THE POOP SCOOP: Monsters & Mayhem Edition

🐵GODZILLA X KONG: THE NEW EMPIRE on Digital May 14, and 4K, Blu-ray & DVD June 11 from Warner Bros. Discovery.

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal undiscovered threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence – and our own.  The epic new film delves further into the histories of these Titans, their origins, and the mysteries of Skull Island and beyond, while uncovering the mythic battle that helped forge these extraordinary beings and tied them to humanity forever. Additionally, a 5-film collection celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Monsterverse will be available on 4K UHD disc this summer.  The 6-disc collector’s edition will include Godzilla (2014), Kong: Skull Island (2017), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019), Godzilla vs. Kong (2021) and Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire (2024), along with a disc of special features including the new “Directors of the Monsterverse” featurette with Monsterverse directors Gareth Edwards, Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Michael Doughtery and Adam Wingard.

 

😺ANGEL HAS FALLEN Coming to 4K + Blu-ray SteelBook July 2 from Lionsgate.

Morgan Freeman and Gerard Butler star in the political action-thriller Angel Has Fallen, arriving on SteelBook July 2 from Lionsgate. The third installment of the Has Fallen film series following Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen, the film follows a Secret Service agent as he races against time to clear his name after being framed for an assassination attempt on the President of the United States (Freeman). Angel Has Fallen will only be available at Walmart on 4K + Blu-ray SteelBook. When there is an assassination attempt on U.S. President Allan Trumbull (Morgan Freeman), his trusted confidant, Secret Service Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler), is wrongfully accused and taken into custody. After escaping from capture, he becomes a man on the run and must evade his own agency and outsmart the FBI in order to find the real threat to the president. Desperate to uncover the truth, Banning turns to unlikely allies to help clear his name, keep his family from harm, and save the country from imminent danger. 

😺ESCAPE PLAN Trilogy Coming to Blu-ray + DVD SteelBook July 2 from Lionsgate.

The Escape Plan franchise stars Oscar nominee Sylvester Stallone as Ray Breslin, one of the world’s foremost security analysts who helps design the most protected and fortified prisons – and finds their security flaws by breaking out of them.  With a supporting cast that includes Dave Bautista, Jim Caviezel, Vincent D’Onofrio, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, and action icon Arnold Schwarzenegger, these high-octane action-thrillers are full of explosive fights, high-tech intrigue, and edge-of-your-seat escapes. Follow Ray Breslin, an expert at infiltrating and breaking out of prisons, when the Escape Plan Triple Feature surrenders exclusively at Walmart on Blu-ray + DVD + Digital SteelBook.

😺Cult Classic, THE GUYVER starring Mark Hamill Arriving on 4K, Blu-ray & DVD on June 25 from Unearth Films.

On June 25th, Unearthed Films brings the Sci-Fi/Fantasy classic The Guyver, starring Mark Hamill, to Limited Collector’s Edition 4K UHD and Collector’s Edition Blu-ray for the first time. Each edition features a new 4K restoration packed with bonus materials. When college student Sean Barker (Jack Armstrong) finds the Guyver, an alien device that transforms him into a cyborg fighting machine, he inadvertently makes himself a target of the evil Chronos Corporation, who will stop at nothing to get the Guvyer back, including kidnapping Sean’s girlfriend Mizuki (Vivian Wu). Sean’s only hope is a mysterious CIA agent named Max Reed (Mark Hamill). Together they fight to save Mizuki, keep the Guyver out of Chronos’ hands and stop their ultimate goal of world domination. Directed by Screaming Mad George (Freaked) and Steve Wang (Drive) and produced by Brian Yuzna (Re-Animator, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids) The Guyver is an epic superhero action adventure that you won’t soon forget. The 4K UHD + Blu-ray + CD Soundtrack Limited Collector’s Edition includes new commentary with co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, a new interview with producer Brian Yuzna and co-director Screaming Mad George, outtakes with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, a new gag reel, a new production and artwork gallery, an alternate title sequence, trailers, and The Guyver soundtrack, composed by Matthew Morse.

HARDWARE WARS: One of the First Star Wars Parodies

HARDWARE WARS (Blu-ray)

1978 / 13 min

FROM MVD VISUAL

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😼

This might be the most comprehensive Blu-ray dedicated to a 15 minute movie since Flicker Alley’s A Trip to the Moon. If only it included just a tad bit more.

For those unaware, Hardware Wars made its rounds on the festival circuit in the late ‘70s-early ‘80s. As the first notable Star Wars parody, this short film developed a considerable cult following over the years. Presented as an extended trailer, most of the humor stems from the use of household appliances in place of spaceships, weapons and robots, with deliberately cheap production values and special effects (decades before everyone started doing it on YouTube).

Whether or not any of it is actually funny is obviously subjective, so I won’t go there. What I will say, however, is that this Blu-ray serves two useful purposes. First, it offers both the original and remastered versions of the film. The original is preceded by a disclaimer stating that due to “the poor handling of the camera during the editing process,” the damage done to the original print has been preserved. If nothing else, you get the movie exactly as it looked in 1978…in all its 16mm glory.

Still better than The Phantom Menace.

Second, the disc pretty much collects Ernie Fosselius’ entire filmography as a director, with Porklips Now and Plan 9.1 from Outer Space included as bonus features. Porklips is arguably Fosselius’ funniest film and a more clever parody of its subject (Apocalypse Now) than Hardware Wars. 

Being the stuff of (semi) legend, one might think a little more substantial supplemental material would be fitting. The included batch of goofy bonus features is fine, but certainly a little more behind-the-scenes history would’ve made it indispensable. Still, this Blu-ray contains a ton of other stuff fans should enjoy and is nicely packaged, including a slipcover resembling artwork from the old clamshell VHS box, when it was released by Warner Brothers as Hardware Wars and Other Film Farces. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

2012 REMASTERED VERSION

“DIRECTOR’S CUT” - Shorter, equally irreverent and includes a few outtakes. Cameo by a kitty!

“FOREIGN” VERSION - It’s a joke, of course.

HARDWARE WARS SAVES CHRISTMAS 

HARDWARE WARS PREQUEL - This is actually a parody of Antiques Roadshow…and pretty funny.

PORKLIPS NOW - Ernie Fosselius’ lesser-known - but much funnier - parody of Apocalypse Now.

PLAN 9.1 FROM OUTER SPACE - Another parody…with puppets.

1978 CREATURE FEATURES INTERVIEW - Off-the-wall interview by director Enrne Fosselius.

AWARDS REEL

AUDIO COMMENTARY - An amusing commentary by Ernie Fosselius.

MINI POSTER

Revisiting THE CROW in 4K (SteelBook)

THE CROW - 30th Anniversary Edition (4K UHD SteelBook)

1994 / 102 min

FROM PARAMOUNT

Review by Pepper the Poopy😺

Paramount has been putting out some of the cooler SteelBooks lately, with creative packaging and vivid new artwork. Recent examples include the elaborately designed releases of Event Horizon, Cloverfield and Halloween H2O (which was far more impressive than the movie itself).

You can add the 30th Anniversary 4K SteelBook of The Crow to that list. Like those others, the slipcase is part of the artwork…the transparent silhouette of a crow revealing Eric Draven (Brandon Lee) in full goth garb and a guitar hanging off his shoulder. On the back of the SteelBook itself is the film’s most iconic promotional image. 

Those looking to upgrade will also like the transfer, with an overall 4K picture that nicely preserves the film’s bleak aesthetic, particularly the black levels. There was always something inherently appealing about The Crow’s (deliberate?) artifice, such as the numerous POV “flyovers” of a run-down city that’s obviously an elaborate model. The intricate details of the set design really stand out here. The DTS-HD Master Audio track is excellent as well.

When Mimes Attack.

Considering many 4K releases simply throw in previously released bonus content, longtime Crow fans might appreciate the inclusion of two new features, especially a three-part look at the film’s unique production design. The other feature is fairly superfluous…a 13 minute piece about Sideshow Collectibles’ new Eric Draven figurine. 

As for the movie itself…The Crow remains a darkly entertaining piece of comic book action, though certainly a product of its time. And at the risk of raising a few hackles among its fans, the knowledge that Brandon Lee was tragically killed on-set (just as his career was taking off) is arguably the main reason the film resonates emotionally…even 30 years later. Setting that context aside - if possible - The Crow has always been more style than substance, with a familiar revenge story and colorful-but-perfunctory characters. Even Draven is painted in broad strokes.

Still, The Crow boasts great action sequences, loads of indelible imagery and an antihero that has since become somewhat iconic (enough that purists are already crying foul at the upcoming remake). The movie itself doesn’t quite live up to its legend, but its sizable cult following will undoubtedly love this 4K upgrade.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NEW FEATURES - Shadows & Pain: Designing The Crow is a three-part retrospective featuring production designer Alex McDowell; Sideshow Collectibles has host Paul Hernandez and producer Edward R. Pressman discussing the new Eric Draven figurine.

FEATURETTES - Behind the Scenes; A Profile on James O’Barr (O’Barr created the original comic).

2 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By director Alex Proyas; 2) By producer Jeff Most & co-screenwriter John Shirley.

EXTENDED SCENES

DELETED SCENES MONTAGE

TRAILER

DIGITAL COPY

THE MASK OF FU MANCHU: Starring Danny Trejo's Doppelganger

THE MASK OF FU MANCHU (Blu-ray)

1932 / 69 min

FROM WARNER ARCHIVE COLLECTION

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😼

Man, it seems like Danny Trejo has done it all…escaped a life of crime, mentored others to avoid the same fate, all while parlaying his tough guy image into a prolific movie career. He’s also appeared in video games, was a contestant on The Masked Singer and wrote a memoir that became a bestseller. 

Now we can add time travel to the man’s list of accomplishments, transporting himself all the way back to 1932 to play the evil Dr. Fu Manchu in…

…what? That’s Boris Karloff? I coulda sworn it was Danny Trejo.

At any rate, Karloff is unrecognizable under all that make-up, playing the titular villain in The Mask of Fu Manchu. He’s not the only white actor being passed-off as Asian, either. None other than Myrna Loy shows up as Fu Manchu’s temptress daughter. But hey…the film was made during different times, so let’s not hold that against it. But it also means we’ll need to overlook the frequent use of words like ‘Chinaman’ and one character admonishing Fu Manchu as a ‘hideous yellow monster.’

When the meds kick in.

Viewed in the context of when it was made, the film offers some goofy fun, featuring such pre-Code shenanigans as Loy appearing to be aroused by the whipping of another man. Elsewhere, there’s a scene where a character is lowered into an alligator pit, and it sure as hell looks like the actor is stepping & stumbling among real gators. And it’s hard to completely dismiss any movie climaxing with a death ray that kills hundreds of extras.

The basic plot is remarkably similar to that of Raiders of the Lost Ark, with Dr. Fu Manchu is trying to find an ancient sword & mask belonging to Genghis Khan, which will give him power to destroy the white race. Hoping to grab it first are British Secret Service agents led by Nayland Smith (Lewis Stone). Tagging along is Sheila Barton (Karen Morley), the daughter of an agent who’s been kidnapped and tortured by Fu Manchu (rather sadistically, I might add). While obviously no Raiders, there’s plenty of action and death along the way.

Certainly a product of its time, The Mask of Fu Manchu is an interesting little curio…a pre-Code relic made back when caricaturing an entire group of people was a-okay. Though probably never mistaken for a great movie, it’s still kinda fun - sometimes at its own expense - with Karloff having a high ol’ time as Danny Trejo’s doppelganger. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

2 WB CARTOON SHORTS - “Freddy the Freshman” and “The Queen Was in the Parlor.”

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By historian Greg Mark.

NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN: More Cop Corruption from Sidney Lumet

NIGHT FALLS ON MANHATTAN (Blu-ray)

1996 / 112 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Mr. Paws😺

Late in his legendary career, Sidney Lumet revisited his favorite subject (corrupt cops) one more time, writing and directing Night Falls on Manhattan. While not quite as compelling as Serpico, the woefully underappreciated Prince of the City or Q&A, the film is a nice capper to what could be considered his Corruption Quadrilogy (which would make a pretty cool boxed set, if you asked me).

The protagonist in this one is idealistic young lawyer Sean Casey (Andy Garcia), who wins a high-profile case that puts cop-killing druglord Jordan Washington behind bars. Though the case is essentially a slam dunk, the victory boosts his career enough to be elected New York’s District Attorney. Afterwards, the defense lawyer Sean faced in the case, Sam Vigoda (Richard Dreyfuss) reveals to him the real reason he chose to defend Washington in the first place…to attack corruption in three different police precincts, where he suspects dirty cops were on Washington’s payroll.  

Sean’s professional ethics are put to the test when he suspects his own Dad (Ian Holm), a career cop who was shot trying to nail Washington, might have lied on the stand during the trial, thus denying him due process. However, since the results of the trial put-away an irredeemable, cold-blooded murderer, does Sean still uphold the law regardless, even if it might destroy his own father? It raises an interesting quandary.

Sean coaxes a guilty plea with sheer will.

The narrative is essentially divided into two halves. The first is the incident with the clash between Washington and the police, followed by the trial. The second involves Sean’s investigation and the unexpected gray areas regarding the law, along with an inconsequential romantic subplot between he and one of Vigoda’s attorneys, Peggy (Lena Olin). The first half is grittier and more focused (and features the only real action), while the rest is a little more meandering, with a comparatively anti-climactic final act. Still, I can’t imagine anyone actually being disappointed with the denouement.

As usual for Lumet’s films, the performances are generally excellent, Garcia arguably giving one of his career best. Holm is also affecting as Sean’s dad, while Dreyfuss, though a little underused, makes the most of the few scenes in which he appears. Though it doesn’t rank among the director’s classics, Night Falls in Manhattan is a solid late-career effort that revisits one of his favorite themes.

For its Blu-ray debut, the film has been given a nice 2K remaster and comes with two audio options. But somewhat surprisingly (for Arrow Video, anyway), there are no new bonus features. All the supplemental material, while interesting, is over twenty years old (most presumably from DVD releases).

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

THE DIRECTORS - From 2002, this hour-long episode from the series chronicles director Sidney Lumet's long career up to that point, featuring interviews with Lumet and many actors he worked with over the years. Great stuff.

INTERVIEWS - Made during production, this is a series of short on-set interviews with director Sidney Lumet and actors Andy Garcia, Richard Dreyfuss, Lena Olin, Ian Holm & Ron Leibman.

MAKING-OF FEATURETTE

2 AUDIO COMMENTARIES - 1) By director Sidney Lumet; 2) By actors Andy Garcia & Ron Leibmen, producers Josh Kramer & Thom Mount.

SUPPLEMENTAL BOOKLET, REVERSIBLE COVER & POSTER (not reviewed).

THE POOP SCOOP: Boats, Books & the Best Movie of the Year (so far)

THE BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR (so far) IS COMING TO 4K AND BLU-RAY ON JULY 9 FROM LIONSGATE.

 

🕮AMERICAN FICTION Arrives on Blu-ray June 18 from Warner Bros. Discovery.

The critically acclaimed, Oscar nominated American Fiction, from Amazon MGM Studios’ Orion Pictures, will be available for purchase on Blu-ray on June 18. American Fiction is Cord Jefferson's hilarious directorial debut, which confronts our culture’s obsession with reducing people to outrageous stereotypes. Jeffrey Wright stars as Monk, a frustrated novelist who’s fed up with the establishment profiting from “Black” entertainment that relies on tired and offensive tropes. To prove his point, Monk uses a pen name to write an outlandish “Black” book of his own, a book that propels him to the heart of hypocrisy and the madness he claims to disdain. Also written by Academy Award winner Jefferson (TV’s “Watchmen”), the film is produced by Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios., Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson. American Fiction was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Jeffrey Wright), Best Supporting Actor, Best Score and winning for Best Adapted Screenplay.

 

📺ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY Celebrates 20th Anniversary With 4K Ultra HD Release July 2nd from Paramount.

It’s kind of a big deal. ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY marked the feature directorial debut of Adam McKay and was written by McKay and Will Ferrell, who stars as the titular, mustachioed hero.  The film features a veritable pantheon of comedic talent, including Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, and Fred Willard, along with a cavalcade of cameos. Endlessly quotable and enduringly hilarious, ANCHORMAN: THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY is widely considered to be one of the greatest comedies of all time. The 20th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray set includes the remastered theatrical version of the film in sparkling 4K Ultra HD, plus two Blu-ray Discs with more than two hours of legacy bonus content, including cast auditions, deleted scenes, bloopers, an “Afternoon Delight” music video, and much, much more.  In addition, fans can enjoy both the theatrical and extended cuts of the film on Blu-ray, as well as WAKE UP, RON BURGUNDY: THE LOST MOVIE, a 92-minute film featuring outtakes and unused storylines from the original movie.

🛥THE BOYS IN THE BOAT Arrives on Blu-ray and June 25 from Warner Bros Discovery.

The Boys in the Boat is a sports drama based on the #1 New York Times bestselling non-fiction book written by Daniel James Brown. The film, directed by George Clooney, is about the 1936 University of Washington rowing team that competed for gold at the Summer Olympics in Berlin. This inspirational true story follows a group of underdogs at the height of the Great Depression as they are thrust into the spotlight and take on elite rivals from around the world. This inspirational true story from Amazon MGM Studios will be available for purchase on Blu-ray on June 25. The Boys in the Boat stars Joel Edgerton (“Loving”), Callum Turner (The “Fantastic Beasts” films), Peter Guinness (“Sleepy Hollow”), Jack Mulhern (TV’s “Mare of Easttown”), James Wolk (TV’s “Mad Men”), Hadley Robinson (“Anyone But You”), and Courtney Henggeler (TV’s “Cobra Kai”).