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<channel><title><![CDATA[Sound Fury Magazine - Movie Reviews]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews]]></link><description><![CDATA[Movie Reviews]]></description><pubDate>Mon, 09 Mar 2026 14:19:09 -0700</pubDate><generator>Weebly</generator><item><title><![CDATA[‘Rental Family’ Is A Heartwarming, Surprisingly Engaging, Entertaining Movie]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/rental-family-is-a-heartwarming-surprisingly-engaging-entertaining-movie]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/rental-family-is-a-heartwarming-surprisingly-engaging-entertaining-movie#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Mon, 02 Mar 2026 18:23:38 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/rental-family-is-a-heartwarming-surprisingly-engaging-entertaining-movie</guid><description><![CDATA[By: Philip Sayblack&#8203;The need for connection, for human companionship, is among the most basic of human needs.&nbsp; It is such a need that in Japan, there is even such thing as a &ldquo;rental family&rdquo; industry.&nbsp; The industry actually rents out actors who pay the part of friends and relatives at social events so as to make people feel less lonely at such events.&nbsp; Having started in the 1990s it has become such a lucrative industry, that there are now more than 300 rental fami [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph">By: Philip Sayblack<br /><br />&#8203;The need for connection, for human companionship, is among the most basic of human needs.&nbsp; It is such a need that in Japan, there is even such thing as a &ldquo;rental family&rdquo; industry.&nbsp; The industry actually rents out actors who pay the part of friends and relatives at social events so as to make people feel less lonely at such events.&nbsp; Having started in the 1990s it has become such a lucrative industry, that there are now more than 300 rental family businesses in Japan, and now there is even a new drama starring actor Brendn Fraser (yes, an actor playing an actor) that is centered on that industry.&nbsp; Having made its theatrical premiere in November 2025 through Searchlight Pictures (a division of 20<span style="font-weight:inherit">th</span>&nbsp;Century Studios), it started streaming last month and is set for physical release this coming Tuesday, Feb. 17 on Blu-ray/digital combo pack. &nbsp;<em>Rental Family</em>&nbsp;(yes, that is actually its title) is an intriguing presentation that deserves to be watched at least once.&nbsp; That is due largely to its story, which will be discussed shortly.&nbsp; While the story does plenty to engage and entertain audiences it is not a perfect presentation.&nbsp; Its writing and pacing do become problematic as it nears its end.&nbsp; It is not enough to doom the movie but does have a notable impact on the presentation.&nbsp; Knowing it is not enough to doom the presentation, there is one more positive to examine, that being the work of the movie&rsquo;s cast.&nbsp; When the cast&rsquo;s work is considered alongside the movie&rsquo;s story, the pairing makes&nbsp;<em>Rental Family</em>&nbsp;further proof of the importance of independent movies in an age of nothing but prequels, sequels, reboots, and movies based on books and actual events.<br /><span></span><em>Rental Family</em>, Searchlight Pictures&rsquo; new independent picture starring Brendan Fraser, is a presentation that is well worth watching at least once.&nbsp; That is especially in comparison to so much of the otherwise unoriginal content that Hollywood&rsquo;s major studios continue to churn out to this day.&nbsp; The movie&rsquo;s appeal comes in large part through its featured story.&nbsp; Co-written by Stephen Blahut and director Hikari, the story centers on actor Phillip Vanderploeg (Brendan Fraser &ndash;&nbsp;<em>The Whale</em>,&nbsp;<em>Dudley Do-Right</em>,&nbsp;<em>George of the Jungle</em>&nbsp;<em>The Mummy</em>, etc.), an American living in Tokyo for the past seven years.&nbsp; His biggest claim to fame is a toothpaste ad in which he played the part of a super powered toothpaste-based hero.&nbsp; Since then, he has found only menial parts while auditioning for much bigger roles.&nbsp; One day, Phillip is invited to work for one of the many rental family businesses in Tokyo, having no idea or real care for it at first.&nbsp; However, as Phillip gets to know his &ldquo;clients,&rdquo; he finds himself inexplicably caring for them, perhaps too much, as he even ends up turning down a coveted acting role for a show in Korea because he becomes so attached to a young girl named Mia (played by newcomer Shannon Mahina Gorman) as he takes on the role of her father.&nbsp; The result therein will not be spoiled here.&nbsp; It will be left for audiences to discover for themselves.<br /><span></span>That is not his only foible.&nbsp; He also plays the part of a journalist who is interviewing elderly former actor named Kikuo Hasegawa (Akira Emoto).&nbsp; As the pair gets to know each other more throughout the story, Phillip becomes so attached to Kikuo that he defies the wishes of Kikuo&rsquo;s daughter and takes him back to his childhood home, a long way away.&nbsp; As a result of caring so much Phillip ends up almost getting himself prosecuted and deported from Japan, if not for the help of his friends at the rental family agency.&nbsp;<br /><span></span>Meanwhile, the story goes back to Mia (again) as she discovers that Phillip was not her real father, leading to even more story involving her relationship with her mother.&nbsp; This is where things start to become problematic for the overall presentation.&nbsp; The movie&rsquo;s run-time, not counting the end credits, is one hour 43 minutes.&nbsp; At least a good 20 minutes or so of that time comes at the end as it feels like neither Blahut nor Hikari could fully figure out how to wrap up the story.&nbsp; In other words, it drags on at the end with several points that could have been solid endings.&nbsp; As a result, many viewers may find themselves checking their watches as the story finally nears its end more than once.&nbsp; To that end, the story (and movie) is not perfect, even being worth watching.&nbsp; The one negative noted here is not enough to completely doom the presentation but certainly did not help it, either.<br /><span></span>Knowing that the writing and pacing issues that arise in the story&rsquo;s final act are not enough to doom the movie, there is at least one more positive to note from the movie, that being the work of Fraser and his cast mates.&nbsp; The character development that Fraser displays throughout the course of the movie is subdued and nuanced.&nbsp; It is obvious when things change for him, emotionally, after Mia gives him a mobile that she made in school.&nbsp; In that moment it would have been so easy for him to overact, but thankfully with his experience, he handled the moment and what came after expertly.&nbsp; On the same note, his interactions with his cast mates (most notably Emoto and Gorman) allow them to fully exhibit their talents, too.&nbsp; In the case of Emoto, he does such an admirable job of slowly opening up to Phillip a little more with each interaction.&nbsp; At first, he is tentative about letting Phillip interview him, not even questioning Phillip&rsquo;s real identity.&nbsp; But as the duo&rsquo;s friendship grows, audiences slowly see more vulnerability from Kikuo, to the point that Kikuo finally indirectly admits that he knows he is developing dementia and just wants to go home one last time before he dies.&nbsp; Why he wants to return home and the sequence thereof makes for one of the most bittersweet of the story&rsquo;s items.&nbsp; This will also be left for audiences to discover for themselves.&nbsp; Emoto is to be highly commended for his work alongside Fraser.&nbsp; It easily makes him such a sympathetic character.<br /><span></span>In the case of Gorman, even being a newcomer, audiences would not know this about her if they did not watch the movie&rsquo;s bonus behind the scenes featurette.&nbsp; The innocence that she brings to Mia is so endearing in its own right.&nbsp; That anger that she exhibits as Mia first meets Phillip (whose character in this case is named Kevin) is fully believable.&nbsp; What child would not lash out after being without a parent for so many years?&nbsp; The way in which she gradually opens up and her pained reaction as she discovers Phillip&rsquo;s secret tugs so much at the heartstrings.&nbsp; Her interaction with Phillip in the story&rsquo;s finale is just as believable as she basically reintroduces herself to him.&nbsp; It is another heartwarming moment that when considered along with so much else from her performance adds even more to the appeal of the acting.&nbsp; When her work, that of Emoto and Fraser is considered collectively, the whole therein makes for reason enough for audiences to watch this movie.&nbsp; When the acting and story are considered collectively, they make for plenty of reason for audiences to take in&nbsp;<em>Rental Family</em>&nbsp;at least once.&nbsp; This even considering the one issue of the writing in the final act.<br /><span></span><em>Rental Family</em>, Searchlight Pictures&rsquo; new human drama starring Brendan Fraser, is a touching new offering that proves itself worth watching at least once.&nbsp; That is proven in part through its story.&nbsp; Yes, the story is based on something real, it is not based on actual events.&nbsp; It is an original work that is full of heart and wonderful acting.&nbsp; The only real negative is the writing and pacing in the story&rsquo;s final act.&nbsp; Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the movie.&nbsp; All things considered they make&nbsp;<em>Rental Family</em>&nbsp;further proof of the place and importance of independent standalone movies in an age of otherwise forgettable movies from Hollywood&rsquo;s major studios.<br /><span></span><em>Rental Family</em>&nbsp;is streaming now and will be available on BD/digital combo pack Tuesday through Searchlight Pictures.&nbsp; More information on this and other titles from Searchlight Pictures is available at:<br /><span></span><strong>Website</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://searchlightpictures.com/" target="_blank">https://searchlightpictures.com</a><br /><span></span><strong>Facebook</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://facebook.com/searchlightpics" target="_blank">https://facebook.com/searchlightpics</a><br /><span></span><strong>Twitter</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/searchlightpics" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/searchlightpics</a><br /><span></span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/rental-family-bd-box-art-jpeg_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Paranormal Fans Will Appreciate Dark Sky Films’ Latest Cinematic Offering]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/paranormal-fans-will-appreciate-dark-sky-films-latest-cinematic-offering]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/paranormal-fans-will-appreciate-dark-sky-films-latest-cinematic-offering#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Tue, 03 Feb 2026 22:11:14 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/paranormal-fans-will-appreciate-dark-sky-films-latest-cinematic-offering</guid><description><![CDATA[By: Philip Sayblack&#8203;Secrets can be killers.&nbsp; That seems to be the central message of Dark Sky Films&rsquo; newest paranormal thriller,&nbsp;The Arborist.&nbsp; Set to make its streaming debut Saturday, this roughly 95-minute movie is a gripping tale of ghosts not only in the literal sense but also in the figurative sense, ghosts of the past.&nbsp; Keeping this in mind, the story featured in this movie proves itself a work that paranormal fans in general will agree is worth watching at [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph">By: Philip Sayblack<br /><br />&#8203;Secrets can be killers.&nbsp; That seems to be the central message of Dark Sky Films&rsquo; newest paranormal thriller,&nbsp;<em>The Arborist</em>.&nbsp; Set to make its streaming debut Saturday, this roughly 95-minute movie is a gripping tale of ghosts not only in the literal sense but also in the figurative sense, ghosts of the past.&nbsp; Keeping this in mind, the story featured in this movie proves itself a work that paranormal fans in general will agree is worth watching at least once.&nbsp; The cinematography and acting round out its most important elements, working with the story to make the whole a unique offering further showing the place of independent movies even in today&rsquo;s cinema world.<br /><span></span><em>The Arborist</em>, the forthcoming new paranormal thriller from independent movie studio Dark Sky Films, is an interesting presentation that fans of the genre are certain to agree is worth watching.&nbsp; This is proven in large part through its story.&nbsp; Written and directed by Andrew Mudge, this unique story centers on a middle-aged, alcoholic, single mother, Ellie (Lucy Walters &ndash;&nbsp;<em>Get Shorty</em>,&nbsp;<em>Shame</em>,&nbsp;<em>Here Alone</em>) and her teen son, Wyatt (Hudson West &ndash;&nbsp;<em>Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2</em>,&nbsp;<em>Klaus</em>,&nbsp;<em>General Hospital</em>).&nbsp; Ellie has been hired by recluse, Arthur Randolph (Will Lyman &ndash;&nbsp;<em>Mystic River</em>,&nbsp;<em>The Other Guys</em>,&nbsp;<em>The Siege</em>) to clear some trees from his property.&nbsp; Ellie questions the hiring, but having been paid $3,000 by Arthur to fell the trees reluctantly agrees to do the job.&nbsp; As she and Wyatt start in on the job, strange things start to happen, specifically to Wyatt.&nbsp; The reason Wyatt is experiencing the phenomenon is eventually revealed as the story unfolds.&nbsp; As it turns out, Wyatt just so happens to very closely resemble Arthur&rsquo;s vile first cousin, Victor, who as it turns out was killed by Arthur when the two were boys.&nbsp; Victor&rsquo;s death came only after Victor himself killed a group of orphans visiting the Randolph estate, using gas.&nbsp; He essentially killed them through carbon monoxide poisoning and did so purely out of jealousy because he was jealous of the attention that the children received from Arthur&rsquo;s father.<br /><span></span>As it turns out, Arthur hired Ellie and Wyatt not by chance but choice, as it is revealed they are indirectly related to him and Victor.&nbsp; Arthur admits he wanted to get to know the duo, but now something very unexpected and scary has happened: Victor&rsquo;s angry spirit has come after Wyatt with the intent of possessing him and using him to kill Arthur.&nbsp; Victor is not the only angry spirit on the property.&nbsp; The spirits of the children killed by Victor are also there and they are driven to kill Wyatt/Victor purely out of vengeance, complicating things even more.<br /><span></span>Just as it seems like Victor has been defeated once and for all, one more secret is revealed at the end of the story&rsquo;s final act, and it directly ties back to a secret that he (Wyatt) too has kept for quite a while.&nbsp; It is a secret that almost causes Ellie to lose him. The secret is tied directly back to the loss of another of her children, her daughter Rachel.&nbsp; That loss has &ldquo;haunted&rdquo; her and through Wyatt&rsquo;s confession, no longer haunts either of them, allowing them to escape the estate and the spirits once and for all.&nbsp; So, while yes, this story is a ghost story, it is also an allegory of sorts.&nbsp; It is an allegory about the impact of keeping secrets and how those secrets can both literally and figuratively haunt us in the long term.&nbsp; Keeping this in mind, that duality therein makes this story an interesting presentation that proves itself worth watching at least once.<br /><span></span>The story at the heart of this movie is just one part of what makes it so interesting.&nbsp; The cinematography plays its own role in the overall presentation.&nbsp; That is proven through its subtle use throughout the movie.&nbsp; At first when Ellie and Wyatt arrive at Arthur&rsquo;s estate, all is good.&nbsp; The sun shines through the trees but at the same time there is a certain darkness looming around it all.&nbsp; As mother and son spend their off time in the property maintenance person&rsquo;s quarters (which are conveniently unoccupied at the time), viewers will not the use of light and dark within the building.&nbsp; That limited use of light both in day and night is symbolic of what is building.&nbsp; Eventually Ellie is brought into the mansion in which Arthur lives alone.&nbsp; Audiences will note the limited lighting in many rooms, especially in the house&rsquo;s crawlspace.&nbsp; It is at this moment in the crawlspace in which Ellie discovers the dark past of the estate that the lighting situation gets even darker, reflecting where the story is going.&nbsp; It is a prime example of the importance of the lighting.<br /><span></span>It is not until the story&rsquo;s finale, in which Ellie and Wyatt return to the property, now destroyed, that the light has returned.&nbsp; The mansion has been torn down and snow covers everything but the sun is shining.&nbsp; It is like the past is all gone and the sun shining is reflective of the positivity that surrounds Ellie.&nbsp; It is the hope for the future.&nbsp; Yes, that sounds clich&eacute;, and yes it sort of is clich&eacute;. &nbsp;That is because so many filmmakers have done much the same in so many other movies, whether it be paranormal thrillers or dramas in general.&nbsp; Either way, it is still a solid way to let audiences know that the story is over and everything has been wrapped up, everything is OK.&nbsp; Keeping that in mind, when one examines this and the rest of the cinematography, especially as it relates to the lighting, the whole throughout adds to the emotional impact of the story, making for that much more engagement and entertainment.<br /><span></span>Putting the final touch to the movie is the work of its cast.&nbsp; Walters shines as the story&rsquo;s lead protagonist here.&nbsp; Having lost her daughter Rachel some time prior, Ellie has clearly been struggling to come to terms with the loss.&nbsp; Yes, she has been trying to use therapy but it clearly has not worked, as she has also been self-medicating through the use of alcohol and actual medications.&nbsp; Walters does an impressive job of bringing out the impact of Rachel&rsquo;s death on Ellie.&nbsp; She is trying to hide alcohol in water bottles and is even called out for it by her own son.&nbsp; Even as she works, the trauma is there as she tries to protect Wyatt from accidentally harming himself and when he is attacked by the evil spirit of Victor, she loses it, really showing the pain she still holds inside.&nbsp; It is a powerful presentation from beginning to end.<br /><span></span>Speaking of Wyatt, Hudson is to be applauded for his performance therein.&nbsp; He is spot on as the typical moody teenager early on, going so far as to go goth and tell his mother how he wants to be buried.&nbsp; Going back to Ellie&rsquo;s trauma, that scene hits her hard but Walters does such a good job of maintaining Ellie&rsquo;s control even there.&nbsp; As Victor&rsquo;s spirit continues to harass Wyatt and eventually possess him, Hudson does a good job of bringing out Wyatt&rsquo;s fear and the anger as Ellie initially does not believe him.&nbsp; It builds well on that parent child dynamic, further immersing audiences in the story.<br /><span></span>One would be remiss to ignore the work of fellow cast member Will Lyman.&nbsp; Lyman&rsquo;s performance as Arthur is important because of the mystery that he maintains about Arthur.&nbsp; As the secrets of the past start to come to light (again, literally and figuratively) his persona as he faces down the spirit of his cousin is spot on.&nbsp; He is the perfect counter to Ellie throughout, giving just enough to her that he is still a suspicious figure until it all comes out in the final act.&nbsp; His work, alongside that of his cast mates, makes the trio&rsquo;s work in whole plenty of reason in itself to watch this movie.&nbsp; When the acting is considered alongside the cinematography and the story itself, the whole therein makes&nbsp;<em>The Arborist</em>&nbsp;a paranormal thriller worth watching at least once.&nbsp; Additionally, it is further proof that in an age of big studios churning out the same stuff year in and year out (prequels, sequels, reboots, and movies based on books and actual events), standalone movies are still there to offer audiences valid alternates to what the major studios offer.<br /><span></span><em>The Arborist</em>, the forthcoming new paranormal thriller from independent movie studio Dark Sky Films, is a presentation that paranormal fans and even those wanting something with real content will find worth watching.&nbsp; That is proven in large part through its featured story.&nbsp; The story is important because while on the surface it is a ghost story, there is something deeper.&nbsp; It is also an allegory about keeping secrets and how doing that will haunt people in more than one way.&nbsp; The cinematography, as it pertains to the lighting, plays its own part to the presentation.&nbsp; That is because the lighting is directly connected to the story&rsquo;s development, making the presentation all the more immersive.&nbsp; The cast&rsquo;s work puts the finishing touch to the whole.&nbsp; Each actor&rsquo;s work does its own share to make the movie engaging and entertaining.&nbsp; That is because each actor brings just enough to each performance.&nbsp; Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the movie.&nbsp; All things considered they make&nbsp;<em>The Arborist</em>&nbsp;a presentation worth watching at least once and a valid alternative to Hollywood&rsquo;s endless sea of prequels, sequels, reboots, and movies based on books and actual events.<br /><span></span><em>The Arborist</em>&nbsp;is scheduled to make its streaming debut Saturday.&nbsp; More information on this and other titles from Dark Sky Films is available at:<br /><span></span>More information on this and other titles from Dark Sky Films is available at:<br /><span></span><strong>Website</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://darkskyfilms.com/" target="_blank">https://darkskyfilms.com</a><br /><span></span><strong>Facebook</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://facebook.com/DarkSkyFilms" target="_blank">https://facebook.com/DarkSkyFilms</a><br /><span></span><strong>Twitter</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/darkskyfilms" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/darkskyfilms</a><br /><span></span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/the-arborist-movie-poster_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Dark Sky Films Announces Details For New Supernatural Thriller]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/dark-sky-films-announces-details-for-new-supernatural-thriller]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/dark-sky-films-announces-details-for-new-supernatural-thriller#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Tue, 03 Feb 2026 18:40:15 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/dark-sky-films-announces-details-for-new-supernatural-thriller</guid><description><![CDATA[By: Philip Sayblack&#8203;Horror and supernatural story fans will get a new offering next month from Dark Sky FIlms.The independent studio announced Monday through a news release, it will start streaming&nbsp;The Arborist&nbsp;Feb. 6, with an advance screening to be held this Wednesday. According to information provided in the news release, the movie runs one hour, 40 minutes.The movie&rsquo;s script follows an arborist named Ellie (Lucy Walters &mdash;&nbsp;Get Shorty,&nbsp;Shame,&nbsp;Here Alo [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph">By: Philip Sayblack<br /><br />&#8203;Horror and supernatural story fans will get a new offering next month from Dark Sky FIlms.<br />The independent studio announced Monday through a news release, it will start streaming&nbsp;<em>The Arborist</em>&nbsp;Feb. 6, with an advance screening to be held this Wednesday. According to information provided in the news release, the movie runs one hour, 40 minutes.<br /><br />The movie&rsquo;s script follows an arborist named Ellie (Lucy Walters &mdash;&nbsp;<em>Get Shorty</em>,&nbsp;<em>Shame</em>,&nbsp;<em>Here Alone</em>) who has been hired by a reclusive man named Arthur Randolph (Will Lyman &mdash;&nbsp;<em>Mystic River</em>,&nbsp;<em>The Other Guys</em>,&nbsp;<em>The Siege</em>) to fell a number of trees on his estate. Ellie is joined by her son, Wyatt (Hudson West &mdash;&nbsp;<em>Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2</em>,&nbsp;<em>Klaus</em>,&nbsp;<em>General Hospital</em>), who starts acting very strangely. This leads to increasing tension as Wyatt starts suffering from hallucinations, a haunting starts happening and Randolph finally admits why why he really hired Elly and her son.<br /><br />The movie&rsquo;s trailer is streaming&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf01anATgHU" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />More information on this and other titles from Dark Sky Films is available at:<br /><strong>Website</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://darkskyfilms.com/" target="_blank">https://darkskyfilms.com</a><br /><strong>Facebook</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://facebook.com/DarkSkyFilms" target="_blank">https://facebook.com/DarkSkyFilms</a><br /><strong>Twitter</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/darkskyfilms" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/darkskyfilms</a><br /><br />&#8203;To keep up with the latest entertainment news and reviews, go online to&nbsp;<a href="https://facebook.com/philspicks" target="_blank">https://facebook.com/philspicks</a>&nbsp;and &ldquo;Like&rdquo; it. Fans can always keep up with the latest entertainment news and reviews in the Phil&rsquo;s Picks blog at&nbsp;<a href="https://philspicks.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">https://philspicks.wordpress.com</a>.</div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/the-arborist-movie-poster_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[Music, Acting Are The Only Saving Graces For Disney’s Latest ‘Tron’ Offering]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/music-acting-are-the-only-saving-graces-for-disneys-latest-tron-offering]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/music-acting-are-the-only-saving-graces-for-disneys-latest-tron-offering#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2025 03:19:10 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/music-acting-are-the-only-saving-graces-for-disneys-latest-tron-offering</guid><description><![CDATA[By: Philip Sayblack&#8203;For those who may not have already heard or read, Walt Disney Studios will release the latest entry in its&nbsp;Tron&nbsp;cinema franchise &ndash;&nbsp;Tron:&nbsp;Ares&nbsp;&ndash; next month.&nbsp; Released to streaming outlets Fandango At Home, Amazon Prime TV, and Apple TV Dec. 2, it will see the light of day on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD Jan. 6.&nbsp; This latest entry in the franchise is yet another mixed bag offering from the studio and is worth watching at least onc [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph">By: Philip Sayblack<br /><br />&#8203;For those who may not have already heard or read, Walt Disney Studios will release the latest entry in its&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;cinema franchise &ndash;&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Ares</em>&nbsp;&ndash; next month.&nbsp; Released to streaming outlets Fandango At Home, Amazon Prime TV, and Apple TV Dec. 2, it will see the light of day on 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD Jan. 6.&nbsp; This latest entry in the franchise is yet another mixed bag offering from the studio and is worth watching at least once.&nbsp; In all honesty, the one best aspect of this movie is in fact some very particular acting.&nbsp; This will be discussed shortly.&nbsp; On the negative note, there is far more to note, beginning with the all too familiar story.&nbsp; Additionally, there will be a 3-movie&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;set released alongside&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Ares</em>, but if information is to be believed, it will only be available on one platform.&nbsp; This will be addressed a little later.&nbsp; Even with all of this in mind, there is still one more positive to note herein, that being the movie&rsquo;s soundtrack, provided by none other than Nine Inch Nails.&nbsp; When the soundtrack is considered alongside the noted specific acting, the whole leaves<em>&nbsp;Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Ares</em>&nbsp;a less than stellar entry in this franchise, which leaves the door wide open for yet another sequel (and even series) in its finale.&nbsp; Should either a sequel or new series happen (God forbid), hopefully it will make up for all of the problems posed by this movie.<br /><span></span><em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Ares</em>, the latest entry in Walt Disney Studios&rsquo; decades-long&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;cinematic series, is hardly the best entry in the franchise.&nbsp; That honor still belongs to the franchise&rsquo;s original 1982 movie.&nbsp; In all honesty, this movie is something of a mixed bag, very much like its predecessor,&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Legacy</em>&nbsp;(2010).&nbsp; It suffers from a multitude of problems, but also has at least some positives, the most notable being the acting of star Evan Peters (<em>X-Men</em>:&nbsp;<em>Apocalypse</em>,&nbsp;<em>X</em>&ndash;<em>Men</em>:&nbsp;<em>Days of Future Past</em>,&nbsp;<em>X</em>&ndash;<em>Men</em>:&nbsp;<em>Dark Phoenix</em>) as Julian Dillinger, the grandson of Ed Dillinger, the villain of the original&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;movie.&nbsp; Dillinger was played by the late, great David Warner (<em>Titanic</em>,&nbsp;<em>In The Mouth of Madness</em>,&nbsp;<em>Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II</em>:&nbsp;<em>Secret of the Ooze</em>) in that movie.&nbsp; To be frank, Peters&rsquo; performance as the younger Dillinger is spot on throughout the movie.&nbsp; Between his acting and his look, the immediate comparison that comes to mind is to fellow actor Jesse Eisenberg&rsquo;s work as Lex Luthor in&nbsp;<em>Batman v Superman</em>:&nbsp;<em>Dawn of Justice</em>&nbsp;and in&nbsp;<em>Justice League</em>.&nbsp; To a similar note, Peters&rsquo; work here can also be compared to that of another fellow actor, Cillian Murphy in some of his works.&nbsp; The way that Peters brings out Dillinger&rsquo;s absolute almost Ahab-esque obsession with beating Encom and the pained result of his obsession makes it so easy to despise Dillinger.&nbsp; In all frankness, his work outshines that of most of his cast mates, including one Jared Leto.<br /><span></span>On a related note, while she is only a foil to Peters, Gillian Anderson (<em>The X</em>&ndash;<em>Files</em>,&nbsp;<em>the Fall</em>,&nbsp;<em>The Last King of Scotland</em>) is just as wonderful as Julian&rsquo;s mother, Elisabeth Dillinger.&nbsp; She is that voice of reason opposite her son, who keeps trying to talk sense into him and clear his mind.&nbsp; Anderson shows that she knows she is in a supporting role here, and she makes the most of it, too, complimenting the work of her young co-star in the scenes in which she appears.&nbsp; Not to give away too much as per the story, but even as she pays the ultimate price for Julian&rsquo;s obsession (how it happens will not be revealed here so as to avoid too many spoilers) Anderson handles the moment so tastefully.&nbsp; The reaction that Peters provides to the moment makes it just as powerful, especially considering what follows in the movie&rsquo;s final act.&nbsp; The pair&rsquo;s work on screen is the high point of this movie that sadly is otherwise forgettable largely due to its script.<br /><span></span>The script is the most glaring issue for&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Ares</em>.&nbsp; The script is so problematic because it honestly comes across as being so formulaic. Yes, the script (penned by Steven Lisberger, Bonnie MacBird, and David DiGilio) does center on the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) and basically does continue what started some 45 years ago with&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>, but at the same time offers little new content.&nbsp; The whole matter of the AI gaining sentience (in this case one Jared Leto &ndash;&nbsp;<em>Morbius</em>,&nbsp;<em>Suicide Squad</em>,&nbsp;<em>Mr. Nobody</em>) has been done to death for decades.&nbsp; And in this case, that Ares turns face and protects the Eve (Greta Lee &ndash;&nbsp;<em>St. Vincent</em>,&nbsp;<em>Spiderman</em>:&nbsp;<em>Into the Spider-verse</em>,&nbsp;<em>Past Lives</em>) is way too easily compared to how the Terminator (basically an AI) went from being killer in the original&nbsp;<em>Terminator</em>&nbsp;(1984) to savior of sorts in its sequel,&nbsp;<em>Terminator 2</em>&nbsp;(1991).&nbsp; The only difference between the two characters is that Arnold Schwarzenegger&rsquo;s Terminator turned good guy in the sequel because he was programmed to save John Connor in that movie.&nbsp; In the case of Ares, he was a computer program that became sentient and realized the error of his way.&nbsp; Either way, both characters are essentially AI type figures who go from bad guy to good guy, so to that end, the comparison is inescapable.<br /><span></span>On another layer, the script feels somewhat preachy because it presents the whole equally familiar matter of whether AI should be used for good or bad.&nbsp; On the &ldquo;good guy&rdquo; side is Eve and her desire to use AI to improve the world.&nbsp; On the &ldquo;bad guy&rdquo; side is Julian and his desire to use AI for militaristic purposes and for his own personal greed.&nbsp; He obviously ends up losing, as so many figures of his ilk often do in film and television in favor of that more peaceful-minded protagonist.&nbsp; The preachy nature of this plot element detracts even more from the script&rsquo;s appeal.&nbsp;<br /><span></span>Add in that so much of the script makes this movie feel like another cash grab by Walt Disney Studios, what with all of its throwbacks to the original&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;movie meant to play up the nostalgia of that movie&rsquo;s original audiences, and the script becomes even more problematic.&nbsp;<br /><span></span>This is just one more concern for the script.&nbsp; For those who perhaps might be unaware, allegations have come out since&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Ares</em>&rsquo; debut back in October that the script presented in this movie was in fact not the original story.&nbsp; According to the allegations that have come out, the original script involved Kevin Flynn&rsquo;s son Sam (who was the star of&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Legacy</em>) far more.&nbsp; One can only wonder how different that script may be or have been from this script.&nbsp; In this script, Sam is quickly written off in the opening credits through a &ldquo;news report&rdquo; claiming he had stepped down as head of Encom &ldquo;for personal reasons.&rdquo;&nbsp; It is never mentioned again anywhere in the movie.&nbsp; Rather all of the attention was focused on Kevin Flynn and the &ldquo;permanence code&rdquo; that he allegedly had created decades ago.&nbsp; It is at the center of this whole thing as both Eve and Julian compete to get the code first.&nbsp; It is that central conflict point that is sadly overshadowed by no less than four extensive chase scenes that take up so much of the movie&rsquo;s roughly two-hour run time.&nbsp; The chase scenes are, honestly, so overpowering, one cannot help but make comparison to Marvel Studios&rsquo; 2014 movie,&nbsp;<em>Captain America</em>:&nbsp;<em>The Winter Soldier</em>&nbsp;what with all of its own action/chase scenes that make up so much of that movie.&nbsp; This should come as no surprise considering that Marvel Studios is owned by Disney.<br /><span></span>All things considered the issues raised through the script detract greatly from the ability of audiences to immerse themselves in the movie.&nbsp; Moving on to another concern, now that this movie is set for release next month of 4K, one would think that Disney would release it and both of its predecessors on a full Blu-ray and .or 4K UHD box set.&nbsp; The studio is not going that route.&nbsp; Instead, the company has opted to package all three movies in a DVD box set.&nbsp; If artwork provided to media outlets is to be believed, that 3-movie DVD set will not include any bonus content with the movies.&nbsp; To that end, if no bonus content is included, audiences will do better to just hold onto their movies and wait for this movie&rsquo;s 4K presentation to drop in price.<br /><span></span>On a related note, those who are less concerned with bonus content still have another issue with which to concern themselves, the movies&rsquo; production quality.&nbsp; How will the movies look when they are upscaled from DVD to 4K?&nbsp; Yes, this is an aesthetic issue but still one very much of concern.<br /><span></span>Speaking of bonus content, the bonus content featured with this movie does little to improve the viewing experience.&nbsp; From the standard behind-the-scenes featurette to the slightly longer feature on each of the vehicles featured throughout the movie (it&rsquo;s a surprise none of the vehicles have been marketed as toys to children considering the number of PG-13 movies out there marketed to children over the years), to the lack of any discussion on the story even with all of the nonstop talk about the soundtrack, crafted by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, the bonus content just adds nothing to the presentation.&nbsp;<br /><span></span>Speaking of that soundtrack, which is addressed indirectly in each of the bonus features, it is really the only other shining point for this movie.&nbsp; The soundtrack is so notable because while it is a soundtrack, it is also essentially another full Nine Inch Nails album and it puts Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross&rsquo; talents on full display.&nbsp; As has been recently noted by Phil&rsquo;s Picks, the 24-song soundtrack presents arrangements that at points throw back to Nine Inch Nails&rsquo; 1999 album,&nbsp;<em>The Fragile</em>.&nbsp; At other moments, audiences can hear songs that intentionally or not, pay homage to work that Daft Punk did for the&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Legacy</em>&nbsp;soundtrack.&nbsp; At others still, there are arrangements that sound like they were perfect fits for the soundtrack to the original&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;movie.&nbsp; Those songs, their sequencing, and their production make the soundtrack an item on which all audiences can agree in relation to this movie.&nbsp; It is a presentation in itself that all audiences will agree is a standout presentation and another powerful work from Nine Inch Nails.&nbsp; When it and the earlier noted specific acting is considered collectively, that whole makes&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Ares</em>&nbsp;a movie that while otherwise forgettable, is still worth watching at least once, just sadly not much more.<br /><span></span><em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Ares</em>, the third entry in Walt Disney Studios&rsquo; decades-long&nbsp;<em>Tron&nbsp;</em>cinema franchise, is a largely disappointing offering from the studio that broke so much ground nearly 50 years ago when it premiered&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;in theaters nationwide.&nbsp; It suffers so badly for a variety of reasons, beginning with its story.&nbsp; The lack of any really impacting bonus content with the movie hurts the presentation even more.&nbsp; Add in that the movie will be part of a trilogy set that will allegedly be released only on DVD and audiences get a presentation that does anything but pay tribute to the legacy of&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>.&nbsp; To the positive at least there is some acting that helps the movie&rsquo;s presentation, as does the soundtrack.&nbsp; Those two items are the movie&rsquo;s only matters that cannot be argued.&nbsp; To that end, this movie proves itself, even in its new and upcoming home release, largely a forgettable entry in the&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;franchise.<br /><span></span><em>Tron</em>:&nbsp;<em>Ares</em>&nbsp;is streaming now through Fandango at Home, Amazon Prime TV and Apple TV.&nbsp; It is scheduled for release on physical media Jan. 6.&nbsp; More information on this and other titles from Walt Disney Studios is available at:<br /><span></span><strong>Website</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://waltdisneystudios.com/" target="_blank">https://waltdisneystudios.com</a><br /><span></span><strong>Facebook</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WaltDisneyStudios" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/WaltDisneyStudios</a><br /><span></span><strong>Twitter</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/disneystudios" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/disneystudios</a><br /><span></span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/tron-ares-4k-uhd-steelbook-art_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[MOVIE REVIEW: Arrow Video Offers Audiences Another Of 2025’s Top New Movie Re-Issues With ‘Spawn’]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-arrow-video-offers-audiences-another-of-2025s-top-new-movie-re-issues-with-spawn]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-arrow-video-offers-audiences-another-of-2025s-top-new-movie-re-issues-with-spawn#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Fri, 10 Oct 2025 14:58:27 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-arrow-video-offers-audiences-another-of-2025s-top-new-movie-re-issues-with-spawn</guid><description><![CDATA[By: Philip Sayblack&#8203;Superhero movies are big business in today&rsquo;s cinema world.&nbsp; That was not always the case, though.&nbsp; Going as far back as 1994 and Marvel&rsquo;s then earliest&nbsp;Fantastic Four&nbsp;movie, the superhero genre was not a big draw until somewhere in the early 21st&nbsp;century, so when New Line Cinema released its cinematic adaptation of Image Comics&rsquo; hit title,&nbsp;Spawn&nbsp;in 1997, the movie was met with a mixed response from audiences.&nbsp; In [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph">By: Philip Sayblack<br /><br />&#8203;Superhero movies are big business in today&rsquo;s cinema world.&nbsp; That was not always the case, though.&nbsp; Going as far back as 1994 and Marvel&rsquo;s then earliest&nbsp;<em>Fantastic Four</em>&nbsp;movie, the superhero genre was not a big draw until somewhere in the early 21<span style="font-weight:inherit">st</span>&nbsp;century, so when New Line Cinema released its cinematic adaptation of Image Comics&rsquo; hit title,&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;in 1997, the movie was met with a mixed response from audiences.&nbsp; In the nearly three decades since it made its theatrical debut,&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;has actually gone on to achieve cult status and thanks to Arrow Video, will get new life next week on a new 2-disc 4K set and separate 2-disc Blu-ray set.&nbsp; This in itself is important in its own important way and will be discussed shortly.&nbsp; The movie&rsquo;s sound and video quality &ndash; its production &ndash; also plays into the appeal.&nbsp; This will be discussed a little later.&nbsp; Rounding out the most important of the new re-issue&rsquo;s most important elements is its bonus content.&nbsp; Each item noted is key in its own way to the whole of the movie&rsquo;s new re-issue.&nbsp; All things considered they make the forthcoming re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;a welcome offering from Arrow for the most devoted fans of this now modern cult classic.<br /><span></span>Arrow Video&rsquo;s forthcoming re-issue of New Line Cinema&rsquo;s 1997 superhero cinema flick&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;is an example of a re-issue done completely&nbsp;<strong><em>right</em></strong>. In a year when so many movie re-issues have come up short and/or just outright failed, it makes that statement all the stronger and important.&nbsp; Set for release Tuesday, the movie&rsquo;s forthcoming re-issue succeeds in part through its general presentation.&nbsp; As noted, it will be released separately on a 2-disc 4K and 2-disc Blu-ray platform.&nbsp; The discs in each set are the movie&rsquo;s separate theatrical and director&rsquo;s cut, with the director&rsquo;s cut being the &ldquo;darker, more violent&rdquo; cut than the theatrical cut that ended up being PG-13 instead of &ldquo;R&rdquo;.&nbsp; On one hand, one could look at this and ask why Arrow Video did not just combine all four discs into one full, 4-disc collection.&nbsp; That is a valid question.&nbsp; The immediate response however, is that had the company gone that route, it would have made such a set quite expensive.&nbsp;<br /><span></span>In looking at prices listed through Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Barnes &amp; Noble Booksellers (the movie was not listed through Best Buy and Books-A-Million), the 4K&rsquo;s average price is $37.87 while the Blu-ray&rsquo;s average list price is $30.24, with Barnes &amp; Noble Booksellers having the most expensive listing for both releases.&nbsp; Now, taking those prices into account, imagine having the Blu-ray and 4K sets all together in one set.&nbsp; Odds are the average price of such a box set would be even more especially considering that Arrow Video is a British boutique label, making all of its re-issues imports.&nbsp; To that end, the release of both sets separately is actually a good thing.&nbsp; Sure, it would have been nice to have had both sets in one collection for audiences who are considering buying 4K tech but who still have Blu-ray players.&nbsp; The thing is that 4K tech is still so price restrictive and Blu-rays honestly look and sound nearly as good as 4K releases (if not as good as those offerings).&nbsp; Keeping that in mind, Arrow Video has gone the proper route in this case in regard to the general presentation.<br /><span></span>The general presentation of Arrow Video&rsquo;s&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;re-issue is just one of its positives.&nbsp; Another positive worth noting is its production (IE the video and audio quality).&nbsp; The audio and video quality alike are impressive in their own right.&nbsp; This applies in the 4K and Blu-ray presentation.&nbsp; This is evidenced from the movie&rsquo;s beginning to its end.&nbsp; The soundtrack (composed of so much metal and nu-metal) expertly compliments the dialogue, the explosions and everything else while the video clearly has been touched up.&nbsp; The grain of the original film is still evident.&nbsp; That is obvious.&nbsp; At the same time, it is not overpowering.&nbsp; The result therein is a great sense of nostalgia among viewers while also giving a relatively clear picture along equally clear audio.&nbsp; To that end, the production presented here builds on the general presentation to make for even more for audiences to applaud.<br /><span></span>Rounding out the most important of the elements in&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&rsquo;s 4K and Blu-ray re-issue is the bonus content.&nbsp; The bonus content is the accent on top of the &ldquo;structure&rdquo; that is this re-issue.&nbsp; That is because audiences get not just the bonus content featured in the original DVD and Blu-ray releases, but adds to that content with even more new material that adds so much to the viewing experience beginning with the new feature-length audio commentary from podcast host and comic book expert Dave Baxter.&nbsp; At times Baxter&rsquo;s commentary does feel a little bit scripted.&nbsp; That cannot be denied but at the same time he also manages to make it feel fluid.&nbsp; Audiences will be impressed as Baxter compares the original&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;comic book to the cinematic adaptation, pointing out so many similarities and differences.&nbsp; That he does this throughout the course of the movie is sure to lead to plenty of discussions on the pros and cons of those similarities and differences among certain circles.&nbsp; That means that Baxter&rsquo;s discussion on this matter alone makes for plenty of engagement and entertainment.<br /><span></span>Baxter also takes on the special effects presented throughout the movie in his commentary.&nbsp; The special effects are especially important because they are really a cornerstone of the movie&rsquo;s visual presentation.&nbsp; As Baxter points out, the visual effects used here were at the time a fledgling technology.&nbsp; To that point, yes, the visual effects are questionable but keeping in mind their use in the cinema industry at the time, it makes their presentation ahead of their time.<br /><span></span>Speaking of the visual effects, the VFX team of special makeup effects artists Howard Berger and Greg Nicotero discuss those effects at more length in their own lengthy discussion.&nbsp; The duo points out the infancy of the tech that was used for the movie&rsquo;s special effects, and even points out in the process that they actually did not want to use as much of the tech as was used.&nbsp; There is note of how the pair went so far as to make a &ldquo;prosthetic&rdquo; cape for lead actor Micheal Jai White but because it was so bulky, ended up going the CGI route instead.&nbsp; The same applied for the sequences involving the &ldquo;devil.&rdquo;&nbsp; The duo discusses having actually made a model of the evil figure to use instead of a CG big bad.&nbsp;<br /><span></span>On yet another note, the duo&rsquo;s discussion White&rsquo;s prosthetic suit was so heavy and bulky that when they got him out of the costume, they had to actually dry it off because it caused him to sweat so much.&nbsp; This is in line with White&rsquo;s own comments in the new interview with him that sees him discussing exactly that topic.&nbsp; In his new extra, White also talks about some other interesting aspects, beginning with the revelation that before joining the&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;cast, he had actually been tapped to play the character Jax for yet another New Line movie, 1995&rsquo;s adaptation of Sega&rsquo;s&nbsp;<em>Mortal Kombat</em>&nbsp;game.&nbsp; As White explains it, right around the time that he was tapped to become Spawn, the writers behind&nbsp;<em>Mortal Kombat</em>&nbsp;were reducing the role of Jax in that movie, so White still won out in the end, this even though he did not know anything about Spawn&rsquo;s back story.&nbsp; As White closes out his interview, he echoes the statement made by Spawn&rsquo;s creator, Todd McFarlane in one of the original extras, that being the frustration of how&nbsp; the MPAA handled the movie&rsquo;s rating and that he thought an &ldquo;R&rdquo; rated cut should have been released regardless.<br /><span></span>White is not the only one who discusses that treatment of the movie.&nbsp; Bringing everything full circle, Baxter also addresses how the MPAA handled the movie&rsquo;s treatment just because of its &ldquo;darkness&rdquo; since so few if any other movies at the time had been like&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>.&nbsp; It serves as a reminder of just how the MPAA (now MPA) uses what feels like bias in its rating system.&nbsp; This is just one more of so many items that Baxter addresses and in turn adds so much to the viewing experience here.<br /><span></span>On yet another note, Baxter also adds a lot of enlightenment to the movie as he explains Todd Mcfarlane&rsquo;s time with Marvel comics and specifically his role in the creation of Venom in the company&rsquo;s&nbsp;<em>Spiderman</em>&nbsp;series, and how that tied into the look of Spawn in the comics series.&nbsp; Less seasoned comics fans will certainly appreciate this little six degrees of separation so to speak.&nbsp; There is just so much more from here but not enough time or space to go into it all.&nbsp; Putting things simply, Baxter&rsquo;s feature length commentary adds so much appreciation to this modern cult classic alongside White&rsquo;s interview.<br /><span></span>As if everything noted is not enough, the movie&rsquo;s nu-metal soundtrack also gets its own new in-depth examination and so does the editing.&nbsp; Editor Michael Knue will entertain and engage audiences right from the outset of his interview as he discusses his dislike of having worked as an editor on the 1996 Alliance Films/Dimension Films sequel to&nbsp;<em>The Crow</em>,&nbsp;<em>The Crow: City of Angels</em>.&nbsp; He said of that experience that it was so negative that he made him look for anything better, leading him to become part of the crew on&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>.&nbsp; It would be interesting to learn what made that experience so negative, working on&nbsp;<em>The Crow</em>:&nbsp;<em>City of Angels</em>.&nbsp; His calm, matter of fact demeanor as he recalls his experience working on&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;is enlightening.&nbsp; It really brings the movie to audiences in a rarely addressed avenue so to speak.&nbsp; This adds a whole new layer of appreciation for the final product.<br /><span></span>Putting the final touch to the bonus content is its new companion booklet.&nbsp; The notes, penned by John Torrani, coincide with everything discussed by Baxter.&nbsp; From audiences&rsquo; dislike of the CG effects to the casting rumors (which will really surprise a lot of readers &ndash; thank goodness those rumors were just that) to the role of&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;in rejuvenating the comics industry both on the printed page and on screen, and more, his insight completes the bonus content showing once more the importance that said content plays in the home presentation of any movie.<br /><span></span>When all of&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&rsquo;s expansive bonus content (the original and new collectively) is considered along with its production values and its general presentation, the whole therein makes the overall presentation that is this re-issue one of this year&rsquo;s top new movie re-issues if not its best so far.<br /><span></span>Arrow Video&rsquo;s forthcoming re-issue of New Line Cinema&rsquo;s&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;is one of the most welcome surprises of this year&rsquo;s movie re-issue field, along with its re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Dark City</em>&nbsp;earlier in the summer.&nbsp; This re-issue shines in part because of its general presentation, which delivers the movie on two separate 2-disc sets, one being Blu-ray and the other 4K.&nbsp; This is actually a money saving move by Arrow Video, believe it or not.&nbsp; The production (the look and sound of the re-issue) adds to the appeal because of that presentation.&nbsp; The expansive new bonus content that pairs with the original releases extras, puts such a rich finishing touch to the presentation.&nbsp; Each item examined is important in its own way to the whole of the movie&rsquo;s re-issue.&nbsp; All things considered they make the forthcoming re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;one of the year&rsquo;s best in the movie re-issue community and more proof of why Arrow Video is currently the leading company in home video releases.<br /><span></span><em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;is scheduled for release Tuesday.&nbsp; More information on this and other titles from Arrow Video is available at:<br /><span></span><strong>Website</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.arrowfilms.com/" target="_blank">http://www.arrowfilms.com</a><br /><span></span><strong>Facebook</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo" target="_blank">http://www.facebook.com/ArrowVideo</a><br /><span></span><strong>Twitter</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="http://twitter.com/ArrowFilmsVideo" target="_blank">http://twitter.com/ArrowFilmsVideo</a><br /><span></span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/spawn-4k-re-issue-art_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[MOVIE REVIEW:​ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” Is A Mostly Successful Reboot Of This Marvel Franchise]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-the-fantastic-four-first-steps-is-a-mostly-successful-reboot-of-this-marvel-franchise]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-the-fantastic-four-first-steps-is-a-mostly-successful-reboot-of-this-marvel-franchise#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2025 16:11:16 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-the-fantastic-four-first-steps-is-a-mostly-successful-reboot-of-this-marvel-franchise</guid><description><![CDATA[By: Philip Sayblack&#8203;October is going to be a busy month in regard to physical media releases.&nbsp; Early on, Warner Brothers is going to release a brand-new Blu-ray box set featuring 40 classic&nbsp;Peanuts&nbsp;television specials.&nbsp; Also early in the month, Arrow Video will re-issue New Line Cinema&rsquo;s classic comic book adaptation of Image Comics&rsquo; flagship series,&nbsp;Spawn&nbsp;in a new 4K restoration.&nbsp; Roughly two years after its then most recent 4K release,&nbsp; [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph">By: Philip Sayblack<br /><br />&#8203;October is going to be a busy month in regard to physical media releases.&nbsp; Early on, Warner Brothers is going to release a brand-new Blu-ray box set featuring 40 classic&nbsp;<em>Peanuts</em>&nbsp;television specials.&nbsp; Also early in the month, Arrow Video will re-issue New Line Cinema&rsquo;s classic comic book adaptation of Image Comics&rsquo; flagship series,&nbsp;<em>Spawn</em>&nbsp;in a new 4K restoration.&nbsp; Roughly two years after its then most recent 4K release,&nbsp;<em>Clue</em>&nbsp;will get&nbsp;<strong><em>another</em></strong>&nbsp;4K release, the previous re-issue being delivered via Shout! Factory in 2023.&nbsp; This latest re-issue will come via Alliance Entertainment in a new 40<span style="font-weight:inherit">th</span>&nbsp;anniversary presentation that boasts absolutely nothing new this time out in comparison to Shout! Factory&rsquo;s 2023 release.&nbsp; Later this month, one of the most exciting new releases will come (Oct. 28) in the form of the long-awaited home release of&nbsp;<em>The Best Christmas Pageant Ever</em>, which saw a very limited theatrical release in late 2024.&nbsp; This critic was lucky enough to see this surprisingly enjoyable movie, too, and has been waiting ever since for its official home release.&nbsp;<br /><span></span>As if all of that is not enough, one more movie, Marvel Studios&rsquo; latest reboot of&nbsp;<em>The</em>&nbsp;<em>Fantastic Four</em>&nbsp;is set for release Oct. 7, in the form of&nbsp;<em>The Fantastic Four</em>;&nbsp;<em>First Steps</em>.&nbsp; This latest iteration of &ldquo;Marvel&rsquo;s First Family&rdquo; on the big screen is an interesting but imperfect presentation.&nbsp; To the good (and bad) is its story.&nbsp; This will be discussed shortly.&nbsp; On a related note, the bonus content that accompanies the movie&rsquo;s home release (including its current streaming presentation) is something of a negative as the lack of one key item as an extra definitely detracts from the viewing experience and the appreciation of the story.&nbsp; This will be examined a little later.&nbsp; Knowing that this issue is not enough to make&nbsp;<em>Fantastic Four: First Steps</em>&nbsp;unwatchable, there is one more positive to note, that being the collective work of the movie&rsquo;s main cast.&nbsp; Each item noted plays its own important part to the whole of the movie.&nbsp; All things considered they make&nbsp;<em>The</em>&nbsp;<em>Fantastic Four</em>:&nbsp;<em>First Steps</em>&nbsp;a work that while enjoyable, is still far from the best of Marvel Studios&rsquo; MCU offerings to date.<br /><span></span><em>The Fantastic Four</em>:&nbsp;<em>First Steps</em>, the latest entry in Marvel Studios&rsquo; Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), is an interesting new presentation that even with its interest, is imperfect.&nbsp; It is a presentation that proves worth watching at least once.&nbsp; That is due in large part to its story.&nbsp; The story clocks in at just under two hours (roughly one hour, 54 minutes to be exact &ndash; not counting end credits).&nbsp; That is rare for a Marvel movie to say the very least.&nbsp; It is a welcome change, considering the last time audiences saw a Marvel Studios offering that short a movie was in 2013 in&nbsp;<em>Thor</em>:&nbsp;<em>The Dark World</em>.&nbsp; Actually, that movie is the shortest MCU movie to date at one hour, 52 minutes.&nbsp; That is something to keep in mind especially considering the ability of that movie to keep audiences engaged versus this movie&rsquo;s ability to do the same.&nbsp; In just under two hours,&nbsp;<em>The</em>&nbsp;<em>Fantastic Four</em>:&nbsp;<em>First Steps</em>&rsquo; story accomplishes everything that it set out to do.&nbsp; Kudos to the writing team of Josh Friedman, Eric Pearson and Jeff Kaplan as they succeed in doing what James Gunn honestly failed to do with his new&nbsp;<em>Superman</em>&nbsp;project for his DCU project.&nbsp; The trio establishes the F4&rsquo;s history solidly while managing just as easily to jump right into the group&rsquo;s story, with Reed and Sue Richards celebrating the pending birth of their baby, who would later gain the name Franklin in the opening scene.&nbsp; What is interesting in this moment is something that so many families will appreciate, the struggle of the couple to have children.&nbsp; The subdued conversation puts that topic on the table without being preachy about the matter.&nbsp; There are so many parents out there in this world, the real world, who face the same struggle.&nbsp; They will appreciate how Friedman, Pearson, and Kaplan tackled the matter.&nbsp; The trio also wastes little time getting to the heart of the story, that being the coming face off between the Fantastic Four and Galactus, the world eater.&nbsp; The transition from all the happiness to this sudden sense of gloom and fear is handled so smoothly.&nbsp; The fluidity of that transition is more proof of why the writing team is to be commended.<br /><span></span>On another note, the way in which the trio ties Franklin&rsquo;s pending introduction into the story at the center of the whole makes for its own share of interest.&nbsp; It is also where some of the problems come into play.&nbsp; For those less familiar with the Fantastic Four&rsquo;s various story arcs, Franklin was in fact part of the family&rsquo;s story early in the franchise&rsquo;s history.&nbsp; In doing research on Franklin, it turns out Franklin was indeed introduced into the&nbsp;<em>Fantastic Four</em>&nbsp;comics series way back in the 1960s, so that and the look of this film are a great pairing.&nbsp; However, it was not until 2012 in Jonathan Hickman&rsquo;s time on&nbsp;<em>Fantastic Four</em>, that Franklin and Galactus (this movie&rsquo;s big bad, and a longtime foe of the F4), become entwined.&nbsp; Franklin actually resurrected Galactus in Hickman&rsquo;s time on the comic in order to get help battling a group of Celestials bent on world domination.&nbsp; The pair ironically uses the exact same bridge tech used here that also stopped Galactus, in order to stop those Celestials.<br /><span></span>This is where the story&rsquo;s most glaring problem comes into play.&nbsp; For those not so familiar with Franklin&rsquo;s story, having this &ldquo;chosen one&rdquo; story at the center of the whole can be very problematic.&nbsp; That especially considering Franklin&rsquo;s rich history in the&nbsp;<em>Fantastic Four</em>&nbsp;comics history.&nbsp; Franklin&rsquo;s incredible power does not even come into play until the end of the story&rsquo;s third act.&nbsp; How this happens will be left for audiences to discover for themselves, but in reality, having that power not displayed until the story&rsquo;s finale leaves audiences wondering the whole time what Galactus knows about Franklin and why he is so important.&nbsp; The reasoning for withholding that information does make some sense in hindsight, but the writing team could have given audiences (especially those more casual audiences) at least a little something.<br /><span></span>Staying on that same note, at no point in the bonus content is Franklin&rsquo;s back story examined.&nbsp; It is not even discussed in the bonus feature length audio commentary.&nbsp; As a matter of fact, the majority of the discussion on that bonus audio track is about the movie&rsquo;s production values (E.g. special effects, acting, etc.)&nbsp; Sure, the deleted scenes&rsquo; standard inclusion helps make for some appreciation.&nbsp; That is because each scene clearly was better left on the cutting room floor, but the other features, which focus on the cast and the special effects, is secondary to the importance of that one key bonus that was lacking here.&nbsp; Having that extra retrospective would have done so much to make the viewing experience all the more enjoyable for audiences in general.<br /><span></span>Staying somewhat on that same note, there is also no bonus content addressing the post credits scene involving the Fantastic Four&rsquo;s appearance at the end of another recent Marvel movie,&nbsp;<em>Thunderbolts*</em>.&nbsp; The scene in question finds the Thunderbolts relaxing in what used to be Avengers Tower when an alert comes up and the F4 shows up in its rocket on screen coming into their universe.&nbsp; Nowhere in this movie does that come into play, though one Doctor Doom does come into play in this movie&rsquo;s post credits scene.&nbsp; That scene will not be spoiled here, but one can only hope that the two post credits scenes will meld together in the coming&nbsp;<em>Avengers: Doomsday&nbsp;</em>movie since it was revealed the Fantastic Four will be part of the forthcoming expansive multiverse movie.<br /><span></span>Knowing that the lack of the Franklin&rsquo;s history and how it was tied into this story is problematic but not enough to doom the movie (and the lack of anything explaining the family showing up at the very end of&nbsp;<em>Thunderbolts*</em>), there is at least one more positive to note, that being the work of the movie&rsquo;s cast.&nbsp; All four members of the superhero family &ndash; Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn &ndash; is deserving of praise.&nbsp; Pascal, as Reed Richards, is impressive as he presents on one side, a figure who on the surface is so calm and collected.&nbsp; As a scientist, there is almost an obsessive quality that Pascal brings to Reed&rsquo;s persona.&nbsp; As things progress, Pascal does just as well to bring out Reed&rsquo;s vulnerability, his less confident side.&nbsp; Audiences see a man who is in essence, like so many men out there, someone who tries to be strong for everyone but deep down is likely fighting to keep it all together.&nbsp; This is something that so many people need to appreciate and take into note.&nbsp; The duality that he brings to Reed is to be commended because it would have been so easy for him to just ham it up but instead, he gave an outstanding performance throughout.<br /><span></span>Kirby meanwhile is just as impressive as she displays a woman who is both vulnerable and confident in her own right.&nbsp; At the same time, her motherly actions are to be lauded by every female viewer.&nbsp; She shows the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her family.&nbsp; This especially, as she battles Galactus in the story&rsquo;s final act.&nbsp; The look of anger, determination, etc. in her eyes as she uses her powers to push Galactus toward the bridge says more than any words could ever speak.&nbsp;<br /><span></span>Ebon Moss-Bachrach deserves his own kudos as he brings Ben to life.&nbsp; What audiences get from him is a guy who just wants to live his life but also knows that when it&rsquo;s time to go to work, it is time.&nbsp; Whether it is interacting with a group of young children to entertain them, working to help the family escape from the gravitational forces of a black hole, or being that &ldquo;fun uncle&rdquo; to Franklin at points, Moss-Bachrach brings the best of Ben to the screen.&nbsp; He shows such great versatility in his own right and is just as deserving of praise.<br /><span></span>In regard to everyone&rsquo;s favorite &ldquo;hot head&rdquo; (yes that horrible pun was intended), Johnny Storm, Joseph Quinn so wonderfully channels Chris Evans&rsquo; time in the role while also bringing his own touch to the whole.&nbsp; That sense of bravado is there, but when he gets serious, such as when he finally confronts the Silver Surfer (Julia Garner) with the voices of those whose worlds were destroyed, his serious nature is just as impressive.&nbsp; Again, his ability to so expertly show both sides of his character is impressive in its own right.<br /><span></span>While the noted performances are memorable in their own right, they are not the only stars of this movie.&nbsp; Herbie, the family&rsquo;s robot friend, is the real star of this movie.&nbsp; Voiced by Matthew Wood and controlled by a team behind the scenes, kids will absolutely love Herbie.&nbsp; There is something about his presence that is so innocent.&nbsp; It conjures thoughts of another famous little robot, none other than R2D2 (of&nbsp;<em>Star Wars</em>&nbsp;fame).&nbsp; All involved in bringing him to life on screen deserve their own praise, too.<br /><span></span>Whether it be the performance of all noted on screen, the work of those who crafted this movie&rsquo;s story or even those who gave the movie its impressive look, there is a lot to applaud here.&nbsp; At the same time, there are some concerns herein, too.&nbsp; In hindsight they do detract considerably from the viewing experience, and in turn appreciation for the movie.&nbsp; Even with those concerns noted, the movie still proves itself a mostly positive addition to Marvel&rsquo;s MCU that is worth watching at least once.<br /><span></span><em>The Fantastic Four</em>:&nbsp;<em>First Steps</em>&nbsp;is scheduled for home release Oct. 7. More information on this and other titles from Marvel Studios is available at:<br /><span></span><strong>Website</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.marvel.com/" target="_blank">https://www.marvel.com</a><br /><span></span><strong>Facebook</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/marvelstudios" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/marvelstudios</a><br /><span></span><strong>Twitter</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/marvel" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/marvel</a><br /><span></span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/fantastic-four-reboot-steelbook-art-jpeg_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[MOVIE REVIEW: Disney’s ‘Tron,’ ‘Tron: Legacy’ 4K Re-Issues Fall Far Short Of Expectations]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-disneys-tron-tron-legacy-4k-re-issues-fall-far-short-of-expectations]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-disneys-tron-tron-legacy-4k-re-issues-fall-far-short-of-expectations#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Wed, 01 Oct 2025 16:06:22 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-disneys-tron-tron-legacy-4k-re-issues-fall-far-short-of-expectations</guid><description><![CDATA[By: Philip SayblackMore than 40 years ago, Walt Disney Studios took a chance on a little movie titled&nbsp;Tron&nbsp;and since then, that movie has essentially created a whole cottage industry.&nbsp; From cult status to major mainstream franchise,&nbsp;Tron&nbsp;has since gone on to spawn a sequel, a short-lived animated series and a whole following of audiences the world over.&nbsp; Now today as those audiences and a whole new generation of audiences await the release of that movie&rsquo;s seco [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph">By: Philip Sayblack<br /><br />More than 40 years ago, Walt Disney Studios took a chance on a little movie titled&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;and since then, that movie has essentially created a whole cottage industry.&nbsp; From cult status to major mainstream franchise,&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;has since gone on to spawn a sequel, a short-lived animated series and a whole following of audiences the world over.&nbsp; Now today as those audiences and a whole new generation of audiences await the release of that movie&rsquo;s second sequel,&nbsp;<em>Tron: Ares</em>&nbsp;(which is scheduled to make its theatrical debut Oct. 10), the movie that started it all and its sequel,&nbsp;<em>Tron: Legacy</em>&nbsp;have gotten new life in brand-new 4K steelbook re-issues.&nbsp; As anticipated as these two re-issues have been among the franchise&rsquo;s most devoted audiences, they are in reality largely disappointing.&nbsp; That is because other than the story in the original 1982 movie, there is only one other positive to these presentations, that being their general production, and even that is a minimal positive.&nbsp; This will be discussed later.&nbsp; The bonus content featured in each movie greatly detracts from the appeal of either set, too.&nbsp; This will be discussed a little later.&nbsp; When it and the sets&rsquo; packaging are considered collectively, the result is two movie re-issues that are just as disappointing as those from the studios owned by Walt Disney Studios.<br />Walt Disney Studios&rsquo; brand-new 4K UHD steelbook re-issues of&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Tron: Legacy</em>&nbsp;are sadly nothing for audiences to get excited about.&nbsp; That includes the most devoted of the franchise&rsquo;s fans.&nbsp; The reason being is that the re-issues give audiences next to nothing to praise despite the years-long anticipation of the re-issues.&nbsp; If any one thing can be noted of either movie, it is the story behind the original 1982 movie.&nbsp; The story in question is a political commentary about autocratic rule and stopping it.&nbsp; That commentary is set against the backdrop of a hacker who gets pulled into a cyber world that matches said commentary what with its clear militaristic look and feel.&nbsp; Along the way, our main protagonist, Flynn, works with the computer program, Tron, to defeat the big bad cyber dictator, Sark and return freedom to the cyber world.&nbsp; It is an allegorical tale that is just as pertinent today as it was more than four decades ago when this movie first premiered in theaters nationwide.<br />As if that is not enough, the movie&rsquo;s look at that time was just as important to its presentation.&nbsp; That is because no other movie at the time was using computer graphics at all.&nbsp; For this movie&rsquo;s heads to go that direction was a huge risk.&nbsp; This is discussed at more length in the movie&rsquo;s bonus content, which has been carried over to the new re-issue.&nbsp; Speaking of which, the bonus content featured in the new 4K re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Tron: Legacy</em>&nbsp;has also been carried over, offering audiences nothing new there, either.&nbsp; This will all be discussed later.<br />Getting back to the subject at hand,&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;remains in important part of Walt Disney Studios&rsquo; history and that of modern cinema.&nbsp; Its dual-pronged story, which is one part science fiction epic and one part political allegory that is still as relevant to day as then and its first of its kind special effects make that clear.&nbsp; By comparison, the story featured in&nbsp;<em>Tron: Legacy</em>&nbsp;is the exact opposite.&nbsp; Much in the vein of&nbsp;<em>Blues Brothers 2000</em>, it is a virtual rehashing of its predecessor.&nbsp; In this case, Kevin Flynn&rsquo;s son, Sam, goes in search of his father, who has been missing since Sam was a boy.&nbsp; Not to give away too much for audiences who have yet to see the movie, it turns out that Kevin essentially got trapped in the grid.&nbsp; This is where the problems begin.&nbsp; Throughout it all, this movie becomes more about its visuals than its story.&nbsp; That is because the story is so basic. It finds one of Kevin&rsquo;s original Clu programs having turned evil dictator (sound familiar?) and leading a massive army to try and come into the human world in order to take over.&nbsp; Yes, this has been done before.&nbsp; To that end, the story here is essentially a retelling of the first movie, with the protagonist intentionally going into the grid this time instead of accidentally, as in the first movie.&nbsp; All the while, the light cycle sequences are there but this time are accented by new vehicles that take center stage but little other reason to watch.<br />The matter of Clu turning bad becomes even more of a concerning plot device.&nbsp; That is because those who have watched the original&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;will recall, again, that Kevin Flynn created a number of Clu programs, so which Clu program is this?&nbsp; What happened with all of the other Clu programs that he wrote between the ending of&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;and this movie?&nbsp; Where are they?&nbsp; Are they all part of this Clu&rsquo;s army?&nbsp; For that matter, how did the movie&rsquo;s titular character turn bad along with Clu?&nbsp; This is never explained, either.&nbsp; Keeping all of this in mind,&nbsp;<em>Tron: Legacy</em>&nbsp;offers becomes just another special effects extravaganza than anything memorable.<br />Moving on from here, there are plenty of concerns, not the least of which being that the bonus content featured in the movie&rsquo;s most recent Blu-ray releases &ndash; both of which released in 2011 &ndash; were carried over to these 4K steelbook re-issues.&nbsp; There is no new bonus content included in either movie&rsquo;s new presentation.&nbsp; The special effects extra, &ldquo;The Speed of Light&rdquo; is the anchor for those extras as it focuses on each of the noted vehicles and special effects sequences that are the real center of attention in this movie.&nbsp; On a related note, the &ldquo;Digital Imagery&rdquo; extras and the &ldquo;Making of&rdquo; featurette included in&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&rsquo;s new 4K re-issue are the most notable of that movie&rsquo;s extras.&nbsp; Keeping that in mind, audiences who already own the movies&rsquo; previously released Blu-rays would be well-served to stick with those copies.&nbsp; The same applies to audiences who do not own one or the other.&nbsp; All involved will be saving roughly the roughly $40 price tag on each; $40 that could and should go to something else.<br />While the issues raised by the bonus content is hugely problematic for each re-issue, there is at least one more positive to note, that being the sound and video quality.&nbsp; Each movie&rsquo;s sound and video quality has been improved in its presentation.&nbsp; Now, on the surface this may seem like a good thing.&nbsp; However, even in this case it is not necessarily a winning item.&nbsp; That is because even Blu-ray discs upscaled through a 4K player and played back on a 4K television look and sound quite impressive in their own right.&nbsp; They honestly look and sound almost theater quality, especially when a sound bar or nice sound system is part of a viewer&rsquo;s home entertainment system.&nbsp; Even without the extra audio equipment the viewing experience for the Blu-ray presentation on the 4K television is still reason enough for audiences to hold off on these 4Ks.&nbsp; To that end, neither set really gives audiences any motivation to own them.&nbsp; They become, like so many other 4K steelbook re-issues released by Disney and the studios owned by the company, forgettable.<br />Walt Disney Studios&rsquo; brand new 4K steelbook re-issues of&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Tron: Legacy</em>&nbsp;are presentations that audiences have anticipated for years.&nbsp; However, in examining both movies&rsquo; new re-issues, audiences will agree that they do not live up to expectations.&nbsp; The story in the sequel still does not hold up to that featured in the original movie.&nbsp; The bonus content featured in each re-issue is the same presented in the previously released Blu-ray presentations, each of which was released in 2011.&nbsp; The movies&rsquo; production is positive but only to a point when one considers the sound and video quality in Blu-ray presentations upscaled on 4K players and televisions.&nbsp; Keeping all of this in mind, these re-issues do not live up to expectations and end up being as forgettable as other 4K re-issues released this year by Walt Disney Studios and the studios that it owns.<br /><em>Tron</em>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<em>Tron</em>&nbsp;legacy are available now on their own 4K steelbook presentations.&nbsp; More information on these and other titles from Walt Disney Studios is available at:<br /><strong>Website</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://waltdisneystudios.com/" target="_blank">https://waltdisneystudios.com</a><br /><strong>Facebook</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/WaltDisneyStudios" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/WaltDisneyStudios</a><br /><strong>Twitter</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/disneystudios" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/disneystudios</a></div>  <div><div class="wsite-multicol"><div class="wsite-multicol-table-wrap" style="margin:0 -15px;"> 	<table class="wsite-multicol-table"> 		<tbody class="wsite-multicol-tbody"> 			<tr class="wsite-multicol-tr"> 				<td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"> 					 						  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/tron-legacy-4k-steelbook-art_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>   					 				</td>				<td class="wsite-multicol-col" style="width:50%; padding:0 15px;"> 					 						  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/tron-4k-steelbook-art_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>   					 				</td>			</tr> 		</tbody> 	</table> </div></div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Monty Python And The Holy Grail’ 4K/BD Re-issue Is A Disservice To Movie’s Legacy]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-4kbd-re-issue-is-a-disservice-to-movies-legacy]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-4kbd-re-issue-is-a-disservice-to-movies-legacy#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Tue, 16 Sep 2025 15:18:28 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-4kbd-re-issue-is-a-disservice-to-movies-legacy</guid><description><![CDATA[By: Philip SayblackMonty Python and the Holy Grail&nbsp;is without question one of the greatest movies in the history of cinema.&nbsp; It is an all-out screwball comedy that uses every second of its 91-minute run time to make audiences laugh and succeeds in so doing, too.&nbsp; It is everything that is right with comedy and movie making in general.&nbsp; This year, the iconic movie celebrates its 50th&nbsp;anniversary, which proves its longevity.&nbsp; In celebration of the occasion, Sony Pictur [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph">By: Philip Sayblack<em><br /><br />Monty Python and the Holy Grail</em>&nbsp;is without question one of the greatest movies in the history of cinema.&nbsp; It is an all-out screwball comedy that uses every second of its 91-minute run time to make audiences laugh and succeeds in so doing, too.&nbsp; It is everything that is right with comedy and movie making in general.&nbsp; This year, the iconic movie celebrates its 50<span style="font-weight:inherit">th</span>&nbsp;anniversary, which proves its longevity.&nbsp; In celebration of the occasion, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) has re-issued the movie in a new two-disc steelbook 4K/Blu-ray combo pack.&nbsp; Released Aug. 26, this latest presentation of the movie honestly falls somewhat short of expectations, much like so many classic movies that have been re-issued on 4K in recent months.&nbsp; It does have one key positive, that being the story.&nbsp; The movie&rsquo;s problems start to arise in the bonus content.&nbsp; There is one (yes, one) new extra included in this latest re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</em>&nbsp;and it is only presented on the set&rsquo;s 4K disc.&nbsp; The reality is that it honestly does little to enhance the presentation.&nbsp; This will be discussed at more length a little later.&nbsp; Getting back to the positives, there is one more positive to note, that being the collective audio and video.&nbsp; Each item noted here is important in its own way to the whole of the movie&rsquo;s latest presentation.&nbsp; All things considered they make the new 4K/Blu-ray presentation of&nbsp;<em>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</em>&nbsp;a slightly disappointing offering among this year&rsquo;s new movie and television re-issues.Sony Pictures Home Entertainment&rsquo;s recent 4K/Blu-ray re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</em>&nbsp;is sadly a somewhat disappointing new presentation of what is otherwise one of the greatest comedies, if not movies in general, in cinema history.&nbsp; The movie succeeds in at least one aspect, that being its story.&nbsp; The story is simple:&nbsp; King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table make their way across Europe in search of the Holy Grail after God commanded them to embark on the quest.&nbsp; The whole thing is a fully tongue-in-cheek spoof of the Arthurian legend that does anything but take itself seriously, which is why it is so fun.&nbsp; That very scene in which they are commanded by God to seek the grail is hilarious in itself.&nbsp; One cannot help but imagine it had to have been at least some influence behind the creative process behind&nbsp;<em>South Park</em>.&nbsp; The silliness that happens from there on out ensures nonstop laughter.&nbsp; From Sir Lancelot going on a mad killing spree because he thought he was saving a princess being held by her evil father, to Sir Galahad essentially being held captive by a group of overly hormonal women who live in a castle by themselves, to the group encountering &ldquo;The Knights Who Say Nee&rdquo; and so much more, the sketches that make up this movie&rsquo;s story are a laugh riot.&nbsp; Add in the cast&rsquo;s acting in every single one of its roles and audiences get so much to love.&nbsp; Every scene is loaded with timeless lines that most audiences can quote by heart by now, proving even further, what makes this movie to this day, so great.&nbsp; The finale puts a wonderfully silly point to the story.&nbsp; For those who have yet to watch this movie, that moment will be left for them to discover for themselves.&nbsp; No doubt it will leave those audiences laughing just as much as audiences who know the movie by heart by this point.<br /><span></span>While the story featured in&nbsp;<em>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</em>&nbsp;is the movie&rsquo;s cornerstone, its latest detracts from its legacy.&nbsp; That is because of the bonus content included in the new set.&nbsp; More specifically, the retrospective &ldquo;examining&rdquo; what continues to make the movie timeless is the problem.&nbsp; The featurette, which is essentially just a bunch of celebrities recalling what makes the movie great to them, is included only on the 4K disc.&nbsp; Knowing this, it really is not much of a memorable extra.&nbsp; It could have been some kind of academic examination of the movie&rsquo;s role in cinema history but instead is basically just a celeb showcase with comments about why they love the movie.&nbsp; Nothing more.&nbsp; All of the bonus content from the movie&rsquo;s previous Blu-ray re-issue has been carried over onto this collection and is presented once more on the set&rsquo;s Blu-ray disc.&nbsp; That means that audiences who do not own the noted previous re-issue will still be able to enjoy all of said content once more, especially if they do not own a 4K player and/or television (which is to this day still very cost restrictive).&nbsp; To that end, the movie&rsquo;s new 4K/BD re-issue proves somewhat less worth owning.&nbsp; Consumers honestly may actually do better just buying that previous Blu-ray re-issue, all things considered.<br /><span></span>Should the previous Blu-ray re-issue not be available and this presentation be the only option, at least audiences know that the audio and video quality in this presentation is passable.&nbsp; It is obvious in watching the movie on the set&rsquo;s 4K disc that little to no effort was made to restore the movie for presentation here.&nbsp; Thankfully though, that did not hurt the presentation.&nbsp; Audiences will be glad to find that at no point do they have to adjust the volume.&nbsp; That sound stability is positive to the viewing experience.&nbsp; The video still has the grain of its original presentation from all those decades ago but is still clean enough here.&nbsp; To that end, the overall viewing experience herein is mostly positive. &nbsp;It makes this re-issue at least slightly more bearable but still not enough to make the set worth buying if the previous BD re-issue is available to purchase.<br /><span></span>Sony Pictures Home Entertainment&rsquo;s recently released 4K/BD combo set re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</em>&nbsp;is a somewhat disappointing new revisiting of what is one of the greatest comedies in cinema history.&nbsp; The movie&rsquo;s story continues to shine in this latest presentation.&nbsp; The one major problem with the re-issue is its bonus content.&nbsp; All of the bonus content from the previous Blu-ray presentation has been carried over onto this set&rsquo;s BD disc.&nbsp; The one extra bonus included in the 4K disc proves to be anything but memorable.&nbsp; It is just a random grouping of comments from celebrities talking about what the movie means to them.&nbsp; To that end, it makes the movie&rsquo;s BD disc more worth it and the set overall less worth owning.&nbsp; Keeping that in mind, if the BD standalone is still available to own, audiences would honestly do better buying that re-issue.&nbsp; It will be far less expensive and more worth the purchase.&nbsp; The only other positive to this set is the production, if one can call it a positive.&nbsp; Clearly no effort has been made to touch up the movie&rsquo;s audio and video for its 4K presentation but even with that in mind, the sound and video is still clear enough that audiences can remain engaged and entertained by the story and acting.&nbsp; Overall, this new 4K/BD steelbook re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</em>&nbsp;proves to be sadly anything but a fitting tribute for a legendary comedy and movie in general.<br /><span></span><em>Monty Python and the Holy Grail</em>&nbsp;is available now on 4K/BD combo pack.&nbsp; More information on this and other titles from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is available at:<br /><span></span><strong>Website</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://sonypictures.com/movies" target="_blank">https://sonypictures.com/movies</a><br /><span></span><strong>Facebook</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://facebook.com/SonyPictures" target="_blank">https://facebook.com/SonyPictures</a><br /><span></span><strong>Twitter</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/sonypictures" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/sonypictures</a><br /><span></span></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/monty-python-and-the-holy-grail-4k-bd-set_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[MOVIE REVIEW: Pixar, Disney Surprise With ‘Elio’]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-pixar-disney-surprise-with-elio]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-pixar-disney-surprise-with-elio#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 22:25:35 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/movie-review-pixar-disney-surprise-with-elio</guid><description><![CDATA[BY: Philip Sayblack&#8203;Hollywood&rsquo;s major studios have, in recent years, given audiences very little to applaud both in theaters and at home.&nbsp; All of the prequels, sequels, reboots, movies based on books and actual events (which are more often than not overly embellished with untruths), and all of the unappealing re-issues have made, and continue to make that clear.&nbsp; This summer though, Pixar Animation has actually offered a diamond in the rough, so to speak in the form of its  [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph">BY: Philip Sayblack<br /><br />&#8203;Hollywood&rsquo;s major studios have, in recent years, given audiences very little to applaud both in theaters and at home.&nbsp; All of the prequels, sequels, reboots, movies based on books and actual events (which are more often than not overly embellished with untruths), and all of the unappealing re-issues have made, and continue to make that clear.&nbsp; This summer though, Pixar Animation has actually offered a diamond in the rough, so to speak in the form of its latest offering,&nbsp;<em>Elio</em>.&nbsp; Having made its theatrical debut June 20, it is streaming now and will be available on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K UHD Sept. 9.&nbsp; The movie, especially in its forthcoming home release is a surprisingly enjoyable work, due in part to its central story, the story&rsquo;s themes and its science fiction throwbacks.&nbsp; Speaking of the throwbacks, the lack of any discussion on those items in the otherwise positive bonus content is another of the key items in the movie&rsquo;s home presentation.&nbsp; The movie&rsquo;s production in its 4K release rounds out its most important elements.&nbsp; When it is considered alongside the other noted items, the whole therein makes&nbsp;<em>Elio</em>&nbsp;one of the rare movies released so far this year that is actually worth watching and maybe even owning.<br /><span></span><em>Elio</em>, the latest movie from Pixar Animation and its parent company Disney, is one of the biggest surprises of 2025 in terms of new movies.&nbsp; That is because it proves itself to be worth watching and maybe even owning all things considered.&nbsp; Its appeal comes in large part through its story and the themes and science fiction throwbacks connected to the story.&nbsp; The story is a touching tale of its young titular character, who following the death of his parents, is taken in by his aunt, Olga (Zoe Saldana &ndash;&nbsp;<em>Guardians of the Galaxy 1-3</em>,&nbsp;<em>Star Trek 1-3</em>,&nbsp;<em>Colombiana</em>).&nbsp; Both Elio (Yonas Kibreab &ndash;&nbsp;<em>Sweet Tooth</em>,&nbsp;<em>Into The Dark</em>,&nbsp;<em>Obi-Wan Kenobi</em>) and Olga struggle with their relationship &mdash; Olga because she is single, making her rather new and unpracticed at parenting and Elio because he increasingly feels alone (like an alien figuratively speaking) &ndash; as the story opens.&nbsp; After slipping into a high security room at the base where Olga works and sending a message to outer space, he is &ldquo;abducted&rdquo; by a group of interstellar &ldquo;ambassadors&rdquo; in what is known as the Communiverse.&nbsp; This matter ties into the movie&rsquo;s themes and will be discussed a little later.&nbsp; In joining the Communiverse, Elio finds that he has finally found his place in life and in the universe for lack of better wording.&nbsp; However when a big bad alien named Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett ==&nbsp;<em>Everybody Loves Raymond</em>,&nbsp;<em>Tangled</em>,&nbsp;<em>Ratatouille</em>) threatens the Communiverse things change, even as Grigon&rsquo;s son, Glordon (Remy Edgerly &ndash;&nbsp;<em>Sing 2</em>,&nbsp;<em>Helluva Boss</em>) befriends Elio.&nbsp; In the end, the events that unfold lead Elio and Olga to become closer and to Elio realizing his true home and place.&nbsp; Simply put, the story of friendship, family, and personal growth is anything but new.&nbsp; At the same time, there the way in which the familiar themes are delivered herein is original, making it not necessarily one of Pixar&rsquo;s best movies but still an enjoyable unique story from one of the leading names in today&rsquo;s animation community.<br /><span></span>Leaning back on the noted themes of family and friendship, they are just a couple of the themes that are tied into&nbsp;<em>Elio</em>.&nbsp; It is very easy to also note that the story also incorporate themes of diversity, equity, and inclusion (yes, DEI) through the use of the Communiverse.&nbsp; That is because the Communivers is comprised of beings from across the universe in one community (community, universe, get it?)&nbsp; Considering all that is happening in America right now, maintaining and promoting DEI herein is so welcome.&nbsp; On the same note, it makes this movie a great way to torture all of the braindead, brainwashed MAGA cultists out there who hate anyone who does not look and talk like them.&nbsp; To that end, the movie&rsquo;s creative heads are to be commended for including this clear theme into the story.<br /><span></span>The equally familiar theme of personal emotional growth is again nothing new for Pixar&rsquo;s movies.&nbsp; It is still welcome here, nonetheless.&nbsp; That is because of the unique scenario that leads to Elio&rsquo;s situation.&nbsp; Few if any other movies out there touch on the topic of fostering, which is essentially what happens here.&nbsp; Olga becomes a foster parent of sorts to Elio.&nbsp; There is one other movie out there that immediately comes to mind.&nbsp; It is the 2007 movie,&nbsp;<em>Martian Child</em>, which was distributed through independent studio Anchor Bay.&nbsp; Watching the growth that both Olga and Elio experience as the story progresses is engaging in its own right.&nbsp; Each sees things one way until things change, leading them to become closer and true family in the end, leading to the happy ending, which will not be revealed here.<br /><span></span>Moving on to another topic related to the story is its clear homage to so many other vintage science fiction properties.&nbsp; The one throwback that immediately comes to mind is that to the vintage sci-fi sitcom,&nbsp;<em>Alf</em>.&nbsp; The throwback comes in a simple way, courtesy of Olga&rsquo;s co-worker, Gunther Melmac.&nbsp; For those who might not know, Alf&rsquo;s home world is the planet Melmac.&nbsp; To that end, one has to know that this throwback was intentional.&nbsp; Gunther (Brendan Hunt &ndash;&nbsp;<em>Ted Lasso</em>,&nbsp;<em>Horrible Bosses 2</em>,&nbsp;<em>Bless This Mess</em>) is a secondary character but actually plays a key role late in the story&rsquo;s third act.&nbsp; This will also be left for audiences to discover for themselves.&nbsp;<br /><span></span>The scene in which the space pod is being kept in the bay at the Air Force base is another throwback in its own way.&nbsp; It is actually a throwback to not one but two classic Disney science fiction movies,&nbsp;<em>The Cat From Outer Space</em>&nbsp;(1978) and&nbsp;<em>Flight of the Navigator</em>&nbsp;(1986).&nbsp; The throwback comes from the delivery of the pod into the hangar and how it is displayed therein.&nbsp; This is another item that longtime movie buffs will appreciate.<br /><span></span>On yet another note, the very use of clones of Elio and Glordon is a throwback to the classic 1956 science fiction flick,&nbsp;<em>Invasion of the Bodysnatchers</em>.&nbsp; In this movie, seed pods land on earth and the contents become clones of the people, just lacking any human emotion.&nbsp; Unlike that case, the clones of Elio and Glordon are way too happy.&nbsp; This actually plays directly into the story in&nbsp;<em>Elio</em>, as Olga starts to realize over time that her nephew is too happy and sociable all the time.&nbsp; So yes, there is that throwback, too.&nbsp; It is just one more of so many science fiction throwbacks throughout the 98-minute movie.&nbsp; It also makes subtle references to the likes of&nbsp;<em>Close Encounters of the Third Kind</em>&nbsp;and even&nbsp;<em>Fire in the Sky</em>, albeit in a kid friendly fashion.&nbsp; Those collective throwbacks are sure to appeal to so many older established science fiction fans.&nbsp; They in turn make for even more engagement and entertainment.<br /><span></span>Staying on the matter of those classic science fiction references, it is sad that in the bonus content, there is zero discussion on their inclusion.&nbsp; Why there is on discussion thereof is anyone&rsquo;s guess, but even mention in an audio commentary (which is also lacking among the bonus content) would certainly have enhanced the viewing experience.&nbsp; Now, on that note, the bonus content that&nbsp;<strong><em>is</em></strong>&nbsp;included in the movie&rsquo;s home release actually does add to the experience, even with that in mind.&nbsp; The deleted scenes, for instance, include introductions from co-directors Domee Shi (<em>Turning Red</em>,&nbsp;<em>Inside Out</em>,&nbsp;<em>Incredibles 2</em>) and Madaline Sharafian (<em>Turning Red</em>,&nbsp;<em>Coco</em>,&nbsp;<em>We Bear Bears</em>).&nbsp; Those introductions help to explain why the deleted scenes in question were left on the cutting room floor.&nbsp; That understanding, in watching the scenes in question, make it easy to understand why they were left out as viewers take in each scene.&nbsp; Interestingly enough, one of those scenes, which involves Elio having to go through an obstacle course, actually includes a clear throwback to yet&nbsp;<em>another</em>&nbsp;older Disney franchise, none other than&nbsp;<em>Recess</em>.&nbsp; More specifically, it references the modern classic series&rsquo; debut episode, which included the short, &ldquo;The New Kid.&rdquo;&nbsp; In this short, new kid Gus has to fight to &ldquo;earn&rdquo; his name and not just be &ldquo;the new kid.&rdquo;&nbsp; It is a great throwback that fans of the series will truly love.&nbsp; At the same time, in taking the introduction from Shi and Sharafian, it makes sense why it was left out of the final presentation.<br /><span></span>Two other deleted scenes, which focus on the Communiverse&rsquo;s other ambassadors, make sense having been cut, again after hearing the explanation.&nbsp; The explanation is that they center on the ambassadors&rsquo; character development and that in one scene, Grigon was already a member of the Communiverse instead of the main antagonist.&nbsp; Shi and Sharafian are right that the focus needed to remain on Elio&rsquo;s development, not that of the ambassadors, and that the original setup for Grigon simply did not work.&nbsp; All things considered the bonus content featured with the movie prove the most important of the movie&rsquo;s extras.&nbsp; The &ldquo;making of&rdquo; featurette adds a little bit to the whole, but in all honesty, not much.&nbsp; The same applies to the little Q&amp;A session that Kibreab and Edgerly hold with a NASA astronaut.&nbsp; All things considered the bonus content (and lack thereof) helps and detracts from&nbsp;<em>Elio</em>&rsquo;s presentation.<br /><span></span>Rounding out the most important of&nbsp;<em>Elio</em>&rsquo;s elements is its production.&nbsp; Throughout the course of its nearly 2-hour run time, the movie&rsquo;s sound and picture are crystal clear in the movie&rsquo;s 4K presentation.&nbsp; Viewers will be amazed at said clarity in the overall presentation.&nbsp; There is no need to adjust the volume at any point from beginning to end and no need to strain one&rsquo;s eyes, either.&nbsp; Keeping that in mind, the aesthetic aspect of&nbsp;<em>Elio</em>&nbsp;in its home release makes for just as much to appreciate as the movie&rsquo;s story, its themes, sci-fi throwbacks, and even bonus content.&nbsp; All things considered, the forthcoming home physical release of&nbsp;<em>Elio</em>&nbsp;(and its current digital presentation) prove it to be one of the most surprisingly welcome cinematic offerings of 2025 that is worth watching and maybe even owning.<br /><span></span><em>Elio</em>, the latest cinematic offering from Pixar Animation, is a surprisingly positive offering from the studio, which has also released even greater movies, such as&nbsp;<em>Coco</em>,&nbsp;<em>Up</em>, and&nbsp;<em>Cars</em>.&nbsp; This movie&rsquo;s appeal comes in part through its story, which follows its titular character.&nbsp; After the death of his parents, Elio is &ldquo;adopted&rdquo; by his aunt, Olga, but still feels alien (figuratively speaking).&nbsp; He feels alone on Earth and in the universe, until circumstances change.&nbsp; The themes and vintage science fiction throwbacks that connect to the story add to the appeal, as does the bonus content (if only to a point).&nbsp; The movie&rsquo;s production in its 4K presentation puts the finishing touch to the movie, giving audiences a fully positive aesthetic aspect.&nbsp; Each item noted is important in its own way to the whole of&nbsp;<em>Elio</em>.&nbsp; All things considered they make&nbsp;<em>Elio</em>&nbsp;one of the most surprisingly welcome cinematic offerings of 2025.<br /><span></span><em>Elio</em>&nbsp;is streaming now through Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home.&nbsp; It is scheduled for home physical release Sept. 9 on DVD, Blu-ray and 4K.&nbsp; More information on this and other titles from Disney and Pixar is available at:<br /><span></span><strong>Website</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pixar.com/" target="_blank">https://www.pixar.com</a><br /><span></span><strong>Facebook</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Pixar" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Pixar</a><br /><span></span><strong>Twitter</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/pixar" target="_blank">https://</a><a href="https://twitter.com/pixar" target="_blank">twitter</a><a href="https://twitter.com/pixar" target="_blank">.com/pixar</a><br /><span></span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/elio-4k-steelbook-art_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item><item><title><![CDATA[20th Century Studios, Disney Give Audiences Little Reason To Buy ‘Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World’ 4K/Blu-Ray Re-Issue]]></title><link><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/20th-century-studios-disney-give-audiences-little-reason-to-buy-master-and-commander-the-far-side-of-the-world-4kblu-ray-re-issue]]></link><comments><![CDATA[https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/20th-century-studios-disney-give-audiences-little-reason-to-buy-master-and-commander-the-far-side-of-the-world-4kblu-ray-re-issue#comments]]></comments><pubDate>Tue, 02 Sep 2025 22:21:50 GMT</pubDate><category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category><guid isPermaLink="false">https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/movie-reviews/20th-century-studios-disney-give-audiences-little-reason-to-buy-master-and-commander-the-far-side-of-the-world-4kblu-ray-re-issue</guid><description><![CDATA[BY: Philip SayblackPrequels, sequels, and reboots are big business for Hollywood&rsquo;s major studios and have been for a long time.&nbsp; They are not the only big business for the cinema industry, though.&nbsp; Re-issuing movies is another major practice for those major studios and for distributors.&nbsp; Due to advancements in technology, countless classic and modern classic movies have gotten the 4K treatment, some good, some not so good.&nbsp; With so many movies having been re-issued in r [...] ]]></description><content:encoded><![CDATA[<div class="paragraph">BY: Philip Sayblack<br /><br />Prequels, sequels, and reboots are big business for Hollywood&rsquo;s major studios and have been for a long time.&nbsp; They are not the only big business for the cinema industry, though.&nbsp; Re-issuing movies is another major practice for those major studios and for distributors.&nbsp; Due to advancements in technology, countless classic and modern classic movies have gotten the 4K treatment, some good, some not so good.&nbsp; With so many movies having been re-issued in recent years on 4K, the list feels as endless as all of the prequels, sequels and reboots that Hollywood&rsquo;s major studios have released and have planned for release.&nbsp; That is important to note because like those prequels, sequels, and reboots, some re-issues are memorable and some not so much.&nbsp; Early this month, 20<span style="font-weight:inherit">th</span>&nbsp;Century Studios/Universal/Disney released another of those somewhat less memorable offerings with the re-release of the 2003 high seas drama,&nbsp;<em>Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World</em>.&nbsp; Released on a 2-disc 4K/Blu-ray combo pack, it marks at least the third time the movie has been re-issued, with previous re-issues of the movie in 2008 and 2015.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;The one true shining positive of this movie is its story.&nbsp; &nbsp;On the other side of things, this re-issue suffers from not one but two negatives:&nbsp; Its packaging and its bonus content.&nbsp; The bonus content itself is interesting but not new to this presentation.&nbsp; Therein lies the major problem.&nbsp; While those negatives greatly detract from the movie&rsquo;s presentation, there is at least one more positive to the re-issue, that being the general audio and video.&nbsp; Each item noted is key in its own way to the whole of this latest re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World</em>.&nbsp; All things considered, they make this presentation proves itself yet another re-issue that is recommended for a very targeted audience.<br /><span></span>20<span style="font-weight:inherit">th</span>&nbsp;Century Studios/Universal/Disney&rsquo;s recently released 4K re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World</em>&nbsp;is a presentation with a very specific audience.&nbsp; It is one of those re-issues that is meant only for viewers who do not already own one of its previous re-issues.&nbsp; That is due in large part to its packaging and its bonus content. &nbsp;Those concerns will be examined later.&nbsp; Its primary positive point is its story.&nbsp; The story, which centers on leads Russell Crowe (<em>Les Miserables</em>,&nbsp;<em>American Gangster</em>,&nbsp;<em>Gladiator</em>) and Paul Bettany (<em>Avengers 1-4</em>,&nbsp;<em>Mortdecai</em>,&nbsp;<em>The Da Vinci Code</em>) is a high seas drama.&nbsp; On one side is Crowe as Capt. Jack &ldquo;Lucky&rdquo; Aubrey and on the other is Bettany as Dr. Stephen Maturin.&nbsp; It opens as Aubrey&rsquo;s ship, the H.M.S. Surprise, is being pursued by French warship, the Acheron (pronounced ACK-eron).&nbsp; After the Surprise is attacked by the Acheron, Aubrey takes it on himself to pursue the Acheron to the &ldquo;far side of the world.&rdquo;&nbsp; It is only revealed late in the nearly two-and-a-half-hour (two hours, 18 minutes to be exact) movie that he was only authorized to pursue the Acheron to a certain point before turning back for home.&nbsp; This is where things really get interesting.&nbsp; This is not the swashbuckling movie of Hollywood&rsquo;s silver age nor is it just some turn off your brain blockbuster.&nbsp; This is more of an emotional journey of friendship and personal determination between Aubrey and Maturin.&nbsp; The comparisons are possible between this movie and the likes of&nbsp;<em>Mutiny on the Bounty</em>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<em>Moby Dick</em>, but at the same time, Aubrey is neither the infamous Capt. Ahab (from&nbsp;<em>Moby Dick</em>) or Capt. Bligh (from&nbsp;<em>Mutiny on the Bounty</em>).&nbsp; He is a beloved, respected leader among his crew.&nbsp; Only once does any dissention arise between Aubrey and Maturin throughout the journey and even then it is momentary.&nbsp;<br /><span></span>Even more interesting is that unlike so many action movies and other blockbusters, Aubrey is the protagonist, but there is no real antagonist.&nbsp; Rather the &ldquo;faceless&rdquo; crew of the Acheron is the antagonist and is not even shown until the climactic final battle between the ships and their crews.&nbsp; It is a great, unlikely approach that is certain to appeal to audiences who tire of that usual good guy/bad guy format.&nbsp; Rather it is more of that literary &ldquo;man v. himself&rdquo; and man v. nature&rdquo; story.&nbsp; Speaking of nature, the intense scene in which the crew struggles against mother nature as it sails around the southernmost tip of South America, almost into Antarctic waters, are gripping in themselves.&nbsp; Between those moments, the emotional moments that the crew face, and other moments, the story in whole, which has a happily surprising finale, considering the story&rsquo;s opening minutes, the story in whole is reason enough to take in this movie at least once.&nbsp; It should be emphasized here that again, this is not a typical blockbuster loaded with action sequences.&nbsp; It is a story that requires audiences to immerse themselves in the story in order to appreciate this element.<br /><span></span>The story featured in&nbsp;<em>Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World</em>&nbsp;is a solid starting point for the movie.&nbsp; As much as it does to make the movie interesting, the movie&rsquo;s new re-issue has some problems that weaken its foundation.&nbsp; One of those negatives is its packaging.&nbsp; In regard to the packaging, the movie is presented in a two-disc 4K/Blu-ray platform.&nbsp; The discs overlay one another inside the steelbook packaging.&nbsp; This is a packaging method that few if any studios and distributors use with home physical releases anymore.&nbsp; It was used ages ago at the advent of DVDs on multi-disc sets.&nbsp; The thing is that studios and distributors finally listened to consumers about the scratching that resulted from having to move discs around and changed their packaging methods.&nbsp; This led to few if any studios and distributors using this packaging method anymore.&nbsp; Sadly 20<span style="font-weight:inherit">th</span>&nbsp;Century Studios/Disney/Universal did not listen here.&nbsp; So as a result, audiences are forced to remove one disc to use the other depending on whether they are using the movie&rsquo;s Blu-ray disc or its 4K disc.&nbsp; The scratching that likely will result from this is certain to shorten the life span of one if not both discs.&nbsp; To that end, this is a negative in itself that could have been alleviated ahead of the movie&rsquo;s latest re-issue.<br /><span></span>On a related note, those who may not be so familiar with video quality, Blu-rays upscaled on 4K televisions are cinema quality.&nbsp; They are just as good as any 4K disc in most cases.&nbsp; To that end, audiences may find themselves questioning the validity of the nearly $50 price listed through Barnes &amp; Noble Book Sellers.&nbsp; Neither Walmart nor Target list the movie, nor does Books-A-Million.&nbsp; Amazon lists the movie&rsquo;s re-issue but has no pricing.&nbsp; Barnes &amp; Noble Book Sellers lists the movie at nearly $50 in its latest presentation.&nbsp; The Blu-ray presentation is far less expensive, making for even more concern about buying this release.<br /><span></span>The other negative to this re-issue is its bonus content.&nbsp; In regard to the bonus content, all of the extras featured here are the same as the ones presented in the movie&rsquo;s most recent 2015 re-issue.&nbsp; In other words, there is nothing new for audiences who already own that noted Blu-ray re-issue.&nbsp; That is far less motivation to own this set.&nbsp; Now in regard to the extras themselves, it should be said that they are interesting.&nbsp; The hour-plus behind the scenes featurette makes for so much appreciation for the movie because it shows the time and effort that went into making this film.&nbsp; From handcrafting the ships to the real on-site shooting in the Galapagos islands and on the water (as well as in a tank) to the very training that the cast (and crew) underwent for this movie, to the efforts that director Peter Weir took to make the movie look and feel believable, this feature adds so much appreciation for this movie.&nbsp; Speaking of Weir, he gets his own featurette in which he discusses his dedication to making the movie as believable as possible while not straying too much from the literary source material on which the movie is based.&nbsp; It adds to the respect for this director&rsquo;s director.&nbsp; The deleted scenes even make for their own interest as they reveal that they in fact would not have fit into the movie&rsquo;s final cut.&nbsp; So, in essence, the extras do add to the viewing experience but again all of these bonuses are also featured in the movie&rsquo;s previous re-issue.&nbsp; To that end, audiences who own that presentation of the movie have less reason to own this presentation.&nbsp; Those who do not own the movie already may even find themselves buying the previous Blu-ray pressing considering the aforementioned pricing for this new release.<br /><span></span>Clearly this latest re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Master and Commander</em>:&nbsp;<em>The</em>&nbsp;<em>Far Side of the World</em>&nbsp;has some concerns.&nbsp; For all of the concerns that the movie presents in this presentation, there is at least one more positive to note, that being the general production.&nbsp; The sound and video quality throughout the movie is applause-worthy.&nbsp; This is especially evident in a moment such as the noted storm scenes.&nbsp; Obviously, the moment had at least some CG incorporation, but audiences would really not notice that, considering how realistic the sequence looks.&nbsp; The loud bursts of wind, the sound of the Surprise battling the swells, and so much more make this moment so believable and immersive.&nbsp; On another note, the panoramas that are used at points, the expert shots aboard the ship and other moments make for their own engagement.&nbsp; The climactic final battle between the Surprise and Acheron is yet another moment in which the production shines.&nbsp; The boom of the cannons, the clanging metal of the swords, the roaring shouts of the crews, and so much more make that sequence just as powerful in its own right.&nbsp; Between this sequence, the others noted and so many other scenes, the overall sound and video in this presentation is of its own note.&nbsp; When the production is considered alongside the story, the whole therein makes for something more for new audiences to appreciate.&nbsp; This even despite the issues raised by the packaging and the bonus content.&nbsp; To that end, those audiences who do not already own this movie in its previous releases will appreciate what it has to offer here.&nbsp; At the same time, viewers are still likely to find themselves questioning the validity of paying a potentially high price for this re-issue when it has everything that the movie&rsquo;s previous Blu-ray re-issue boasts and with less concern about damage to the disc.<br /><span></span>20<span style="font-weight:inherit">th</span>&nbsp;Century Studios/Universal/Disney&rsquo;s new re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World</em>&nbsp;is another questionable re-issue from 20<span style="font-weight:inherit">th</span>&nbsp;Century Studios, its parent company, Disney, and Universal.&nbsp; That is due partly because of and despite its story.&nbsp; The story is not one of those movies that will allow audiences to just turn off their brains.&nbsp; It is a presentation that much like its literary source material, requires audiences to fully and actively immerse themselves in the presentation in order to appreciate this element.&nbsp; Considering the general mindset of so many audiences this is going to once again limit its appeal.&nbsp; The packaging and bonus content featured in this re-issue is its own concern.&nbsp; The packaging of the two-disc set risks the discs being marred as they are removed and replaced while the bonus content offers nothing new&nbsp; here.&nbsp; The bonus content in this re-issue is the same as that in the movie&rsquo;s previous Blu-ray re-issue.&nbsp; The other positive (really the only pure positive) in this presentation is its general presentation.&nbsp; The sound and video quality throughout the movie is impressive to say the least.&nbsp; It makes for an aesthetic experience that gives audiences at least some more reason to take in the presentation.&nbsp; To that end, those who immerse themselves in the story will appreciate that and the production.&nbsp; The result will be appreciation for the movie if not for its general presentation in this latest outing.&nbsp; Each element examined here is key in its own way to the whole of&nbsp;<em>Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World</em>&nbsp;in its new 4K release.&nbsp; All things considered they make the movie&rsquo;s new re-issue another presentation that continues to cause question regarding Hollywood&rsquo;s ongoing trend of re-issuing so many movies.&nbsp; It is another offering from 20<span style="font-weight:inherit">th</span>&nbsp;Century/Disney/Universal that will appeal to a very targeted audience.<br /><span></span>The new 4K/Blu-ray combo pack re-issue of&nbsp;<em>Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World</em>&nbsp;is available now.&nbsp; More information on this and other titles from 20<span style="font-weight:inherit">th</span>&nbsp;Century Studios is available at:<br /><span></span><strong>Website</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://20thcenturystudios.com/" target="_blank">https://20thcenturystudios.com</a><br /><span></span><strong>Facebook</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Avatar" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/Avatar</a><br /><span></span><strong>Twitter</strong>:&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/20thcentury" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/20thcentury</a><br /><span></span><br /></div>  <div><div class="wsite-image wsite-image-border-none " style="padding-top:10px;padding-bottom:10px;margin-left:0;margin-right:0;text-align:center"> <a> <img src="https://www.soundfurymagazine.com/uploads/1/5/9/4/1594462/master-and-commander-steelbook-art-jpeg_orig.jpg" alt="Picture" style="width:auto;max-width:100%" /> </a> <div style="display:block;font-size:90%"></div> </div></div>]]></content:encoded></item></channel></rss>