Welcome back to the latest episode of Slipped Discs, where I give you a head’s up on what nerdy stuff is available to come home with you, because I still believe in physical media!

Once more, all this information comes from Blu-Ray.com, but they list everything that will be in the stores, whereas I shall provide you with what I feel is the interesting genre fare.

So, my Physical Medians, I feel like I must apologize again for last week’s list coming out a week late. I shall do my best to make sure that it doesn’t happen again. For a while, at least. :/

So, with that out of the way, let’s go ahead and take a look at this week’s releases. And boy howdy, there are a lot of them! There’s a little something for everyone, my friends.

Better Off Dead (1985) “Lane Meyer is a depressed teen who loses his girlfriend Beth. Her given reason for breaking up is: “Lane, I think it’d be in my best interest if I dated somebody more popular. Better looking. Drives a nicer car.” Anyway, poor Lane is left alone and thinks up treacherous ways of killing himself. He finally meets a French beauty called Monique and falls for her. Simultaneously, he must endure his mother’s terrible cooking which literally slides off the table and his disgusting next door neighbour Ricky (and his mum) while he prepares for the skiing race of his life – to get his old girlfriend back!” This was originally announced to be released back on February 25th, where I gushed about it and Savage Steve Holland, but it was pushed back to this week. If it’s not actually available this week, I may scream.

Pale Blood (1990) “Michael Fury is a vampire. But contrary to myth and legend, he does not stalk innocent victims to drain them of blood – and life – rather he only drinks what he needs to survive. But when a vicious, and very human, killer begins murdering young women in Los Angeles by biting them and draining their blood, sparking fears that a vampire is prowling the city, Michael realizes that it will be up to him to unmask the fiend behind these deaths to save the good name of his vampire brethren.” Another movie that was pushed back, this time from 4/28, and I’m still interested in seeing this one.

Escape from L.A. (1996) “It’s 16 years after Snake Plissken’s rescue of the President of the United States of America in New York. Now, a different President is in power, and declares the U.S. to be a land of moral superiority: no smoking, no red meat, no freedom of religion and no unapproved marriages. A massive earthquake has hit Los Angeles, leaving it in ruins and completely surrounded by water. From this new island hell rises an army of discontent, led by brutal South American revolutionary Cuervo Jones. L.A. has become an anarchist state. The President deports all immoral (and therefore criminal) citizens of the U.S. to the City of the Angels. However, his own daughter Utopia joins forces with Cuervo, taking with her the key to a doomsday device that could send mankind back to the dark ages. Once again, Snake is recruited by the President’s men to complete an impossible task: penetrate the Sodom that is L.A., retrieve the device, and eliminate Utopia. Infected by a fatal virus, his clock is ticking as enemy forces threaten the United States’ borders.” I’ll be the first to admit, I didn’t care for this movie when it was released. Partly because the trailers sold it to me as an action movie much like Escape from New York, but instead it’s more of a satire/comedy. Yes, those elements are there in the original, but not as strong as this follow-up. So I wasn’t prepared for the experience that the movie offered. In the subsequent years, and viewings, I have come around to appreciate its charms, and place in Carpenter’s library. It’s still different in tone from the first one (except for the opening and closing ten minutes), but that’s not a bad thing. I will end up getting a copy of this, both to complete my Carpenter collection, and because it’s another SHOUT! Factory 4K scan Collector’s Edition, which means it will be chock full of all kinds of goodies. Though I am also tempted to wait and see if they do a Steelbook release…

Zombie (1979) “Strangers looking for a woman’s father arrive at a tropical island where a doctor desperately searches for the cause and cure of a recent epidemic of the undead.” Once more, I’ll never understand how B-R.com chooses what gets a short gist, and what gets an entire Wikipedia page. Anyway, also known as Zombi 2, this is the Lucio Fulci classic, which he did as a sort-of sequel to Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, which was released as Zombi in parts of Europe. He was able to to that as he helped Romero get Dawn made, and other various reasons. It’s a classic of the horror/zombie genre, has some iconic scenes (that poor lady’s eye), and you can now get all the groundbreaking gore in full 4K resolution. If you’re a fan of the cannibal undead, then you probably have already at least seen this, and you should absolutely have it in your collection.

In Search of Dracula (1975) “A documentary exploring the legends of vampires, using books, paintings and early films on the subject.” It’s a cheesy, very 70s “documentary” about Vlad Tepes, with Christopher Lee playing Vlad, and the infamous King of the Vampires. You already know if this will be your bag or not.

Solid Metal Nightmares: The Films of Shinya Tsukamoto (1987-2018) “Tetsuo: The Iron Man / Tetsuo II: Body Hammer / The Adventure of Denchu-Kozo / Tokyo Fist / Bullet Ballet / A Snake of June / Vital / Haze / Kotoko / Killing – See individual titles for their synopses.” Oh, B-R.com. Still, yeah, that’s a lot of movies from one of the most unique directors of the modern era, brought to you by the fine folks at Arrow Video, so you know it’s worth picking up, if you’re a fan of Shinya’s work.

No, they and Shout!/SCREAM Factory still aren’t paying me.

Ator, the Fighting Eagle (1982) “The son of Torren learns of his heritage, goes to avenge the deaths of his fellow villagers, and rescue his sister/love interest from the evil Dakkar and his spider cult. Ator battles giant spiders, swordsmen cloaked in shadow, re-animated dead warriors, and horribly hideous witches.” You kids today, with your Lord of the Rings epics, Game of Thrones, and The Witcher! You’re spoiled! When I was growing up, hack cheese like this, Hawk the Slayer, and Beastmaster was all we could get for fantasy entertainment! Though, ok, yeah Beastmaster is pretty damn awesome. And Hawk has its charms. BUT YOU GET MY POINT!

The Invisible Man (2020) “When Cecilia’s abusive ex takes his own life and leaves her fortune, she suspects his death was a hoax. As a series of coincidences turn lethal, Cecilia’s works to prove that she is being hunted by someone nobody can see.” I was expecting this movie to be good, and it is damn good, people. It’s a showcase for Elisabeth Moss, and she delivers the goods. Scary, tense, and well directed by Leigh Whannell. She always sets the scene where you are guessing if the title character is in the room or not. It may be a tough watch for anyone who’s been in an abusive relationship, and the movie holds to those themes of how someone can still impact you while not being there. This is my pick of the week, get it on Blu-Ray or 4K.

The Gates of Hell / Psycho from Texas (1975-1980) “In The Gates of Hell, a reporter and a psychic race to close the Gates of Hell after the suicide of a clergyman caused them to open, allowing the dead to rise from their graves. In Psycho from Texas, a drifter/hitman is hired by a local business man to kidnap the local oil baron. The hitman had been reared in squalor, suffering the abuses of his whoring mama. When the baron escapes his assistant must chase him while the hitman takes care of a few loose ends.” A horror double-feature, I have to confess that just the ads, tales I was told by other kids who had watched it, and bits I’d seen in Fangoria about Gates of Hell (especially the drill-press kill) terrified/squicked me as a kid, and I still haven’t been able to bring myself to watch it. I’m sure if I did actually watch it, I would find it underwhelming now, but I just can’t bring myself to do it. Both of these are considered classics of 70s/80s gore-horror, so if that’s your bag, this Blu-Ray is for you. Not me, but you.

Reflections on the Living Dead (1993) “A 25th-anniversary celebration of director George A. Romero’s seminal horror classic Night of the Living Dead (1968), with film clips from the original, interviews with many cast and crew members, and comments by such famous “fans” as directors Wes Craven,’ Sam Raimi and Tobe Hooper.” This was right around when George and his movies were starting to get the respect he and they deserved, after years of being mostly written off by film critics as exploitative trash. As someone who loves zombies, George, and behind the scenes stuff, this is right up my alley.

Other titles of note: Satanico Pandemonium (1975) (More Nunsploitation!), Maniac (1980), Dolly Dearest (1991), Breeders (1997), Blood Tide (1982), Horrors of Spider Island (1960), Satan’s Slave (1982), Insight of Evil 2 (2019)

As I said at the start, we have quite a lot to choose from this week, even if a few were supposed to have been released already. Let me know which of these are a must-buy for you, a pass, or which ones I missed!

Welcome back to the latest episode of Slipped Discs, where I give you a head’s up on what nerdy stuff is available to come home with you, because I still believe in physical media!

Once more, all this information comes from Blu-Ray.com, but they list everything that will be in the stores, whereas I shall provide you with what I feel is the interesting genre fare.

Sorry that this article is running late, my Physical Medians, but life kinda got in the way. I don’t really have an excuse. I am going to try and get the article for the releases on 5/26 up later tonight or on Tuesday, so I ask your indulgence.

In other news, I also ended up going to my storage unit last Monday, digging around to find the box with the last of my collection of DVDs and XBox 360 games. It took a while, and I was sore from the effort of moving boxes and furniture around in there, but the effort was a success! So look forward to an update to my movie database (you can see it here) soon!

In other news, once again, my pick of the week, Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), Steelbook edition, has sold out! I promise to use this power only for good, my friends.

Probably.

Anyway, shall we get on with this week’s list of nerdy good stuff?

Top Gun (1986) “The Top Gun Naval Fighter Weapons School is where the best of the best train to refine their elite flying skills. When hotshot fighter pilot Maverick is sent to the school, his reckless attitude and cocky demeanor put him at odds with the other pilots, especially the cool and collected Iceman. But Maverick isn’t only competing to be the top fighter pilot, he’s also fighting for the attention of his beautiful flight instructor.” Ok, yes, once again, this isn’t technically a genre flick, but it’s influence is impossible to ignore. Cool, fun, and iconic, it’s one everybody should watch once, especially with the sequel (hopefully) coming out this fall. Grab it in Blu, 4K, and the obligatory Best Buy exclusive Steelbook.

The Good Place (2016 – 2020) “The show follows Eleanor Shellstrop, an ordinary woman who enters the afterlife, and thanks to some kind of error, is sent to the Good Place instead of the Bad Place, which is definitely where she belongs. While hiding in plain sight from Michael, the wise architect of the Good Place (who doesn’t know he’s made a mistake), she’s determined to shed her old way of living and discover the awesome (or at least the pretty good) person within.” Simply one of the best forking shows ever made. Alternately hilarious, touching, an amazing cast playing wonderful characters, and writing that handles moral issues what it means to be human with an incredibly deft hand, continually upping it’s game, the stakes, never taking the safe road, and rising to the challenges it sets for itself, this show is darn near perfect. You really should give it a shot.

Onward (2020) “Set in a suburban fantasy world, two teenage elf brothers embark on a quest to discover if there is still magic out there.” D&D adventure through the Pixar lens. I’m absolutely sure that some DMs are already running this as a campaign. While the ending didn’t quite work for me, it was still a great time (it’s a Pixar movie after all, duh), and I recommend it to fans of fantasy stories or RPGs. It’s available in 4K, Blu-Ray and the Best Buy exclusive Steelbook.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020) “Following the decimation of Earth at the hands of Darkseid, the remaining superheroes are forced to regroup and take the war to Darkseid himself if they have any chance of saving the planet once and for all.” Yes, this is the movie that confirms that known pansexual John Constantine dated and had sex with King Shark, and thinks dating him is safer than dating Harley Quinn. You know that you need to see this now.

Sidenote: King Shark on the DC App Harley Quinn animated series is a treasure, as is the whole show, truth be told, and you should be watching it.

War of the Worlds (2005) “The extraordinary battle for the future of humankind through the eyes of one American family. Fleeing from an extraterrestrial army of killer Tripods that annihilate everything in their path, Ray Ferrier races to keep his family safe” Our second Tom Cruise movie of the week, but this one is legit Sci-Fi, a classic of the genre, brought to us by Steven Spielberg in full “9/11 Allegory” mode. I reviewed it back when it came out, and I might need to do a rewatch to see if my feelings have changed. It is getting the Blu-Ray and 4K upgrade, so you can fully experience the Tripod Terror.

Brahms: The Boy II (2020) “After a family moves into the Heelshire Mansion, their young son soon makes friends with a life-like doll called Brahms.” To be honest, I didn’t see the first one, and the trailers for this didn’t excite me to watch this one either. If you really enjoyed it, let me know, and tell me why.

The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) “Penniless, Baron Frankenstein, accompanied by his eager assistant Hans, arrives at his family castle near the town of Karlstaad, vowing to continue his experiments in the creation of life. Fortuitously finding the creature he was previously working on, he brings it back to a semblance of life but requires the services of a mesmerist, Zoltan, to successfully animate it. The greedy and vengeful Zoltan secretly sends the monster into town to steal gold and ‘punish’ the burgomaster and the chief of police, which acts lead to a violent confrontation between the baron and the townspeople…” Another Hammer classic, I remember watching this on Midnight Chiller Theater as a kid, and it scared the crap outta me. And made me a Hammer fan for life. This is another Collector’s Edition from from the fine folks at Scream Factory (*insert obligatory “they’re not paying me” disclaimer), with a beautiful cover painted by Rondo Award Winning artist Mark Maddox. So go get it!

Danger: Diabolik (1968) “Criminal mastermind drama set in the Swinging Sixties. Diabolik (John Philip Law) is a super thief who enjoys causing as much confusion and mayhem to the authorities as he can. Residing in an underground lair, where he plans his next moves accompanied by his voluptuous girlfriend, Diabolik soon incurs the wrath of other underworld figures who join forces with the police to try to catch him.” If the only version of this that you’ve seen is the MST3K one, you’re doing yourself a disservice. It just oozes 60s snazzy spy sex appeal, with great characters, a fun plot, and is just a glorious product of its era. Brought to us by SHOUT! Factory, it has all the bells and whistles, and as it’s one of Needless Things podcast host Dave‘s favorite movies, it’s his (unknowing) pick of the week!

The Blues Brothers (1980) “Jake and Elwood Blues endeavor to raise $5,000 for their childhood parish by putting their old band back together and taking their show on the road. While touring, they manage to wreak havoc on the entire city of Chicago and much of the midwest.” It’s a musical, therefore it’s a genre movie. I have spoken. Ok, I’ll speak a bit more. The music is wonderful, the Blues-Mobile is magic, and the end car chase is insane. Plus, everyone hates Illinois Nazis. Now available in Blu-Ray, 4K, and a Best Buy Steelbook. Pick it up, it’s on a mission from God.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) “Sonic tries to navigate the complexities of life on Earth with his newfound best friend — a human named Tom Wachowski. They must soon join forces to prevent the evil Dr. Robotnik from capturing Sonic and using his powers for world domination.” This movie should have sucked bal…um…rings. Especially with the tired “And he’s come to Earth!” trope. But, between a decent script, a redo of the character design, James Marsden bringing things up a level (which he does a lot, the man deserves a lot more credit for his performances), and Jim Carrey diving back into the manic comedy pool that he hand-carved with a pet detective hairdo, this was actually an enjoyable little flick. If you passed on it, give it a shot, either on Blu-Ray, 4K, or the Best Buy Steelbook.

The Woman (2011) “When a successful country lawyer captures and attempts to “civilize” the last remaining member of a violent clan that has roamed the Northeast coast for decades, he puts the lives of his family in jeopardy.” I don’t know anything about this movie, but it’s being released by Arrow Video, so it has my interest.

Other titles of note: Mandy (2018) RJL Steelbook Edition, Alice in Wonderland (1933), Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) (aka Chuck Norris’ first run as a Texas Ranger), Fear the Walking Dead: The Complete Fifth Season (2019)

Again, sorry that this is late, and I will do my best to make sure to stay timely in the future, my Physical Medians! Let me know which of these are a must-buy for you, a pass, or which ones I missed!

Welcome back to the latest episode of Slipped Discs, where I give you a head’s up on what nerdy stuff is available to come home with you, because I still believe in physical media!

Once more, all this information comes from Blu-Ray.com, but they list everything that will be in the stores, whereas I shall provide you with what I feel is the interesting genre fare.

So my pick of the week for last week, The Mask of Zorro, completely sold out at Best Buy by Wednesday. I take all the credit for everyone listening to me that this widely loved movie was worth picking up in 4K.

Mind you, it was before I could swing by and get my own copy, so how about letting me know when you’re all going to listen to me next time, my Physical Medians?

Anyway, we do have a lot of things coming out this week, so let’s jump right into our filthy business.

Fantasy Island (2020) “The enigmatic Mr. Roarke makes the secret dreams of his lucky guests come true at a luxurious but remote tropical resort. But when the fantasies turn into nightmares, the guests have to solve the island’s mystery in order to escape with their lives.” I heard that this movie was pretty terrible, but I still want to check it out. Because if my choices are to have cheesy 70s & 80s shows remade into either crap comedies or crap horror, I’ll choose crap horror every time. The scary ALF movie should be awesome.

Star Trek Trilogy: The Kelvin Timeline (2009 – 2016) “When the U.S.S. Kelvin is wrapped up in a temporal anomaly, the path of Starfleet and the future of the universe as we know it takes off in a new direction: the Kelvin Timeline. Up against the Romulans, the superhuman Khan (Benedict Cumberbatch), and the alien warlord Krall (Idris Elba), it’s all hands on deck for the U.S.S. Enterprise crew, led by the young and headstrong Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Uhura (Zoë Saldana), McCoy (Karl Urban), and Scotty (Simon Pegg). J. J. Abrams’s reboot of the classic franchise has received dozens of accolades, including an Oscar. For devoted fans of the beloved benchmark sci-fi series, all three films now come together in the Kelvin Timeline Trilogy — a bold, new beginning and a must-have in anyone’s Star Trek collection.” Two really fun movies, and one watchable one, is a pretty decent track record. It’s starting to look like this particular version of Trek is over, which makes me sad, as I really like this cast. If you enjoyed them, you can now pick them up in this handy set, with all lens flares now in glorious 4K.

Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) “After splitting up with The Joker, Harley Quinn and three other female superheroes – Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya – come together to save the life of a little girl from an evil crime lord.” I loved this movie when it came out, as you know if you read my review, and my love has only grown as time as gone on. You can pick it up in regular Blu-Ray/DVD, 4K, the Best Buy exclusive 4K steelbook, or a Target Blu-Ray/DVD combo exclusive that comes with a digital comic!

They’re Inside (2019) “When two sisters go to an isolated cabin in the woods to film a passion project, family secrets start to get in the way… as do masked strangers filming a passion project of their own.” Creepy poster is creepy. Still, it’s interesting premise, a found footage take on The Strangers, so horror fans will probably want to give this a look.

What the Waters Left Behind (aka Los olvidados) (2017) “The plot revolves around a group of young people that take a trip to the ruins in order to film a documentary about Epecuen. Ignoring the warnings, and after a brief tour, they get stranded…” Well, this one doesn’t look like it’s a found footage flick, but it’s definitely a bad week to be a filmmaker in the backwoods type areas. I keep warning people to stay out of these places, you won’t find anything good there!

The Great Escape (1963) “Allied prisoners of war plan for several hundred of their number to escape from a German camp during World War II.” No, it’s not technically a genre film, but it is an absolute classic that influenced a lot of other movies. And if you enjoyed Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood, then you should check out the movie that Dalton was almost in, just to compare the scenes, if no other reason. Plus, even though it’s Blu and not 4K, it’s a Criterion release, so if you love film, you know you need this.

Redcon-1 (2018) “After a zombie apocalypse spreads from a London prison, the UK is brought to its knees. The spread of the virus is temporarily contained but, without a cure, it’s only a matter of time before it breaks its boundaries and the biggest problem of all… any zombies with combat skills are now enhanced.” Low-budget military zombie movie with a mostly unknown cast and a director’s second movie? You had me at zombies.

Abrakadabra (2018) “In the tradition of giallos of the early 70s a magician finds himself the target of a sadistic serial killer.” From the poster, I thought that this was a giallo film that I had missed somehow (which there are a lot of them, so it’s easy to think I had done so), but no, this is a recent flick in that style. I’ve seen a lot of people try and imitate the Italian masters, but most fail. Hopefully this one can pull that rabbit out of the hat.

Wonder Woman: 2-Film Collection (2009-2019) “No synopsis for Wonder Woman: 2-Film Collection.” You let me down again, B-R.com! This is a combo pack of the two animated Wonder Woman movies, the Commemorative Edition of Wonder Woman which goes over her origin following the Perez version of the tale, and Wonder Woman: Bloodlines, which also retells her origin, before Diana faces off against Cheetah, Poison, and others in a pretty convoluted plot. Rosario Dawson voices her in both movies, so they have that going for them.

Idle Hands (1999) “The devil will find work for idle hands to do…but what happens when he chooses the laziest teen slacker in the world to do his dirty work? Anton Tobias is a channel-surfing, junk-food munching, couch potato burn-out who can’t control the murderous impulses of his recently possessed hand. With the help of his zombiefied buddies, Mick and Pnub, Anton’s got to stop the rampaging devil appendage before it takes total control of his life and ruins any chance he has with class hottie Molly.” An early Seth Green favorite, this is a fun little horror-comedy. It’s getting the patented SCREAM Factory Collector’s Edition treatment, and no, they’re still not paying me.

Other titles of note: Satanico Pandemonium (1975) (More Nunsploitation), Bloodtide (1982), Vivarium (2019), Terrifier (2016), Lucifer: The Complete Fourth Season (2019), Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

As I said, this was a pretty full week! Only one real “I Gotta Have It Right Now!” movie, but the rest are not too bad as well. Let me know which of these are a must-buy for you, a pass, or which ones I missed!

Welcome back to the latest episode of Slipped Discs, where I give you a head’s up on what nerdy stuff is available to come home with you, because I still believe in physical media!

Once more, all this information comes from Blu-Ray.com, but they list everything that will be in the stores, whereas I shall provide you with what I feel is the interesting genre fare.

So, as Justin Timberlake warned us…

So how are you all holding up, my Physical Medians? Here at the house of the Squid, my hair is getting longer, my anxiety is getting stronger, and my collection of physical media is getting larger! However, I have put my lock-down time to good use! It took me a few days and probably around 10 hours, but I have completed a database of my DVD/Blu-Ray/4K!

Mostly.

Having completed the inventory, I can see where there are some things that I know are missing, so they must be in my storage unit. Be that as it, um, may (pun?), what matters is I now have everything that’s on my shelves in a handy list. Check it out here, if you would like.

It’s already in need of an update, as I picked up the first season of The Wild Wild West, the original TV series, and received my copy of Joe Stryker! Review to come soon! But let’s see what we can add to our collections this week?

Gretel & Hansel (2020) “A long time ago in a distant fairy tale countryside, a young girl leads her little brother into a dark wood in desperate search of food and work, only to stumble upon a nexus of terrifying evil.” One of the last movies that I caught in the theater this year, I enjoyed this take on the classic story. It had some cool visuals, which is good because you can tell they were counting on them and mood to carry the movie. It very much wants to be a Guillermo del Toro style dark fairy tale, and while it doesn’t quite get there, it’s worth a look.

47 Ronin (2013) “In this fictional version of 18th-century Japan’s most enduring tale, an outcast named Kai joins a group of samurai, led by Oishi Kuranosuke. Together they exact vengeance upon the treacherous overlord who shamed their late master, pushing him to suicide.” I heard that this was visually stunning, with some great action; and considering it’s a lot of the people Keanu went on to work with for John Wick, that’s not surprising. I still haven’t managed to watch it yet, but it has been on my list. Pick it up in Blu-Ray or 4K.

The Mask of Zorro (1998) “It has been 20 years since Don Diego de la Vega successfully fought Spanish oppression in Alta California as the legendary romantic hero, Zorro. Imprisoned for two decades, he now must find a successor to stop Don Rafael Montero–the powerful, former Spanish governor of Alta California who cost de la Vega his freedom, his wife, Esperanza, and his daughter, Elena–who is making plans to purchase California from Mexico’s president, General Santa Anna. Alejandro Murieta, a bandit with a troubled past, is transformed by Don Diego into a new Zorro who he hopes will help him foil Montero’s schemes once and for all. Tracing the heroic story of these highly-charged relationships, the tale follows the new Zorro as he assumes de la Vega’s mantle and enters into a romantic relationship with a woman close to his predecessor’s heart…” This movie is damn near perfect. Antonio Banderas is magnetic, Anthony Hopkins is a genius, and Catherine Zeta-Jones is electric. Great dialogue, fantastic action, excellent direction, this movie buckles my swash, is one of my absolute favorites, and it’s my must-get of the week! Available in Blu and 4K.

The Incredible Hulk (2008) “Scientist Bruce Banner desperately seeks a cure for the gamma radiation that contaminated his cells and turned him into The Hulk. Cut off from his true love Betty Ross and forced to hide from his nemesis, Gen. Thunderbolt Ross, Banner soon comes face-to-face with a new threat: a supremely powerful enemy known as The Abomination.” It amazes me that people still debate if this movie is part of the MCU or not. You would think William Hurt staying on as Thunderbolt Ross would clear that up, but there you go. I know that it doesn’t get a lot of MCU talk, but I think that’s mainly because when it comes to movies, like Spider-Man and Sony, Universal has the Hulk by the purple short pants. Plus, there was the whole swapping of Norton for Ruffalo, but I think that was a trade up. And I’m still waiting for Tim Blake Nelson to return as The Leader! Someone get Peter David to write that script ASAP, please. Anyway, this second film of Phase One is still more good than bad, and worth a revisit if you haven’t seen it in a while. Universal is releasing this 4K/Blu-Ray Steelbook edition, and while it’s not like the other MCU Best Buy exclusive ones, I’m still going to get it for my collection.

Bloodshot (2020) “After he and his wife are murdered, marine Ray Garrison is resurrected by a team of scientists. Enhanced with nanotechnology, he becomes a superhuman, biotech killing machine – Bloodshot. As Ray first trains with fellow super-soldiers, he cannot recall anything from his former life. But when his memories flood back and he remembers the man that killed both him and his wife, he breaks out of the facility to get revenge, only to discover that there’s more to the conspiracy than he thought.” The last movie I saw in the theater before our current global pandemic, please check out my review to see what I thought of Vin’s latest not-car-related adventure.

The Jesus Rolls (2020) “A spin-off of The Big Lebowski (1998) centered on the notable bowler, Jesus Quintana.” Wait, it’s not if Jesus was a baker and not a carpenter? I kid, I kid. Anyway, The Big Lebowski is a fantastic comedy, straight from the minds of the Cohen brothers . . . who had nothing at all to do with the writing, directing, or anything else of this movie. So, it’s one I’m not sure that I want to see, even as much as I love Turturro.

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2017) “A dark fairy tale about a gang of five children trying to survive the horrific violence of the cartels and the ghosts created every day by the drug war.” Based on the description, and the poster, I am very interested in this movie. It’s on Shudder, which I subscribe to (and if you’re a horror fan, I highly recommend you do so as well), so I plan on checking this out to see if I want to get it on disc or not.

The Expedition (2008) “A Documentary crew entered an asylum to shoot a documentary on the place on Halloween night 2004. Several mysterious things occurred throughout the night leading up to a missing crew member the following morning.” Another found footage flick where ghost hunters become the hunted. I’d find those shows much more enjoyable if anything like this actually happened, instead of usually just being three or four bozos yelling in the dark on low-light cameras.

Other titles of note: Humans: The Complete Series (2015-2018), Exorcism at 60,000 Feet (2019), Red vs. Blue: Singularity (2019), Insecticidal (2005), Becoming (2019)

So we have quite a few interesting selections this week! And nothing from Shout Factory or Arrow Video! I told you they weren’t paying me! Let me know which of these are a must-buy for you, a pass, or which ones I missed!