Happy New Year!
Welcome back to Home Again, where each and every Tuesday I’ll be running down some of the best genre releases coming to home media. In general I won’t be covering 4K because I find the format overrated, but if it’s new and happens to have some kind of edition feature I might mention it.
All info is from the excellent Blu-ray.com. This isn’t every genre release, just the ones I find interesting. For the full list, follow that link.
Note: There was one interesting release on January 1st, so I’ve included it here.
1/1
Bad Times at the El Royale (2018) – 20th Century Fox – This film was an unsurprisingly huge success given the stellar cast and the fact that it was written and directed by the talented Drew Goddard.
The trailers looked awesome and I was excited for it, but it slipped in and out of theaters before I even knew it had come out. It was that post-Dragon Con/pre-Halloween corridor that’s so busy. I look forward to seeing it as soon as possible.
1/8
8MM (1999) – Shout Factory – I didn’t think much of 8MM the first time I saw it, but I might’ve been wrong. At the very least it’s going to be worth revisiting for the cast – Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, James Gandolfini, Peter Stormare, Chris Bauer. Whatever you might think of his Bat films, Joel Schumacher is a gifted director, so I can’t imagine this flick wasn’t at least a gritty diversion.
Judgment Night (1993) – Warner Bros. – The greatest movie soundtrack of all time often overshadows what was actually a pretty solid early-90s crime flick.
Emilio Estevez, Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Stephen Dorff play great hapless suburbanites who wander into the wrong part of town with their trashbag friend, Ray; played by actual trashbag human Jeremy Piven. Denis Leary is somewhat unlikely as an inner-city crime boss, but is delightful to watch. Everlast from House of Pain is worth mentioning.
I loved this movie back in the day and, sadly, haven’t seen it in years because my copy was a casualty of shitty roommate theft. I look forward to watching it again and, in all likelihood, recording a Needless Commentary.
Castle Rock: The Complete First Season (2018) – Warner Bros. – This show was an absolute dream come true for a Stephen King fan – a high-quality tale that brought together details from many of King’s Castle Rock stories to weave a new, exciting narrative.
The creators really nailed King’s style and tone and made something truly special – a work that was both a tribute to King and an expansion of his prolific works. This is a day-of purchase for me and I can’t wait to binge it all at once, commercial-free (we have budget Hulu).
Stay Tuned (1992) – Sony Pictures – While it’s a little tough to stomach Jeffrey Jones nowadays, the stars of this wacky film are the utterly delightful Pam Dawber and John Ritter. They find themselves trapped in a television hellscape, having to make their way through all of the types of shows you’d expect from a 1992 movie satirizing television.
I haven’t seen it in years, but I liked it quite a bit back then. If I can find it streaming I’ll check it out.
Note: I have ordered three of these Sony archive releases in the last few months and they have all come several weeks late. From what I understand Sony is the issue and not the retailers. Apparently they have a very, “You’ll get it when we send it” attitude towards these older films.
Blind Date (1984) – Scorpion Releasing – This is not the delightful 1987 comedy starring Bruce Willis and Kim Basinger.
I had never heard of this one – starring Joseph Bottoms(?) and Kirstie Alley(!), so here’s the synopsis:
A man goes blind when remembering his lost girlfriend, but the doctors can’t find anything wrong with his eyes. They fit him with an experimental device which allows him to see with the aid of a computer interface and brain electrodes. Meanwhile, a taxi driver is taking young women up to their apartments, giving them gas, and performing a little fatal amateur surgery on them. Their paths inevitably converge, and the blind man must try to stop the psychopath.
I want to see it, but I don’t want to buy it.
Nemesis (1992) – MVD Visual – Another one that the dusty vaults of my mind can’t quite recall, I know I rented this and maybe even watched it on USA Up! All Night or some such thing. I think we could all use a good Albert Pyun-ing in these trying times, so I’m gonna go ahead and recommend everyone just order a copy of Nemesis right now.
Note: Albert Pyun directed Captain America.
Hell Fest (2018) – Lionsgate Films – Finally! I feel like I’ve been waiting forever to see this!
Of course, now it can’t possibly live up to the hype – not that there’s a ton, but me and the missus have just been excited to see this one and never had the opportunity.
Since you asked, here’s the story:
When we want to see R-rated films we have to go while Phantom, Jr. is in school, which leaves us a narrow window. We went to a CNG theater one day to see it, but the projector was broken. The guy said it might be fixed in half an hour, which would fit in our time frame.
Unfortunately, it was not fixed in half an hour.
But the guy refunded our money and gave us passes that don’t expire until 2021. So we didn’t see Hell Fest, but at some point we’ll see something and it’ll be for free.
I didn’t say it was a particularly compelling story.
The Purge: Season One (2018) – Universal Studios – I heard this was good, but I bet it’s not as good as Blood Drive.
Okay, well – the first four episodes of Blood Drive.
Asher (2018) – Momentum Pictures – Ron Perlman stars as a hitman on his last job. Shockingly, things don’t go as planned.
I’m much more excited for this than I am for the new Hellboy.
Office Space (1999) – 20th Century Fox – There doesn’t seem to be anything special about this release. I just mention it because it’s one of the great comedies of the 90s and, if you work a soul-sucking office job, is just as relevant now as it was then.
I did not have such a job when I first saw this movie, but I thought it was hilarious. Now… now it’s kind of depressing. But still hilarious. Especially when you hear Batman say, “Watch your cornhole, buddy”.
All the Creatures Were Stirring (2018) – RLJ Entertainment – I saw this in Walmart the other day and wondered what the heck it was.
Now I wonder how it got put out early at Walmart.
BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I’m just kidding. I know they give no f**ks.
Anyway, this has rotten reviews, but sounds like a decent premise. A couple on a date get stuck in a movie theater and have to watch a bunch of Christmas-themed horror shorts. It’s your typical holiday-themed anthology and now I’m curious about it. Too bad for RLJ Entertainment I’m not buying anything Christmas-themed for at least ten more months.
Check back next week for more horror, sci-fi, and whatever else grabs my attention!
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NEEDLESS THINGS 