THE EPITAPH VOL. 58
THE 4K ULTRA HD ALL THE WAY EDITION!
AKA 4K UPGRADES OF CLASSICS ON 4K ULTRA HD ...AND AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE: PLANTASM
THE CLASSIC CHRISTMAS SPECIALS COLLECTION - TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962) - AQUA TEEN FOREVER: PLANTASM (2022) - E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL (1982) - CASABLANCA (1942)
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital
We ALL grew up watching the Rankin/Bass produced Christmas classics, and I am old enough to remember when to watch these animated and stop-motion animated classics only one time a year on a single night, and if you missed it you couldn't watch it again till the next year - unless you taped it off off the TV onto VHS. That we now have these yuletide nostalgia trip on restored 4K Ultra HD and you can watch it whenever you want as many times as you want is terrific news, especially for you Christmas in July weirdos out there. All three films have been restored in 4K with a new HDR10 color-infusion, and the results are pretty fantastic. The two stop-motion films offer superior results, crisply rendered and finely detailed in 2160p UHD you can see minutia of the texturing of the stop-motion figures and backgrounds like never before. The animated Frosty the Snowman looks superior to previous Blu-ray editions but doesn't exhibit the wow-factor upgrade that the stop-motion flicks do. Double-good news, the accompanying Blu-rays are not recycled Blu-ray disc of the previous releases, these are the new 4K restorations dumbed down to SD without the benefit of HDR. Triple good news, the extras are featured on the UHD and BD discs, so no having to switch-up the disc to enjoy the vintage assortment of extras.
RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER (1964)
Label: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), A (BD)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 52 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 Mono, Spanish and French DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Fullscreen (1.33:1), 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Director: Larry Roemer
Voice Cast: Burl Ives, Larry Mann, Billie Mae Richards, Paul Soles, Stan Francis, Alfie Scopp, Janis Orenstein, Paul Kligman, Carl Banas, Corinne Conley, Peg Dixon, Bernard Cowan
Special Features:
- The Animagic World of Rankin/Bass (47 min)
- Restoring the Puppets of Rudolph (4 min)
- Reimagining Rudolph in 4D (11 min)
- Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Attraction Film (11 min)
- T.E.A.M. Rudolph and the Reindeer Games (14 min)
FROSTY THE SNOWMAN (1969)
Label: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), A (BD)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 26 min
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 and 2.0 Mono, Spanish and French DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Fullscreen (1.33:1), 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Directors: Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass
Cast: Jackie Vernon, Jimmy Durante, June Foray, Billy De Wolfe, Paul Frees
Special Features (UHD/BD):
- The Animagic World of Rankin/Bass (47 min)
- Original Pencil Test (1 min)
- Audio Commentary with Animation Historian Mark Evanier
SANTA CLAUS IS COMIN; TO TOWN (1970)
Label: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), A (BD)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 51 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1, Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Fullscreen (1.33:1), 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Director: Arthur Rankin Jr. & Jules Bass
Voice Cast: Mickey Rooney, Keenan Wynn, Paul Frees, Joan Gardner, Robie Lester, Fred Astaire
Special Features:
- The Animagic World of Rankin/Bass (47 min)
- Commentary with Animation Historian Greg Ehrbar
The six-disc UHD/BD set arrives in a an oversized black, flipper-tray keepcase housing the six disc, this comes in an embossed slipcase. Inside there's a single redemption code to redeem all three films in digital UHD copy of the films minus any extras.
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD (1962)
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital
Label: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region Free (UHD), A (BD)
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 129 Minutes
Video: HDR10 2160p UHD Widescreen 1.85:1 Widescreen, 10809p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DTS Digital Surround 2.0 Mono, Castilian Spanish, Czech, French European, German, Italian, and Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Robert Mulligan
Cast: Gregory Peck, Robert Duvall, Mary Badham, Phillip Alford, John Megna, Ruth White, Paul Fix, Brock Peters, Frank Overton, Rosemary Murphy, Collin Wilcox
Author Harper Lee's literary classic To Kill A Mockingbird became a cinematic masterpiece directed by Robert Mulligan and starring screen-legend Gregory Peck (Spellbound) portraying Southern lawyer Atticus Finch as he defends a black man (Brock Peters, Alligator II: The Mutation) accused of raping a white woman. Told through the eyes of ten-year old Scout (Mary Badham, Let's Kill Uncle) and she attempts to understand the seemingly complex lives of the adults around her. A poignant slice-of-life tale that is captured set in the racists rural south of the 30's. The classic film is given a gorgeous UHD release from Universal with a fine layer of film grain and a HDR10 color-grading that deepened blacks and offers a more nuanced and layered grayscale, looking nicely refined and organic throughout, fine detail like clothing textures, facial hair and beads of sweats pouring down faces look fantastic in close-ups. I have never owned this on home video before and I found the extensive set of extras to be fascinating, including a brand new 25-min To Kill A Mockingbird, and a boat-load of archival extras. The only extra found on the UHD is the new featurette, with all others extras found on the accompanying Blu-ray, which looks to be recycle of the 2012 Blu-ray edition.
Special Features:
- NEW! To Kill A Mockingbird - All Points of View – Delve deep into the impact and legacy of To Kill a Mockingbird in this new documentary as film historians, scholars, and Gregory Peck’s grandson, Christopher Peck, reflect on the message of hope, courage and integrity that are still relevant 60 years after the film was released. (25 min)
- Fearful Symmetry - A feature-length documentary on the making of To Kill a Mockingbird with cast and crew interviews and a visit to author Harper Lee's home town. (90 min)
- A Conversation with Gregory Peck - An intimate feature-length documentary on one of the most beloved actors in film history with interviews, film clips, home movies and more. (98 min)+
- Academy Award Best Actor Acceptance Speech - Gregory Peck gives a speech at the Academy Awards after winning for his performance as Atticus Finch. (90 sec)+
- American Film Institute Life Achievement Speech - Gregory Peck’s speech after receiving (10 min)+
- Excerpt from "Tribute To Gregory Peck" - Cecilia Peck's heartwarming farewell to her father given at the Academy in celebration of his life. (10 min)+
- Scout Remembers - Actress Mary Badham talks about her time acting alongside Gregory Peck. (12 min)+
- Feature Audio Commentary with Director Robert Mulligan and Producer Alan Pakula+
- Original Theatrical Trailer (3 min)+
- 100 Years of Universal: Restoring the Classics - Join in on the in-depth look at the film restoration process. (9 min)+
- Digital UHD Copy of the Film
- Embossed Slipcover
+ Extra Exclusive To Blu-ray
Label: Warner Brothers Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), A (BD)
Rating: Rated R
Duration: 79 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p UHD Widescreen
Directors: Dave Willis & Matt Maiellaro
Voice Cast: Carey Means, Dana Snyder, Dave Willis, Peter Serafinowicz, Paul Walter Hauser, Natasha Rothwell, Robert Smigel, Tim Robinson
The all-new original movie Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm (2022) beings back Adult Swim's Aqua Teens for a new random-humored adventure. The team have apparently split-up, and now moody Master Shake (Dana Snyder) is living on the streets, meanwhile Meatwad (Dave Willis) is employed by an animal shelter - using his meaty shapeshifting meatwad-bod to lure in homeless canines - . and Frylock (Carey Means) is working for mega-conglomerate Amazin - whose big-boss Neil (Peter Serafinowicz) is hatching a worldwide workforce-erasing scheme. So the team get back together to thwart their common corporate enemy. I still have not poured my way through the massive 20-disc Aqua Teen Hunger Force: The Baffler Meal Complete Collection DVD set - I had to take a break because I was getting a bit burned out, but still a fan of the series, but it does work best in bite-size increments, which is sort of how I watched this film, and it was like the series, weird, random and often quite funny. I still don't love it the way I love something like Rick & Morty but I do like it, and if you're a fan of the series or the theatrical film you're likely to love this. The 4K UHD offers no Dolby Vision/HDR, but flat 2-D animation looks solid in 2160P UHD. The only extra on the UHD is the audio commentary, all other extras are on the Blu-ray, including an option to watch the Animatic with Full Textbot Script version of the film, 22-deleted scenes that last just 4-minutes, a behind-the0scene featurette and music video.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Dave Willis, Carey Means, and Dana Snyder and others
- Animatic with Full Textbot Script (80 min)+
- Aqua Teen Is Back (7 min)+
- 22 Deleted Scenes (4 min)+
- El Walko in SloMotiono (3 min)+
- Collectible Fold-Out Poster
- Digital Copy
- Slipcase
+ Extras Exclusive to Blu-ray
Label: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), A (BD)
Rating: PG
Duration: 115 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-X, DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p UHD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymoore, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, C. Thomas Howell, Robert MacNaughton
Before I was a jaded horror-fan and my tastes drifted more toward extreme extra-terrestrial encounters along the lines of Alien, Xtro, and The Thing I was just a kid who loved movies, and when I was about nine I saw both Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial at the drive-in with my family - both films deeply thrilled me and opened up my mind to the wonderous possibilities of alien life visiting us here on Earth. Not the kind that would exterminate us ID4-style either, but the kind that would inspire you to look up into the stars and imagine the possibilities out there. Beautifully directed by Spielberg, whose fantasized version of life in the suburbs mixed well with the wonderment of a friendly alien befriending a sweet kid. I'm pretty sure this is one of the first films I ever openly cried watching, with this film being immeasurably assisted in the emotional string-pulling department by an iconic score from John Williams, it's just a truly magical film with a timeless quality about that will never fade as far as I am concerned. To celebrate it's 40th anniversary Universal have a new UHD edition, which to my eyes looks quite similar to the already excellent 35th anniversary, with the same set of extras, but with two new additions - we get the new 20-min 40 Years of E.T. The Extras-Terrestrial - a retrospective of the film and legacy, plus the 27-min TCM Classic Film Festival: An Evening with Steven Spielberg - with the director reflects on his career and the making of E.T. (and other films). These are both great and IMO worth the double-dip, though I am hanging onto my 35th Anniversary edition because of the lenticular slipbox, booklet, and CD soundtrack.
Special Features:
- NEW! 40 Years of E.T. The Extras-Terrestrial - An all-new retrospective of the film and its lasting legacy. (20 min)
- NEW! TCM Classic Film Festival: An Evening with Steven Spielberg - The acclaimed director reflects on his career and the making of E.T. 40 years later. (27 min)
- The E.T. Journals - Retrace the day-to-day experience of creating E.T. from never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes footage shot by Academy Award-winning cinematographer John Toll. (54 min)
- Deleted Scenes (4 min)
- Steven Spielberg & E.T. - Watch an interview with Steven Spielberg, as he reflects back on the film and discusses his experience working with the actors, as well as his overall and current perspective on E.T. (13 min)
- A Look Back - A special insider’s look into the making of E.T. featuring interviews with Steven Spielberg, the
cast, and others intimately involved with the film. (38 min)
- The Evolution and Creation of E.T. (50 min)
- The E.T. Reunion - The cast and filmmaker reunite to discuss their thoughts on the impact of the film. (18 min)
- The Music of E.T.: A Discussion with John WIlliams - Interviews and footage focused on the long-standing relationship between John Williams and Steven Spielberg. (10 min)
- The 20th Anniversary Premiere - Composer John Williams played the score of E.T. live at the Shrine Auditorium for the re-release premiere of E.T. This featurette gives us a behind the scenes look at this presentation. (18 min)
- Extensive Designs, Photographs, and Marketing Galleries
- Theatrical Trailer (2 min)
- Special Olympics TV Spot (1 min)
- Digital UHD Copy of the Film
- Embossed Slipcover
80th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free (UHD), A (BD)
Rating: PG
Duration: 101 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 2160p UHD Widescreen (1.85:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Michael Curtiz
Cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre, Dooley Wilson
High on the list of my movie watching cinema-sins was that I'd never seen Casablanca, a film heralded as one of the finest examples of American cinema for literally my whole life, but somehow I just never had it land right in front of me. That all changed today with a viewing of Warner Bros. gorgeous 80th Anniversary Edition 4K Ultra HD - featuring a brand new 2022 4K 16bit scan of the best-surviving nitrate film elements that were then extensively restored and afforded an HDR10 color-grading. Wow, what a wat to watch it for the first time! It certainly lived up to the hype, a terrifically shadowy and noir-lensed flick that masterfully combines mystery, intrigue and romance starring Humphrey Bogart (Key Largo) as American ex-pat Rick Blaine who is living in the Vichy-controlled French port city of Casablanca at the height of World War II. It's here that he runs a little gin-joint, his non-political views curry him favor from the French authorities, represented by Captain Louis Renault (Claude Rains, The Invisible Man). The waters get muddied when Rick's former flame Ilsa (Ingrid Bergman, Notorious) arrives with her French resistance leader husband Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid, Exorcist II: The Heretic) in tow, looking for a passport out of the country to evade the Nazi's who hot after Laszlo, who has escaped from them twice previously, now vigorously pursued by Nazi Major Heinrich Strasser (Conrad Veidt, The Man Who Laughs). Also figuring into the equation is a thief (Peter Lorre, The Comedy of Terrors) and a rival club owner (Sydney Greenstreet, The Maltese Falcon). The film is absolutely gorgeous in 4K Ultra HD with deep blacks, terrific looking grayscale and while there is some hiss audible in the mix the uncompressed English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono is still mighty impressive. Glad to finally have erased this cinema-sin from my ledger, now I have to get to watching Citizen Kane, finally.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary by Roger Ebert
- Audio Commentary by Rudy Behlmer
- Introduction by Lauren Bacall (2 min)
- Warner Night at the Movies: Now, Voyager Trailer,
- Newsreel, Vaudeville Days (1942 WB short), The Bird Came C.O.D. (1942 WB cartoon), The Squawkin’ Hawk (1942 WB cartoon), The Dover Boys at Pimento University (1942 WB cartoon) (51 min)+
- Great Performances: Bacall on Bogart (1988 PBS special) (83 min)+
- Michael Curtiz: The Greatest Director You’ve Never Heard Of (37 min)+
- Casablanca: An Unlikely Classic (35 min)+
- You Must Remember This: A Tribute to Casablanca (1992 TEC documentary) (35 min)+
- As Time Goes By: The Children Remember (7 min)+
- Deleted Scenes (2 min)+
- Outtakes (6 min)+
- Who Holds Tomorrow? (1955 “Casablanca” TV episode) (18 min)+
- Carrotblanca (1955 WB Cartoon) (8 min)+
- Scoring Stage Sessions (audio only)+
- Lady Esther Screen Guild Theater Radio Broadcast – 4/26/43 (audio only) (22 min)+
- Vox Pop Radio Broadcast – 11/19/47 (audio only) (60 min)+
- Trailers (5 min)+
- Digital UHD Copy of the Film
- Slipcover
+ Extra Exclusive To Blu-ray
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