Tag: Home Video

Comparing the Old with the New: Universal Classic Monsters: Icons Collection in 4K

I bided my time like the Count for a proper 4K release, and Universal Studios have delivered with this home video release simply titled Universal Classic Monsters!

Universal Classic Monsters Scaring 4K UHD Blu-ray Available to purchase on Amazon USA

The most well known Universal Classic Monsters will shine this Halloween. All the icons from the Golden Age of Cinema from this studio–Dracula, Frankenstein, The Invisible Man and The Wolfman–have been given a recent restoration, and now they’re in 4K! The quality is beautiful, and the hard slipcase booklet is a sweet way to keep the discs intact. It features the poster used when the film first came out.

There’s some film grain and audio buzz, which is to be expected, in the product. I’m glad some of the celluloid feel is kept, while the frame rate is increased.

Anyone who collected these older works from one medium to another over the years knows the challenges involved. Whether that’d be from VHS to DVD to Bluray and now 4K, there’s only so much the preservation team can do before putting the original negatives back in the vault. Dracula will be glad, and The Invisible Man can rest in peace.

Continue reading “Comparing the Old with the New: Universal Classic Monsters: Icons Collection in 4K”

Little Vampire Lands on Home Video Oct 5th!

Little Vampire (Blu-ray)Shout! Factory
Release Date: Oct 5, 2021
Available to order on Amazon USA

Arriving just in time onto home video for the Halloween season is Joann Sfar‘s Little Vampire! This story about family and friendship has a lot to like, and it can make for a nice way to end Oct 31st with. 

The messages imbued into the tale is heartfelt. This latest adaptation of Angela Sommer-Bodenburg’s books of the same name goes in an entirely different direction. The animator makes it his own! I wrote a full review when it played during Fantasia Film Fest 2021. This French cartoonist turned his television series into a much more engaging film and I finally got to compare the graphic novel to this film. The story is an expansion of the first chapter in the USA release of the trade paperback, and I searched far and wide to see if the rest of his series exist translated. Alas, this volume is it.

Continue reading “Little Vampire Lands on Home Video Oct 5th!”

So What’s With the Music in Earwig and the Witch?

I wanted to know more about this world, and it’s a shame Jones passed away, leaving her latest idea unfinished.

Earwig and the Witch
Steelbook Edition available to preorder on Amazon USA

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

GKIDS & Shout! Factory
Now Available on Streaming (HBOMax)

DVD/Blu-Ray Release Date:
April 6, 2021

Spoiler Alert

Long time fans of Studio Ghibli’s works will find their decision to transition to CGI jarring. The production quality and advanced character design–the motion of the figures–is just not there. They don’t have the decades of experience other teams (like DreamWorks or PIXAR) have. It’s all new to them. Despite this setback, debuting Earwig and the Witch (アーヤと魔女) on television and the CGI quality doesn’t overshadow the tale by much.

Goro Miyazaki explains his reasoning behind the production design in one featurette offered in this home video release (it comes with a handy checklist of other Ghibli films for completionists to explore). Viewers can decide if his choice is for the better or worse. By mid-act I got accustomed to it and became more invested in the hilarious antics Erica Wigg (Kokoro Hirasawa) goes through with the help of her new pet to become a woman of the house.

Continue reading “So What’s With the Music in Earwig and the Witch?”

That Crazy Samurai is Headed to Home Video March 2nd!

Anyone who missed out in seeing Crazy Samurai Musashi at film festivals can now see it on streaming or on home video!

Earwig and the WitchAvailable on
Hi-YAH! Streaming Service.

WELL GO USA
Physical/VOD/Digital
Release Date: March 2, 2021

Please click on this link to read a review of this movie.

Anyone who missed out in seeing Crazy Samurai Musashi at film festivals can now see it on streaming or on home video! This film has been renamed though, and anyone feeling confused at why Crazy Samurai: 400 vs 1 is used for the Well GO USA release is best to ask this company.

Perhaps it’s to ideally identify what this movie is about. It’s a one take slug-fest of one man versus an entire village. Although this company doesn’t always offer extras in every Asian cinema release, this work is one I wished it had additional material from the Japanese physical media release.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W43huBXYwu8%5D

 

I’d love to see what was needed to prepare for filming this movie in one long take. There’s hardly time to breathe given the amount of battles Musashi (Tak Sakaguchi) have to endure. Yuji Shimomura’s film is unique such that he has to coordinate everything through walkie-talkie and hidden headphones. The Japanese home video release offers more and can be purchased through YesAsia, This edition includes a bonus DVD of special features including making-of, audienceless event, first day press meet and trailer.

 

Breaking Open The Croods: New Age! Home Release Details Unveiled

The interest will no doubt be high in what will go behind this release. Included are two exclusive animated shorts, a gag reel, deleted scenes and activities the whole family can enjoy together. I’d pick up this release just to have to Sash, Dawn’s pet sloth to go with Belt. The store specific promos with the stuffed toy aren’t all listed yet, but I’m hoping!

Earwig and the WitchComing to Digital Feb 9, 2021 on iTunes
4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAY™ AND DVD on Feb 23, 2021

UNIVERSAL PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT

Available to pre-order on Amazon USAEarwig and the Witch

DreamWorks’ The Croods: A New Age is ready to take over the free world after its short theatrical run! This Stone Age family is more than likely to go nuclear as it makes for better viewing from the privacy of a pandemic world, and after its over, “A New Age” can be guaranteed–provided the survivors can get along with those new neighbours!

That’s who they discover in this outing–and the running joke is how good are the Croods when compared to the Bettermans?

The interest will no doubt be high in what will go behind this release. Included are two exclusive animated shorts, a gag reel, deleted scenes and activities the whole family can enjoy together. I’d pick up this release just to have to Sash, Dawn’s pet sloth to go with Belt. The store specific promos with the stuffed toy aren’t all listed yet, but I’m hoping!

Coming soon will be an evaluation of the home video release.

Continue reading “Breaking Open The Croods: New Age! Home Release Details Unveiled”

Faster Than the Speed of Light is Earwig and the Witch’s Home Video Release Date!

Earwig and the Witch Steelbook
Available to pre-order on Amazon USAEarwig and the Witch

GKIDS & Shout! Factory

Home Video:
April 6, 2020 

Hot after its limited screening in select theatres worldwide in early Feb, Studio Ghibli’s Earwig and the Witch will hit digital next month, March 23, for other regions. This is the date to circle for this highly anticipated release for video streamers.

The home video release, set to arrive two weeks after, will be. offered in both a Limited Edition Steelbook™ and a Blu-ray+DVD combo, and the extra features being offered are as follows:

Continue reading “Faster Than the Speed of Light is Earwig and the Witch’s Home Video Release Date!”

WP Twitter Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com