Tag: Blu-ray Review

Examining Madame Web’s Lost Threads on Home Video

And we also got ideas on how to fix it, had Madame Web dealt more with the mythical lore that’s barely spun.

Madame Web Bluray Cover
Available to purchase on Amazon USA

After watching the bonus features of the home video release of Madame Web, I’m surprised that showrunner S. J. Clarkson actually knew what she was doing. She looked into what made this supporting character from the Marvel Comics Spider-Man comic books special. She got some bits right which gets quickly explained in “Oracle of the Page” but to change it around lots resulted in making it the mess that it is. Between getting a copy to review versus paying to see it made the difference in when I’d eventually watch this film.

By radically changing specific details up and having this story take place early in the MCU continuity might cause problems. There’s a moment concerning Ben Parker, the father to Peter, but will enough people catch the reference? The bigger question concerns how much of this tale is also part of that grander design versus being Sony Spidey-verse specific? The only good part of the film is in how the second incarnation of Spider Woman looks perfect. Sydney Sweeney (instead of Carpenter from the books) is perhaps the best part of the film when she finally dons the black and white costume.

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Don’t Be Tormented with Film Master’s latest Release

Although Tormented is very much a product of the times, a budget B-movie, there’s something to appreciate about this home video release as it looks into why Bert I. Gordon should be remembered.

Tormented Film Masters Display Packaging Design
Available to purchase on Amazon USA

The next hailed master of cult cinema the Film Masters are looking at is Bert I. Gordon, and to decide on which movie of his to remaster must have been tough. What’s examined is Tormented, a fairly standard ghost story. Although this filmmaker is best known for The Food of the Gods and other giant monster movies, which is better examined in this home video release’s bonus material, I thought what’s offered here is fitting enough to introduce newcomers to who this person is, and why he’s important.

This film was released back when ghost stories were making a comeback to cinema, and Robert Wise’s The Haunting helped motivate him, I suspect he read a certain story, namely the Tell Tale Heart, to help him know how to direct this work.

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NSYNC with the Details Regarding the Trolls Band Together Sing-Along Edition

What watching Trolls Band Together again in home video will let viewers know just what fences have been mended between brothers who haven’t been back to the studio in ages.

Trolls Band Together Blu-Ray Case
Available to purchase on Amazon USA

Everything you want to learn about Justin Timberlake‘s executive producer role in Trolls Band Together but were afraid to ask is well addressed here. I’m quite enjoying the home video release of this work a lot more than what was experienced at the theatre. It’s mostly because I wanted to know more about how the NSYNC reunion came about. I’m sure it wasn’t as easy as a phone call when considering what happened that resulted in them disbanding, sort of reuniting, and et cetera.

What I’ve learned from viewing “Hi, Hi, Hi” and “Together Again” is that Timberlake isn’t the only one who wants to keep this franchise alive. Producer Gina Shay must have geeked out when he pitched the idea of doing a reunion. To see the behind the scenes recordings with them talking about how to develop their characters and also composing a new song must’ve been a dream come true for her.

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Two Shows in One Disc. Spirited Away: Live on Stage, A Blu-ray Review

Spirited Away: Live on Stage could’ve been made better by including the soundtrack like the box set anniversary releases, but that’s okay.

Spirited Away Live on Stage Blu-ray Case
Available to purchase on Amazon USA

GKIDS & Shout! Factory
Released Nov 14, 2023

Anyone who did not catch Spirited Away: Live on Stage can enjoy the best of both versions on home video! Although this release doesn’t contain any bonus features that look at behind the scenes, to have the two shows as played by Kanna Hashimoto and Mone Kamishiraishi in the title role, Chihiro, in one single release is a Ghibli fan’s dream release come true.

I wasn’t sure if this film would play in Canada, as locations and dates weren’t offered many weeks in advance. Thankfully, Cineplex eventually added more screenings which included my home town, but I was in Seattle that weekend. I didn’t plan to visit the States just to get my Ghibli fix–it was pure luck that I was at the right place and right time. What was presented at the Regal and where I sat made me feel like I had a front row seat to a live show rather than something broadcasted on a screen. My experience can be read here.

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Unboxing the Huge Star Trek: Picard Legacy Collection, The Video and Expanded Review

We expand on what’s said in our unboxing video on YouTube and offer some more thoughts after giving Star Trek: The Picard Legacy Collection a proper view.

Star Trek- Picard Legacy CollectionAvailable to purchase on Amazon USA

The Star Trek: Picard Legacy Collection is huge, and for anyone new to Star Trek: The Next Generation, and wants to follow everything this captain (wonderfully played by Sir Patrick Stewart) has done, it’s the perfect jumping in point! Not everyone will have grown up watching this franchise’s best comeback. Without it, the subsequent series would not have been created. We have Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Strange New Worlds, Prodigy and so on. Although not every series was made avaiilable on Blu-ray, that’s the hope most long time fans crave.

In this release, all the episodes are identified on the sleeve that makes up each case. Each plastic enclosure is sturdy, and although I’d be tempted to put the series into a binder, I don’t need to rush to do that. The discs aren’t that hard to remove, and instead of forcing, I gently tugged.

And as my unboxing video shows (featured below), there’s lots of design and packaging aesthetics to like. After sitting down to view the remasters, the details are far better than what I recall from my television viewing days. Although Blu-ray isn’t as forgiving with the bits of blue screening used, some suspension of belief is required.

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If Only There Were Also Spiders in Creepy Crawly. Centipedes Aren’t Enough!

In Thailand, there’s also other supernatural dangers that can be creepy crawly and they are certain to make you check under the bed late at night!

Creepy Crawly Blu-Ray CaseWell Go USA
Release Date: Oct 3, 2023

Anyone with a fear of centipedes is best advised to look away than watch this latest Thai film brought to America. Creepy Crawly (original title is The One Hundred) is an effective story about how to survive an infestation. And as for whether anyone will develop a phobia afterwards, thankfully it’s all CGI! However, the next time I see a giant sized multi-legged terror coming at me, I’m still going to run away!

After Kat encounters a multi-legged fright in the jungles of Cambodia, the setup isn’t too hard to figure out. While searching for a forgotten camp site for her video blog, meets an old lady looking very worse for wear, and presumedly is lost. Later at night, she’s found an area to make camp and after getting frightened by a single caterpillar falling into her tent, the Evil Dead vibe got my imagination going. When that person she met before shows her true colours that’s an image that’ll haunt my dreams for a few days!

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