THE EPITAPH VOL. 69 - GIANT-SIZED TV AND KIDDIE STUFF, TOO EDITION!
RICK AND MORTY: THE COMPLETE SEASONS 1-6 (2013-2022) - PENNYWORTH - THE COMPLETE SERIES (2019-2022) - THE FLASH: THE NINTH AND FINAL SEASON (2014-2023) - SUCCESSION - THE COMPLETE SERIES (2018-2023) - HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA 4 MOVIE COLLECTION (2012-2022) - SCOOBY-DOO! AND KRYPTO, TOO! (2023)
RICK AND MORTY: THE COMPLETE SEASONS 1-6 (2013-2022)
6-Disc Blu-ray Set
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 1342 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA, Dolby TrueHD 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen
Cast: Justin Roiland, Chris Parnell, Spencer Grammer, Sarah Chalke
Get Schwifty, with Rick and Morty the animated series features an alcoholic, maybe even sociopathic scientist named Rick, who uses his daughter's garage as laboratory, while embarking on adventures through time and space, dragging along his oftentimes reluctant grandson Morty along for the ride. It's a riotous, anarchic sort of show that delights in deconstructing genre tropes, skewering pop-culture, reveling in bad taste, fun visual gags and offering a general sense of anything goes. Season one and two were the best in my opinion, but I have been loving all five seasons and am currently in the process of re-watching the fifth season which continues the adventures of sociopathic genius scientist Rick and his grandson Morty on a series of apocalyptic adventures across the universe, wherein they wine and dine the king of Atlantic, go on an apocalyptic sex-filled planet hopping bar crawl, fight kaiju sized sperm-monsters, embark on a Voltron-esque battle, and in my favorite episode "Rickdependence Spray" we get a brain-melting clone saga that had me freaking out and questioning my own reality. Far and away my favorite toon series this anarchic bit of sci-fi mayhem never fails to please. Season six of Rick and Morty is pretty terrific, we have the usual cynical weirdness by way of some Beth on Space Beth lesbian love, a terrific horror episode that was actually quite creepy, potential incestual mother love, portal gun troubles, we meet super-villain Pissmaster, a technologically advanced species of dinosaurs arrives in Earth, and we learn why owning a real lightsaber is a really bad idea. The writing on this season is top-notch, they cram so much nerdgasm worthy content into each episode that it's at times whiplash inducing, but it holds up to repeat watches. All ten episodes look fantastic in HD, the extras are terrific, especially the Anatomy of Scene featurettes with the creators and writers of the show. If you're a fan this is must-own obviously, you need this sort of animated diversion in your life. All 61 episodes of seasons 1-6 arrives on 6-disc Blu-ray from WBHE, presenting each episode in 1080p HD widescreen (1.78:1) with uncompressed Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio. Additionally we get plenty of extras, this includes audio commentary on every episode, deleted scenes, “Inside the Episode” segments, loads of featurettes, animatic for every episode and tones more, including a digital HD copy of the series. The 6-disc set arrives in an oversized flipper keepcase with a slipcover, plus there's a large fold-out poster that comes with the set for a limited time. If you own the previous seasons then you already own everything that comes with this set aside from the limited edition poster - no need to double-dip unless you're an extreme completest. However, If you don't already own it I recommend this set collecting all six seasons thus far, you will burn through them in no time, they're hilarious and the dark humor is fantastic, and they're all re-watchable.
Get Schwifty, with Rick and Morty the animated series features an alcoholic, maybe even sociopathic scientist named Rick, who uses his daughter's garage as laboratory, while embarking on adventures through time and space, dragging along his oftentimes reluctant grandson Morty along for the ride. It's a riotous, anarchic sort of show that delights in deconstructing genre tropes, skewering pop-culture, reveling in bad taste, fun visual gags and offering a general sense of anything goes. Season one and two were the best in my opinion, but I have been loving all five seasons and am currently in the process of re-watching the fifth season which continues the adventures of sociopathic genius scientist Rick and his grandson Morty on a series of apocalyptic adventures across the universe, wherein they wine and dine the king of Atlantic, go on an apocalyptic sex-filled planet hopping bar crawl, fight kaiju sized sperm-monsters, embark on a Voltron-esque battle, and in my favorite episode "Rickdependence Spray" we get a brain-melting clone saga that had me freaking out and questioning my own reality. Far and away my favorite toon series this anarchic bit of sci-fi mayhem never fails to please. Season six of Rick and Morty is pretty terrific, we have the usual cynical weirdness by way of some Beth on Space Beth lesbian love, a terrific horror episode that was actually quite creepy, potential incestual mother love, portal gun troubles, we meet super-villain Pissmaster, a technologically advanced species of dinosaurs arrives in Earth, and we learn why owning a real lightsaber is a really bad idea. The writing on this season is top-notch, they cram so much nerdgasm worthy content into each episode that it's at times whiplash inducing, but it holds up to repeat watches. All ten episodes look fantastic in HD, the extras are terrific, especially the Anatomy of Scene featurettes with the creators and writers of the show. If you're a fan this is must-own obviously, you need this sort of animated diversion in your life. All 61 episodes of seasons 1-6 arrives on 6-disc Blu-ray from WBHE, presenting each episode in 1080p HD widescreen (1.78:1) with uncompressed Dolby TrueHD 5.1 audio. Additionally we get plenty of extras, this includes audio commentary on every episode, deleted scenes, “Inside the Episode” segments, loads of featurettes, animatic for every episode and tones more, including a digital HD copy of the series. The 6-disc set arrives in an oversized flipper keepcase with a slipcover, plus there's a large fold-out poster that comes with the set for a limited time. If you own the previous seasons then you already own everything that comes with this set aside from the limited edition poster - no need to double-dip unless you're an extreme completest. However, If you don't already own it I recommend this set collecting all six seasons thus far, you will burn through them in no time, they're hilarious and the dark humor is fantastic, and they're all re-watchable.
6-Disc Blu-ray Set
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: TV MA
Duration: 1484 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.00:1)
Cast: Jack Bannon, Ben Aldridge, Emma Paetz, Paloma Faith, Ryan Fletcher, Dorothy Atkinson, Simon Manyonda, Ramon Tikaram, Harriet Slater, Edward Hogg, Ian Puleston, Jessye Romeo, Hainsley Lloyd Bennett, Jason Flemyng
The DC origin series Pennyworth follows the early adventures of Bruce Wayne's loyal butler Alfred Pennyworth (Jack Bannon, The Imitation Game), during his early days in London, England. The young chap is former British SAS soldier in his 20s haunted by the horrors he encountered while serving the Queen, after his service he forms a security company in 1960s London, where he encounters a young billionaire named Thomas Wayne (Ben Aldridge, Fleabag), who's not yet become the doomed father of Bruce Wayne. This is a series that when it was announced I pretty much scoffed at the mere idea... Pennyworth, Batman's butler, who cares? Well, that was dismissive and I now find myself quite engrossed with this dark, violent re-imagining of Pennyworth's earlier years. Very much like the Gotham TV series this is an ensemble series with a pretty terrific cast of characters, waring factions both attempting to influence the government in one way or the other by way of the fascist Raven Society, and the CIA-affiliated No Name League, which is where Thomas Wayne and Bruce future mother Martha (Emma Paetz) come into play. It should be noted that this series is sort of an alternate-history version of London, which surprisingly ends up having connections to Alan Moore's V for Vendetta graphic novel! Surprisingly violent, quite stylishly shot, superbly acted, sharply written, and chock full of nasty little surprises, tragedy and intrigue that thus far have kept me rapt. I'm not quite halfway through the series yet but I am quite enjoying it, don't come into it expecting origin stories for Batman's rogues gallery, but what you will get are three solid seasons spy-thriller action, more so than I would have ever guessed at when this was announced, The first two seasons aired on Epix before moving to HBO Max for the third season, which was funnily and needlessly subtitles "Pennyworth - The Origins of Batman's Butler", before being cancelled, which is upsetting as it ends on a heck of a cliffhanger!
Special Features:
- Reintroducing Pennyworth
- Case File on Each Season 3 Episode
3-Disc Blu-ray Set
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 549 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Grant Gustin, Candice Patton, Danielle Panabaker, Danielle Nicolet, Kayla Compton, Brandon McKnight, Jon Cor
After defeating the Reverse Flash once and for all, the ninth season of The Flash brings the series to a close with the tying up of a bunch of long-running storylines and character arcs, and you know this was a planned closure tot he series from the start because there are so many cameos from past seasons, lots of fan-service and a chance to say goodbye to these characters that we have loved since 2014! i I have been onboard from the first season, Grant Gustin is my Scarlett Speedster of choice, and for the most part this nine season run has been pretty top-notch superhero TV, occasionally falling into melodrama pitfalls, and of course a never ending rogue's gallery of evil speedsters - and this season it another speedster - The Red Death. I was pretty happy with the wrap-up, and if you're a fan of the show you were probably spilling a few tears as we bid farewell to the show. Not a ton of extras but a solid half hour featurette spotlighting the comic characters run from the comics page to the screen, deleted scenes, and gag reel.
Special Features:
- The Flash: The Saga of the Scarlett Speedster (featurette)
- Deleted Scenes
- Gag Reel
12-Disc DVD Set
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 2340 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 with optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)
Cast: Hiam Abbass, Nicholas Braun, Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, Peter Friedman, Natalie Gold, Matthew Macfadyen, Alan Ruck, Sarah Snook, Jeremy Strong, Rob Yang, Dagmara Domińczyk, Arian Moayed, J. Smith-Cameron, Justine Lupe, David Rasche, Fisher Stevens, Alexander Skarsgård
All four seasons of HBO’s award-winning original series are brought together on Succession: The Complete Series, 12-disc DVD set... wait, what!?! Really WBHE, DVD for one of the mst critically acclaimed series in recent years,? C'mon now, why you gotta do us dirty like that!?! To be fair, I have not actually watched a single episode of the show yet, but I will get to it, but I only have so much time, I watch a LOT of movies. The show sounds cool, a dysfunctional media dynasty struggles with who will succeed their ageing patriarch, it sounds like something my wife would like more than I so I have it on tap to watch with her starting this next weekend. I am not a huge fan of these HBO Max shows which are available in HD (and sometimes 4K) via streaming services only getting antiquated SD collections on disc. What's with that, is it just a way to secure streaming viewership? Don't get me wrong, I am a fan that we are getting a physical media release of the shows, that's cool, but only offering them in inferior SD is a sure way to upset those of us supporting physicals media. Anyway, the 12-disc set arrives in one of those cheap high-capacity Epic Pak DVD cases with a slipcover.
Special Features:
- Inside the Episode Featurettes
- Character Recaps
- Cast and Crew Interviews
- An Invitation to the set with the Series' Storytellers
- Succession - Controlling the Narrative Episodes
- Who Said That?
- Roy Family Food Chain
- Scene Swap: Tom & Greg
4-Disc DVD & Digital Set
Label: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Rating: PG
Duration: 88 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1)
Directors: Derek Drymon, Jennifer Kluska
Cast: Andy Samberg, Selena Gomez, Kathryn Hahn, Jim Gaffigan, Steve Buscemi, Molly Shannon, David Spade, Keegan-Michael Key, Brian Hull, Fran Drescher
I don't have young children anymore, there all in their 20's and grown, but I do have grandchildren who are the perfect age for some monster-kid action. Much the same way that I got into horror through Scooby-Doo and Abbot & Costello meet the Monsters stuff I think the Hotel Transylvania is a fun way to introduce kids to a family friendly classic universal monsters with a twist! The flicks are about a monster family who run a hotel for monsters in Transylvania away from the prying eyes of the pitchfork and torch waving humans, with a voice cast featuring Adam Sandler, Selena Gomez, Andy Samberg, Kevin James, Steve Buscemi, Keegan-Michael Key, David Spade, Fran Drescher and Molly Shannon among others. The first three films are directed by animation titan Genndy Tartakovsky (Primal) with Derek Drymon & Jennifer Kluska capably taking over the fourth film. All four films are collected here in SD with a fun selection of extras including commentaries, deleted scenes, featurettes, music videos, a short film and quite a bit more. I wish they had offered a Blu-ray collection for this set as well, also not a fan that all four DVD are stacked up on a single spindle inside the DVD case.
Special Features:
- A Hotel Transylvania Mini-Movie: Monster Pets
- Monster Mash-Up: Making Hotel Transylvania: Transformania
- Selena vs. Andy: A Hotel Transyl-Trivia Quiz
“Love Is Not Hard to Find” by YEИDRY – Lyric Video
- Filmmaker Commentary
- Goodnight Mr. Foot – Short Film
- “Problem” Music Video by Becky G Featuring will.i.am
- “I’m In Love With A Monster” Music Video by Fifth Harmony
- Deleted Scenes, Behind the Scenes, Filmmaker Commentary and More!
Label: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Region Code: 1
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 78 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.78:1)
Director: Cecilia Aranovich Hamilton
Cast: Matthew Lillard, Kate Micucci, P.J. Byrne, Charles Halford, Nolan North, Tara Strong, Fred Tatasciore, James Arnold Taylor, Niccole Thurman, Grey Delisle,
Finally the team-up you've been waiting for, the mystery sleuthing Scooby gang and DC for the first time, sort of, I mean I clearly recall Batman & Robin appearing with Scoob many decades ago, but apparently this is the feature-film debut of the team-up. When the world's greatest heroes, DC’s Justice League mysteriously disappear terrifying phantom seems to have taken up residence in The Hall of Justice in Metropolis. Now it's up to Mystery Inc, joined by Kael-El's canine Krypto the Superdog to get to the bottom if it. With the JLA out of the way Lex Luthor has been busy trying to get the Hall of Justice declared an abandoned property so he can snag it during an auction - this guy is always about the real estate! Luthor is aided by his assistant Mercy Graves and his dog rex Luthor, 'natch. A fun cross-over that's super kid friendly and loaded-up with DC easter eggs that I thought were pretty enjoyable - I mean who doesn't want to see Scoob and Shaggy on the Cosmic Treadmill? Plus we have Scoob mistaking Solomon Grundy with their old foe The Creeper (an honest mistake), and Joker and Harley Quinn; Braniac, too, oh, and Velma has a secret past with Jimmy Olsen!
Special Features:
- The Scooby of a Thousand Faces!
- What a Night, for a Dark Knight!
- One Minute Mysteries!” Guest Starring The Flash
