A few years ago, Warner Bros. announced plans to give “The Iron Giant” a new Blu-Ray release, and merely was content with stuffing the DVD port over to Blu. Director Brad Bird was not happy with the announcement and asked fans to demand so much better as “The Iron Giant” deserved a lot better than a mere DVD transfer. I was one of those fans that tweeted and asked Warner Bros. to give “The Iron Giant” much better treatment than a simple transfer. I’m happy a shortly after, Warner has allowed consumers the option of two special deluxe editions of “The Iron Giant,” and Brad Bird is able to give fans a bang up edition that is pretty much the ultimate realization of his masterpiece. Not only is director Bird able to deliver his film in High Definition, but he manages to add a few small scenes here and there to inject more nuance and character depth. These alterations work in favor of “The Iron Giant” adding a bit more dimension and length for folks that always hoped for an extended edition.
Tag Archives: Science Fiction
Lost Solace (2016) [FrightFest 2016]
Spence is a sociopath who preys on rich women in their times of need. He starts off as the absolute perfect boyfriend, the man most women want: He’s romantic, thoughtful, takes charge when needed, helpful, and he’s good looking. In reality, he’s cold, calculated, doesn’t care about anyone, he’s a sociopath. After he meets his new mark Azaria, he gets in deeper than usual with her family as his health takes a bad turn.
The Creature Below (2016) [FrightFest 2016]
After a diving accident that almost cost her life, Olive finds an odd egg in her damaged oxygen tank. Sneaking it off of the boat after being fired, she brings it homes to study it and see what kind of beast might emerge from it in this Lovecraftian tale from the UK. The Creature Below is directed by Stewart Sparke who wrote the story Paul Butler based his script on. They create an interesting lead who loses her job and returns home to her boyfriend after 5 months at sea. Tensions are clear and expected between them and they get stronger as she works with the creature in her home office and as her sister visits.
Los Parecidos (The Similars) (2015) [FrightFest 2016]
October 2nd, 1968, a group of people is stranded in a bus station by a deluge that is hitting around the world. As tensions rise within the group, something begins to happen to them. Something odd and possibly supernatural is happened around and to them. As they become more and more paranoid, they start looking for a culprit, someone to blame, someone to accuse.
Arrow: The Complete Fourth Season [Blu-Ray/Digital]
This is the season that finally broke the fans, prompting the loyal fan base for “Arrow” on reddit to turn a group devoted to the series in to a group about “Daredevil.” The CW and Warner are at a really tough crossroads with “Arrow,” where they somewhat seem hell bent on sticking with what doesn’t work with the series, while pulling back on what does. Yes, they reward fans by bringing back John Constantine from the hell of cancelled television to resolve his television storyline, but he’s on for only two episodes. When Oliver Queen and company find themselves battling the evil Damian Darhk who is all powerful thanks to a supernatural relic, the answer invariably pops up: “Why isn’t Constantine helping them?”
DC’s Legends of Tomorrow: The Complete First Season [Blu-Ray/Digital]
DC and Warner beat Marvel to the punch by comprising a superhero team made up of some of the most popular bit players from the DC television-verse, ending in a pretty mixed result. Season one of “Legends of Tomorrow” is a scattered and pretty crazy series of episodes that finds a rag tag group of DC’s heroes and villains coming together to stop the evil Vandal Savage. Along with the confusing time paradoxes, the writers and producers seem to be scrambling to also keep up with their long list of team members, conflicts, sub-plots and the like resulting in only a mediocre start from out of the gate. What happens when people like The Flash and Arrow are busy with their own enemies?
Atmo HorrorX (2016) [Fantasia International Film Festival]
This review must start with a warning: Even though this reviewer watched this movie attentively, getting any of it was very, very difficult; if not nary impossible, so external information sources had to be sought, mainly from IMDB and the Fantasia program book. That being said, let’s start with its official summary on IMDB: “Through a surreal chase of spying, Catafuse, a dubiously dressed creature, hunts humans with the help of Molosstrap. But in a world ruled by the pharma industry, reality becomes so complex, that the mastering of insanity might just be the only way out.”