THE EPITAPH VOL. 39 - VARIETY SIX-PACK EDITION!
FEED THE GODS (2014) - YOUR HONOR (2020-2021) - DRIVE (1997) - SPACE JAM (1996) - MR. JEALOUSY (1997) - HIS DARK MATERIALS: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (2020) - DRUNK HISTORY THE COMPLETE SERIES (2013-2019)
Label: MVD Marquee Collection
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 84 Minutes
Audio: English 5.1 Surround DTS-HD Surround, LPCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Braden Croft
Cast: Shawn Roberts, Tyler Johnston
After the death of their adopted parents brothers (Shawn Roberts, Resident Evil: Afterlife and Tyler Johnston, The Killing) return to a their mountain-top home town in search of their long lost parents who gave them up under mysterious circumstances. While there they run afoul of the peculiar locals who seem are very protective of a local legend, a forest dwelling bigfoot sort of thing. This is a standard issue strangers in a strange place that find some strange goings on. It's well shot for a micro-budget production and the main cast is actually pretty good as bickering siblings, but by the time they Scooby-Doo the mystery of what's happening I had largely stopped carrying. Not awful, not great, but very middle of the road. The disc includes uncompressed audio, a making of featurette, trailer and a sleeve of reversible artwork. If you've got die-hard hard-on for all things backwoods creature related this might be worth a shot, but for me it's a one and done.
Special Features
- Feed The Gods Behind the Scenes Featurette (13 min) HD
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Reversible Artwork
YOUR HONOR (2020-2021)
Label: CBS DVD
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 574 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Widescreen (1.78:1)
Directors: Clark Johnson, Eva Sørhaug, Bryan Cranston,
Cast: Bryan Cranston, Hunter Doohan, Michael Stuhlbarg, Hope Davis, Carmen Ejogo, Isiah Whitlock Jr.
This 10-episode Showtime thriller-series stars Bryan Cranston, who will always be the dad from Malcolm in the Middle to me, as a respected, and straight-shooting New Orleans judge whose teenage son, Adam (Hunter Doohan), is involved in a hit-and-run, killing another young man. When the kid tells his father what happened he tells hi they have to go to the cops, but when the judge finds out that the victim was the son of New Orlean's notoriously violent crime-boss Jimmy Baxter( Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name) he changes his mind and does everything in his power to keep it under wraps, beginning by reporting the car stolen, which sets in motion a series of increasingly awful actions, including a young black man being charged with the crime. The events of this mini-series just kept getting more and more fucked up as it went along, culminating with a satisfyingly finish that left me gobsmacked. I have always told my kids that if God forbid, you are ever in an accident and it was your fault that you need to stay on the scene, aid anyone who is injured, and deal with the consequences; and the events depicted in this film are the imagined reasons why - things just have a way of spiraling out of control. This comes highly recommended, if you're looing for a engrossing mini-series to binge-watch that you won't regret starting this is it, this is misery-porn at it's most entertaining!
Special Features:
- Exclusive Deleted Scenes (6 min)
DRIVE (1997)
Label: MVD Rewind Collection
Duration: 112 Minutes (Director's Cut) / 99 Minutes (Theatrical)
Rating: Unrated (Director's Cut) / R (Theatrical)
Audio:
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) (Director’s Cut) & 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1) (Theatricaln)
Audio: English 2.0 Stereo (LPCM), 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Steve Wang
Cast: Mark Dacascos, Kadeem Hardison, Brittany Murphy, Sanaa Lathan, Tracey Walter, Ron Yuan
The MVD Rewind Collection is my favorite arm of MVD Entertainment, it's the label that best caters to my genre film cravings, and even though I came into this 90's action film with low- expectations I was still had a blast with this one. We get a totally ridiculous set-up with a guy named Toby Wong (Mark Dacascos, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum), a special agent from Hong Kong who has been physically enhanced with some sort of bio-device prototype, making him an ultimate warrior, I guess. Because he does not want China to have such a weapon he flees to San Francisco, where he teams-up with a down-on-his-luck songwriter named Mailik (Kadeem Hardison, Def By Temptation) whom he initially takes hostage to escape from by a ridiculous looking assassin named Vic (John Pyper-Ferguson, Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II) and his demented sidekick Hedgehog (Tracey Walter Repo Man). While Malik and Wong drive across country, ostensibly to evade the hitmen and sell the prototype device to a L.A. based tech company. Along the way they are joined by a free-spirited young woman played by the late Brittany Murphy (Clueless)
The flick's finale takes place at a karaoke bar where Wong must face off against an assassin outfitted with a more advanced version of the bio-device. This one has plenty of action but the martial arts stuff was a bit anemic to my eyes, but still a raucous good time. Kicking it up a few notches is the rapport between Dacascos, Hardison, and Murphy, they have good chemistry and deliver the cheeseball dialogue with gusto. The Blu-ray offers both the extended director's cut of the film and the theatrical version in HD with two different scans and aspect ratios, archival audio commentary, interviews and making of featurette, deleted scenes, trailer, and a reversible sleeve of artwork and a slipcover, along with a mini-poster inside. Having just watched the MVD release of Action U.S.A. (1989) this one does not even come close to matching the balls-out insanity of that film, but it's A a fun 90's action-romp.
Special Features:
- Audio commentary by director Steve Wang, fight choreographer Koichi Sakamoto and stars Mark Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison
- “Drive: The Force Behind The Storm" documentary (48 min)
- Six Deleted Scenes (9 min)
-Interview gallery with cast, director and crew including stars Mark Dacascos and Kadeem Hardison, director Steve Wang, Second Unit Director Wyatt Weed and Stunt (25 min) Coordinator Koichi Sakamoto
- TWO versions of the film: Both the Director’s Cut + Original Theatrical Version
- Original Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
-Reversible artwork
- Collectible Mini-Poster
- Limited Edition Retro Slip Cover (First Pressing Only)
SPACE JAM (1996)
Label: WBHE
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: PG
Duration: 87 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Atmos, True HD 7.1, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p UHD, 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Joseph Pytka
Cast: Billy West, Michael Jordan, Wayne Knight, Dee Bradley Baker, Theresa Randle
In the mid-90's I was in my early 20's and had zero interest in Space Jam. I hated watching sports (and still do) and had not thought the Looney Tunes had done anything funny since the 1960's. With that in mind the combination of the world's greatest basketball legend colliding with the animated world of Bugs Bunny to foil a ghastly gang of space creatures, was truly a loathsome proposition at the time. I've mellowed a tiny bit with age and with this UHD release being sent to me for free to review from WBHE I finally sat down and watched it. I didn't hate, but I didn't love it either, watching cartoons play an exaggerated and animated game of b-ball with Jordan and other NBA players was mindless fun, but I didn;t care for the animation style either. The UHD presentation is solid, but the the blending of animation and live action is dated and lacks dimension, but clearly the 4K resolution and HDR expanded color-grading look quite nice, and the Dolby Atmos upgrade... What!?! Space Jam gets an Atmos upgrade but Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory can go without!?! - c'mon WB! Anyway, the Atmos sounds terrific with good use of the surrounds, and the soundtrack, which I largely hated then and even today, benefits greatly from it. No new extras were produced for this release, but WB do carry-over the previously existing extras listed below. If you want to see what an upgrade the UHD is the accompanying Blu-ray is just a recycle of the 2011 release with no upgrades.
Special Features:
- Commentary from director Joe Pytka, Bugs Bunny (voiced by Billy West) and Daffy Duck (voiced by Dee Bradley Baker)
- Featurette: “Jammin” with Bugs Bunny and Michael Jordan
- Music videos including Seal’s “Fly Like an Eagle” and Monstars’ anthem “Hit ‘Em High”
MR. JEALOUSY (1987)
Label: MVD Marquee Collection
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: R
Duration: 104 Minutes
Audio: English LPCM 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Noah Baumbach
Cast: Bridget Fonda, Chris Eigeman, Noah Baumbach, Peter Bogdanovich, Marianne Jean-Baptiste
In Noah Baumbach's sophomore film Mr. Jealousy Eric Stoltz (The Prophecy) plays an aspiring novelist slash substitute teacher named, Because of traumatic events during his teen dating years he is a bit of an obsessive/jealous boyfriend. He's so insecure about his new girlfriend Ramona's (Annabella Sciorra, The Addiction) past exploits with well-known writer Dashiell Frank (Chris Eigeman, Kicking and Screaming), that he stages an elaborate subterfuge to infiltrate the ex-boyfriends group therapy session with his therapist (Peter Bogdanovich, Targets), even pulling in his best friend Vince (Carlos Jacott, Bats), to further the subterfuge, each pretending to be the other! This is a very breezy but sort of dark exploration of the jealous psyche, and went it's not being borderline disturbing it has a sort of farcical vibe about. Not one of Baumbach's more notable films but also a bit of underrated gem as well. The Blu-ray from MVD includes a nearly fifty-minute new retrospective featurette with the cast and crew and a trailer for the film.
Special Features:
- “Revisiting Mr. Jealousy” - Brand new feature including new interviews with cast members Brian Kerwin, Peter Bogdanovich, producer Joel Castelberg along with vintage interviews with writer and director Noah Baumbach. (49 min) HD
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3 min) HD
HIS DARK MATERIALS:
Special Features:
- “Revisiting Mr. Jealousy” - Brand new feature including new interviews with cast members Brian Kerwin, Peter Bogdanovich, producer Joel Castelberg along with vintage interviews with writer and director Noah Baumbach. (49 min) HD
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3 min) HD
THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON (2020)
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 345 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Directors:
Cast: Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, Amir Wilson, Ariyon Bakare, Andrew Scott, Will Keen, Ruta Gedmintas, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Terence Stamp, Jade Anouka, Simone Kirby
I watched the first season of HBO's His Dark Materials on a whim one day with nothing else to watch it's, a adaptation of a trilogy of books by Philip Pullman and I ended up watching the whole seven episode season and loved it, and I am glad to say the same of the second season. A handsomely produced show with wonderful production value and a top-notch cast that define the characters and propel the fantastical drama. Here we have the continuing saga of young orphan Lyra (Dafne Keen) who has been on a journey through a parallel world where a human’s soul exists outside one’s body – in the form of a talking animal called a daemon. Season two begins as Lyra, distraught over the death of her best friend, and making a new one by way of Will (Amir Wilson), a boy from our world who is also running from his own troubled past, while they are on the run from Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson) who is more determined than ever to bring Lyra home by any means necessary, while a war is brewing in the kingdom. I have seen the film adaptation The Golden Compass with my kids and thought it was quite good, but the way they can open up the story and let it unfold with the series is much appreciated. Not that I can reference the books, because I have not read them, but you can feel the breadth of the story has deepened and expanded in ways that make for a captivating bit of fantasy adventure. The HD presentation of quite wonderful with strong A/V merits and we get a nice compliment of extras. Additionally, the series arrives with a slipcover and a code for a digital HD the series. If you're curious, the young adult source material is still plenty entertaining, even if you're more of an old man than a young adult, and the show is definitely worth binging.
Special Features:
- Noble Rogue: The Legend of Lee Scoresby (Exclusive to Blu-ray and DVD) - This documentary will explore the DNA of Lee Scoresby’s character (Lin-Manuel Miranda) and the aspects of the cowboy, outlaw or rogue, who through bravery, loyalty, and rebelliousness are willing to stick up for the underdog and fight for justice.
- Exploring His Dark Materials: Panserbjørne
- Exploring His Dark Materials: Daemons
- Exploring His Dark Materials:Portals & The Multiverse
- Exploring His Dark Materials: Witches
- His Dark Materials: Bringing Daemons and Bears to Life
- His Dark Materials: Exploring Cittàgazze
- His Dark Materials: Worlds Collide
- The Powerful Mrs. Coulter
- Lyra
- The Subtle Knife
DRUNK HISTORY - THE COMPLETE SERIES (2013-2019)
Label: Paramount Picture Home Entertainment
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 1522 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo and 5.1 Surround with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Derek Waters,Tiffany Haddish, Bill Hader, David Harbour, Bob Odenkirk, and More!
All six seasons of Drunk History are now available on DVD, spread across 11-discs we get all 72-epoisodes, the hilarious educational history show was hosted by the congenial Derek Waters who plied a series of actors and comedians with alcohol to talk about some of history’s most fascinating highlights. But wait, that's not all, while the guest is oftentimes drunkenly rambling through the beer-googled historical record we are treated to star-studded reenactments of those events. Some of the stories skew silly and others are more hard-hitting, but every episode was highly entertaining, and quite educational, which was a great hat trick; a show about history as told through the eyes of a drunk person that was actually quite funny. You need not be a history buff to love the show, it's funny in a broader context, but I can see this show turning a comedy fan into a history buff, and even vice versa. A fantastic show, I was sad to see it go, but for six season it knocked it out of the park and will go down in history as one of the funniest shows Comedy Central ever produced, and that's not drunk history, that's a stone-cold fact! This set of Drunk History - contains all 72- episodes and marks the debut of Seasons 5 and 6 on DVD for the first time ever. The set arrives in one of those gigantic Scanovo high-volume disc cases, which are not that sturdy, but it also comes with a cool wood-grained slipcover. Of all the releases covered in this installment this is the one I say would make a great birthday or Christmas gift, particularly if you can pick it up cheap.
Special Features:
- Extended Drunk Narrator Moments
- Deleted Scenes
- Drunk Outtakes
- Sober Reveals and More!
