Christopher Robin (Blu-ray Review)
Much of Disney’s live action output has been live action renditions of previously animated films. There are some that have been interesting aspects or sort of follow ups to what may have come before. Christopher Robin, one of Disney’s later movies in its summer output, follows the life of Winnie the Pooh’s Christopher Robin long after he’d grown and left his childhood friends behind. The film did some solid box office, ALLLLMOST clearing $100 million in the US alone. I’m not sure the budget on the film as to know what degree of success it was or wasn’t. You can pick up the film already on Blu-ray as it was released on November 6th. The release comes with a DVD and a digital copy and nice little set of featurettes. Blu-ray only, no 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray. Continue reading ‘Christopher Robin (Blu-ray Review)’
While it shouldn’t have been, the box office success and juggernaut attitude of Crazy Rich Asians took the US by storm at the end of the summer. It played like a programmer of old, opening to $26 million and legging it all the way to over $173 million. I mean, damn, the movie almost did $200 million in the states alone. Its been awhile since we had a big dominant comedy of that stature. Its all but guaranteed we will get to see the full trilogy of novels adapted to the big screen. And hopefully will kick off some more heavily Asian casted and cultured movies in the United States that aren’t just imports. You’ll be able to pick this one up when Warner Bros releases the film on November 20th. Pre-order a copy to have ready for watching and rewatching over the the Thanksgiving holiday weekend! 
Coming along for the Blu-ray ride with the 20th anniversary of Urban Legend is its sequel Urban Legends: Final Cut. Unlike its predecessor, Final Cut has never been on Blu-ray before, so its making its debut here. But, like the first one, this little slasher had a cast of nobodies that later did become somebodies. In the right light, this is a pretty fun swift little slasher that people may fine themselves enjoying more with an 18-year distance and less uptight about the stakes of watching it. Anyway, while its not getting a 2 and a half hour documentary on making it, they are putting for a nice little retro mini-doc for the film and a new interview with actress Jessica Cauffiel (Perhaps while she was doing a Valentine interview). It arrives the same day as the original, November 20th. 
Scream Factory has been crushing it with the late 90s pop horror as of late, especially due to the new sublicensing they have been doing through Warner Bros and Sony. And with that, comes the slashers that were refreshed and reborn during that time. One of the most notable of such that wasn’t Scream, was Jamie Blanks’ Urban Legend. Sub out scary movies for the age old tales of fear from yesteryear and its pretty easy to run with. This will be the first of two Collector’s Editions of Blanks’ slashers (Valentine is finally coming in February), getting a whopping 2-disc treatment. And, they’ve brought almost every back for this with the exception of an obvious pair of actors you could easily guess don’t show up. I’ll give you a hint before we dive in, but this is a pretty special release that you should lock in your pre-order for in time to watch November 20th! 
I know The Meg is based off a book, which we’ll cover in a moment, but one look at its insane trailer, crazy cast and cute name had me instantly at hello many months ago. I didn’t even care if the movie was a turd or a shipwreck of events. I had to go see it if for nothing else than to get my DC Batwoman err I mean Ruby Rose fix, but I digress. I just like saying Ruby Rose for some reason. It flows off your tongue effortlessly and it’s fun to say and count all her tattoos too. Didn’t I say I digress a second ago? Well this time I really do mean it. More importantly The Meg is really just a movie about a big @$$ shark. It was released in my favorite summer month of August. It features something that I never see here in Austin, TX…beaches and water. What was not to love about it already? Am I right? Damn right I am!
I’m not sure what milestone hit for Wolfgang Petersen’s Air Force One to jump to Blu-ray, but I’m not going to question grabbing an awesome 1990s action movie here on the best format with both a picture and audio jump in quality. Perhaps they selected putting the Harrison Ford US President defends his plane against terrorists film on November 6th to coincide with the midterm elections that took place earlier in the week. If so, you’re one clever little pony over there, Sony. As mentioned, this new edition will feature a new Atmos mix and will carry over the Wolfgang Petersen audio commentary from the previous release (“Legacy Bonus Features” being the hot term now). I apologize for no pre-order link (Amazon’s search is more difficult than need be for it), but I’m sure if you peruse the internet well enough, you’ll be able to snag a copy. 
It bummed me out that I wasn’t able to make it to Blindspotting during its wider theatrical run. It seemed like I had a lot of time to catch it, but the stars never aligned just perfectly for me. Luckily, I do review Blu-rays, so now the opportunity has arisen and I’m jumping at it. And they are rewarding me with, of all things, an ATMOS track! This film that wow’d audiences at Sundance and SXSW makes it way home with two feature commentaries and some featurettes to boot. It looks like a nice little release given the circumstances or it not being a major wide venture. Hopefully it hangs around for some awards steam and gets a pick me up. You can pick it up on your own when arrives November 20th. Pre-order using the Amazon link below. 
Whenever I hear the name Sylvester Stallone my mind is instantly wired to think of both the fictional heroes of Rocky and Rambo. Sure the guy has had many other great roles over his career, but in my opinion these two are absolutely iconic. His face is the symbol of hope, motivation and obviously the hero of these two franchises. Let’s table Rocky for a few weeks though as he’ll get enough coverage with the upcoming Creed 2 feature later this month. Instead let’s focus all our attention on the war machine…err should I say character…of the hour, Mr. John J. Rambo. First Blood back in good ole’ 1982 is where it all started for this iconic action hero and that’s exactly where we’re going to start down below.
We are going to be getting a fifth and final film covering the life and times of one John Rambo, as portrayed by Sylvester Stallone. Lionsgate is taking the original three film and giving them the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray update before that happens next year. No word as of yet on the fourth film from 10 years ago, but one can assume they won’t leave that one hanging dry for long. Now that Rambo has been laid out, how about our old pal Jigsaw get his series ported over to 4K? Sorry, I’ll stay on point. This review will be covering the third film, a film that was easily the weakest of the original run and almost self-parody. BUT, still pretty darn entertaining as just some junky 1980s action picture. You can pre-order it by using the Amazon link following the review. 
Stephen King is so hot right now, right? After It exploded in theaters worldwide, it would seem people are chomping at the bit for new adaptations. We’ll see if people are pumped for Pet Sematary continues to keep the fire burning next Spring. In the meantime, lets get the older films based on his works some continued love on the Blu-ray format. Last month saw Maximum Overdrive land itself a Vestron Video debut. Now, Scream Factory will be putting together one of his least popular works in that of Sleepwalkers, directed by Mick Garris who is no stranger to directing a King adaptation. While the film is what it is, the story of the film, I’m sure could be quite entertaining and that’s what works so well with these Collector’s Editions. We’ll be able to find out when it releases on Blu-ray November 6th! 
While Fox was supposed to have an X-Men team proper film out this year, well three (Or was it four?) of them originally, they wound up with just Deadpool making its release date. Dark Phoenix and New Mutants have been bumped multiple times and the Channing Tatum Gambit movie just seems like a fun talking point to make the news rounds every once in a while like a Crow reboot. They did have a film that sold itself on being very much like an X-Men movie, but not a part of any Marvel universe and skewing toward the young adult dystopian future novel crowd. Because, well, its based off of one. The film came out to poor critic reviews (Audiences loved it going by data sites) and an incredibly sad box office performance. You’ll be able to pick it up and check out what everyone missed when it arrives on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray October 30th. 
Spike Lee’s first foray into the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format obviously comes with his latest film, BlacKkKlansman. And its a tremendous pick as he delivered one of his all-time best films this year. Its a film that tells an unbelievably true story of infiltrating and humiliating America’s most despicable hate group. While the film is sadly timely and is very prescient for our times, its also wildly entertaining, educational procedural with suspense and tasteful comedic elements. The release seems pretty light on extras, but at least its carrying a nice Dolby Atmos track to tell the story. You’ll be able to pick this one up on November 6th, giving you ample time to watch it before it (Hopefully) makes some noise with Academy nominations. Pre-order using the Amazon link below. 
Of all the properties produced from the goliath animation studio known as Pixar, the one with the most rampant sequel potential has always been and still is, The Incredibles. And it seems like its the one that has taken the longest to get one since they started doing them for Non-Toy Story and Cars films. And did ya think people were clamoring for a sequel to this or what? Opening to an almost $200 million and going on to gross over $1.2 billion this summer, the evidence and cries throughout the years were obviously warranted. People were hungry as hell for a sequel. And that it turned out so damn well is just the perfect storm for everyone. Its coming home where we can digest it over and over on November 6th. We’ve been given our Incredibles sequel, now will we be given an Incredibles 2? Hopefully it won’t be another 14 years to see if there is. 
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has gone and done it! They officially hit the ball out of the proverbial ballpark by releasing one of the Holy Grail of sci-fi trilogies of theirs on the 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray format the day before All Hallows Eve. Of course I’m talking about The Matrix Trilogy, which features the Wachowski Brothers’ (Andy and Larry Wachowski) 1999 acclaimed sci-fi action classic The Matrix along with their two sequels The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions (both from 2003). Now they could have taken the easy route like Fox did with the Predator releases for example and stopped right there by not giving us a complete upgrade in the audio department. But oh no! They went above and beyond with both new video transfers and Dolby Atmos surround tracks to boot! All three 4K Ultra HD presentations of the films featured here within this review are from a new scan of the original camera negative and is officially the first remaster of the films in nearly 15 years. The 4K UHD remasters were supervised by director of photography Bill Pope (The Matrix Trilogy, Spider-Man 2, Spider-Man 3, Baby Driver). How’s that for upping the ante in this hotly anticipated release? Let’s take a closer look down below at all three of the aforementioned titles housed in this 4K collection.
On November 13th, Scream Factory Will be the Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh thriller Single White Female on Blu-ray. I’m really loving that Scream Factory is showing no fear and embracing the 1990s thriller and horror period of the first half of that decade. A part of the history that is famously looked down upon but really has some notable highs. This film in particular was a big hit and a notable piece of pop culture at the time. Scream Factory is giving it some love here on home video with a whole slew of brand new interviews and a commentary track to boot. Feel free to preorder yourself, and your obsessed roommate, a copy by clicking on the Amazon link to below, and relive this fun little suspense-driven thriller. 
We are going to be getting a fifth and final film covering the life and times of one John Rambo, as portrayed by Sylvester Stallone. Lionsgate is taking the original three film and giving them the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray update before that happens next year. No word as of yet on the fourth film from 10 years ago, but one can assume they won’t leave that one hanging dry for long. Now that Rambo has been laid out, how about our old pal Jigsaw get his series ported over to 4K? Sorry, I’ll stay on point. This review will be covering the sequel, which was also a seminal action film for the 1980s, setting a whole slew of standards and really unleashing the beast. You can pre-order it by using the Amazon link following the review. 
