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REVIEW: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm 30th Anniversary Edition

REVIEW: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm 30th Anniversary Edition

To many, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm stands are one of the best Batman stories in filmed media and even one of the best stories all time. With its 30th anniversary now here, Warner Home Entertainment gives you a chance to see for yourself. Out now in 4k Ultra HD for the first time, the movie stands up quite well.

When it arrived in late 1993, critics hailed it but did disappointing box office and it has subsequently gone on to gain stature as it has been available in multiple packages ever since. Written by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko, and Michael Reaves, one would think many hands might spoil the tale, but instead, all four revered the Caped Crusader and honored him with an all-original story.

New to the mythos is Andrea Beaumont (Dana Delany), who also lost her parents to violence. There’s a spark between them, but Bruce Wayne (Kevin Conroy) is in his early days as the Dark Knight and has little time for romance. We jump ahead 10 years and now the Phantasm is going after the same cowardly lot of criminals as Batman, but he kills rather than apprehends, setting up a showdown.

There’s some mistaken identity as people think Batman is Phantasm with Councilman Arthur Reeves (Hart Bochner)  vowing to bring Batman down. Complicating matters is the Joker (Mark Hamill) until all the players come together for the final confrontation when Phantasm’s identity is revealed (not that it’s that much of a surprise).

The story has heart and soul with plenty of doses of action. It moves along swiftly in its 78 minutes. [Yes, it does have echoes of Mike W. Barr’s Batman Year Two, but that’s a discussion for another time.] Pasko’s flashback sequences, including that immortal line “I Didn’t count on being happy,” give the film some emotional weight that many of its companion features lack.

According to Warner, “The 4K HDR remaster of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was sourced from the 1993 original cut camera negative and was scanned at 4K resolution. Digital restoration was applied to the 4K scans to remove dirt, scratches, and additional anomalies, but special care was given to not touch the film grain or the animation cel dirt that was part of the original artwork. This is the first time since its theatrical release that it is presented in its 1.85 aspect ratio.”

The 2160p version is quite good and looks fabulous, a cut above the current Blu-ray version. It’s clear, colorful, and detailed. The original 2.0 mix is here along with the superior brand-new 5.1 remix.

For a 30th anniversary salute, I expected more than one new feature, no matter how good it is. Kevin Conroy: I Am The Knight (26:08) gets the tribute the animated voice of the Batman deserves. After over 400 animated appearances (plus a guest role on the CW’s Crisis on Infinite Earths), he has become as synonymous with the hero as his creators and live-action actors. This is not included on the Digital HD copy.

Two War Classics Receive 4K Ultra HD Steelbooks in Nov.

Two War Classics Receive 4K Ultra HD Steelbooks in Nov.

SYNOPSIS

BLACK HAWK DOWN
From acclaimed director Ridley Scott (The Martian) and renowned producer Jerry Bruckheimer (Pearl Harbor) comes the gripping true story about bravery, camaraderie, and the complex reality of war. 
BLACK HAWK DOWN stars an exceptional cast including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, and Eric Bana. In 1993, an elite group of American Rangers and Delta Force soldiers are sent to Somalia on a critical mission to capture a violent warlord whose corrupt regime has led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Somalis. When the mission goes quickly and terribly wrong, the men find themselves outnumbered and literally fighting for their lives.

THE GUNS OF NAVARONE
Academy Award®-winners Gregory Peck (1962, Best Actor, To Kill A Mockingbird), David Niven (1958, Best Actor, Separate Tables), and Anthony Quinn (1952, Best Supporting Actor, Viva Zapata!; 1956, Lust For Life) star as a team of Allied military specialists recruited for a dangerous but imperative mission: to infiltrate a Nazi-occupied fortress and disable two long-range field guns so that 2,000 trapped British soldiers may be rescued. Faced with an unforgiving sea voyage, hazardous terrain, and the possibility of a traitor among them, the team must overcome the impossible without losing their own lives. Adapted by screenwriter Carl Foreman from Alistair MacLean’s best-selling novel, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE was nominated for seven Oscars®, including Best Picture, and won for Best Special Effects (1961).

BLACK HAWK DOWN DISC DETAILS & BONUS MATERIALS 
BLACK HAWK DOWN 4K ULTRA HD DISC

  • Both Theatrical and Extended Versions of the film presented in 4K resolution from the original camera negative, both with Dolby Vision
  • Dolby Atmos and 5.1 audio on both versions

BLACK HAWK DOWN FEATURE & SPECIAL FEATURE BLU-RAY DISCS

  • Theatrical Version of the film presented in high definition
  • Audio Commentary by Director / Producer Ridley Scott & Producer Jerry Bruckheimer
  • Audio Commentary by Author Mark Bowden & Screenwriter Ken Nolan
  • Audio Commentary by Task Force Ranger Veterans
  • “The Essence of Combat: Making Black Hawk Down” Documentary
  • The History Channel® Presents: “The True Story of Black Hawk Down
  • PBS Presents: “Frontline: Ambush in Mogadishu”
  • 8 Deleted & Alternate Scenes with Optional Commentary
  • “Designing Mogadishu” Featurette
  • Production Design Archive
  • Storyboards with Optional Commentary
  • Ridleygrams with Optional Commentary
  • Target Building Insertion: Multi-Angle Sequence with Optional Commentary
  • Q&A Forums: BAFTA. Motion Picture Editor’s Guild & American Cinematheque
  • Jerry Bruckheimer’s BHD Photo Album
  • Title Design Explorations with Optional Commentary
  • “Gortoz A Ran – J’Attends” Music Video performed by Denez Prigent & Lisa Gerrard
  • Photo Galleries
  • Theatrical Poster Concepts
  • Trailer & TV Spots

THE GUNS OF NAVARONE DISC DETAILS & BONUS MATERIALS 
THE GUNS OF NAVARONE 4K ULTRA HD DISC

  • Presented in 4K resolution from the original camera negative, with Dolby Vision
    • Playback available with and without Original Roadshow Intermission Card
  • Dolby Atmos audio + 5.1 audio + 4.0 audio
  • Special Features:
    • Main Title Progression Reel
    • Theatrical Trailer

THE GUNS OF NAVARONE BLU-RAY DISC

  • Feature presented in high definition, sourced from the 4K master
  • Special Features:
    • Audio Commentary by Director J. Lee Thompson
    • Audio Commentary by Film Historian Stephen J. Rubin
    • The Resistance Dossier of Navarone: Interactive Feature
    • Forging The Guns of Navarone: Notes from the Set
    • An Ironic Epic of Heroism
    • Memories of Navarone
    • Epic Restoration
    • A Heroic Score
    • Great Guns
    • No Visitors
    • Honeymoon on Rhodes
    • Two Girls on the Town
    • Narration-Free Prologue
    • Message from Carl Foreman

BLACK HAWK DOWN CREDITS

Directed By: Ridley Scott
Produced By: Jerry Bruckheimer and Ridley Scott
Screenplay By: Ken Nolan
Based on the Book By: Mark Bowden
Executive Producers: Simon West, Mike Stenson, Chad Oman and Branko Lustig
Cast: Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Tom Sizemore, Eric Bana, William Fichtner, Ewen Bremner and Sam Shepard

THE GUNS OF NAVARONE CREDITS

Directed By: J. Lee Thompson
Written and Produced by: Carl Foreman
Based on a Novel by: Alistair MacLean
Cast: Gregory Peck, David Niven, Anthony Quinn, Stanley Baker, Anthony Quale, Irene Papas, Gia Scala and James Darren

BLACK HAWK DOWN SPECS

Run Time: Approx. 144 minutes / 152 minutes
Rating: R for intense, realistic, graphic war violence, and for language / Unrated
4K UHD Feature Picture: 2160p Ultra High Definition, 2.40:1
4K UHD Feature Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible) | English 5.1 DTS-HD MA

THE GUNS OF NAVARONE SPECSRun Time: Approx. 156 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
4K UHD Feature Picture: 2160p Ultra High Definition, 2.35:1
4K UHD Feature Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible) | English 5.1 DTS-HD MA | English 4.0 DTS-HD MA

The Unbelievable Unteens by Jeff Lemire and Tyler Crook

The Unbelievable Unteens by Jeff Lemire and Tyler Crook

I’ve never created superhero characters. [1] So I could be talking out of my ass here. But I don’t think there’s anything inherent in the form that requires new work to slavishly follow the models of previously created universes, so that even the slowest reader can point to the models and get it.

I could be wrong, as I said. It certainly looks like that is absolutely required, because it happens every damn time.

The Black Hammer universe , as created by writer Jeff Lemire and his various collaborators, has been incredibly derivative from the jump, and I have to believe this is very, very deliberate. Lemire could write about people in fanciful wedgie-inducing costumes that are not immediately reminiscent of the comics he read in the ’70s and ’80s, so he must be doing it – over and over again, relentlessly – on purpose.

The Unbelievable Unteens  is the X-Men rip-off. OK, maybe there’s a bit of Teen Titans in the DNA, too, but not much. This 2022 collection gathers the four-issue series of the same name, plus the Free Comic Book Day story from 2019 “Black Hammer Presents…Horrors to Come” (co-written by Lemire with Ray Fawkes, with art by David Rubin). I think that FCBD story has already appeared in another collection, since it was very familiar.

The other big touchpoint of Black Hammer is nostalgia, as required in any derivative superhero story. So these are not stories about original heroes in a modern world, but instead stories about Not-That-Guy (for purely copyright reasons) in Almost-That-Story, from Back When You Were Young And Life Was Wonderful. Some of the stories specifically look back, and some are set in the past as a look back. But the creative eye never ever looks forward, or even to anything demonstrably modern.

So Unteens is a story set in the late ’90s, where the Unteens are a fictional superhero group, written and drawn by Jane Ito. But! They were actually real, an actual ’80s superteam, and Ito was one of them! A shocking revelation from her past will bring her face-to-face with her old teammates, and they must revisit Their Darkest Hour to save One Of Their Own from the horrible fate she’s been in for roughly a decade. (I suppose I should give Lemire half-credit for a story that obviously references The Dark Phoenix Saga but actually has a different plot.)

This story is shorter and more direct than most of the Black Hammer-verse pieces, which made the end feel rushed and perfunctory. Previously, the sidebar stories have been more complex and interesting – they were actually stories instead of exercises in keeping the core cast in pretty much exactly the same situation while giving the illusion of Massive Events Unfolding. (Wait: didn’t I already say this was a derivative superhero series? I hate repeating myself.)

As always, Black Hammer stories are professional, populated with realistic people who talk like human beings and have human concerns that sometimes even are important to the plot. The giant wodges of standard superhero furniture are dull and obvious, but they’re the point of the exercise, so I have to assume they are not dull and obvious to the target audience. Given that this one was shorter, and possibly rushed to a conclusion, I wonder if even that target audience is beginning to tire of the endless exercise.

I suppose I can live in hope, as always.

[1] Well, not seriously. My friend group in college made up jokey superhero versions of ourselves, and I was 5-Man, with the incredible power to control anything in a group of five, inspired by a random shirt I had with a giant athletic-jersey-style 5 on the chest. I think we made up other characters not based on ourselves, too, and maybe some villains. My other main contribution to superherodom was the previously mentioned String Boy . We were all very fond of the Legion of Substitute Heroes, at least as a model for character creation, which may explain some of it.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

Grosz by Lars Fiske

Grosz by Lars Fiske

Today I’m going to try to describe a nearly wordless book about an artist I’m not all that familiar with, by an artist I’m not all that familiar with. If I descend into potted history and bland statements, that will be why.

George Grosz – I probably could force Blogger to display the original German spelling of his name, but I don’t have the energy for that this morning – was a German painter and caricaturist of the early 20th century (1893-1959). As you probably can guess from the intersection of the time, place, and field, Grosz was artistically radical and politically engaged: he was strongly anti-Nazi from the earliest days, moderately Communist (but, like so many others, disillusioned after a visit to the Soviet Union), and generally anti-clerical and anti-“high society.” He escaped Germany with his family just as Hitler rose to power, living in the US for the last twenty-five years of his life before dying in an accident in postwar Berlin very soon after his return there.

Lars Fiske is a cartoonist and artist and maker of other kinds of books; he’s Norwegian. His cartooning style is not a million miles away from Grosz’s paintings: both are complex, full of overlapping elements and extreme caricature. And, maybe a decade ago, maybe not quite that long, he made a book about Grosz’s life. In 2017, Fantagraphics published a US edition as Grosz . I didn’t see any indication of a translator, but the text is minimal: Fiske may have done it himself.

Grosz is a potted life, made somewhat more elliptical by being wordless. We see Grosz doing things, and have chapter titles (with what I think are quotes from Grosz) and place/time tags, but we’re not told the meanings of events and have to piece it all together ourselves. But we can follow it pretty well: Gorsz was a dandy of a young man, with big ideas for art, served in the army in the Great War where he apparently was wounded, loved American culture and strongly criticized German society, was involved in radical movements both artistic (Dada) and societal (Communism), ran afoul of growing oppression in Germany throughout the ’20s, and eventually got away to the US, where his life calmed down substantially.

Fiske’s art is extremely energetic, mostly black-and-white with some pops of color (red in particular) and a beige-ish overlay with geometric shapes of white cut out. Gestures are large, faces are caricatured, and he uses strong diagonals throughout – sometimes to divide actions into overlapping panels, sometimes as defining elements, sometimes as vanishing-point lines that he leaves in the drawing, sometimes just to be there. His drawings are visually dense: this is not a book to scan quickly.

I found I got a decent sense of the high points of Grosz’s life, and came to like the hawk-nosed guy, who is a bit of a sex-mad loose cannon in Fiske’s telling. Probably not just in Fiske’s telling, too, and to the end of his life, frankly: Grosz died from injuries sustained by falling down the stairs after a long night drinking. Which is definitely a colorful way to go, especially in your mid-sixties.

Even if you don’t care about Grosz – I didn’t before I read this – Fiske’s strong, assured cartooning and his aggressive linework make this a really visually interesting comic to read.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

Netflix’s Sandman Arrives on Disc in Nov.

Netflix’s Sandman Arrives on Disc in Nov.

BURBANK, CA (September 7, 2023) – Inspired by the iconic, award-winning DC comic book series, The Sandman: The Complete First Season comes to Digital on September 18, 2023 and to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on November 28, 2023.

The Sandman: The Complete First Season follows Morpheus, also known as Dream, who is captured in an occult ritual in 1916 by Roderick Burgess. Imprisoned for 106 years, Morpheus escapes only to return to his home, The Dreaming, to find his nightmares have also found their way out. Join the adventures of Morpheus as he sets out to stop the forces of evil destroying The Dreaming.

“Certified Fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes, and already renewed for a second season on Netflix, The Sandman: The Complete First Season features an all-star cast including Tom Sturridge (Sweetbitter) as Morpheus/Dream, Boyd Holbrook (Narcos) as the Corinthian, Patton Oswalt (The Goldbergs) as Matthew the Raven,  Vivienne Acheampong as Lucienne, David Thewlis (Fargo) as John Dee, Jenna Coleman (Victoria) as Johanna Constantine, and Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) as Lucifer Morningstar.

The serieswas developed by Neil Gaiman (American Gods), David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight trilogy) and Allan Heinberg (Wonder Woman). It was produced by Warner Bros. Television, based on the comic The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg for DC Comics.

The Sandman: The Complete First Season will be available on September 18, 2023 to purchase Digitally from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more. 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD will be available to purchase online and in-store at major retailers on November 28, 2023.

Synopsis

Based on the beloved award-winning DC comic series written by Neil Gaiman, The Sandman: The Complete First Season is a rich, character-driven blend of myth and dark fantasy woven together over the course of ten epic chapters following Dream’s many adventures (plus a bonus episode featuring two fan-favorite stories). When the Sandman, a.k.a. Dream (Tom Sturridge) — the powerful cosmic being who controls all our dreams — is unexpectedly captured and held prisoner for over a century, he must journey across different worlds and timelines to fix the chaos his absence has caused.

SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:

  • The Sandman: Behind the Scenes Sneak Peek
  • The World of The Endless

PRICING AND SERIES INFORMATION

PRODUCT

Includes 11 episodes:

  1. Sleep of the Just
  2. Imperfect Hosts
  3. Dream a Little Dream of Me
  4. A Hope in Hell
  5. 24/7
  6. The Sound of Her Wings
  7. The Doll’s House
  8. Playing House
  9. Collectors
  10. Lost Hearts
  11. Dream of a Thousand Cats/Calliope

PRODUCT                                                      SRP

Digital UHD                                                    $24.99 SRP (US & Canada)

4K Ultra HD                                                   $44.98 SRP US ($54.99 SRP Canada)

Blu-ray                                                            $29.98 SRP US ($39.99 SRP Canada)

DVD                                                                $24.98 SRP US ($29.98 SRP Canada)

Audio: English (5.1) DD

Subtitles: English

Run Time: Approx. 544 minutes

As a Cartoonist by Noah Van Sciver

As a Cartoonist by Noah Van Sciver

I used to personalize far too much when I read, to reflexively attribute ideas or thoughts in a book to the author. To blame the author, some times, for how I reacted to the book, or just hold them responsible for how I, or anyone, responded to a book. [1]

I got better; I got older and (I hope) smarter.

One quirk of that growing-older change is that, as I seemingly have less and less time to read, I’m willing to give writers more and more chances, to assume it’s a book that’s not working for me rather than the author. And I try to be more generous to creators, to assume positive intent, to get away from that young-huffy pose of outrage that’s so energizing to so many of us read-everything types for so long.

So I keep coming back to creators that don’t quite work for me, especially if I see things I like in them. I just read a Katie Skelly book a couple of weeks ago, for example, liking it better than I did her past stuff. And I’m here again with another Noah Van Sciver book despite thinking Fante Bukowski  wasn’t really my kind of thing and finding Saint Cole  technically strong but something of a slog to read. [2]

That’s what brought me to As a Cartoonist , Van Sciver’s short book of mostly autobiographical comics from last year. It’s a thematically connected collection of comics, collecting work from what seems to be all phases of his career, from his first comic Blammo to a bunch of newer work. It’s not a single narrative, but it is organized, mostly, by chronology: the main spine of the book is Van Sciver’s professional life over the past decade. Van Sciver provides a list of original publications in the backmatter – have I mentioned recently that creators who make original publication clear are the very best people in the world? they are – and a number are listed as “never published,” which could mean they were new or could mean they just didn’t make it into anything else.

My guess is that Van Sciver was thinking about a book like this for a while – the autobio cartoonist is a clear type, and he seems to be in an indy-cartoonist world that includes a lot of autobio guys. And, as seen from some of the work here, he does have a confessional streak, or an urge to tell stories from his life, to tell his stories and express things that happened to him. But he’s not relentlessly confessional, like James Kochalka or even John Porcellino – the strips with Van Sciver as a character are focused and directed, all about his career and work. They’re not the kind of general “here’s what I was doing and thinking” daily-comics: it’s all about his aspirations and fears and life as someone trying to make these kinds of stories, in a world that mostly doesn’t value that.

His life As a Cartoonist, you might say. He did.

Mixed in with the focused autobio material are some jokier pieces from Blammo about “Notable and Tasteful 19th Century Cartoonist,” a now-forgotten and unnamed hack from a century ago, and some quirkier related pieces, like a page Van Sciver sold as a print, of him dancing under the title “How it feels to be a cartoonist.”

It’s not the kind of book that is a single thing; it coalescences and explores rather than explains, showing us some aspects of what’s been like to be Van Sciver over the past decade, some hints of his personal life and history. (His childhood is fascinating – he came from a big family that seems to have been on the edge of poverty for a long time; his mother separated from his father and their Mormon faith when he was young; it looks like they moved around a bunch, too – but I think he’s only told bits and pieces of that story, here and elsewhere.)

The title is arch and implies a certain distance, but Van Sciver is more of a warts-and-all cartoonist: he’s grappling here with what it means to be a professional in this field, how to handle various situations, how it feels to be “a cartoonist,” for good or bad, in mid-career, after the shiny newness has worn off and he’s just trying to do something else and keep his life and career going. He portrays himself as well-meaning but not always successful, self-doubting and conflicted, prone to be taken the wrong way and somewhat odd because of his unusual upbringing. He’s a specific, detailed person telling stories about interesting, particular things in his life – and making those stories just as long as they need to be.

It’s a strong collection, with more of a focus and connection than you might expect from the sources. Even the “earlier, funnier stuff” – as Van Sciver has fans repeatedly tell him they like best, in an echo of Woody Allen – works really well in context, both as comic relief and as parallax: a hundred years on, all cartoonists will be half-forgotten.

[1] My theory is that I did this because I started out in SF, the field that never saw a metaphor it didn’t turn into concrete. And I grew up at just the right time to be indoctrinated by a long string of Heinlein author stand-ins and form the assumption that was normal.

[2] One of the bits in this book also explained to title of Saint Cole to me, making me feel like a dunce. Van Sciver does mention most readers missed it, but it was a smart touch and it totally flew over my head.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

REVIEW: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

REVIEW: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

As I tell my students, choices have consequences. Brilliantly, several choices made by Mikles Morales and his friends come back to bite them in the ass in the wonderful, if bloated, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

Out now from Sony Home Entertainment, the 2:20 film is merely part one of a more sprawling saga that is entirely built around Miles (Shameik Moore) making a decision in the previous film that has multiversal implications.

In fact, his repercussions have such omniversal impact that Spider-Man 2099 (Oscar Isaac) has formed the Spider-Society with its core members traversing the multiverse to repair the damage (with a wonderful throwaway line about Doctor Strange).

Miles is blissfully unaware of this until another of his actions appears in the form of a new foe, the Spot (Jason Schwartzman), who is seen mastering his powers with growing confidence until he makes a mistake and enters himself and, therefore, the multiverse.

We see not only Miles’ anguish for the above events but also for keeping his secret from his loving parents, Jeff (Brian Tyree Henry) and Rio (Luna Lauren Velez), and his seeming estrangement from his crush Spider-Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld). When he finds himself in Pavitr Prabhakar (Karan Soni)/Spider-Man India’s reality, he saves Pavitr’s father, Police Inspector Singh, which is considered a canon event. Each Spider-Man, we’re told, must suffer such losses; it’s their curse. To preserve that, Spidey 2099 has decided that Miles is the original anomaly that needs to be contained permanently, which would also mean Lt. Morales was destined to die in two days.

There are many wonderful emotional scenes between Miles and his parents or with Gwen or with the elder Peter B. Parker (Jake Johnson) that give the film greater depth than you would imagine.

Visually, it’s a stunning accomplishment, growing from the previous Into the Spider-Verse with visual styles that match each world and its inhabitants. Live-action footage is nicely woven in just enough to feel organic.

Throughout the film, there are wonderful homages to the comics that spawned so many of these iterations, along with elements from the animated television series and feature films. It’s an Easter Egg hunter’s smorgasbord.

My problem is that many of the sequences are overly long, extending the action and cutting the dramatic tension. The film could have lost 20 minutes and been tighter and more satisfying. Stil, kudos to writers Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham, along with the directorial trio of Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson.

The film was reviewed via streaming, and the 2180p high definition looks wonderful. The sound mixing issues that plagued the early theatrical release are absent here, with a fine Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio track that sounds strong on home equipment.

There is a plentiful assortment of special features including an audio commentary (not available for streaming; Creating the Ultimate Spider-Man Movie (14:49); Obscure Spiders Easter Eggs (5:39); “Imma do my own Thing” Interdimensional Destiny (8:26); Across the Worlds: Designing New Dimensions (7:00); Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Cast (13:00); Designing Spiders and Spots (12:00); Raising a Hero (8:00); Scratches, Score and the Music of the Multiverse (5:00); Across the Comic-Verse (8:00); Escape from Spider-Society (8:00); Miguel Calling (5:00); Lyric Videos.

Sports Classic Rudy gets 4K Treatment in Oct.

Sports Classic Rudy gets 4K Treatment in Oct.

SYNOPSIS

All his life, people have told Rudy he’s not good enough, not smart enough, not big enough. But nothing can stop his impossible dream of playing football for Notre Dame. From the time he’s a young boy, Rudy (Sean Astin) is determined to join the Fighting Irish. But his blue collar family only laughs at his ambitions – they know Rudy will follow his father and brothers to the local steel mill. And, for four long years after high school, he does just that. But some dreams won’t die, as Rudy proves when he goes to heroic, occasionally hilarious, lengths to win admission to Notre Dame. Once there, he becomes a walk-on player, serving as little more than a human tackling dummy against the starting players. Bloodied but unbeaten, Rudy wins the respect of legendary coach Ara Parseghian and the other Irish players, who give him one shot at gridiron glory. An incredible true story from the creators of Hoosiers, RUDY is an unforgettable testament to the power of dreams and the triumph of the common man.
DISC DETAILS & BONUS MATERIALS 
“I’m so pleased to share this new version of RUDY, now in its full and intended Director’s Cut presentation. It’s a different movie, but in a very good way! The 4K and Atmos upgrades also perfectly enhance the experience, making this the ideal gift for RUDY fans everywhere. Never give up!” –    David Anspaugh, Director

4K ULTRA HD DISC

  • NEW: 127-minute Director’s Cut of the film
    • Also includes the original 114-minute Theatrical Cut of the film
    • Both versions of the film remastered in 4K resolution from the original camera negative and presented in 4K with Dolby Vision
    • Both versions also include all-new Dolby Atmos immersive audio mixes
    • 4K picture and Atmos sound mix approved by director David Anspaugh
  • Also includes English 5.1 for both versions + 2-channel surround for the Theatrical Cut
  • Special Features:
    • NEW: Feature Commentary with Director David Anspaugh and Screenwriter Angelo Pizzo (Director’s Cut Only)
    • NEW: 5 Additional Deleted Scenes
    • Theatrical Trailer

BLU-RAY DISC

  • Theatrical Cut presented in High Definition
  • 5.1 audio
  • Special Features:
    • Rudy: The Real Story Featurette
    •  Production Featurette
    • First Down with Sean Astin

CAST AND CREW

Directed by: David Anspaugh
Produced By: Robert N. Fried, Cary Woods
Written By: Angelo Pizzo
Executive Producer: Lee R. Mayes
Cast: Sean Astin, Ned Beatty, Charles S. Dutton, Lili Taylor, Robert Prosky
 

SPECSRuntime: Director’s Cut Approx. 127 minutes / Theatrical Cut Approx. 114 minutes
Rating: PG for mild language / Unrated 
4K Ultra HD Feature Picture: 4K Ultra HD: 2160p Ultra High Definition, 1.85:1
4K Ultra HD Feature Audio: Both Versions: English Dolby Atmos, English DTS-HD MA 5.1. Theatrical Version: English 2-Channel Surround

The Boys Season 3 Finally Comes to Disc in Oct.

The Boys Season 3 Finally Comes to Disc in Oct.

SYNOPSIS

It’s been a year of calm. Homelander’s subdued. Butcher works for the government, supervised by Hughie of all people. But both men itch to turn this peace and quiet into blood and bone. So when The Boys learn of a mysterious Anti-Supe weapon, it sends them crashing into The Seven, starting a war, and chasing the legend of the first superhero: Soldier Boy. 


SPECIAL FEATURES
BLU-RAY™AND DVD

  • Special Features
    • Gag Reels
    • Deleted and Extended Scenes
    • The Making of Featurette

CAST AND CREW

Produced By: Amazon Studios, Sony Pictures Television, with Kripke Enterprises, Original Film, and Point Grey Pictures
Produced By:  Kripke, Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, Neal H. Moritz, Pavun Shetty, Craig Rosenberg, Phil Sgriccia, Paul Grellong, David Reed, Meredith Glynn, Ken F. Levin, Jason Netter, Ori Marmur, Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson and Michaela Starr
Cast: Karl Urban, Jack Quaid, Antony Starr, Erin Moriarty, Dominique McElligott, Jessie T. Usher, Laz Alonso, Chace Crawford, Tomer Capone, Karen Fukuhara, Nathan Mitchell, Colby Minifie, Claudia Doumit, and Jensen Ackles
Developed By: Eric Kripke
Based On: The Dynamite Entertainment Comic Book Series by Garth Ennis; Illustrated by Darick Robertson 

SPECS

Runtime: Approx. 481 Mins.
Rating: Not rated. 
Blu-ray™: 1080p High Definition / 2.35:1 • Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, • Subtitles: English, English SDH, French • Mastered in High Definition • Color • Some of the information in the above listing may not apply to Special Features.
DVD: 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen • Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital • Subtitles: English, English SDH, French • Color • Some of the information in the above listing may not apply to Special Features.

Adam Hughes’ She-Hulk Cover Reminds us Summer isn’t Over

Adam Hughes’ She-Hulk Cover Reminds us Summer isn’t Over

New York, NY— August 31, 2023 — Writer Rainbow Rowell and Andrés Genolet’s Eisner-nominated work on SHE-HULK continues this October in SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK #1! Throughout their smash hit run, the creative team has shaken up Jennifer Walters’ life in bold ways with a new love interest in Jack of Hearts, new villains like Scoundrel, and some of the craziest cases a Marvel Universe courtroom has ever seen! Now, the lawyer/superhero will dust off her signature adjective and embark on an exciting new era packed with bigger challenges, deadlier villains, and hotter guest stars! Throughout the opening issues of the series, she’ll come face to face with her cousin, THE INCREDIBLE HULK; come into conflict with a new threat called ANATHEMA; and try to prevent an intergalactic war when her and Jack’s romantic space getaway goes horribly wrong! 

Like other highly-anticipated Marvel Comics launches, SENSATIONAL SHE-HULK #1 will sport a stunning FOIL VARIANT COVER, this one coming from acclaimed artist Adam Hughes. The mega-popular cover artist depicts She-Hulk giving her gorgeous green muscles a much-deserved rest before her unmatched strength is needed once again!

“For me, the word ‘sensational’ brings to mind John Byrne’s run on the original Sensational She-Hulk,” Rowell told Newsarama in an exclusive interview. “We’ve definitely been inspired by the character-first focus of that book, with Jen front and center and sparkling, the star of the show.”