Brandon’s Blu-ray Wishlist For 2019!
As promised after much delay, the annual wishlist is here! I’m actually glad I waited until the end of January to publish it, because in the time between November and now, many past wishlist titles have been announced for this coming year. So, we can scratch them off the list. There are titles that were originally on this list (Like Klute) that didn’t get a chance to be. The Blu-ray landscape began to evolve a lot in 2018, merely with the decision Warner Bros has made to license out movies to independent distributors like Criterion and Shout! Factory. Sony used to be strict about adding new features to their titles in licensing deals (Hence why many of theirs went to Twilight Time in the past), but appear to have scaled back and now we are getting better editions and titles companies want to pull the trigger on BECAUSE they can make the Collector’s Editions they were wanting to. Its becoming obvious with major studios that home video itself is pushing and moving toward streaming being the dominant format going forward and Blu-ray/4K UHD will go way of vinyl and be a collector’s medium. Premium prices will be more standard, but as long as the big studios are turning a corner like Warner Bros and your Arrows, Criterions and Shouts continue to put out top notch product, things will prosper for us fans of cinema and the physical media formats. Continue reading ‘Brandon’s Blu-ray Wishlist For 2019!’
When the Scream Factory Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for the 2001 slasher film Valentine releases on February 12th, it will have been almost 5 years exactly since I wrote my 
This was the day that engulfed the world in terror! A thrilling classic from the golden age of sci-fi cinema, Deadly Mantis debuts on Blu-ray on March 19, 2019 from Scream Factory. The release sports a new 2k scan of the original film elements and new audio commentary with film historian Tom Weaver and Dr. Robert J. Kiss. What’s worse than a horde of locusts? A gigantic man-eating praying mantis, released from a million years of deep, frozen sleep and ready to claw its way to world domination!
The Cloverfield series has a nice track record of being sneaky and coming up out of nowhere and as a surprise to us cinema-going audiences. Movies will be filmed under completely different titles with the connection never linking. The Cloverfield Paradox took that to another level when it decided to become one of the most talked about moments of the Super Bowl. During the game, rumors started flying from it getting a new release date, to Netflix acquiring it to eventually announcing the movie would drop on the streaming service after the game. In all honesty, after seeing the film, it was a good move because that may have been the most exposure and buzz the movie was going to get. A year later now, we have it coming to Blu-ray to own finally and sit on the shelf next to your first two Cloverfield films. You can grab a copy after the Super Bowl again on February 5th. 
A shocking revelation turns a teenage boy’s world upside-down in this chilling look at the evil that can lurk below even the most wholesome surface in the chilling thriller The Clovehitch Killer. Making its Blu-ray debut March 5th, 2019 from Scream Factory, in conjunction with IFC Midnight, this unsettling tale also includes a making-of featurette as a bonus feature. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com.
One of the fall’s more massive hits this past season was yet another Illumination animation out, this time Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch. The film approached 300 million domestically and made over half a billion worldwide. Yet, it feels like no one was talking about what a big success it was. Following in the footsteps of The Lorax, Illumination took one of the bigger Seuss properties and did it a solid in making a solid fully animated modern rendition of the classic book and cartoon short. I’m sure they were hoping this would put the Jim Carrey disaster in the distant corner of the human conscience with this release. It’ll be available in all formats, including the lovely 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray one, when it arrives on February 5th! 
After being more than pleasantly surprised with last year’s The Death of Superman movie from the DC Animated Universe, Reign of the Supermen has become hotly anticipated for me. This is the second half of the story and after seeing the care crafted in the first half, you must be eager to see these four Supermen brought to life via the trusted hands of the DCAU. Once again, they are going all in here with the 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray format for a DCAU movie, which we know how that goes. But if you want the best you can grab, then you’ll be able to pick it up when it releases on the format on January 29th in stores and online.
She used her beauty to bring kingdoms to their downfall and men to their knees! On February 26, 2019, SCREAM FACTORY is excited present the highly sought-after Hammer Film cult classic THE VENGEANCE OF SHE on Blu-ray. Directed by Cliff Owen and based on characters created by H. Rider Haggard, this high camp fantasy film classic stars John Richardson (Battle of the Stars, War of the Planets), Olinka Berova (Lucrezia) and Edward Judd (Island of Terror). Noel Willman (Doctor Zhivago) and Colin Blakely (Murder on the Orient Express) also co-star in the movie. A must-have for movie collectors, this definitive Blu-ray release contains special bonus content including new 2K scan of the original film elements, new interviews and much more! Pre-order is available now at ShoutFactory.com. 
The first Goosebumps film with Jack Black took everyone quite by surprise a few years ago. It was a family horror film that wound up actually being really well done and had us all welcoming a sequel. Said sequel arrived in 2018, which had much less involvement from Jack Black this time around, trying to make a go of it without his presence almost. Marketing didn’t reveal his actual being part of the cast until much late in the game (Probably to not confuse with House With A Clock In Its Walls). Unfortunately it didn’t do as well as its predecessor but hopefully they’ll give a third film a go as I’d like see a kid’s horror franchise prosper. So many young people will have this as their gateway inspiration to check out more of the genre. Its available now on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray for you to purchase from the Amazon link below! 
I kid you not, I absolutely love Sylvester Stallone’s Cobra. Its the most ridiculously over the top, dark and grimey 80s cop action/thriller you’ll ever find. The film both rocks and is one of the craziest things you’ll ever see in your life. Scream Factory giving the film a Collector’s Edition is both one something I never saw coming and something that excited me at the very same time. It’d actual make for a perfect double feature with another Collector’s Edition Scream Factory did this month in the Charles Bronson film 10 To Midnight. Unsurprisingly, both carry the Cannon Films motif on them. Cobra will feature some new interviews and scan for this release, which you can pick up at any time as it was release on the 22nd of January. Ordering is made super easy when you scrolling on through (After reading, please) and click the Amazon link at the bottom. So kick back with an original Coors, order a pizza cut by way of the scissor and watch one of the most entertaining Sylvester Stallone films ever made. 
While boasting a notable male cast and being in the heat of the pure action movie golden age, Stephen Hopkin’s Judgment Night didn’t really take off in theaters and wound up a $12 million dollar kinda also-ran, if even considered a small hit. Where I think this film did its business and became memorable was in being a hot rental title. Everyone seemed to have this one and Emilio Estevez was a pretty big name at this time to make one curious to check it out. Warner Archive Collection is giving the film its due by putting it out onto Blu-ray this month. Its a title that seemed to be on many’s wishlists over the last couple years and they can finally own this upgrade. Judgment Night is available for order now, and you can use the Amazon link below to own it. 
The classic 1960s Hammer Film thrillerThe Witches makes its Blu-ray debut March 19th, 2019 from Scream Factory. The release includes a new audio commentary with filmmaker and historian Ted Newsom, as well as the featurette on the women of Hammer Film and theatrical trailers. Fans can pre-order their copies now by visiting ShoutFactory.com.
The Millennium series is a property that studio heads just really want to see take off in the United States for some reason. Deriving from acclaimed books and the Swedish film/TV-miniseries starring Noomi Rapace, the US debuted the high profile David Fincher helmed The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo to an underwhelming box office and put a cap on what appeared to be a surefire signed off and done trilogy. With years away, they’ve decided to make what hasn’t been done before, the fourth book that keeps key player Lisbeth Salander in focus and see what could go from there. Unfortunately, more lukewarm reviews and a box office bomb. Perhaps this could make for a good Netflix or Prime original movie series instead? Anyway, you can check it out for yourself on Blu-ray when it hits February 5th! 
A pretty big sign of the times changing in home media is perfectly exemplified by this 30th Anniversary Edition release of When Harry Met Sally from Shout! Factory. What was once a sure fire, A-catalog title, easy seller (Even in an upgraded form) has now been sub-licensed and outsourced to an independent “boutique” label. Not a bad thing at all, I love Shout! Factory and am happy to see them land a title like this, but When Harry Met Sally at one time probably would have received a “Hell no” reply from a major studio had it even been inquired upon. But, now, it can be given more care and improvement than even the big studios might have even considered. Already receiving high marks, our review is finally here and you can pick it up by ordering a copy below! 
