Home Video Exclusives

[JohnIan101]

Target - August 21st, 2020


CDs

"Tim McGraw - Here On Earth" with 2 exclusive bonus tracks $12.99

"Pop Smokes - Shoot For The Stars, Aim For The Moon" with 2 exclusive bonus tracks $13.99 (available now)

[JohnIan101]

Target - August 23rd, 2020


CD

"Taylor Swift - Lore" exclusive bonus track $11.99 (available now)

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense


Another brand new entry!

This time out we get pesky tweens who should know better and get caught in a lethal predicament in "I Saw What You Did".



The motion picture opened on May 15th, 1965. Can't really tell you more, not even a budget. This was a B-movie. Sorry, further stats are unavailable to me. Can tell you - top billed star Joan Crawford got paid $50,000 for four days work.

The feature opened against "Decision At Midnight", "Young Dillinger" and "The Hill".

This had no insert nor slipcover.

- - -



This was a limited time exclusive release from Wal-Mart in early June 2017 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, sorry can't be more specific. It had a retail price of $7.96.

The later wide release happened on September 5th, 2017 for $9.99. It was a blind buy, glad I did. The movie still holds. It was later re-release as part of Universal's "Vault Series" collection, bare bone DVDs.

It was however released on Blu-Ray from Shout! Factory on May 17th, 2016 for $29.99 and carries over the extras from the 1999 DVD plus a gallery - new.

Should be noted that Wal-Mart gave no mention that this was a store exclusive, no sticker on the wrapping to indicate.



Above is the menu screen. As you can see... ZERO. Not even the trailer is present which sucks. A trailer should be a given - all basic, meat and potatoes releases should have it.

The DVD is an upgrade from the last one (more on in a moment). The film is now presented in anamorphic widescreen.

- - - - - - - - - -

Footnotes.

The movie is an adaptation of Ursula Curtiss' novel "Out Of The Dark"

The first DVD release came out on August 24th, 1999 for $24.95 from Anchor Bay. This came with an insert; one is is a reproduction of the poster (above) and the other is chapter listing, twenty of them.



There were many moans on the release. It had no real remastering for starters. It still has the projectionist's cues - every twenty minutes a black circle flashes on the upper right corner. It was there for projectionists to guide them when to change to the next reel of film. Plus the contrast was not balanced.

Text on the screen had a halo effect around credits. And the biggest offense, this was not in anamorphic widescreen. The movie is in letterbox. While true this was '99, but many titles had already shifted to the better viewing experience.

Add to that... what the hell? That has got to be one of the ugliest DVD covers I've seen in a long while. No genuine effort was made for the cover. Like a college drop out's collage attempt. Too lazy to hire a better draftmans. OR too cheap. As you might have guessed this title is out of print, no real crime.

The DVD came with William Castle's "Special World Premiere Announcement", the teaser - done like Castle was Alfred Hithcock. And its trailer. Castle being a king if not The King of B-movie gimmicks. This had two.

1) Some theaters had seat belts installed, so that you won't be 'shocked out of your seat'. *shakes head*

2) A cheap phone was installed in some theaters near the entrance where you would dial a number and get a message - "I saw what you did and I know who you are". But it backfired, phone companies were flooded with calls, jamming their systems around the country. Castle pulled the plug because of angry complaints.

- - -



There was a second attempt, a remake as it were. "I Saw What You Did ...And I Know Who You Are!" aired on CBS on May 20th, 1988, a two hour presentation.

It starred Tammy Lauren as Lisa Harris - revised Libby Mannering and Shawnee Smith as Kim Fielding - revised Kit Austin. The little sister, Julia Fielding revised Tess was played by Candace Cameron of "Full House" fame as D.J. Tanner (God, I hated that series). Our big bad here is Adrian Lancer (Robert Carradine) revised Steve Marak.

Here Mrs. Harris is played by Rosanna Huffman, she replaces the Amy Nelson character in the original film - Joan Crawford.

What we have is a murderer with a mental problem, snapped when is girlfriend (Jo Anderson) said "no" to his marriage proposal. He thinks there are two witnesses who are going to expose, teasing him. The movie ends with a twist... Kim gets a phone call of her own - Adrian's brother, Stephen (David Carradine) is seeking revenge for what she and her friend did, setting Adrian on fire killing him.

Spoilers? The film got overwhelmingly negative reviews. The TV movie nobody asked for. The audience DID like the synthwave score, but not much else. The telefilm was directed by Fred Walton best known as the director of another phone based horror flick, "When A Stranger Calls" (1979) also remade in 2006. I own that, the '06 feature, a solid thriller.

Here's an odd thing. I'm running into info that the TV movie was released on DVD Paramount Home Entertainment, but I can't find further info - like it didn't happen. But I'm seeing cover art that matches Paramount's early '00s DVDs. Quite odd.

- - - - - - - - - -

Rant.

Man, the old days before pre-caller ID. This really couldn't made today unless it was a period flick. It was a different time.



Above, left to right - Sarah Lane, Andi Garrett and Sharyl Locke with dog. Tweens pals, Kit and Libby are stuck in the Mannering's home; her parents are gone on an overnight trip - leaving Kit to babysit her younger sister, Tess. Because she lives out in the sticks, there's not much to do. Can't ride the horses in the stable, unsupervised.

Above; Kit discovers Tess was browsing their phone book, leaving behind peanut butter pages.

Out of sheer boredom they decided to make prank telephone calls for entertainment. This was a time when there were three channels on television, perhaps some minor others if their signal was strong enough - independent. The phone numbers were random. Giggling and laughing after "I saw what you did... and I know who you are!"

This becomes far more than innocent tomfoolery, one of the callers is to Steve Marak (John Ireland). He had discovered his wife (Joyce Meadows) is leaving him and is processing what to do. The girls call Steve and get his wife, she leave the phone on the table to get her husband who was in the shower. He snaps and murders her. Once done he finds the phone open. Because it took so long, Kit and Libby moved on, hung up.

Later they try again to reach Mr. Marak and get him - "I saw what you did... and I know who you are". Matters get worse when his neighbor, Amy Nelson hear the ruckus - it wasn't a neat kill, stabbed. The older woman comes over to see if he's all right. She has a long term crush on Steve and is happy to learn he had a fight with his wife and she left. Amy sees this as her opportunity to take Steve, competition departed. *wink*



Steve isn't some dumb plot device; using serious deduction, he pieces together where the phone call came from. And sees the girls inside an empty house, no parents. Nothing left to chance - he cuts the power and stalks the girls inside house. Using he same knife he killed his wife with.

It's up to their collected efforts to save themselves from the killer; trying to gain outside, adult help. What was so refreshing was watching kids behaving like kids. Not mini-adults, that's fine when done right, but a lot of it is lazy writing if not pretentious. And was cute to see Kit behaving like she was more worldly than Libby.

There's a lot more that happens, things left out. For a disposable thriller, this has legs; fifty-five years later and can still command attention. What happens next? If you haven't do check it out beyond nostalgia, it's a solid flick.

That's it folks. One of my shorter entries - and a title written in a few hours and posted on the same night. Pulled this one out of my a$$, so imporant to have good notes. I really dropped the ball, glad I had my image works done, ready to go. The only exception was the poster which I found a better picture and did a dash restoration job on it, nothing too difficult.

I must say, I'm quite happy with this post - come together nicely. Sway.

What happened to that announcement I made last post?

I'm still trying to gain info; I receive, but not a pressed DVD, a DVD-R. Was it always that way? I don't know, I'm not happy about it. Still trying to sort it. More than likely that will happen next month. The next PT will happen on September 10th, 2020. No clue what that might be. But I greatly suspect it will be brand new. See you then.

[JohnIan101]

Best Buy - September 1st, 2020


Beetlejuice
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $29.99

The Goonies
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $29.99

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Overcoming Your Dark Past Part II


May have noticed in that weekly ad - the box set for a largely forgotten 1960s ABC TV show, "Irwin Allen's Land Of The Giants". On release week for $169.99 - only gotten MORE expensive over the years, it's beyond my wallet.



I've known for decades, reading in Starlog mag and the episode guide magazine, "Epi-Log". But only until the Fall of 2019 did I see - on the retro channel, MeTV - airs on Sunday mornings at 3 am.

From left to right above...

Gary Conway as Captain Steve Burton, Deanna Lund as Valerie "Val" Ames Scott, Don Matheson as Mark Wilson, Kurt Kasznar as Commander Alexander B. Fitzhugh, Stefan Arngrim as Barry Lockridge (getting caught), Heather Young as stewardess Betty Hamilton and Don Marshall as co-pilot Dan Erickson.

Debuted on September 22nd, 1968 and took place in the future. It is June 16th, 1983. We are following the crew and passengers of Flight 612, suborbital shuttle from New York to London. The craft, Spindrift while on the red eye gets caught in a spacial anomaly, pulled in - barely make it through, crash landing in what appears to be a forrest.

To their horror this isn't Earth, but a parallel universe - an unnamed planet where humans are twelve times our size. And only as technologically advanced as we were in the 1960s. Worse yet, the nation they landed on isn't a republic - it's authoritarian.

Further worse - the giants know about us. Spindrift isn't the first Earth ship on this planet and they want our gang and ship; knowing we are far more advance than them. They are hunted by the S.I.D., Special Investigation Department, their version of the F.B.I.. The city bureau is run by Inspector Kobick (Kevin Hagen) who wants them badly.

Their tales - trying to repair the shuttle and get home; low fuel and various structural damage, a hard crash... into a huge park. They cover their ship with leaves and various debris, surviving in 'Giant' world; making allies and enemies. And discovering other Giant scientist who want them for their own scientific advancements.

Impressive. You see, pretty much all of the Irwin Allen shows devolved into campy kid programming - from "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea" (1964) to "Lost In Space" (1965) to "The Time Tunnel" (1966). This was different. This is my conjecture...



The show was made possible because Allen wanted it - another feather in his cap. At the time - was one of the most expensive shows on television at $250,000 an episode. So many huge props and sets. Sets built on platforms so the camera can be under it, looking up at the actors; the impression of size. At this moment, he was making the transition to big budget screen movies such as "The Poseidon Adventure" (1972). He wasn't available for day to day operations.

He hired show runners to do it for him and they didn't succumb to kid friendly pitfall. Didn't go for plot conveniences; while it did have various tropes it had in equal measures of smart moves by both our heroes and Giants. Actions have consequences and characters had growth. Which was a huge surprise too - didn't happen in '60s TV shows; each episode is self-contained, can be mixed up with any other season without continuity. Meaning you didn't need to watch previous shows to understand.

Plus our characters didn't gel from the start - it was earned. They were antagonistic, only working together since it's about survival. But it grew into a family.

Mark Wilson is the head of a tech company with business in aeronautics who was on his way to London to sign an acquisition contract. He's their tech expert. Mark was a jerk and demanded Capt. Burton to do his bidding as the riches person on board. They butted heads frequently, early on. But as episodes went by, got to respect him and gained humility.

Val was always told to say behind with Betty and Barry (with his dog, Chipper) - she got pi$$ed and later in season one - fought back. Not some dainty thing. She hissed at Burton and pushed forward, being proactive - helping our 'Little People'. After that point she was given equal footing with the boys. She went with them on their food hunts and on various activities. Valerie could be relied on and took to the danger with creativity and strength. Like when she saved Mark from getting crushed by massive gears - decapitating. She didn't give up, even when there was little hope of being saved. He was unconscious.

That's not to say that Betty didn't get involve, she was their nurse and joined in, when asked. Later she was Val's search buddy when not with the guys. Fitzhugh is a fraud, a thief on the run who made a hasty escape with a few millions stolen from a bank; donning the disguised of a military commander hoping to cover his tracks. He befriends Berry, the only one who doesn't think he's a charlatan. He was their Dr. Smith ("Lost In Space" reference), but wasn't over the top and found his footing among the gang. Even being proactive to save his friends.

Such an odd coincidence; "The Golden Cage" aired on December 29th, 1968. While searching for repair supplies, Mark finds a girl in a jar, sleeping on a bed; frees her and later talks to her. How did Marna (Celeste Yarnall) end up on this world? Her father was a pilot of a personal craft, their flight went missing years ago; a flight from Florida to Paris.

She's a young woman now, her father is... Charles Weyland.

Mark: At least to me, he was the most brilliant engineer who ever lived.

What!? Charles Weyland - as in the engineer who created the life like A.I.s? As the half of the name sake, Weyland-Yutani? The Company, big bad in the "Alien" movie franchise? This blew my mind when I saw the episode on March 1st, 2020 (took notes). Why hasn't anybody else notice this?

Raised by Giants who saw her value and kept her in case they would run into other Little People; they had reverse engineered the wreckage, both parents were killed in the crash. Mark tried to persuade her to join them, but she saw no reason to leave, everything she could ever want is provided by her keepers in her doll house - like a living Barbie. Marna was used as bait to capture other Earthlings; Mark is taken to the toy house and told he will never leave.

Our gang rescue him. She doesn't leave and asked the others to stay. The offer was declined. The young woman will never come, why would she? It ends with Mark depressed and somewhat broken. You can't save everyone.

It lasted two seasons, they never got home; could've ran for two more - a lot of possibilities. Season two had new tech added; one of which, used just once. Added a laser cutter to cut through walls and metal, used a lot. And motorized periscope; could extend to window height to see who was in a room and collapse into something that could be carried - was only used the first episode of season two. Would've liked to have seen them get a toy, an RC car that could've been modded to have controls to drive inside - running on a fuel cell from the ship. All their travels were done on foot, having wheels would have expanded their adventures.

All and all, fifty-one, hour long episodes. Had aliens and time travel too. At one point, Steve and Dan went back in time (on Earth) trying to prevent the Spindrift from taking off - stop them from ever landing on Giant world. The episode really showcases how much the characters had grown since the crash.

And great casting of Gary Conway, he had the air of authority, a good leader.



Their craft (full size prop) had the same manta ray design used for the submarine, the SeaView and it's flying sub shuttle in "Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea". Spindrift is a thing of beauty, too bad they didn't spend too much time showing the inside. There were a few episodes which showed they had converted the passenger area into sleeping quarter, make-shift hammocks. We know it has a galley. We see the cockpit, not much else. Can assume it had a shower and some kind of washing machine.

Heather Young was absent for several episodes in season two; no reason given - Betty isn't there nor mentioned. Young was pregnant at the time and could no longer hide her pregnancy; they did the tropes, hiding her stomach behind objects and other people. As well as giving her baggy clothes to conceal. She did come back and lost all her weight - like it never happened.

By the way, the visual effects - the composites were better in season one, they used blue screen for season two and it shows. The season one composites were nearly seamless, impressive for television. This and the theme music was done by future uber-composer, John Williams. Before doing the iconic music for "Jaws" (1975), "Superman" (1978), "Raiders Of The Lost Ark" (1981), the "Star Wars" and "Jurassic Park" movies plus "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" (1977) and a lot more. He was a television tunesmith first.

Anyhow, to be clear - "Spawn" was an adult series. NOT for kids, this was about terrible and violent bastards who were trying to manipulate a tainted soul to their sinister desires. How a fallen man must navigate his post life as an undead weapon. The '97 movie was watered down for a PG-13, made kid friendly. *shakes head* There was however an R rated cut released on home video, but by then the damage was done.

That's it folks. Hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane. Come back here on September 24th, 2020 for more. It will be a surprise for the both of us.

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Overcoming Your Dark Past Part I


[An earlier version of this PT was originally posted on July 24th, 2014 on JoBlo's "DVD, Blu-Ray & Home Theater Discussion" forum.]

Good or Evil, it's a choice we all have to make; what do we want to be? For Al Simmons his decision will effect the entire world in "Todd McFarlane's Spawn"...



"Todd McFarlane's Spawn: 10th Anniversary Signature Edition" was released on home video on July 24th, 2007.

It streeted against "The Crow: Stairway To Heaven - The Complete Series", "The Secrets Of Isis: The Complete Series", "Tales From The Crypt: The Complete Sixth Season" and "Cashback".

The release originally came in a steelbook case (above) holding four discs. Came with two inserts. 1) Card stock backing; side A is the DVD release info, side B is disc content. 2) Advertisement for MacFarlane Toys and Spawn dot com. The ad was inside the case.

There was no regular DVD case release.

- - -



One exclusive from Best Buy; twenty-six page mini-comic book; reproduction of issue one (origin story). The comic came shrink wrapped on the case's rear, under the card stock backing. The set sold for $27.99; eight copies per store.

No problem getting mine on street, but I do have an issue - I'll get into that in a few.

There was a pair of titles I wanted, got both, but was a chore. The other is the above mentioned "The Crow: Stairway To Heaven" (that brief period when TV Guide was in the DVD business). I was able to locate at Circuit City with assistance; had ONE copy (all discs were mint). Damn lucky to have mine.

- - - - - - - - - -

Footnotes.

Man, this is something I need to mention; not the only one - same complaint, echoed by many others...

The nubs!

Four nubs holding the discs inside the steelbook. Each is so tight - hard to remove the discs. If you're not taking care, will crack. Dead serious, they are lodged in. Few times in my DVD collecting have I ran into this woe - this title ranks number one. I've hurt my fingers trying to pry them out.

Before I forget, the series presented here is the uncut episodes. *nods*

My exposure was from videos; a friend of mine had cable and taped a few episodes off HBO. I liked what I saw and ended up buying the laser disc.



LD was released on September 2nd, 1997 from HBO Video for $49.98. I paid less from Ken Crane's Laser Disc (Long Beach, CA), an extinct shop. Two disc set (gatefold jacket; three sides all in CLV) is season one (uncut), compiled; came with a chromium art print. Extras included storyboards, the trailer for the live action "Spawn" (1997), interview with Todd MacFarlane and running commentary by MacFarlane.

Commentary did NOT carry over to the DVD and is exclusive to the dead format. I no longer have this LD. I sold mine years earlier. Kinda sorry I did now.

In the interview, MacFarlane talked about putting season two on laser disc as well, didn't happened.

- - - - - - - - - -

Tangent.

Lets talk about other animated shows, I need filler. *cough*

Man, this is something that has become largely forgotten - the web animated series, "WhirlGirl".



C'mon, how can this NOT be out on home video? I'm looking at you Showtime, release it already.

For newbies... the year is 2077, the location, Los Angeles.

Official synopsis...

Kia Cross, a twentysomething infodrone/girl-next-door, strives to find love and happiness in a future city under siege by a ruthless tech-tyrant. As head of the all-powerful ZoneWerks corporation, Ty Harden reigns supreme over the world's vast computer network - controlling all that is seen and heard, known and learned.

When Harden unleashes a devastating new weapon against the underground resistance group FreeVox, Kia's only hope of saving her friends and way of life is to confront the repressed memories of her notorious cyberpirate mom and don the identity of a whirling, pleather-clad superheroine.

This began as a web comic in early 1997. In July 1998 it became a Flash animated show. It was bought by Showtime and debuted in 1999. These weekly (Friday) webisodes were done in serial format (each ended with a cliffhanger) and ran for roughly five minutes long; some seventy-six webisodes (official number is fuzzy) were produced until 2001. This does not include over a hundred episode comics before Showtime. All of these shows could fit on a three disc DVD set with room to spare (including all the web comics, DVD-ROM) for some extras.



In 2000 there was suppose to be an action figure of Ms. Cross; released by ReSaurus toys - was to have been an exclusive to Spencer Gifts. But as far as I can tell, that never happened. Too bad, I would've liked one. Before you ask, do not know how much or how tall. It had limited action; three points of articulation.

WhirlGirl to me represents the internet generation and she's fighting for creativity and freedom in this new world.

- Creator, David B. Williams

An odd thing; you have this image in your mind of what the voice actor looks like; doing the research for the topic I got to see what Jen Sprague appears, the voice of Whirlgirl/Kia. Ahhhhhh... Pass.

Mo Mellady who voiced Erin Esurance looked as I expected, a bohemian kind of woman. I'm still bummed that Esurance dropped the character from their marketing. And that Erin didn't have a life of her own.



There were a series of popular TV commercials for Geico featuring Cavemen, "so easy, a caveman could do it" auto insurance in 2004. This promotion was so successful (twenty-one television ads) that it got its own TV show on ABC in 2007. WTF?

There is only so much you can do. The series lasted thirteen half hour episodes. *shakes head*



Erin should've gotten her own show. I'm guessing it would've cost far less to produce than the live action sitcom; keep it animated, same software - just flesh it out to 30 minutes. There was a large horizon of tales to tell. And besides, she already had a list of villains to play with. Man, that was such a missed opportunity.

She had style and class; understand she'll pay to dance.

- Ratt

We did get a taste of what it could be. Among the spots was an internet exclusive short, Miss Esurance on a mission at a villain convention in a castle. That was very sway.

The character was retired in June of 2010 for banal TV spots that continue to this day. She had her own Halloween costume (unauthorized) back in 2008. Five piece set; black catsuit, pink wig, hot pink belt, gloves and two hot pink accessories. $59.95. Boots and attitude not included.

And there were many cosplayers too with homemade homages for conventions and Halloween parties.

Unofficially - her ads were discontinued because corporate discovered how popular Erin was in the artist forum, DeviantArt - the artists there put Miss Esurance various adult and pornographic situations... so easy, even a caveman can do her.



There was a fan made action figure by a DeviantArt artist with the monicker "Advancesculptor" in 2009. Well more like a figurine, no action. There were a couple of other fan made figs, such as from SomaKun (also from DeviantArt). But Advancesculptor's work looks much better.

Discovery; Advancesculptor made available his creation as a model kit; ten inches tall made of resin in four parts. Still for sale for $50.00 plus shipping from Bad Faerie Productions. Would be nice to have, but I do not have the skills to build. Yeah, that's a bubble butt.

Anyhow, should be a DVD with all the TV ads (slightly over thirty during her three year run) and that short along with interviews with the people involved, single disc. Would totally buy that. Plus some bonus features, not many.



Gonna moan some more. Another bad idea was axing Carly Foulkes from T-Mobile's marketing, the unnamed girl dressed in pink. That campaign lasted from Fall 2010 to Spring 2013. She was still popular, what the hell?

The same reason for both firings; the company was rebranding themselves.

Whatever. It was a bad move. She was eye catching, sold her product well. Guys liked Foulkes and women wanted to be her - a win win.

[JohnIan101]

Best Buy - September 15th, 2020


Hocus Pocus
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $27.99

21/22 Jump Street: Two Movie Set
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $44.99

Goodfellas
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $22.99

Home Alone
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $27.99

A Nightmare On Elm Street (1984)
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DC combo $14.99

The Invisible Man (2020)
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $19.99

47 Roin
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD combo $19.99

It (2017)
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD $22.99

It (1990)
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DC combo $10.99

Dunkirk
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DVD combo $12.99

Friday The 13th (2009)
Exclusive steelbook; BD only $11.99

Hellboy
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $19.99

The Lego Movie 2
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DVD/DC combo $19.99

The Lego Ninjago Movie
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DVD/DC combo $18.99

Ocean's 8
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD combo $19.99

Rocketman
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/DC combo $27.99

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Years Older, But Still In The Game Part I


Another brand new entry! This outing we get a retired spy looking for some companionship in RED...



The motion picture opened on October 15th, 2010. It was made with a budget of $58,000,000 (estimated) and grossed over $90 million during its U.S. theatrical run; counting foreign receipts it made $196,439,693. The film opened number two at the box office, the following week it dropped to number three.

The feature opened against "Easy A", "The Social Network", "My Soul To Take" and "Jackass 3D".

All were issued embossed slipcovers. The BD/DVD combo came with an insert explaining one side is DVD and the other is Blu-Ray.

- - -



There was a single exclusive - from Best Buy, a mini comic book. This was only available in the Blu-ray/DVD combo. And streeted on January 25th, 2011 for $19.99.

There was a bonus item, but was available everywhere, not an exclusive; theater code voucher for "Drive Angry" (2011); expired on April 22nd, 2011. The details were on the reverse of the sticker on the slipcover.

Did not buy the combo with comic; I bought the DVD when it came out - wanna say Wal-Mart. The exclusive has been on my list for years. It wasn't until January 18th, 2020 that I finally found what I was looking for.



I made various attempts over the years, but couldn't find it or it was too expensive. I found a sweet price, the store exclusive for $4.64 with free shipping on eBay. Came with slipcover to scan and that comic which is now inside my DVD case.

The first thing you notice here is the price tag sticker (above), $34.99. Huh? I can only imagine this was a later re-priced combo. It does happen after the sale ends - back to regular price.

Don't have that much exposure to double side format discs. Double sided DVDs, sure.



The only double sided format disc I have is for "Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2" which is DVD and CD soundtrack (streeted on March 13th, 2001 for $26.98). Think I paid less than five dollars for it at Big Lots! years ago. Part of my collection. Wait...

Why did the combo come with an insert instruction? It's been years and years that folks have bought double sided discs; you look at the ring around the hub to see which is Side A and Side B, printed info. Here the sides are labeled what format it is. It's a no brainer, this should not exist. Just look at the disc.

The mini-comic is titled "Marvin"; story based on the feature is by John and Erich Hoeber. Script by Erich Hoeber. Art by Diego Olmos. It is thirty-two pages long. It takes place in New York in 1987. This is the tale that made Marvin Boggs go paranoid. He was a spy at the time; his mission was to break into a secure building into their vault... to get a pen, not a special pen, generic. It made no sense, then he broke it down.

The mission wasn't getting the pen, it WAS watching him retrieve said pen. He uncovers his apartment is bugged, even his urine taken from the toilet. He then goes on to test the food in his home for contamination. He's being drugged. Who and why? He's being drugged and sent on pointless missions to test his effectiveness. Marvin decides to drop out and stalk who's been following him (now that he's aware of the observation). He follows one of the C.I.A. agents to a secure site - the surveillance room on his apartment and files on him - "PS Ultra". He's a test subject for an experimental drug to create a super soldier. The story begins with Boggs talking about not needing sleep for six days, not tired in the least. He ends up bugging them and discover they know - he knows.

He's been marked for 'retirement' before he can do something - receives a guest at the door, Frank Moses (Bruce Willis' character). He is there to murder him by a syringe with an unknown fluid. Marvin nearly kills him and discovers that there was no syringe, a roll of Lifesaver candy. Not sure what's going on, he fakes his death and goes underground.

Turns out, yes it was happening. Moses wasn't trying to kill him - was just visiting. But there was a plot to snuff him because the drug, PS Ultra has a major side effect, high paranoia and Boggs had become their best test subject and a liability. A self-contained story. This comic also includes a preview of another "RED: Eyes Only" by Cully Hamner.

- - - - - - - - - -

Rant.



This is exactly what it's suppose to be - an excellent popcorn flick. And rare today as it was when it came out - an action film with middle age and above actors, quite true.

The movie was a blind buy by the way, zero buyer's remorse. And was a PG-13 film that didn't feel watered down to make it PG-13. It had enough bite to make it comfortable.

R.E.D.: Retired Extremely Dangerous; an Intelligence label for former spies who pose a hazard as they've gone rogue, a threat to national security and must be taken out. No ex-black-ops wants a RED designation attached to their name - marked for death.

Do I need to do it? Give a synopsis? It was enough of a hit to get a sequel with the surviving characters returning. That will be a future Past Tense, it too had an exclusive... a pretty weak one, but it counts.



It was cool to see Helen Mirren as this kicka$s, cold as nails assassin, Victoria. She's making a causal phone call while disposing of a body, she's just killed, another Thursday. But it was John Malkovich as Marvin Boggs who pretty much stole the show. So many WTFs. It feels like he was somewhat based on Captain H. M. "Howling Mad" Murdock (Dwight Schultz) from the 1983 NBC TV series, "The A-Team". Not a complaint.

This is what would happen to Murdock if he didn't have this teammates keeping him, kinda grounded, left to his accord.

The movie is based on a limited run comic book series of the same name by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner for DC Comics.

- - - - - - - - - -

Void.

It's a short entry - you know what that means. Filler time! The good stuff, hopefully. Welcome to Volume Five of "Dead TV Shows Not On Home Video". Three titles this time out!



"Traveler" - This dead show aired on ABC in 2007. A centuries old conspiracy finds graduate students, Jay Burchell (Matt Bomer) and Tyler Fog (Logan Marshall-Green). The two are playing a prank with their friend Will Traveler (Aaron Stanford) at the Drexler Museum in New York. Harmless fun turns into horror as a bomb in a backpack goes off killing several. The two are labeled terrorists and relentlessly pursued.

What happened to Will? Hoping for answers they find nothing. As in nothing, Will Traveler never existed, no records or images. Searching among their personal items they find one - a single photograph with Will in the background, face seen. Who was he? Why did he frame them???

Thus begins their quest for answers and freedom. All eight episodes aired. Had it gone to second season many questions would've been answered. Will works for the "Fourth Branch", a clandestine group, comprised of the oldest families in America; bloodlines who can trace back to the signing of the Declaration Of independence.

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Years Older, But Still In The Game Part II


They were the back-up plan, created by the Founding Fathers should this great democracy experiment fail. This secret branch of government sits atop Executive, Judicial and Legislative. The problem, there is a civil war within for control of the Fourth Branch. Will is one of the good guys. Too bad it died after one season. The series was planned at three with the danger the newly elected President Shears who is moving forward to become emperor of America, the leader of the rogue element in the Fourth Branch.

It also starred Pascale Hutton, Viola Davis, Steven Culp and Anthony Ruivivar. This could easily be a two disc DVD set. Have a featurette on what was to come. You see, series creator David DiGilio went online after the show was canceled with "Read Closure" a blog entry explaining what's what. It was a long entry covering EVERYTHING. The big picture that was happening and what was planned.



An excellent example of disclosure is "Coronet Blue: The Complete Series" (2017; DVD). It has a bonus interview with series creator Larry Cohen. He laid it all out. The series ended without a resolution, no answer why our main character was pursued. Sure. The show was a single season on CBS in 1967 - a midseason replacement; thirteen episodes were made, two didn't air. So fifty years after the fact, answers. Yes, Cohen is an elderly man, still sharp minded. And yes, I own the set.

The core is about a man who boarded a cruise ship and is shot. He falls overboard, thought dead. He is found, but has hit his head among his trauma - has amnesia, no memory of who he is. The only bit he knows is the phrase "Coronet Blue". It's something people will kill to know or keep secret. The mystery man takes the name, Michael Alden and is pursued. As the series goes, he discovers this isn't singular - there are two separate groups hounding him. Why?

Too bad more complete series don't this when it ends without the reveal - like "Odyssey 5" (2002). "Traveler" was a cool show that should've gotten more fans and got to live out it's full potential. It was a bold show with a grand, original mystery. Quite sway.

- - -



"The Burning Zone" - This dead show aired on the former network UPN in 1996. It lasted one season, all nineteen episodes aired. It was intended as a rival series to Fox's juggernaut, "The X-Files" (1993 - 2002). It failed. What's sad is that roughly halfway through, the series was revamped and turned it into 'disease of the week'. The photo above reflects the first iteration.

Appointed by the President to lead a top secret, biological task force, Dr. Daniel Cassian (Michael Harris) assembles a group of scientists to investigate and prevent biological disasters. The small team is made of Dr. Edward Marcase (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Dr. Kimberly Shiroma (Tamlyn Tomita) and federal agent Michael Hailey (James Black) for security/muscle. What happens next goes from biological crisis to a supernatural one, like the original "[*REC]" (2007) from Spain.

The pilot episode dealt with a master race, a sentient microscopic virus, hive mentality. It controlled all the other viruses, their foot soldiers. At the time of the Great Flood, they picked the best, strongest human to infect and were sealed away until a time when they could re-emerge; thousands of years have passed. An archaeological dig in Costa Rica frees them, infecting the researchers. Our doctors are dashing to solve and contain the threat before it overtakes the planet. It ends with the Master Virus escaping in a monkey, biding their time in the jungles.

It was so original and damn good!

Other episodes include; a government black-project at a prison - using death row inmates as guinea pigs to make contact with the afterlife, they succeeded (and got a demon). White supremacists within the CIA are attempting to use recovered Nazi occult items for a takeover (one of the BEST entries) and an encounter with a werewolf to name a few.

But the main villain is an ultra secret organization, known as "The Dawn". They are true believers of Thomas Malthus; the world has become infected with too many people. They seek to reduce the human population by force. The show sounds quite good and entertaining, but did not do well in the ratings. For episode twelve, Morgan and Tomita were fired and replaced with a single new recruit, Dr. Brian Taft (Bradford Tatum). From that point forward it dropped all of the supernatural and conspiracy elements. And the show's creative team were pink slipped with new ones.

Did leave open, Morgan and Tomita's characters; Taft was told the two other scientists were re-assigned. If you want to believe; because of their dealings with the unexpected, they were given their own kind of X-Files department - at least that's how I like to think.

- - -



"Shaping Up" - This final offering aired on ABC in 1984. It lasted one short season; six episodes were made - five aired. The show was originally titled "Welcome To The Club"; it came about when the nation was going through a personal fitness craze. To be honest it was a juggernaut - even Disney was cashing too, fitness for kids.

The sitcom is about the day to day operations of "Buddy Fox Health Club". It starred Leslie Nielson as Fox. It also starred Michael Fontaine as Ben and pre-famous Jennifer Tilly as Shannon Winters and Shawn Weatherly as Melissa McDonald. Plus Jake Steinfeld of "Body By Jake" fame - he was at the time a national fitness instructor; many of his clients were Hollywood titans. And Cathie Shirriff as Zoya Antonova.

The main story line is this older fitness club, trying to compete with younger hipper locations - hiring Shannon and Melissa to bring in new younger clients.

The mid-season replacement was a half hour program. The pilot had Tim Robbins who got recast by Fontaine. The final episode "Tile Solution" didn't air. This was a meat and potatoes show, more like a comfy pair of shoes. But it has a nostalgia consideration. Many of the actors here went on to greater things. See them before they were famous. Plus 1980s T&A visuals, well as much as they could get away with on television then.

As you can imagine from the episode numbers, bombed in the ratings. Which was a surprise since it aired after the hit series "Three's Company". This would be a single disc DVD. Could have some of the network promos for the show added as extras.

Gonna go back here for a moment. Noticed I didn't make it clear. RED was released in three versions: DVD ($28.99), Blu-Ray ($30.49) and Blu-Ray/DVD combo (double sided disc $34.99).

There you go folks. Not much of a winner here, but it gets the job done like a ferret with an apple. How did it get one? Who knows - what's apparent is he's a happy critter. And that should be good enough.

Hey! It's that time once more. Next month is the sixth Annual Limited Edition Horror! An entry for each Thursday. We got the undead, satanists, interstellar bugs and an immortal trouble maker who hates premarital sex, gets all choppy. Plus as usual, horror flick recommendations for All Hallows' Eve (began compiling back in February). See you here on October 1st, 2020 for your first shiver. Bring a blanket and a flashlight... and that ferret if he's done.

[JohnIan101]

Best Buy - September 22nd, 2020


Whiplash
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD combo $27.99

Full Metal Jacket
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $29.99

Rick And Morty: Season 4
Exclusive steelbook; BD/DC combo $27.99

Flash Gordon (1980)
Exclusive steelbook; BD only $14.99

[JohnIan101]

Best Buy - September 29th, 2020


Evil Dead 1 & 2
Exclusive steel book; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $24.99

Halloween (1978)
Exclusive steel book; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $19.99

Mad Max: Fury Road
Exclusive steel book; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $29.99

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Play With Dark Forces, Get A Dark B!tch Slap Part II


Too sexy!!! Wave I of attention getting Halloween costumes.



Hey, she's gonna get some Woody!

That costume totally works. There does exist a sexy Potato Head and Buzz Lightyear outfits. Even a sexy Jessie too. A group of hot girls could rock it with a "Toy Story" theme party rodeo. The name is "New Sheriff Costume".

Now the other - sexy mime bothers me. It's going for a seductive psycho market, feels like she belongs in a "Saw" knock off feature. Guess what she's trying to emote OR get a limb chopped off - and the first part will be his peen, 'cause that's how off her rocker she is - "Silent Mime Honey".

The most intense game of Pictionary, EVER. Do not want in my bedroom.

- - - - - - - - - -

Recommendations.

History repeats once more. I'm showcasing five Halloween suggestions for four weeks; last post (week five) hits three days before Halloween. So I'll give three on week five. You should already know what to watch.

As expected most can be found in your local video rental shops. Few can be found in stores. Best bet is to find them online, cheaply, through Ebay or Amazon's resellers marketplace, purchase used/new DVDs or BDs. Or even pawn shops.

Some are on Netflix and such streaming services. And YouTube too. *wink*

"Crawl" (2019)
University student and competitive swimmer, Haley Keller receives a call from her sister Beth - concerned over their estranged father, Dave. He lives in Pasco County, Florida on the imminent path of a category five hurricane. No contact, can't be reached. Haley is much nearer to Dave than Beth. Reluctantly she agrees to check on him, if there - get him evacuated. Not happy about the trek and gets more than she could possibly imagine. It has reached landfall, the streets are flooded and rising fast. Haley finds her dad, injured and is horrified - the home is surrounded by ravenous, displaced alligators. Left with far too little resources, it's up to her creativity and swimming skills to survive the night, trapped in a flooding basement. This is available on both DVD and BD. A great double feature with "Bait" (2012).
Paramount - 2019 - R

"Miracle Mile" (1988)
The end is coming in less than seventy minutes. Harry Washello was to have gone on his first date with Julie Peters in L.A., but he misses the rendezvous because of a power failure - alarm didn't go off. Harry goes to her work, a 24 hour diner, (Johnie's Coffee Shop Restaurant, a real place - no longer in business), hoping that she might still be there. She's long gone, it's a bit past 4 AM. He's screwed; even failed to reach her by the pay phone. But that's when his life changes badly. The phone booth is ringing. Harry picks up the line - an unidentified man wants to speak to his father; crying, frantic. He dialed the right number - wrong area code. Claims to be a soldier at a nuclear missile silo; he is shot dead on the phone by his superior, not before saying WWIII has just started; seventy minutes to armageddon. Stunned, he tells the patrons of the diner who discard his story as a prank. Trying to calm him, a businesswoman calls some of her political friends... they're not available - heading for South America. The panic. Love is all that matters; Harry spends his remaining time to find Julie to save if possible. Palpable dread and chaos as this information goes viral; Los Angeles descends into pandemonium. Go with the Kino Lorber Corp. release; remastered with extras on DVD and BD. Outstanding score by "Tangerine Dream". An excellent companion with "These Final Hours" (2013).
Kino Lorber Corp. - 2015 - R

"Overlord" (2018)
June 6th, 1944 - hours away from Normady; 555th Paratrooper Unit is among others sent to take out a German communications hub - prevent the Nazis from warning the Axis to send countermeasures. The location is a remote French village - radio tower in an old church. The soldiers' plane is shot down, most of the men are killed. It gets worse - none of the other planes made it, just them; five survived - five become four before they even reach the village. A near impossible task, the area is heavily fortified. Hours shrink, it has to be accomplished - over 156 thousands troops depend on them. But this soon takes second place to something far worse... deep below the church is a hidden research facility, human experimentations. The Third Reich's thousand year empire, requires thousand year soldiers. The stuff of nightmares, undead super-soldiers; their serum is in the beta stage. Four becomes five once more - when a French teen girl joins their cause. Time is running out to take out the tower and destroy the monstrous labs. Not that many WWII horror movies and this is unflinching.
Paramount - 2019 - R

"The Unseen" (2016)
Bob Langmore is afflicted with a degenerative condition so terrible he left his wife and child. Years later, he's facing evanesce. Before this happens, he wants to reconnect with his estranged teenage daughter, Eva. But his effort is short lived - she has gone missing. Her absence is out of character; she's been kidnapped. The police tells the parents they will search, but in twenty-four hours. His ex, Darlene implores him to find her. Time is running out; Bob spends his remaining moments seeking Eva... before he fades - unseen. A very different take on the Invisible Man story. Langmore is no superhero, a flawed man trying to do the right thing. His invisibility is grotesque - in a car wreck kind of way.
Monarch Home Entertainment - 2019 - PG-13

"We Summon The Darkness" (2019)
July 1988, the place - Indiana. Friends Alexis, Val and Beverly are heavy metal junkies on their way to a rock concert, "Soldiers Of Satan". There they meet a trio of metalheads who agree to accompany the girls after the show to Alexis' secluded home in the woods, parents are away. Drinks, fun and laughs die rather quick once it becomes apparent this isn't about a night of partying. It's about satanic ritual murders, homicides which are known - national news, eighteen other slayings. The home becomes a siege as things get quite bloody. But motivations get turned on their heads with twists; these butcheries are not what they seem, hypocrisy runs wild for profit. Things escalate as uninvited guests drop in, a bigger body count. A horror comedy.
Lionsgate - 2020 - R



I'm glad I bought this - "Panic" (smiles), a blind buy - no buyer's remorse. Sway. An interesting way to do non-nudity, nudity. And this ends week one. Was it spooky for you? More trepidations come next Thursday with a franchise that won't stay down, head shots only. See you then... if you dare!

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - Play With Dark Forces, Get A Dark B!tch Slap Part I


A brand new entry!

Between the cats fighting in the alley and the dripping bathroom faucet - it's been rough trying to sleep. The drips have been hitting right into the drain going into the bend - like a musical instrument, the sounds amplified... plump, plump, plump!

It's 12:09 am, Thursday morning. You need to sleep, gotta leave for work in the morning. This sucks. You go into the bathroom and rummage the medicine cabinet, finding a bottle of sleeping pills. You break a tablet in half and a moment later back to the bedroom from a quick trip, the kitchen for some orange juice to wash it down. Taken and your teeth re-brushed. Minutes later under the covers hoping to drift into slumber land, your heart sinks. Those argumentative cats gave a scream, a wet shrieking scream - both of them, accompanied by silence. A dash to the nearest window confirms your worst fears. Looking down, what was a few minutes ago, clear - now shrouded in thick fog. Round two is afoot.

Last year you were attacked by demon dogs or a pack of chupacabras from... wherever beasties live outside of reality. They had emerged from the murk in the early morning - butchering various people who were unfortunate to be outside when they pounced. Then these creatures attacked the homes on the block, yours included - this happened around the world simultaneously.

You saw the dawn because you could think on your feet and used a Conan sword replica you bought when you first got promoted at your former job. The collector's item is real steel, used defend yourself; cut those down with fatality. But before the hell dogs disappeared, one of them nearly got you - moments before giving you teeth hugs, got called back by whoever they call their master. That last mutt gave you a death stare with glowing eyes. As if a notice, 'I'm coming for you later'. Then fled with the other hell dogs. Leaving humanity questioning what had happened, it's still talked about, the fodder for conspiracy theories.

Six month later, you got super paranoid and moved out, new city and new job. And here it is. And here they are - a dark familiar silhouette is seen as they sniffed the nearby garbage bins. Then one became eight. At least those are the eight you can see, probably more. Man, you were so glad you had taken off the light before getting up to take that pill. They can't see...

The PILL?!

You're gonna be sleeping in a few minutes - the worst possible time for slumber. And the messed up part. Since moving - as a hobby, you made various alterations to the home, just in case. Just in case such a nightmare would repeat. Hidden closets with bow and arrows and another sword replica along with saved spent paper towel rolls with jars of peanut butter. Plus a reinforced panic room. But that is in the basement of this two story home.

No time to think - RUN to the panic room, hope they don't hear you and lock that door. Ride out the second wave observing them on closed circuit TVs. And the good measure of having a twin bed set up inside too. You're gonna need it. The speed walk to the basement was somewhat uneventful, crouching low not to be seen from the kitchen windows. That went well. The heavy door is pulled shut and now you're done - thick tumblers lock the door. A long sigh of relief. The operation's corner has eight small monitors that can switch the viewing to the big screen at the center. The first of them moves into view at the front door. Just as ugly as you remembered. The savage stood up for a moment on hind legs, sniffing the air and gave a low grunt. From the bushes three more join it and walk to the front door, eyes glowing like bio night vision goggles. The first one on the scene barks a couple of barks and the others scatter around the home. This is happening as you yawn deeply.

Then you see on the monitor one of them has crashed through a window - like a broken vending machine they all shoot out into your home - now in the living room. You were on a budget and didn't get bars for the windows. Now you wished you had made more sacrifices. Damn, this is gonna be a long night.

Welcome the Sixth Annual "Limited Edition Horror" - 2020! Five weeks of horror theme, multi-part Past Tense entries, one each week of October. And there could be a bonus entry, maybe.

We start '20 with a horror comedy that puts affluent gated communities under suspicious eyes in "Satanic Panic"...



The motion picture opened on September 6th, 2019 (limited release). It was made with a budget of 1,000,000 (estimated). I have no stats for U.S. theatrical run, I can say that when counting foreign receipts it made $1,652.00. Ouch! The film didn't even register in the box office charts.

The feature opened against "Angel Has Fallen", "Ready Or Not", "Once Upon A Time In Hollywood" and "Dora And The Lost City Of Gold".

Both the DVD and BD editions came with embossed slipcovers. No insert were issued.

- - -



There was a single exclusive from Wal-Mart for both DVD and Blu-Ray, but I only have the DVD price. As I've said before, not into BDs and I forgot to take notes.

The store still wishes to project the air of a family friendly department store. They gone lax since the early 2000s when the retail giant would demand edits to movies and music to fit their sensibilities. Today it's mostly - like this, slap on an altered slipcase... family friendly!

The wraparound under and the disc art is the same as the regular edition. As you can see above, it's the same, minus the text.

This streeted on October 22nd, 2019 for $12.98, the DVD. Bought before Wal-Mart converted their media area into locked glass displays.

Man, you know this idea will end badly. Too many sales lost since they take forever to get someone to open the doors and can't be taken to the front with your basket - must be bought in that department. In one of those purchases, the clerk took nearly twenty minutes to come by to open. How many people have the patience to wait?

Few.

So many lost sales. And before you ask. Yes I did some image work on that slip scan, made it a bit darker.

- - - - - - - - - -

Rant.

I think I should - since as you read earlier, this had a very limited theatrical release. Most will be in the dark.



Samantha Craft has started her new job at Home Run Pizza, delivering... pizzas. Her salary is eaten up by her fuel needs - gas for the scooter. Any real money comes from her tips and it's been a lousy day. Given an opportunity to deliver five pies to "Mill Basin", the richest part of town; Craft jumps on it for the potential extra cash.

The worst move she's made in her life.

Once again - no tip, but now out of fuel. She enters the home trying to get something to get her back to her neighborhood. Turns out this home is having a gathering, a coven of witches trying to bring about a demon to flesh, Baphomet - born from a virgin.



A ritual on a fixed time with no sacrifice... that is until 'Sam' makes her presence known. It becomes a chaotic chase as she tries to stay alive, only to discover the community is full of rich satanists... either flat out trying to murder the young woman or capture her for the offering.

Help comes from an unexpected person who is also marked for death, their Plan B. Together they try to survive till dawn. A horror comedy. This was made predominantly with practical effects, augmented with light CGI.



It was interesting to see model/actress Rebecca Romijn as the coven's high priestess, Danica Ross. She plays evil good. Her real life husband plays her husband, Samuel Ross, Jerry O'Connell. And Arden Myrin was entertaining as the comic relief, the wanna-be priestess, Gypsy Neumieir.

As for our survivor girl, Samantha I had no real issues with actress Hayley Griffith. She's what the role called for. Griffith was serviceable.

The ending was different - filmmakers wanted a unique finale. I liked it.



The Satanists did conjure a wicked and quite violent presence. But not what they wanted. Which is the larger take away - there is now a supernatural force in our world, but what does it mean? The brute is stuck in a persona - that's what happens when making various substitutions.

[JohnIan101]

Best Buy - October 6th, 2020


300
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $29.99

Saving Ryan
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $24.99

Interstellar
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD/DC combo $24.99

Whiplash
Exclusive steelbook; 4k BD/BD combo $27.99 (available now)

[JohnIan101]

Past Tense - The Damned And Absurd Part II


The fourth item came years after the fact on August 31st, 2010...



Wal-Mart had exclusive Blu-Ray steelbooks for "Resident Evil" (2002), "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" (2004), "Resident Evil: Extinction" and "Resident Evil: Degeneration" (2008) for $14.99 each. Each came with a bonus (exclusive) disc, a DVD; these were identical for each BD. The discs were not on each side of the steelbook. They were stacked like a CD cake box on the right side.

No menu screen shot - it just plays; "Program Alice: Activated" featurette. It has a run time of 22:39 minutes (no chapters). Which is a sneak peak for then up coming "Resident Evil: Afterlife" (2010). It's also a retrospective of the past films.

Since this exclusive wasn't really related to any specific film and it DID come with "Degeneration"; I decided to move that bonus DVD into a two disc case for "Degeneration". *shrugs*

Should be noted that lots of folks were upset. The BD titles had card stock backing with Blu-Ray details, the problem is that many of them were dinged/dented up - hidden under the sheet. There has been speculation that these exclusives were actually overstocks from Future Shop, the Canadian sister store to Best Buy. Wal-Mart slapped a sheet and called it their own.

Can not confirm. What is known is that Future Shop (now dead, swallowed by Best Buy) did make a lot of copies.

The one I bought was for "Apocalypse", kept the bonus disc and sold the steelbook (dent free) to a friend who runs a used CD/DVD/vinyl store. I lost money on that. *shrugs* That's life.

- - - - - - - - - -

Rant.



You pervs!

*grinning*

This was better than I expected. And I do appreciate that this is an on going franchise; number six comes out in 2016, "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter". With so many franchises just rebooting after rebooting, it's refreshing to have a film series do actual sequels.

This had three more; "Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), "Resident Evil: Retribution" (2012) and "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" (2017). As I understand the plan is to reboot the franchise. I am bummed, but at least we got six films over fifteen years. Not much has changed.

No news on the reboot, the last bit of info came out in April of 2020; still working on it - though the production house Screen Gems wanted it to be more faithful to the video game source.

Guys, that ready exist... the novel adaptations by S.D. (Stephani Danelle) Perry; she took the video game and turned it into an enjoyable linear story. It can be done. And is available.

This has to be said. What the frack? The outfit Alice Abernathy (Milla Jovovich) wore was so utterly impractical. How long does it take her to get dressed? I'm serious. So many layers of... crap - each more like rejects from a stripper fashion convention.

Man, each new feature, her outfits get more ridicules.



What I really love and desire with sequels is continuity - the same actors reprising their roles. So it was nice to have Oded Fehr back as Carlos Olivera. I didn't have a problem with Ali Larter as Claire Redfield (above), but it does feel pushed. Not much of a reason for it, other than... just because.

Spencer Locke as K-Mart (character, Elizabeth Jane Case) was decent as well.

Have a couple of gripes.

1) I also wished they continued to use a CGI child for computer holographic avatar, they used a real actress for the White Queen (Madeline Carroll). The CGI avatar from the first film, Red Queen (voiced by Michaela Dicker) worked quite well. Maybe it was a money and time issue.

2) I wanted Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) to be part of the story; talk about perfect casting. She did have a part, but was written out. Guillory absence was about availability, she was filming "Eragon" (2006) at the time. I understand.



Guillory did return for a Jill cameo during the end credits in "Resident Evil: Afterlife" (above left). She is rockin' a body suit, hugging every curve with low cut for her bosoms. Man, there was jiggle as she moved (good kind). She returned as evil Jill in "Resident Evil: Retribution" (above).

That spider device, Scarab on her chest is a reference to the video game "Resident Evil 5" (a.k.a. "Biohazard 5") (2009) where Jill gets implanted by the Red Queen and become one of the baddies.

Hell, that strained - story creditability, but I enjoyed having Michelle Rodriguez, Oded Fehr and Colin Salmon return as clones in "Retribution". My only grumble was that they didn't include Eric Mabius or James Purefoy, though they appear in archival footage.

Jill's story?



In the novelization by Keith R. A. DeCandido (from Pocket Star), Miss Valentine left the group and is now leading about a hundred survivors in Baltimore. As for Angie Ashford (Sophie Vavasseur), she's dead - killed by Alice who was at the time under the control of Umbrella.

Which would've been a good reason for her to depart her remaining friends as seen in "Extinction".

In case you're curious - which you're probably not. My favorite in the series is "Apocalypse" which is a bigger than life zombie movie. That's what I want to see; a city besiege by the undead in MASSIVE numbers. What so many ghoul films promise, but fail to deliver - "Apocalypse" did.

- - -

Scary? But enticing Halloween costumes, wave II!



A staple of any hot Halloween shindig is a lovely lady dressed as a slutty constable, better yet when she has the body for it. Ultra generic title - "Sexy Cop Costume". And one of the cheapest outfits I've seen, less than ten bucks; one dress, hat, belt, and pair of hand cuffs.

No gun or baton??? Must be add-ons.

Man, I wish I knew who she is - the model is gorgeous.

Though I wish she didn't have the tattoo above her left breast. I've seen other costume pix of her - she has another tat over her right hip. I am not into tats.

The second costume was unexpected - sexy Hannibal Lecter. Red lipstick makes it stand out. Don't know enough about it other than she comes with a brain purse, a nice touch.

Gotta go back - the woman who modeled "Sexy Cop" also did "Maid Servant" which IS more revealing; thank you, whoever you are.