Blu-ray & DVD: The Digital Dread Report for January 13th

The other day, someone asked me why I would still waste money buying Blu-rays or DVDs when we live in a time where we can stream anything we like, at any time.

My answer was simple "You can't stream anything you want, at any time. Netflix and the like have limited catalogs, and they change them all the time. They also don't offer many first run or higher profile releases. They also don't offer commentaries or special features, which for some movies, are a must see. Also, you can't beat Blu-ray quality video & audio with streaming. And what if I decide that I don't want to subscribe to Netflix anymore? What if my cable goes out?"

Sure, we don't buy near as much physical media product as we used to, because we have more options now, but sometimes you just have to have a physical copy of something. Streaming just can not give you what Blu-ray can, and when it comes to our favorite movies, we want to experience them in the best quality possible. Especially when it comes to old Horror flicks that are restored, given new transfers, and look better than they ever have before. Netflix is not now, nor will they ever be in the new transfer business.

So, that's basically why. 

Now, let's get on with this week's releases!


The big Horror release of the week is Honeymoon (our review HERE), which was one of the better Genre offerings that we saw in 2014. Honeymoon is a creepy, unsettling piece of work that we had to watch again after it was over, so that we could re-absorb what we had just experienced, and it's one that we'll be happy to revisit again.

Jessabelle (our review HERE) was one that we didn't find to be quite as good as Honeymoon, but it was decent enough in its own way. It's well-made and has its moments, but it never really gets to the point where it's all that great. Jessabelle may be a movie that is better suited for a rental than it is a purchase, but it makes for a decent watch either way.

Two Liam Neeson movies hit Blu-ray today, although one of them is just a re-release. A Walk Among the Tombstones was a fun Thriller, which is based on the Matt Scudder book series. If you like Cop Thrillers, or seeing Liam Neeson kick some ass, then it's definitely worth checking out. The Grey (our review HERE) is that re-release we were talking about, and as far as watching Liam Neeson kicking some ass goes, it doesn't get much better than this. Definitely worthy of a purchase, especially for $12.

Gone Girl... We really liked the book, right up until the ending, which absolutely fell flat for us. Same goes for this movie version; it's a slick, compelling movie that entertained us all the way up until that same, blah, shitty ending. We love David Fincher, and he's made another really solid movie with Gone Girl, it just ultimately feels like a story that has no payoff. Definitely worth seeing though.

For us, Boardwalk Empire was a good show that was never as great as it could have been. It was great at times, mind you, and we're hard-pressed to think of many other shows that were as well-made as this one was, but it just never lived up to its endless potential in our eyes.

This final season of Boardwalk Empire felt rushed and off the mark. The emotional highs that it went for just didn't have a ton of impact on us, mainly because it focuses on Nucky, whom we never really found to be the best character in the show. Then again, we always wanted more of the focus to be on Capone and the New York mobsters, so we were pretty much destined to be disappointed with how it all went.

Boardwalk Empire is definitely a show worth watching, but for us, it will always be a bittersweet experience.

It really sucks that FX went and cancelled The Bridge, as it was one of the few shows on TV that made us tune in every week with a heightened level of anticipation. It got three seasons, so it's not like they killed it off before ever giving it a chance, but it was such a good show that we just feel that it deserved at least one more go-around.

With losing Sons of Anarchy and Justified, you'd think that FX would want to hang onto one of their only other solid dramas. Sure, they still have Fargo and The Americans, both of which are great shows, but suddenly their line-up seems eerily sparse. *And for the record, as enjoyable as they are, American Horror Story and The Strain are nothing that we'd call "great." 

That Krull/Spacehunter 2-pack looks like it's going to be all kinds of 80's Sci-fi fun, and Alien Abduction is one that we've been meaning to check out, but haven't quite gotten there yet.
 
Everything else this week, as always, is a crap-shoot.