The Darkest Minds (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
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. Continue reading ‘The Darkest Minds (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
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. 
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. 
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! 
