THE EPITAPH VOL. 96
HAUNTS, SPIES, SCI-FI, THE MOB AND METAL EDITION!
THE WOMAN IN THE YARD (2025) - BLACK BAG (2025) - MICKEY 17 (2025) - THE ALTO KNIGHTS (2025)
- PAGAN ALTAR: NEVER QUITE DEAD (2025) - TRANCE: BREAKOUT (1982)
Label: Universal Pictures
Region Code:
Rating: PG13
Duration: 87 Minutes 53 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD 7.1, DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.38:1)
Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Danielle Deadwyler, Okwui Okpokwasili, Peyton Jackson, Russell Hornsby
From director Jaume Collet-Serra (The Shallows) comes the haunting grief-meditation The Woman in the Yard, where
the recently widowed mother Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler, I Saw the TV Glow) lives on a remote farm in Georgia with her teenage son Tay (Peyton Jackson) and younger daughter Annie (Estella Kahiha). She withdrawn and despondent, still deeply grieving the loss of her husband (Russell Hornsby) in an auto accident which has left her with a broken leg. The bills are piling up, the dog is out of food, and she's an absent mother, her teen son shouldering much of the responsibilities around the house, the kids are still grieving as well, and you can teel the teenager is somewhat annoyed by how his mother's plunge into despair has made her shirk many of her motherly responsibilities. As that tension is building over a contentious breakfast Tay notices that there is a strange woman in a long black veil and shrouds (Okwui Okpokwasili, I Am Legend) sitting in the front yard with a chair. Ramona limps out into the yard on her crutches to confront the woman, but she seems somewhat puzzled by her own presence there, she ends up uttering something cryptic and showing Ramona her bloody hands, sending Ramona back into the house to protect her children. As the day wears on the woman seems to inch ever closer to the house, tensions between the despondent mother and her children flare, and Ramona is left to deal with a secret she harbors that threatens her family is she does not confront her own guilt and depression head on. There's been a slate of recent film that are meditations on grief, guilt and depression filtered through supernatural horror, and this is the latest one of 'em. It didn't work for me, I thought the cast was actually quite good, the sparing effects used to convey the threat of the titular woman draped in a black shroud are effective, but at a script level this didn't come together for me, but still, worth a watch just for the strong performances and creepy imagery, maybe not a re-watch though. The Blu-ray features a couple of featurettes, includes a digital copy and a slipcover.
Special Features:
- Making The Woman in the Yard - Travel through the darkest corners of the film during this behind-the-scenes journey where filmmakers work with cast to craft a story that is both haunting and human. (8:03)
- Beneath the Veil - Cast and filmmakers lift the veil on the film’s frightening figure for this revealing look at the themes, designs, and styles that shape her eerie specter into a powerful presence. (5:02)
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BLACK BAG (2025)
Collector's Edition
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital
Label: Universal Studios
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 93 Minutes 24 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby TrueHD with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Steven Soderbergh
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Rege-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Naomie Harris, Tom Burke, Pierce Brosnan
From director Steven Soderbergh (Contagion) we get Black Bag, a different sort of spy drama, not so much an action-packed stunt fest but something more thoughtful, and deliciously melodramatic. In it Michael Fassbender (Centurion) portrays the fastidious George Woodhouse part of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) intelligence agency wo is informed that there is a traitor among the ranks, at risk is a secret bit of programming dubbed Severus, which is in the wrong hand, or even the right hand, would lead to a nuclear meltdown. After checking who has the proper security clearances and access the list of suspects are narrow down, among them are couples Clarissa (Marisa Abela, Back to Black) and Freddie (Tom Burke, Mank), and therapist Dr. Zoe Vaughan (Naomie Harris, Venom: Let There Be Carnage) who is dating Col. James Stokes (Regé-Jean Page, Bridgerton), and George's own wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett, The Good German) - the latter putting George to the ultimate test - putting his marriage tot he test. What transpires charming and well-executed, and superbly acted. This is sort of the anti-spy thriller and more of a old fashioned detective story set in a high-tech and high-stakes environment, with Fassbender's delightfully retro and old school spymaster with his horned rim glasses and OCD sense of cleanliness and tidiness making for a an incredibly entertaining 93-minutes, and yes, this lovely thriller is only 93-minutes long, kudos to Soderberg for the stylish execution and the manageable run time! The HDR10 color-grade offers a terrific UHD presentation and the Dolby TrueHD audio shines. We get two featurettes and deleted scenes, plus a digital copy and a slipcover with this one.
Special Features:
- Deleted Scenes (6:25)
- The Company of Talent (10:12)
- Designing Black Bag (5:28)
- Digital Copy
- Slipcover
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4K Ultra HD + Digital Label: WBDHE
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating:
Duration:
Audio: DolbtvAtmos (TrueHD 7.1) with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p HD Widescreen
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Cast: Robert Pattinson, Naomi Ackie, Steven Yeun, Toni Collette, Mark Ruffalo
From writer/director Bong Joon Ho (Parasite) we get Mickey 17, a sci-fi satire about a guy named Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson, The Batman) who to escape his Earthly debt and potential death at the hands of mobster out for his blood, literally signs his life away to join an off-word expedition to the plane Niflheim. He's unknowingly signed up to be an "expendable" a hazardous worker grunt who is assigned the most deadly tasks, if he dies his memories have been saved, and they reprint his body each time, recycled from food and septic waste generated by the ship. We are treated a myriad ways he is killed in the line of duty, some of the horrific, many of them comical, he is then re-printed, and literally rolls out of the replicator like copy paper! It's a fairly surface level satire, there are jokes and commentary about a Trump like fascist who is leading the expedition, played by Mark Ruffalo (Pretty Things) and his vapid wife played by Toni Collette (Hereditary), animal rights, class segregation, human rights, and of course the difficulty of maintaining a relationship when you are a clone, with Mickey dating the bad ass security agent Nasha Barridge (Naomi Ackie, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker), and the troubles that arise when there are accidentally two version of Mickey on the ship. We also get an alien species native to the planet who are dubbed "Creepys", which play heavily into the finale of the film, which were a highlight for me. It's a pretty goofy film, very offbeat and comical, and not the sort of film you would think a studio would sink 200 million dollars into, but I guess when you win the Oscar you get to do whatever you want, and I for one appreciate some big-budget shenanigans, and I loved this flick, its never dull and I appreciated it's wiliness to be ! I really liked how weird it is, and the offbeat performance from Pattinson is awesome. Really the only letdown for me is I wanted more of Steven Yeun (Nope) as Mickey's Earth friend who joins him on the expedition, he's in it far too little. The 4K UHD has Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos, it looks and sounds utterly fantastic, and we get three featurettes, a digital copy, and a slipcover.
Special features:
- Behind the Lens: Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 (11:32)
- Mickey 17: A World Reimagined (9:44)
- The Faces of Niflheim (8:00)
- Digital Copy
- Slipcover
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THE ALTO KNIGHTS (2025)
Label: Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 122 Minutes 52 Seconds
Audio: English Dolby Atmos (TrueHD 7.1) with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Robert De Niro, Debra Messing, Cosmo Jarvis, Kathrine Narducci, Michael Rispoli, Michael Adler, Ed Amatrudo, Joe Bacino, Anthony J. Gallo, Wallace Langham, Louis Mustillo, Frank Piccirillo, Matt Servitto, Robert Uricola
The Alto Knights re-teams actor Robert DeNiro (Casino) and director Barry Levinson (Men In Black), with a script by Nicholas Pileggi (Goodfellas), and it's lensed by cinematographer Dante Spinotti (L.A. Confidential). The film is notable in that it stars DeNiro in a dual-role, playing two of New York’s most notorious organized crime bosses, Frank Costello and Vito Genovese, former friends who vie for control of New Yor City's street, which leads to an unravelling of the truth behind the near organized crime in America in the 1950. Costello is respected as a highly influential yet diplomatic mafia boss of the Luciano crime family, while Vito, formerly a boss who handed over his position when forced into a sort of exile in Italy, is a vicious and violent man who will stop at nothing to regain his seat as the "boss of bosses". It's a pretty decent old school mafia flick, but it's bloated and dense, and I found DeNiro's dual-role, using both prosthetics and de-aging digital effects which actually looks pretty great more than a little distracting, his Vito character coming off as a bit of DeNiro channeling Goodfella's era Joe Pesci. the heart of the story should be fascinating, how a rivalry between former friends brought ruination to not just themselves, but exposed the mob for the nationwide syndicate it was, but it's unfocused, the story jumps arounds, and the shift in eras and a weird fourth wall breaking sequences of DeNiro as Frank addressing the audience really add to it feeling bloated and disjointed. That said, still a very handsomely mounted period mob flick, the cast is terrific, but it's all a bit been there and done that better sort of deal, but if you're a crime family . The Blu-ray looks terrific, and appreciated the Dolby Atmos upgrade, but there are zero extras, just a digital copy of the film.
Special Features:
- Digital Copy
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TRANCE - BREAKOUT (1982) 2024 CD Remaster
Label: Rockport Records
Duration: 45 Minutes 51 Seconds
Band:
Bass - Thomas Klein
Vocals - Lothar Antoni
Guitar - Markus Berger , Lothar Antoni
Drums - Jürgen Baum
Trance's debut album Break Out was originally released in 1982, they were contemporaries of other German rockers like Accept and the Scorpions, melodic metal-tinged hard rock with a twin-guitar attack and a vocalist that has a bit of rasp that brought to mind Nazareth. The album opener "Breakout: opens things strong, metallic riffs and leads, the rasp vocals and occasional higher-pitched vocals making for a driving track. The next song "Confessions" has some very tasty lead work on guitar, but the the rest of the song is pretty mid-sounding with weak lyrics that seem half thought out. "Get It Now" channels AC/DC a bit too much to take seriously, with "Burn the Ice" with it's burning leads and some solid riffs and bass work, making up for the previous track, it's a pretty catchy tune. The anti-war song "Loser" has a tasty early Judas Priest edge to it, and a mid-song solo that had more than a smidge of Schenker influence. "Higher" is another one with a repeated riff that I liked a lot, some nice screaming; soloing, and a vocal turn that agreed with me, but I hated the bass tone on this song, it stuck out like a sort thumb. I like the guitar playing on this album, but the vocals were not for me it, especially during the slower ballads, which for me just brought out the singer's limitations, but if you're a fan of German hard rock the guitar work here is worth checking out, even if the lyrics and vocals put me off. I am curious, this is the only album i have heard from trance, did the vocals get better as the band went along, did he hone is rasp to perfection? If you now, or have an opinion please let me know. We also get two bonus non-LP tracks by way of" A Hard Way To Go" and "Haze In The Twilight", the latter of which is among my favorite tracks on this re-issue, which appeared on a singles, they have also also remastered.
The album was remastered by Andreas 'Neudi' Neuderht, who has been the band's drummer 2016, it has a nice beefy sound, Having never heard the original pressing I don't know how it stacks up, but its clean and powerful sounding.
This re-mastered re-issue arrives in a triple-fold DigiSleeve , which includes a 16-page illustrated booklet with lyrics.
Track List:
1. Break Out (Remaster 2024)
2. Confession (Remaster 2024)
3. Get It Now (Remaster 2024)
4. Burn the Ice (Remaster 2024)
5. For Your Love (Remaster 2024)
6. Loser (Remaster 2024)
7. Ain't No Love (Remaster 2024)
8. Higher (Remaster 2024)
9. Baby Child (Remaster 2024)
10. A Hard Way To Go (Single Track) (Remaster 2024)
11. Haze In The Twilight (Single Track) (Remaster 2024)
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