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New DVD release

Recent release DVD and blu-rays for sale near you. See more at DVD Guide about the latest release DVD and movie information.

25 Sep

What Star Wars: Visions Has in Common With Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli

New DVD release
The beauty of the natural world and its spiritual elements have long been popular subjects for anime, and in the new short film anthology Star Wars: Visions that translates to rich forests and bringing life to once barren ground. With its emphasis on how characters affect the environments around them, Visions touches on both the history of anime and an idea that has been present but muted in most Star Wars stories: that the evil of the Empire goes hand-in-hand with resource exploitation and greed. Naturally, anime is an art style — developed in Japan and with a wide range…
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25 Sep

House of the Dragon Gets its First Lannister, Signaling an Epic Early Battle

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The rains of Castamere shall soon weep o’er the hall that is House of the Dragon. That’s because HBO’s upcoming Game of Thrones prequel series has just cast some interesting new characters, some of whom notably bear the Lannister surname, indicating a deviously game-changing presence. Indeed, with the prequel set to showcase the build-up to a historically protracted bit of royal Targaryen infighting known as the Dance of the Dragons, House Lannister still has a role to play, even some 200 years before the events of the main series.    As officially announced, House of the Dragon has added characters…
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25 Sep

Star Trek: In Defense of Enterprise’s Worst Episode

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Don’t worry, this isn’t a defense of “These Are The Voyages.”* We’re here today to talk about the other “worst episode of Enterprise,” season two’s “A Night In Sickbay.” “The episode that killed Star Trek.” “One of the worst episodes of the whole Star Trek franchise.” “Almost as bad as ‘These Are The Voyages.’” These and similar opinions of “A Night In Sickbay” are all over the Internet. The episode frequently appears on “worst episodes of all time” lists alongside “Spock’s Brain” from The Original Series and Star Trek: Voyager’s “Threshold.” I have no intention of arguing that this is…
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25 Sep

15 Best Castlevania Monsters and Bosses Ranked

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Few series have been more resilient than Castlevania. The first few games in the franchise were fairly standard 8-bit platformers (albeit with a unique horror vibe), but over time, entries in this series became less linear and more about exploration, eventually helping to inspire a whole new subgenre: “Metroidvania.” While the 3D Castlevania games never quite reached the same heights as those earlier titles, they’re still excellent (maybe even underrated) experiences in their own right. Regardless of your favorite Castlevania, I think we can all agree that the series has given us some of the coolest enemies around. From new…
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25 Sep

Midnight Mass: It’s Time to Talk About That Monstrous Twist

Netflix, New DVD release
This article contains huge spoilers for Midnight Mass. So help me God if you read this without watching the series first… The version of Midnight Mass that Netflix advertised still would have made for a compelling horror series.  An isolated, insular island community? Great. A young, charismatic preacher suddenly coming to town to shake things up? Perfect. That preacher proving capable of performing minor miracles? Love it, no notes!  Of course, as viewers who have watched at least four episodes of the seven-episode series now know, Midnight Mass has one extra supernatural twist in mind that elevates an already interesting…
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25 Sep

No Time to Die Director Addresses James Bond’s Problematic Past

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They don’t make ‘em like that anymore. Often this axiom is used to apply rose tinted glasses over the past—a chance to get nostalgic about the “good ol’ days.” But sometimes when you take a critical look at the old days, they’re not always better. Which would be putting it mildly when acknowledging the gender politics of otherwise beloved early James Bond 007 movies. No Time to Die director Cary Joji Fukunaga would seem to think so. In a new profile interview he did with The Hollywood Reporter, the True Detective and Maniac director reflected on the shadier side of…
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24 Sep

Link Tank: The Muppets are Back in a New Spooky Season Special

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The Muppets are back in spooky fashion with Muppets: Haunted Mansion set to hit Disney+ next month. “The special will see Gonzo the Great and Pepé the King Prawn survive a night spent at the titular mansion after an invitation from the Ghost Host (Will Arnett). The rest of the Muppets appear as ghosts within the mansion, and Miss Piggy takes on the role of Madame Leota’s floating head in the crystal ball.” Read more at The Mary Sue Did Star Wars: Visions create a multiverse within Star Wars? “There used to be just one Star Wars galaxy, but thanks…
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24 Sep

Foundation: Why Isaac Asimov’s Estate Approved Modernizing the Sci-Fi Classic

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This article contains no spoilers for Foundation. We live in an era when classic works of literature that were once thought to be “unfilmable” — particularly in the realms of sci-fi and fantasy — are now actually coming to the screen. Chief among those, and certainly a crown jewel in the annals of science fiction, is Foundation, an epic series of stories and novels by legendary writer Isaac Asimov that spans thousands of years of future galactic history. Premiering on Apple TV+ with a 10-episode first season, Foundation begins with the story of Hari Seldon (played by Jared Harris), a…
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24 Sep

Why Midnight Mass is Mike Flanagan’s Most Personal Work

Netflix, New DVD release
This article contains no spoilers for Midnight Mass.  Horror auteur Mike Flanagan is responsible for many excellent spooky sagas since his first major film Oculus debuted in 2013. The writer/director has shepherded films like Ouija: Origin of Evil, Gerald’s Game, and Doctor Sleep; and TV series like Netflix’s The Haunting of Hill House and The Haunting of Bly Manor.  Still, even with such a deep resume, there’s room for only one favorite. And according to Flanagan himself, that favorite is definitively his latest TV collaboration with Netflix, Midnight Mass.  “I’m just going to admit it—Midnight Mass is my favorite project…
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24 Sep

Does Silent Hill 2 Have a True Ending?

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Silent Hill 2’s legacy has only grown in the 20 years since its release. While Konami’s follow-up to one of the best horror games of the PS1 era was a critical hit out of the gate, it’s taken years for people to fully grasp the brilliance of Silent Hill 2’s atmosphere, characters, and story.  Silent Hill 2 casts players in the role of James Sunderland: a mysterious man who receives a letter from his deceased wife that asks him to come and find her in the town of Silent Hill. What follows is a haunting trip through the town itself…
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24 Sep

How Dear Evan Hansen Changes the Musical’s Ending

New DVD release
This article contains Dear Evan Hansen spoilers, both for the movie and the stage show. No matter how you come to the story of Dear Evan Hansen, and regardless of the medium, things always have to end at the same apple orchard. It’s fitting since Evan’s first major lie about Connor Murphy, the boy who killed himself, was that they spent whole days in the then-abandoned orchard, talking about girls, boats, and whatever other fantasies Evan could concoct. And it’s here that Zoe Murphy, Connor’s younger sister, requests Evan meet her for the story’s final scene. This is true of…
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24 Sep

What We Do in the Shadows Season 3 Episode 5 Review: The Chamber of Judgement

New DVD release
This What We Do in the Shadows review contains spoilers. What We Do in the Shadows Season 3 Episode 5 The vampires get back to their official duties on What We Do in the Shadows  season 3 episode 5 “The Chamber of Judgement.” Nandor (Kayvan Novak) and Nadja (Natasia Demetriou) are poised to take the throne at the center of the judicial altar in the subbasement office of the Vampiric Council. They poise for quite a while. So long, in fact, it becomes unjudicial. The battle over the top seat in the council is as petty as it is essential…
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24 Sep

Foundation Delivers the Best of Star Trek and Game of Thrones

New DVD release
This Foundation article contains spoilers. Don’t sleep on Foundation, Apple TV+’s excellent adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s once-thought-to-be-unfilmable hard science fiction novel series that chronicles the 1,000-year fall of a galactic empire. The story that was long considered too expansive for Hollywood (although many have tried) finds the perfect home on TV in the hands of creators David S. Goyer (Batman Begins, Krypton) and Josh Friedman (Snowpiercer, Avatar 2). They’ve taken the hefty source material that sometimes reads like half-history book half-math dissertation and translated it into an entertaining drama that resembles something closer to Star Trek or Game of Thrones.…
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23 Sep

How the Best Star Wars Visions Episodes Subvert the Story of Luke and Leia

New DVD release
This Star Wars: Visions article contains spoilers. At the center of Star Wars sit the twins. A cornerstone of the Original Trilogy, Luke and Leia are also the template for some of the shorts in the Star Wars: Visions anime anthology. The episode “The Twins” takes this concept the most literally, presenting twins born for a specific purpose, whether or not they fulfill it. But it’s another episode, “Lop and Ochō,” which truly takes the “Force siblings” concept to another level. It’s similar enough to be recognizably Star Wars, while also breaking new ground.  Luke and Leia, the brotherly bond…
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23 Sep

Squid Game: Best Deadly Competition TV Shows & Movies to Watch Next

New DVD release
Chances are, if you’ve started watching Squid Game, then you’ve finished watching Squid Game. Netflix’s Korean social thriller is highly suspenseful, driving viewers through its nine episodes to its chilling conclusion with an anxiety-inducing urgency. The story of 456 desperate people who play a deadly game for the chance to win a ₩45.6billion ($39 million) prize, Squid Game is a familiar premise executed masterfully, which means that if you’re looking for more stories like Squid Game, then you’re in luck; the “deadly competition” trope is a very popular one. Like other standouts in the subgenre, there is nothing quite like…
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23 Sep

Interview with the Vampire Series Will Tweak Anne Rice’s Story

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Nearly two decades before Twilight, Anne Rice’s The Vampire Chronicles had all the makings of the definitive vampire movie franchise.  Interview with the Vampire, a film based on the writer’s first book in the vampire series, starred Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt as stately Louisiana vampires Lestat de Lioncourt and Louis de Pointe du Lac. It was quite well-received. Its follow-up, the 2002 Aaliyah-starring Queen of the Damned…was not. As such, Rice’s 13-book (and counting) series seemed destined to stay on the page for good.  That all changed last year, however, when The Walking Dead network AMC greenlit a series…
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23 Sep

How the Star Wars Boba Fett Toys Commemorate the Franchise’s First Prequel

New DVD release
As surreal as it might seem to newer Star Wars fans, the omnipresent franchise once fell into a decade of relative dormancy until the late-1990s. It was a natural effect, since the Original Trilogy phenomenon played itself out upon 1983’s Return of the Jedi. It was subsequently kept afloat on television, first with two Ewoks live-action TV movies, followed by 1985-1986 Saturday morning cartoons Star Wars: Ewoks and Star Wars: Droids. Interestingly, the latter series took place 15 years before A New Hope, making it the franchise’s forgotten first prequel (revoked canonical status aside), and even featured Boba Fett. Now,…
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23 Sep

Chris Pratt Playing Mario in the Nintendo Movie Has Inspired Strong Internet Reactions

New DVD release
If you’ve been wondering lately whether we’re living in the worst timeline, it’s possible this next announcement won’t help. Chris Pratt is voicing Nintendo’s Mario in a new Super Mario Bros. animated movie out next year. Yes, that Chris, the one Mark Ruffalo doesn’t want you to be mean to on Twitter. But even if you think he’s the “worst Chris” and should be replaced in the Pantheon of Chrises by Chris Messina, Nintendo clearly loves Marvel’s Star-Lord, Parks and Recreation‘s Andy Dwyer, and Jurassic World‘s Owen Grady. After all, the company wants him to be the voice of its…
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23 Sep

Link Tank: 2022 Is Set to be the Biggest Year for Star Wars Yet

New DVD release
After a somewhat slow 2021, 2022 is set to give Star Wars fans the most stacked lineup ever from a galaxy far, far away. “The world of Star Wars is expanding in a new and exciting way on Disney+, but it seems as if the next few shows heading our way are things that I’ve dreamed of since the prequel trilogy came out. With Ewan McGregor’s return as Obi-Wan Kenobi and more, the Disney+ 2022 slate is something that I definitely dreamt up and emailed over to Lucasfilm.” Read more at The Mary Sue Discover what the best science fiction…
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23 Sep

Star Trek’s Jeffrey Combs On Why Enterprise Deserves More Love

New DVD release
Mild spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Lower Decks Season 2, Episode 7, “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie.”  Jeffrey Combs is Star Trek royalty. There’s just no other way to say it. Prior to 2021, Combs played eight distinct characters across three different series. But now, after his turn in the latest Star Trek: Lower Decks episode — “Where Pleasant Fountains Lie” — Combs has now played nine characters across four shows. If you loved Combs as Shran in Enterprise or Weyoun in DS9, you’re gonna love him as the voice of an evil and hilarious A.I. in Lower Decks. Den of…
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