The Movie:

Constantine The House Of Mystery is a collection of four animated shorts featuring characters from throughout the DC Universe, some better known than others, with each of the four shorts prefaced by a pretty fun trip through an old school comic store where the covers of certain books hint at what's to come.

The titular feature starts things off, a twenty-six minute piece that picks up where Justice League Dark: Apokolips War left off. Because of what he's done, John Constantine (voiced by Matt Ryan from the Constantine TV series) finds himself banished to The House Of Mystery with no idea how or why he's wound up there. He soon meets up with some friends like Jason Blood and his lover Zatanna, and discovers that she and he have popped out two kids... who quickly turn into demons and attack him. Constantine resurrects, meets Zatanna in the be...Read the entire review

The Batman: The Complete Series:

The Batman (premiering on The WB in 2004) finds the caped crusader just a couple of years into his career as a crime fighter in DC's Gotham City. The five-season show represents an engaging mix of aspects of the Batman mythos, from the character's first appearance in 1939 and on into the era of Christopher Nolan's cinematic take, starting with Batman Begins in 2005. Lively and brisk, both episodic and serialized, funny, often spooky, and eminently entertaining, it's an animated version of the character that should please all fans of the Dark Knight.

My relationship with Batman extends back to the '60s TV series, but doesn't include any of the animated versions that weren't on Saturday Morning TV in the '70s. So instead of saying this is the best animated Batman, or my favorite, I'll just say I really like what I see. It takes a bit of getting ...Read the entire review

Superman: The Animated Series:

Superman: The Animated Series premiered in 1996, created partly in response to the success of the Batman animated series. This 6-disc Blu-ray release collects all 54 21-minute episodes, providing an AV update from the previous DVD release, with a few new extras joining those ported over from the previous release. Even if you already have the DVD set, the picture improvement alone is probably worth the upgrade, but for those who haven't experienced this series, you'd do a lot worse than picking it up.

Superman is of course the godfather of all modern superheros, and has seen numerous incarnations. From my perspective, the animated series comes closest to capturing the spirit of the character while giving him the broadest-based appeal. Not too shabby for a kids' Warner Brothers cartoon! After the dark and moody success of the Batman series, Warner B...Read the entire review

The Movie:

Directed by directed by Lauren Montgomery and Sam Liu and released by Warner Brothers in 2011, Batman: Year One adapts the four issue origin story written by Frank Miller and illustrated by David Mazzucchelli that run in issues 404 through 407 of the core Batman comic, published by DC Comics in 1987.

As the title suggests, the story of both the movie and the comic book that it is based on revolves around Bruce Wayne's earliest year fighting crime. After the death of his parents, Wayne (Ben McKenzie) leaves Gotham for twelve years to train, while back in Gotham James Gordon (Bryan Cranston) and his wife Barbara move to town. With Bruce back in town and ready to wage his war on the city's cowardly and superstitious criminal populace, Gordon wages a similar war against the obvious and rampant corruption in the Gotham City Police Department.

Despi...Read the entire review

Mortal Kombat Legends: Battle of the Realms:

I like to approach a review as if I were writing it for someone who had no knowledge of the subject. A review for a newbie, doing a blind-buy, if you will, which in this case is not a problem, as that newbie is me! This 4k UHD animated feature is part of a remarkably robust film-franchise based on a video game, and may or may not have been released to coincide with the 2021 live action movie. Providing 80 minutes of gory action and drama, and looking pretty great, it presents a fun way to spend an evening, for fans and newbies alike.

You don\'t need to have deep, or any, knowledge of the Mortal Kombat franchise to take something from this movie, a direct sequel to the previous animated movie Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion\'s Revenge, and for what it\'s worth, you get enough backstory in the dialog to smooth over any bumps. There are severa...Read the entire review

Night of the Animated Dead:

Some movies make me question the motivations of the producers, such as Night of the Animated Dead, a new iteration of an old horror, the progenitor of the modern zombie movie. I'll leave those questions behind though, to enjoy this, a second (or third, depending on how you count) animated version of the movie that has had many, many lives. Does the movie, a remake of George Romero's seminal indie horror classic Night of the Living Dead live up to its pedigree? I guess it depends on how many times you've seen the original, its remakes, and Night of the Living Dead: Reanimated. Though far more explicit in this animated form, the movie otherwise doesn't do much to add to Romero's legacy.

Barbara (voiced by Katharine Isabelle) and her punk of a brother are visiting their father's grave on the outskirts of Pittsburgh when a weird old dude starts ha...Read the entire review

The Movie:

Batman: The Soul Of The Dragon is the latest Batman animated feature, an ‘Elseworlds' story that takes place out of established DC Universe continuity and not adapted from any specific comic book. Set in the 1970's, the story takes place in the present when a gang of ninjas steals a sacred sword. This ties into Bruce Wayne's (David Giuntoli) past, specifically the time when he was training to become Batman by learning martial arts from a man referred to only as O-Sensei (James Hong). Wayne wasn't the only student at this time, as he learned alongside fellow students Shiva (Kelly Hu), Richard Dragon (Mark Dacascos), Ben 'Bronze Tiger' Turner (Michael Jai White) Jade (Jamie Chung) and Rip Jagger (Chris Cox), that last character being a nice nod to Charlton Comics' Judomaster character.

Since those days have past, they've all gone their separate ways but ...Read the entire review

DC's Stargirl: The Complete First Season:

I was a Marvel teen in the early ‘80s. Sure, I would also read DC comics, and loved many (Teen Titans leaps immediately to mind). As I moved away from reading comics, more or less, I still dipped in upon occasion, especially for those DC comics that revived and legitimized the genre for many (I'm looking at Watchmen and The Dark Knight). But even with Michael Keaton and Tim Burton, and Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan, it always seemed to me that Marvel just did it better. Tone, story, special effects, all top rate. In my biased opinion, DC always seemed to try too hard. And then came Stargirl, a print-property about which I had zero knowledge prior to seeing this season set appear on the screener table at DVD Talk headquarters. Being a comic movie fan, one who hasn't dipped into the modern slate of comics television AT ALL, I am the prov...Read the entire review

THE FILM:

It is always sobering to watch films about injustice in the judicial system, particularly when the "long time ago" they depict is only a couple decades ago, specifically 1986, the year I was born. I wanted the events of Just Mercy to be a long time ago, particularly since they are based on the true story of Walter McMillian, a black man wrongfully convicted of murder based on little physical evidence and untruthful testimony. He relies on a young defense attorney, Bryan Stevenson, to appeal that conviction against incredible odds. Destin Daniel Cretton's film is based on Stevenson's memoir, "Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption," and, while it occasionally suffers from the melodramatic pits of a Lifetime TV drama, Just Mercy is well acted and tells a sobering story.

Harvard Law School graduate Stevenson (Michael B. Jordan) founds with Eva...Read the entire review

THE FILM:

You know you're getting older when memorable tragedies like the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta occurred nearly 25 years ago. I remember being shocked that someone would want to disrupt a unifying event like the Olympic Games, and recalled the horrifying Oklahoma City bombing that occurred just over a year prior. I remember hearing the name Richard Jewell and understood that he went from hero to suspect in that bombing. I had not thought about that man for many years, until I saw the preview for Clint Eastwood's latest theatrical film, which adopts Jewell's name as its title. A solitary, underperforming loner who lived with his mother in an apartment outside Atlanta, Jewell was on duty as a security guard at the Olympic Games when he discovered a suspicious backpack that ultimately was found to contain several pipe bombs. Jewell's quick call to evacuate ...Read the entire review

THE FILM:

I was skeptical that Stephen King's 36-year-delayed sequel to his seminal "The Shining" was simply the work of an author out of ideas and looking to cash in on old glories. Turns out that book, "Doctor Sleep," is pretty fantastic, and offers an interesting progression of the Danny Torrance character as an adult still struggling with his gift of "shining." Director Mike Flanagan (Ouija: Origin of Evil) has now adapted that novel into a feature film starring Ewan McGregor and Rebecca Ferguson. Flanagan's film, which he also wrote, is a slow-burn thriller with strong performances and an interesting story about a cult of undead vampires who feed off children to remain immortal. Now available on Blu-ray in both its theatrical cut and a lengthier director's cut, Doctor Sleep is a stron...Read the entire review

The Movie:

It is probably a difficult task to detach whatever your personal feelings may be about Joker and whatever the apprehensions or concerns about a film like it were or still are, since the film's 11 Oscar nominations are sure to invigorate the flow of eyes and dollars into the DC and Warner coffers, making more than a billion dollars since its opening three months ago as of this writing. Nevertheless let's put our heads down and try to soldier on through this together, shall we?

Adapted into a screenplay by Scott Silver (The Fighter), Todd Phillips co-wrote and directed. Yes, the same Todd Phillips from (Hangover Part III) did this film, which serves to dive into the origin story of arguably the most famous villain in comic books. ...Read the entire review

THE FILM:

Twenty-seven years after the events in It, a malevolent entity has returned to Derry, Maine. An adult Mike Hanlon (Isaiah Mustafa) witnesses the aftermath of a brutal double murder and discovers that Pennywise the Dancing Clown has awakened to prey on the town's children again. Hanlon assembles his childhood friends, the Losers, including Bill Denbrough (James McAvoy), Richie Tozier (Bill Hader), Ben Hanscom (Jay Ryan), Eddie Kaspbrak (James Ransone) and Beverly Marsh (Jessica Chastain), who have apparently forgotten most of their horrific encounters with...Read the entire review

The Movie:

On the surface, if you put together a movie with two comedic actresses in Melissa McCarthy and Tiffany Haddish, pair them to a third critically acclaimed actress (Elisabeth Moss), you're going to expect some sort of yuks to come from it, right? I'm guessing a few people did, which was why The Kitchen was a disappointment. Also, the fact that this appears to have come out the same approximate movie window as the superior Hustlers (which I also have seen recently) did them no favors either.

Nevertheless, Andrea Berloff (Straight Outta Compton) adapted the comic books series into a screenplay that she also directed. McCarthy (The Heat), Haddish (Keanu) and Mo...Read the entire review

The Movie:

I have found myself grabbing multiple movies around one topic these days; I have a couple movies to see about housewives and strippers seeking to elevate their lot in life (I think? This may be an oversimplification), but also this is my second film surrounding Bruce Springsteen, with the Clarence Clemons documentary Who do I Think I Am being the other recent experience. Having been unfamiliar with Blinded By the Light, I wanted to give it a shot!

Gurinder Chadha (Bend It Like Beckham) directed the film and adapted a screenplay from Sarfraz Manzoor's book, which tells his story of emigrating to England from Pakistan as a baby and growing up in Eastern England, experiencing lower class work and rac...Read the entire review

THE FILM:

Quality horror franchises are hard to come by, especially of late, so it is rather impressive that all eight films in the extended Conjuring Universe offer something of merit, including the latest entry, Annabelle Comes Home. The directorial debut of Gary Dauberman, who wrote earlier installments Annabelle and Annabelle: Creation, this third film in the Annabelle spin-off saga is different from its predecessors; offering more humor and haunted-house spooks than demonic chills. On one hand, Annabelle Comes Home cannot match the intensity of The Conjuring an...Read the entire review

THE FILM:

What is there to say about Stanley Kubrick's masterful adaptation of Stephen King's novel that has not already been said? Not much, but the release of The Shining on 4K Ultra HD presents an opportunity to heap more praise on the psychological horror film that author King inexplicably does not like. This cold, slow-burning thriller offers ample symbolism, hypnotic tracking shots and a timeless performance from lead Jack Nicholson. Memorable phrases like "REDRUM!" and "Here's Johnny" are now part of the American lexicon, and the film is widely considered one of the best horror films ever made. I agree with that acclamation, and was thrilled to see Warner Brothers was releasing the title on the latest format. Fans of the film will be delighted with this glorious 4K disc, and this is certainly as close to the theatrical presentation as has ever been available fo...Read the entire review

What more can be said about one of the most iconic movies of all time, an evergreen title on home video since 1981 (the very first from MGM's video label, and also in their first wave of DVD titles before their classic library was lost to Warner) and a yearly TV tradition before that? Released in 1939, one of the biggest years for movies, it's based on a story written in 1900 by L. Frank Baum- which spawned an entire series of stories some of which were done as movies in the silent era. This is the version most know and love however, with Judy Garland as Dorothy- a simple Kansas farm girl who dreams of a better place "somewhere over the rainbow". A tornado hits her home sending it flying with her in it, crashing down in the land of Oz- killing the Wicked Witch of the East in the process and making her an instant hero. There are both good and bad witches throughout Oz, Glinda (Billie Burke) being one...Read the entire review

Teen Titans Go! vs. Teen Titans Go!

[click on the thumbnail to enlarge]

Wait, that's not it.

[cl...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74069 Wed, 06 Nov 2019 22:53:36 UTC Rent It Diana (Rosario Dawson) can relate. Like young Vanessa (Marie Avgeropoulos), she knows what it's like to live under a mother who years ago had mapped out a rigid plan for her future. She can sympathize with having her own ideas dismissed and her achievements going unnoticed. But where Diana's defiance led her to become a champion – to be become Wonder Woman – Vanessa's sent her down a darker path. Blu-ray [clic...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74060 Wed, 23 Oct 2019 18:54:23 UTC Recommended The Movie: I'm not going to lie, I glossed over the fact that several moons ago, Samuel L. Jackson decided to do a reboot of Shaft, the 1971 Richard Roundtree film that was the closest thing to a film franchise the African American community has had. I liked the original, thought the remake could have been silly and ignored it. And I knew little about the 2019 film. Jackson was in it? Roundtree too? Why reboot something 20 years ago? Then it dawned on me: Shaft can be a pop-pop too! The latest Shaft was written by Kenya Barris (Black-ish and Alex Barnow (The Goldbergs) and directed by Tim Story (Ride Along). It looks at the latest Shaft named JJ (Jessie T. Usher, Indepedence Day: Resurgence), who was the son fr...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74043 Fri, 11 Oct 2019 14:13:52 UTC Recommended THE FILM: While it does not thrill quite like it did upon my first viewings as a kid, Joe Dante's Gremlins remains an enjoyable, madcap romp, with fun practical effects and gleefully rude humor. Newly released on 4K Ultra HD by Warner Brothers, Gremlins looks better than it ever has for home viewing, but some previously released bonus features did not make the cut here. I always forget Gremlins feels more like a Christmas movie than Halloween-time watch. The film is set at Christmas amid the lights, snow and presents under the tree appropriate to that season. This release comes on the eve of Halloween, so I gave it a spin to review and had fun reliving the film. I suspect fans will want to grab this newly released 4K disc to add to their collections; casual viewers can likely stick with previously released versions. Inventor Randall Peltzer (Hoyt A...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/74000 Mon, 09 Sep 2019 16:36:26 UTC Skip It Despite a life-long affection for Japanese monster movies and professional/scholarly ties to that genre, having written books, audio commentaries and the like, I realized going in that Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019) was not made for 53-year-old me. To expect anything resembling the "classic" Godzilla movies of my youth would have been unwise. I therefore accepted from the start that this would be a film targeting an 18-24-year-old demographic of mainstream moviegoers drawn to high-concept entertainment. But surely even 18-24-year-olds deserve something better than this stupefyingly bad movie. I didn't anticipate liking it all that much, but figured it might be clever or interesting here and there, and assumed, at least visually, that it would be reasonably spectacular. Instead, I sat dumbfounded by its continual onslaught of awfulness. The first American-made Godzilla (1998),...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73968 Tue, 20 Aug 2019 15:07:23 UTC Rent It THE FILM: While I enjoyed the humor, action and family-friendly thrills of 2014's The LEGO Movie, this sequel is far less impressive, at least for adult viewers, offering only minor thrills and chuckles amid 107 long minutes of colorful visuals and noisy action. The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part loses directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who did write this screenplay, and picks up Mike Mitchell, of Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo fame, to wrangle returning voice talents Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks and Will Arnett. Warner Brothers financed franchise spin-offs The LEGO Batman Movie and Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73920 Tue, 23 Jul 2019 14:40:46 UTC Highly Recommended THE FILM: The recent levity in the DC Universe films is certainly a good thing. After the successful and entertaining Wonder Woman and Aquaman comes Shazam!, a lower key but perhaps more satisfying superhero film. Based on the DC Comics character created in 1939 by C. C. Beck and Bill Parker that was originally named Captain Marvel, Shazam! sees foster kid Billy Batson (Asher Angel) struggling to find his identity after being bounced around from family to family. After saving his foster brother, Freddy Freeman (Jack Dylan Grazer), from school bullies, Billy is summoned by wizard Shazam (Djimon Hounsou), who is looking for a new, pure-hearted champion to take over his post. He instills in Billy all of his powers, which manif...Read the entire review ]]> Blu-ray https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/review/73865 Fri, 14 Jun 2019 19:40:00 UTC Rent It The Movie: Joel Schumacher's second attempt at a Batman film, following Batman Forever made two years prior, was 1997's widely reviled Batman & Robin. Once again, Batman/Bruce Wayne was re-cast, this time with George Clooney in the lead role, while Chris O'Donnell returned as Dick Grayson/Robin, Michael Gough was back as Alfred and Pat Hingle once again reprised his role as Gotham's Commissioner James Gordon. The story in this fourth entry in the series introduces us to Dr. Victor Fries (Arnold Schwarzenegger) who turns to the dark side after his wife, Nora (Vendela Kirsebom Thomessen), is unfortunate enough to contract a rare disease called MacGregor's Syndrome. When his blood gets injected with a cryogenic liquid, he becomes… Mr. Freeze, the newest supervillain to terrorize Gotham City. His schtick? He's cold looking, cold feeling and hellbent on making every...Read the entire review ]]>