Women Talking (Blu-ray Review)
When I was making my Top 10 films of 2022 list, Sarah Polley’s Women Talking was one of my very last cuts. Its a terrific film that wound up being pretty silent come awards season chatter whereas it seemed like it was going to be a big player. For the Academy Awards, its been nominated for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. Nonetheless, some recognizing is better than none. You’ll be able to bring the film home on standard Blu-ray when it hits the market on March 7th. Unfortunately no 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray at this time, but a physical release is something to be grateful for (I’M STILL WAITING BARBARIAN ON AT LEAST REGULAR BLU-RAY!). The film with a stacked cast full of great performances is available to pre-order now and you can do so by scrolling all the way to the bottom of this page and clicking on the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review.
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Like a Scream sequel, Puss In Boots laid in hibernation for 11 years before returning to theaters with another adventure. Puss In Boots: The Last Wish came at the Holiday time in December and fare well against the mighty Avatar: The Way Of Water. The movie looked like something of an afterthought and then surprised and wowed audiences and critics alike. Now its coming home for hopefully more people to jump on board The Last Wish train. Released on February 28th, the movie will include an Atmos track and a slew of extras (including a new short) to keep the party going after the credits roll. You can order yourself a copy of Puss In Boots: The Last Wish by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of the page.
Warner Bros is celebrating its 100th Anniversary with the release of many high profile classic titles new the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format. The look like they’ll all come with a nifty slip cover that has newer art and a header logo signifying the century of cinematic existence. I believe the first one under that look will be Antoine Fuqua’s 2001 Academy Award winning film Training Day (nabbing Denzel Washington the Best Actor trophy). In addition to a brand new 4K transfer, the police thriller will be getting a brand new Dolby Atmos track, the first time it will be presented at home in a lossless format. All of the extras originating from the first DVD release are carried over and provided here, too. Training Day will be released on February 28th and you can pre-order yourself a copy using the paid Amazon Associates link at the bottom of this review to secure yourself a copy. 
A couple months back, the fine folks over at Shout! Factory began the upgrade movement of the LAIKA films onto the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format with their first two films. Now, its time to complete that movement with their third and fourth as Kubo And The Two Strings and The Boxtrolls make their debut onto the format. As was before, these will feature new transfers and carry over all of the extras from the previous standard Blu-rays that were released by Shout! Factory. Again, there will be an option to pick these up in the collectible limited edition steelbook packaging if you’re wanting something spiffier for these wonderful movies. You can pre-order your copy now using the paid Amazon Associates link at the bottom of the review. The Boxtrolls and Kubo And The Two Strings will be available on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on February 28th. For this review, we’ll take a look at Kubo And The Two Strings. 
A couple months back, the fine folks over at Shout! Factory began the upgrade movement of the LAIKA films onto the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format with their first two films. Now, its time to complete that movement with their third and fourth as Kubo And The Two Strings and The Boxtrolls make their debut onto the format. As was before, these will feature new transfers and carry over all of the extras from the previous standard Blu-rays that were released by Shout! Factory. Again, there will be an option to pick these up in the collectible limited edition steelbook packaging if you’re wanting something spiffier for these wonderful movies. You can pre-order your copy now using the paid Amazon Associates link at the bottom of the review. The Boxtrolls and Kubo And The Two Strings will be available on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on February 28th. For this review, we’ll take a look at The Boxtrolls. 
The year 2022 saw a lot of big films trying to remind you of why you go to the theater as well as plenty of “this is why we love the movies” type films from many of our favorite creators. Sam Mendes put his hat into the ring with the awards hopeful Empire Of Light which stars Olivia Colman, Colin Firth, Toby Jones and Micheal Ward. Its been nominated for Best Cinematography for the (GOAT) Roger Deakins. The film currently is only set to receive a standard Blu-ray release. Equipped with a 5.1 surround track and a single featurette, Empire Of Light releases on February 21st. You can pre-order yourself a copy of this disc by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of this page.
I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention or taking note, but Steven Spielberg is on somewhat of a creative hot streak recently. I’ll even count Ready Player One in that mix to go with The Post and West Side Story. He’s delivered some top notch material and that continues with his second consecutive Best Picture & Best Director nominations in that of The Fabelmans. Unfortunately, it didn’t take off in theaters, but those who saw it rather loved it, and for us film people, its a giant love letter to the craft and one of the greatest to ever go behind the lens. It arrived on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on February 14th (A Valentine’s Day treat?). The disc will carry a set of 3 featurettes and a 7.1 surround. You can order yourself a copy by clicking on the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of the page.
DC and Warner Bros. Animation keep churning out hit after hit with their animated films. While some are certainly better than others, this line of films seems to do quite well in the direct-to-disc format. The first DC Universe film this year is Legion of Super-Heroes directed by Jeff Wamester. Wamester is no stranger to the animated scene as he previously directed Batman: The Long Halloween and Justice Society: World War II, just to name a mere few from his lengthy resumé.
On January 24th, Lionsgate released the 25th Anniversary Edition 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray of the film Belly, which was the only film directed by prolific music video director Hype Williams. Boasting tow of hip hop’s biggest names at the time; Nas and DMX, the film features some big stylistic flourish and a bumping soundtrack. This new edition features a Dolby Atmos track and carries over its previous extras. There’s a steelbook version and a standard version available for the film. If you’re wanting the standard 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, you can order yourself a copy by using the paid Amazon Associates link at the bottom of this page following the review.
Last fall, Disney unleashed their sci-fi family animated adventure Strange World upon theaters. Unfortunately this one was a whiff for them at the box off. Coupled with Lightyear, it was not a financially sound year at the box office for their animated science fiction fantasies. Nonetheless, it became their Christmas Day Disney+ movie release and will now be making its way to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray. It comes with an Atmos track as well as a handful of bonus featurettes. If you order from Best Buy, you can get the collectible steelbook version which was the edition that was used for this review. If you don’t care for fancy packaging, then there is a standard 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray version that you can order from any given retailer. Both versions arrive on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, so maybe you get one for that person you fancy or they get one for you?
20 years ago, the film adaptation of Chicago took the Academy Awards by storm, earning itself a load of nominations and wins, but notably the prestigious honor of calling itself “Best Picture”. The musical also landed Catherine Zeta-Jones a statue for Best Supporting Actress. You’d think its high time for the film to find itself a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray upgrade, but alas – that will have to wait. To celebrate the occasion, Paramount Home Entertainment will be reissuing the previous Diamond Edition Blu-ray disc in a new collectible steelbook packaging. You can grab this when it comes out on February 7th or you can due your duty to the site and pre-order one by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was one of the top grossing films of last year, and one that probably peaked the most curiosity of tentpoles. The loss of Chadwick Boseman was one of the most tragic and I’m sure we all convened together in fandom for this movie to be his wake. Its not time for it to hit the streaming and home video platforms. For us physical media collectors, the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray release of the film will be arriving on shelves and online stores on February 7th. It comes with an Atmos track, a couple featurettes, commentary, deleted scenes and a gag reel (Aaron Neuwirth’s favorite special feature). Various retailers will have different version of it available (Steelbook, digibook, etc). You can order yourself the standard one by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review.
Scream Factory is continuing to make a sweep of updating its former Blu-ray Collector’s Editions to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray. Next up for them is the Don Coscarelli cult classic Bubba Ho-Tep that stars Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis as an aged Elvis and man than thinks he’s JFK in a retirement home being attacked by an ancient mummy. All of the previous Collector’s Edition’s bonus materials are being carried over as well as the audio. You’ll be able to pick this one up on February 7th. You can order yourself one or buy the coolest gift for a loved one, by pre-ordering a copy using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review.
