In August, Netflix announced it was going to give its remaining DVD customers the chance to receive up to 10 extra discs in their final shipment before the mail-in service is gone for good. Now, the streaming service has also clarified on Twitter that customers will not be charged after August 29th for unreturned discs, meaning they'll get to keep them forever. 

This is amazing news for mail-in customers because they no longer have to wonder about late fees for the closing service. How the Netflix DVD service normally works is you pay a subscription to pick as many movies as you want to be delivered to your house, as you return one, the next in your queue will be sent to you. You don’t have to visit a kiosk or worry about having to leave your home to return the discs. Everything is through the service’s signature red envelopes (which you should definitely keep after for nostalgic purposes) and your mailbox. 

Ever since 1998, Netflix DVD has had a great run. You’d get such joy of picking which movies and shows you want to see, which was followed by a lovely surprise right in your mailbox. 

In 2011, customers didn’t like when Netflix broke apart its streaming and DVD service into two, calling its physical media side Qwikster. However, after listening to customer complaints about the rebranding, it abandoned Qwikster and just called it Netflix DVD. Despite the uneasy shift, Netflix DVD still pushed forward when it bought DVD.com and went through with the separation. Unfortunately, the sending of red envelopes will come to a close, as it'd seen a major drop in business from $200 million in revenue in 2021 to half that the next year, per Tech Crunch. 

Red envelope fans were not happy about the news, especially if they were still using that service. Honestly, I can understand the fury. There are, after all, people who still like to watch DVDs and aren’t ready to let go of that pastime for streaming. Also when you think about it, not every movie is available on streaming services. So, at least having a video library will increase your chances of seeing that film that’s been sitting on your watchlist but isn't available online. 

Netflix DVD may be coming to an end on September 29, but you still have the chance to score random discs that you can keep with you always. If for some reason you don’t want your final discs, make sure to return them by October 27. As this era comes to an end, make sure to check in on your Netflix subscription, and make sure you have the plan you want so you can take advantage of the streaming service's movie schedule and TV schedule.

September 29th, 2023 is going to be a huge day for Netflix subscribers. That’s the date that marked the company’s “final season” finale for DVD-by-Mail rentals, which has left a pretty question in the air: where are all those discs going to go? As the big red streamer has finally revealed its answer to that query, I’m both relieved and a bit confused as to how this is going to work out. 

While I'm feeling a bit relieved and confused right now, this news has also revived my fury over Netflix’s closure of its DVD service yet again. So, before I start ranting again about why this whole scenario sucks, let's talk about the potential upside to this disc giveaway, and all of the metaphorical strings that come attached.

What Netflix Is Going To Do With Its DVD-By-Mail Discs

If you’re a DVD plan subscriber, you should have already gotten an email laying out what’s happening. For those of you content with experiencing everything new on Netflix through a purely streaming plan, here’s what’s going on. Apparently, Netflix is going to be giving up to 10 discs away to those still signed up to rent them between now and the final shipping date.

There’s a little bit of legwork that needs to be done though, as that email contains a special link. Once you’ve clicked the button that’s aptly labeled “I want more red envelopes,” the process is complete. At this point, you’ll see the following message:

On the plus side, knowing that Netflix will be giving away its library of titles kind of softens the blow for some devoted subscribers. I hope my colleague Rich Knight, who’s probably still working through his feelings about Netflix closing its DVD mail rental service, takes comfort in this news for himself. There’s a chance that the two of us, and any other eligible physical media lovers out there, might be able to swap some cool stories about gaining some surprise relics that are long out of print.

Then there’s the downside to all of this hubbub. Some interesting language is included in this offer that downright confuses me about this entire process, and it’s more confusing than comforting.

Why This New Netflix DVD Giveaway Seems So Confusing

There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding what’s supposed to be a happy announcement. First off, you don’t know if you’re going to be getting any DVDs to keep “until they arrive.” That’s starting to sound more like a sweepstakes event than anything else, which leads to the next point of order in this potential giveaway of “up to 10 discs.” 

While the maximum expectation is set, how is Netflix going to decide the number of discs each lucky subscriber selected will be sent? Do years subscribed factor into the matter, or is this going to be a randomized drawing that gives us answers in time? I would think that time enrolled in the service would count for something, as 10 discs to someone who's been with the family since 1998 would be a fitting send-off, for sure.

Also, this surely means that some subscribers won't be getting any discs, right? That's another case where I hope some sort of quantifiable algorithm or formula is being used, and that 25-year subscriber mentioned above isn't cheated out of some sort of a piece of this thank you. 

It's Going To Be Fun Discovering What Movies You End Up Owning

Even if that's the case, which 10 movies would you be getting? Brace yourselves for this next concern, as it’s something that I can tell Netflix is already trying to mitigate through the statements surrounding this initiative: How will they choose what discs you’re sent? In both the email and the confirmation page shown above, subscribers are being told to make sure their “must-see movies” are at the top. 

I get the sentiment, and keeping one’s queue updated properly to reflect what they want to see most is always important. At the same time, you could be going home with some movies you merely put on the list because of morbid curiosity; an attitude that worked better in the Blockbuster days. 

I didn’t plan on owning a copy of Return of the Living Dead 5: Rave to the Grave when I put it into my queue, but now that’s a distinct possibility. And if that potential reality prevents me from snagging a copy of Kenneth Branagh’s sterling adaptation of Hamlet, I’m going to feel a bit sore. 

Worst still: imagine what's going to happen when someone realizes one of their take-home prizes is a copy of Gigli. Unless you're into that sort of thing; in which case, I root for you heartily. 

Netflix's Goodwill Gesture Is Both Exciting And Scary

I get it: it’s the luck of the draw, what should I be complaining about, right? Well, when I don’t know how many discs I’ll be getting, or if I’ll be getting any discs to begin with, it just makes for a soup of suck. Netflix is trying to be a buddy and give its loyal subscribers a token of appreciation for years of devotion, and I’m not blind to that. However, the randomness of it all kind of takes away from the joy I’m supposed to be feeling right now. 

That being said, if appreciation is being given random discs from an incomplete series, or something I once saw on a whim at Redbox and didn’t get to previously rent, then maybe I’m not ready for this. Maybe, just maybe, Netflix should have sold its DVD rental apparatus to another company that wanted to keep it alive. You know, like that offer they turned down from Redbox. 

Do I hope I get some “extra red envelopes” in the mail? Absolutely. Am I looking forward to some potentially interesting pickups, like that copy of Looker I’ve been putting off buying? Definitely. Although, even in the middle of all the interesting potentials, I’m still worried how this is all going to shake out.

Most of all, I’m going to miss having the stability of Netflix’s physical media library to help me further my cinematic education. I know there are other options available, like public libraries, GameFly, and other subscription services that might spring up to try and fill the void. It’s still going to take me some time before I shake that excited expectation of a red envelope arriving at my doorstep.

September 29th is going to be here before you know it, fellow Netflix disc subscribers. So check your email, click that link, and wish upon your mailbox that the media gods are kind to you. Good hunting fellow disc junkies, and may fortune smile upon you and your movie collection.

After 25 years, Netflix decided to nix the DVD service that started it all for the streaming juggernaut. The DVDs were a unique option among Netflix’s subscription plans that allowed subscribers to hold onto movies for as long as they’d like, and once returned they’d get another disc in the mail. While many people, my family included, stopped getting discs from Netflix years ago, there are many who still pay for the DVD plan. So, for those subscribers, this news that they wouldn’t be able to get their favorite movies or TV shows via snail mail was devastating, and they shared all their thoughts about it. 

Reacting to the news that the last red envelope will be sent out on September 29, @mayascade wrote about how sad she was about the news, calling it a “true loss.” 

Others shared why they were furious about Netflix’s decision to cancel the DVD service. @Q_Review was in this camp, tweeting:

Many have pointed out that Netflix’s DVD library is totally unique, and offers a selection that can’t be found on the streaming service. @FisherTKTK noted his sadness about the loss of the vast physical library of physical media, tweeting:

As someone who has a fairly large library of DVDs, I was also bummed to learn Netflix would be canceling its mail service. Having special features available, and the satisfaction that comes with literally holding the movie you’re about to watch are two things that are impossible to replicate on streaming. @RaquelStecher shared her dismay about learning the news, writing about how much she’ll miss her DVD queue:

To prove Netflix’s DVD branch gained at least one subscriber in the last year, @danharting tweeted a funny text exchange he had with his wife:

Dang it Dan! Why did you have to remind them? Obviously, I’m kidding, however, it is a real bummer that this classic, and now unique, way of consuming media is coming to an end. It truly feels like the end of an era. 

Following the news about the red envelopes, it was also revealed that Netflix turned down an offer to sell off the DVD rentals. So it sounds like there really will be no way to continue getting the discs, you can’t even buy them. 

It’s sincerely sad that this legacy rental method is going away. However, it’s time to get proactive and find other ways to watch what you would have with the DVDs. We can help you get started with this handy guide explaining everything new coming soon to Netflix. Also, be sure to check out our 2023 TV schedule to figure out what is coming out soon, and how to watch it.

A Unique Revenue Stream Has Been Removed From Netflix’s Business Model

Let’s start where most businesses like to start these sorts of discussions: the wallet. While I’m not privy to any sort of costs that are required to maintain Netflix’s DVD service, I do know that another revenue stream is being removed from the company. Yes, there are some of us subscribers that still have very good reasons to rent Netflix’s DVDs and are willing to part with extra money on top of our streaming subscriptions. 

Surely the number of people that believe in such a practice can’t be that few and far in-between to make this practice unprofitable. This is a concern that deserves some more consideration when the streaming side of Netflix isn’t as interested in making money with theatrical releases of films like Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery.

Even if the company is shifting its focus towards its own projects, both streaming and in theaters, having a physical media service to rent these things out on isn’t a horrible idea. Not to mention, renting DVDs did offer Netflix another advantage in the war for people’s eyeballs. 

Having A DVD Rental Service Is More Incentive To Be A Netflix Subscriber

Let’s face it: the streaming ecosystem isn’t what it used to be. With a lot of players now taking their own slice of the pie, you need to be careful with who you’re subscribing with. Paramount is going to want to have its movies on Paramount+, and all other studios in that bracket are going to usually want the same sort of exclusivity. With its DVD services, Netflix has always had a trump card in this battle of hearts and minds.

While Netflix has its own slew of original series and movies on its digital streaming platform, its repertory catalog isn’t as lush as it used to be. Remember the old days when Disney and Marvel seemed to exclusively stream on Netflix? While those days are gone, you could still rent Black Panther: Wakanda Forever through the DVD service and keep up with the times. 

For Netflix to still offer that type of convenience only seemed like good business, as it was a compromise between the streaming frontier and the more traditional home video experience. Removing that feature devalues the company’s entertainment experience, as it’s closer to being seen as just another streamer. 

Netflix’s DVD Library Is An Invaluable Research Tool

In the days of physical media, it was almost assured that even if your movie bombed, there’d be a record of its existence. Actually having a copy of a film like the mostly forgotten Robin Williams oddity Toys meant you could watch it any time you wanted, even when a movie like that would eventually find itself caught in limbo between format shifts. While that particular movie just found itself arriving on Starz’s streaming library, there weren't many legal options for a person to experience that movie in the interim.

People wanting to seek out movies like this could always try their hand at Netflix’s DVD library having those sorts of titles on hand. That alone proves that this option is an invaluable research tool, as it’s almost like another form of your public library; which can also have quite the limiting physical media collection. Not to mention, trying to buy a copy of Toys on DVD is a limited proposition that could run you a bit of money. 

With video stores hanging by a thread, save for a bunch of independent operations and one last Blockbuster on Earth since 2018, the DVD side of Netflix reached the spots that streaming doesn’t always hit. I still have a copy of The Ipcress File that I rented from the service, as I want to dig into that Michael Caine spy series that hasn’t always been accessible through streaming. I’ll have to return that sooner than later, as there are still a ton of movies I’ve been meaning to experience in this analog paradise of obscure titles, and the clock is ticking.

Killing Netflix’s DVD Service Is Another Defeat In The Fight To Preserve Physical Media

The greatest crime in Netflix’s cancellation of its DVD service is that it’s a potentially huge blow to the practice of preserving physical media. With the rental stores it once competed with pretty much dead and gone, it’s up to the digital frontier to offer refuge for those who want to see their favorite movies that they might not own.

And even if someone owns a movie they cherish digitally, there have been concerns over whether parties like Apple can delete titles from your personal library. Plus, Netflix should be fighting this battle too for their own sake, because its own movie canon faces eventual extinction if it doesn’t. What good is producing Knives Out 3, which is currently being written by Rian Johnson as we speak, if fans can’t eventually purchase a copy to go along with their physical release of Daniel Craig’s original Benoit Blanc mystery?

Nothing beats having a movie existing in a physical copy that can be bought or lent out for enjoyment. When servers crash, companies go bankrupt or streaming rights lapse and remove a title you love from any digital library of the moment, that tangible access is always going to be there. That is, until you have to buy another copy, of course, but that's another rant for another day.

Not knowing if this month’s new Netflix releases include Batman Begins is always subject to change, but there was security in knowing that if it wasn’t streaming on any platform you subscribed to, you could try your hand at borrowing a copy through a reliable DVD service subscription. Now that security is about to be removed, and it’s a scary thing for people whose tastes might not be catered to as frequently through the digital marketplace.

Perhaps this is a sign that the landscape of home-based movie watching will change again. It would be a fantastic time for video stores to resurge, as the convenience of having obscure titles on physical media feels like it’s bound to prompt a renaissance of what’s been seen as a niche practice. 

Who knows what the future holds for physical media on the whole, even with studios like Disney recommitting themselves to the cause? All I know is that Disney+ doesn’t rent DVDs, Netflix did; and as of September 29th, 2023, it no longer will. I guess it’s time to start hoarding physical media even more now that this major pillar of movie rentals is about to make what I furiously feel is a huge mistake. 

To better understand how the scene with Ryan Reynolds’s Guy and his alter ego Dude came to be, it helps to have some background on how filmmakers have approached an actor appearing in a scene twice in the past. Shawn Levy and the crew behind Free Guy take us behind the scenes in a featurette titled “Dude vs Guy” which is included with the film’s home release. Levy explains how this type of sequence has traditionally been approached with the following:

So to get an actor to appear twice in a single scene using motion control, the entire scene would need to be filmed twice. That’s definitely adding time and money to the production. The crew behind Free Guy didn’t want to take this approach, so they decided to take a risk and try something that had not been done too successfully in the past. In the words of VFX Supervisor Swen Gillberg and director Shawn Levy:

The featurette goes on to illustrate how the head replacement is done, starting with the casting of Dude. 2nd Unit Director Chris O’Hara describes beginning his search for an actor to play Dude with the stunt pool because it’s an action-oriented role, but later opening it up to an Internet search for bodybuilders when he couldn’t find someone physically big enough. Aaron Reed was found and given the role of Dude, and it’s his body that you see in the film.

To get Ryan Reynolds’s face onto Aaron Reed’s body, the Free Guy team used what’s called Lola Egg, which is a dome covered in LED panels and multiple cameras. Reynolds would perform in the dome which captured his face and allowed it to be placed over Reed’s. You can watch Reynolds deliver lines in the dome and see how the full “Dude vs Guy” scene came to be with the bonus content when Free Guy debuts on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on October 12. Enjoy never-before-seen bonus material including two deleted scenes, an extended scene, bloopers, and making-of featurettes.

M. Night Shyamalan’s suspenseful thriller Old is now available to own, and the home release comes loaded with bonus features for fans to dive deeper into the filmmaking process. One of those features is Shyamalan Family Business which gives a look at what Shyamalan’s two daughters, Ishana and Saleka, contributed to the film and how collaborating with family made filming outside Philadelphia still feel like home. Ishana Shyamalan discusses how special it was working with her father in the clip above. 

Ishana Shyamalan worked as the second unit director on Old. Her confidence and good rapport shine through on camera, and it looks like she had a great time on set. The bonus feature cuts together multiple clips of Ishana and M. Night in their element and it’s so sweet to see how similar their mannerisms are. Ishana says the following of the experience:

It sounds like the Shyamalan family had a great time working together on Old, and their synergy made for a fantastic thriller! Another of M. Night Shyamalan’s daughters, Saleka, had a hand in Old, too. She wrote and recorded a song titled ‘Remain’ for the film’s soundtrack. More about this is included in the full bonus feature. 

In addition to Shyamalan Family Business, the home release of Old includes deleted scenes and other bonus features titled All the Beach is a Stage, Nightmares in Paradise, and A Family in the Moment. All the Beach is a Stage explores the challenge of shooting the film in a wide-open space and creating angles like in theatre. Nightmares in Paradise takes fans behind the scenes of finding the right shooting location in the Dominican Republic and how Mother Nature both assisted and challenged the production. A Family in the Moment features the cast recounting an emotional night of filming that brought them closer.

Old is a chilling mystery-thriller that follows a family on a tropical holiday where they discover that the secluded beach where they relax for a few hours is somehow causing them to age rapidly… reducing their entire lives into a single day. Old is now available to own on Digital and is coming to 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD October 19 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Enjoy all the twists and turns again and again!

In the theatrical cut of F9, we first see Mia (Jordana Brewster) almost 40 minutes into the film. The rest of the crew has just survived a wild ride through a minefield and a disintegrating bridge experience, lost the Aries device to Jakob (John Cena), and is strategizing their next move. Dom (Vin Diesel) doesn’t appear too happy to see Mia, which is likely a combination of Letty (Michelle Rodriguez) calling Mia without informing Dom, and Dom wanting to keep Jakob’s resurfacing a secret from Mia.

Alternatively, the Director’s Cut introduces Mia just over ten minutes into the film. After Letty takes off to join the crew on their mission and Dom stays behind with baby Brian, Mia arrives at Dom’s house the next morning. Her opening line is about wanting to see her nephew more often than for “world-saving emergencies” suggesting Dom called her to look after his son, Brian, while he joins the others on the mission. It’s a heartwarming scene between Jordana Brewster and Vin Diesel who have great sibling chemistry. Dom mentions their dad and Mia asks what’s happened, but all he gives her is “something he hopes he’s wrong about.”

This additional scene packs so much emotion and context. First, we rarely get a scene with only Vin Diesel and Jordana Brewster. They’re very sweet together. Mia is very intuitive and has a beautiful connection with her brother that she notices the moment his demeanor changes and gently checks on him while asking for more information without prying. The scene also adds more weight to Dom keeping the secret that their brother has resurfaced from his sister because he speaks with her face to face days before the information gets revealed to her. The audience has not yet met Jakob (John Cena) when seeing this exchange between Dom and Mia, so when we later meet him it clicks that this is what he wasn’t ready to tell her early on in the film.

The second time we see Mia in the Director’s Cut is the first time we see her in the theatrical cut. So when watching the Director’s Cut, Mia thanking Letty for keeping her up to date is much more emotional. But it’s also worth noting what the additional scene says about Dom. In the first scene, he was not sure that Jakob was involved, he only suspected. He may have rationalized not telling Mia until he was sure. But the second scene takes place after he was sure, and it’s clear he only told his crew about Jakob because they physically saw him. It seems he had no intention of sharing this with anyone but Letty. And that begs the question of why. We know his history with his brother isn't good, and it's a lot to process emotionally alone.

There is a ton more footage included in the Director’s Cut that will have you seeing other parts of F9 with a new perspective. F9: The Fast Saga is now available to purchase on Digital, 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD.

Throughout the years, the Fast Saga transitioned from street racing films to the world of espionage, and while remaining action/adventure movies all the way through, F9 almost feels like a different genre than 2001’s The Fast and the Furious. Director Justin Lin also wrote F9, and it turns out that the lean into the sci-fi genre of the more recent films in the franchise caused some deep thought. Here’s what Lin shared in the F9 feature commentary, available with the film’s home release:

Justin Lin originally didn’t want to include a world-ending device in F9. Imagine the film without the Aries device! In the film, the device can allow the user to control all the world’s computers and weapons systems. It was split into two to keep this from happening, Jakob Torretto (John Cena), Otto (Thue Ersted Rasmussen) and Cipher (Charlize Theron) having one half and the Fast family finding the second half with the help of Mr. Nobody. Of course, the bad guys take possession of both pieces which is why we have a movie! I wonder what Lin had in mind for the story without the Aries device.

The feature commentary track is just one of many bonus features included in the home release of F9: The Fast Saga. Justin Lin provides all kinds of behind-the-scenes insight and stories from the set, and fans can also experience a day of Lin’s life while filming with the featurette A Day On Set With Justin Lin. Plus, the home release comes with the Director’s Cut of F9 which includes additional never-before-seen footage. F9 is now available on Digital, 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD.

Cardi B’s character Leysa helps Dom (Vin Diesel) escape after a fight with Jakob (John Cena). It’s clear that Leysa and Dom know each other, but not so obvious how she knew he would need the assist. Justin Lin’s Director’s Cut provides an answer by introducing Leysa a bit sooner. When Queenie (Helen Mirren) drops Dom off to meet Jacob, Leysa is among the partiers outside the building. She and Dom talk briefly, so when we see her again in the truck, we understand that she was there to help out from the beginning, enlisted by Queenie.

For those who didn’t quite catch Leysa and Dom’s prior connection from their brief conversation, director Justin Lin provides more detail in his commentary track available with the home release of F9. It turns out that Cardi B’s Leysa has a stronger connection to the Fast family than we may have thought, and Lin hopes he can explore more of her story in the future. Here’s what he says in his commentary:

As the Fast universe expands, it’s fun to see new characters get added into the mix who actually have been there all along. Similar to how John Cena’s Jakob existed from the beginning but isn’t introduced to the story until F9, Cardi B’s Leysa has been around since Fast and Furious. I’m totally down to see more Cardi B in future Fast Saga stories!

Another fun nugget from Cardi B’s additional scene in the Director’s Cut (beyond looking flawless in a stunning white dress) is one of her lyrics added to the script. Leysa greets Dom by asking, “Why is the best fruit always forbidden?” which fans will recognize as a popular lyric from Cardi B’s hit song “Girls Like You” with Maroon 5.

F9’s Director’s Cut has a runtime of a hundred forty-nine minutes. That’s about six minutes longer than the theatrical version, which may not sound like a lot, but when you factor in some scenes being 15-30 seconds, it’s quite a bit of extra footage that provides context for the larger film. You can get the Director’s Cut, feature commentary, and so much more when F9 zooms onto 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD September 21.

Ludacris and Tyrese have always been two of my favorite members of The Fast Saga. Ludacris’s Tej being our tech genius and voice of reason while Tyrese’s Roman is often the comic relief and the realist stating “we’re going to die” are an unlikely pair of friends that work so well together. I couldn’t imagine the franchise without them. Check out the clip below from Justin Lin’s Director’s Cut where the two find a vault full of cash.

I just love these two together! Tyrese has a smile that lights up the room. It’s impossible to see that guy happy without getting excited along with him. Ludacris has the best comedic and dramatic timing and someone needs to cast this man in some more roles, stat. Additional footage is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to F9’s home release.

There’s so much more where that came from with Justin Lin back in the director’s chair (Lin also helmed the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth installments of the series). The producer, co-writer, and director provides a feature commentary on both the theatrical and Director’s cuts. With the purchase of F9, fans will also get more than an hour of exclusive bonus content featuring a behind-the-scenes look at the gravity-defying stunts and nitro-charged cars, a gag reel, and even more justice for Han (played by Sung Kang).

Additional F9 bonus features on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital include F9: All In where the cast and crew provide an intimate look at how F9 propels this epic franchise to even greater heights, Practically Fast which goes behind the scenes with Justin Lin and his team as they shoot as many stuns as they can in-camera and practically, and so much more. Aspiring directors and film fans will enjoy A Day On Set with Justin Lin, a featurette following Lin for a day providing an inside look at the demanding job of a movie producer.

Shifting Priorities is a bonus feature that takes us through the evolution of the characters over 20+ years as well as the actors that portray them. Speaking of characters, F9 introduced fans to Dom’s brother Jakob, played by John Cena, and the home release includes a featurette titled John Cena: Supercar Superfan, as well. Cena is a real-life car expert and this content is a true fan’s look at some of the rarest and most expensive automobiles in the world. 

The blockbuster film F9 has generated more than $600 million worldwide and now fans can own the global box-office phenomenon on Digital September 7, 2021, and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on September 21, 2021, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. Keep an eye on CinemaBlend’s 2021 DVD release calendar for when you can own all of your favorite films.

Fans were blown away by the fight choreography and action sequences in Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, and now, with the digital release of the film, fans will get a glimpse behind the scenes. Fight Coordinator Kenji Tanigaki created a unique style for each of the characters based on the amount of training they had in the story. Check it out in the clip below.

In the clip, Keni Tanigaki mentions that since Tommy (played by Andrew Koji) trained at Arashikage for many years, he must be very skilled in his technique. In contrast, Snake Eyes (played by Henry Golding) does not have to be as skilled because he’s coming from the street. This distinction may go unnoticed to the untrained eye, but to those who know the technique it is obvious, and also comes to the forefront once you’ve been made aware of it.

Leading man Henry Golding explains in the clip how one’s body changes through fighting and martial arts. Co-star Andrew Koji elaborates on the experience, discussing what it was like to learn the psychology of the moves. These actors give truly phenomenal performances in the film, and it’s amazing to see the amount of work that went into each scene.

Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins arrives early for Premium Digital purchase and on Premium Video-On-Demand (PVOD) on August 17, 2021 from Paramount Home Entertainment. The film will subsequently be available on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on October 19. Fans can also purchase a 4K Ultra HD Combo in a collectible SteelBook (pictured below; SteelBook Combo includes an Ultra HD Disc with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos and a Blu-ray Disc with Dolby Atmos, as well as access to a Digital copy) and complete their G.I. JOE movie collection with a 3-Movie gift set that includes G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, and Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray or Digital.

The 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray Discs of Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins also boast a Dolby Atmos soundtrack remixed specifically for the home to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead. Both 4K Ultra HD offerings include the all-new short film Morning Light: A Weapon with Stories to Tell, deleted scenes not seen in theaters, a featurette on what it took to bring the origin story of the iconic hero Snake Eyes to life, and more!

Can’t get enough of Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins? Watch it early on Premium Digital & On-Demand August 17, 2021 and on 4K Ultra UD, Blu-ray, & DVD October 19. We also rounded up the best movies of Snake Eyes actor and stuntman Iko Uwais’s career for fans to check out.

Disney and Pixar’s Luca swam into the hearts of many when it splashed onto Disney+ this summer. The film is now available to own on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD, and the home release includes lots of fun bonus features including a deleted scene featuring a new character.

Luca is a coming-of-age tale set in the Italian Riviera, where an unlikely friendship grows between a human and two sea monsters disguised as humans. Sheltered by his parents’ fear of the surface, Luca befriends Alberto, who lives on his own, changes between his human and sea monster forms frequently, and explores the nearby human town of Portorosso. The two are quite the pair, but thanks to a deleted scene from Disney and Pixar, we’ve learned that the duo was originally envisioned as a trio! Check out the scene below.

In the deleted scene, titled Festa Del Mare, we learn that before Luca and Alberto were a duo, they were a trio! This clip features Ciccio, a sea monster boy who was originally envisioned as their third friend. The trio is introduced to Massimo by his daughter Giulia (the human girl that the boys meet and befriend) — earning themselves a scare after finding out the father and daughter dream of hunting a sea monster!

Luca, Alberto, and Giulia have a great group dynamic. I wonder how that would have changed if Ciccio had stayed in the film? One of the conflicts in Luca is Alberto’s resistance to Luca’s friendship with Giulia. Alberto is afraid of being alone since he no longer has parents around, and he fears that Luca will leave him to spend more time with Guilia. A fourth member of the group may have lessened that conflict in the long run.

Festa Del Mare is only one of many deleted scenes included in the home release of Luca. All of the scenes not included in the final version of the film have an introduction by director Enrico Casarosa. Additional deleted scenes include Here Comes Giulia, where Giulia explores Isola Del Mare and meets Luca and Alberto, Gelato Trouble where Alberto and Luca learn what gelato is, and Sea Monster Cannery where Luca dreams of a magical place filled with Vespas and gelato but things are not what they seem.

The home release of Luca has a variety of bonus features including never-before-seen featurettes and two alternate openings. As viewers dive into the bonus features, they’ll travel to Italy with Pixar artists to explore the location Luca is based in, learn the artistry of the sea monster to human transformation and more.

Disney and Pixar’s Luca, the fun-filled adventure of friendship on the Italian Riviera, is available today on Digital, 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ and DVD. Grab a copy and don’t miss all of these easter eggs!

The Sonic the Hedgehog movie is the latest to make the extra fast jump to digital platforms, as it will arrive on March 31. The voice of Sonic himself, Ben Schwartz, took to spreading the news with a very Sonic comment.

Sonic the Hedgehog was just released in theaters in mid-February, and was doing well so it almost certainly would be in theaters right now, if there were any theaters to be in, of course. The major theater chains held out as long as possible, drastically reducing capacity to try and handle the coroavirus without actually closing, but eventually there was simply no choice.

With Sonic the Hedgehog revealing a May date for its physical Blu-ray release, you have something of an idea when the movie was supposed to hit digital. Digital releases usually come no more than a couple weeks before the physical release, so the Sonic movie was likely expecting to hit digital in early May. Under the circumstances, ramping up production of the Blu-ray early isn't feasible. And also, buying the thing wouldn't be that easy anyway.

It's not all that surprising that Sonic the Hedgehog is making itself available digitally right now, considering a host of movies that were even newer in theaters have also done the same thing. The Invisible Man, Bloodshot and other films that were basically brand new in theaters are available for online rental. Sonic, however, will be available for normal digital purchase.

Trolls World Tour is already set to have a simultaneous opening digitally and in theaters, though that assumes theaters will be open when that movie arrives in early April, which is far from a sure thing right now.

Sonic the Hedgehog will be a good addition to many digital lineups. It's a solid family film and with so many kids stuck at home with school's closed, it's just the sort of thing that might help in keeping them entertained under the circumstances.

Of course, at some point we're going to run out of new movies digitally in the same way that we're out of movies in the theater. Of course, if this early digital release thing is successful, we could see movies doing this on a regular basis going forward. It will be very interesting to see how many of these emergency measures fade away once things return to normal and how many stay around for a long time.

There ain’t no party like a Rock and Kevin Hart party, as evidenced over and over again ahead of the release of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle and the duo’s more recent hit Jumanji: The Next Level. Now the movie is preparing to hit DVD, Blu-ray and Digital and the fun apparently isn’t over yet thanks to a new blooper real.

Taking to social media this week, Dwayne Johnson shared some behind-the-scenes moments form The Next Level that really should be appealing to fans, particularly the fans who have followed his all-in-good-fun, banter-filled relationship with Kevin Hart.

If you’ve seen Jumanji: The Next Level you should already know that the amazing premise of the newer Jumanji movies follows a different group of characters hopping into the game avatars played by The Rock and Kevin Hart. This time around, Dwayne Johnson’s Smolder Bravestone is inhabited by Danny DeVito’s character Eddie and Kevin Hart’s Mouse Finbar is inhabited by Danny Glover’s Milo.

This means for a large swath of The Next Level, The Rock and Hart are doing impressions of the two famous Danny’s. That’s what these bloopers are all about, including a funny though-joke about a dude named Carl.

Through the whole early press run for Jumanji: The Next Level, Dwayne Johnson and Kevin Hart were naturally paired and really seemed to be having the best time with the gig. Given they were mimicking acting icons this time around, it's no wonder they may have had more fun with the roles in the sequel or at least felt like they were challenging. Apparently, they even spent a bunch of time on the set of the Jumanji movie regularly doing bad Scottish accents, so they were having a ball before, during and well after filming.

In real life Johnson and Hart are buddies and the former even helped out the latter after his car accident last year. The Rock was on his honeymoon when Kevin Hart dealt with a horrible car crash and subsequent surgical intervention, and Dwayne Johnson cut his vacation short to cover for Hart during a planned appearance on Kelly Clarkson’s talk show.

Ultimately, Jumanji: The Next Level was a big hit and is still making a little moolah in theaters. We’ll have to wait and see if the studio signs on for Jumanji 4, but for now we can relieve the magic through the big home entertainment release for the film, which comes complete with scene breakdowns and a gag reel.

Jumanji: The Next Level is currently available on Digital and will be hitting homes via hard copies on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K starting on March 17. You can order your own copy now.

Going with a strong accent in a movie -- especially when it’s not their own native accent -- can have mixed results for actors. Daniel Craig’s over-the-top Southern accent in Knives Out certainly rides that fine line between charming and ridiculous. Ana de Armas, who also worked with Daniel Craig in the James Bond film, No Time To Die, is definitely a fan of the accent, though.

Both Ana de Armas and Daniel Craig’s characters, Marta Cabrera and Benoit Blanc, have noticeably different accents than the rest of the cast. Since the family of recently deceased Harlan Thrombey are from Massachusetts, they all had similar, WASP-y accents.

This connection between their characters wasn’t why Ana de Armas was so smitten by James Bond actor’s distinctive drawl, however. She admitted as much on the Knives Out Blu-ray extras.

Ana de Armas hails from Cuba, where she began her film career at the age of 18. After spending a few years in Spain to pursue both film and TV roles, she moved to the US in 2014. When she first settled in L.A., Ana de Armas only spoke Spanish, but she soon learned to speak English.

As a recent learner of English, it must have been nice to not be the only person on set working with a dialect coach. Of the two, I'd have to guess it was Daniel Craig who probably needed more coaching. Not only was the British actor doing an American accent, he'd chosen a very specific one to work with (although he had attempted a southern accent in previous projects like Logan Lucky, so this wasn't totally unfamiliar territory).

The entire cast of the dark comedy got along extremely well. Instead of retreating to their trailers between scenes, the Knives Out ensemble cast apparently mostly hung out together on the large New England estate where the film was largely shot.

The obvious chemistry between the cast is one part of the reason the movie was so successful. Knives Out won the Satellite Award for Best Cast in a Motion Picture, which was only natural. The film also grossed $293.7 million at the box office.

Daniel Craig’s flamboyant turn as Detective Blanc in particular was such a hit that a sequel to the movie was ordered. Director Rian Johnson said he’d had such a blast with the detective, he wouldn’t mind bringing him back for more adventures prior to the announcement and now it's all happening! Unfortunately, Ana de Armas is unlikely to be back for the next round.

Knives Out is available now on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K.

Through the course of 35 years and six films, the Terminator franchise has been on again and off again at the multiplex. With last year’s Terminator: Dark Fate attempting to start a new path for the trilogy, but note seeing the highest numbers at the box office, it looks like the series is about to go into hibernation again. Franchise legend, and Sarah Connor herself, Linda Hamilton happens to subscribe to that particular theory herself.

While speaking with her during the press rounds for Terminator: Dark Fate’s home video release, I had to ask if the film’s rather open-ended finale meant that we’d potentially see Sarah Connor fighting the good fight against the machines in another film. Hamilton not only confirmed once again that she isn’t looking to return to her landmark role, but thanks to the response to the last film, the series itself probably won’t be back:

While that comment might feel blunt, considering that Terminator Genisys’ worldwide grosses of $440.6 million were seen as a disappointing result for the franchise, the $261.1 million haul that Terminator: Dark Fate made on the open market does indeed feel like a blow to James Cameron’s legendary sci-fi property. Even though the new movie spent time hyping up the return of Linda Hamilton, an actor who hadn’t appeared in the franchise flesh since 1991’s Terminator 2: Judgment Day, it didn't translate to bodies in the seats.

On paper, James Cameron being able to convince Hamilton to revive Sarah Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate felt like the sort of decision that’d win even the most die-hard fans of the classic films back to the table. Even in the face of good critical reviews, director Tim Miller’s film couldn’t convert that professional goodwill into enough buzz to likely excite the studio for another movie, although only time will tell whether or not Terminator: Dark Fate will ultimately hit with the fanbase.

On the subject of fandom, it’s interesting to note that the film did score a Rotten Tomatoes’ verified audience score of 82%, with almost 13,000 votes in the count. Of course, that’s a very limited sample when it comes to moviegoers overall, so the total picture of Terminator: Dark Fate’s fan reaction is definitely complicated. People like the dang movie, but that's probably not enough to justify more.

With hopes seemingly dashed for another Terminator sequel, and even with Linda Hamilton’s insistence that she doesn’t want to bring Sarah Connor back again, hope still springs eternal. As the fandom hasn’t really latched onto a sequel as warmly as they did with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, it’s still sort of a miracle that there have been four follow-ups after that particular point.

Not to mention, if it wasn’t for Terminator: Salvation’s impact on the franchise, we would have seen the first complete trilogy in series history. Even in the face of such decision making and the varied response to whatever new twists and turns the films have taken, Terminator movies have happened at fairly reliable intervals. And it’s all because the brand itself still maintains its classic appeal.

So while Terminator: Dark Fate’s embodiment of its title feels like it’s closed the book on any future installments, be they direct continuations or more tangents in the already fractured timeline, this is a batch of movies that feel as tenacious as the villains that occupy them. Surprisingly enough that tenacity could potentially win Linda Hamilton back into another potential performance as Sarah Connor, though by her own admission it would be under the following strict guidelines:

As a professional, and a Terminator fan, I couldn’t agree more with Linda Hamilton’s specifications for a potential return to the fold. Seeing Sarah back in the game for Terminator: Dark Fate was something extremely special, and bringing her back for the potential seventh film in the Terminator series would really need to be an event worthy of happening.

That same approach is something any creative team looking to take a spin in the Terminator universe should also keep in mind. It feels like it’d be easy to create a serviceable sequel or reboot to this series of events, but unless there’s a particularly good idea that can kick the can of Armageddon down the road rather effectively, there’s always a risk of those diminishing returns.

Warning: Mild spoilers for Terminator: Dark Fate are now in play.

In all fairness, Terminator: Dark Fate did have a pretty good idea for how to pursue such an enterprise, with the death of John Connor altering the landscape of the Terminator story, and Sarah’s character, significantly. But ideas like those don’t always grow on trees, so unless the rest of that potential trilogy James Cameron was teasing has a cracker of an idea at its heart, we’re probably not going to see Sarah Connor onscreen ever again.

The upside to that particular scenario is that for fans longing to see a proper conclusion to Sarah’s story, Terminator: Dark Fate actually delivered in that regard. Her character’s arc sees her becoming a mentor for Natalia Reyes’ Dani, and the future of humanity is on the course to being saved. Even her rivalry with Carl, the T-800 that killed her son is resolved, as Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s characters bonded together to save the new savior of humanity from the threat she faced.

If the Terminator series is now dead and buried, it could go out under worse circumstances. With critical praise and the fandom’s positive reaction carrying Terminator: Dark Fate into the history books, the rest of Sarah Connor’s mysterious fate is nothing but what the fans will make it out to be. The box office may have tanked, but Linda Hamilton’s gift of returning for the fans is something that’ll always be treasured, as it should be.

Terminator: Dark Fate is now available on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, and DVD; ready to be added to your collection of preferred entries in the Terminator franchise.

Per a new notice on iTunes, Midsommar’s Director’s Cut will actually be a Digital exclusive to Apple TV. Apple also says the streaming set will come with some additional extras, noting:

If you are looking to see the Director’s Cut Ari Aster put together prior to its home release, you may be in luck. Ari Aster’s film actually got a big Labor Day weekend boost thanks to the Director’s Cut and added 632 theaters last weekend, so if that’s something you’re interested in seeing, now is the time to dive in. The re-release actually led to a 1,217.4% increase at the box office over the weekend, which is a huge percentage, although it's worth noting Midsommar was initially out on July 3, so it has been in theaters for a couple of months already and was in a much more limited release by the time it got this boost.

Related: Midsommar’s Florence Pugh And Director Ari Aster Don’t Agree On Ending

Ari Aster mentioned earlier this summer that he was working on a Director’s Cut of Midsommar and the turnaround has been rather quick. In fact, the DVD, Blu-ray and Digital release will actually be coming out in.

If you’d prefer a hard copy of the set, that’s an option too. The movie from Lionsgate will hit DVD and Blu-ray on October 8. Previously announced extras for those sets include a “Bear in a Cage” promo and a “Let The Festivities Begin” featurette. The sets will retail for $39.99 and $29.95 respectively.

Midsommar has reportedly made a fairly solid return on its budget so far. Allegedly made for $8- $10 million, the movie has pulled in $35.5 million worldwide. So, no, it’s not competing with the likes of Hobbs & Shaw at the box office, but it doesn’t have to.

Midsommar is Ari Aster’s sophomore directorial debut, following Hereditary. The movie is one of several that have come back for secondary or extended releases in theaters as a way to make additional money for a film. (Some of these rereleases and new cuts have worked better than others.)

Midsommar can still be seen in theaters now. To see what else is coming before year's end, be sure to take a look at CinemaBlend's movies schedule or see what is heading to DVD, Blu-ray and Digital with our full guide.

Perhaps the most important individual motion comic is The Fall, which tells the story of the eponymous conflict that plays so heavily into the world of Alita: Battle Angel. While we get snippets of just why this conflict is so important throughout the film’s events, a condensed history of the conflict is provided through The Fall’s six-minute running time.

The “TL;DR” version of The Fall sees Earth and Mars entering the all-out war that ravaged both worlds hundreds of years before Alita: Battle Angel takes place. As the two planets become hugely powerful entities in the future, an eventual war breaks the peace between them, reshaping the world as we know it.

It’s during this war that a chain of events take place that nail down two important factors in Alita: Battle Angel. First, we see that the reason Zalem is the only sky city surviving The Fall come to life through the history of the conflict’s casualties. Everything from battles to biological warfare play a part in turning the earth into something so desolate that Zalem and Iron City are pretty much the only population center on the planet.

The ultimate power move was played by the United Republic of Mars, as they launched a sneak attack on Earth, courtesy of a powerful bio-weapon that wiped out millions. A counter attack on Mars, courtesy of a nanobot plague that was let loose in retribution, evened up the playing field.

Meanwhile, we also learn more about Alita and who she was before we first meet her. With her given name being Yoko, it’s revealed that not only was she born a human on Mars, but her cybernetic enhancements only began once she became a soldier for the United Republic of Mars.

As an URM soldier, orphaned by The Fall, Yoko would join the cause and take up arms against Earth, eventually becoming the core of the woman who would eventually become Alita. The story of The Fall ends with our favorite battle angel in her famed scrap heap, memory wiped without a clue as to what or who she was in her past life. Waiting for Dr. Dyson Ido to recover her, and bring her back to life.

A lot of the details in The Fall fill in even more background into who Alita was before the beginning of Alita: Battle Angel takes place. Considering Robert Rodriguez did a huge re-write on James Cameron and Laeta Kalogridis’ 600-page script, it’s to be assumed that a lot of the information from The Fall motion comic was stripped from that lengthy original concept. Looking back at how Rodriguez’s film plays, it’s probably a good thing too.

The current state of Alita: Battle Angel teases just enough about The Fall that the audience knows how important it was and what it did to humanity, but still leaves a lot of that history untold and ready for future films. Should the Disney/Fox studio family want to move forward with more action in Alita’s world, it could easily use the content shown in The Fall as flashback scenes in a potential Alita: Battle Angel sequel. In an even more ambitious light, an entire prequel film could be made about Yoko’s life before becoming Alita.

Simply as a motion comic, The Fall provides enough information for fans of Alita: Battle Angel to get more of an understanding of just how important to the story her life was, and just how she became the woman that she is by the end of the film. Though that’s far from the only useful information “Alita’s World” has to offer.

Constant talk about whether or not Alita: Battle Angel could ever get a sequel has constantly been a topic of discussion surrounding Robert Rodriguez’s stunning film; those who are looking for more of Alita’s story can take comfort in the fact that “Alita’s World” holds more of that magic for all to see.

Bundled in with The Fall are three other motion comics that add layers to Robert Rodriguez’s interpretation of the world originated in Gunnm by manga author Yukito Kishiro. In Rules of the Game, the audience is given more background into how the sport of Motorball plays when it’s within the regulations set for that particular game, while What It Means To Be A Cyborg has the character of Hunter-Warrior Zappan talking about how he slowly became more of a cyborg over time, and what exactly happens when a person becomes more machine that organic.

The key addition in the three remaining motion comics is undoubtedly Iron City, a short that finds Alita’s boyfriend, Hugo, running down the districts that exist in the city, and the makeup of people and landmarks that can be found. Pair this with The Fall, and you’ve got a perfect primer that can be used to introduce newcomers to the world of Alita: Battle Angel, as well as enrich the understanding of those who have already seen the film.

Maybe, if enough fans experience the extended story of The Fall, and the rest that the collection of motion comics have to offer, there will be more of an outcry to see such events depicted in a living, breathing Alita: Battle Angel 2 or prequel. A prospect that even Rodriguez himself would be down for making into a reality. Only time will tell, but for now, the constellation of special features available on Alita: Battle Angel is one that shines so brightly, it makes the film at its heart even more dazzling.

Alita: Battle Angel is available for purchase on Digital HD, as well as 4K UHD/3D Blu-ray combo, Blu-ray, and DVD releases; with “Alita’s World” being one of the features that carries through each release of the film.

In addition to the regular releases of Alita: Battle Angel, a bunch of different sets will be available to up the ante for those fans who really loved the film. The major set that was recently announced can be found for pre-order on Amazon and will be a gigantic collection with a 3D Blu-ray, a 4K copy, and a Blu-ray and Digital code, meaning it should literally meet any movie need you might have.

The official Collector’s Set also comes with a bunch of additional extras. If you really liked the film enough for it to adorn your walls, concept art will be included, as well as a 64-page book. Lots of cool stuff, if you really enjoyed Alita.

That, of course, will also not be the cheapest of the options. It is currently running at $199.99, which is quite a bit of money to spend on a movie set, unless you’re a superfan. But just look at what you’ll get!

Luckily, if you’re just hoping for a little something special with your copy of Alita: Battle Angel, there are options. For example, the Target-specific Blu-ray for Alita: Battle Angel will come with a cool wristband, which you can see below.

In addition, Walmart has another gift set available and Best Buy is doing a pretty cool Steelbook release, which is both outside the norm and will be much lighter on your wallet. It also includes the 4K look at the film, if you have that capacity on your home TV.

So, there is honestly lots to choose from. The only thing I can’t help you with is the fact none of these sets will be available until July 23, although you can pre-order many of them now. It’s actually quite a while for fans to still be waiting, as the movie officially hit theaters way back in February. The Digital release is just around the corner, however, and is expected to be available starting on July 9.

Luckily, it looks as if the wait should be worth it, particularly for major fans of the film. And solid sales can only mean positive things for the future of the franchise – or I guess theoretical franchise at this point – as well. Particularly given that Robert Rodriguez would be happy to make a sequel to the movie, should the opportunity arise.

Pre-order your own copy of the Collector’s Set now!

Among the film's many surprises was its spin on the shape-shifting Skrulls. It was important to the directors to humanize the Skrulls, who initially were presented as villains but ended up being the opposite. In a recent interview included on the film's home video release, Fleck and Boden said,

A bit of context: The Skrulls first appeared back in Fantastic Four #2 (1962) and became recurring villains for almost every hero in the Marvel universe, particularly the Fantastic Four and the Avengers. They were the primary antagonists of the immensely popular Secret Invasion arc and had prominent roles in subsequent events. So, as one can imagine, contrasting how the Skrulls were originally introduced with how they're depicted in the film makes the twist even more shocking.

The directors continued, saying:

Captain Marvel does a phenomenal job of handling the Skrulls deftly, interestingly, and sympathetically. It's a welcome twist that actually ends up making sense as the film reaches its final act. It's also worth pointing out that for many, the interpretation presented in the film will be their interpretation -- especially if they never take the deep-dive into the comics and their ever-expanding lore.

That's just one of the many reasons Captain Marvel is an important film. And maybe why it performed so well at the box office. The box office boost from Avengers: Endgame (which hit theaters while Captain Marvel was still in its theatrical run) didn't hurt, either. She met the Avengers in a post-credits scene, which simultaneously deepened the connection between the two films and cross-promoted them.

Captain Marvel is now available digitally and on Blu-ray, 4K, and DVD.

As has become more common of late, Shazam!’s Digital release will be coming earlier than the physical copies of the DC movie. Digital will be out on July 2nd, followed by the DVD and Blu-ray releases on July 16. The good news? You can pre-order your copy now.

The movie is also hitting 4K, which is great news for fans of the format. Those copies will also have Dolby Vision HDR.

All of the hard copies of the flick will come with the same special features. There’s a motion comic that will be included, although the deleted scenes should be the most delightful extra here.

Previously, we learned there were 20-24 minutes of deleted scenes that were cut from the film. CinemaBlend spoke with editor Michel Aller, who noted the lengthy amount of deleted footage before giving us a tidbit about what we could see with the set:

It's not always easy to get a movie just right, and it will be interesting to see what Shazam! left on the cutting room floor with the home entertainment release.

Take a look at the other extras below.

Shazam’s kind of an interesting flick. The movie had a nice run – albeit not spectacular – at the box office, pulling in over $361 million worldwide on an alleged $100 million budget. So far, DC has started looking into Shazam 2, hiring screenwriter Henry Gayden to pen the sequel.

The problem is that DC and Warner Bros.’ movie schedule is a little bit of a mess right now, and it’s not like Shazam 2 has gotten off the ground in terms of production, much less gotten an official release date yet.

A nice run on DVD and Digital could always help the process move a little faster, however. So, if you liked the movie, it may be one to add to your collections.

Per what James Wan had to say on Twitter, the director is thoroughly uninterested in sitting in a room for the duration of a 2+ hour movie and revealing a slew of “making of” secrets and stories about that movie. He likes the “mystery” of movie magic and wants to keep his work close to the vest.

Commentary tracks are generally for the die hard fans anyway, the ones who want to immerse themselves in and engage with a slew of facts related to how a movie got made. These movie buffs will likely have other forums for gleaning facts related to the movie.

And anyway, the whole purpose of owning a copy of a movie is to revisit the actual movie whenever you want. The Digital release for Aquaman will be coming in just a few short weeks on March 5. A 4K, Blu-ray and DVD release will happen a little later, starting on March 26.

A previously rumored look at Shazam! has also been confirmed by Warner Bros. James Wan also gets his own featurette on the Blu-ray and DVD called “James Wan: World Builder.” Other extras include “Scene Study Breakdowns” (which sound like they could be short mini-versions of commentary), Atlantis-oriented content and more. You can take a look below.

There's usually a three-month window between the start of a theatrical release and a movie's home entertainment release. For a movie like Aquaman this is less of a big deal. You can still catch the DC and Warner Bros. flick in movie theaters right now; therefore the transition into watching the movie at home should be pretty seamless. If you'd like to go ahead and order your own copy of the flick, we have you covered. In addition, you can look into Shazam! and the other upcoming DC releases with our full guide.

The announcement came through the official Remedy Entertainment Twitter account, where the developers announced that Alan Wake is back on Steam after a short spell of being removed from the digital distribution storefront. And the thriller arrives (or comes back) just in time for Halloween, too.

Not only that, but Remedy announced that during the Halloween spookfest, you will be able to get your hands on a copy of Alan Wake and Alan Wake: American Nightmare at discounted prices. How discounted? Well, the company went all out, allowing gamers to get their hands on the title for 80% off the normal price. The game was already marked down to just $14.99 after being on the Steam store since 2012 (six years ago) but with the 80% off discount it means you can get your hands on the game for just $3.00.

That's not all. Fans can also get your hands on a couple of other packages that are discounted as well, including the collector's edition, which is usually available for $19.99, but since it's marked down by 80% off you can also get it for only $4.00. Yep, just $4.00. It includes the full game and the collector's edition extras.

Alternatively, you can get the entire franchise, which includes the base game, American Nightmare, and the collector's edition extras, all for just $5.00. It, too, is also marked down by 80% off, where it's regularly sold for $24.99.

Alan Wake originally came out last gen for the Xbox 360, featuring a completely unorthodox lead hero who wasn't the typical gruff action archetype. Alan Wake was actually just a fiction author who attempted to get away from the daily stresses of everyday life after he hit writer's block. His wife attempted to get him to clear his head while on vacation and help get him inspired through the muse of serene outdoor life.

However, things took a drastic turn for the couple in the strange town of Bright Falls when Alan Wake's wife went missing and he slowly became the prime suspect. Alan also began suffering from blackouts and time distortions that played with the very fabric of his reality and the stability of his mind.

The game itself is a third-person shooter with some exploration and dramatic elements. Alan Wake is a quick-paced game that moves at a nice clip and is segmented down like an episodic television series. I guess it makes sense there's also going to be a TV series based on the property. The hook for the game was that the darkness that canvases Bright Falls can only be defeated with light, forcing players to get creative with how they interact with the environment.

The game was missing from Digital storefronts for a short while but now it's back on sale and you can get it at a discounted rate during Halloween.

When a movie is coming together, often it takes numerous edits before it gets to its final iteration. Though Mission: Impossible -- Fallout was ultimately a movie that ran well over two hours in length, originally it was even longer, at 2:43 in length. Director Christopher McQuarrie even had to cut a scene he particularly liked in order to make the movie zippier. He revealed in a recent interview there was a whole musical sequence that almost made the movie. Per McQuarrie:

Even hearing the director reminisce about the setup of the scene makes me a little wistful we didn't get to see it in the final version. It sounds like Vanessa Kirby really worked to get her vocals just right and the production even paid for a darn orchestra to set the scene. Yet, the whole thing ended up being a little too much and Christopher McQuarrie tightened up the scene.

Christopher McQuarrie went on to tell Collider in the interview that he and editor Eddie Hamilton just immediately knew the scene was not necessary in the least. The two men knew it after the 2:43 draft of the movie was put together. They knew it before it screened in front of an audience. There was a good reason they knew it. According to McQuarrie,

One musical number does not a movie make, but apparently one villain does. Chris McQuarrie would go on to tell Eddie Hamilton to pull the full singing sequence, although he did mention curious viewers may be able to spot exactly where the sequence would have gone. He also said that even though he liked the scene, cutting it didn't bother him. The musical number was a bit out of place and "it didn't serve the scene." Therefore, it didn't make the movie.

If the man behind Mission: Impossible -- Fallout liked the scene so much, one might hope that fans could see the final version on the movie's Blu-ray release. However, Christopher McQuarrie confirmed that fans will only get a deleted reel of the shots he had some trouble removing from the flick, noting he's not a fan of actual deleted scenes on a home entertainment set, noting,

Mission: Impossible -Fallout won't actually be hitting Blu-ray and DVD until the end of the year. If you are excited about revisiting the movie, you can pre-order it now or catch it starting on December 4.

Now I know many people are signaling the death knell of physical media as streaming takes over but there is still merit in tangible formats. High definition on Blu-ray still looks better than high-def streaming and that's before we even get into the better audio. And as evidenced by the various articles telling us what's coming and going from the streaming services every month, you can't always access the movies you want when you want them on streaming. Physical media circumvents those problems. There is also now the new UltraHD Blu-ray format that benefits those with 4K TVs, offering even higher resolution and incredible high dynamic range color. But there are some films that still haven't even made the jump to regular old HD that need to do so. Blu-ray, UltraHD, either, both, I'll take whatever I can get.

The following films are feasts for the eyes but they are currently being starved for resolution. Although you may be able to find some of these films to watch digitally, many of them aren't available on free streaming, and even then you can tell you are not watching a high-definition transfer. Some have been released overseas but due to region coding of Blu-ray discs, importing one that will work on your player is a dicey prospect. So with that in mind here are 10 films that are not yet available on Blu-ray in the U.S. but need to be.

The Beach

While promoting Annihilation, director Alex Garland revealed that another possible adaptation of his novel, The Beach, might be in the works. It remains to be seen if Garland himself will be tackling it now that he's made the jump to filmmaker or if someone else will do it. But as it stands now the only film version of Garland's novel is the 2000 Danny Boyle adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The actor was coming off the success of Titanic when he did this film and it is remarkable that it still isn't available on Blu-ray. The film was shot on location in Thailand and this paradise would really translate well to the high-def format with its lush, bright colors. It is kind of shocking that a film starring such a name actor and from an Academy Award-winning director is still only available in such an old format but that's where we are. Perhaps if the novel is adapted again, that will spur a Blu-ray release of the original to create some name recognition.

The Prince of Egypt

This was Dreamwork's first traditional animated film and it is basically an adaptation of the Book of Exodus from the Bible. It features the Oscar-nominated music of Hans Zimmer and positively lush animation. The Prince of Egypt featured traditional animation by artists who had worked for Disney, as well as computer-generated imagery. The combination makes for a stunning film that really captures the scope and power of the story. Everything from the building of Egyptian temples to the plagues to the parting of the Red Sea is conveyed with fluid and majestic animation. Interestingly, The Prince of Egypt is one of several Dreamworks Animation films that are still awaiting the Blu-ray treatment, including Chicken Run, The Road to El Dorado and Over the Hedge. Dreamworks Animation seems to have neglected its earlier films in making the jump to high-def, but hopefully that gets remedied soon and this jaw-dropping film gets the release it deserves.

Open Range

The Western genre naturally lends itself to beautiful visuals, with wide shots conveying the vastness of the American west, when the land was still wild and untamed. Kevin Costner directed this underrated Western that he stars in alongside Robert Duvall and Annette Bening. In the film, Duvall is an open range cattleman, driving his herd cross country with Costner's former soldier and their cattle crew. They are threatened by a corrupt lawman and forced to defend what's theirs. The film conveys the wide-open spaces of the West in a way that would really benefit from being shown on Blu-ray. The contrast of the dustiness of the people and the land with the big blue sky would really look great and hopefully introduce Kevin Costner's last directorial effort to a wider audience. Oh, and it has an awesome final gun battle, as is befitting for a great Western.

Solaris (2002)

George Clooney and Natascha McElhone star in Steven Soderbergh's remake of Andrei Tarkovsky's 1972 film. Soderbergh also serves as the cinematographer for the trippy and emotional science fiction film. The director uses super low lighting with deep blacks in some of the scenes that would really disappear into the screen on a quality high-def transfer. Even the drab grays of the space station are beautifully photographed. The space station orbits the planet Solaris, which pulsates hypnotically with cool, electric colors. The visual effects looked great for the time and I imagine they would still hold up to modern scrutiny in an HD presentation. Solaris is a contemplative sci-fi flick from an auteurist director that, while not for everyone, would be a welcome addition to most film fan's collections.

Far From Heaven

This 2002 film from writer/director Todd Haynes stars Julianne Moore, Dennis Quaid and Dennis Haysbert. It follows a housewife in 1950's Connecticut who is facing a marital crisis and mounting racial tensions in the outside world. The film is an homage to the romantic dramas of 1950's director Douglas Sirk. The film netted Julianne Moore a Best Actress nomination, a director nomination for Haynes and a Best Cinematography nomination for Edward Lachman. The film attempts to evoke a 1950's style and makes very deliberate use of color, setting specific color palettes for each scene. The use of color is a recurring motif throughout the film with different colors coming to symbolize different things for the characters. This film was released in Canada on Blu-ray but is seemingly out of print. A stateside Blu-ray release would allow audiences to enjoy the color and beauty of this award-nominated film that deals with issues that are still relevant today.

The Ghost and the Darkness

I am always shocked that more people haven't seen this film since it has been one of those films I watch whenever it's on since its release. The Ghost and The Darkness is a fictionalized telling of the true story of John Henry Patterson and the Tsavo Man-Eaters, two African lions who were killing the workers building a railroad bridge in 1898 Kenya. The film has some flaws, like Val Kilmer's questionable accent, but it is truly a blast, with scares and thrills throughout. The brutality of nature in a film that was described as Jaws on land is contrasted with the awe and appreciation for wild places and humanity's native continent. The film was shot in South Africa and the sweeping African vistas would really benefit from a Blu-ray release. This film has a high rewatchability factor and it's really a shame that it isn't available in a better format at the moment.

The Abyss

This is one that really baffles me to be honest. If ever there was a director who was a champion of new technology and pushing the bounds of image quality and presentation, it's James Cameron. But his 1989 underwater, sci-fi adventure film starring Ed Harris and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio is still languishing in the muddy waters of standard definition. This film was nominated for Best Cinematography and won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Like Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the special effects still hold up to this day and would really benefit from a high or ultra-high definition presentation. Back in 2016, James Cameron said that they had done a wet-gate 4K scan of the original negative for the film and it would look insanely good. The Abyss and True Lies (another Cameron film still waiting on HD treatment) were supposedly going to be released on Blu-ray in 2017, but that year came and went and we are still waiting. Maybe this year will prove more fruitful. Given James Cameron's perfectionism, I have a feeling the Blu-ray of this film will be magnificent and well worth the wait.

Everything is Illuminated

This 2005 film based on the book of the same name, was the directorial debut for actor Liev Schreiber. The film follows Elijah Wood as young Jewish man Jonathan Foer, who sets out to find the woman who saved his grandfather during World War II. Despite this being his first film, Schreiber crafts a visually interesting film with bright colors that really pop against the backdrop of rural Ukraine. The film also has these super desaturated, high-exposure scenes for the flashbacks. While Everything is Illuminated received mixed reviews upon its release and lost money at the box office, it is a unique little road movie from Schreiber, who has only directed episodes of Ray Donovan since.

Titan A.E.

Titan A.E. was the last feature film from director and legendary animator Don Bluth. Don Bluth was among a group of animators who walked out of Disney in the '70s to form their own animation studio. He went on to direct classics like The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail and The Land Before Time. His last major directorial effort was this 2000 space adventure that combined hand-drawn animation with computer-generated imagery. I'm probably in the minority as someone who loves this film, but you can't take anything away from it visually. It is a beautiful adventure that spans the cosmos from nebulas to ice planets as an electric blue enemy pursues the heroes who are looking for a planet to call home. These awesome environments would look really awesome if given a proper transfer. Sadly, the Blu-rays of Don Bluth's other films have been lacking and were seemingly not treated with the care that the work of such a craftsman deserves. But even a mediocre transfer would still likely improve upon the DVD so here's hoping we eventually get one.

A Little Princess

Alfonso Cuarón's 1995 adaptation of Frances Hodgson Burnett's children's novel is a beautiful and fantastical film that was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Cinematography. Who was the cinematographer on this film you ask? Well, none other than Emmanuel Lubezki, heard of him? He's the three time Oscar-winning cinematographer behind the lens for Gravity, Birdman and The Revenant. So yeah, this movie is beautiful. It was also nominated for Best Art Direction. Every frame, from the majesty of India to the dreariness of an English boarding school is immaculately crafted and makes brilliant use of color and light. It is a true crime that this is not available on Blu-ray or Ultra HD, the photography would really come to life with on these formats. Oh, and it also stars Liam Cunningham, that's Sir Davos Seaworth for all you Game of Thrones fans out there.

We've known for a while that Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi will be hitting Blu-ray with a bunch of extra content. Among these are deleted scenes, which will reportedly include a lesson between Luke Skywalker and Rey when she is still on Ahch-To. While the Blu-ray hasn't even been officially announced yet, this week Star Wars released some new footage for The Last Jedi via a pretty cool video about the flick's novelization. You can check the full thing out below.

In case you aren't interested in a full rundown of what the novelization will be doing, the relevant scene in question is some footage between Luke and Rey where we see Rey running toward a village that looks to be on fire. The scene in question was described by Slashfilm a few weeks ago, where Luke reportedly tells Rey the caretakers have to deal with bandits on a regular basis and that the caretakers may be in danger. Rey then runs really fast to save the caretakers, despite Luke pestering her about maintaining balance in the Force, even when bad things happen. But the whole thing ends up being a lesson and not a real threat. The footage looks like this:

While the clip isn't lengthy, it's certainly a nice tidbit regarding what is to come and gives us a little more from the "training" component between Rey and Luke Skywalker. As for the Blu-ray itself, Disney still hasn't announced when Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be available for purchase, but since the movie is still running in theaters, it could be a little while before we get more specific details regarding what is to come. (Early rumors have guesstimated the Blu-ray will come in March.) Suffice to say, there will be bonus features, and some of those should be deleted scenes. We previously learned the first cut of Star Wars: The Last Jedi was over three hours in length, so presumably there should be some pretty cool stuff to choose from.

As for the novelization of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the new information also makes it clear that if you wanted to know more about the Han storyline and specifically his funeral, the novelization should be just the ticket. In the meantime, you can still catch Star Wars: The Last Jedi in theaters, and take a look at what else is coming with our full movies guide.

This is the sort of thing that we have come to expect from a guy like Zack Snyder over the years. He has regularly inserted himself into movies that he has a hand in making -- such as Dawn of the Dead and Watchmen -- and the sheer amount of detail that he puts into films that he directs or produces is well-documented. The guy just knows how to insert Easter eggs into movies seamlessly.

While Zack Snyder certainly looks badass in that image, his actual inclusion in Wonder Woman was ultimately far blurrier and out of focus. Check out the finalized version of the black and white photo below.

Zack Snyder's job on the Wonder Woman Veld set wasn't to just stand there and look pretty. In between shots, he would regularly confer with Patty Jenkins about the finer details in the photo, as it would go on to factor heavily into both of their films. These details included the level of clarity and focus on Diana, as well as the amount of blur present on Steve Trevor to give him a ghostlier presence in the picture.

There's a clear attention to detail in every inch of the picture, but that apparently also caused a major headache for the production of Wonder Woman when they returned to film the actual Veld battle. The photo was not taken when Patty Jenkins shot the No Man's Land sequence (because Snyder needed the picture much sooner for his work on Batman V Superman), which meant they had to go back to recapture every minor nuance of the photo to create a sense of continuity.

In the end, everything seems to have paid off. The black and white photo is one of the best connective tissues that ties the DCEU together, and Zack Snyder's cameo (as minor as it may be) pretty much completely embodies his meticulous nature when it comes to Easter eggs.

Wonder Woman is now available on Digital, and the Blu-ray edition of the film will hit shelves on September 19. Looking ahead, Diana Prince will make her next appearance the DCEU when Justice League hits theaters on November 17.

Screenshot courtesy of Wonder Woman Digital release.

The above look at the bonus scene notes the clip wasn't something we've seen in theaters. It's part of a larger scene that will feature Etta Candy meeting up with Sameer, Charlie and The Chief to plan their next mission. According to Etta Candy, there's an artifact that was found along the western Belgium front that the group has been asked to retrieve for the Americans.

But, wait, you may be asking, didn't director Patty Jenkins say say that most of the scenes that had to be tweaked in the film involved jokes and small moments? Yes, but the scene on the Blu-ray will not be a deleted scene. Instead, the Wonder Woman director told Yahoo that the idea for the epilogue came together after the making of the film and was not an idea that was shot and than later discarded.

Honestly, knowing this add-on was created later makes it a little more exciting than the average deleted scene with a home entertainment release, as those vary in quality and length. Luckily, we don't have too wait too long to check it out.

It's hard to tell if this will lead to more side adventures for the team, but it is the sort of thing that seems ripe for exploration. For now, we'll have to wait for the upcoming Digital release to check out whether this team-up is a winner. Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will be releasing Wonder Woman onto Digital on Tuesday, August 29. The hard copy version on DVD and Blu-ray will be hitting shelves starting on September 19. Order your own copy here. In addition, take a look at the other big releases coming up this month.

There are certainly conflicting feelings related to seeing your babies get remade. Don Hahn, especially, has experience with working in Disney's live action environment, as he was an executive producer on Maleficent and Beauty and the Beast. So, in some ways it's easy to see why the producer might be excited to see something new come down the pipeline that was directly influenced and inspired by the classic Lion King. However, even with Jon Favreau at the helm, that's no guarantee of box office success. Disney wants to make a good movie, surely, but it may not be exactly what the studio is envisioning when the final project is released. And that could be better. But it could be worse, as well.

One thing is for certain. Jon Favreau's The Lion King will be different from the animated 1994 movie, simply because it will be stylized in a different way, and will presumably be mimicking nature in real life. Co-director Rob Minkoff shared that Favreau's version really may not be super close to the animated version. He said,

Although the live action movie will be using CGI and motion capture, similar to The Jungle Book, I think there is a comparison between what Rob Minkoff has said about the live action film and how the live action Jungle Book felt, style-wise, when compared to the animated movie. There will certainly be a lot of changes with the new movie, but hopefully those changes will keep new audiences entertained and will serve to help both movies remain special in the hearts of audiences, for different reasons.

While we wait for the new movie, Disney is releasing The Lion King back onto Blu-ray with a slew of new special features as part of its Signature Collection. You'll be able to get your hands on that movie starting on August 29. As for Jon Favreau's version, you'll be able to see that in theaters in 2019.

There are a lot of people who likely remember this amazing and lengthy trailer, both because it gave us an intense and colorful look at a movie we knew little about, and because the "Circle of Life" in full runs more than four minutes in length, which makes for a very unusual trailer length. The explosion of color with the title card was enough to sell a lot of moviegoers on The Lion King. Regardless, at the time, the movie wasn't even close to finished, and Don Hahn went so far as to tell CinemaBlend The Lion King was a hot "mess" even by the time "Circle of Life" was completed.

Prior to the film's release, Disney also began screening The Lion King for audiences around San Fernando Valley, in places like Pasadena. The studio screened the movie for "moms and kids." Disney screened The Lion King for 18-24 year-olds, and even a slew of people who had tattoos, which was important because the potential audience for the feature was a giant question mark before the previews were shown. Per Don Hahn, these were a real breakthrough for the creative team:

The Lion King was eventually released on June 24, 1994 to general critical acclaim, meaning that Rob Minkoff, Don Hahn and Co. were able to turn that "mess" into a polished gem. It would likely take pages and pages to describe how the movie made it from Point A to Point B, but the germ of the movie's success can trace back to that one bold marketing move, which you can view in full, below.

The Lion King is heading to Blu-ray, DVD and Digital on August 29 as part of Walt Disney's Signature Collection. New features include rare footage and a brand new sing-along version of the film. To find out more, head here.

While we wait for April's big Blu-ray releases, if you are looking for the March 2017 DVD, Digital and Blu-ray releases, we have you covered. Unless otherwise noted in the Digital column, Digital releases are the same days as the Blu-ray and DVD releases.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story Blu-ray Review

Rogue One is obviously a Star Wars movie, but in some ways, it also feels very separate from the rest of the entries, despite its basic plot explaining how the Death Star plans were stolen. With a few notable exceptions and a couple fun cameos, the film includes mostly original characters. It also has its own tone and sense of pacing. That combination of nostalgia and originality really works and comes together to produce what many consider to be one of the better Star Wars movies of all-time. Of course, it doesn't hurt that Gareth Edwards' Rogue One: A Star Wars Story contains plenty of consuming visual landscapes and CGI work recreating Grand Moff Tarkin that's nothing short of stunning. It also makes for one heck of a Blu-ray release, that also comes with a DVD and Digital copy. Walt Disney Home Entertainment's set even has a really nice menu setup with a cute buffering screen, and there's way more to the set, as well.

Bonus features are lengthy and located on a separate disc. Literally, there are so many details you can learn on the disc, from the idea of how the initial idea came together and how Gareth Edwards' Monsters influenced his hiring to how the stunts were achieved. The cast-specific extras are a little less exciting because they are mostly practical, but I even enjoyed the "Epilogue: The Story Continues" extra which featured footage from the premiere. Maybe it was just the emotional music choice that was getting to me. You can check out the full list of extras or order your own copy of Rogue One over at Amazon.

Office Christmas Party Blu-ray Review

Office Christmas Party was spawned from an insanely simple premise, which is acknowledged within the extras on the Blu-ray disc. However, with 28 lead cast members---also acknowledged on the disc---the movie has an awful lot going on, most of which picks up after branch manager Clay (T.J. Miller) decides to throw a giant holiday party when his staff's jobs are on the line. Shenanigans ensure, involving actors as varied as Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, Kate McKinnon, Courtney B. Vance, Jamie Chung, Randall Park, Rob Corddry, Jillian Bell, and more. With the massive cast and the amount of ad-libbing that was allowed on the set of Office Christmas Party, it makes totally sense there are just a crapton of outtakes and deleted scenes (some of which are in the unrated version) on the disc. There's also lengthy theatrical commentary and a behind-the-scenes featurette. This is the type of comedy you'll watch again and again if you liked it, and if Office Christmas Party is your jam, you can order a copy of the flick here.

Tuesday, April 4 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Office Christmas Party

Don't Kill It

Paterson

Week of Tuesday, April 4 Early Digital Releases

Split

The Founder

Teen Titans The Judas Contract

Sleepless

Generation Found

Hidden Figures Blu-ray Review

There were some doozies in this year's Academy Awards nominees. One of these films, Hidden Figures, is notable not just for its cast, its great script and the way it all came together, but also because the movie is an inspirational story about three women who worked important NASA jobs in the face of both ethnic and gender cultural issues at the time. Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's Blu-ray release is better upon a second viewing, as the details of Katherine Goble (Taraji P. Henson), along with Mary Jackson (Janelle Monae) and Dorothy Vaughan's (Octavia Spencer) stories are fascinating. The set itself is nice, too. When there are true-to-life stories such as the one in Hidden Figures, it's often good to get more background, and "The Life of Katherine Johnson" and more era-specific information is explored in the intriguing Making Of segment. Filming in Georgia was also personally fascinating to learn about, as I'm always interested to hear why shows and movies work for a move or TV show like The Walking Dead. (In this movie's case, the Virginia setting makes Georgia appealing.) The extras on the disc are probably not enough to entice you if you didn't already like the movie, but luckily this one is pretty great. Check out more about the release before you order your own copy and be sure to look at the original book.

Tuesday, April 11 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

Hidden Figures

Lion

Veep: The Complete Fifth Season

Silicon Valley: The Complete Third Season

Top Gear 23

Tangled Before Ever After

Worlds Apart

Walking With The Enemy

The Bye Bye Man

Toni Erdman

Mad Families

War on Everyone

Three

Week of Tuesday, April 11 Early Digital Releases

The Young Pope (iTunes April 10)

Underworld Blood Wars

La La Land

Split Blu-ray Review

Following up the Fox series Wayward Pines, M. Night Shyamalan headed back to the big screen, producing the modestly budgeted thriller Split. Much of the movies eeriest moments are due to James McAvoy, who plays Kevin Wendall Crumb, among others, in Split. Without giving too much away, this latest endeavor features all of the twists and turns we've come to expect from a film by M. Night Shyamalan. It's a doozy of a movie, fun, scary, spectacular, and it's still good on a rewatch. Universal Studios Home Entertainment's set comes standard with an additional DVD and Digital copy. Extras aren't lengthy or amazing, although if you liked McAvoy's performance, you can catch more in "The Many Faces of James McAvoy." There's also an alternate ending, and I don't want to give too much away about it, but it is disturbing, and it's easy to see why it was cut from the final draft of the film. Still, that's certainly the extra that is most worth a watch. Order your own copy now.

The Founder Blu-ray Review

A lot of movies have been made over the years about big business, and The Founder tackles one of the biggest: the rise of McDonald's a fast food chain that rose to prominence on the whims and hard work of Mac and Dick McDonald (John Carroll Lynch and Nick Offerman) and Ray Croc (Michael Keaton), a man with more of a vision for the business than a humble attitude toward it. The Founder is mostly about Ray Croc's attitude toward building an empire, and how his relationship with the McDonald brothers crumbled as he struggled for largesse and they simply wanted to produce a good product. Keaton puts in a masterful performance here, as enthusiasm turns to obsession and director John Lee Hancock introduces us to a darker side of business. It's a slow process, and at times, the nearly two hour-long movie is a little slow. But it's certainly worth a watch. Anchor Bay Home Entertainment's Blu-ray release comes with a DVD and Digital copy, but it's light on extras, although you can look into those first. This may be one to rent before owning, but it's no doubt another example of Michael Keaton churning out great roles.

Tuesday, April 18 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

Split

The Founder

Punching Henry

Killjoys: The Complete Second Season

Teen Titans: Judas Contract

Sleepless

Week of Tuesday, April 18 Early Digital Releases

A Dog's Purpose

Gold

La La Land Blu-ray Review

Filled with sunny costumes and actual sunshine, La La Land is a delightful romp through one of the most famous cities on Earth. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone are both compelling in the narrative, which follows their young romance as the two are both trying to make it big in the big city. I could nitpick about the singing and dancing quality in the film, but there's a charm to the leads' lack of expertise and the movie's ending will certainly be memorable. There's a reason Damien Chazelle's latest film won six Academy Awards at this year's ceremony, including a big win for Emma Stone in the best actress category. If you want to read more about why La La Land is a must-watch, we have you covered. If not, Summit Entertainment's Blu-ray release comes with both a DVD and Digital copy of the film. If you are wondering how certain scenes in the movie were shot---the big shutting down the freeway opener, for example---the extras featuring a wonderful amount of movie trivia, and there are quite a few of them with the set too, especially if you purchase the Blu-ray, which comes with a few extras. There's also a segment on the times Gosling and Stone have worked together in the past, so if you are a fan of their body of work, there's plenty to peruse. You can order your own copy of the flick.

Tuesday, April 25 Blu-ray And DVD Releases

La La Land

The Affair: Season Three

Animal Kingdom: The Complete First Season

Mean Dreams

Underworld Blood Wars

The Daughter

We Are X

The Marine 5: Battleground

Detour

Peanuts Go Team Go DVD

Week Of April 25 Early Digital Releases

Fifty Shades Darker

Considering many of the main characters in this movie are human, or are demigods who frequently resemble humans, there's a lot of hair to animate. Moana herself is unlike a lot of other Disney characters. Like Mulan, she's often messing with her hair, sometimes wearing it in a bun and sometimes allowing it to get drenched or blow in the wind. That's a lot of different types of hair to animate, too, making the process even more challenging.

So, why was the hair such a major issue during the production process? Senior software engineer Maryanne Simmons elaborated further on the Blu-ray release of the film, noting that with 3D animation if you want to move hair, you have to move each piece of hair individually. This isn't a real possibility, but the team behind the movie developed software called quicksilver to help with the process. Still, she wouldn't call the way the hair came together easy.

When comparing the movement of the hair on The Little Mermaid to the movement in Moana, we kind-of see how that got complicated, but also how hair does add to a character's personality. Regardless, it's cool the difficulty didn't prevent the movie from making it work.

Moana's animation as a whole is really beautiful and features a lot of movement, from water in the ocean to the fiery lava demon Te Ka. The 3D animation looks really great, but it's actually sort of nice to know the work that goes into the process of bringing films like Moana to life on the big screen. If you'd like to learn more about how they rose to the challenge and created the hair in the film, check out Walt Disney Home Entertainment's Moana Blu-ray release, which is currently available on Blu-ray and Digital. Learn more about the release here.

The DVD set for the first season of The Mary Tyler Moore show was ranked at 7,020 in sales at Amazon Movies and TV prior to her death. Twenty-four hours later, the first season is ranked 14. The bump represents a 50,042% rise in sales over the past day, which is... pretty astonishing, all things considered.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show Season 1 isn't the only Mary Tyler Moore project to make it to today's list of the biggest gainers in Amazon sales. In fact, the 13 best-selling products in Movies and TV are all about Mary Tyler Moore. Every season of The Mary Tyler Moore Show that is currently available on DVD made the list, as well as a couple of box sets. Collections of The Dick Van Dyke Show rank at 9 and 10. Three of Moore's movies have also sold phenomenally over the past day. Ordinary People ranks at 7 and 12, Change of Heart comes in at 11, and Thoroughly Modern Millie occupies the 13th spot.

Mary Tyler Moore's projects got their first big boost on Amazon in the hours after the announcement of her death yesterday. The Mary Tyler Moore Show sales jumped up by 23,000% and The Dick Van Dyke Show rose by nearly 5,000%, according to TMZ. For any who thought that sales might drop off after the initial heartbreak at her death passed, today's sales numbers may come as a surprise.

The Mary Tyler Moore Show is also doing well on iTunes. The series has been so popular over the past 24 hours that Season 1 made it onto the list of the top 10 of TV seasons downloaded. I wouldn't be surprised if the number of people searching for Mary Tyler Moore shows on streaming video sites skyrocketed, as well. Netflix subscribers are out of luck on the Mary Tyler Moore Show front, but all five seasons of The Dick Van Dyke Show are available. Hulu subscribers can access the first three seasons of The Mary Tyler Moore Show on top of all five seasons of The Dick Van Dyke Show.

The passing of Mary Tyler Moore is still tragic, but the knowledge than plenty of people are reacting to her death by celebrating her life in the spotlight may help ease the pain. She was a groundbreaking actress and comedienne, and it's only right that folks relive her accomplishments in the wake of her death.

The bad news comes directly from Variety, as they reported that Funai Electronics, the final manufacturer of the VCR, will terminate production of the long antiquated device at the close of July. This comes almost ten years after VHS tapes stopped being made, with the last film being mass produced on the format being Fox's Eragon. In the past couple of years, specialty VHS titles have been printed, the most recent being Deadpool, which had a limited amount of VHS units created to give out at this week's Comic Con, inspired by the April Fools' gag it had played on audiences through their social media presence. The VCR is survived by DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital HD formats.

While it's not like the VHS is a format that's gone before its time, it's still sad to see such a nostalgic format slipping the surly bonds of this earth, and joining the bleeding choir invisible. Much like the Laser Disc, Video Disc, and Betamax players, the VHS will soon be relegated to a museum piece, a cultural oddity, and that machine your parents keep on top of their cable box and below their Blu-ray player, despite the fact that they haven't watched a VHS since Jerry Maguire.

After a hard fought battle with Betamax, the format that folks considered to be the superior candidate, the VHS continued to blaze the trail for the home video experience to evolve down. But as 1997 introduced the DVD, the days of the clunkier, more sensitive format were numbered. This was a day that we knew would come, and as such we've had plenty of time to prepare for it.

So if you have video tapes that need to be preserved, or if you're looking to keep a piece of the past alive in your own home, you should go out and buy a VCR while you still can. While there's a chance that the device may come back as a luxury item, much like the Vinyl player before it, we wouldn't chance it if we were you. Fair thee well, VCR. May a flight of VHS tapes sing thee to thy rest. If you feel like sharing your favorite VCR / VHS memories with us, in honor of this noble physical format, please use the Comments section below.

As discovered by Refocused Media, a page has been created on Amazon Germany for a brand new box set dubbed the "Mad Max: High Octane Collection." When translated, the product details reveal that the Blu-ray package will include six discs -- including all four Mad Max movies and a bunch of special features. It's amongst these goodies that it's revealed there will be included the "Black and Chrome Edition" -- which is described as "the surreal black and white film version of Fury Road."

When he was putting Mad Max: Fury Road together in post-production, George Miller realized that his movie was really at its best when it was completely lacking color -- though he knew that there was no way the studio would be able to sell that to mass audiences. Because of this, he then decided that what would be best for the film would be to break the trend of desaturated blockbusters and make the whole thing as brilliantly colorful as possible. The filmmaker talked about including the black and white version on the Blu-ray release, but many were disappointed last fall when the alternate cut wasn't listed amongst the special features. It's nice to know our wait for it is almost over (though it's a shame it took a double dip to get done).

If you want to get a taste of what to expect from the special Mad Max: Fury Road cut, check out the fan made video below:

The Amazon Germany page unfortunately doesn't mention the region coding, which could prevent the discs from playing in American Blu-ray players, but it is worth noting that previous European releases of the Mad Max movies have been region free -- which could suggest that all of the discs in the High Octane Collection will be as well. If you don't want to pull the trigger just yet though, the good news is that you have plenty of time to decide -- as the box set is currently only available for pre-order, and won't be coming out until September 29th.

IGN is reporting that GameStop revealed to them that the NX will have some form of physical media playback. Previously, rumors swirled that the Nintendo NX would be a digital-only system and would have ties to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, exchanging digital apps through portable handheld systems. Some rumors even hinted at the NX having ties to the Nintendo 3DS as a sort of crossbreed hybrid between a portable gaming device and a home console device.

Well, part of that rumor has been squashed now that GameStop's GameStop CEO Paul Raines explained the situation, saying...

Raines, however, does not know what sort of role the physical media will play on the market, in terms of being a disc-based console or a cartridge-based console. Some people have speculated that moving back to cartridges would be a step back for the tech, but with advancements in USB storage devices, SSDs and micro-storage cards being on the rise, it might make sense that Nintendo would go the cost effective route of using mini-storage devices for games instead of standard discs. The benefit would be faster load times, quicker read times and faster write speeds. That's not to mention that saved games being stored on the game disc itself would become a possibility again.

Some leaked patents of the Nintendo NX supposedly showcased the console being bereft of an optical drive, but GameStop wasn't able to comment on that. All they know is that the system will have some form of physical media attached to it.

Executive vice president Mike Mauler also chimed in to make it known that GameStop is game for whatever Nintendo decides to go with, whether it be discs or cartridges, they'll have the pre-owned section set aside for the Nintendo NX and its games, saying...

Gamers are a little apprehensive about Nintendo's new console because of how secretive the company has been with the details and the specs, but it's expected to launch in March, 2017 so expect more details to come out of this year's Tokyo Game Show.

When the console does launch at least gamers will know that they'll be able to trade in their physical media for the NX and get some cash back to go towards new game purchases or used game purchases.

To this film’s credit, at least it’s better than the first one, which isn’t saying much. But at least this film actually has a titan in it, unlike the first one, which had a title that didn’t make any sense (Clash of the Titans? What titans?). This film focuses on the titan Kronos, who is the father of Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. Hades has hatched a plan out of spite for Zeus to release Kronos from his prison in Tartarus, and Perseus (Sam Worthington) is brought in to aid the gods and stop him. It’s a nice progression from the last movie, which was more a remake of the original 1981 version than anything else, and it’s a slightly stronger picture for it. There’s a lot more actual mythology this time, and it helps, but it only helps so much.

Cyclopes, a chimera, and a minotaur all make an appearance in this film, and it adds a great deal to the movie as the mythology that backs them up is great. But the problems of the first film still plague this one, with its hero being problem numero uno. Sam Worthington is not an action hero. I know Hollywood has tried to make him out to be one, but he’s not. He’s a terrible actor and he doesn’t carry the story along well. You never really care what happens to him, and he just has that look of a guy who you know is going to make it to the end with barely a scratch. He just doesn’t work.

The action is also awful. Like the first movie, it’s boring and features people constantly dodging being crushed at the last second. If anything, it’s like an ancient version of Transformers with loud explosions and no pay-off. I want to be excited when a god like Ares leaps down to Earth, not bored out of my skull. And there’s just something about how the action is filmed in these movies that’s lackluster. Stuff is flying all over the place, but you don’t care. It’s probably because you don’t care about the characters. Yeah, that’s probably it.

Overall, if you loved the first movie (and I know there are some of you out there), then you’ll love this one. It’s bigger and there’s more mythology involved. But if you loathed the first movie (and I know there are even more of you out there), then you won’t enjoy this one either. As long as Sam Worthington is the lead and lame near-misses count for excitement, then this series will always be mundane. Just play God of War 3 again if you need your Greek mythology fix. Surprisingly, the special features on this disc kick ass. As an immense fan of Greek mythology, the special features delve into it deeply, and it almost makes me appreciate the movie more. "Almost," I said. “Maximum Movie Mode” allows you to watch the film over again (groan!), but also allows you to follow the path of man or gods (Yay!) where you basically get two in-picture commentaries discussing the gods in Greek mythology, and where mankind fits into all of it. If you’re a teacher (as I am), then this mode is a history lesson all in itself. Just pop this baby in and you’re getting writers, actors, producers, and even a professor talking about mythology and en where this movie fits into academia. It’s seriously worth buying this disc. I’m not even joking. The movie sucks ass, but this feature is exceptional.

“Focus Points” focuses on the special effects and scenes in the movies and how they were pulled off. We learn about the script and the characters, and a great deal of other behind-the-scenes stuff, and if you’re in the camp that loved the movie, then you’ll adore this feature. For all others, it’s interesting, but you won’t get the same out of it as the fans. It expands the film, and I don’t know if everyone wants that. Lastly, there are the “deleted scenes.” Again, if you’re a fan, you may enjoy these, but they really feel like so much added fluff and only make an already bad movie even worse. But again, that “Maximum Movie mode” is worth the price of this disc alone.

Somewhere between these scenes of character comedy is a plot involving Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris). It seems that the "Napoleon of Crime" has lit the fuse on a dastardly plot to start a world war by assassinating the leader of a world power at a peace conference in Switzerland. It's up to Holmes and Watson to stop him, with the aid of a gypsy fortune teller played blandly by the original Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Noomi Rapace. Downey Jr. and Jared Harris play well off each other, with Harris in particular giving a very strong and detailed performance as Moriarty. Rarely has this stock villain role seemed more three-dimensional. When the film was over I felt I understood Moriarty better than I ever had before.

Overall, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a major improvement over the previous entry. It's a fast-moving, confident piece of entertainment, well played by its cast and with a great, tongue -in-cheek score by Hans Zimmer. The Blu-Ray of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is presented in 1080p High Definition (with a 2.4:1 aspect ratio), accompanied by English, French and Spanish audio tracks, and includes Blu-ray, DVD and Ultraviolet versions of the film, as well as a free interactive movie app. Thanks, Warners, but I don't really get excited about movie apps, Ultraviolets, or spare DVDs of the same movie. I now have a coaster I can use when watching the film on a hot summer day. The upside is that the image and sound quality is fantastic.

Warner’s Maximum Movie Mode includes the standard array of behind-the-scenes footage and "focus point" featurettes, none of which are particularly informative but have the usual self-congratulatory air that everyone involved was brilliant and nothing you could be doing in your life could be any cooler than to be working on a movie like Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. But then again, if you are like me, sitting here typing this in the dark, then that's probably true.

There is plenty of wayward movement in Jeff, Who Lives at Home. Jeff is busy wandering off task to follow a man whose fate he believes is tied to the cosmos. His brother, Pat (Ed Helms), is not doing much better: Pat is busy buying flashy possessions he can’t afford and is subsequently busy losing his wife. Neither seems to see their prospective paths as routes that need work. If this were an average day, the two brothers would likely continue on their unaware-and-absurd pathways.

However, this is not an average day. After the two brothers run into one another and see Pat’s wife, Linda (Judy Greer), in the company of another man, a chain of events is set off that might very well change the way the way the two men make decisions within their lives. Whether Linda is or is not cheating on her husband is not really at the heart of the story, it is instead a catalyst for the action, for the potential the two men have to change their broken ways. Despite this side-note importance, Greer is really wonderful in Jeff, Who Lives at Home. She shows her discontent in a way that is perhaps not admirable, but is certainly more open and heartfelt than anyone else onscreen.

On the other side of town, Sharon is still eking her way through a lengthy day at the office. It is difficult to decipher what Sharon’s storyline really has to do with the boys, other than to complain a little from a mother’s perspective and to act as a catalyst to get Jeff out of the house. Regardless, it is Sharon’s storyline that is the most intriguing. Her wandering path may simply lead to the water cooler or the bathroom, but it helps that her journey is lined with wise thoughts and even a secret admirer.

The Duplass brothers love to use characters who are a little offbeat and a little mopey, but in Jeff, Who Lives at Home they are a little less self-revelatory, and it shows in the dragging structure of the plot, despite the film’s short running time. In the end, Pat and Jeff end up redeeming themselves in a twisted little ending that may endear some and throw off others, but which ties the day into a neat little package, complete with a bow. Jeff, Who Lives at Home was the Duplass brothers’ first major studio release, and while I actually found it a little less meaningful than some of the other works by the writers, the film certainly finds a nice niche in their catalogue. Jeff, Who Lives at Home is a very tricky disc to review. The picture quality of the film is fine for a low-budget movie, but you will have to give wobbly camera shots a break. The menu is pretty barren. A single picture is featured as the backdrop of the main screen.

The scenes section and the settings section are both easy to find and use, mostly due to the fact that the disc is entirely barren of extras. Duplass films are generally void of extras as it is, but they do usually feature an interview segment or something to keep the disc from looking completely empty. If you decide to buy Jeff, Who Lives at Home, you are absolutely doing it for the content of the film and not any other phooey.

I can’t even say that the found-footage thing is unique about it since The Last Exorcism already covered that. All this film has going for it is nuns with opaque eyes and insufferable cheek-jiggling from those who are possessed. So if you find that scary, then you might want to check this movie out. But if you do find that scary, then you’re probably only seven years old and really shouldn’t be at this site in the first place. I mean, we can drop cuss words here, son. Like shit. And damn. For example, this movie is damn shitty. And even that weird contortionist scene that you saw in the trailer isn’t worth a damn given the context of the rest of this film. It’s like watching something on TLC. “I’m a Teenage Contortionist.” It’s really that lame. Seriously, The Devil Inside wasn’t worth watching in the movie theater and it’s not worth watching here on Blu-ray. Especially with the nonexistent special features, but I’ll get to that later.

The worst part about The Devil Inside, though, is the ending, which is a total smack in the face to anybody who expects a movie to have an ending that makes any sense and isn’t super abrupt. Throughout the film, the protagonist, who has gotten a cameraman and two rouge priests to exorcise her mother, makes dumb decision after dumb decision. But nothing is dumber than her decision at the end, which leads to the most inconclusive finale I think I’ve ever seen in all my years of watching movies. When I saw this film back in the theater, one person even threw their soda bottle at the screen in anger. I’ve never seen that before. Then again, I do go to a pretty tame movie theater. I should have seen this in the run-down theater by my house. The patrons there probably ripped out seats and raised hell. I would have liked to have seen that. At least then I would have seen something interesting.

Overall, The Devil Inside is one of the most off-the-rails train wrecks I’ve ever seen. I’ve watched a lot of horror movies, and The Devil Inside is the worst. I can’t recommend this film to anybody. The power of Christ compels you not to watch this film. And if you already bought it, then the power of Christ compels you to throw it in the garbage. God loves everybody. But He doesn’t love this film. If I could give a disc zero stars, I would. This disc is fucking pathetic. The special features include…well, there are no special features. Unless you consider French or Spanish subtitles a special feature, which I don’t. I consider that to be a standard. I’m actually upset that they even put that on here. The Spanish language doesn’t deserve to be sullied by this script.

The biggest football-in-the-groin, though, is that you know they didn’t put any effort into this Blu-Ray because everybody already spread the word that this movie deserves to burn in Hell. I’m actually surprised it even got a Blu-Ray release. I mean, who the hell would actually pay money for this shit? Again, I mean. Everybody already knows it’s awful. It received an F from CinemaScore, and that’s a vote by actual audiences. If the film’s target market gave the film a unanimous thumbs down, then what makes anybody think they wouldn’t have already told people already to steer clear of this nonsense? It’s no wonder there’s no commentary, deleted scenes, or even trailers for this bomb. There are only so many ways that I can say this disc is crap so I’ll leave it at that. This disc is a piece of shit!

The story takes place in Alaska after one of the worst plane crashes ever put to film. If you’re even slightly nervous about getting on a plane, never watch this film in your life. You will never get on a plane again. After said crash, Liam Neeson, who plays John Ottway, a character who has already attempted suicide (talk about an uplifting picture!), must try to keep the survivors of the plane alive as ravenous wolves pick them apart one by one. It’s a family movie! But seriously, what makes this film such a masterpiece is their discussions and interactions in the face of death. None of the survivors feel stereotypical or contrived and you really hope that at least some of them will make it to some sort of satisfying end. Again, I won’t spoil the conclusion, but, well, that hope isn’t met the way you might think.

Many of the film's detractors thought the movie itself didn’t match all the trailers that made it look like it would be an hour-and-a-half version of the Liam Neeson punching wolves to their death, a la a Chuck Norris fan’s wet dream. And those people have a point, as it’s not that kind of movie and the trailers were misleading. But now that it’s home on Blu-Ray and that knowledge is out there, I think it can fully be appreciated as the meditative film that it is, and it succeeds on every level. I absolutely adore this film.

It’s a true man vs. nature vs. faith kind of movie. Throughout, the characters, knowing that death is imminent, question their beliefs and feelings on what could be on the other side of the grey in that much deeper, more nebulous world that is the afterlife, or the lack thereof. I’ve really never seen so much atheism in a commercial film, and it’s actually pretty refreshing. Being a person of faith, it’s nice to see the other perspective in Hollywood. You don’t normally get to see that much gumption in a movie for the general public, which is why it was probably not received as well as it should have been. It was too deep for many, and not violent enough for the rest. It’s a thoroughly harrowing film that doesn’t leave much room for entertainment and fun, but if that’s your kind of movie, as it is for me, then you’ll love The Grey. Again, it’s best movie of the year. Outside of The Avengers, of course. But that movie was pretty much perfect. You can’t get any better than that. Talking shit, drinking scotch, dissing Pauly Shore...this commentary has it all. And I wonder if I love the commentary so much because I love the movie so much, or because the commentary is just that good. Either way, it’s immensely entertaining, with director Joe Carnahan and editors Roger Barton and Jason Hellmann going through the movie scene-by-scene, just talking about life and the film in general, which is always my favorite kind of commentary -- a slice of life with a slice of the film. It’s so much better than overly celebratory (even though there’s plenty of celebration here, too) commentaries that don’t say anything at all. Joe Carnahan really hits the glass pretty hard during the almost two-hour running time, as by the end of it, he starts openly talking about who he disliked making the movie with. It’s enjoyable to say the least. The director doesn’t pull any punches.

The deleted scenes make up the rest of the special features, and while none of them are all that great -- they’re pretty much just a lot of more shots of how crippling the weather is—but they really don’t need to be all that great. The commentary itself is worth buying the Blu-Ray. If you like dark films, buy this flick.

It is both true and inaccurate to assume John Carter will ever pick up the pace. The flick is extremely action-oriented, and audiences be wowed by shots of bodies slinging and swords swinging, if that is their thing. The problem is with the momentum of the storytelling, which dithers around and about, always tangoing with making a point, but never quite getting there.

You know all of those scenes in the Lord of the Rings where Frodo and his brave companions are wandering across plains or over mountains, fording streams and mucking through bad weather? LOTR fans deal with these things because they realize there is an ultimate destination. Eventually, Frodo will get to Mordor and destroy the One Ring. In John Carter, our hero just wants to get the girl and maybe nab an extra amulet for safekeeping along the way. The stakes never seem particularly high, and what’s worse, there’s no clearly defined trail or set of tasks to accomplish.

When Carter meets Dejah (Lynn Collins), who has both a sprightly fighting stance and a dominant brain, he’s immediately smitten. Despite feigning reluctance to help her for several more scenes in the movie, it’s immediately apparent he has a soft spot for women, which is proven when Stanton chooses to toss in random cut-to shots from the 1800s showing Carter with his former wife, which are useful to understanding Carter’s character but make an already indecisive movie hop around further. Dejah needs Carter’s newly acquired fighting skills to save her city, Helium, from the impending threat of another city, Zodanga, led by Sab Than (Dominic West), who has actually been bought and paid for by mysterious beings known as the Shang. Additionally, Carter reluctantly chooses to help the tusked, green Tharks also occupying the planet with some of their ongoing leadership problems.

Stanton does a really great job of making all of these convoluted plots understandable, but because he chooses to keep the tangled bulk of the story, the audience often finds Carter moving one step forward in his journey and then backtracking to earlier locales to clean up mistakes and fix additional problems. It is a great opportunity to view the Martian landscape and see its beauty in a way we never get with science fiction flicks like Total Recall, but it is hard to invest in the characters and, more specifically, the path our hero has chosen.

There’s a lot to appreciate about John Carter and its blue-blooded aliens. The scope is massive, and the $250 million was well spent on a vision of a planet that is as exotic as it is desolate. All of the little details paint a picture that is perhaps not quite as agreeable as recent onscreen destinations such as Avatar’s Pandora, but which is almost more haunting in its expansiveness. Despite rock stars like novelist Michael Chabon (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay) and Stanton (Wall-E, Toy Story) on board for the writing process, it is the story that falters. John Carter is a movie worth seeing, but like its reluctant and often spontaneous anti-hero, it is not a movie worth expecting too much out of, or keeping too close to your heart. The disc is beautiful. There are plenty of ways to peruse the menu and film without having to deal with watching the same previews over and over. The picture quality is among the best I have encountered with my Blu-Ray player, and even the way the menu screen is lit is impressive.

Stanton shows up all over the extras and talks about how much of a fan he is of the source material. The first extra allows you to explore John Carter’s journal; however, there is a big hassle with downloading all of the pertinent stuff to ensure your Disney Second Screen app is working. You can set it up to work with your smart phone or your computer, so if that is your thing, downloading it won’t be too much of a big deal.

One of the most important features on the disc is “100 Years in the Making,” a lengthy and extensive featurette that looks into the history of the John Carter stories written by Edgar Rice Burroughs. It’s always better when there is a historical perspective on an event or story to delve into, and this extra does not disappoint.

The deleted scenes are actually pretty interesting with the commentary on, especially since there are plenty of areas where you could see Stanton wanted to flesh out his characters and their relationships further. The deleted scenes also go a long way to explain Stanton’s feelings for the project and how devoted he was to seeing the picture come to life. Indeed, nearly every aspect of the creation of this movie was intense. The segment discusses two years of pre-production in "360 Degrees of John Carter," before taking audiences backstage to a specific day of shooting on set. Assistants, actors, and Stanton himself all appear onscreen to go through the rigmarole of makeup, setup, and the lengthy waiting games between scenes. I’ve never seen such an extensive behind-the-scenes look at a day on set, and the one offered is fascinating.

The bloopers are pretty great. Taylor Kitsch comes off as lively and fun in this set of outtakes, and it’s a shame this didn’t come across more onscreen. Audio commentary with Stanton along with producers Jim Morris and Lindsey Collins rounds out the extras on the disc. Overall, Disney almost never disappoints with disc sets, but the John Carter set is one of the most fun and most professionally put-together I have seen. If you enjoyed John Carter, the Blu-Ray combo pack is a must-have purchase.

The biggest problem with this movie is that it’s another found-footage film. While it being a super-hero found-footage movie might have been its original appeal, all I can see is limitations now that I've watched it a second time. The conceit gets in the way of the story, especially towards the end. That said, I don’t think the movie would be anything at all without the whole found-footage thing. So it’s like a catch-22, really. It doesn’t work either way.

Another problem is the whole high school setting and characters. While The Wire's Michael B. Jordan does play a convincing cool-kid-at-school, the other two super-powered characters just feel like they’re missing something. They’re either too angst-ridden or too laid back. They also look like they’re acting, which is never a good sign. I had a hard time relating to these characters. Sure, I was in high school many moons ago, but placing this film in that setting makes it harder for me to connect to the events that follow. Again, it’s a catch-22. The best parts of the film are when the characters are just goofing off or playing football in the air like high school students would do, but then again, I found these characters annoying because of their reckless youth. This film really can’t win in my eyes.

Chronicle isn’t all bad, however. The airborne football scene is enthralling, and the gee-whiz-we-have-powers parts are really enjoyable the first time you see it, but the rest kind of falls apart, especially the ending, which is too much like Akira for its own good, and gets there too quickly, so it feels like a rush job.

Overall, the trailer for Chronicle was so much better than the final product. I really wanted to like this movie, but it was mediocre and leaning toward crummy. But hey, you might like it. It’s not for everybody, but for who it’s for, those people might really get a real kick out of it. It will find its audience. I just don’t happen to be it. Chronicle’s special features aren’t bad, they’re just nothing special, much like the movie itself. This disc’s main special feature is an extended director’s cut, but, alas, like most “director’s cuts” (excluding Blade Runner’s, of course), it isn't very different from the theatrical version. There are some extra scenes of the boys just talking about their powers, but it doesn’t add much to the film. Next up is the deleted scene. That’s right, “scene,” not scenes. It’s only a few seconds long (I don’t even think it’s an entire minute), and it’s of that one moment with the blonde girl in the kid’s house that you can see in the trailer, but that was excluded from the theatrical version. The back of the box calls this scene, “incredible.” Well, it’s certainly not incredible, I can tell you that much.

There’s also something called, “Pre-Viz,” which I’ve come to learn is the term for showing scenes that are pre-rendered before the actual action is put in the movie. Think storyboarding, but moving, and all blocky. That’s actually pretty cool. It allows you to see just how the scenes were put together, and it reminds me of a first-generation Playstation game. I liked it. There’s also a “Camera Test,” which features scenes from the movie but with different actors playing the roles. And while I’m not too fond of the actors they eventually found for the picture, I’m glad they got rid of these guys. They pretty much suck. The excellent trailer rounds out the rest of the special features.

Ironically, the moments in the grief-filled We Need to Talk About Kevin that are most depressing are when characters are smiling and having a good time. Because we’re all too aware those times are long gone. In her disturbingly authentic portrayal of Eva Khatchadourian, Tilda Swinton is a virtuoso of melancholic chagrin. A former travel writer, her current life is plagued by scrutinized mockery on the lighter side, and by vocal hatred and vandalism on the darker side. When not working her entry-level secretarial position, she retreats to bottles of pills and alcohol for therapy. The scourge of her woes is her intentionally horrific son, Kevin, who would have been the inspiration for The Omen’s Damien, the Rosemary’s Baby baby, or even Satan himself had it been a true story told near the beginning of time. One early scene depicts Eva coping with the never-ending screams of infant Kevin by standing amongst a group of men jackhammering the pavement; her momentary relief drowning herself in this noise is both amusingly understandable and heartbreaking all at once.

We watch Kevin age from toddler to teenager, played by actors Rock Duer, Jasper Newell, and Ezra Miller. Though the emotional nonchalance shown to his blindly optimistic father, Franklin (John C. Reilly), isn’t always quite loving, the sheer disdain he spews at Eva is downright menacing. I expect to never fully enjoy any future roles taken by Newell and Miller based on my genuine hatred for Kevin as a character, which is a backwards compliment that speaks worlds of the writing and performance.

The line in the sand is drawn between Kevin’s pre-existing lack of empathy, and its continual growth as Eva’s matronly role, is strained to multiple breaking points. Is he naturally a lifelong evil asshole, or is this behavior furthered by outside influences? The film’s timeline slips back and forth between different stages of Eva’s past, all from her possibly skewed perspective. So while Kevin is obviously an insanely shitty son, we’re never under the impression that Eva herself in an angel. She is a human being, repeatedly thwarted by Kevin’s insistence on ratcheting up her frustration in any given situation, from purposefully prolonging his potty training to wrapping his younger sister, Celia, up in garland during a game of Christmas Kidnapping. Eva’s range of reactions isn’t entirely ethical, but they’re emotionally sound. Having watched the film twice now, I absolutely wish Eva was vehemently pro-choice early in life so that this “nature vs. nurture” question wasn’t applicable. But then what would I be doing right now?

Adapted from the “unfilmable” novel by Lionel Shriver, the acclaimed director/co-screenwriter Lynne Ramsay does a remarkable job of showcasing every uncomfortable detail in a movie filled with them, using colors and sounds as much as the dialogue to tell the story. The entire cast is impeccable, down to extras whose screen time consists of glaring in the distance. Despite the free-flowing plot progression, one is never lost, always the voyeur in Eva’s life of agony and shame. By the time we get to the crux of the film, Kevin’s mostly off-screen school massacre, we feel less sorry for these young victims than we do for those Kevin has been affecting his entire life. And the sound of lawn sprinklers may never sound inconsequential again. Even the cardboard packaging for this film is effective, from Eva and Kevin’s split headshots as you open it, to Kevin’s colorful and cold childhood drawings on the inside. There’s an intriguing essay by psychoanalyst Mark Stafford, “The Heart of Evil,” included as well, which focuses more on Kevin’s motivations and the film’s minimal take on violence. Though the DVD itself looks great, the crispness of the Blu-ray is enough to make you feel like you’re watching this family’s degradation from the next room of their house. All things told, I had problems with the pop music soundtrack from decades past, as the songs seemed disjointed to me.

“Behind the Scenes of Kevin” is exactly what it implies: a half-hour of the cast, director, and producers dissecting the characters and plot over production stills and incidental filming. Everyone’s input is extremely insightful, particularly when discussing how the family’s relationship is depicted from both the acting and production aspects. While watching people talk isn’t always exciting, it adds another layer of understanding one may not have had before.

Hilton Als gives a 17-minute interview for a "Tribute to Tilda Swinton" at the 2011 Telluride Film Festival. It’s a treat to watch this talented actress speak about her career from different angles, though Kevin is not the focus here. On the flip side, the three-minute interview with novel author Lionel Shriver is entirely kept to the book-to-movie translation and her pleasure in the minimal input she gave filmmakers on how the story should be told. Lastly, there are four minutes of silent extra footage from the “La Tomatina” Tomato festival depicted in the movie as Eva’s freedom-filled youth before Kevin came along. I am inclined to go there now, even though I dislike tomatoes.

Easily one of the more psychologically wrought releases of the past year, We Need to Talk About Kevin deserves to be seen and discussed. Not everyone will share my takeaway from the story, but I consider that part of the film’s storytelling power.

What follows is not the continued panic one might expect to see. There is a lot of sobering talk, even amidst some laughter, a lot of shots meant to belie introspection, handed to us by an incredibly annoying but necessary narrative device. What Mackenzie seems to be trying to show is that humanity will be able to move beyond an epidemic, even if that epidemic affects each and every one of us, and assuming that epidemic does not kill us off. Even with a loss of smell, life will move on.

While the aftermath of Perfect Sense is quite heartfelt, its actual plotline is unbelievable, a story that becomes even more preposterous when humanity begins to lose its other senses as well. During this time, we are bamboozled by the camera and never given even half a chance to see the world over during this time of trepidation and disease. Instead, we are asked to focus on Michael and Susan as they begin to explore their love for one another in “new” and “interesting” ways as the disease robs them of their senses one by one.

The notion of two people clinging through hardship together is a theme we’ve seen before, but in Perfect Sense it is overly sentimental, driven by Susan’s narration of the event and its maudlin declaration that love must triumph, even in times of turmoil. Without love, there is nothing. Perfect Sense spends a lot of time making this declaration clear, but without it, we might have been privy to more shots of the devastating effects of the disease and fewer shots of Eva Green’s wasted nudity throughout.

Perfect Sense began with the bud of an idea, but then took a wrong turn somewhere between loss of taste and loss of sight. If you’re into dwelling in harrowing emotional states, this movie might strike in your lane, but for everyone else, Perfect Sense, despite its intense focus on the serious, will be a laughably flawed production. The extras section is pretty Spartan, with the main feature taking a short look at the film by juxtaposing some of the trailer with interviews from Green and Mackenzie. I was really hoping we’d get a chance to hear more from the cast and crew about the making of the film, or maybe even from Max Richter, the Blue Notebooks composer whose music is one of the better parts of Perfect Sense.

The disc is set up pretty well and the previews at the beginning can be skipped, which is a nice bonus. One of the strangest things with the set is the scene selection, which is set up vertically rather than in the usual horizontal frame. Overall, even if you liked the film, I’m not certain the set is a necessary buy, but with no noticeable film-color or film-technique problems, there may be enough there to add the flick to your collection, especially if you are a sucker for romance (or nudity).

It may be easier to flesh out a bromance, but This Means War leaves little room for its women, played by Chelsea Handler and Reese Witherspoon. Handler’s Trish is a potty-mouthed former train wreck whose only narrative substance is to give the naively-written Witherspoon a dose of advice asking her to relive the days before she ended up married to a Cheeto-loving bearded wonder. Nor does the intelligent, career-woman angle work for Lauren when she ends up listening to her destructive friend’s advice. Lauren’s supposed to be the business end of a product-testing company, but she seems to have the brains of a frog when it comes to anything related to men. At least she’s really, really pretty.

All this could be easy to forgive if the film's spy plotline was given a ghost of a chance; however, the spy theme is more than a way to integrate fun weaponry and other technological resources into a plotline that would otherwise be a less bold production. Poor Angela Bassett’s in this film only to bark orders at Tuck and FDR like a nun chastising naughty schoolboys on the playground. Someone needed to do this, though, as the two men waste time and resources trying to earn playdates when there is actually a bad guy in this plotline.

Which brings us to the villain, a whisper of a problem who finally appears onscreen halfway through the film. Heinrich (Til Schweiger) is a German with a ferocious face, but otherwise, we don’t see many of his bad-guy credentials. He’s mostly there as a catalyst to force Tuck and FDR to unite to save the day. This creates a problem when random CIA action shots are juxtaposed with the romance competition in a haphazard way. Neither ever seems to get enough screen time and the finished product is a total mess. What’s worse is it's never particularly compelling to watch.

Shallow, blank, and boring, This Means War occasionally gets out a joke that shines slightly brighter than mindless, giving us the hope this movie might be worth pulling out again on a Sunday afternoon. Honestly, if you’re the type that likes the occasional exploding object in the background, the film provides enough sight gags that there actually may be room for the flick in your Blu-Ray collection. For anyone who is even looking for a small step beyond the gratuitous, This Means War will neither be a fun afternoon romp on cable or a good addition to your permanent collection. It’s a mental wasteland with a dash of retread. The disc forces you to choose either the theatrical version or the extended version, which always confuses the hell out of me when I’m trying to do the disc review. I never claimed I was remote competent. Once I found the extras, I learned most of them are outtake related and most of them can be viewed with or without commentary from McG.

Extras on the disc include “Bachelorette Party,” an extended look at Lauren’s “friendships,” which basically features a bunch of appearances from Handler’s comedy posse. Following this are a ton of deleted scenes. I watched these with the commentary, first, and learned that most of these character-building scenes were cut because they did not fit the pace of the film. It’s too bad, because I do believe the audience could have done with more scenes with Tuck bonding with his family, with Witherspoon behaving with a little more edge, and of Tuck and Pine inadvertently talking about their dates without realizing those dates were with the same woman.

The alternate-endings section takes a look at all of the possible ways the film could have ended up, which are worth watching. However, the alternate opening is a ridiculous Sims cartoon interspersed with hand-drawn screenshots that really do not need to be part of the disc. Just because a director has something does not mean he or she should share it. There was also the gag reel, which I never recommend, but if that’s your thing, it does exist on the disc.

Altogether, McG seems to have shot a lot of extra film. If he had just put the pieces together a little more carefully, This Means War could have been a very different film.

Close, who also co-wrote the script and produced, was nominated for an Oscar for her role as Nobbs. It’s hard to see why. Playing Nobbs, who has been living as a man since being raped at age 14, Close mostly sits, stares, talks quietly, and acts weird. There isn’t much sympathetic in either the character or the performance. Focusing mostly on earning enough money to open a small shop, Nobbs stays out of everyone’s way. If that sounds kind of boring, well, it is.

More lively by far is McTeer’s Page, a house painter who is even more obviously a woman than Nobbs. Page has embraced life and married a woman, encouraging Nobbs to do the same. Nobbs looks around and inconceivably chooses flirty hotel maid Helen (Mia Wasikowska), wooing her in an awkward and almost dense manner. Helen is encouraged to play along by her ne'er-do-well boyfriend (Aaron Johnson) who hopes to get his hands on Nobb’s savings. Oh, and there is also the hotel owner (Pauline Collins), a drunken doctor (Brendan Gleeson), a married Viscount (Jonathan Rhys-Myers) who travels with his “friend,” and other bits of local color that do little to distract from the way the film plods on and on.

Despite the few tentative side plots, it’s really the Albert Nobbs show, and therefore Close bears the blame for the failure. She does a reasonably good job of playing a weird socially inept person who is trying to improve her life but doesn’t really know how, but who wants to see that? Maybe with a more interesting story, a more sympathetic lead, or more inspired work, it could work, but this just doesn’t. McTeer’s Page is a much more interesting and engaging character and you find yourself wishing she’d show up on screen whenever she’s absent. The DVD for Albert Nobbs is as disappointing as the movie itself. It’s a very talky movie that doesn’t really require amazing picture or sound quality, but they are both fine. I did have to turn on the subtitles as a few of the accents were tough to make out when the dialogue was coming fast and furious. The real issue is the paucity of extras. Although I didn’t like it, Glenn Close and Janet McTeer rode this film to Oscar nominations, so how about a little information about their preparation, opinions, or feelings in a documentary or featurette? Heck, anything about anyone would have been better than the nothing you get.

There is a commentary featuring Close and director Rodrigo Garcia that gives you a sense of why Close spent so long trying to get the film made. I don't share her enthusiasm for the film, but as she talks about the film and the journey, you have to give her credit for not giving up on something she was passionate about. I had the same problem I often have with commentaries for movies I don’t like: Close and Garcia talk about Albert Nobbs in such a positive way, and I keep thinking “But…but…it’s not good.”

Other than the commentary, you get about eight minutes of deleted scenes. They include more scenes with maid Helen, her jerky boyfriend, and their interaction with Nobbs. Without any introductions or context, you get the sense they were just cut for time. The only other extra is the trailer.

These late-1800s and early-1900s period pieces are in vogue lately, what with the cool costumes and class distinctions, but I’d suggest jumping into the era somewhere else. Albert Nobbs, despite a good performance by McTeer, is just not that interesting. Hopefully the next project Close spends 30 years bringing to the screen will work out better.

So you know that it pains me to tell you that Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie is a steaming pile of shit. Not even an appearance by the “great” comic talent of James Quall could save this train wreck of a film. By the time he ultimately makes an appearance, the damage has already been done. This movie just isn’t funny. It’s the biggest disappointment I’ve ever had watching a movie. And that’s no exaggeration. I anticipated this film more than The Avengers. I expected it to be a masterpiece. Instead, all I got was shrim.

The main problem is that it doesn’t cater to the fans, who are its main audience. Characters like Dr. Steve Brule from Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show Great Job! played by John C. Reilly aren’t in the film. Instead, we get John C. Reilly playing a character named Taquito, who’s extremely sick but terribly unfunny. He feels like a wasted opportunity. Instead of Zach Galifianakis’ character from the show, Tairy Greene, we get Jim Joe Kelly. Tairy Greene is one of the best characters from Awesome Show. How could they possibly leave him out? That’s criminal! And while you might be saying, “Well, this is a movie and they were trying to do something different, moron,” I understand that. But if they really wanted to do something different, then why not use different actors entirely? All I kept wishing for was for Zach Galifiankis to do a costume change into “Little Dancing Man.” I just wanted something familiar, dammit! Is that too much to ask?

Another huge reason why this movie sucks is the plot, which just doesn’t work. I know they couldn’t just make an hour-and-a-half version of their nonsensical show (which I actually kind of wanted), but there are too many gaps in the laughs here to call it anything but unbearable. I probably only guffawed twice in the whole picture, and those were pity laughs. After receiving a billion dollars from an evil corporation called Schlaaang (aaang as in slang, not shlong), Tim and Eric blow all the money on production costs and wind up making only a ten-minute film, so the exec wants them dead. For the rest of the film, Tim and Eric are on the run and somehow wind up renovating a shitty mall. And that’s the entire movie. It sounds funny on paper, but it’s not. A plot for a comedy is only as good as its jokes, and the jokes in this film are paper thin. Even the weirdness, which is a Tim and Eric staple, feels forced. “Shrim” just isn’t funny. I’m sorry, but it’s not.

So yeah, if you’re a hardcore fan, you might just hate this movie like I did. But if you’re new to Tim and Eric, this off-kilter comedy might just do you right. And if it does, I envy you. I so wanted to love this film. As funny as Tim and Eric are on their shows, their commentary on the first season proved they’re not as funny off-the-cuff as you would think they are. And that’s for only about eight minutes an episode. Just think how bad it is to sit through their boring-ass commentary for 94 minutes. It’s torture! That’s one special feature to skip. Next up are the “deleted scenes,” which were deleted for a reason, but they’re no worse than what’s already in the film. It’s just more garbage tacked on. The “extended scenes” also go on and on, and don’t add anything else. They’re worthless.

“Good Evening S’Wallow Valley” features the stars of the film saying nothing of interest. “Interview With Tim & Eric” is too long for its own good, even with Eric Wareheim’s open-mouthed, dead-eyed stare that I love so much. “HDNET: A Look at Tim & Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie” features scenes from the “Interview With Tim & Eric” feature. I mean, what the hell? Why’d they do that? Why’d they practically make the same feature twice? “The Shrim Dance Screensaver” is the damn song on repeat, and then there are some posters and photos, which are hardly a feature at all. Just about the only funny thing about the whole disc are the promo videos, which actually feel like the show. Why couldn’t that have been the movie? God, I’m so aggravated! Even if you’re a fan, this disc is trash.

Mallory, it turns out, is a freelance operative who handles off-the-books assignments through her manager/handler/former boyfriend, Kenneth (Ewan MacGregor). Despite a grueling run of back-to-back assignments, including rescuing a Chinese journalist in Barcelona, Kenneth convinces her to do one more easy assignment in Ireland with an MI-6 contact (Michael Fassbender) he’s trying to score points with. And despite the bad vibes, it really is a pretty simple job...until Mallory discovers her journalist executed in the garage and Paul (Fassbender) tries to murder her back at their hotel room, with lots of police backup. Oddly enough, Mallory takes offense to this course of action and decides to find out who’s set her up and why.

If this sounds like a standard action/revenge thriller to you, well... that’s because it kind of is. There’s nothing in Haywire that’s going to rewrite the way action movies are made or make your head spin from a twist you never saw coming. But it does have a couple interesting things going for it.

First off, unlike most of these films, there’s no act-two reveal where we find out why everyone turned on Mallory, framed her, and what she’ll need to do to clear her name. She gets a rough sense of where the trail starts, but for the most part she and the audience are left in the dark for most of the film as she fights her way across Europe and America. This feels a little more believable, that an agent who’s been cut off with no resources would be...well, cut off. It’s not until the end of the film that we finally get a sense of the motivation behind Mallory getting burned.

Second is the action. There’s a lot of it and it’s good. Carano was the first female mixed martial artist, and as such she doesn’t need a stuntwoman to film her fight scenes for her. She’s tough and hard and more than believable as a woman who’s beating the crap out of every assassin that’s being sent after her. Since the camera never has to cut to an odd angle or overly wide shot to hide the people fighting -- and director Steven Soderbergh never feels the need to amplify the scenes with sharp sound effects or music -- there’s a brutality to this film that you don’t really see in action movies. It might not be as fast or pretty as some wirework fight scenes, but you never doubt for a second that people are getting pummeled here.

But, like I said, in the end Haywire is really just another action/revenge thriller. It’s got a few nice tweaks that keep it from falling to the back of that pack, but nothing that makes it leap to the front, either. We never get to know Mallory well enough to sympathize with her past knowing “people are trying to kill her.” The downside of saving all that explanation for the end is that it almost becomes an epilogue -- the story’s over just as we finally understand why this all happened.

I really want to give Haywire four stars, but while it’s an entertaining , well-made film that does a lot of things, it never feels like it does quite enough. As I said, many of the action-movie tropes have been pared away to let the raw action shine through, but this also leaves the film feeling a bit thin at points. It’s never anorexic, but it does give you the sense there should’ve just been a little more to it somewhere. This is a pretty bare-bones disc, so if special features tend to swing the vote for you...well, I can tell you now which way you’ll be going. There’s a 15-minute feature called “Gina Carano in Training” which has a simple interview with the fighter-actress talking about how Soderbergh contacted her to be in the film, and how she trained with armorers and stuntmen to prepare for her first film. There’s also some assembled footage where the director talks about seeing her first MMA fight (also included in the feature -- all 38 seconds of it) and deciding to build a movie around this woman. The other feature, “The Men of Haywire,” is composed of quick snippets of the otherwise all-male cast talking about working with Soderbergh and Carano. Oh, and there’s a bunch of Lionsgate trailers if you like watching those.

The film stars Michael Fassbender in what might be his boldest movie yet. That said, I still prefer him playing roles like Magneto or Lt. Archie Hicox in Inglourious Basterds. He’s just so charming, and to steal that charm away from him and turn him into a soulless sex addict is almost criminal. But at least he’s a handsome sex addict. I’m sure women won’t mind the brief shot of Fassbender’s junk that appears in the film. And while that might sound crude, I feel it’s justified, as the character of Brandon Sullivan is such an empty husk of a man that it’s hard to feel anything for him or see him as anything other than a piece of meat. We get a sense of the shame he feels for succumbing to his sexual desires, but the movie never really explains why we should have any sympathy for him. That might be the point of the whole movie, as there are some excruciatingly long shots of us just staring at Fassbender and making sense of who he is, but that doesn’t make for much of a movie. It makes for more of a screensaver.

Thank God for Carey Mulligan, who plays Brandon's vivacious and intriguing sister. They’re both self-destructive in their own ways, but Mulligan actually makes us feel for her flawed character, which I can’t exactly say for Fassbender. It’s like all the life was sucked out of his character and put into hers. Again, that might be the point of her being here -- the staggering differences between them is what pushes them apart…and ultimately, brings them together -- but it almost feels like this movie is trying to decide just what it wants to be: a study of a sex addict, or a family drama. It tries to be both and fails on both accounts. If it had only stuck to one, it might have been a better film.

Still, there are some memorable and haunting scenes in this movie that keep it from being a total drag. There’s a scene of Fassbender staring at his prey on a subway, which is disturbing and off-putting in all the right ways. And his loathsome feelings at hearing his sister having sex in the other room of his apartment is palpable and realistic. I could feel his anger. But besides a few distinct moments, this film isn’t all that great. If you come into it expecting a masterpiece, then you might be disappointed. But if you’re coming into it as a normal film, then you’ll probably like it, but you won’t love it. It’s worth a watch. There really aren’t that many special features on this Blu-Ray version of Shame, and what’s here is pretty short. I’m shocked at how anemic they are.

“Focus on Michael Fassbender” is about three minutes of The Fass (You like that? The Fass?) talking about his role in the film as Brandon. It’s not interesting, and did I mention it’s only about three minutes? Get used to that time frame, because it’s about the same for all the special features on this disc. “Focus on Steve McQueen” is a three-minutes-and-some-change video of the director talking about working with The Fass again after their previous collaboration on the movie Hunger. You can tell the two of them are comfortable with each other, but again, it’s only about three minutes or so. Plus, it shows many of the same clips from the movie as the “Focus on Michael Fassbender” feature. It gets old, fast.

“The Story of Shame,” is basically a three-minute retelling of the film’s theme of isolation, and “A Shared Vision” is almost the same thing, but…well, really, I actually think it is the same thing. The same clips play, the same music swells, and there’s nothing distinguishable about it. It’s not even worth watching. “Fox Movie Channel presents: In Character with Michael Fassbender” is the last special feature and it’s pretty much a replica of the “Focus on Michael Fassbender” segment. So really, these special features are useless. See the film, but don’t watch the features. They suck.