#his name is blu-ray disc

[chronodia]

the other side

[sirfrogsworth]

The Death of Physical Media

I keep seeing this concern around all of my home theater circles. Ever since Best Buy decided to abandon physical media there has been a call to arms to save it.

Chris Stuckman did a great video on his love of physical media.

I admire and share his passion.

That said, I think there is nothing to stop physical media from being scaled back. At best, it will end up like vinyl and only a few select titles will still be pressed.

Which is why I think saving physical media is the wrong fight.

There is a much larger fight that encompasses more than just blu-ray discs...

(I'm going to use really big letters for dramatic effect so don't get startled.)

DATA OWNERSHIP!

(Imagine a long trailing echo when reading that in your mind.)

(Sorry, I probably should have included those instructions in the previous parenthetical. So go back and read "data ownership" again with the proper gusto.)

(Did you do it?)

(Was it cool?)

(Cool.)

A blu-ray is just data.

The disc does not positively affect the visuals or the sounds. It's just 1s and 0s coded into microscopic pits. You can put that data on a hard drive. You can put it on an SD Card. You can put it on a thumb drive and wear it on a necklace.

You can even use WinRAR to break it up into little 1.44 megabyte chunks and save it to floppy disks.

Another 40 more cases of floppies and you've got Avatar preserved for life!

The medium is not important.

The *data* is important.

And as everything turns into a subscription we are losing out on ways to own data. Beyond that, people aren't yet seeing the value of owning data. If renting a digital download is cheaper, they are almost always going to choose that option.

So the fight is two-fold.

We need to fight for the right to parrrrrty own data.

We need to convince the populace of the value of owning data.

This can apply to software, movies, video games. Hell, I don't even own my damn doorbell videos. There is no way to download all of the footage. I'd have to do each video one at a time. And if I don't keep my subscription, I will no longer have access to that data as it will soon be deleted.

We would need a platform similar to Steam—though it isn't the perfect data ownership solution. Many titles require internet connectivity and DRM verification. What happens to our media when a company goes out of business and the infrastructure to verify the DRM over the internet is gone?

So that would need to be addressed. Perhaps a new form of DRM linked to our digital identity that can be verified locally.

I mean, I'd love to get rid of DRM, but that is probably not realistic.

I think the best avenue is probably a congressional law.

"The Own Your Own Data Act"

TOYODA?

We can workshop the name later.

In conclusion, we don't need to save blu-rays. We need the option to buy data and actually own it in perpetuity.

Meaning if a streaming service deletes a movie or a movie studio goes belly up, our data doesn't disintegrate along with it. We cannot let our favorite shows go extinct. We need to be part of preserving that history. Not to mention discs have a shelf life. But data can be transferred to new mediums indefinitely.

My house is just going to be wall to wall floppy disks.

[brokehorrorfan]

The Guyver will be released on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on May 21 via Unearthed Films. Also known as Mutronics, the 1991 sci-fi superhero film is based on the Japanese manga series of the same name by Yoshiki Takaya.

Special effects legends Steve Wang (Predator) and Screaming Mad George (Society) co-direct from a script by Jon Purdy. Mark Hamill, Vivian Wu, Jack Armstrong, Jimmie Walker, Michael Berryman, David Gale, and Jeffrey Combs star. Brian Yuzna (Re-Animator, Society) produces.

The Guyver has been newly restored in 4K from the original, R-rated 35mm camera negative with DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and 2.0 options. The 4K edition includes a soundtrack CD and a booklet. Special features are listed below.

Disc 1 - 4K UHD:

Audio commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, moderated by Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films author Dom O’Brien (new)

Disc 2 - Blu-ray:

Audio commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang, moderated by Budget Biomorphs: The Making of The Guyver Films author Dom O’Brien (new)

Interview with producer Brian Yuzna (new)

Interview with co-director Screaming Mad George (new)

Suit tests with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang (new)

Outtakes with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang (new)

Gag geel with commentary by co-directors Screaming Mad George and Steve Wang (new)

Production & artwork gallery (new)

Alternate title sequence

Trailers

Disc 3 - CD:

Original soundtrack composed by Matthew Morse (Silent Night, Deadly Night 5: The Toy Maker)

When a researcher at the Chronos Corporation is mysteriously killed, his daughter (Vivian Wu), her boyfriend, Sean (Jack Armstrong), and a rogue CIA agent named Max Reed (Mark Hamill) all suspect foul play. Sean discovers a top-secret suit of Chronos armor called "the Guyver," which fuses to his body when he tries it on, turning him into a supremely powerful cyborg. Chronos' evil CEO, Fulton Balcus (David Gale), is enraged and sends a crew of mutant alien monsters to get the Guyver back.

Pre-order The Guyver.

[ghoulishtomato]

Full NATM Craig context

In the special features of the Secret of the Tomb Blu Ray disc, there is a short "documentary" called A day in the Afterlife. There, we meet a mummy named Craig, someone "Ahkmenrah" went to college with (Ahkmenrah plays himself in the movies apparently).

Ahkmenrah decided to do Craig a solid and let him be in the Secret of the Tomb movie through the powers of nepotism. But everyone fucking hates Craig because he's obtuse, has an inflated sense of self worth, and doesn't listen to people.

Craig has poor on set etiquette (answering a phone while they're trying to film). He tries to get Ben Stiller to start a NATM Spin Off series with him focused on Craig (he tries to network with everyone to get his, frankly, bad ideas on TV). He made Shawn Levy no longer believe that all ideas have some kind of worth or merit to them.

Ahk managed to trick him into leaving the film early, but he didn't have the heart to tell Craig that he sucked.

Also, I have no idea who plays Craig. He almost sounds like Owen Wilson without a Southern accent, but he also kinda sounds like Ryan Reynolds??? But I know for a fact that that CAN'T be Ryan Reynolds, how ridiculous would that be?? 💀💀 I love the idea of Owen Wilson deciding to play some random mummy character for DVD extras, though.

But who knows who plays Craig? Because there is no credit to the person playing him ANYWHERE so-

Hope y'all are happy to know who Craig is 💀

[aetherspoon]

Hi total stranger here sorry to jump into your inbox but I saw you mentioned a drive that allowed you to bypass the truly awful 4K uhd settings that I've literally only just heard about?

Oooo, my first ask!

So, I'll post the short version here and the long version under a cut.

The short version is simple - I have a USB UHD (4k) BluRay drive from LG. At the time I bought it, it had firmware that could be upgraded to some unofficial firmware that can avoid that garbage. That drive isn't recommended anymore, which is why I'm not bothering to give you the model number, but if you look at this site:

It will give you the list of drives that ARE recommended for this type of thing. You can even buy some pre-flashed drives from people if you don't want to mess with that.

My drive has worked fine for me, but admittedly I've only used a few UHD discs on it (and a whole lot of normal blu-rays and DVDs).

Now, the longer version is under the cut, including one of my patented totally normal (blatant sarcasm tag here) analogies that still somehow work.

-----

I'm going to use an analogy here, because that's how I explain tech.

Let's pretend your Blu-Ray (regardless of whether it is UHD/4k or not - see my notes at the end for a fun fact) is a VIP performing at your exclusive club called Blu-Ray Drive. You'd think that, because you own the club, you can watch the VIP perform, right?

Wrong.

You see, the club has a bouncer by the name of AACS. Every VIP insists on one of their bouncers being at the club, deciding who to let in and what they get to do. The bouncer doesn't actually work for you, they work for the VIP, and no VIP will come to your club if you don't have one of their bouncers.

Also, just for more paranoia, every VIP will have its own list of who and what to allow, along with where they're allowed to stand. Each time you have a new VIP come to your club, they give their own list; if the bouncer sees the list is newer, they throw away all of the old lists and only keep the newest one. On top of that, AACS is a nationalist asshole that decided to only allow people from their own country in, because the VIPs want to charge people differently based on their nationality.

The VIPs even require some fancier clubs to have a courier continually delivering them new lists (this is where that UHD/4k Internet connection thing comes from).

All of the stuff you want is inside of that club, but the bouncer won't let you in because you're not on the list (and might not even from the right country). And you can't just sack the bouncer because then no VIP will play at your club.

You heard of another problem at a similar club (Club DVD), where their more local VIPs required them to hire a bouncer named CSS. However, CSS wasn't paid very well, was near sighted, and never bothered to update the list; all of your friends just called themselves "Maria Wang" and CSS let them in. Your VIPs know about that though, so they insist on the updating list thing and giving their bouncers eye exams. So what do you do?

Simple. You call a buddy and they kool-aid man through the back wall of your club shouting OH YEAH!, of course.

This is a completely logical analogy, I know. I should really commission an artist to draw this.

This buddy is called LibreDrive. Your VIPs still have their bouncer - anyone who doesn't know about the secret entrance still goes through the bouncer. The people who do know - including you and your friends - just go through the secret entrance instead. The VIP company is none the wiser.

-----

Now that my completely logical analogy is over, what does this actually mean tech-wise?

The way DVDs work is by using an encryption technology called CSS. However, in late 1999, someone figured out how to break the encryption, mostly because they did a really lazy job in making it to begin with. This is DeCSS. There were huge lawsuits, poetry made using source code, a whole lot of weird things. Today, we don't even need DeCSS; the encryption on DVDs are so bad that a modern computer can brute force decrypt it in seconds.

Fundamentally, both DVDs and blu-rays work the same way. There is a portion of the disc (DVD or blu-rays) that no drive is allowed to directly read. This contains the encryption information for the rest of the data on the disc. That encryption information is used by the player as to what is and isn't allowed to read the disc and what parts they ARE allowed to read. This is also where region locking comes in, where it checks what region your drive is set to and allows/denies discs to play based on that region; this is called CSS. If you are old enough to remember the bad old days of WinDVD and PowerDVD, those applications had encryption keys allowed by the DVD drive to play back the video content on the drive.

Anyone remember those cheap knock-off "region free" DVD players that used to be really common in the 2000s? They just ignored CSS entirely; the drives themselves can still read all of the data on the disc, it was just CSS telling the drive what it could or couldn't read.

Anyway, the movie studios, seeing their "beautiful creation" get ripped apart like that, wanted to make sure that it didn't happen the same way with their next technology.

Where blu-ray differs from DVDs is how it isn't using CSS at all, but something called AACS instead. It makes this list into a continually updating list; every time your drive (whether it is in a computer or a standalone player!) sees a new disc, it checks that hidden encryption information for a list of what is and isn't allowed to access the drive. If the list on the disc is of a newer version than what the drive currently has in its firmware, the disc will actually flash the firmware of your blu-ray drive with the new allow/deny list. Then it checks again - does the firmware match what the disc has? If so, it continues. If not, it refuses to play no matter what. From there, the rest of the process is basically the same, checking any player for a list of keys allowed to play it. If it sees a key not allowed (say, your ripping software), it says no and stops everything from reading it.

Unlike DVDs with CSS, these keys are actually pretty darn secure... and even if they weren't, studios would just release an updated allow/deny list and suddenly your computer can't rip discs anymore because the latest version of Frozen came out.

UHD (4k) blu-ray players take this one step further and just continually update that allow/deny list across the Internet rather than waiting for new discs to update that allow/deny list. This is why a standalone UHD blu-ray player needs WiFi, by the way. It isn't used for anything else.

So... how to avoid it? You could use a leaked key and basically hope that it isn't updated. This is how most blu-ray ripping software works, which is also why they need continual updating while movie studios play cat and mouse. And with UHD content, that's a really tiny window of time that you can do unauthorized things with the drive.

Remember our surprise tool - the drive itself still has to be able to read everything, it is just AACS stopping us. If we can somehow just get a drive to not care about AACS, we'd have access to everything we care about.

LibreDrive is a custom firmware that basically lets all of the above still happen, but any program aware of LibreDrive can just use it to access the full disc. It acts as an intermediary between the physical drive itself and software on your computer, similar to AACS itself. Like the analogy said, you're kool-aid manning a security hole into the drive's encryption. AACS is still happy because it can still update its firmware allow/deny list, you just bypass AACS entirely. Every byte of data on the blu-ray is accessible to whatever programs know about this security hole, which includes programs like MakeMKV and anything using the open source (and illegalish - see below) LibDriveIo library. Fun fact, you can just copy that library in to VLC and it'll use it.

Unfortunately, you can't just flash LibreDrive onto any drive. Basically, someone needs to be able to read the existing firmware on a drive in order to know what to modify to open up that security hole. This means you need specific drives on specific versions of firmware to flash LibreDrive.

The industry, however, caught on to this. They started requiring drive manufacturers to encrypt their firmware, so some newer revisions of drives that used to work now don't - this is the case with my drive.

And that's... the rest of the story.

Now, my notes:

You know how I said UHD/4k and regular blu-rays work the same? Yeah, it isn't just that they work the same - sometimes they're actually the exact same drive. Some regular blu-ray drives can actually read UHD discs, they're just not allowed to by AACS because "fuck you that's why". LibreDrive can work around that, too.

Illegalish? Well, circumventing copy protection isn't allowed under the US's Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), outside of specific scenarios. And the US's copyright laws tend to get copied over to a lot of other countries as a result of the trade deals they make with each other, hence "illegalish". You make your own moral call, my morality says that personal use to rip your own media should have always been legal and I should be able to play a Brazilian version of the Phantom Menace if I want to.

Some additional source reading material: https://forum.makemkv.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18856 for "What is LibreDrive", which explains the same thing I did but without my fun analogy and using more technical terms. It also includes the full list of drive firmware that works with LibreDrive.

[batmannotes]

‘Batman: Mask of the Phantasm' 4K Blu-Ray

Celebrate the 30th anniversary of the most universally acclaimed film in the Dark Knight’s legendary cinematic history when the newly-remastered animated movie Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, comes to 4K Ultra HD for the very first time. From Warner Bros. Discovery Home Entertainment, the film will be available to purchase on 4K Ultra HD on September 12, 2023.

The release will also include an all-new featurette Kevin Conroy: I Am The Knight, which takes a look at the legacy of Kevin Conroy, who voiced Batman for 30 years in film, television, video games and more.

Rooted in DC’s acclaimed Batman: The Animated Series and released theatrically on Christmas Day 1993, Batman: Mask of the Phantasm has not only been ranked by Time magazine as one of the 10 best Super Hero movies ever, but is also arguably the core fans’ all-time favorite Batman film. The movie has been rated at the top of the Dark Knight film franchise by such popular entertainment media as Empire, Screenrant and Paste. And in the ultimate mainstream salute for its time, Gene Siskel & Robert Ebert didn’t initially review the film during its theatrical release, but later dedicated a portion of their At The Movies weekly TV series to pay compliment to the film – and voice their regret for not giving it the attention it deserved during its original run – when Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was distributed for home entertainment.

The 4K HDR/SDR remaster of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm was sourced from the 1993 Original Cut Camera Negative and was scanned at 4K resolution. Digital restoration was applied to the 4K scans to remove dirt, scratches and additional anomalies, but special care was given to not touch the film grain or the animation cel dirt that was part of the original artwork. This is the first time since its theatrical release that it is presented in its 1.85 aspect ratio. The original 2.0 mix and the 5.1 tracks were remastered to remove or improve defects such as pops, ticks, dropouts and distortion.

The animated film features an all-star cast headed by the quintessential voice of Batman, Kevin Conroy, alongside Dana Delany (Desperate Housewives, China Beach) as Bruce Wayne’s love interest, Andrea Beaumont, Mark Hamill (Star Wars franchise) as the Joker, Stacy Keach (Nebraska, Prison Break, Mike Hammer) as Phantasm/Carl Beaumont, Abe Vigoda (Barney Miller, The Godfather) as Salvatore Valestra, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. (The F.B.I.) as Alfred, Hart Bochner (Die Hard) as Arthur Reeves, Bob Hastings (McHale’s Navy, The Poseidon Adventure) as Commissioner Gordon, Robert Costanzo (Forget Paris, City Slickers) as Detective Bullock, Dick Miller (Gremlins, The Terminator) as Chuckie Sol, and John P. Ryan (The Right Stuff) as Buzz Bronski. Additional voices included Pat Musick, Marilu Henner, Neil Ross, Ed Gilbert, Jeff Bennett, Jane Downs, Vernee Watson, Charles Howerton, Thom Pinto and Peter Renaday.

The Batman: Mask of the Phantasm filmmaking team is composed of the award-winning core group behind Batman: The Animated Series. Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm directed the film from a screenplay by Alan Burnett, Paul Dini, Martin Pasko and Michael Reaves, based on a story by Burnett.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm will be available on September 12, 2023 to purchase Digitally from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more. 4K Ultra HD Discs will be available to purchase online and in-store at major retailers. Pre-order your copy now.

SYNOPSIS:

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm opens with the city's most feared gangsters being systematically eliminated, and assumed blame falling on the Caped Crusader. But prowling the Gotham night is a shadowy new villain, the Phantasm, a sinister figure with some link to Batman's past. Can the Dark Knight elude the police, capture the Phantasm and clear his own name? Unmasking the Phantasm is just one of the twists in this dazzling animated feature, which provides new revelations about Batman's past, his archrival the Joker, and Batman's most grueling battle ever - the choice between his love for a beautiful woman and his vow to be the defender of right.

SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE*:

Kevin Conroy: I Am The Knight (New Featurette) – For 30 years, Kevin Conroy defined Batman for multiple generations using only his voice, best exemplified in the landmark film Batman: Mask of the Phantasm. Conroy passed away in November 2022, but his legacy lives on in 15 films, nearly 400 episodes of animated television series, a dozen video games, and as a live-action Bruce Wayne in the Arrowverse’s 2019-2020 “Crisis on Infinite Earths” crossover event. Several of Conroy’s contemporaries – including animation legend Bruce Timm, Batman producer Michael Uslan and revered voice actress Tara Strong – pay tribute to the star who remains the Dark Knight for millions of Batfans.

Bonus episode of Justice League: Unlimited featuring a cameo from Phantasm.

*Special features are not available in 4K Ultra HD.

The Batman legend continues in this story that tells of Batman's most difficult battle, as well as his confrontation with a mysterious killer, who holds the key to Batman's secret past.

MPAA rating ‏ : ‎ PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)

Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.52 Ounces

Director ‏ : ‎ Bruce Timm, Eric Radomski

Run time ‏ : ‎ 1 hour and 16 minutes

Release date ‏ : ‎ September 12, 2023

Actors ‏ : ‎ Kevin Conroy, Dana Delany

Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English

Studio ‏ : ‎ Studio Distribution Services

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0CBQPHLG9

Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ USA

Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1

Preorder now.

[theakandrewscollection]

Dogs Don't Wear Pants (movies, movie posters, 2019)

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Streaming on Shudder

(and I don't really know why as it's not a horror movie)

Movie Trailer

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"After a tragic event, Juha develops an unexpected but powerful connection with a dominatrix named Mona. His dangerous addiction to suffocation will lead them both down a wild, freaky path toward emotional enlightenment"

-Rotten Tomatos synopsis

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Movie clip

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International video packaging

English DVD/Blu-ray packaging and stills

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DVD/Blu-ray link

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.

[md-guel]

well! I finally got that free time I was waiting for so I managed to take a lot of photos of the g witch season 2 volume 2 blu-ray box featuring our very own el presidente guelito jeturk! 🦁🎉 I'll put them all under the read more where I break them down by sections, too!

first section is the outer box, of course, and can I just say. if somebody sold even just the outer box on mercari (like somebody did for shaddiq's cover, I remember reading somewhere), I would be so tempted to buy it. handsome boy notwithstanding, this thing would actually make such a handsome and fun a5 document holder! the red is just so attractive to the eyes and check out that gold stamping! like the whole thing just really looks so executive.

and I really love the choice of foil silhouette, too. this is guel's revival from the penultimate version of the season 2 opener. his choice of dialogue has...far too many...ellipses...for...my tastes...but we know how important it is to his arc so it belongs there. I just wish they got rid of even just one ellipsis cause it doesn't make sense without the drama of the source scene.

here's the rest of the contents of the box! there's the actual disc box, a special booklet in guel's primary colors, then two sets of end cards, one for the anime and another for the audio drama

aside from the handsome boy at the front, the other part that convinced me to buy this blu-ray volume is the stunning spread of the darilbalde by ippei gyoubu as the disc box jacket. now I can finally say that I own one of his artworks!

the close-ups are just to show the gloss and the material used

and here are the actual discs! and a sneak peek of my curtains oops. I haven't had the time to watch/listen to the cds yet but the red one contains episodes 16 to 18, the season 2 digest (I think this is the one narrated by noto mamiko-san?), the 2nd and 3rd versions of the season 2 opener and the jeturk house's audio commentary of episode 17. and by jeturk house, I mean everyone's voice actors, of course: azakami youhei for guel, takeo otsuka for lauda, takada yuuki for felsi, hirose yuuki for petra and yamashita taiki for kamil.

the silver one is for the two audio dramas: sophie and norea before the dawn (of fold) and izakaya prospera (which is a modern au setting where the jeturk's business is a flower shop which vim manages because his boys are too into basketball).

the special booklet talks about the episodes, the characters, the world, and has some special interviews from miyahara youhei who is the technical director and kodera shouta, director of photography. if anyone's interested with these interviews, please let me know and I'll take clear photos!

(by the way, the line at the side of the episode 17 summary is guel's oshi line, "I'm grateful to you. You're important to me." as far as his mentions in the summaries are concerned, episode 17 just says that miorine chose him as suletta's final duel and he won against her, and episode 18 just says that miorine and guel have started working together for the presidential election)

the characters section gives us more information about the, well, characters as of episodes 16 to 18. guel's captions read (edited from the machine translation):

the long text:

After the Plant Queta attack, he was taken prisoner by the Dawn of Fold, but returned from Earth in order to rebuild the Jetark Company, which connects him to his father. After returning to school, he finally wins his third duel with Suletta. He has become CEO in place of his younger brother Lauda, ​​who was serving as acting CEO of Jeturk Company, and is working with and supporting Miorine, who is running for president. He expressed his feelings and gratitude to Suletta, and now he is working for what is important to him.

under profile:

Affiliation: Jeturk Heavy Machinery

just above his full name:

Guel, with his trademark long hair cut short, showed his determination to rebuild the company as CEO.

the world guide mostly talks about the state of politics in episodes 16 to 18. the edited machine translations from top to bottom:

Jeturk Company Following Vim's death, Lauda served as acting CEO in Guel's absence. After Guel returns from Earth and defeats Suletta in a duel, he becomes the new CEO. Currently, he is working hard to rebuild Jeturk Company, and is supporting Miorine, with whom he has teamed up, to become the company's next president.

During his lifetime, Vim Jeturk secretly worked with the Shin Sei Development Corporation, introducing the GUND format into his company's next-generation concept model "Schwarzette'' and proceeding with its development.

CEO: Guel Jeturk

and lastly, here are the end cards! I thought about just taking a photo of the front but the artist credits (and icons in the case of the audio dramas) are at the back and I didn't want to leave them out. the first two photos are the audio drama end cards while the last three are the anime ones. they're fairly thin and they're not glossy! check out the reflection on the episode 17 end card.

if anyone is curious about other parts of the blu-ray volume that I excluded from this post, please let me know!

[bjsmall]

18.08.23

We watched Walt Disney's The Jungle Book (1967).

IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061852/

The Jungle Book is a 1967 musical comedy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by Buena Vista Distribution.

The film is based on Rudyard Kipling's 1894 book of the same name. It was the 19th Disney feature film and the final film produced by Walt Disney who died during its production.

The film plot follows Mowgli, an abandoned human child raised in the Indian jungle by Wolves. Bagheera the panther and Baloo the bear have to convince Mowgli to leave the jungle before Shere Khan arrives to kill him.

Wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Jungle_Book_(1967_film)

Early versions of the screenplay and soundtrack were more faithful to the book with a dramatic, dark and sinister tone which Disney did not like. Leading writer Bill Peet was replaced. Much of Peets work was thrown away but his characters were kept but made more happy and funny.

Work on the animation began on June 5th 1965. The animation was done by Xerography, using rough artistic edges to contrast the round animals. Background were hand painted and used in the foreground and background to create a feeling of depth.

The character of Baloo was based on real footage of bears and their movements in the wild. This was one of the first animated films to study animal behaviour.

A Disney trademark of using previous cel-sequences from other films was used for the Jungle Book. This includes 101 Dalmatians and A Tiger Walks.

The films score was composed by George Bruns and orchestrated by Walter sheets. The score features six original songs, five by the Sherman Brothers and one by Terry Gilkyson who wrote The Bear Necessities. The songs have become classic in their own right. The songs are as follows:

- The Bear Necessities - Trust in Me - I Wan'na Be Like You - Colonel Hathi's March - That's What Friends are For - My Own Home

For more information on the production of The Jungle Book, see:

Favourite scenes in The Jungle Book:

- The wolves scene at the beginning, who adopt Mowgli and raise him.

- The King Louie scene where he sings 'I'm the King of the Swingers'. ''Have Two Bananas!''

- The vultures 'That's What Friends are For' scene. The vultures where influenced by the Beetles who came from Liverpool. - - The 'Trust in Me' scene featuring Kaa the Rock Python who tries to hypnotise Mowgli with his eyes and the song!

- And of course, The Bear Necessities, which Baloo sings with Mowgli in the river.

The Jungle Book was released in October 1967, 10 months after Walt Disney's death. The film was a massive success, costing $4 million dollars to make and earning over $23 million dollars by 1970.

The film was re-released throughout the 70s, 80s and 90s and is regarded as being in the top 50 grossing films of all time.

The film has been released to home media on all available formats from VHS to streaming. The Jungle Book was digitally re-mastered in 2014.

The original aspect ratio of The Jungle Book is 1.37.1, the alternate theatrical released was 1.75:1.

The Jungle Book received positive reviews upon its release. This was partly due to the affection for Walt Disney after his death. Although it was nothing like the book, the film was seen as simple, bright and delightful entertainment.

It still has a rotten tomatoes approval rating of 88%.

In later years the film has received some criticism for being racist, however this was not the film makers intention.

In 2016, a live action/CGI version of the Jungle Book was released. It is darker than the animation but it is highly regarded.

I have seen the live action version recently on BBC iPlayer.

I first saw the Jungle Book in the late 90s on VHS, more recently I brought a copy of the film on Blu-Ray disc in 2017. This version was watched on YouTube Movies. The Jungle Book looked fantastic on my 4K LG TV!

I particularly enjoy watching Kaa, as I like snakes!

My favourite stories from Rudyard Kipling were his 'Just So' stories which I first read in the classic children's Golden Treasury book. My favourite story from 'Just So' is How the Rhinoceros Got His Skin!

Obviously the film isn't up to modern animation standards, but it is still really enjoyable to watch with its catchy songs and engaging characters.

It is a classic!

[docrotten]

SANTA SANGRE (1989) – Episode 259 – Decades Of Horror 1980s

“I’m sorry… I was having an hallucination…” That explains a lot! Join your faithful Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, Jeff Mohr, and guest host Scott Wells – as they take in Alejandro Jodorowsky’s Santa Sangre (1989), a disarming film tattooed with symbolism … including the disarming part.

Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 259 – Santa Sangre (1989)

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 A former circus artist escapes from a mental hospital to rejoin his armless mother – the leader of a strange religious cult – and is forced to enact brutal murders in her name as he becomes “her arms.”

  Directed by: Alejandro Jodorowsky

Writing Credits: 

Original Story by: Alejandro Jodorowsky

Adapted for the Screen by: Roberto Leoni

Screenply by: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Roberto Leoni, Claudio Argento

Producer: Claudio Argento

Selected Cast:

Axel Jodorowsky as Fenix

Blanca Guerra as Concha

Guy Stockwell as Orgo

Thelma Tixou as The Tattooed Woman

Sabrina Dennison as Alma

Adan Jodorowsky as Young Fenix

Faviola Elenka Tapia as Young Alma

Teo Jodorowsky as Pimp

Mary Aranza as Fat Prostitute (as Ma. De Jesus Aranzabal)

Jesús Juárez as Aladin (as Jesus Juarez)

Sergio Bustamante as Monsignor

Gloriella as Rubi (as Gloria Contreras)

S. Rodriguez as The Saint

Zonia Rangel Mora as Trini

Joaquín García Vargas as Box-Office Attendant (as Borolas)

Teo Tapia as Business Man

Edgar E. Jiménez Nava as Monsignor’s Chauffeur (as Edgar E. Jimenez Nava)

Jacobo Lieberman as Monsignor’s Secretary

Héctor Ortega as Doctor (as Hector Ortega Gomez)

Brontis Jodorowsky as Orderly 1

Valérie Crouzet as Orderly 2 (as Valerie Crouzet)

Óscar Serafín Álvarez as Soldier 1 (as Oscar Serafin Alvarez)

Billy Motton as Soldier 2

Hilario ‘Popitekus’ Vargas as Wrestler 1

Guadalupe ‘TNT’ Aguilar as Wrestler 2

Arturo ‘Rinoceronte’ Contreras as Wrestler 3

Gustavo Aguilar Tejada as Beggar

Roger Fayard Arroyo as Beggar

In this episode, Jeff, Chad, and Bill welcome guest-host Scott Wells to review the 1989 “avant-garde surrealistic psychological horror film” from director Alejandro Jodorowsky. While the film is in English, Santa Sangre is a Mexican and Italian co-production that features a truly bizarre tale that has to be seen to be believed. The less said here, the better – it’s so much better to join the Grue-Crew to revisit this unpredictable, gorgeous, must-see mind-bender.

At the time of this writing, Santa Sangre is available to stream from Shudder, AMC+, Screambox, Kanopy, and Tubi, and is available on physical media from Severin in three releases: Blu-ray (2011), 2-Disc Special Edition Blu-ray (2021), and a 4K Ultra HD 4-Disc Limited Edition Collector’s Set (2021). Both 2021 releases are made from a 4K scan of the original negative supervised by the director.

Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Crystal, will be The Boogey Man (1980), directed by Ulli Lommel and featuring the formidable John Carradine … and a mirror? This should be a fun one!

Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans – so leave them a message or comment on the Gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the Gruesome Magazine website, or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at feedback@gruesomemagazine.com.

Check out this episode!

[thenightling]

Earlier a few people got confused when I mentioned Nightmare before Christmas had a 3D re-release. They thought I was talking about some lesser-known remake.

No. In 2006 Nightmare before Christmas was re-released to cinemas in the US. This is the same year we got the two disc version of the soundtrack (The Best Buy version had bonus tracks) and roughly around the same time Marylin Manson did his cover of "This is Halloween."

Disney went through a short fad of re-releasing previous films in a new 3D format, that just made certain scenes seem to pop out. They also took the opportunity to remove the Touchstone logo from the start of the movie and replace it with the Disney castle. (Touchstone is a division of Disney they use to release films they are unsure of and want to distance from the Disney name. But by 2006 Nightmare before Christmas was a proven classic).

They also broke the Tim Burton / Danny Elfman tradition by removing Danny Elfman's music over the logos (Any film by Tim Burton or associated with Tim Burton with a Danny Elfman score, the music usually plays over the opening logos).

They made the opening credits more red when they used to be pale orange. And they digitally removed wires from bats during This is Halloween. I don't think they should have done this because I think those bats and the wires were a homage to the 1931 Dracula. Also removing old mistakes decades later doesn't feel right.

They also messed a bit with the sound balance during This is Halloween where certain parts like "I am the shadow on the moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright" weren't as crisp and clear as they used to be.

And this is the version that has been on DVD, and Blu Ray, and streaming, ever since.

I have a slight conspiracy theory that the 3D re-releases of things like Nightmare before Christmas and The Lion King (again, I am not talking about the remake), was so they could make edits and changes with people less likely to notice.

2006 doesn't feel that long ago to me but I realize it was seventeen-years-ago now and lots of people don't know that before the live-action remake trend there was a brief "Re-release in 3D" trend.

Again, this was not a remake, they just digitally enhanced certain scenes to have a 3D effect.

[scumgristle]

JULY PRE-ORDER ANNOUNCEMENT #1! Going on sale Thursday, July 27th at 9 AM Pacific/12 noon Eastern, only at mondomacabro.bigcartel.com! We’re sure you have tons of Jess Franco films in your collection, likely even some films in multiple formats! But how about one that’s never been released officially in the US or anywhere else for that matter? That’s why we are very excited to bring you … THE SINISTER DR ORLOFF (1982)! With his 1962 film The Awful Dr Orlof, director Jess Franco laid the ground work for the Spanish horror boom that was to follow later in that decade. 20 years on, he revisited his classic to create this chilling and macabre follow up. The Sinister Dr. Orloff features the original doctor - played by Howard Vernon - with Antonio Mayans as his son, Alfred. The film is set amongst the bright neon lights and gaudy tourist attractions of Alicante, on Spain’s Costa Blanca. Alfred Orloff cruises the bustling nighttime streets, seeking out women, whom he takes back to his empty apartment. There he drugs them and has his blind brother, Andros, carry them off to a secret laboratory where Orloff has created a strange and bizarre mind transference machine, hoping to transfer the consciousness of the captive women into the body of his comatose mother. Orloff’s father, played by Howard Vernon, becomes aware that his son is starting to enjoy these murderous night games and decides that he must stop the deadly experiments that are being conducted in his name. But when Inspector Tanner’s wife becomes the next victim, events take a tragic and unexpected turn. This region free release is the US premiere of the film and its worldwide Blu-ray debut. DISC FEATURES Region free 1080p presentation from a new 4K restoration of the film In Spanish with optional English subtitles Brand new interview with Antonio Mayans Brand new interview with author Stephen Thrower Brand new audio commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson LIMITED EDITION FEATURES 20 page full color booklet by Francisco Cesari and Roberto Curti; reversible sleeve with new and original art; 1500 numbered copies in the usual red case

[pinkiepiebones]

Oh I was definitely gonna be like "we'll get there Renfield" in the tags of that movie post too, but I may not catch up to how many times you've seen it. I *do* have access to it for gif/vidding purposes now, and I intend to purchase it legally and inflict it on my parents this weekend, so... :)

Bro when it hits TV rotation it's all over for me. This is my comfort movie now. I'm getting the DVD, the Blu Ray, the exclusive-to-certain-stores Blu Rays (Target version? Best Buy version? HOT TOPIC VERSION WITH BLOOD RED DISCS? A VERSION THAT COMES WITH A hi my name is Renfield STICKER ON IT?), I'm getting the 4k UHDs... I've bought foreign magazines off eBay just for pictures. This movie got me baaaaaad. Have fun inflicting it on your folks!!!!!

[brokehorrorfan]

Cowboys & Aliens will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on September 17 via Kino Lorber. The 2011 sci-fi western action movie is based on Scott Mitchell Rosenberg's 2006 graphic novel of the same name.

Jon Favreau (Iron Man, The Mandalorian) directs from a script by Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof, Mark Fergus, and Hawk Ostby. Daniel Craig, Harrison Ford, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell, Adam Beach, Paul Dano, and Noah Ringer star. Steven Spielberg executive produces.

The theatrical cut has been newly mastered in SDR. The extended cut is also included on Blu-ray. Special features are listed below.

Disc 1 - 4K UHD:

Theatrical cut (118 minutes)

Audio commentary by director Jon Favreau

Disc 2 - Blu-ray:

Extended cut (135 minutes)

Audio commentary by director Jon Favreau

Jon Favreau in conversation with actor Daniel Craig

Jon Favreau in conversation with actor Harrison Ford

Jon Favreau in conversation with actor Olivia Wilde

Jon Favreau in conversation with producers Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Brian Grazer

Jon Favreau in conversation with screenwriters Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci

Jon Favreau in conversation with screenwriter Damon Lindelof

Igniting the Sky: The Making of Cowboys & Aliens

3 theatrical trailers (2 newly mastered in 2K)

14 TV spots

A stranger (Daniel Craig) stumbles into the desert town of Absolution with no memory of his past and a futuristic shackle around his wrist. With the help of mysterious beauty Ella (Olivia Wilde) and the iron-fisted Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), he finds himself leading an unlikely posse of cowboys, outlaws and Apache warriors against a common enemy from beyond this world in an epic showdown for survival

Pre-order Cowboys & Aliens.

[theoneprecioustome]

Glad I could help you, now I just need Aigis to imitate " どうでもいい" from Makoto lmao . Now that this is done, I like to point out another detail that probably you missed: Remember when Sakuya visited Aigis 's lab in musical, there were some words all around Aigis which is Aigis's inner thoughs in that state . That words were [ごめんなさい ] (I'm sorry). And when Sakuya was already left, that words disappeared changed to his name [朔也さんプ] or in Kotone's case [ 琴音さん]

Thank you so much again for sharing! Aigis imitating Makoto's catchphrase would be so good and it's also totally something Aigis would do, I wonder why they haven't done it yet! lol

Hahah yes, I did notice that! It's really sweet that they included that little detail. The musicals really did their best to do Aigis justice and it shows.

I've never listened to the movie's radio! Now I'm wondering if there's something we may have missed there... but the thought of listening to nine whole hours of audio is kind of overwhelming 😂

That reminds me, I've always wanted to hear the Director's Track commentary included with the movie Blu-rays. I have the discs but... I don't have a blu-ray reader, so I've never managed to hear those lol If you know anywhere I could find them or if you have listened to them, I'd love to know if there are any good Aikoto tidbits anon!

[blaberid]

the funhouse 2022 bonus material thoughts and opinions

i will never forgive shout factory for releasing the new funhouse bonus content only on a region A blu-ray disc and not on dvd, but after spending SO much time and money i was finally able to watch them... and i gotta say... it was all worth the struggles.

(i can’t get actual screencaps cuz i can’t play the disc on my computers and i can’t find the content uploaded anywhere online and apparently you gotta have a phd in engineering in order to get the most out of blu-ray technology but yknow. honestly it’s a miracle i got the disc to play on my crusty old tv at all. like i pictured having to buy an entirely new tv in order to get to play these bonus features. like i know i can’t play the first disc included which is exclusive to ultra hd 4k televisions which i certainly do not have. would i have done it had that been the only solution? um........)

i gained so much new insight from 3 of the actors, absolutely lovely ppl, and craig reardon who finalized the monster mask after rick baker did the initial design!

the monster's design is loosely based on a cleft headed man, apparently baker worried about making a monster out of a real life condition so he really amped up the fantastical monster features! so much care was put into the design!!

they could not afford to have the eyes move so the monster's differing facial expressions are mostly just lighting tricks it seems, doba could hardly see in it and it was very hard to move the hands, he did such an amazing job under those conditions holy frick!!!

they showed some closeup photographs of the mask and hands that made the details so much easier to see, something that had flown past me completely is the fact that one of the monster's hands has two fingers fused together!!!  but looking back at the movie scenes i can see it!!

scene from the movie:

you can clearly see the fused fingers!! FUN FACTOID this is an obscure detail even this licensed enamel pin design missed:

i would have liked some insight on the frankenstein monster costume, like how would the monster wear those hands over his own deformed claws? i read somewhere the frankenstein costume was made specifically for the movie but don’t quote me on it.

in the little character analysis they did, they really put emphasis on the monster just being an emotionally driven creature from an abusive household who never actually meant to kill anybody! he killed madam zena accidentally in a fit of rage, and his dad had to negotiate really hard with him to get him to agree to kill the teens, and he only did end up killing liz after she stabbed him.

they use the name gunther a few times so i guess that makes it as canon as it can get. like it was the name used in the novelization that i refuse to acknowledge lmao but fine. it's that or they have no names at all. :o)

overall!!!!! good interviews!!! i feel so fulfilled!!!