Crawl (Blu-ray Review)
October 13th, 2019 by Adam Toroni-Byrne
Crawl has all the makings of a B-grade disaster thriller – ominous weather, a main character who doesn’t listen to authority, impending death. It’s all there in a neat little package. This is a package perfectly wrapped for the audience that doesn’t need deep insight, backstory or terribly emotional acting. This may all sound like a dig and sharp criticism but in truth, these are complimentary truths, highlighted because those were some of the very good things about the film. Check out the in-depth review below for more on this monster/disaster mashup!
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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.
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.
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.
The incredible success Steven Spielberg had in the late 70s and 80s was in a word: unprecedented. Only his pal George Lucas could claim similar blockbuster status in the same era. Beyond Spielberg’s great achievements in directing, he also had a knack for spotting budding talent to take on more ideas that would feel “Spielbergian.” After the release of the biggest domestic film of all time, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Spielberg produced many 80s hits like Poltergeist, Back to the Future and Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Smack dab in the middle of the Reagan era is Joe Dante’s 1984 horror-comedy hybrid Gremlins. Fans of the tiny creatures that ought never to be fed at night can scream, “Bright light!” as they should order this new 4K package set for release on October 1. As someone old enough to have seen this on the big screen, I can attest this is the best Gizmo’s adventure has ever looked. But first, the film itself….
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.
The first time I attempted to watch the 6-minute trailer for DC Universe’s Doom Patrol I lasted about two minutes before turning it off.
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.
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).
Yesterday was a film I went into viewing with a very vague familiarity for the storyline. I knew it was something of a “what-if” story and involved the marvelous music of The Beatles. Leaving my knowledge at that, it doesn’t sound like much. I am very glad that I hadn’t been given too much of the storyline before viewing, as Yesterday proved to be my kind of movie to a T! Comedy, music, mild romance, and really engaging performances proved to be just the right medicine for me this past weekend. Below, I go in-depth on Yesterday which is hitting shelves September 24th!
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.
Dark Phoenix, the end of Fox’s long running X-Men franchise, can’t come and go quick enough in my opinion.
Daybreakers is a genre film that entices with a fairly interesting concept. What if somehow the world became a place where vampirism somehow became the norm and humans were the mythical beings that we never really saw. The concept is intriguing. The execution might be where the sum of its parts begin to crumble. Celebrating it’s tenth anniversary, Daybreakers made it’s 4K debut on September 10th.
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.
