Backdraft (4K Blu-Ray Review)
Backdraft has often been one of those movies for me that I forget about. For whatever reason, despite the fact that the film is engaging, well acted and steadfastly directed, I always sock it away somehow. The funniest part to me is that despite it going left of my attention a lot of the time, each time I revisit it I am reminded of the excellent story structure that balances drama, thriller and action, the strong cast (Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert DeNiro, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Rebecca Demornay, Scott Glenn, Donald Sutherland and JT Walsh… phew, what a cast!) playing at their best and the lovingly crafted direction from Ron Howard. This exceptional 4K Release has made it very hard to imagine me forgetting this fantastic movie until the next viewing though! Check out more about the movie below that hit stores May 7th! Continue reading ‘Backdraft (4K Blu-Ray Review)’
Scream Factory seems to be making a light foray into the erotic thriller area of film genre-dom, continuing with this month’s release of the Morgan Fairchild-starring 1980s film The Seduction. If you’ll remember, they had a Valentine’s release of the four Poison Ivy films just few months back. The Seduction is getting some rather top tier treatment to with its Blu-ray debut here. They’ve got interviews, a commentary and vintage featurettes galore to soak up onto this disc. And yes, those new interviews do include a BRAND NEW one with Morgan Fairchild herself sitting down to reflect on her first lead role in a major motion picture. The street date for the release is May 21sts, so you have a little bit to pre-order a copy and if you use the Amazon link at the end of the review, you’ll help the site, and also secure the copy to your doorstep on the day of release. Maybe this review will be enough to seduce you into doing that. Or, maybe not. 
King Arthur has a had a rough go of it at the box office in recent years time. Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur: Legend of the Sword came out two years ago and bombed pretty hard (Having seen it, I’d say rightfully so). The Kid Who Would Be King takes a newer approach on the overdone source material and spins it around for a kid/family friendly adventure with some meat to it. Unfortunately, we failed this little gem at the box office. But now its coming to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray (Well, its ALREADY out on all home video formats now), where we can see that we maybe should have done batter by this one. 
AMC delivered a bit of a bummer recently as they announced the fifth season of the acclaimed Breaking Bad prequel series Better Call Saul would be delayed until 2020 for its premiere. They cited they needed the time to accommodate actor shooting schedules. While I’m disappointed as I love this series (One of my probably Top 5 of currently airing shows on any network/streaming service), I’m glad they are getting to make the show they are intending to without compromise. In the meantime, they are sticking to the Blu-ray schedule, however, and the fourth season will be arriving on May 7th, complete with a solid haul of bonus features and a digital copy of each episode.
Back in 2014, The LEGO Movie took cinema-going audiences by surprise and by storm as it charmed and endeared everyone. It was the one of the first things to prop up Chris Pratt toward the superstardom he’d garner that following summer with Guardians of the Galaxy for Marvel as the lovable space-idiot hot shot Star Lord. This movie launched a LEGO brand of theatrical releases to hot and cold successes with LEGO Batman Movie and LEGO Ninjago that hit and missed financially. And now here we are with the Second Part of the first film which you can pick up on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray when it arrives May 7th.
Alien
Where to begin with this film. There are great actors, solid performances, and an engaging based on a true story storyline… Yet why does it seem like a complete and utter mess? Why does the film seem discombobulated, half baked and partially made? Story points open, yet don’t close out…. Welcome to a “Royal Mess” is more like it. Check out our full Blu-ray review of it which saw Welcome to Marwen hit the format on April 9th. 
The Karate Kid is one of those films that was almost always a big part of my movie watching as a kid. I was drawn to the underdog story of Daniel Larusso, who with a great deal of spunk and determination proved himself to be a teenage hero for some. I was so excited to see this 35thAnniversary Edition announced earlier in the year and when it arrived I was immediately ready to give it a watch! This time, for me anyway, felt like the first time. Check out my review of this April 16th release down below. 
The Warner Archive Collection released the 1958 film Frankenstein 1970 on Blu-ray for the first time this past week (street date was April 9th). A futuristic title in its time, the film has become a relic of the past. Notable above many as it boasts the original monster himself in the cast, the legendary horror icon Boris Karloff. With a new transfer, the release is porting over the bonus features (Just a pair of them) from the Warner Archive Collection DVD release from some years back. While it wasn’t atop peoples’ wishlists and isn’t a really beloved film, its an interesting one, and a movie that deserves the format jump and came as a decent enough surprise during last month’s (March) title reveals. As mentioned, its already out, so you can pick this one up at your leisure. Most conveniently by using the Amazon link below. 
Creepy crawling its way to Blu-ray from Scream Factory is yet another big radioactive monster movie classic from the 1950s. Tarantula is finally making its debut on the wonderful high definition format when it arrives at the end of the month on April 30th. The film itself is receiving a new 2K scan from original film elements for its presentation and Scream Factory has also put together a brand new commentary track with a couple film historians. For this releases of way back when in the Hollywood yesteryear with most involved long past, that’s about all you can ask for in a sold release in terms of new features. Pre-order you copy by clicking on the Amazon link below. 
The cult classic, science fiction horror film hybrid from the 1980s known as The Brain is getting its Blu-ray due from the folks over at Scream Factory. While not officially labeled or brand stamped a “collector’s edition”, this release come loaded with new commentaries and interviews with cast and crew produced by Justin Beahm’s Reverend Entertainment. This release is even showcasing a brand new 4K transfer from the original film negative. They appear to have gone to pretty good lengths to make this Blu-ray pretty special. You’ll be able to add this to your collection when it arrives April 30th! 
I can’t say I ever thought the day would come where we’d be living in a world in which an exists a sequel to 2000’s Unbreakable whether lone two of them. I knew there was always interest in the property, but given the downward spiral of M. Night Shayamalan’s career for awhile I never thought we’d see anything spectacular from him again. A movie he wrote in 2010 called Devil kind of peaked my curiosity, but imagine my surprise when early reviews of 2016’s Split came with mentions of a tie-in to the Unbreakable universe. That news practically broke the Internet (I’m exaggerating) and even further Split was actually a really great film to boot. James McAvoy got robbed of an Academy nod for his exceptional performance, but I digress. More importantly M. Night was suddenly back! People were instantly in his corner and the third film in the trilogy, Glass, was fast-tracked for our viewing pleasure here now on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray April 16th.
Clint Eastwood returns to the role of filmmaker and actor with The Mule. I am personally always excited to check out a new Eastwood movie. Whether he is acting or directing, stylistically he always seems to strike a chord with me as a viewer and film fanatic. This particular movie did just that, although with a few odd detours. Follow down below as we explore everything about The Mule, which was recently released on 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray this past Tuesday (April 2nd). 
Warner Archive Collection scratches yet another title from my ongoing Blu-ray wishlist with the kick-ass 70s film Cleopatra Jones. This was a pleasant surprise when it was announced, giving potential hopes to the likes of its sequel Cleopatra Jones and the Casino of Gold landing on Blu-ray or maybe even the possibility of the Shaft sequels (Shafts Big Score, Shaft In Africa) FINALLY seeing the light of day around the time the new film drops. I’m a fan of restoring and getting these exploitation classics out there and this is one of the more high profile titles. Unfortunately its light on the bonus material, but getting a newly mastered transfer of the film on the Blu-ray format is the best you can really ask for at this point when streaming seems to be the focus of most of the major studios. It does have its classic trailer attached, so that IS something (Considering those were gems back in the day). Order a copy using the link below. 
