THE POOP SCOOP: Upcoming Kibbles!

🧟1990’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD - UNCENSORED CUT on 4K SteelBook September 23 from Sony. It’s about damn time. Legendary make-up artist Tom Savini’s directorial debut is the underappreciated remake of George A. Romero’s seminal zombie film, Night of the Living Dead. Now available in 4K, with two versions, as well as gobs of new bonus features.

🤠THE UNHOLY TRINITY on Digital NOW, and Blu-ray DVD August 26. A tale of revenge, dark secrets, and buried treasures, the film is set against the turbulent backdrop of 1870s Montana. It picks up in the moments before the execution of Isaac Broadway, as he gives his estranged son, Henry, an impossible task: Murder the man who framed him for a crime he didn’t commit. Intent on fulfilling his promise, Henry travels to the remote town of Trinity, where an unexpected turn of events traps him in town and leaves him caught between Gabriel Dove, the town’s upstanding new sheriff, and a mysterious figure named St Christopher. Starring Pierce Brosnan and Samuel L. Jackson.

🦸THUNDERBOLTS* on Digital NOW and 4K, Blu-ray & DVD July 29. Thunderbolts* turns up the heat this summer as it blasts onto digital platforms including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, and Fandango at Home on July 1, before making its explosive entry on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on July 29. The Thunderbolts are The New Avengers, the ultimate surprise to both audiences and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine as this misfit team of burned assets rallies their powers and unites against all odds. Their namesake movie Thunderbolts* is an action-packed, international adventure, with audiences embracing the film’s super-powered humor and adrenaline. 

😺Oscar Winning FLOW on 4K, Blu-ray & DVD September 23 from Criterion Collection. A thrilling tale of friendship and survival that took indie animation to ecstatic new heights of ambition and imagination, this Academy Award–winning international sensation follows a courageous cat after its home is devastated by a great flood. 

🎸THIS IS SPINAL TAP Goes to 11 on 4K & Blu-ray September 16 from Criterion Collection. This Is Spinal Tap, now beautifully restored, Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), and Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer) embark on their final American tour, with filmmaker Marty DiBergi (Rob Reiner) capturing all the mishaps, creative tensions, dwindling crowds, and ill-fated drummers. 

🐶Wes Anderson’s ISLE OF DOGS on 4K September 30 from Criterion Collection. Wes Anderson conjures a dystopian future Japan in magical stop-motion. Innovatively blending English and Japanese dialogue through a cross-cultural voice cast that includes Bryan Cranston, Greta Gerwig, Jeff Goldblum, Scarlett Johansson, Yoko Ono, and Koyu Rankin, this fable of loyalty and disobedience combines Anderson’s signature themes.

🙀FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES on Digital June 17, 4K, Blu-ray and DVD July 22 from Warner Bros. “Final Destination Bloodlines” is the newest chapter (and the great Tony Todd’s final role) in New Line Cinema’s bloody successful franchise which takes audiences back to the very beginning of Death’s twisted sense of justice.

🐍COBRA Limited Edition 4K Coming July/22 from Arrow Video. The Limited Edition release features a brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original 35mm negative, and is packed with bonus content. 

😺THE WES ANDERSON ARCHIVE: 10 FILMS, 25 YEARS Coming to 4K & Blu-ray September 30 from Criterion Collection. This momentous twenty-disc collector’s set includes new 4K masters of the films, over twenty-five hours of special features, and ten illustrated books, presented in a deluxe clothbound edition.

SPHERE and a Second Chance

SPHERE (Blu-ray)

1998 / 134 min

Warner Bros

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😼

A couple of classic exceptions notwithstanding (The Andromeda Strain, Jurassic Park), Hollywood hasn’t really done right by Michael Crichton. More often than not, something gets lost in the transition from book to film, maybe because some of Crichton’s ideas and concepts are a major challenge to put on-screen, or maybe too many behind-the-scenes decisions are being made by the wrong people. Probably the latter.

This was especially disheartening with 1998’s Sphere, which I was looking really forward to at the time because Crichton’s book was terrific. On a rudimentary level, the movie is more-or-less faithful to the novel, but the execution was not what I expected…from the atmosphere, tone & pace to the character depictions. At almost no point did I feel like I was watching the same story that thrilled me just a few years earlier.

Were my expectations simply too high? That’s entirely possible. After all, I remember Stephen King’s The Shining scaring the hell out of me, then being initially pissed at how much Stanley Kubrick bastardized it for the big screen. But later, I managed to disassociate my love for the book and appreciate the film on its own terms. Two-and-a-half decades later, perhaps Sphere deserved a second chance, too.

Unlike Kubrick’s The Shining, which opened to middling critical and audience response but has mostly been reassessed as a masterpiece, there’s been no retroactive love for Sphere. But knowing what to expect the second time around, I did enjoy the film a bit more than I once did. While it still has more than its share of issues (pacing, miscasting, overlength and a somewhat convoluted narrative), Sphere isn’t without effective moments, including some tension-filled sequences that instill a proper sense of foreboding.

"Why don't we just roll it outta here?"

The story centers around the discovery of a spacecraft on the ocean floor. Though a group of experts from various fields are assembled in anticipation of alien contact, the ship turns out to be American in origin, even though it’s been down there for 300 years. Also on-board is a massive translucent sphere, which not-only alien, but apparently sentient…and malevolent. Due to a storm raging on the surface, the team is trapped in a deep sea habitat while an unseen entity (that introduces itself through computer screens as ‘Jerry’) terrorizes them.

That ain’t the entire plot, but since Sphere relies on a few story twists during the second half - some surprising, some silly - I won’t elaborate any further (there’s no statute of limitations on spoilers, kids). I will say that the film (therefore Crichton himself) certainly owes a tip of the hat to such classics as Forbidden Planet and Solaris. I guess if you’re familiar with those titles, perhaps I did just spoil things a little bit.

Elsewhere, Sphere is rife with miscasting, starting at the top with Dustin Hoffman and Sharon Stone, neither of whom are right choice for their characters (the latter is actually pretty terrible). Samuel L. Jackson has his moments here and there, but overall, his role could’ve been played by anyone. And maybe director Barry Levinson wasn’t the right guy for the job to begin with. Primarily known at the time for such down-to-Earth films as Good Morning Vietnam, Avalon and Rain Man, FX-driven science-fiction might have been out way of his comfort zone (though he would later direct The Bay, one of the nastiest, most criminally-underrated sci-fi horror movies of the last 20 years).

Still, without the baggage of elevated expectations, I did find Sphere more fun this time around. The story (however derivative) is sometimes interesting and a few sequences are genuinely creepy (such as Queen Latifah’s ill-fated jellyfish encounter). With its expensive cast, solid visual effects and impressive production design, the money is certainly up there on the screen. So is it deserving of critical reassessment? Probably not, but while everyone involved on both sides of the camera have done better work, they’re also done far worse. 

This is a re-issue of a Blu-ray first released in 2009.

EXTRA KIBBLES

FEATURETTE - Shaping the Sphere: The Art of the Visual Effects Supervisor.

AUDIO COMMENTARY - By Dustin Hoffman and Samuel L. Jackson. This one is actually kind of interesting.

TRAILER & TV SPOTS

Revisiting LETHAL WEAPON in 4K

LETHAL WEAPON (4K UHD)

1987 / 110 & 117 min (2 versions)

Warner Bros

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Mr. Paws😺

Lethal Weapon isn’t the first buddy-cop action film (1974’s Freebie and the Bean might hold that distinction), nor is it the best (I’ll still throw my hat in the ring for the original 48 Hrs). However, it is arguably the quintessential one.

For better or worse, its influence on the action genre was far-reaching and can still be felt today. The list of films obviously inspired by Lethal Weapon runs longer than the Magna Carta. including Tango & Cash, Red Heat, Renegades, Alien Nation, The Hard Way, Midnight Run, The Rookie, Double Team, Bad Boys, The Last Boy Scout, Loose Cannons, Money Train, Ride Along, Rush Hour, Cop Out, The Nice Guys, The Heat…you get the idea. There are literally hundreds more.

Mel Gibson plays Martin Riggs, a psychotic cop whose suicidal tendencies make him fearless during stand-offs; Danny Glover is Roger Murtaugh, his beleaguered new partner and a straight-arrow family man on the verge of retirement. Like every similar movie which followed in its wake, they hate each other at first, but during the course of the story, become best friends while taking down a nefarious crew of heroin dealers.

Of course, the movie is to police work what Star Wars is to space travel. If the movie truly reflected reality, we'd be sitting through Internal Affairs hearings and psychological examinations of Martin Riggs, both conducted to get this psycho-with-a-badge off the streets. But Lethal Weapon was never about plot and plausibility. I’d even be willing to wager many of you reading this probably forgot the plot.

Mel didn't ask how hot dogs were made, but Danny told him anyway.

However, Richard Donner’s humorous approach to the mayhem and the lightning-in-a-bottle chemistry between Gibson & Glover is unforgettable, sustaining the franchise through three sequels (though only the second film really measured up to the first, and actually surpasses it in some aspects). The main protagonists’ personalities and banter are so well-conceived and cleverly written that the story itself almost never matters. It’s also an approach that screenwriter Shane Black would practically base his entire career on (with a surprising amount of continued success).

All this makes Lethal Weapon a landmark action film. Along with Die Hard, it has had a bigger impact on the genre than anything else released in the 1980s. A couple of years shy of its 40th anniversary, the movie is being given a 4K facelift with a disc that features a better overall picture than previous Blu-rays or DVDs, as well as two audio options, a new Dolby Atmos track and DTS-HD 2.0, which preserves the original theatrical mix. Speaking of which, the disc includes both the original and director’s cut, that latter of which is only offered in Dolby Atmos. There are couple of brief new retrospective bonus features, but none of the substantial extras available on previous editions are included. Of course, Lethal Weapon deserves to be in any action collection, but the primary appeal of this 4K edition are the technical upgrades.

EXTRA KIBBLES

THEATRICAL & DIRECTOR’S CUTS - The director’s cut runs about seven minutes longer, and while it’s not necessarily an improvement, one particular scene offers a little more insight on the mindset of the Martin Riggs character.

FEATURETTES - Both of these are new and look like they were put together at the same time, featuring the same cast & crew interviewees. A Legacy of Inspiration pays tribute to the late Richard Donner; “I’m Too Old for This…” takes a look at casting the film.

DIGITAL COPY

EXPERIMENT IN TERROR: Ross the Boss

EXPERIMENT IN TERROR (Blu-ray)

1962 / 123 min

Sony

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Paws😺

Blake Edwards’ legacy has him largely associated with comedies, probably for good reason since some of them rank among his best. But he directed plenty of films in other genres to varying degrees of success. One of them was 1962’s Experiment in Terror, a nifty piece of neo-noir starring Glenn Ford and Lee Remick.

Remick plays Kelly Sherwood, a bank teller who’s threatened at home with an ultimatum by a shadowy figure: Steal $100,000 from the bank where she works. If Kelly fails, refuses or calls the police, not only will he kill her, but kid sister Toby (a very young Stephanie Powers). Still, she does manage to alert FBI agent John Ripley (Glenn Ford), who immediately puts both sisters under constant surveillance while trying to ID and locate the man before Kelly’s forced to commit the robbery.

The suspect turns out to be a man named Garland “Red” Lynch, who has not-only committed previous robberies in the same manner, he’s a dangerous, sadistic killer who also appears to be sort of a pedophile. For me, the big surprise of the film is that Red is played by none other than Ross Martin. I’m used to seeing him in such lighter TV fare as The Wild, Wild West and The Twilight Zone. But not only is Martin wonderfully disturbing as Red, he manages to steal the film from his bigger co-stars (and was nominated for a Golden Globe).

Waiting for the next available agent.

Elsewhere, Ford is his reliable solid self, giving his no-nonsense character quiet intensity. I’ll be upfront and confess I’ve never been a huge fan of Remick, and here, she’s required to do little outside of her wheelhouse, which is to look terrified. It doesn’t help that her character isn’t particularly interesting to begin with. But hey, somebody has to be put in peril…otherwise we wouldn’t get the tension filled climax set at a crowded ballpark.

Experiment in Terror is a little overlong, and I can’t help but feel that a director who specializes in crime thrillers could have tidied up the story to a brisk 90 minutes. Still, the film is stylishly directed by Edwards, who deftly incorporates a film noir aesthetic to the largely police procedural story. The result is one his better films outside of the comedy genre.

NOVOCAINE is Painless Fun

NOVOCAINE (4K UHD)

2025 / 109 min

Paramount

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😺

At the movies, Jack Quaid has had a pretty damn good year. First was Companion, a terrific sci-fi thriller where he’s deliciously hateful. Then in Novocaine, he’s an unlikely action hero with an unusual condition that ultimately gives him an advantage over numerous antagonists. 

Introverted, socially awkward assistant bank manager Nathan Caine suffers from a disorder that prevents him from feeling any physical pain, so he goes to great measures to assure he doesn’t unknowingly injure himself. However, when he falls for bank teller Sherry Margrave (Amber Midthunder), she sort-of brings him out of his shell, encouraging him to try new things. The first act does a fine job getting the viewer invested in both of them.

The next day, their bank is robbed by a crew led by violent, psychotic Simon Greenly (Ray Nicholson). They shoot their way out and take Sherry hostage. With all the surrounding cops dead or injured, Nathan jumps into one of the police cars to go after them and try to save Sherry. That’s the basic set-up for the premise, where Nathan’s inability to feel pain becomes kind of a superpower, even though he’s unskilled at physical conflict and can still be wounded...maybe fatally. 

"YAHTZEE!"

Though Novocaine unfolds like a standard action thriller with relatively few narrative surprises (save for a revelation about one major character that I didn’t see coming), what makes it so damn entertaining is Nathan’s condition. While hunting these guys down one by one (and being pursued by police, who think he’s an accomplice), he’s repeatedly subjected to a variety of gruesome injuries, some of which are wince-inducing. What makes much of the graphic violence genuinely funny is Quaid’s likable performance and his character's reaction to it (as well as the violence he inflicts on others). 

But Novocaine isn’t a one-joke movie, nor is all the violence played for laughs. It’s not-so-much a comedy as an action film that happens to be funny, clever and features engaging characters. In fact, the story itself is the least interesting aspect, more or less playing out exactly how you’d expect. The best part is Jack Quaid, who’s really on a roll lately.

EXTRA KIBBLES

4K, BLU-RAY & DIGITAL COPIES

FEATURETTES - Prepare for Pain: Pre-Production; A World of Hurt: Production; Maximum Physical Damage: Makeup Effects. The titles tell all for these entertaining behind-the-scenes segments.

A MINECRAFT MOVIE: A Die Hard's Perspective

A MINECRAFT MOVIE (Blu-ray)

2025 / 101 min

Warner Bros

#InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Lucy A. (who grew up on the game)

Like a lot of kids of my generation, I grew up obsessed with Minecraft. For a long time, I didn’t have a way to play it myself, so I’d watch YouTube videos of other people playing. Until one day, I finally convinced my dad to download the mobile version on his iPad. From that point on. I was obsessed with the game for years. I would spend hours building and creating my own stories. Minecraft was sort of the gateway into my gaming hobby. Now that I’m an adult, I play it a lot less than I used to, but the game still holds a special place in my heart. Which is why when I saw trailers for A Minecraft Movie, I knew I needed to see it. 

If you’ve seen any of the trailers or other clips from the movie, whatever your first impressions are, they’re probably right. The movie seemed a bit cringey and was ‘lip/meme farming’ (meaning that the movie is actively trying to get popular going viral with funny clips, rather than being an entertaining movie as a whole). Surprise! The trailers didn’t lie. 

While watching the movie, it felt like the film was really leaning into random/unexpected humor. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, since that sort of humor is popular among kids and that’s ultimately the target audience. However, a lot of the jokes or bits seemed to be kinda forced. Still, the movie was funny. Was it funny in how the directors intended? That’s debatable. To me and the group of friends I saw the film with, it was funny because we were all constantly thinking, “I can’t believe they thought this was a good idea.” 

The plot is also lacking. Some might argue that a movie targeted towards children can’t be expected to have a good or meaningful plot that’s entertaining to both kids and adults. But there are tons of kids movies that I’ve enjoyed as an adult that genuinely have good plots and messages that are appreciated by all audiences. Unfortunately, A Minecraft Movie is not one of them. 

Not every movie needs to have a message. It could be purely just for shits and giggles. However, it’s clear that the film wanted to send some sort of message, but just couldn’t decide what. There are loose themes of “being different is okay” and “creativity is good,” but they aren’t touched upon throughout the entire movie until the end. Any messages they were trying to convey seemed very (for lack of a better term) half-assed. 

Square Pigs

I’ll give it this…making a story based on a game with no story is very hard. If you didn’t know, Minecraft is a sandbox game, meaning that it’s open-world, and there isn’t a path or a set of goals for the player to follow. There isn’t any story in the base game, which is why it’s seen more as a starting point for people to create their own. Whether people make their own worlds, create their own narratives, or simply just survive, Minecraft is seen as a creative base for its players. Maybe that’s what the film itself may have been trying to do. 

This might come as a surprise given what was previously written, but I did enjoy the movie. The movie was objectively bad - not just as a video game movie either - but I found myself enjoying every second of it. Sure, a lot of it was eye-rolling and a little painful to watch at times, but I still had a lot of fun. Maybe it’s because I’m biased and I love Minecraft. Maybe it’s because I saw it with close friends with a similar attachment to the game. Or maybe it’s because I know, deep down, 10-year-old Lucy would have been thrilled that a game she loved so much was on the big screen. 

If you grew up with the game, you might get a kick out of it. If you have kids who did, they will definitely like it. If you have no attachment to the game whatsoever, don't bother. 

EXTRA KIBBLES:

FEATURETTES -  Building the World of Minecraft: Block Party; Creepers, Zombies and Endermen Oh My!;  A Minecraft Movie: Pixel Pals; A Minecraft Movie: Block Beats; Marlene + Nitwit.