Jason Bourne (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)
Jason Bourne needs no trailer to sell it. Let’s be honest of that fact. When Bourne Identity dropped in 2002 it rejuvenated the stale international spy franchises out there. Just look at the style of what came next in the Bond series, Casino Royale, as living proof. Suddenly Bourne-like movies infected our screens everywhere from the mainstream Mission Impossible franchise to even television series like 24. Yes, technically 24 came out first, but surely you can see the influence of the Bourne films. Ha ha. Whatevs! What I want to know is what’s up with these “character name” movie titles? Stallone resurrected two dead franchises like that. Now I guess it’s Greengrass’ turn, eh? Continue reading ‘Jason Bourne (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)’
They’re not staying down there, anymore! Finally making its long-awaited debut on Blu-ray, director Douglas Cheek’s cult ’80s favorite 
This December, baseball fans can bring home this year’s Fall Classic with a Blu-ray release commemorating the Chicago Cubs champion run: 2016 World Series Champions: Chicago Cubs (available December 6th). All droughts end with rain. And when the Chicago Cubs ended their 108-year World Series drought with an improbable three game run – including a dramatic Game 7 rain delay – to capture the championship, generations of Cubs fans washed away decades of disappointment, curses and superstitions. Fly the W! The Cubs are 2016 World Series champions! This December, fly the W and celebrate the Cubs history-making run to the championship with these two ultimate mementos from one of the most exciting postseasons in a generation. 
IFC Midnight and Scream Factory continue their hellish bond in bringing some of the best and unwatched in the indie horror scene to Blu-ray with The Devil’s Dolls. This is the second feature film from director Padraig Reynolds, following his other horror/thriller The Rites of Spring (Which, I’ve not seen, but has a really cool throwback retro poster). The disc isn’t just a bare bones one like some of these can be, it does come with a nice little grouping of bonus features (Including a commentary). It can be yours to own, or maybe to rent or borrow from that friend who snatches these up, on December 6th.
Dreamscape is now seeing its first double dip on Blu-ray after a rather lackluster and a bit reviled release the first time around. This time, though, we’re all lucky that the folks over at Scream Factory are the ones handling it. They seem to have heard all of the complaints from the other version and have set out to correct them. First off, they’ve got a brand new 2K transfer for the film as well as their normal slew of extras which are par for the course on their highly coveted “Collector’s Edition” series. This hopefully will please the fans as well as maybe make some new ones and possibly give some people a better second look at the film as it looks better than it has before. You can get your pre-order in for the release now, as it comes out December 13th.
The BFG, a big time collaborative effort to bring Roald Dahl’s classic story to the big screen in live action form seems like it would be a big deal, but maybe it was just past the time for excitement. Maybe its not something for this current generation. Its got a lot going for it with Steven Spielberg helming and reteaming himself with the writer from ET. A couple of great trailers as well as very good reviews couldn’t help get people to plop down the money for it or make it their choice over Finding Dory. Every summer we get more and more tentpoles and tentpoles against tentpoles in an almost weekly showdown, things get lost among the fold. The BFG was one of those, one of the biggest let downs and bombs. Critically, Spielberg is still on his run, but box office-wise its now come to a screeching halt. 
They pledge themselves to be young, stay young and die young – and all now on Blu-ray! Marking TV star Daphne Zuniga’s debut in a leading role, 
Black Christmas is a film that I’ve spent many years referring to as underrated, underseen, underappreciated, forgotten, unknown…you know the drill. But, as I review this Blu-ray and I look back at it, I wonder if it really is any more. If you’ll look at the bonus material, you’ll see there are a TON of interviews and retrospective documentaries on the film. You don’t get that if people aren’t interested in seeing that sort of thing. There was also a remake of the film. You also will see many articles on it throughout the given year as a part of lists for horror things and seasonal tidings. The film has also been remade, which is saying something too. In 42 years since it’s release, I think its finally crossed the boundary and IS the great horror classic it has always been. And for me, I’ve always called it one of my favorite slasher films, one of my favorite horror films, one of my favorite Christmas movies. But, its time I cross a boundary and just say its one of my all time favorite films. And its always exciting when one of my favorite films gets such a definitive release like this one. 
Hot on the heels of the original came the obvious sequel to The Hunger Games, Catching Fire. Since there’s, you know, multiple books in the series, anybody and everybody was expecting regardless of “how big” the first film would do. With the sequel came a changing of the guard as Gary Ross stepped away from the director role and Francis Lawrence would fill his shoes and finish out the series. Along with Lawrence came some hard hitters filling in the supporting character roles with the likes of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright and Amanda Plummer. It was another huge success for the franchise, which is making a full on 4K UHD Blu-ray appearance, just a year after finishing its run. This thrilling second chapter, er book…or sequel will be making its Blu-ray debut on November 8th. 
I wasn’t able to get to War Dogs this past summer when it released to theaters. And I was interested in checking it out theatrically. There were a lot of factors that appealed to me. Miles Teller and Jonah Hill seemed like a natural and exciting team up. Todd Phillips is also a pretty good and overlooked director and seemed to be using his talents for something new. It also looked like a piece of cinema akin to the Pain and Gain and The Wolf Of Wall Street type of movies. Oh, and it had a true story aspect with a topic that I kind of was interested in learning more about how this all actually happened. Well, I was able to check it out on this new 4K UHD Blu-ray that just released this week from Warner Bros. 
Don’t Breathe is one of those titles that lives up to its name. Let me tell you why. I can kid about this now because its in the past. We had the luxury of seeing a private screening of Don’t Breathe at the Alamo Drafthouse over the summer. So now answer me this. What do you do when you’re at an Alamo Drafthouse? Well, you watch a movie, but you also eat and drink a lot. Therein lies the problem with Don’t Breathe. It’s suspenseful, it’s edge of your seat, but mainly it’s super quiet for tension and shock. Who wants some num nuts chowing down next to them and ruining the movie with each and every crunch? Not I! You see my conundrum I’m speaking of here as I sat there during my theatrical experience with Don’t Breathe munching down dinner? Not only did I watch Don’t Breathe, but I felt like I couldn’t “breathe” either. Ha! 
The Secret Life of Pets was a film we never made it to theatrically this year. It wasn’t because we did not want to see it, quite the contrary, but it was just a bad timing thing. Time is our enemy in life. Then came news of the fact that this title was coming to the superior Ultra HD Blu-ray format in December. I jumped at the chance to be one of the first peeps to review it. Call it an ego thing or call it what you want. I just really wanted to see it. See I don’t have any kids in my life. I’m too selfish and impatient to ever have them. However, what I do have are loving, adorable pets. They are my kids to me and I know I love my son Star-Lord just as much as 
Believe it or not, the original C.H.U.D. was a film that somehow managed to elude me after all these years. So, this was all going to be a fresh take when tackling this Blu-ray for Vestron Video. Thanks to a rental on Amazon Prime Video, I was able to do my research by watching the original film. That movie, woof…kinda a slug. It had Daniel Stern in it along with John Heard. However, the film was a pretty big slug. And there was not near enough C.H.U.D. at all. It had its moments, but overall, I’m not sure its something I’d ever return to again. So, going into this sequel, which I’ve always known because of its subtitle, which can go up there with Electric Boogaloo and Your Sister Is a Werewolf as an all timer. Regardless of what my thoughts would be, I knew I’d be down for an entertaining overall release due to it coming from Vestron Video. They’ll be making this one available the same day as Return of the Living Dead 3; November 22nd. 
Boy, how things have really changed over the last 12 or so years in cinema. And I’m talking about particularly the zombie genre. Its hard to imagine a time when there weren’t an absurd amount of zombie films being released every year. From the late 80s until Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later in 2002, finding a new modern zombie film was scarce. And as far as I can remember, 1993’s Return of the Living Dead 3 felt like the last one. And it may have been the last really commercial or one to play theatrically in some form. I didn’t see it until home video, but for me, it was a big deal and an event. A brand new zombie film! It wasn’t just some run of the mill one either. This film wound up being a unique, strange, endaring oddity that hasn’t left my conscience every since the first time I saw it. Brian Yuzna’s film managed to have memorable characters, iconic looks, unforgettable horrific images and gore that sticks with you. And now, you can have all of that, finally in uncut form when it makes its US Blu-ray debut from Vestron Video on November 22nd! 
Here we are once again. Only this time winter is coming much earlier than usual for the sixth season of HBO’s Game of Thrones on the Blu-ray format. Last year’s Emmy Award winner for Outstanding Drama Series and currently nominated for 23 2016 Emmy Awards including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Directing Outstanding Supporting Actress (Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Maisie Williams) and Outstanding Supporting Actor (Peter Dinklage, Kit Harrington), Game of Thrones is bigger than ever as its starting to all wind down to the final upcoming two seasons. In other words, this sh1t is finally starting to get real every single episode. If you missed any of our past coverage of these best selling Blu-ray sets, please refer to the following links to seasons 1 and 2 
