The Boxtrolls – Limited Edition Steelbook (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
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. Continue reading ‘The Boxtrolls – Limited Edition Steelbook (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
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.
Following up the widely praised Suspiria, Luca Guadagnino has reteamed with his Call Me By Your Name star for another unique cinematic love story in Bones And All. The film didn’t quite set the box office on fire and wasn’t the awards darling it may have hoped for. With those goals, this was indeed a big swing, but its admirable that it was made in the first place. Unfortunately, I’m sure that non-success went into the decision making to only put it on standard Blu-ray for its home video debut. Though, after seeing something even more successful like Barbarian go streaming/digital only, I’m thankful for this dated format edition to exist. The disc arrives on January 31st, has an Atmos track and 5 VERY brief featurettes. You can order yourself a copy of it using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of the page.
In the Blu-ray era, when it comes to the horror genre, its nice to see that every movie has some sort of cult audience and that the format is more than willing to deep dive into these flicks. The Dentist was a series of films with Corben Bersen that I personally remember as video store staples. Probably somewhere under the B-grade even, but fun, fond memories nonetheless. Vestron Video is scratching that itch, to continue to go through the backlog of Lionsgate owned horror titles yet to hit the format and proving the wait for them is worth it. This 2 disc collection that includes commentaries and new interviews will be out on January 24th. Be sure and pre-order a copy from the paid Amazon Associates link below.
Much of the deep catalog for Jackie Chan has been lacking in the United States. Overseas in the UK, 88 Films and Eureka Entertainment have been delivering quality releases of it. Now, Shout! Factory has come through with not just “a” release, but a set that includes 7 of Jackie Chan’s earliest works. Loaded with bonus features and each film to their own disc, their set includes The Killer Meteors, Shaolin Wooden Men, To Kill With Intrigue, Snake & Crane Arts Of Shaolin, Dragon Fist, Battle Creek Brawl and Dragon Lord. Entitled The Jackie Chan Collection Vol. 1 (1976-1982), it promises to be the first of at least a couple. This set arrives on January 24th, but you can pre-order it now using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of the page.
Back in 2017, Scream Factory unleashed a pretty stacked 2-disc edition of Zack Snyder and James Gunn’s retread through the mall zombie epic Dawn of the Dead. That edition had 2 cuts of the film and discs full and full of new material and archival features. Now, its come time for them to give it the 4K Ultra-HD upgrade. This time around, only the video transfer is going to be new. They’ve polished up the Unrated cut of the film with a new 4K scan from the original negative (2K for the insert footage). Dawn of the Dead (2004) will release at the very end of January on the 31st. Be sure to get your pre-order in using the paid Amazon Associates link that will be there when you scroll to the bottom of this review.
As per every year, the one genre you can count on for both original content and box office success is horror. 2022 offered a variety of delights to appetize, including The Menu back in November to play concurrent to Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Now, the Anya Taylor-Joy/Ralph Fiennes thrilling dark comedy will be coming to standard Blu-ray for you to own on January 17th. This entree will come with a dessert of a few featurettes glazed with some deleted scenes. A digital copy is also included as the cherry on top. You can pre-order the Blu-ray for The Menu by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of the page.
This past October, Dwayne Johnson’s long courted passion project over at DC of bringing to life a film about the Shazam villain Black Adam, finally unleashed upon audiences. What promised to change the hierarchy of the DC Universe did so in many ways I think it did not plan on. Nonetheless, Johnson’s project DID finally get made. And now its coming to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray on January 3rd, making it the first superhero comic book movie on home video in the year of 2023. This comes loaded with extras and a Dolby Atmos track. Pre-order yourself a copy by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of the page.
25 years ago, I had a great year with films. All mainstream, yet somehow so wonderful, different, and fun, I was lucky enough to see quite a few that left an indelible mark on my love of movies. One such movie, My Best Friend’s Wedding came to me as an eye-rolling consequence of having an older sister. At the time, I was denying my own coming out, at age 12, and trying to be decidedly macho in my movie choices. The reasoning behind that is all but lost to me now, as I revisit My Best Friend’s Wedding for what seems like the umpteenth time, with this new 4K UHD Blu-ray edition, which was released very quietly, and hard to acquire, in mid-December. Read more on this classic comedy and if you didn’t know this was available in 4K, it is and can be yours by clicking the paid link at the end of this review!
