Now On Blu-ray: THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME, JUST DESSERTS, GREEN ROOM, And THE WAVE

Mamoru Hosoda is a ScreenAnarchy favorite and a definite contender for the next great Japanese animator to take up the mantle of anime king that Miyazaki keeps threatening to leave vacant. His last several features have all been critical and fan successes, and it is with the release of his latest film, The Boy and the Beast, that anime superlabel FUNimation has decided to create a special collection dedicated to his work. The first release in the line is the 2006 adaptation of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time, a favorite that has been long unavailable on Blu-ray in the US.

As I mentioned above, we are great fans of Hosoda, so it's no surprise that we published a review of the film from James Maruyama back in 2007:

Konno Makoto (voiced with great enthusiasm and likability by Naka Riisa) is your typical Japanese high school student who deals with typical teen problems at school and home. Her best friends include brainy hunk Tsuda Kousuke (Itakura Mitsutaka) and happy-go-lucky transfer stuent Mamiya Chiaki (Ishida Takuya). As with the novel and previous movies, Makoto's world is suddenly turned upside down as she develops the ability to traverse backwards in time (in this case, through a "time leaping" device hidden within a walnut shell).

What is unique about this movie (and what sets it apart from the previous adaptations) is the exploration of the ramifications of Makoto's "time leaping" powers. Whereas before in the novel and movies, heroine Yoshiyama Kazuko/Yoshikawa Tomoko was able to time travel with no real consequence or impact on those around her, the heroine here sees the impact that her powers have on others.

[...]

"The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" (a much better title than the often used "The Girl Who Conquered/Traversed Time") is a wonderfully touching, funny and captivating movie. Those who have seen the previous adaptations will particularly find this movie a treat.

As someone who isn't familiar with the book or any of the live-action adaptations, including one by Hausu director, Obayashi Nobuhiko, it is interesting to hear just how much more insight Hosoda's version brings to the screen. All of Hosoda's work deals with protagonists struggling to make life changing decisions, it is a consistent theme throughout his oeuvre. This precedent was set in this film, his feature debut, as Makoto struggles to decide what course to take when she is given power beyond anything she could've previously imagined. In Summer Wars, similar decision making is central to the plot as characters must decide where their alliances are. Wolf Children and The Boy and the Beast also use the thematic device of split allegiances to delve into the human repercussions that free will can have.

To say that Hosoda goes above and beyond what is required of a storyteller, esepcially in the anime world, would be an understatement. I'm no great anime connoisseur, but I always look forward to his films the same way that I look forward to new projects from Miyazaki or the late Kon Satoshi. The fact that The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was his debut feature – after several shorts and episodes of anime serials – is astounding to me as it shows a firm grasp of the potential that feature storytelling provides. Hosoda is the true heir to Miyazaki's throne, and I cannot wait to see what he does next.

The Disc

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time was released once before on US Blu-ray by Bandai, but that edition has been out of print and commanding crazy second-hand prices for several years. Thankfully, FUNimation has acquired the title and rereleased it on these shores at a decent price point with an identical set of special features to go along with the feature. The image and audio quality of the disc are both excellent, with the image providing a crystal clear presentation of the film as Hosoda intends it to be seen. In terms of the original audio, I have watched both the Japanese presentation and English dub and they are quite good with effective surround separation and a focus on the all important dialogue. No complaints here.

The disc-based extras are quite fun, as they were the first time around with Bandai's disc. We get a subtitled director's commentary, a complete storyboard version of the film with a separate commentary, and a music video along with some film premiere footage. All of this material was present on the original Blu-ray as well as the Korean DVD set reviewed my our anime guru, Ard Vijn, back in 2007. You can refer to his review for further details.

All of the above material is present on the deluxe and regular Blu-ray edition from FUNimation. Exclusive to the deluxe Blu-ray release is a translucent slipcover as seen in the above image as well as a 48-page booklet featuring an extended conversation with Hosoda, and his producers Watanabe Takashi and Saito Yuichiro, accompanied by a ton of production and concept art. Now, whether this is worth the upgrade is completely up to you. I'm a massive fan of written extras in booklets, so this appeals to me, but the upgrade cost is fairly steep, so your mileage may vary.

I love this film, and the extras are definitely worthwhile to me, so while the cost disparity between the regular version and the deluxe edition is pretty significant, I'm still going to give this a recommendation.

Creepshow is one of my very favorite horror films. Back when I was learning to love horror in my teenage years, the conduit through which my love grew was humor. I spent years being afraid of scary movies as a child, a fractious home life left me more than a little bit emotionally frail, but it was movies like Evil Dead 2, The Return of the Living Dead, and Creepshow that showed me that no matter how many heads get lopped off, it's always easier and more fun to laugh than to cry.

So, when Creepshow appeared on DVD I was first in line to pick it up. This film, a collaboration between two of the all-time greats in George Romero and Stephen King, ticks all of my boxes and delivers on all of its promise. Sadly, the discs in the US never quite lived up to that promise and I eventually ended up purchasing a special edition DVD from the UK as it was the most complete version of the film and supplementary material that I could find.

Fast forward to the age of Blu-ray and I ran into a similar problem. I've always been the kind of sucker who would upgrade from DVD at the drop of a hat, but the lack of a complete and respectful Blu-ray release of Creepshow in the US has always help me back from taking the HD plunge. I knew there was a UK disc out there that did the right thing and spluirged, but I figures that a US disc of similar proportions must surely be in the offing at any moment. Sadly, it wasn't to be.

Which brings us to Just Desserts.

Just Desserts is a feature length documentary on the making of Creepshow commissioned by Second Sight in the UK. The film gathers nearly all of the film's key players, apart from the conspicuous absense of Stephen King, to talk about the film and reminisce over its genesis and production. It's an absolutely wonderful document of a film that definitely deserves this kind of treatment. All of the principal players interviewed share nothing but fondness for the project, and even those missing – King, Ted Danson, Hal Holbrook – seem to have a pretty positive recollection based on the stories and archival footage within. As a fan, it is heart-warming to know that something that has brought me so much joy over the years is a product of a positive working experience for those involved.

You might not recognize the name of Michael Felsher, but if you are a cult movie fan and collector, you've certainly seen his work. His company, Red Shirt Pictures, is one of the premier creators of supplementary materials for labels like Synapse, and many of the special features you've probably enjoyed over the last decade came from his projects. These companies are the unsung heroes of the home video business, providing the kind of context and production value to DVDs and Blu-rays that keeps the entire industry relevant. Without their work, we'd all be addicted to services like Vudu, but because of companies like Red Shirt, there is a market for this kind of material.

The Disc:

I have nothing to say about the A/V merits of this disc. It looks and sounds great. As a collection of footage shot over the last 35 years, it looks about as good as it's gonna get. No issues on my end.

One area in which the Synapse Blu-ray of Just Desserts far outpaces its origins as an “extra” is in the supplemental material. Along with the feature, we also get an audio commentary from Felsher, a second commentary from some of the cast and crew of the film, an additional interview from Creepshow DP Michael Gornick, extended interview clips from Romero, Savini, and Bernie Wrightson, a collection of behind the scenes footage from FX master Tom Savini, a location tour from Horror's Hallowed Grounds, a reproduction of Fangoria's Scream Greats episode on the career of Tom Savini, a news program segment from 1982 on the making of Creepshow, and a collection of behind the scenes stills.

As a Creepshow fan, I can say that I've never been this happy with a release. Now, I can finally purchase the bare-bones US release of the film and feel complete. Just Desserts is totally worth your money!

Green Room is one of 2016's great films. A film that premiered at Cannes in 2015 and made a big splash at festivals all the way through its 2016 US theatrical release, Green Room is among the most confident thrillers I've seen in many years. While I'm not entirely sure I can add anything to the critical conversation around the film in the many months since it was unleashed upon the world, I can certainly add my approval.

Green Room , a film about a punk band trapped in a hostile environment when they stumble across a white power group and their crimes, is one of the most realistic cinematic visions of the punk underground since Penelope Spheeris's Suburbia in 1983. Director Jeremy Saulnier set his film in this world because it is one that he says he knew very well, having been a part of the punk and hardcore music scene in the '90s. Well, I was there too, and I can confirm that Saulnier knows his shit.

This was one of our most anticipated films of 2015 at ScreenAnarchy, and as such Ryland Aldrich was ready to share his thoughts upon its premiere at Cannes:

Green Room starts out as a pretty typical band on the road movie, but quickly transforms into something very, very different. When the band witnesses something they're not supposed to see, things go from dangerous to downright deadly. And along the way, much, much blood is spilled and many internal organs are exposed to the light of day.

Billed as Jeremy Saulnier's follow-up to the impressive indie Blue Ruin, Green Room takes the intensity on display in that film and ratchets it up by a few million dollars. The extra money is all on the screen. With a larger cast, bigger sets and set pieces, and a hell of a lot more special effects makeup, Green Room is every bit the follow-up that fans of Blue Ruin have been hoping for.

[…]

Awesome really is the best way to describe Saulnier's filmmaking style. Smart, assured, and clever are all accurate as well. Green Room is all of those things in spades and proves that Saulnier is one of the most exciting genre directors around. Now let's see what he can do next.

I couldn't agree more, after several viewings the tension remains and even though I know exactly how the film turns out, I can't help but jump at all of the things that Saulnier wants to scare me. If Green Room isn't at or near the top of my favorite films of 2016 in December, it would be a miracle. This is what thrillers are supposed to be, and the fact that its appeals stretches out across the critical board is no coincidence. You need to experience this film.

The Disc

Green Room comes to home video courtesy of Lionsgate Home Video. As with almost any new feature, the image and sound quality of the eventual home video release was certainly on Saulnier's mind as he created the film. The result is a perfect release that delivers on the promise of the feature and reproduces the theatrical experience as well as possible for home video. Video is crisp and clear, audio is punchy and immersive, the whole thing does what it is supposed to do.

The extras on Green Room, on the other hand, are disappointingly sparse. We get a run of the mill making-of featurette that runs only 10 minutes and a feature commentary that does its damnedest to take up the slack. The featurette is purely promotional, and doesn't feature any real insight into the process, but the commentary is definitely more informative and helps to provide context while also enhancing my appreciation of the film. I just wish that we didn't have to wait ten years for these smaller features to achieve the kind of cult status that is rewarded with exhaustive home video extras, but oh well.

If you haven't seen Green Room, you owe it to yourself to seek out this disc immediately. It truly is one of the year's best films. However, if you're seen it already and you're looking for more content, you may have to wait a bit. Overall, though, it's a worthwhile disc that I can see myself replacing in the future when someone realizes the wealth of background information left to be uncovered.

Roar Uthaug's The Wave was one of the most popular films of last year's Fantastic Fest, which is where I first heard of the film. While I wasn't able to see the film at the fest, I was definitely eager to check it out when it hit home video and I can confirm that it's unlike most disaster films I've seen.

The Wave focuses on the Norwegian tourist attraction of Geiranger which sits in the valley created by one of Scandinavia's most picturesque fjords. Along with the scenery comes a bit of dread as this fjord, combined with some unstable cliffs nearby, is one of the most dangerous places on Earth when it comes to the unavoidable natural disaster that lurks just beyond the horizon.

Todd Brown saw The Wave at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and was all praise for this cerebral little film:

Kristoffer Joner plays Kristian, a geologist at an early warning system monitoring a slowly growing crack in the mountains overlooking the fjord at Geiranger - a hugely popular tourist destination. And why might such a thing need monitoring? For the simple reason that - and this is very much a real life issue - should a significant rockslide tumble into the fjord, the resulting rush of water, as channeled by the narrow walls of the canyon, can - and has - erupt in a massive tsunami, towering over eighty meters high, spreading destruction throughout the region. And while Kristian and his family are on the literal eve of a move out of the region to new jobs in a new home, he cannot shake the feeling that something bad is brewing. And he is, of course, correct.

[…]

The script is lean and efficient when it needs to be while also recognizing when to take a beat and let the characters breathe a bit, and moves at a cracking pace as it moves from Kristian's early suspicions, to the confirmation that he is correct, to the disaster itself, and on to his panicked search through a devastated land to learn if his wife and son are alive or dead. And then there is the disaster itself. A film like this is nothing if the spectacle element is not spectacular and this, simply put, very much is.

A sweeping piece of entertainment that knows exactly what its audience wants and then proceeds to deliver exactly that, The Wave is grand scale entertainment for the masses. That it is already both a monstrous commercial success in Norway and the country's official submission for consideration as the Best Foreign Language Film at the upcoming Oscars speaks volumes as to the skills of its creator.

Todd knows what he's talking about, and The Wave is certainly one of the most intelligent disaster films of recent years. The titular wave only accounts for about fifteen minutes of screen time, but the beauty and intelligence of this film is that it doesn't need anymore time to accomplish its goals. The Wave is all about the people and the relationships in the film, and those relationships are given time to develop and attach themselves to the psyche of the viewer before everything goes to hell. This is definitely one of the most effective and emotionally affecting disaster films I've seen in a long time.

The Disc:

The Wave comes to Blu-ray from Magnolia Pictures home video and it looks pretty damned good. The digital image from the Red cameras used to capture the film are translated beautifully to home video with a pin-sharp image that immerses the viewer in the chaos. The provided audio tracks are an original Norwegian Dolby Atmos track, which is incredible, and a TrueHD 5.1 English dub, which I didn't care for. Both are effective, but if you're a ScreenAnarchy reader, you'll probably want the original audio and it is great.

Magnolia has provided several extras for The Wave, though most of them could have been combined into a single longer feature without much trouble. There is a behind-the-scenes documentary for The Wave that talks about all aspects of the feature, but only at a surface level, it is more of a bird's eye view featurette than a talking head documentary. There is also a series of VFX breakdowns that probably could've been combined without too much trouble. Lastly is an interview with director Uthaug, which is actually pretty good and perhaps my favorite of the bonus features. I am pretty bummed that the total runtime of the bonus material is less than 30 minutes, but that's sadly become standard as the home video market has become less profitable over the last decade.

If you're a disaster movie fan, and I know I am, The Wave is definitely a film you want on your shelf and this disc is the best way to get it there.