Batman: The Complete Animated Series (Blu-ray Review)
Waiting with great anticipation since its announcement last year, Batman: The Complete Animated Series is finally arriving on Blu-ray in an impressive 12-disc set spanning the show’s entire history. Complete with the films Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman & Mr. Freeze: Sub-Zero, the set debuts a brand new feature length retrospective documentary, The Heart of Batman. All the episodes have been restored and remastered and will contain lossless audio. Currently it is only available in a Deluxe Limited Edition featuring special packaging, a bonus disc, 7 lenticular art cards and 3 Funko mini Pop figures. This was originally set to a 30,000 unit run, but due to the sweeping sales (No surprise), Warner Bros has extended the Limited Edition and is pressing more units. Make sure you don’t sit on it too long, order from our Amazon link below. Continue reading ‘Batman: The Complete Animated Series (Blu-ray Review)’
While some think DC is taking some time off this year from their cinematic output with “just” Aquaman at the tail end of the year, many forget they’ve actually put out two movies this year. Don’t forget the Teen Titans jumped from the small screen to the big one this past summer. While it didn’t light the box office on fire (I was hoping it would!), it still tripled its budget at the box office. It also opened to some of DC’s best reviews for ones not named Wonder Woman. Speaking of, she, her Justice League cohorts and the majority of the DC Universe do appear in this movie. You’ll be able to check it out if you missed it or just add it to your collection when the film arrives on Blu-ray this October 30th. Well, that’s already come and gone, but you order yourself a copy from the Amazon link below. 
See, popular old television shows getting modern make-overs through a rebooted feature film and is nothing new. Its been going on for a long time, yet people make a complaint like they’re being fresh (“No original ideas any more, but I don’t go see or care for the zillions of original ideas that DO come out.”). Shout Select is bringing the Dan Aykroyd and Tom Hanks-led 1987 Dragnet update to Blu-ray for the very first time. This film made some good money at the box office upon release, but looking around I dunno if its super popular, but its gotta have some sort of cult base. Maybe its one that is in need of being returned to and reassessed. Looks like I’ll be tasked with that as I review this new collector’s edition that comes with a fresh new commentary and new interview with star Alexandra Paul. You can pick up a copy on October 30th to have Dragnet in time for…Halloween? 
Thirty seven years ago, one of the most nitty gritty, down home and independently independent films of all time came and scared the hell out of audiences. It introduced us to Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell, both of whom would carve out some terrific legacies in mainstream and geek filmdom. The film itself has paved the way for home video infamy as well. Like the Halloween franchise, which I laid out the epic history of last month, all three Evil Dead films have had an ungodly amount of home video releases. Now, the first film (And in December, the sequel) has made its way to the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format. Its release gives hope that more classic horror titles will be coming (And hopefully soon). The Evil Dead actually comes with a really friendly price tag so order yourself a copy from the link below. 
Its a real shocker that 1983’s Valley Girls is JUST NOW in 2018 making its debut on Blu-ray. Sure, its hitting its 35th anniversary mark, but it had a 30th and a 25th that could have made it prior. This is a well reviewed and pretty popular film. One would have thought this would have made it by now. There was a special edition DVD of it for its 20th anniversary, so they know people care. Anyway, rights are being wronged by the folks who usually do such things. Yes, of course its Shout Factory, under their Shout Select banner. With this new Blu-ray release, they are giving it Collector’s Edition treatment with brand new bonus features and retaining pretty much all of them from that old DVD release. You can finally own the film when it comes to Blu-ray October 30th. 
We have the making of a bit of a modern cult classic going right now in that of director Panos Cosmatos follow up to Beyond the Black Rainbow. Its Mandy, the movie with Nicholas Cage that had the crazy ass trailer making people saying “I’ve got to see this!” And many are. The film’s plan was to play some festivals and have a little theatrical run, with it being moreso pushed on the digital/streaming platforms. Mandy has done so well in its little run that its expanded and may have been in need of going much wider than it was anticipated. The cool fact of this ordeal is that the movie is succeed while it is able to be watched to rent or purchase via streaming. And the Blu-ray I am reviewing here is coming out next week (October 30th). If a film is something people WANT to see in theaters, they will show up. Plus, the word of mouth on this one has been quite good. I wish I’d have the opportunity to see it theatrically, but alas, its not shown up in my neighborhood yet. But, with its popularity being compared to that of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, maybe I’ll be able to catch it on a revival screening! 
Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again feels somewhat of a silent assassin from this summer’s box office. The film took in almost $125 million domestically and almost $450 million worldwide. Until Crazy Rich Asians, the film had a firm spot in the Top 10. Its almost like its predecessor, which was actually somewhat of a phenomenon back in 2008. But, if I told you it made more money globally than Iron Man, you’d think I was crazy. That’s the truth though. Why did they do a sequel? Look how big that first film was. They earned it and obviously there were people there for it. Ten years later probably brought some fondness but I feel like had they done it within three years of the first it might’ve been a bit bigger. Whatever, whatever. This sequel was still a big deal. Big enough that if they’d want to make a trilogy, the audience is probably there. Though, I think this film serves more as a nice encore to the fantastic concert you saw before. You can pick up this second album/remix album/original demos 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray when it arrives on October 23rd from Universal! 
While there’s no current tie in (Gifted Season 2, maybe?), Fox is on the right track in releasing more X-Men films to the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format. It dropped the 3 First Class film right away on the format as well as the Deadpool movies and Logan. Now comes the original trilogy of films that started it off. The crown jewel of this set being the original sequel, X2: X-Men United, considered by many to be one of the best comic book super hero films of all time. Now, we sit shy just X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Yuck) and The Wolverine (PLEASE!!!) of having the entire 11 film Fox X-Men franchise on the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format. That’s pretty impressive! You can grab yourself a copy of the adventure from Toad to “Phoenix” now by clicking the Amazon link! 
vvThis whole newfound relationship between Shout!/Scream Factory and Warner Bros for Blu-rays has been nothing short of a dream come true and has come swinging right out of the gate. Here we are talking about a Collector’s Edition now of George A. Romero and Stephen King’s collaborative effort and horror anthology masterpiece Creepshow with a new 4K scan and LOADS of bonus material. There’s no complaining about double dipping, as this is one to just dive right into. They’ve even given the film some special packaging treatment to boot. Trust me, this one is impressive to even just hold in your hand, let alone put in your player and watch. Its coming just in time for Halloween horror watching, so get your pre-order in as it arrive October 23rd! 
Lionsgate is all about getting these full seasons sets of their shows running on Starz out quickly. I recently reviewed the Ash Vs Evil Dead Complete Collection just a little bit back and now we are on to Black Sails. Granted, the last season set to come out for the show was August last year, but they are on it in terms of collecting it. Those holding out for the full series were rewarded this week (Release date was October 16th), when the set came out. Like Ash Vs Evil Dead, this is just a collection of all the discs from the previous single season sets compiled together in some trimmer, space saving, basic packaging. It’ll come with digital copies of the episodes as well. If you’re looking to pick it up, please consider using the Amazon link following the review. 
Its not hitting any kind of anniversary milestone this year (Or next, for that matter), but City Slickers is jumping over to a brand new Collector’s Edition Blu-ray from Shout! Factory under they Shout Select banner. Return to join Billy Crystal, Daniel Stern and Bruno Kirby as they take a cattle herding vacation with Curly (A role that nabbed Jack Palance his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor). This looks to be pretty much a port of the previous edition with some new artwork (A slip cover) and a new 4K transfer of the film. Fans who order at Shout! Factory’s website from their store will get a free poster of the new art as a toss in with their Blu-ray. Or, if you want, you can help out our site by ordering your City Slickers – Collector’s Edition from the Amazon link below. 
Sure, this came out a few weeks back, but better late than never, right? Besides, I’ve only just received it. So now I can join Gobo, Mokey, Wembley, Boober and Red in celebrating the 35th Anniversary of their beloved series as Sony Pictures Home Entertainment debuted FRAGGLE ROCK: THE COMPLETE SERIES on Blu-ray™ for the first time on September 25th. This extensive set, sprawling over 12 loaded discs containing every episode from both the original series and the animated one, is quite a sight to behold. There is also a lot of bonus material from past and present to sink your teeth into while watching your favorite episodes over and over and over and OVER again. Or, introduce your children to it. Order yourself a copy now by clicking the Amazon link at the end of the review. 
John Constantine has been somewhat of a constant with DC following the success of the Keanu Reeves’ film back in the last decade. He’s had ups and downs but they’ve always kept the character around. Constantine had a short lived live action television series that ran on NBC for one season. Matt Ryan portrayed him there and he’s stuck to the character doing guest appearances on the CW Arrow-verse and being the voice for the animated CW Seed show. Said show is where this brand new DCAU film, City of Demons, comes from. It’ll arrive on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray October 9th, which, well, is this week! Pick it up in time to watch him have a nice solo adventure before he joins up full time with the Legends of Tomorrow for their fourth season! 
Schlocky filmmaking is seriously my cup of tea. That should come as no surprise, considering I host and produce my podcast Cult Cinema Cavalcade. Funny enough, I’ve yet to tackle the filmmaker who is the subject of this documentary even though I have many planned on the docket. Larry Cohen is one of the best of the B-filmmakers of all time. And its great to see that he’s been given a really thoughtful and detailed documentary on his entire career. La-La Land entertainment has put the film out on Blu-ray for home consumption after a nice brief. limited theatrical run last year. You can pick it up now, as it was released on September 25th (Though there doesn’t seem to be an Amazon order link for it at this time). 
