Animal
Kingdom: The Complete Second Season (2017/Warner
DVD Set)/Brotherhood
Of The Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield
(2017/Well Go DVD)/Dragonwyck
(1946/Fox/Twilight Time Limited Edition Blu-ray)/East
West 101: Season 1
(2007/Acorn DVD Set)/Flip
Flappers!: Complete Collection
(2016/Sentai Blu-ray)/Gintama
(2017/Well Go Blu-ray w/DVD)/Homeland:
The Complete Sixth Season
(2017/Fox Blu-ray Set)/Satan's
Cheerleaders (1977/VCI
Blu-ray w/DVD)/The Witches
(1967/MVD Visual/Arrow Blu-ray)
Picture:
B-/B/B+/B-/B/A & C+/B/B & C+/B Sound: B/C+/B+/B-/C+/B &
C+/B/C+/B Extras: C+/C/B/C+/C*/D/B/C+/B Main Programs:
C/B+/C+/B/B+/B+/C+/C/C+
PLEASE
NOTE:
The Dragonwyck
Blu-ray is now only available from our friends at Twilight Time,
limited to only 3,000 copies and can be ordered while supplies last
from the links below.
Now
for a big chunk of action and exploitation for your viewing
pleasure...
The
hit crime drama Animal
Kingdom
returns for its Complete
Second Season
(2017) and picks up on the drama surrounding a teenager named 'J' aka
Cody (played by Finn Cole), whom in the first season has to move to
Southern California after his mom dies of a heroin overdose to stay
with family. However, Cody's family happen to be vicious drugged up
criminals who are in the company of very dangerous people. What kind
of a future will young Cody have and can he survive the family drama?
The
show also stars Ellen Barkin, Scott Speedman, Ben Robson, and Shawn
Hatosy to name a few.
Episodes
include Eat
What You Kill, Karma, Bleed for It, Broken Boards, Forgive Us Our
Trespasses, Cry Havoc, Dig, Grace, Custody, Treasure, The Leopard,
You Will Be Gutted,
and Betrayal.
Presented
in standard definition, anamorphically enhanced DVD with a 1.78:1
widescreen aspect ratio and a lossy 5.1 Dolby Digital mix, the film
looks fine on the format but isn't as sharp as it would be on
Blu-ray. Some of the colors are a little washed out, but details on
skin textures and mostly loss. This season is also available on
Blu-ray. However, we are just covering the DVD.
Special
Features...
Dissecting
Pope featurette with actor Shawn Hatesy and Producers
Deleted
Scenes
For
more on the show, try this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/14874/Animal+Kingdom:+The+Complete+First+Season
Shen
a captain of the Imperial Guard finds himself frame and blackmailed
when he investigates into a group of rebels against the Empire. What
he thought was just another group of of rebels turns into a
conspiracy reaching to the highest level of government and the woman
that he loves and he was ordered to kill ...may turn out to be also
his only witness that could save him and reveal the truth, in Yang
Lu's Brotherhood
Of The Blades II: The Infernal Battlefield
(2017).
Captain
Shen is an Imperial Soldier/Investigator after surviving the
battlefield he finds himself in a more dangerous battle in the
capital. Anyone who is not loyal to the Emperor can be hanged, the
slightest slip of the tongue could mean death... his job is to find
any dissidents and hunt them down. When he is ordered to kill an
innocent woman (which he falls in love with), he stumbles on a
conspiracy that involves a coup to the Empire and he finds himself
suddenly turned into a traitor and hunted by his own people. Now,
his only hope of escape is to solve the case and find Bei Zhaj and
the man who is behind her.
This
was your typical martial arts action movie, with drama and romance.
A soldier who refuses to kill an innocent woman and turns from
soldier, to rebel, to hero, it goes out of its way to be epic down to
its image.
The
anamorphically enhanced 2.66 X 1 image looks as good as it can and
the lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix a mixdown of an obviously better
soundmaster, so we'd love to see any Blu-ray version, but this will
do for now. Extras
include behind the scenes and trailers, but for more on the original,
film, try this
link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13321/Brotherhood+Of+Blades+(2014/Well+Go+USA+Blu
Vincent
Price stars in Dragonwyck
(1946), which has been fully restored by Fox, looking and sounding
fantastic thanks to Twilight Time. This is definitely a disc that
Vincent Price fans will want to pick up and have in their arsenal for
the actor's younger years. This is also the first film for Joseph L.
Mankiewicz, who would later direct All
About Eve,
Cleopatra
and the original Sleuth.
Set
against the Victorian era and based on Anya Seton's novel of the same
name, Dragonwyck is an estate where Miranda (Tierney) is summoned to
work as a Governess. While at first captivated by the beauty of the
place, she soon gets a reality check when her cousin Nicholas Van Ryn
(Price) who isn't at all who he seems.
While
pretty slow to today's standards, the film is also like a play in
terms of its overall tone. It's interesting to see Price in a
villainous role several years before he got the roles in which he is
the most famous for.
The
film also stars Gene Tierney, Walter Huston, Glenn Langan, Anne
Revere, Spring Byington, and Jessica Tandy.
The
black and white 1080p presentation looks great on Blu-ray disc with a
1.33 X 1 full frame aspect ratio and a nice sounding, lossless 1.0
DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) Mono track, both of which bring the film to
life with little noticeable error. The sound is clear and the print
is in stunning condition considering its age. It far exceeds the DVD
we covered years ago in overall playback quality as well.
Special
Features include...
Isolated
Music Track in lossless DTS MA
Audio
Commentary with Film Historian Steve Haberman and Documentary
Filmmaker Constantine Nasr
A
House of Secrets: Exploring Dragonwyck
Gene
Tierney: A Shattered Portrait
Vincent
Price: The Versatile Villain
Two
Dragonwyck
Vintage Radio Shows
Original
Theatrical Trailer
Collectible
insert booklet with linear notes by the great Julie Kirgo.
Acorn
presents on DVD, Season
One
of the hit Australian crime series, East
West 101
(2007), that stars Don Hany (Serangoon
Road)
and is based on the experiences of actual detectives in the field. A
bit edgier than most procedural cop dramas seen on American
primetime. The show also stars William McInnes, Susie Porter, Aaron
Fa'Aoso, Daniela Farinacci, and Renee Lim.
Devout
Muslim detective Zane Malick (Hany) must constantly prove himself to
overcome society's fear and suspicion of his religion. He frequently
clashes with his old-school superior, senior detective Ray Crowley
(William McInnes, The
Slap)
as they both take on Sydney's Major Crimes Squad and find even ground
with one another.
The
series features six episodes which include The
Enemy Within, Death at the Station, Islander Sacrifice, Hunt for the
Killer, Haunted by the Past,
and The
Hand of Friendship.
Presented
in anamorphically enhanced standard definition DVD with a 1.85:1
widescreen aspect ratio and a 5.1 Dolby Digital mix, the show is shot
very cinematically and looks and sounds as good as it can on DVD.
Special
Feature: 23 minute Behind the Scenes Featurette.
Cocona
was an ordinary school girl until she runs into the mysterious girl
named Papika. Together, they become magical girls and open up
alternate realities call 'Pure Illusion' and collect glowing
fragments which when you collect enough of them to grant wishes.
However, they aren't the only ones after the fragments there is
another rival organization and they will have to fight monsters as
well to find those fragments in Flip
Flappers!: Complete Collection
(2016).
Cocona
was just trying to decide what to do with the rest of her life until
Papika literally drops into her life. Papika immediately believes
Cocona is her fated companion and only together they have the power
to open up portals to alternate realities call Pure Illusions by
synchronizing their thoughts and feelings. At first Cocona is
hesitant to help Papika, but as their friendship grows she realizes
she can't leave her alone. However, things aren't so easy when
Cocona discover her best friend Yayaka is with a rival organization
who is also after the fragments. Also later on she learns of how her
parents are connected to Pure Illusion.
This
was a weird, comical magical girl series, magical girls in weird
abstract worlds/alternate universes, but eventually, the characters
are brought together by love and friendship. Different enough just
to see for that reason.
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfers and DTS-HD
MA (Master Audio) Japanese 2.0 Stereo lossless mix on each episode
looks pretty good if not like Sentai's best, but the sound lacked any
surrounds and is limited sonically. Extras
include clean opening and closing animations and trailers, but a more
elaborate Limited Edition Premium set has been issued (we used it as
our picture for this review) and fans will want to get that one while
supplies last.
Episodes
include...
Pure
Input
- As Cocona ponders about her future she runs into Papika and
suddenly finds herself in an alternate reality and she is a magical
girl.
Pure
Converter
- Not sure if it was a dream or not, Cocona is in denial, but her
illusion are soon shattered when Papika brings her into another Pure
Illusion. Cocona is afraid to the risks and danger, but Papika also
awakens and transforms into another magical girl.
Pure
XLR -
Cocona and Papika get sent to a desert wasteland and get separated.
Papika finds Cocona being brainwashed but manages to help her
remember. Cocona discovers they are not alone and her best friend
Yayaka is from rival a organization for the fragments.
Pure
Equalization
- Cocona decides to sleep over with Papika to help increase their
synchronization and ends up on a desert island.
Pure
Echo
- Cocona and Papika ends up in an alternate reality of their school
and stuck in a time loop.
Pure
Play
- In another alternate reality, Cocona and Papika end up in another
girl's body, but they realize they are in the same body but with
different experiences.
Pure
Component
- Cocona realizes that the alternate worlds are more connected to the
real world than they know, things they change in the alternate world
can effect the real world. Cocona faces with several different
versions of Papika.
Pure
Breaker
- Cocona and Papika ends up in a futuristic world and get a giant
robot, but they have to team up with Yayaka in order to defeat the
monster.
Pure
Mute
- As Cocona, Papika and Yayaka continue in their race for the
fragments, Yayaka is ordered to steal all of Cocona and Papika's
fragments, but Yayaka is hesitant and remembers their friendship.
Pure
Jitter
- Cocona learns about Mimi, Papika's former partner and learns
about her past and learns that Mimi is really her mother.
Pure
Storage
- Mimi takes over Cocona's body and the truth of Cocona's past is
revealed and how they discovered Pure Illusion and the current Mimi
is a dark version of Cocona's mother.
Pure
Howling
- Papika and Yayaka work together to help rescue Cocona from Mimi
brainwashing her. Cocona is however awakened by her true mother's
wishes for them to make their own choices and freedom.
Pure
Audio
- Cocona and Papika faces off with Dark Mimi. However, Cocona must
decide can she live in a world without Papika ...or find a way for
both of them to live together.
In
an alternate universe, aliens had invaded Japan Edo-period and now
rule over mankind and control everything, forcing the Samurais to
give up their swords and the humans to work for them. Gintoki
continues to work as Jack-of-all-trades along with his friends and
co-workers, Shinpachi and Kagura. They are hired to recover cursed
sword, but end up fighting a mysterious serial killer and a group who
has plans for a coup d'etat for Japan in Yuichi Fukuda's Gintama
(2017).
Gintoki
was once known as the 'White Demon', a former master swordsman, but
with swords being outlawed he now works odd jobs doing whatever pays
the bills. He meets, saves and then teams up with Shinpachi and
Kagura and together they survive and protect the innocent from the
powerful and injustice. Shinpachi comes from a Samurai family, but
he wears glasses and has timid nature but he is inspired by Gintoki
strength and spirit. Kagara is an alien with super strength, but she
is tomboy with a huge appetite and even bigger heart. While there
are rebel factions, they face off against both human and aliens
organizations who continue to take advantage of their brave new world
human/alien society.
This
was a comical sci-fi adventure movie, based on the anime/manga, it is
like the silly One
Piece
story with a group mis-matched group of underdogs with comic
wit/jokes of the Deadpool
movie.
It often broke the 4th wall and made references (and cameos) to
other anime/manga characters that only an Otaku would understand.
Though I have to say, the costuming and actors did a wonderful job
for the characters...
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image transfer is a highly
stylized presentation in the Anime tradition, a quality digital shoot
that works well, but the
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image on the DVD looses more of the
quality than expected. The Japanese DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1
lossless mix is pretty good, if not great or up to the image, but the
lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on the DVD is weaker still. Extras
include trailers.
The
Sixth
Season
of the intense Showtime/Fox political action series Homeland
(2017)
lands on disc courtesy of Fox. If you haven't been watching the
Emmy-nominated series lately, then you may want to get in as this
sixth season is pretty interesting and not without some great
performances by Claire Danes, Rupert Friend, and Mandy Patinkin to
name a few.
Episodes
in Season
Six
span three Blu-ray discs and include Fair
Game, The Man in the Basement, The Covenant, A Flash of Light, Casus
Belli, The Return, Imminent Risk, ALT. Truth, Sock Puppets, The Flag
House, R for Romeo,
and America
First.
Presented
in clear 1080p high definition with a 1.78:1 widescreen aspect ratio
and a great sounding, lossless DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 5.1 track,
both of which are huge improvements over the original television
broadcast. Text textures and colors are improved as are some of the
unique special features for binge watching on the disc, which
includes the 'Season Mode'.
Other
Special Features include...
The
Paley Center for Media Q&A with Cast and Creative Team from
PaleyFest NY 2016 (BLU-RAY EXCLUSIVE)
On
Location: New York City
About
Season 6.
Greydon
Clark's hilariously bad Satan's
Cheerleaders
(1977) is back and VCI has now upgraded it for the Blu-ray format
(but adds the older DVD in the case) and you can read my comments on
the John
Ireland, Yvonne De Carlo, John Carradine, Sydney Chaplin romp here:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/13487/Coffy+(1973/American+International/MGM/Arrow+
The
1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image is here in two restored
versions, but they are very similar save one being a bit dirtier than
the other, but color, depth and definition are nicely improved. The
PCM 2.0 Mono is no major improvement over the older DVD sound, but is
very slightly smoother.
The
previous extras include a feature length audio commentary track by
Director Clark and a Behind The Scenes photo gallery are joined by a
new David del Valle/David DeCoteau feature length audio commentary
worth your time. Nice upgrade is now the way to see the film at
home.
Finally
we have The
Witches
(1967), a
bizarre Italian anthology (with a young Clint Eastwood!) that is
interesting to look back on in this beautiful new release from Arrow
Academy. Thanks to Producer Dino De Laurentiis, five celebrated
directors came together to make the film which include Luchino
Visconti, Mauro Bolognini, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Franco Rossi, and
Vittorio De Sica. De Laurentiis gave them each a unique challenge:
to direct an episode in which Silvana Mangano plays a witch. What
you get are five drastically different, but somewhat similar,
approaches that have to be seen to be believed.
Presented
in 1080p high definition with a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1 and
an original Italian mono audio (uncompressed LPCM). This brand new
2K restoration of the film is eye-popping and was produced by Arrow
specifically for this release. The colors are vibrant and the
overall look of the film is well-aged. Fans of Italian cinema will
most certainly want to pick up this new release.
Special
Features include...
Brand-new
audio commentary by film critic and novelist Tim Lucas
Interview
with actor Ninetto Davoli, recorded exclusively for this release
English-language
version of Vittorio De Sica's episode, An
Evening Like the Others,
starring Clint Eastwood
Reversible
sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham
Humphreys
FIRST
PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing
on the film by Pasquale Iannone and Kat Ellinger.
You
can order
the Dragonwyck
limited edition Blu-ray, buy it and other great exclusives while
supplies last at these links:
www.screenarchives.com
and
http://www.twilighttimemovies.com/
-
Nicholas Sheffo (Satan),
Ricky Chiang (Asian titles) and James
Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/