Squid Ink

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!