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‘Sonic The Hedgehog’ Blu-ray Giveaway!
I’m very excited to announce that I have Five (5) Blu-rays of Sonic The Hedgehog up for grabs. The discs, all of which are sealed, also come with the Digital Code and the DVD! Entry details are below!
Johnnie Kapua Was “Terrified”—Then Came His ‘The Voice’ Breakthrough With Kelly Clarkson
Being surrounded by talented singers could have made Johnnie Kapua, who’s a member of Team Kelly, question what he had to offer. Instead, his experience on The Voice helped him recognize his strengths and consider a future in music more seriously.
Read more: Johnnie Kapua Was “Terrified”—Then Came His ‘The Voice’ Breakthrough With Kelly ClarksonJohnnie Kapua performed a memorable rendition of the Lady Gaga and Bruno Mars hit “Die with a Smile” for his Blind Audition. Although he appeared confident during the Blinds, he had his share of nerves. “I was terrified actually,” said Kapua, a New Zealand native who resides with his family in Utah. “But I started realizing like, ‘Hey man, all I can do at this point before I gon on stage is just do my best (and) make myself proud.”
Both Kelly Clarkson and Queen Latifah turned their chairs within seconds, but even with that immediate praise, Kapua surprisingly didn’t see himself as a top flight singer.
“I think I have a lot of insecurities when It comes to singing,” said Kapua, whose wife entered him on the competition. “I never really thought of myself as like, ‘Oh, I’m a singer.’ So to be able to have someone like Kelly and Queen Latifah turn their chairs, but also get a first in was . . . they didn’t show this on the actual episode, but I was so awkward because I was like, ‘Oh, what just happened?’ It was very surreal. But they did a good job in cutting it so I didn’tlook so awkwared on TV.”
Meeting artists with different styles gave the Team Kelly contestant a new perspective on his own voice. There were country singers, rock performers, and soulful vocalists, and Kapua understood how that environment could feel intimidating.
“What I started realizing … I can see how people can get maybe timid because everybody’s just so good,” he said. “But what I learned for me personally is, like, ‘Okay, I can lean into things that I’m good at.’ Everybody has their own mixture of how they sing.”
The experience also prompted Kapua to think beyond the competition. Hearing what other artists had sacrificed to pursue music made an impression. That commitment encouraged Kapua to reconsider his own possibilities.
“I think that made me think more about, ‘Okay, like I need to take myself seriously,’” he said. “Maybe I can make something out of this.”
Since returning home, his wife has continued encouraging him to move forward. Kapua said he has been making connections while preparing for opportunities to sing in front of an audience.
“For me, I’m just gonna take it one step at a time,” he explained. “Making these connections with people that have influence and then, obviously, physically going out and singing in front of people … it’s a good start for me.”
Those connections are also part of what surprised him most about The Voice. Despite being in a competition, Kapua found friendships with artists who wanted to support one another.
“It’s not just like, ‘Oh, we’re competing against one another,’” he said. “It’s like, ‘Man, we experienced this together, and we’re wishing each other the best.’”
Some fellow contestants even call him “unc,” a nickname he attributes to being one of the older participants. For Kapua, those relationships are another meaningful part of an experience that has expanded his outlook on music.
“Now I have lifelong relationships with awesome people,” he said. “I’m gonna cherish those for the rest of my life.”
As for the road ahead, Kapua has a full time job and a family man. That said, singing has also made a place in his home. “I’m just going to take it one step at a time,” he said. “I think making these connections with people that have had an influence (on me) and then physically going out and singing in front of people is a good start for me. I don’t really know how to navigate it at this point because it’s still new to me. But having those contacts in my back pocket, we’ll see where that leads to, but hopefully someday I’ll get to perform with Kelly. That’d be cool”
Watch our full interview with Johnnie Kapua:
The Voice airs Monday and Tuesday evenings at 8/7c. Share your thoughts on Johnnie Kapua in the comments (his tone and connection to the music is pretty awesome imo!).
Brianna Cameron Talks Kelly Clarkson’s Mentorship on ‘The Voice’: “Such a Down-to-Earth Person”
Having a powerful voice is one part of the equation for Brianna Cameron, who is also learning how to choose the right songs and make the most of her performances. The Voice season 30 contestant has Kelly Clarkson in her corner, and working with the singer has given Cameron plenty to appreciate. During our interview, she discussed the lessons she is taking away from being part of Team Kelly.
Read more: Brianna Cameron Talks Kelly Clarkson’s Mentorship on ‘The Voice’: “Such a Down-to-Earth Person”Brianna Cameron was 13 when she performed Ike & Tina Turner’s “River Deep, Mountain High” for her audition. Taking on that song during the Blinds was a formidable challenge, especially with artists she admired listening just a few feet away. Coaches Kelly Clarkson and Riley Green turned their chairs for Cameron, with the talented singer ultimately choosing Clarkson.
“I was definitely super nervous as the youngest in the competition, and I had all these big idols that I looked up to,” said Cameron, who coincidentally toured the country playing young Tina in Tina: The Tina Turner Musical. “I didn’t know if they were gonna turn.”
That nervousness came with excitement. Cameron understood that the performance could introduce her talent to an audience far beyond the people who already knew her music.
Now on Team Kelly, she has found a coach whose enthusiasm extends beyond the work of preparing a performance.
“Well, she was so excited, and she really wanted me on her team,” said Cameron, who hails from Union County, New Jersey. “She’s such a down-to-earth person. And being on her team, I’ve learned to be humble. And also pick the right moments and what song to pick.”
Clarkson’s welcoming personality has made an impression, but Cameron also appreciates the musical knowledge she brings to their time together. For a young singer developing her own approach, knowing where to place a moment within a performance—and which song suits her—is valuable guidance.
“Being on her team I’ve learned to be humble and also, like, picking the right moments and what song to pick,” she said. “Like, she’s such a knowledgeable artist, and I’m so glad that I’m on her team.”
Cameron brings her own dedication to that partnership. All her hard work has helped make her a straight-A student. That level of focus was evident in audition preparation which, in turn, places her in the next round.
She also found an unexpected source of encouragement among the other artists on The Voice. Meeting singers who shared her passion made the experience feel familiar surprisingly quickly.
“So really, I made new friends, and I built a family,” said Cameron, who also starred on an episode of the Queen Latifah series The Equalizer back in 2022.
With Clarkson’s guidance and that sense of community, Cameron has plenty to take away from her The Voice experience. Her excitement about Team Kelly comes through loud and clear.
Watch our full interview with Brianna Cameron below.
Catch The Voice Mondays and Tuesdays at 8/7c (new episodes stream the next day on Peacock)!
‘Her Will Be Done’ Review: French Village Folk Horror Is An “Impressively Made Miss”
Now available on VOD, the folk horror Her Will Be Done holds a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Its rating comes as no surprise thanks to its warm reception at Cannes, Sitges, BIFF, and Fantastic Fest. Her Will Be Done, directed and co-written by Julia Kowalski, was the main movie CinemAddicts co-host Bruce Purkey reviewed on our latest episode. Purkey was drawn to the feature’s unsettling atmosphere, impressive performances, and evocative score. But would those elements add up to an emotionally compelling experience?
‘Beware Boiúna’ Director Mike P. Nelson Reveals Surprising Movie That Inspired His Giant Snake Film
Beware Boiúna may feature a giant snake, but filmmaker Mike P. Nelson did not look to another creature feature as his primary inspiration. For Nelson, the creative doorway into Beware Boiúna was William Friedkin’s Sorcerer. On a selfish note, both Sorcerer (and its predecessor The Wages of Fear) are among my favorite films of all time. During the interview with Nelson, he confirmed that Sorcerer was a big inspiration. “You f**king got it, man,” said Nelson, who directed 2025’s Silent Night, Deadly Night. “Sorcerer was literally my in to get into this. It wasn’t a creature feature, it was Sorcerer.”
Read more: ‘Beware Boiúna’ Director Mike P. Nelson Reveals Surprising Movie That Inspired His Giant Snake Film
Mike P. Nelson’s idea was to take that foundation and mix it with several of cinema’s most memorable genre films. “What if we add elements of Jurassic Park and Alien and Jaws and Tremors and do all that fun stuff within that structure?” said Nelson.
Shooting the movie in the Amazon also became an adventure of its own. Nelson said some members of the Colombian crew had not previously filmed in some of the areas used for the production.
“We were down there, and we didn’t know how we were gonna make this happen,” said Nelson, who made sure to work with and not against their environment. “They had some ideas, and we kept our eyes and ears open, and followed their lead. We had to work with the jungle, man. She doesn’t care if you’re making a movie there, but we were very fortunate. She blessed us with many, many good days of shooting.”
The filmmaker also had little interest in delivering a straightforward creature feature in which the giant snake dominates the narrative from beginning to end.
Starring Kiana Madeira, Jessica Rothe and Logan Marshall-Green, the horror film does have a snake and there is a healthy amount of action (and kills). The narrative, however is 104 minutes, and there are more layers behind the tale. “I didn’t want to go in just doing the giant snake from start to finish,” Nelson said. “It just, that wasn’t interesting to me. What was interesting was a really great setup, immersing yourself with characters. What happens when those characters are put in a situation then where there is nothing they can do but just fight to survive, just constantly?”
Nelson’s experience making Beware Boiúna has even changed his relationship with Sorcerer. After researching William Friedkin’s film and then experiencing the challenges of his own production, Nelson sees the classic from a different perspective.
“Sorcerer was a movie that blew me away the first time I watched it,” Nelson said. “But after all the research I’ve done on the movie, what they went through to make that movie, what I went through to make our movie, like, yes, it does feel different.”
***I review Beware Boiúna on this week’s CinemAddicts:
Nelson stressed that he was not comparing the two movies in terms of quality. Rather, Sorcerer served as a creative north star for several years while he attempted to craft a singular narrative to add to his filmmaking resume.
“I lived looking to that movie for inspiration for several years,” Nelson added. “It does feel different now that we were able to kind of explore and attempt to make my own version of something like that.”
***Full interview with Mike P. Nelson:
Have you seen Sorcerer and will you be watching Beware Boiúna? Share your thoughts on the movie (now playing in theaters) in the comments!
***We receive a slight commission when you use our Amazon SiteStripe and affiliate links for your purchases. Thanks for your support!
***I give away Blu-ray or Digital code each week to members of our CinemAddicts Movie Club. Join our Facebook Group and become part of our community. Any questions please email me at editor@deepestdream.com.
Michelle Gomez Calls ‘The Incomer’ “Soul Food” And Reflects On Falling “In Love” With Scotland
For Michelle Gomez, The Incomer offered more than the chance to be part of an unpredictable and refreshingly resonant movie. Writer/director Louis Paxton’s debut feature also brought the Glasgow native back to Scotland, where reconnecting with the community and landscape became a rewarding part of the experience. The Incomer, now playing in theaters, co-staring Domhnall Gleason, Gayle Rankin, and Grant O’Rourke, is now playing in theaters. Check out our full video interview with Gomez in the post!
Read more: Michelle Gomez Calls ‘The Incomer’ “Soul Food” And Reflects On Falling “In Love” With ScotlandSet on a remote Scottish island, The Incomer centers on a by the books council worker (Domhnall Gleason) who is tasked with removing two siblings (Gayle Rankin, Grant O’Rourke) from their domicile. Living in the area since their youth, the two have formed an attachment to their home, and they will not leave without a fight.
Although the tale has its share of bittersweet and dark moments, it is ultimately a feel-good story that does not go the saccharine route.
“It’s soul food, right?” said Gomez, who plays the council worker’s mean spirited boss. “It’s a really heartwarming, beautiful movie, and you leave feeling great. It’s uplifting. It’s really funny and kind of like you’ve not seen anything like it before.”
That sense of discovery was a big part of the movie’s appeal. With so much entertainment at our fingertips, finding something that surprises us is not always an easy proposition. Gomez believes Paxton manages to deliver that experience with The Incomer.
“So it’s very original,” said Gomez, who starred in the TV series Doom Patrol. “And that’s hard to do these days ’cause I feel like we’ve, you know, we’re all pretty jaded, and we’ve all feel like we’ve seen everything, right?”
Gomez’s own connection to the project went beyond appreciating its humor and storytelling. Having left Scotland many years ago, she welcomed the opportunity to become immersed in that community again.
She described the difference between growing up in a city and spending time alongside Scotland’s rugged natural landscape.“It was lovely being right on the edge of, like, the rugged Scottish landscape that just takes your breath away,” said Gomez. “And so I was just filled with pride.”
Working on The Incomer gave her a renewed appreciation for her home country: “I completely fell in love with Scotland.”
CinemAddicts co-host Eric Holmes and I love The Incomer. Check out our review:
Feel free to share your thoughts on The Incomer, now playing in theaters, in the comments!
Aaron Holliday Embraces Acting Transformation And Indie Filmmaking With ‘Appofeniacs’
Not every actor gets to have two films coming out on a Friday, but that is an honored bestowed upon Aaron Holliday. He reunited with The Wilderness filmmaker Spencer King for the new drama-thriller Nickels and he also stars in the value added and insightful Chris Marrs Piliero tale Appofeniacs. Holliday talked ot Deepest Dram about his passion for indie filmmakng and why Appofeniacs is a unique cinematic experience.
Read more: Aaron Holliday Embraces Acting Transformation And Indie Filmmaking With ‘Appofeniacs’
Appofeniacs centers on a group of people whose lives are negatively impacted by deepfake videos and artificial intelligence. Aaron Holliday is Duke, a vengeful guy who knows how to use AI to his advantage. His amoral actions lead to a domino effect of violence and overall misery. Sean Gunn co-stars as Clinto Bingo (Sean Gunn) a talented artist in the cosplay industry who ends up being one of the victims of Duke’s wrath. Paige Searcy is Lazzy, a stranger whose argument with Duke at a coffee shop places her in a dire position.
I really enjoyed Appofeniacs, and unfortunately I did not get the chance to see Nickels. Both films are now playing in theaters. “I’m not gonna play it cool,” Holliday said. “It’s definitely a pinch-me moment. They’re both these fantastic indie films. I love indie films. I’ve learned so much about myself, about this career that I’ve chosen, and, you know, would say chosen for me.”
APPOFENIACS
, a Magenta Light Studios
release. Photo courtesy of Magenta Light Studios.
Acting is more than a profession for Holliday. It is something he has wanted to pursue since childhood, even though he did not grow up in an entertainment industry household.
“Ever since I was as young as I can remember, it was just in me,” Holliday said. “I would look at the TV and just have thoughts of, ‘Why am I not on here? Like, I wanna do this.’ It just came very naturally to me.”
Holliday was homeschooled and described himself as relatively sheltered during his childhood. No one in his family worked in entertainment, and he was not a cinephile at an early age. That said, Jurassic Park, Jaws and Alien made a lasting impression and influenced his career path.
“The fact that I saw this and knew that this is what I wanted to do, I just think it’s that testament of, you know, the universe guiding you,” Holliday said. “Me choosing it for me, but it also just in that way felt very ordained.”
Aaron Holliday Wants Actors To Take Big Swings
For Holliday, disappearing into different characters is part of the fun.
“I want to encourage sort of a level of character acting, going outside of yourself,” Holliday said. “I’m very passionate about that, about transforming, about sort of becoming a different person.”
Holliday believes performers inevitably bring something of themselves to each role, even if the actual part is seemingly far from their own persona.
“Every role you have, you add yourself, right?” Holliday said. “You can be a psychopath and still have yourself in that. That’s the only reason why we have these iconic characters, because those specific people played them. I think I’d like to see more people not be afraid to not just play themselves, and to go outside and take some big swings and get a little kooky crazy.”
‘Jurassic Park’ Helped Shape Holliday’s Acting Dreams
One of Holliday’s earliest inspirations remains Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.
“I could get emotional speaking about it,” added Holliday. “It was the hand that held me. It was, I think, my first inspiration, my first dream sequence, my first excitement about this whole thing that we do.”
Laura Dern’s performance also connects with Holliday’s own approach to acting.
“She’s one of those too that I look [at], talking about taking the big swings and being that sort of larger-than-life actor who transforms,” Holliday said. “That was somebody who definitely set the precedent for me.”
Years after watching Jurassic Park helped ignite those childhood dreams, Holliday now finds himself with two movies arriving on the same day.
“To have it end up on the same weekend, both in theaters, it’s a dream come true,” Holliday said. “I’m sort of still processing it.”
Appofeniacs and Nickels are now playing in theaters.
Full interview with Aaron Holliday:
Aaron Holliday also talks about a Pivotal scene in Appofeniacs in relation to his character. I will be posting an Appofeniacs spoiler write-up on Monday. The Spoiler video with Holliday, however, will be available for our CinemAddicts Patreon members.
***We receive a slight commission when you use our Amazon SiteStripe and affiliate links for your purchases. Thanks for your support!
***I give away Blu-ray or Digital code each week to members of our CinemAddicts Movie Club. Join our Facebook Group and become part of our community. Any questions please email me at editor@deepestdream.com.
Friday Blu-Ray News: ‘Road House,’ ‘Maniac,’ ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ (PM Weekly Issue #13)
There is a video store in Salt Lake City that nobody has been inside since March 2020, and it is still growing.
The Tower Theatre on Ninth and Ninth opened in 1928 and has been shut since the month the pandemic arrived, which in Utah was also the month a magnitude 5.7 earthquake hit Magna, just west of the city. When the Salt Lake Film Society went in afterward they found structural problems serious enough to threaten the building’s ability to reopen at all. The façade is being taken apart right now.
Read more: Friday Blu-Ray News: ‘Road House,’ ‘Maniac,’ ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ (PM Weekly Issue #13)Downstairs from the screen there was a rental counter, and behind it an archive the Salt Lake Tribune has called the largest video and DVD collection around. In 2013 somebody counted roughly eleven thousand titles on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray, with only three or four thousand of them out on the shelves at any one time and the rest rotating up from the back. The Film Society’s then director called it the rarest collection in five states. It has been in storage for six years.
On the sixteenth of September the Film Society announced the Tower will reopen in 2028, the building’s hundredth year, with the celebration itself landing in late 2028 or early 2029. The plan has three micro cinemas in it, an exhibition space for film memorabilia, independent and festival programming, and one more line, which is the line this column cares about: improved access to the film society’s video archive.
Two days later, in the lobby of another theatre they run, they held a media swap. About sixty people came and brought discs and tapes, and went home with other people’s. The point of it was not nostalgia. It was acquisition. They are building the collection up while it sits in the dark, ahead of a reopening still two years out.
Here is the honest part, and it is the reason this is a story rather than a press release. Improved access to a video archive is not the same sentence as the video store is coming back. The Film Society’s programs director has said the collection is in storage and that they are actively exploring options to make it available to the public once again, which is a careful way to say it. Nobody at the organization has committed, on the record, to a rental counter. The number has moved too: the figure now given is about sixteen thousand titles, against eleven thousand in 2013, which either means the collection grew by five thousand in storage or that somebody has counted differently. Both are possible and neither has been reconciled in print.
What is not in doubt is that a nonprofit which could have quietly let eleven thousand discs go to a liquidator in 2020 instead paid to keep them in a room for six years, is still adding to them, and has put the archive in the plan for the building. Everything else about this is unsettled. That part is decided.
Welcome to PM Weekly. Let’s get into the week.
THIS WEEK ON DISC
- Forbidden Planet (1956), 4K UHD and Blu-ray Limited Edition, Arrow Video
- Go (1999), 4K UHD Limited Edition, Arrow Video
- Days and Nights in the Forest (1970), 4K UHD, Blu-ray and DVD, Criterion
- Three Films by Leos Carax, 4K UHD and Blu-ray collector’s set, Criterion
- Dead Poets Society (1989), 4K UHD, Touchstone
- Mrs. Doubtfire (1993), 4K UHD, 20th Century Studios
- Frankenstein: The Complete Legacy Collection, eight films on 4K UHD, Universal
- The Wolf Man: The Complete Legacy Collection, seven films on 4K UHD, Universal
- Jesus Christ Superstar (1973), 4K UHD and Blu-ray, Kino Lorber
- Bullet in the Head (1990), 4K UHD Limited Edition SteelBook, Shout! Studios
- Anthropophagous (1980), three-disc 4K UHD, Severin Films
- Absurd (1981), two-disc 4K UHD, Severin Films
- Maniac (2012), two-disc 4K UHD, Severin Films
A correction, and it is ours. Last week this column said Severin’s Maniac, the 2012 Franck Khalfoun film, was coming on October 13. It streeted Tuesday with everything else, a North American 4K premiere with a limited slipcover, and it is in stock at Severin now. Two weeks ago we caught that the listing was for the wrong film, corrected it to the right one, and then printed the wrong date for it anyway. HD Report still has it on the thirteenth.
Next Tuesday, October 6, is heavier: Little Shop of Horrors at forty with both the theatrical and the director’s cut, An American Werewolf in London at forty-five with a new restoration and a new Atmos mix, a ten-disc Aces Go Places box from Shout, Criterion’s Welcome II the Terrordome, and Kino’s Death on the Nile, which is the 1978 one and not the Branagh. Warner Archive’s Ryan’s Daughter, scanned at 8K off the 65mm negative, is either the sixth or the thirteenth depending on whether you believe Warner’s own press release or HD Report’s calendar, and we will say which once somebody has it in their hands.)
MARKET SIGNAL
Ten American subscription streaming services were phased out or folded into something else in a single quarter.
That is Parks Associates, counting the three months to the end of June, out of the roughly three hundred and seventy US services it tracks. BET+ was retired by Paramount and its library moved into Paramount+ under a BET hub. CTV Throwback and CTV Movies went into Crave. FIFA+ went into DAZN. FanDuel Sports Network shut down its television channels and its streaming operation together. RidePass is advertising-supported only now.
None of those is a scandal and most barely made the trade press. A service consolidating into a larger service is the most ordinary event in this business, and every single one of them was announced as an improvement: more in one place, simpler for subscribers, a better experience. What none of them came with was a list.
That is the whole thing. When a library moves from one service to another, somebody has to decide title by title what comes across, and the deciding factor is what it costs to carry each one. The films with clean rights and a current audience migrate. The ones with a complicated music clearance, or a co-production partner who has stopped answering, or an audience too small to justify the paperwork, are the ones at risk. Nobody publishes the difference, because publishing the difference would require admitting there is one.
Compare it to the version that did make the news. On the first of September, Sony deleted five hundred and fifty one purchased StudioCanal titles out of PlayStation libraries, with no refunds, and people were furious, correctly. That was visible because it happened to things individuals had paid for and could see vanish from an account. Ten services closing is the same loss conducted at the level of the catalogue, where there is no account page to check and no number to be angry about.
The useful question for anyone who buys discs is not whether the big deletions keep happening. It is how much goes quietly, in the ordinary course of corporate tidying, in a quarter nobody wrote about.
STORE OF THE WEEK
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Facets (Chicago, IL)
Facets has been at 1517 West Fullerton Avenue since 1977 and in existence since 1975, when Milos Stehlik started it. In a 2003 interview he credited the founding jointly with Nicole Dreiske. The first screenings were in a Lutheran church.
The rental library came later, in the eighties, which is a distinction worth making because the two things get collapsed. Facets’ own history puts it plainly: as home video emerged in the 1980s, they expanded access to cinema beyond the theatre through the videotheque, a mail order rental catalogue, VHS and DVD distribution, and the famed Facets Catalog. By their own count there are now over sixty five thousand titles, a figure which has sat in their copy for a long time and which I would attribute to them rather than state as fact. You can rent by post or in person, on Blu-ray, DVD and VHS, and you need a membership to do it.
What makes Facets worth the space this week is the structure rather than the stock. It decided fifty years ago that screening films and lending films were the same job, and then built a cinema, a rental library, a mail order operation, a distribution arm and a set of film camps for children into one building to prove it. Nobody designs that now. You get a cinema, or you get a shop, and the two run on different money.
Last week’s store was a collection that outlived the business around it, rescued by volunteers after the shop closed for good. The Tower’s archive at the top of this issue is a collection waiting in storage for a building to be made safe. Facets is the version where none of that happened, because the thing holding the collection was never a business in the first place. It is the oldest answer to the question this journal keeps asking, and the answer is that if you want a film to still be available in fifty years, the organisation that holds it probably cannot be trying to make money from it.
(Next week: Orbit DVD in Asheville, which has been on Haywood Road since 2003 and publishes the street-date calendar this column keeps checking its own work against.)
THE STACK
What I pulled off the shelf this week.
Road House (1989) Format: Blu-ray and DVD, 2 discs, MGM, June 2009 Bonus Features: audio commentary by director Rowdy Herrington; audio commentary by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier; “What Would Dalton Do?” (12:23); “On the Road House” (17:20); trivia track
This is a bad disc and I have never gotten rid of it.
MGM put it out in June 2009 on a BD-25, encoded in MPEG-2 at an average bitrate of about eighteen megabits, which was a low number for Blu-ray in 2009 and is a shocking one now. DVDBeaver’s review is the only serious one anybody wrote and it is blunt: MGM really skimped, the disc’s producers decided this cult classic did not deserve more than an MPEG-2 encoding, there are telltale signs of noise reduction throughout, and this is not the transfer that this film deserves. The extras are all standard definition, and MGM did not even put them on the Blu-ray. They are on the DVD in the case.
It is still on the shelf because of the second commentary. Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier sat down with Road House, and the result is two men who love a film explaining, for two hours, why many film critics hated it in 1989 although it’s one of the most watchable things ever made. Hal Hinson in the Washington Post called it full of gratuitous mayhem. It got five Razzie nominations, including Worst Picture and Worst Director. Ebert gave it two and a half and said it sat right on the edge between the good-bad movie and the merely bad.
And then look at what happened to it. Shout did a Collector’s Edition in 2016 from a new 2K scan of the interpositive, supervised and approved by Dean Cundey, who shot it. Vinegar Syndrome did a 4K in late 2022 from a new scan of the original camera negative, three discs, roughly five hours of extras including a sixty-three minute making-of and five new interviews with stunt performers and supporting cast, then reissued it this May in a slipcase limited to two thousand. Arrow put out a 4K in Britain in June 2025 with Dolby Vision. Via Vision did a SteelBook in Australia in July. Four labels, four restorations, one film that everybody agreed was junk.
Now the other one. Doug Liman’s Road House, with Jake Gyllenhaal, went to Prime Video on the twenty first of March 2024. Its entire theatrical release was seventeen military base cinemas five days earlier. It drew a reported fifty million viewers worldwide in two weekends, a record for the service. Liman had published a column in January saying he would boycott his own premiere, and the line everybody quoted was this one: Amazon asked me and the film community to trust them and their public statements about supporting cinemas, and then they turned around and are using Road House to sell plumbing fixtures. He went to the premiere in the end.
There is no disc. Not a Blu-ray, not a 4K, not a DVD. Two and a half years on, blu-ray.com lists digital outlets for it and nothing else, and no label has announced one. Alliance Entertainment became Amazon MGM’s exclusive physical media distributor for North America in January, with a remit that explicitly covers catalogue revitalisation and collector editions. Road House is not named anywhere in it.
So the 1989 film, the one nominated for Worst Picture, has been scanned from the negative, restored, documented and pressed four separate times by four separate companies, and I can put my hand on a copy right now. The 2024 film, which broke a streaming record, exists only for as long as one company finds it convenient to keep serving it. The thing that saved the bad movie was that somebody could sell it to you.
SIGN-OFF
That is Issue #13. Sixteen thousand tapes in a storage unit in Salt Lake City waiting on a building that opened in 1928, ten streaming services folding into other streaming services with nobody publishing what did not make the move, a Chicago nonprofit that worked out fifty years ago that lending films and showing films are the same job, and four restorations of a film the Razzies nominated for Worst Picture against none at all of the one that broke Prime Video. If you know one person who still alphabetizes their shelf, forward this to them. That is the whole engine we have, and it is a good one.
See you Friday.
PM Weekly
Sean Reid
Film & TV Production
RHONY Episode 3 Recap: Daisy Toye’s “Seder In Brooklyn” And Popcorn Ceilings In Battery Park!
Popcorn ceilings may not impress every Real Housewife (especially ladies from The Big Apple!), but Deepest Dream Podcast co-host Deandra Miranda had a different reaction to Daisy Toye’s Battery Park apartment. Having lived in New York for years, Deandra saw something worth appreciating beyond the decor: a home in a desirable location that Daisy Toye’s described as rent controlled. Popcorn ceilings and Toye’s Seder are among the more memorable aspects of The Real Housewives of New York City Episode 3. Check out our Video Recap below!
Read more: RHONY Episode 3 Recap: Daisy Toye’s “Seder In Brooklyn” And Popcorn Ceilings In Battery Park!Episode 3 of The Real Housewives of New York City, “A Seder in Brooklyn,” gave us apartment shade, a family gathering, and another reminder that Daisy is becoming one of our favorite additions to the show. Deandra’s own New York experiences added a little perspective to Daisy’s domicile.
“You do not need a fancy ceiling or doorman,” said Miranda. “She lives in the heart of the city – Battery Park. It’s beautiful. It’s near the water.”
Jessel Taank and Erika Hammond’s comments about the ceiling made for a funny moment, although I wondered if the jokes went a bit too far. Deandra understood that they were all joking, but she would have loved to see Daisy offer a little shade of her own in return.
The bigger point, for Deandra, was that an apartment like this is nothing to be embarrassed about. She recalled her own less than ideal experience in a place she described as rent controlled, complete with a fifth-floor walk-up and mice. Daisy’s situation looked considerably more appealing!
“That’s nothing to be ashamed of,” said Miranda. “I wish I had that. That, that’s just amazing. That’s goals.”
Daisy’s appeal also extends beyond her address. During our conversation, I mentioned how much I am enjoying her family story and her ability to move among the Housewives. Deandra sees someone whose connection to New York feels natural.
“Daisy reminds me of a girl who I would actually hang out with and I’m friends with,” said Miranda.
Her work, her friendships, and her Brooklyn roots all contribute to that impression. Deandra also enjoyed Daisy’s relationship with Martha Stewart, particularly the ability to call her for cooking advice. That is a pretty impressive contact to have when you are preparing a meal!
“You could tell that it’s a real relationship even outside of working,” added Miranda.
The episode’s Seder, which took place at Daisy’s parents’ home, brought another side of that world into focus. Although Hailey Glassman gave the gathering a C-minus, Deandra did not agree with the grade. She appreciated the food, the effort, and the fact that the women came together to participate.
“The food looked amazing. You could tell she, she cooked all day,” said Miranda.
Even Jessel’s late arrival prompted a conversation that went beyond the usual Housewives etiquette debate. Deandra was clear that she values punctuality, but she could also relate to the effort involved in traveling across New York to the depths of Brooklyn for the gathering.
“It does take a long time to get from point A to point B, and sometimes you are like, ‘Is it worth it?’” she said.
That mix of friendship, city life, and a little attitude is helping this season connect with her. The apartment tour and Brooklyn gathering gave us plenty of drama, but they also offered the everyday details that Deandra enjoys seeing on RHONY.
“They interact and are like every other New Yorker out there,” said Miranda. “And I’ve always had a soft spot for RHONY because this is literally how your colleagues, your friends, your neighbors all interact.”
Watch our full Episode 3 conversation on the Deepest Dream YouTube channel. What did you think of Daisy’s Seder, and what do you think of the popcorn ceilings? Let us know!
The Real Housewives of New York City airs Wednesday evenings on Bravo (8/7c) with a new episode streaming on Peacock the next day.
Dave Boyle Explores Japanese Ghost Stories With Gripping ‘Never After Dark’
Now playing in theaters, Never After Dark centers on Airi (Moeka Hoshi), a solitary medium whose job is to take restless spirits out of the physical world and send them back to the other side. For Dave Boyle, the writer and director behind the feature, Japanese horror and its ghost stories served as a direct influence for Never After Dark.
Read more: Dave Boyle Explores Japanese Ghost Stories With Gripping ‘Never After Dark’
Airi (Moeka Hoshi) lives a solitary life, and her only regular source of contact is her late sister Miku (Kurumi Inagaki). When Airi is hired to investigate a haunted house that may have a malevolent spirit (Mutsuo Yohshioka), she may finally have met her match. Tae Kimura co-stars as Teiko, the woman who hired Aira, and Kento Kaku (who also produced the film with Boyle) plays Teiko’s skeptical son.
Dave Boyle’s interest in Japanese cinema began at a high school English class. While studying Macbeth, Boyle checked out Akira Kurosawa’s cinematic epic Throne of Blood. That film changed his cinematic point of view.”
“That movie just really blew my mind,” Boyle told Deepest Dream. “(It) opened my mind to what the possibilities that cinema had to offer. I’m generally a big fan of world cinema. It was a sharp left turn in life that introduced me to Japanese culture and speaking the Japanese language. I would say I’m highly influenced by Japanese storytelling, structure, and some of the things we’re depecting in Never After Dark.”
With his latest movie, Boyle wanted to play with what audiences might expect from a Japanese ghost story.
“A lot of the story structure and some of the things that we’re depicting in Never After Dark are a deliberate experiment to kind of reverse some of the norms of what a Japanese ghost story would ordinarily offer,” said Boyle, who created the hit Netflix series House of Ninjas and directed the acclaimed feature Man From Reno.
Full interview with Dave Boyle and Moeka Hoshi:
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Sandra Guldberg Kampp Reflects on Acting Journey And Being “Proud” Of ‘Bloody Tennis’
Sandra Guldberg Kampp had an early taste of working on a film set when she was 11. At the time, she could hardly have imagined that she would one day lead an English language film or join an Assassin’s Creed production. Kampp talked to Deepest Dream about her work in Bloody Tennis, a horror tale that is now streaming on Shudder.
Read more: Sandra Guldberg Kampp Reflects on Acting Journey And Being “Proud” Of ‘Bloody Tennis’
Bloody Tennis centers on Sophie (Sandra Guldberg Kampp), a young American woman who is sent to a tennis academy in the South of Europe. The academy has its share of hungry and opportunistic tennis players, and the environment is run by the stern hand of unpredictable supervisor Mary (Elina Löwensohn). Sophie discovers that to be the best she must sacrifice her sense of comfort and overall sanity. It’s a kill or be killed (literally!) atmosphere, and Sophie is put through the ringer.
Kampp’s love for acting developed as a child, and she never thought she would get to this level in show businees. “I would’ve never dreamt about being here,” said Kampp.
Her first film experience lasted only a few days, and years passed before she acted on a set again. Theater at school helped bring the possibility back into focus. Someone told her she was good at it, and that encouragement stayed with her.
Kampp also remembers being a child with a vivid imagination, and when positive feedback came her way about acting, the dream took shape
“When you’re a kid and somebody says you’re good at something, you’re like ‘Okay,'” said Kampp. “Then I got the few days on set and I found out you can actually make money from it. That’s how I got the idea, I guess. But I was always a very wild kid running around, playing in my parents’ garden. That was sort of an epiphany – that acting could actually be a job.”
Bloody Tennis marks her first lead role in English. Kampp prepared for the film with roughly two months of tennis training before production, followed by more practice on location. She also worked out extensively to meet the physical demands of the role. That said, being a master at serving takes a bit more time. “I was told that it takes years, if you ever get it, actually,” added the actress, who previously starred in the Apple TV series Foundation. “So mine isn’t great (and) I got good at pretending. The whole timing with the ball – that’s something I should probably work 10 more years on to get that right.”
As for her thoughts on Bloody Tennis, Kampp saw the movie when it premiered at Locarno Film Festival. “I still haven’t taken it in,” said Kampp. “There’s a lot of things happening, and I was very pleased at how funny it is as well. I was a bit scared that it would become too intense, but I’m proud of our work. I still need to watch it again because it’s always weird watching yourself and forming an opinion looking at yourself.”
Full interview with Sandra Guldberg Kampp:
Bloody Tennis, co-starring Elina Löwensohn, is now streaming on Shudder.
***We receive a slight commission when you use our Amazon SiteStripe and affiliate links for your purchases. Thanks for your support!
***I give away Blu-ray or Digital code each week to members of our CinemAddicts Movie Club. Join our Facebook Group and become part of our community. Any questions please email me at editor@deepestdream.com.
***I review Bloody Tennis on the latest CinemAddicts episode: