THE EPITAPH: VOL. 37 - GIANT-SIZED TV EDITION!
THE ALIENIST: ANGEL OF DARKNESS (2020) - INFINITY TRAIN : BOOK TWO (2020) - STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS - SEASON 1 (2020) - SUPERNATURAL: THE FIFTEENTH AND FINAL SEASON (2021) - CSI: NY - THE COMPLETE SERIES (2004-2013) - BEVERLY HILLS 90210 - THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION (1990-2019)
Label: Warner Bros. Home Ent.
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 391 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen
INFINITY TRAIN : BOOK TWO (2020)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 391 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen
Number of Discs: 3
Cast: Daniel Brühl, Luke Evans, Dakota Fanning, Douglas Smith, Matthew Shear, Robert Ray Wisdom, Ted Levine, Melanie Field, Rosy McEwen
Cast: Daniel Brühl, Luke Evans, Dakota Fanning, Douglas Smith, Matthew Shear, Robert Ray Wisdom, Ted Levine, Melanie Field, Rosy McEwen
Set in 1896 New York City the eight-episode limited series The Alienist: Angel of Darkness (2020) features a baby-killer on the loose in the city. The newly appointed police commissioner Teddy Roosevelt secretly calls upon the services of female detective Sara Howard (Dakota Fanning, Once Upon A Time In Hollywood), an obsessive criminal psychologist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler (Daniel Brühl, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier) and newspaper journalist John Moore (Luke Evans, Clash of the Titans), to solve the ghastly crime spree. They find themselves aided by NYPD Detective Sargent's brothers Marcus (Douglas Smith, Santa's Slay) and Lucius Isaacson (Matthew Shear, Marriage Story), while nefarious forces work against their crusade to protect members of high-society. I love period set thrillers and this is a handsomely shot series with wonderful costuming and 19th-century flare, the whole series feels lived-in, and the principle cast are fantastic. I had no idea that this was the second season of the series till after I shot-gunned all eight episodes, and it did not hurt my viewing. I am looking forward to seeking out the first season now. This series comes highly recommended, the period melodrama elements are engaging and the subject matter is dark and disturbing, just the way I like it. I also love the way the series weaves in real historical events and families like newspaper mogul William Randolph Hearst (Matt Letscher, TV's The Flash) who shows up a lot, and Ted Levine (Silence of the Lambs) is terrific as a duplicitous retired NYPD detective. The series arrives on DVD with the eight-episodes spread across 3-discs with a slipcase and synopsis for each episode. We also get a handful of extras that are brief but not unappreciated, I love the series so I was into learning about what went on behind-the-scenes, but I would have appreciate more. Highly recommended to fans of lush but gritty period thrillers, the only thing I can say against it is I think the tense series fails to completely deliver on the build-up, but I still dig it.
Special Features:
- Inside the Alienist: Building the World
- Walking the Set 2.0 with Luke Evans
- Kreizler Season 1 Recap
- Dressing a Modern Woman
- Series Overview
Label: Warner Bros. Home Ent.
STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS - SEASON 1 (2020)
SUPERNATURAL: THE FIFTEENTH AND FINAL SEASON (2021)
CSI: NY - THE COMPLETE SERIES (2004-2013)
BEVERLY HILLS 90210 - THE ULTIMATE COLLECTION (1990-2000, 2019)
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 114 Minutes
Number of Discs: 1
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen
The mind-bending animated series Infinity Train: Book Two dives deeper into the world of the Train, following the continuing story of Mirror Tulip, from season one, who is an escaped reflection from the mirror world, and Jesse Cosay, a 14-year-old jock kid from Arizona, who team-up with a silent but super-powered deer named Alan Dracula, while they evade the Mirror Police and learn touching life lessons. It's a strange show and the animation is weird and wonderful. All 10 episodes, totaling 114 minutes, from the second season arrive on a single disc DVD with over an hour of bonus features including audio commentaries, animatics, and an image gallery. If you like unique, weird and out there animation series give this is a spin, all three seasons are currently streaming exclusively on HBO Max and there's a fourth on the way soon. The single-disc release arrives in a white keepcase with a slipcover.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentaries
- Animatics
- Image Gallery
Label: CBS DVD/Paramount Home Ent.
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 251 Minutes
Number of Discs: 2
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 251 Minutes
Number of Discs: 2
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen
Cast: Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Eugene Cordero, Noël Wells, Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O’Connell, Fred Tatasciore, Gillian Vigman
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen
Cast: Tawny Newsome, Jack Quaid, Eugene Cordero, Noël Wells, Dawnn Lewis, Jerry O’Connell, Fred Tatasciore, Gillian Vigman
Star TrekL Lower Decks is a Paramount+ animated series that answers that age-old question, "I wonder what it's like being a second string Starfleet Ensign?". Okay, maybe no one was asking that, but this series focuses on the support crew serving on one of Starfleet’s least important ships, the U.S.S. Cerritos, in 2380. The series follows young and hungry Ensigns Beckett Mariner, Ensign Brad Boimler, Ensign Samanthan Rutherford, and Ensign D’Vana Tendihave attempting to earn high rank as they face off against a multitude of sci-fi anomalies and Starfleet shenanigans. This comes from the writer and executive producer of Rick and Morty and the humor is along those lines, perhaps not as nihilistic and fucked-up, but I laughed a lot as a Trekkie from way back, there's so many Easter Eggs tucked away in this series. All 10-episodes are spread over two DVD discs and features over two-hours of extras. It comes in a clear keepcase with a dual-sided sleeve of artwork that features the episodes synopsis and extras printed on the reverse side. If you're a Trekkie fan this is laugh out-loud catnip, and if you're not a Trekkie but love humorous animated sci-fi the writing here is top-notch and still recommended.
Special Features:
- Crisis Point: The Rise of Vindicta
- Faces of the Fleet
- Hiding in Plain Sight
- 10-Part Lower Decktionary
- Full Length Animatic
- Deleted and Extended Scenes
Label: Warner Bros. Home Ent.
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 843 Minutes
Number of Discs: 4
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen
Cast: Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, Misha Collins,
Alexander Calvert
The long-running saga of the Winchester brothers come to a close as Supernatural enters its fifteenth and final season. Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean (Jensen Ackles) and the angel Castiel (Misha Collins) have battled demons and angels, mythical creatures and monsters, in a seemingly unending quest to save the world, but can they deal with God Himself (Rob Benedict) ending reality? I am not series-long fan of the series, I only watch it every once in a while if I am in the room when someone else is watching it to be honest, or when I am tasked with reviewing a season, such as this one. What I can say is that even with my limited breadth of history with the show I thought it went out with a solid season that offered up plenty of fan service and a fair amount of emotional depth, and the monsters and carnage are imaginative and fun. I didn't think it was perfection, but someday I am going back to start from episode one, and I know it's gonna be a more rewarding watch for me. As it was I was already in tears at the end, but I am a big softie, and enjoy a good cathartic cry. All 20-episodes arrives on a 4-disc Blu-ray set with some great end-of-series extras. This release includes a slipcover and an insert with a episode and extras guide, plus a digital HD copy of the series.
Special Features:
- Supernatural: The End of the Road (New)
- Supernatural: Family Don’t End in Blood (New)
- Gag Reel (New)
- Deleted Scenes (New)
- Supernatural: 2019 Comic-Con Panel
- Winning Baby: A Supernatural Giveaway
- Winchester Mythology: Midwestern Heroes
- Supernatural: The Long Road Home – Special Retrospective Episode
Label: CBS DVD/Paramount Pictures Home Ent.
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 8,478 Minutes
Number of Discs: 55
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.o Stereo and 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Gary Sinise, Melina Kanakaredes, A.J. Buckley, Eddie Cahill, Hill Harper, Carmine Giovinazzo, Vanessa Ferlito, Anna Belknap, Robert Joy, Sela Ward
Running for nine season CSI: NY first aired in 2004, follow Detective Mac Taylor (Gary Sinise) and his team of crime-solving investigators through the streets of New York City, a spin-off of CSI: Miami, where several CSI: NY characters made their first appearance. I will be up front and say I was not a fan of this iteration of the CSI franchise. I first got hooked on the original CSI because it starred William Petersen (To Live and Die In L.A.), and at the time the series aired I was obsessing over Michael Mann's Manhunter, so seeing Petersen back in the role of a crime-solving crime scene investigator was exactly what I was craving. I loved it though, I thought the team was solid, the melodrama was enough to keep me glued, and the Mortal Kombat style x-ray vision of the injuries seen in the series was fucking cool as shit! Now when Petersen eventually bowed out of the show and was replaced by Laurence Fishburne (The Matrix) I still tuned in, but it was no longer must-see-TV for me and I eventually tuned out all together. Then came CSI: Miami starring David Caruso (Session 9), a TV star who famously walked away the very popular (though I never saw it) NYPD Blue tp pursue a move star career, only to win two Raspberry Awards for his efforts and to go the way of Shelly Long (The Money Pit) when she walked away from the iconic TV series Cheers. Well, not exactly, he was able to come back to a successful TV career with CSI: Miami, while I don't think Long ever went on to anything substantial. Anyway, I watched CSI: Miami because I thought it would be a train wreck, and it was, the best kind, so trashy and glossy, it was so slick it was awesome in a so-bad-it's-good sort of way with Caruso over-dramatically whipping his sun glasses on and off each episode. Anyway, that brings us to CSI: NY which was a spin-off off CSI: Miami starring Gary Sinise (The Stand), and I tuned in for about a half-season when it first aired and could not get into it. It was not as well-made as CSI and not trashy-fun like CSI: Miami. I didn't like the look of the show, the chemistry of the characters, the reheated leftover story arcs or any of it. I stopped watching after the first season. Apparently I was in the minority, because unbeknownst to me the series went on for 10 dang season! If you're not like me, and are a fan of the show CSI: NY: The Complete Series arrives on DVD featuring the entire nine seasons of the series spread across 55-discs, with what looks to be a ton of extras, all of which I am quite sure were previously issued on the standalone season sets,
Special Features:
- Behind-the-Scenes Featurettes
- Crossover Episodes with CSI and CSI: Miami
- Deleted Scenes
- Gag Reels
- Audio Commentaries
- and More!
Label: CBS DVD/Paramount Pictures Home Ent.
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 13,187 Minutes
Number of Discs: 74
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Full Frame (1.33:1)
Cast: Jennie Garth, Shannen Doherty, Luke Perry, Jason Priestley, Ian Ziering, Jennie Garth, Brian Austin Green, Tori Spelling, Tiffani-Amber Thiessen, Shannen Doherty, Kathleen Robertson, Vincent Young, Lindsay Price, Daniel Cosgrove, Vanessa Marcil, Hilary Swank)
I hate to end this installment of The Epitaph on more sour grapes but I frigging loathed Beverly Hills 90210 when it debuted on CBS in 1990, it was the epitome of all the over-privileged brat-bullshit I could not stomach. An Aaron Spelling produced teen soap opera high on melodrama and low on my list of things I needed to watch on TV. By the Fall of 1990 I was still high off the first season of David Lynch's mind-bending Twin Peaks, I was too busy watching Are You Afraid of the Dark?, re-runs of Tales from the Darkside, the Stephen King's It TV miniseries or playing air guitar with my mom's kitchen broom in my bedroom to the newest albums from Pantera, Gwar, Slayer, Megadeth, or Alice in Chains to give a frog's fat-ass about these trendy preppie kids from affluent families were up to. Now my opinion has not changed much over the years, but re-watching a few select episodes of this there's some 90's retro charms to be had, sort of like how when I hear Paul Young's song "Everytime You Go Away", which I hated when I was twelve, sort of makes me smile because it makes me remember a camping trip my late dad took me on in '85, and it felt like it was on the radio the whole three-hour trip to Wellesley Island State Park. Okay, it's actually nothing like that because the song and the memory are warm and fuzzy, and 90210 is still a hot piece of teen melodrama bullshit. This massive 77-disc set has everything a diehard fan of the series could desire - all 290 episodes from original 10 seasons of the series, plus the 2019 series BH90210. Beverly Hills 90210. Puke. My favorite episode happened in 1995 when alt-rock darlings The Flaming Lips showed up to play "She Don't Use Jelly" at the Peach Pit, the rest I will never watch again, under pain of death.
Special Features:
- Behind-the-Scenes Featurette,
- Interviews
- Season Recaps
- Beverly Hills Moms
- The loves of Season 4
- 7 Minutes in Heaven
- Gag Reel
- The Final Goodbye
- and More!
