Tag: Blu-ray

Breaking Down the Deets with Bartender’s 15th Anniversary Collection

This series is set to make its North American Blu-ray debut early next year and the bonus material is enough to whet anyone’s appetite.

Bartender
Available to pre-order on Amaaon USABartender

Shout! Factory & Anime Limited

Release Date:
Jan 19, 2021

It’s hard to believe that “Bartender” Ryū Sasakura will soon be 15 years old. Well, the anime that is. This anthology series became quite the cult hit back in the day and its eloquence is in how the people feel transformed after having a drink made by this gentleman. He adds more than zest of being that sympathetic ear to those customers who have come here to soothe their aches and pains of something traumatic which recently occurred in their life.

This series is set to make its North American Blu-ray debut early next year and the bonus material is enough to whet anyone’s appetite. Although the manga has featured many more drinks than the eleven episode series, newcomers have ways to enjoy this celebratory set. Nine of the best recipes Sasakura-san crafted is part of this special package. It’s anyone’s guess on what they are, and this release will be worth picking up to find out!

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Straight up We’ll Climb in this GKIDS Rerelease of The Wind Rises

This GKIDs re-release is a step above from the prior Disney version. The transfer is essentially the same. We get a few added videos, like “10 Years With Hayao Miyazaki Documentary” and “Film Completion Press Conference.”

Bartender
Watch it online or buy at Amazon USABartender

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Release Date:
Sept 22, 2020

The question of which North American Studio Ghibli home video release is worthwhile to own depends on how consistent the package design is between each distributor’s release. I tried to obtain all the region two releases but as home video player technologies changed, I adapted because I favoured high definition over a low fidelity DVD format.

The changeover of rights is not confusing. Disney got the license for certain films, and if the title was deemed “too adult,” it was a Touchstone Pictures release. Universal Pictures handled the non-Miyazaki products, and over time the Mouse conceded. GKIDs and Shout! Factory took over distribution. I’m at the point of filing away my cases and making a custom binder to store my many versions and not worrying about how my collection looks on the media shelf. With The Wind Rises now on Bluray, I can say my collection is more or less complete.

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It’s Not Ip Man’s Finale, but the Grandmaster of all Collections!

IP MAN 4 Movie Collection ART

IP MAN: THE GRANDMASTER 4-MOVIE COLLECTION
Release Date: April 7th

Wilson Yip’s work in the fictional biography of Ip Man is getting a box set! Not only will it feature all four films (previously released as separate films by Well Go USA) featuring Donnie Yen in the titular role, but also we’ll be getting the much needed featurettes that should help fill in the gaps that the cinematic treatment doesn’t touch on.

In the fourth film, which I reviewed a few months ago here, Ip Man lands in San Francisco to help ease tensions between the local Kung Fu masters and an up and coming talent, Bruce Lee. However, there’s more than just tensions between keeping Chinatown in peace. There’s problems with other locals; when the military gets involved, the xenophobic tensions can almost speak for the current situation going on presently between the White House, China and COVID-19.

Every Breath You Take with Funan, on Home Video Dec 3rd!

Bartender
Available to Pre-order on AmazonBartender

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Release Date:
Dec 3rd, 2019

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Funan is a deeply personal look into the life and times of Chou (voiced by Bérénice Bejo) when she faces more than a life separated from her family. Her story is based on writer/director Denis Do’s own experiences. It’s mostly about the stories his mother passed down. Her trials of wanting to reunite with her loved ones following the Cambodian uprising of the Khmer Rouge regime was difficult. This switch of power took place in April 1975 and lasted till 79.

Do hits a home run with the screenplay. The dialogue about how this new political party supposedly can do good seems brash. I see it as a conflict of one man’s ideals versus another’s in a matter of national pride. The English dub is reasonably well done, even though I switched to watching the French language version; translations can only go far and I wanted to see this work as it was originally intended. As I watched this heartbreaking movie, I can’t help but think the lyrics to The Police’s song, “Every Breath You Take” take on new meaning here. The story of love, loss and hope is every bit as powerful as the song because, quite literally, the new regime’s eyes are everywhere and ready to strike (for all the wrong reasons).

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Coming Nov 12th, 2019 is Spirited Away Collector’s Edition!

BartenderStudio Ghibli and GKIDS, with distribution by Shout! Factory, will issue Spirited Away in a beautiful collector’s edition release on November 12, 2019. The limited-edition set comes housed in an elegant hard slipcase, with a new 40-page book with stunning art and essays. Featured in a deluxe disc portfolio will be a Blu-ray™ of the film paired with hours of special features and the film’s soundtrack on CD, now available exclusively on disc in North America.

The set is available for pre-order now on ghiblicollection.com.

From the legendary Studio Ghibli, this wondrous fantasy film is one of the best-selling and internationally renowned films of all time, becoming the highest-grossing film in Japanese history in 2001. Winner of the Academy Award® for Best Animated Feature, Hayao Miyazaki’s epic adventure is a dazzling masterpiece from one of the most iconic filmmakers in the history of animation.

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Tanks for the Memories, T-34 roars into Home Video this Week!

Despite being glued to the action than the drama, the story of hope is what drives T-34 forward.

All-Formats-T34-front
Available to purchase on AmazonBartender


Available Now
Released by Well GO Entertainment

T-34 is not your Hogan’s Heroes. This Russian made film about such a resilient war machine is more about the people who can drive this tank, than anything else. It’s less about comedy or propaganda. The latter is inevitable, but more often than not, no matter which country the film is made in, the focus is often about the brotherhood forged.

Here, Nikolay Ivushkin (Alexander Petrov) is in the front lines. He quickly gets promoted to tank commander and despite being able to defeat a German Panzer attack, he and driver Stepan Vasilyonok (Viktor Dobronravov) are captured. They are sent to a concentration camp. Three years later, he meets his rival, Klaus Jäger (Vinzenz Kiefer) and is “coerced” to take part in local war games.

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