Doctor X (Blu-ray Review)
The Doctor X debut on Blu-ray from Warner Archive Collection kills two birds with one stone in many regards. One, it brings more 1930s non-Universal horror to Blu-ray in prestigious fashion. Two, it continues Warner Archive’s roll out of the filmography of the great Michael Curtiz. They’ve also added some fresh new bonus materials to this release a la The Curse of Frankenstein. Curtiz isn’t synonymous with horror, but he did put out three significant titles during the 1930s and now two of them are on Blu-ray from Warner Archive (The other is The Mystery of the Wax Museum, a fantastic release). You can also watch the film in its rarely seen color form and the black and white version, which technically are two completely different productions as they are different takes during the shoot. It’ll be available on April 20th. You can find a paid Amazon Associates pre-order link to use following the review if you’d like to help the site just a hair.
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Wonder Woman 1984 had the unfortunate fate of constantly pushing back its release date. Even prior to a few pandemic related moves, the film had already shuffled a couple of times. After so much moving and shaking, enough had been enough and Warner Bros made the bold move of releasing it in theaters and on HBO MAX parallel to one another on Christmas Day. A move that kick started their notion to release all theatrical films on HBO MAX for 1 month for 2021. And, sigh of relief, it has been given a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray home video release. Hitting stores last week on March 30, it was complete with a nice slew of bonus features and a Dolby Atmos track. A nice follow to the HBO MAX release of Zack Snyder’s Justice League to keep the DC movie hype train going. You can order it now, and you do have the option to use the paid Amazon Associates link following the review if you so choose to do.
I don’t know what’s up with Pixar and Disney lately, but their films have been of the straight to Disney+ fashion in handling releases with the global pandemic. That started with Soul which debuted on the streaming platform at no extra charge like previous releases had done (Luca will go straight to Disney+ later this year). The film was originally supposed to be released last summer only to be bumped and then dumped (Sorry, I wanted a rhyme). It received plenty of worthy acclaim and was a nice gesture to have to watch for free on the Christmas holiday. Wonderfully, though, it has arrived on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, keeping physical media as a continued viable option. Soul was released on March 23rd, featuring plenty of solid extras as well as a native 4K image (Sometimes for some reason these get downres’d to a 2K digital intermediate). You can own it and see all the goodness by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review at the bottom of this page.
A nice surprise from the continued quality output from Sony, was their restoration and release of the cult classic science fiction film Gattaca. Its not hitting a celebratory milestone until next year (Released in 1997, it’ll celebrate 25 years in 2022). The Andrew Niccol film has long been popular on home video since the days of VHS, so its no surprise it will continue to make format jumps with a 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray released. Unfortunately, no new bonus materials are being included but the old ones are being ported over. Gattaca has been given a new restoration as well as an Atmos audio mix for this release. In its first iteration, the film will be put into collectible steelbook packaging with some rather groovy orange art. Released on March 23, you can order the film to upgrade your previous disc and add to your collection by using the trusty paid Amazon Associates link at the bottom of this page following the review.
Monster Hunter quietly appeared in homes just before the new year. With the pandemic seemingly never ending, viewers got a little escape into a not-so-distant future with a fun and escapist fantasy action film. Does the film stand up to others in its field. Do Paul W.S. Anderson and his wife and muse Milla Jovavich deliver the goods? Or are we just watching “Resident Evil: Monsters too!” Find out more in our super late coverage below and grab your copy using the paid link at the end!
Now nominated for many prestigious Academy Awards (including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing), Promising Young Woman has arrived on Blu-ray. The film has crafted lots of worthwhile praise as well as conversation in this strongly voiced film. This Blu-ray release has brought on the unfortunate conversation about crappy cover art, which I cannot argue with. The film garnered some really cool art and they went with a pretty garbage, generic image to represent this powerful film. Regardless, its getting a commentary and a couple quick featurettes to expand the experience on physical media. It arrived on March 16th and you can order it using the paid Amazon Associates link following the review.
At the end of the month, Warner Archive Collection will debut the Val Lewton produced Boris Karloff horror classic Isle Of The Dead. This was almost released by Scream Factory not too long ago, but the release wound up abandoned with no real clear explanation. Perhaps restoration was too costly, or maybe Warner Bros wanted to do it on their own. Nonetheless, here it is finally. And its had a glorious 4K restoration done to it. There are even a couple of bonus features here as well. Many are excited about this release and they likely won’t be leaving or purchasing it with any disappointment. You can pre-order it now to lock yourself in for a copy when it arrives on March 30th. There is a paid Amazon Associates link below you can use, should you want to help out the site a tad.
Warner Archive Collection will be unveiling Edward Dmytryk film Crossfire to Blu-ray for the first time this month. Considered one of the peak film noir movies of the hey dey for the genre, it garnered itself five Academy Award nominations. All of which were in the major categories; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress. They’ve also done a brand new 4K restoration for this release, coming from the original camera negative. A commentary and an archival featurette accompany the film on the disc. Crossfire will be coming out on March 16th. Pre-orders are up now and you can do such by clicking the pad Amazon Associates link following the review.
vAs big a Bruce Campbell fanatic as I was back in the 1990s, when Synapse Films announced they were releasing his starring film Running Time on Blu-ray for the first time, I had no idea what it was. Awareness wasn’t what it was back then, there was no social media and only a few news sites. Not like we are today with loaded marketing sites masquerading as “news” where we know about everything all time time. Big or small. Nonetheless, I was excited to check it out. Synapse has restored it in 2K and also put a new interview with Bruce Campbell on the disc. Its their first release in a while. It’ll be available on March 16th. But, you can pre-order it now if you so please. And one way to do so is by using the paid Amazon Associates link that follows this review. You can also order it straight from Synapse Films by going to their site.
Well, look at that everyone, wishes have been granted and wrongs have been righted as Warner Archive Collection brings Harley Quinn: The Complete First And Second Seasons to Blu-ray! You’ll remember last year I reviewed the DVD for the show which airs in HD on HBO MAX (And formerly the DC Comics streaming service where it had began). And what a joy as Season 2 of the show continues the goodwill from the first season and escalates it to an even greater quality. Seriously, this show is hilarious and the second season even had a bit that was very Monty Python-esque. To which, I have to give it major props. This one is available already, as it came out on February 16th. You can order it from the paid Amazon link below, and it truly gets my recommend. I’ll definitely eat crow on this series, that when it was announced I shrugged. Consider me a big fan!
While we eagerly await the next batch of Rick and Morty episodes to be unleashed upon the world, we can always revisit them. Some of you do that OnDemand or by way of Hulu. But us cool kids revisit it on Blu-ray with all the bonus goodies and commentaries. Rick and Morty have had some terrific Blu-ray releases over its 4 seasons. And now, instead of buying them all separate or buying the Seasons 1-3 set and Season 4 together, you can buy all 4 seasons in one fell swoop with Rick and Morty: The Complete Seasons 1-4 set. No, nothing new in terms of extras or added presentation. But, you do get some new artwork, shelf space saved and sweet poster for you grandmother’s basement’s wall. This set will be available on March 2nd, but you can pre-order it now to have it for or around the day it releases. You can also used the paid Amazon Associate’s link following the review to do so. If you’re the kind, thoughtful type (Sorry about the grandmother’s basement joke. I’m sure she keeps it tidy for you).
Through a 5-film Blu-ray collection, Paramount is filling in some gaps in the John Hughes filmography on the format. Like Some Kind of Wonderful, 1988’s She’s Having A Baby is getting is time in the Blu-ray spotlight finally with this new set as well. Sadly, no new bonus materials have been done for this one, however, there’s a terrific interview that star Kevin Bacon did with John Hughes from around the time this film came out that is included here (Or ported over). She’s Having A Baby (I feel like this title needs to be super expressive when you say it) is is another blind spot in my John Hughes watching, so I’m happy to be tackling it on a good format for this review. You can own the film as part of the John Hughes 5-Movie Collection (Which also has Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Some Kind of Wonderful) when it arrives February 23rd. Its available for pre-order using the paid Amazon Associate’s link following the review.
Through a 5-film Blu-ray collection, Paramount is filling in some gaps in the John Hughes filmography on the format. One of those is the 1987 film Some Kind of Wonderful. Deemed as a response to Pretty In Pink, the film has not made the jump from DVD since it debuted in 2002 (And had a Special Edition in 2006). Conveniently enough, in this same set it is packaged with the Paramount Presents edition of Pretty In Pink that came out last year (A debut on Blu-ray itself). Luckily, thanks to that, they have a new bonus feature of Howard Deutch talking about the film. You can own the film as part of the John Hughes 5-Movie Collection (Which also has Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and She’s Having A Baby) when it arrives February 23rd. Its available for pre-order using the paid Amazon Associate’s link following the review. 
