2 audios) on the disc, so very much in it to win it with the content.
Shaft made his big return to cinemas this summer, but not with much fanfare as when he did back in the summer of 2000. The Tim Story film just cleared over $20 million in box office receipts along with poor reviews from critics (Audiences metrics showed they loved it, though). Many countries only received the film as a Netflix movie though. They should have capitalized on it shortly after the 2000 entry (Which is a pretty damn good film, go seek it out) and made at least 4 of them with Samuel L. Jackson. But, here we are, with him FINALLY reprising his role 19 years later, along with bringing back the original Shaft again for good measure. Kudos to keeping the universe alive and not fully rebooting it in today’s climate. Anyway, the film will be arriving on Blu-ray September 24th, so maybe it’ll find life then and Shaft could return to us in some way, shape or form (He’s no stranger to TV, remember).
Scream Factory’s release of Fear No Evil is a perfect fit for the label, being the cult sensation it once was. Truly a labor of very independent, underground filmmaking, this film has had a nice legacy in the horror genre. This almost feels like a nice home video passing of the torch considering it was an Anchor Bay title prior. This release will contain a pair of new interviews as well as the old commentary with the film’s director. You can pre-order it now using the Shout! Factory website or you can do us a solid her at Why So Blu and use the Amazon link provided below the review to land your copy (On release day, too no doubt). Either way, a big thumbs up to you and yours.
Producer Sam Raimi (Evil Dead) and director Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes) deliver “a suspenseful thrill ride” (Jim Vejvoda, IGN) in CRAWL, coming to Digital September 24, 2019 and on Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand October 15 from Paramount Home Entertainment. 
My personal favorite of the DC Arrow-verse programming on the CW Network is the team up show Legends of Tomorrow. After a rough first season, the show quickly found its stride in letting loose, showcasing fun character interplay to go along with some bonkers, shameless storytelling and action. The fourth season continues these escapades as the team explores a fallout from the end of the previous season. Legends’ seasons run shorter and starts later in the year than its other brethren even though its the network’s #3 show. So, no overkill just yet. This fourth season comes out with plenty of time and includes a couple of featurettes. It hits shelves and digital stores on September 24th. They’ll be a part of the Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, but their own fifth season won’t arrive until January 2020.
Supergirl has remained one of the strongest rated shows in the CW lineup, continuing to grow and improve with every single year. Melissa Benoist and supporting cast shine year in and year out, introducing terrific guests and villains into the mix while showcasing some impressing comic book supernatural action for the small screen. As per usual, the “girl of steel” will be making the annual trip to Blu-ray with her previous season. Unfortunately it comes with the uniform bonus features found across the other CW Arrow’verse sets and nothing beholden to this show exclusively. Nonetheless, that’s fine for all the Supergirl-only fans out there and its the show you ultimately want to collect when its all said and done. You’ll be able to grab this one online and in-stores when Warner Bros releases it on September 17th. 
Scream Factory will continue to add to its still growing and insanely impressive library of John Carpenter titles with 1998’s Vampires. This film was previously available only in a limited edition from Twilight Time that sold out very quickly. There was also a popular UK release for those who didn’t nab one of those from the Indicator label over there. However, if you have either one, toss it, because that had no real bonus features and this is coming loaded with brand new material. This includes new interviews with John Carpenter, James Woods and Greg Nicotero as well as some archival stuff. Vampires is never considered among Carpenter’s best or under appreciated films, but a complete release with better understanding could elevate it to that, plus its still a fascinating film due to having an artist like John at the helm. You can pre-order the film on Shout! Factory’s website (It might still come with a poster, I don’t know) or use the Amazon link below to have it on release day, September 24th.
