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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!
‘Once Upon a Time in the Middle East’ Ending Explained And Spoilers: A Powerful Final Scene
Director Muye Wen’s Once Upon a Time in the Middle East may initially seem like a story about a Chinese chef working abroad, but the film ultimately becomes an ambitious anti-war epic about survival, sacrifice, and the devastating consequences of violence. For CinemAddicts co-host Bruce Purkey, the movie’s shocking twists and emotionally resonant ending were among its greatest strengths. Eric Holmes and I also love the movie, but for the purposes of this post, the spoilers were handled by Purkey. Check out our video below for more “ending explained” and “spoilers” insight into this remarkable feature.
Read more: ‘Once Upon a Time in the Middle East’ Ending Explained And Spoilers: A Powerful Final Scene
Once Upon A Time in the Middle East centers on a talented chef named Xu Fu (Teng Shen) who leaves family in China to take a lucrative restaurant job in the Middle East. His plan is to work for two years, pay off his debts, and return home. During his stay, Xu works with restaurant owner Zaid (Sherif Sabby) and restaurant manager Ma Jungsheng (Jiang Qiming). Although there is a lot of delicious looking Chinese food served up in the story, Once Upon A Time in the Middle East is ultimately a harrowing story of survival and regret.
For Purkey, who discussed the film on CinemAddicts, the most impressive aspect of Once Upon a Time in the Middle East is how it refuses to make its characters entirely heroic or villainous.
SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, including character deaths and the film’s ending.
What Happens To Zaid And His Family?
One of the film’s most shocking sequences involves Zaid, the restaurant whose relationships with American authorities and local business interests make him a complicated figure. We learn that Zaid doesn’t mind bending the rules with his restaurant, since more money helps pay for cancer medicine that is needed for his daughter.
An attack on his home claims the life of Zaid’s wife and daughter, leading him to ultimately join the terrorists who dole out the attacks against U.S. soldiers and ultimately imprison Xu, Ma, and Xu’s cook in training Seif (Omar Sherif).
“Now, the really interesting thing about this movie is it shows you why he is the way he is, and you can understand it,” said Purkey. “Even if you’re not justified to it, you can understand it.”
Another Tragic Death In ‘Once Upon A Time in the Middle East‘
While Xu, Ma, and Seif imprisoned, Seif discovers the children are being used as suicide bombers. When a huge attack is planned for numerous children, the kids are stricken with food poisoning so they are unable to perform their duties. When Ma claims responsibility for altering the food, his fate is sealed. It was a surprising moment for Purkey.
“But no, [he] just gets shot in the head and killed,” said Purkey. “And it’s these moments that just really let our characters have to really grapple with the fact they’re not just skating through by just cooking and, you know, making everybody happy and trying to appease all sides.”
‘Once Upon a Time in the Middle East’ Ending Explained: What Happens To Seif?
The final act has Xu risking his life to save most of the children, and for his actions he is shot by Zaid. However, Zaid angled his gun a certain way on the slim chance to save Xu. Soon after, Zaid is ultimately killed by U.S. soldiers and the children on the bus are saved.
Years after the events of the war, an older Xu returns to the Middle East for a return to the restaurant. When he enters the kitchen he sees discovers that Seif, with his back turned to Xu, is cooking and presumably running the restaurant.
“Overall, it’s pretty fair-handed by really painting the good and the bad on pretty much all sides,” said Purkey. “And really, the true villain is just war itself, which I think is fair.”
Check out Bruce Purkey’s full spoiler/ending explained review of Once Upon A Time in the Middle East:
Share your thoughts on Once Upon A Time in the Middle East in the comments!
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***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.
Joe Henley Talks ‘The Voice,’ Bonding With Riley Green, And Developing Confidence In His Music Career
Cut Week hits The Voice this Monday, and one of the artists featured on the program is Team Riley member Joe Henley. He performed Keith Whitley’s “Don’t Close Your Eyes” on the program, and that video is featured in our post. Henley spoke to Deepest Dream a couple of weeks ago right after his Battle with Kenna Elpers. During the 18-minute talk, Henley talked about having Riley Green as his coach, working with Elpers, and how he approaches his music. Full interview is below!
Read more: Joe Henley Talks ‘The Voice,’ Bonding With Riley Green, And Developing Confidence In His Music Career
Joe Henley’s Connection With Coach Riley Green
Joe Henley chose Riley Green as his coach after his Blinds performance of Travis Tritt’s “Anymore.” In one of this season’s many highlights, Green went on stage and performed his song “My Way” with Henley taking the lead.
For The Voice Season 30 artist, working with the country music star has been a memorable experience. Both men hail from Alabama, have a passion for sports, and are blessed with a dry wit. “We’re very similar,” said Henley about Green, who added that it felt like talking to someone from back home. “We’re both from Alabama. Both, you know, bigger guys, sports, and kinda raised in the same way. “I think it made it a little bit easier just going into it talking to him and being on the same page about things,” said Henley. “Even like you were talking about just how we talk and a little bit more laid back.”
That familiarity gave Henley the opportunity to focus on his music rather than worry about every aspect of his performance.
“It made it fun for sure,” said Henley. “Made it a little bit easier. It made me relax a little bit more and be able to breathe a little bit.”
Joe Henley Praises Kenna Elpers After Battles
During Battles, Henley competed against fellow Team Riley member Kenna Elpers as they performed the Riley Green and Ella Langley hit “Don’t Mind If I Do.” A candid Henley had nothing but praise for Elpers.
“It was absolutely wonderful because Kenna is amazing just as a person (and) as a singer and artist,” said Henley. “All of the above. She’s absolutely wonderful.”
Elpers also helped Henley with the harmonies. “And she’s like, ‘This would sound great if you do this,'” said Henley. “And I was like, ‘She’s helping me.’ I couldn’t ask for a better partner. I told her after the fact, ‘Kenna, I still feel you deserve that win.’ We came out, and I had sang first, and then she started singing. And I remember when she started singing, I was like ‘This is the best she’s ever sang.'”
I ask Henley that they probably learned a ton from each other with this collaboration. “She probably learned some patience with me,” he added. “But really for me to work with her was such a blessing and so much learned.”
‘The Voice’ Has Given Joe Henley Confidence In His Musical Future
Although Henley has always loved music, appearing on The Voice has helped him realize that pursuing a professional career may be possible.
“This thing that I want to do and that I love is possible,” said Henley. “Because for me it was nerves and the fear to put myself out there and what people might think of that. Is it good enough for people to watch and want to watch? And so this whole process and going through this and getting to sing, and not just one round, but the battles too and going into cut week,” said Henley. “It’s just the ability to do that and to be welcomed into that and be wanted. I think this thing that I’ve wanted for so long is like, you know, maybe (I) got a chance at this.”
Check out our full Deepest Dream interview with Joe Kenley:
Friday Blu-Ray News: ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘The Frighteners,’ ‘Hellboy'(PM Weekly Issue #17)
Criterion’s Frankenstein arrived on Tuesday in a four-disc set, and the most interesting thing in the box is a version of the film that nobody will discuss.
Read more: Friday Blu-Ray News: ‘Frankenstein,’ ‘The Frighteners,’ ‘Hellboy'(PM Weekly Issue #17)
It is called Frankenstein: The Reborn Cut. Criterion’s own copy describes it as “a new, extended director’s cut of the film, with Dolby Atmos soundtrack,” and lists a new audio commentary by del Toro recorded for that version alone. The theatrical cut is also here, with its own 4K digital master and its own Atmos track. The features list specifies the commentary as being on the Reborn Cut, and says nothing about one on the theatrical.
Start with what Criterion will tell you. The set carries two 4K UHD discs in Dolby Vision and two Blu-rays. There is a new making-of called The Anatomy Lesson: Director’s Cut, and a set of craft conversations called The Parlour with del Toro, Jacob Elordi, Mia Goth, Oscar Isaac, the cinematographer Dan Laustsen, the production designer Tamara Deverell, the costume designer Kate Hawley and the creature designer Mike Hill. There are Q&As moderated by Martin Scorsese and by Patti Smith. Also included is an interview with Alexandre Desplat conducted by Jon Burlingame, an essay by Christopher Frayling, and a new cover by Denver Balbaboco.
Now start with what Criterion will not tell you.
Its page for the film gives a runtime of 150 minutes, which is the theatrical version. It does not publish a runtime for The Reborn Cut.
Other people have. Gizmodo and World of Reel both printed 158 minutes on July 15th, the day Criterion’s October slate went up. Forbes gave it the next day as two hours and thirty-eight minutes, eight minutes longer than the theatrical. And Geek Vibes Nation, reviewing the actual discs on October 21st, timed both versions off the player: two hours thirty minutes and ten seconds for the theatrical, two hours thirty-eight minutes and forty-three seconds for the Reborn Cut. Three sources, one of them with the box in hand and a stopwatch, and the publisher’s own page still declines to print a figure.
And the packaging is not shy about it. Of the four discs, two carry the theatrical version and two carry the Reborn Cut, a 4K and a Blu-ray of each, with THE REBORN CUT printed on the label. This is not a bonus feature tucked onto a supplements disc. Criterion has given the longer version half the set, and then declined to say how long it is.
The page runs a full cast and crew block, eight actors and the producers and the designers, and Netflix appears nowhere in it. No copyright holder is named for the film. Netflix financed this and streams it, and I could find no statement from either company about whether the longer version will ever appear there, or about how Criterion came to be releasing it. The closest anyone has come is an unattributed line in Forbes that Criterion “has secured the rights to produce the film on physical media.”
And del Toro, who sat down and recorded a feature-length commentary for this cut, has not itemized it anywhere I can find. In late January, at a Sundance screening of his restored Cronos, he confirmed an extended version was coming and called it the “all the stitches” cut. That was reported the next morning by a single outlet, without a direct quote, and I have found no first-hand account of the remark since. Criterion says the commentary covers why he wanted to make this version.
So the explanation does exist. It exists on the disc.
Which leaves a strange situation. The only people who have described this version with any precision are a reviewer with a stopwatch and the director on a commentary track nobody has transcribed.
The obvious column to write here is that physical media is where the longer cuts live now. I cannot write it, because it is not true.
The pattern over the last two years runs the other way. Robert Eggers’ extended Nosferatu went to digital on January 21, 2025 and to disc four weeks later. The extended Scary Movie went to digital in July this year and to disc in September. The longer version of The Hateful Eight was the Netflix one. Zack Snyder’s longer, R-rated Rebel Moon cuts went to Netflix as well. Genuine disc-only cuts are mostly a DVD-era phenomenon: the extended Narnia that existed on one 2006 release and never again, the Lethal Weapon director’s cuts, the theatrical version of The Warriors.
Criterion has taken Netflix films before, too. The Irishman, Marriage Story, Roma. None of them came with an alternate cut. KPop Demon Hunters was announced alongside this one in February and is dated for November, so nobody knows yet what it will carry.
What I can say is narrower and stranger. I could not find an earlier case of a streaming service’s own original film whose longer director’s cut exists only on a licensed disc. That is not the same as saying there has never been one. It is a statement about where I looked.
The eight minutes themselves are undocumented. No source itemizes what is in them. Nothing I can find says whether the seven-minute sequence del Toro cut on James Cameron’s advice is in this version, and Criterion’s feature list does not mention deleted scenes at all. The only disc-in-hand reviewer who compares the two, writing in T3 on Tuesday, says the extra eight minutes buy “a little more time to live with Elordi’s monster.” That is as specific as the record gets.
Which leaves the thing itself sitting on a shelf, doing what discs have always quietly done, which is to be the version of record while nobody is prepared to say so out loud.
Welcome to PM Weekly. Let’s get into the week.
THIS WEEK ON DISC
- Frankenstein (2025), 4K UHD and Blu-ray, four discs, Criterion
- The Frighteners (1996), Limited Edition 4K UHD and Limited Edition Blu-ray, three discs each, Arrow
- Hellraiser Tetralogy, 4K UHD, four discs, Arrow
- Enter the Video Store: Video Vengeance, Limited Edition Blu-ray, five discs, Arrow
- Sheila and the Brainstem (1989), Blu-ray, two discs, Severin
- The Perros Callejeros Trilogy, Blu-ray, three discs, Severin
- Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986), 40th Anniversary 4K UHD, limited steelcase, Dark Sky
- Surf Nazis Must Die! (1987), 4K UHD and Special Edition Blu-ray, two discs, Troma
- The Sky Has Fallen, Blu-ray, Unearthed Films
- Duplicity (2009), 4K UHD and Blu-ray, Kino Lorber Studio Classics
- A Bucket of Blood (1959), Special Edition Blu-ray with Dementia 13
- Blackboard Jungle (1955), Blu-ray, Warner Archive
- Phantom of the Rue Morgue (1954), 3D Blu-ray, Warner Archive
- Maverick: The Complete Series, Warner Archive
- Seven (1995), 4K UHD, Warner Bros
- One Battle After Another (2025), Limited Edition 4K SteelBook, Warner Bros
- Rad (1986), 4K UHD and Blu-ray, limited to 5,000, Vinegar Syndrome Ultra
- Sweet Sixteen (1983), 4K UHD and Blu-ray, limited to 6,000, Vinegar Syndrome
- The Murder Secret (1988), 4K UHD and Blu-ray, limited to 5,000, Vinegar Syndrome
- Maple Syrup Pix Vol. 1, Blu-ray, limited to 2,000, Canadian International Pictures
Three notes. Arrow’s Frighteners carries four presentations rather than two: the theatrical and director’s cuts in 4K from a new negative scan, and open-matte versions of both on the Blu-ray, which is not how the announcements read. Severin shipped two genuine firsts on the same day, a worldwide home video premiere for Sheila and the Brainstem, scanned in 2K from the original negative in both its original version and a producer’s cut, and a North American premiere for the Perros Callejeros trilogy, in 4K from the original camera negatives and subtitled in English in this territory for the first time. And Arrow publishes no numeric cap on any of its Limited Editions, this week or any week, so if you read a number for one of them it did not come from Arrow.
Not on the 27th, whatever you have read. Grindhouse’s Cannibal Holocaust UHD is 24 November and is still an open pre-order at the label today. Warner Archive’s Horror of Dracula 4K is also 24 November, with a pre-order countdown still running at blu-ray.com, despite two aggregators putting it on Tuesday. Cinema Guild’s Moving was listed on Tuesday by three separate aggregators and the label’s own store says it ships 17 November, which is the case where the label wins. Kino’s Bruiser has no confirmed date at all. Severin’s What Have You Done to Solange? was the 20th. Kino Cult’s Clown Murders is listed for this week by blu-ray.com and for 29 September by Kino’s own announcement, and we could not settle which. Deaf Crocodile’s Frankenstein, Legend of Terror and Soda Pop Joe both appear on this week’s lists and both are still open pre-orders with a wide retail date of 12 January. And the Vinegar Syndrome titles above are not new: that batch shipped direct from the label on 1 September and Tuesday was its retail date, except Faces of Death IV, which came from the October batch, so the interval is not a fixed rule.
Next Tuesday, the 3rd, is thin as of Thursday. Vinegar Syndrome’s November batch had still not been announced, and on past form it lands on the 30th or the 31st, which is to say possibly after you read this. Arrow’s Fargo in a Limited Edition 4K follows on the 9th.)
MARKET SIGNAL
On Saturday, two video stores opened on opposite sides of the United States. Very Good Video Store, in the Oak Park neighborhood of Sacramento, run by Jefferson Miller and Chris Emery. The Little Movie Store, at Tenth and McKean in South Philadelphia, run by Dylan and Keri Wise.
Both of them rent out movies. Both of them also rent out the machines.
Very Good Video Store rents DVDs, sells DVD, Blu-ray and VHS, and rents out VCRs, DVD players and Blu-ray players. The Little Movie Store rents VCRs and DVD players alongside its tapes. In the same city as the Sacramento shop, My Cat’s VHS opened earlier this year on P Street, which one local broadcaster called Sacramento’s first new video store in years.
Now put that against the other thing that surfaced in the last few days.
Sony Japan’s product page for the UBP-X700, its standalone 4K Blu-ray player, reads production complete. There is no announcement, no explanation and no date on it. The page simply says the thing has stopped.
The story did not come from Sony. It came from a Japanese retail blog reporting that shipments had ended, with Sony’s own product page as the only corroboration, and the coverage that followed tended to firm that up into a confirmation Sony has never given. It is worth separating from a thing Sony did announce: a notice dated February 9th covering Blu-ray disc recorders, which names four BDZ models, states flatly that there are no successor models, and does not mention players at all.
And “Sony’s last 4K player” is a claim about Japan. Sony’s own US site still lists the UBP-X700 and the UBP-X800M2, and Sony has said nothing about any other territory.
The honest version is narrower and still worth your attention. In one market, the company that invented the format has stopped making a dedicated machine for it. Panasonic and Magnetar are both still building players, and Panasonic raised its prices in September, the UB820 from $549 to $649.99 in the United States and from £349 to £429 in Britain, without giving a reason. The coverage supplied one, blaming component shortages, inflation and tariffs. Pioneer stopped in 2024. Reavon stopped, reportedly over parts it could not get. LG has stopped making them too; its last models date from 2018. The field is two manufacturers wide.
So in a few days the hardware base narrowed again at one end, and at the other end two shops opened on the same Saturday in the business of lending people something to play a disc on. The market is improvising its own supply.
There is a second thing in Philadelphia worth having. The Wises became approved resellers and buy new releases direct from Criterion, Arrow, MVD and A24. A shop with roughly two hundred members has a direct account with the label that made the Kubrick box. That is a distribution channel being rebuilt from the bottom after the chains walked away, and for the labels it is a route to a customer that does not run through Amazon.
The membership numbers are the part I would watch. Philadelphia charges $160 a year, and members rent while non-members may only buy. In September the shop reported about 465 people on a waitlist. By late October it reported roughly 200 had joined. Those count different things, interest against money, and the distance between them is the honest number in this story. Sacramento has gone the other way and made membership optional. You can rent or buy without one. What the membership buys is the after-hours programming, the screenings and the Q&As with local filmmakers.
Two models, one week, and both of them are selling the same thing underneath: somewhere to put a disc.
STORE OF THE WEEK
Bay Street Video, 1172 Bay Street, Toronto.
It is not a storefront. It sits in a small plaza at the base of a 1980s condominium tower, half a block south of Bloor, behind a Tim Hortons. Randall King, writing in the National Post in September, called it a hidden mall. You have to know it is there.
The business has been in that plaza since 1982 and has carried this name since 1993. It is open seven days, ten to eight most days and ten to ten on Friday and Saturday. It was recording its own podcast in the shop on Wednesday.
Here is what is on the shelves, by the manager’s own count: about forty thousand DVDs, just under ten thousand Blu-rays, a thousand 4K discs for rent, and twelve to fifteen thousand titles for sale. It rents and it sells, and the manager puts the survival down to exactly that: “Rentals kept us going when sales were sparse and sales kept us going when rentals were sparse.” It does not buy used stock. The FAQ is blunt about it, and the phrasing matters: “We do not. We’re always happy to accept donations of current formats” BMV, or Vinegar Syndrome’s Toronto shop. A rental library that takes donations but refuses to buy only ever grows by gift or by buying new.
In 2021 the product manager, Mark Hanson, put the whole collection at somewhere in the realm of thirty-six or thirty-seven thousand titles. That is the whole argument, really, and he made it himself in the same conversation: “We have a curated collection that continues to grow but never gets smaller.” And: “It’s library-esque, almost like an archive or a museum.”
A rental shop that never stops being a shop at some point and becomes a holding. Most retail works the other way. You cull what does not move, you make room for what does, and the catalogue is whatever the last two years justified keeping. Bay Street Video has simply declined to do that, and the result is that its competitive position is now defined by subtraction happening somewhere else.
Which brings me to the best thing in this shop, and the reason it is here rather than any of the other three physical media businesses now trading in Toronto.
It runs a program called Films For Free. Every couple of months the staff pick a theme, and those films go out at no charge to anyone with a membership, which is itself free. Two at a time per household, back within five days, late fees strictly enforced. Nothing unusual so far.
The unusual part is the selection criterion. The shop highlights, in its own words, “excellent films which are not readily available via (legal) online streaming services and/or On Demand.”
Read that as a business decision. A commercial rental library has identified the portion of its stock that the streaming services cannot supply, and has decided to give that portion away. Good films, filtered for the one thing streaming cannot do. The shop is spending its scarcest inventory to demonstrate the only thing it has that Netflix does not, which is the films Netflix does not have.
I have been writing this column for sixteen weeks and that is the clearest statement of position I have come across. Every shop in this series has an answer to what it is for. This one has turned its answer into a lending program and put it on the website.
A caution, since this journal runs on them. The Films For Free page was still advertising a summer theme when I read it this week, a list of films from the Ira Sachs guide to movies with kids, and the page’s copyright metadata still reads 2009. The program is real and its rules are published; the selection on the page is not current. The shop’s own YouTube channel still lists opening hours it abandoned years ago, which is a reminder that a business’s own stale page is more dangerous than a stranger’s, not less. And the shop cannot get its own founding told the same way twice: one account has it renamed in 1993, another has it changing hands that year, a third says a property manager took it over and renamed it. A business whose entire value proposition is an intact record. Meanwhile the podcast went up on Wednesday, current to the day.
One last thing, because the easy version of this column would be wrong. Bay Street Video is not the last video store in Toronto. Eyesore Cinema is still on Bloor near Dufferin. Criterion has just opened its first permanent Canadian shop inside Cinema Cellar, between the TIFF Lightbox and the Scotiabank. Vinegar Syndrome has one on Roncesvalles. Videoflicks, out on Avenue Road, closed in November 2019, and its owner said at the time that having no storefront meant no plans to return. The manager, Brendan Whelton, was asked about the new arrivals in September and declined the elegy. “I think a rising tide raises all ships,” he told the National Post, talking about Cinema Cellar and the other new shops. “The more ways that people can see movies, the better.”
The survivor is no longer alone, and says good.
(Next week: The Little Movie Store in South Philadelphia.)
THE STACK
What I pulled off the shelf this week.
Hellboy (2004).
Format: DVD, two discs, Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment, 27 July 2004. UPC 043396013179, list price $28.96. Theatrical cut, 122 minutes, PG-13. 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, Dolby Digital 5.1, no DTS track, Region 1. Single-width keep case with slipcover and a booklet.
Bonus Features: Two audio commentaries, the first with Guillermo del Toro and Mike Mignola, the second with Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Jeffrey Tambor and Rupert Evans. Eight branching comics drawn by Mignola and written by del Toro, made for this disc. The Right Hand of Doom, eight branching set visits, nineteen minutes. A branching storyboard extra drawn by Simeon Wilkins. Four UPA cartoons. A del Toro video introduction. On disc two: a Selma Blair introduction; The Seeds of Creation, a documentary running nearly two and a half hours, measured at 143 minutes where it was reissued in 2019; three deleted scenes with optional del Toro commentary; animatics, board-a-matics and storyboard comparisons; fifteen character biographies; a maquette gallery; poster designs; trailers. DVD-ROM content including a printable screenplay and the director’s notes.
I pulled this out because of the lede, and it turned out to be a better match than I expected.
Twelve weeks after this disc shipped, Columbia TriStar released Hellboy: The Director’s Cut, three discs, 132 minutes, unrated. It carried a new solo del Toro commentary addressing what had been cut and why, an isolated score with the composer’s commentary, a new storyboard track, the same nineteen minutes of set visits, and a whole third disc of new material: the cast commentary filmed as video, production workshops, a Comic-Con panel from 2002, a Scott McCloud interview, forty minutes of Mignola’s pre-production art, and a printed excerpt from Rasputin’s diary.
It was the better edition. And It was also not a superset.
The three-disc set does not contain the theatrical cut, and there is no branching to get back to it. DVD Talk’s reviewer said so in October 2004 and wrote that he wished the theatrical version were reachable by seamless branching. The cartoons appear to have gone too, though that one is thinner. And the set does not contain the del Toro and Mignola commentary. DVD Talk’s word for it at the time was excised. It exists on the disc I own and on no other release for the next fifteen years.
Mignola was the film’s co-executive producer. The man who created the character was on the payroll, and his commentary still came off the better edition.
Del Toro told USA Today the day before my copy shipped exactly what was happening. The two-disc set, he said, “is for the fan of the movie; the second will be for the collector.” He was not hiding it. Del Toro described the collector’s edition as “really loaded,” which it was. He simply did not mention that the collector’s edition would be missing the conversation between the director and the man who created the character.
On 12 December that year the Washington Post reached for this film as its opening example when Jen Chaney wrote about the practice. Studios tend to cite bonus features that were not finished in time, she reported, “but the biggest motivator is, of course, money.” Her piece says the director’s cut followed “three months later.” It was two months and twenty-three days. Even the article complaining about double-dipping got the gap wrong.
Then it got worse. The 2007 Blu-ray carried the director’s cut only, and dropped the two things that mattered most: the isolated score with the composer’s commentary, and the cast commentary filmed as video. For twelve years the only commentary with Mignola on it did not exist in high definition at all.
The 2019 4K release fixed most of this, and deserves credit for it. It is the first and only disc ever made that holds both cuts of this film, and it carries all three commentaries at once, the Mignola one back where you can hear it. The cartoons came back, and there are now five of them where my disc has four. The set visits came back at eighteen minutes and twenty-one seconds, against nineteen on mine.
Two things did not.
The isolated score with the composer’s commentary has never appeared on any Blu-ray or 4K release. It is not on the 2019 discs’ extras list at all. It exists on the three-disc DVD from October 2004 and nowhere else.
And the eight comics. Mignola drew them, del Toro wrote them, and they were made for this release and no other. They are not on the Blu-ray; the 2007 review named their absence. They are not on any extras list for the 4K that I can find either, and the one 2019 feature that sounds like them is the forty-minute Mignola slideshow, which DVD Talk described back in 2004 as the pre-production art from the third disc. I want to be straight that this is an argument from every list I could check failing to mention them, plus a positive identification of the thing they could be confused with, not a reviewer saying they are gone. But original Mignola and del Toro work, commissioned for an optical disc, last catalogued on a pair of DVDs from 2004.
The measured difference between the two cuts, incidentally, is ten and a half minutes. The published figures run from “about ten minutes” through “roughly fifteen” to “about twenty,” and the twenty is the one on Wikipedia today, sourced to that same USA Today piece from the day before my disc shipped. The studio’s pre-release number became the encyclopedia’s number and has outlived every disc that could have measured it.
I have not found del Toro saying which cut he considers definitive.
Hellboy spent roughly the first half of this year on Netflix and has since left. None of the listings I checked said which cut it was.
Twenty-two years, one director, two films with two cuts apiece, and in both cases the thing nobody will tell you is which one you are looking at. In 2004 at least he told us there would be two. The shelf still answers the question. Streaming still does not.
THE SIGN-OFF
That is Issue #17. A Netflix film whose longer version arrived on four discs with no runtime printed and no statement from anybody, a Tuesday that put two world premieres and a negative-scanned Frighteners on the shelf before Halloween, two shops opening on the same Saturday that rent out the players as well as the films while Sony’s page for its own machine went quiet, a Toronto rental library that gives away the titles streaming cannot supply because those are the ones that prove the point, and a DVD from 2004 carrying a conversation between a director and an artist that the better edition dropped and nobody heard again for fifteen years. 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
seanreid@worldonetv.com
Destinee Monroe Talks “Wild Journey” of ‘The Voice’ And “Bring Me To Life” Performance
Destinee Monroe brings a great combo of stage presence and powerhouse vocals on Season 30 of The Voice. Monroe received a three chair turn for her rendition of Motley Crue’s “Home Sweet Home” during the Blinds, and she went with Adam Levine as her coach. Loudwire described her Battles with Team Adam member Dakota Cohen as “one of the top Battle Round performances” of the season. Monroe’s performance of Evanescence’s “Bring Me To Life” led to a steal from fellow Jersey Girl Queen Latifah. Monroe talked to Deepest Dream about a very interesting fact that most people don’t know about her “awesome sauce” Battles performance. For the full interview with Monroe, check out our video below!
Read more: Destinee Monroe Talks “Wild Journey” of ‘The Voice’ And “Bring Me To Life” Performance
During her Blinds segment, Destinee Monroe candidly reflected on the ups and downs of her music career. Initially a member of Clique Girlz (they were signed to Interscope Records) during her youth, Monroe was part of a touring rock group for several years and, as she mentioned in the interview, an 80s cover band. Though we have witnessed Monroe’s rock edge on The Voice, her songbook is diverse.
“I love all genres of music,” said Monroe, who hails from Atlantic City, New Jersey. “I’m not opposed to blending certain genres, whether that be pop, rock, country – I’m all for it. I feel like the music speaks for itself, and it will tell me what it wants to be, as opposed to me trying to fit into something.”
As for the Battles performance with Dakota Cohen in “Bring Me To Life,” Monroe brought the vocal chops and energy. She was also nursing an injury during the performance! ”Honestly, there were so many things surrounding that was happening that nobody knows about,” said Monroe.
“First of all, the shirt that I wore that looks like a dress all of the tentacles hanging down, I was just praying on my hands and knees just like, ‘Please don’t let me trip – don’t let me fall doing this.’ So there was that. And then right before I came back to do Battles, I actually skinned my knees pretty hard, so I was literally performing through that, and I was just eating the pain. I’m like, ‘You know what? If we’re gonna do it, we’re doing it, and I’m just gonna have to suck it up, and here we go.”
While being coached by Adam Levine and Alex Warren during Battles, Monroe off-handedly said “awesome sauce.” Since I loved that comment, I had to ask a silly question!
“Oh my God, that is so funny because literally my family and my boyfriend were all just cracking up and that has been the ultimate tagline now,” said Monroe. “So I made my bio on Instagram and on TikTok, so #awesomesauce. We’re gonna get T-shirts made. So this has become a whole thing and i’m like – I’m such a nerd!”
Even with her years of experience, Monroe still had an enriching time on The Voice. “There was so much to learn and so much growth that I experienced just from being out there and getting out of my comfort zone. I just I’m so grateful for the opportunity. It’s been a wild journey.”
@destineemonroe94 LET’S GO #TEAMQUEEN @NBC's The Voice @NBC ♬ original sound – Destinee Monroe
Next week is Cut Week on The Voice. “The title in and of itself should tell you – cut week – it’s cutthroat,” added Monroe. “I just feel. like it’s going to be a point where it separates the men from the boys. Where we have this one shot to get it right, and if we do, we get to go to live. So I’m just really hoping for that opportunity to go back and showcase more of my talent.”
Full interview with Destinee Monroe:
Catch Destinee Monroe on The Voice November 2nd at 8/7c (streaming next day on Peacock).
Lexi Stephens Talks ‘The Voice,’ “Die On This Hill,” And Broadway Aspirations
Lexi Stephens received a four-chair turn for her rendition of Sienna Spiro’s “Die On This Hill,” and she picked Adam Levine as her coach. Tonight on The Voice she quares off against fellow Team Adam member Marilyn Hucek. Stephens talked to Deepest Dream about her Blinds performance, experience on the show, and how she has her sights set on Broadway! Full interview below!
Read more: Lexi Stephens Talks ‘The Voice,’ “Die On This Hill,” And Broadway Aspirations“I was very nervous going on stage,” said Lexi Stephens. “But I think I turned that into a good performance, just because I think as performers, we just switch into performance mode when we know we have to. So I think once I heard the song start, I was like, ‘Okay, I just let go of my nerves.’ And then once Adam turned within like, five seconds, then I really let go of my nerves because I (thought), ‘I know I’m moving on, so I can just calm down.”
Adam Levine told her after her Blind audition that she would probably win The Voice, adding that she was the one. “So Adam’s the best,” said Stephens. “Hearing him say that was crazy, and that attributed hugely to why I picked him in the end. I think it has its pros and cones because pro is that it gave me huge confidence in the competition. And the cons is that it’s a lot of pressure and I don’t want to let him down. I grew up watching The Voice, and Adam was one of the original coaches. So hearing that from him was like telling my childhood self, like, ‘You did it.'”
As for her overall journey on the show, Stephens was really grateful for the “people and the connections” she made on The Voice. “It really just opened my mind to be like, let’s say I got, I got no chair turns,” said Stephens. “It still would’ve been worth it because the music industry is all connections. So I’ve met so many amazing artists doing this (and) I’ve met people who now I want to write songs with that are also contestants. Now that they’re also music producers, they could produce my song and stuff like that. So I think just not putting too much pressure on the blind audition, and putting more pressure on meeting people and making those connections.”
We close the interview with Stephens discussing her future plans. “Maybe I’ll win The Voice and that’ll help,” said Stephens. “But I definitely want to be, in the next five years, release a ton of music. I would love to have my debut on Broadway, and I think that The Voice can definitely help with that because exposure is the name of the game. I just want to be leading a successful music career, whatever that means for me.”
Full interview with Lexi Stephens:
Catch Lexi Stephens tonight on The Voice at 8/7c (streaming next day on Peacock).
Cade Mower Talks ‘The Voice,’ “Something in the Orange,” And Putting “Soul Work” Into His Music
Cade Mower received a four-chair turn for his rendition of Zach Bryan’s “Something in the Orange,” and he ultimately went with Riley Green as his coach. Tonight on The Voice he battles it out with fellow Team Riley member Brayden Howell. Mower delivered a candid interview about his experience on the show, missing his family during the process, and why he has always followed his music dreams. Full interview is below!
Read more: Cade Mower Talks ‘The Voice,’ “Something in the Orange,” And Putting “Soul Work” Into His MusicRiley Green described Cade Mower as a “lyric driven guy” and a songwriter. That is a description that fit Mower, who said during the Blinds that, along with being a family man, he had a day job in finance.
“My whole mission objective when I sing a song is to make people feel something,” said Cade Mower. “”All of the judges were pretty complimentary and it’s extremely validating because I’ve never honestly considered myself a singer. I’m a songwriter and creator, and I play a lot of gigs, live acoustic and band stuff. I’ve never considred myself a singer before (and) I think hearing them say that and them being so kind to my vocal ability was definitely encouraging.”
Paying the bills and supporting one’s family are valid reasons for one to give up their artistic ambitions, but that does not apply to Mower. “Giving up doesn’t register in my head – I would never stop doing it,” said Mower. “I genuinely love it and it’s part of who I am. For me, it was definitely a fuel to the fire because when I had kids, I very quickly realized that everything that I do is teaching them something. What example I’m setting for them is important to me (and) to show them that a pursuit of your dreams is worth doing.”
Listen to Cade Mower’s 2025 album Soul Work:
Mower is currently working on a new album and plans to get in the studio. That said, Soul Work is now out and if Mower had his way, listeners would listen to the album front to back.
”I spent a lot of time sequencing the album,” said Mower, who cites Pink Floyd’s iconic The Wall as a personal favorite. “I had a pool of many songs. and I whittled it down to 12. The order of the album is very important to me because I’m trying to tell a story. And I’m an album guy.”
“So I wanted to do that,” added Mower. “This isn’t what it is, but it sort of feels autobiographical of my life. Most of the stuff in there is true, and 100% of it has truth in it somewhere. None of that stuff is just made up. A lot of it is just directly (from) my life.”
Full interview with Cade Mower:
Catch Cade Mower tonight on The Voice at 8/7c (streaming next day on Peacock).
Marilyn Hucek Talks ‘The Voice,’ Performing Shakira’s ‘La Tortura,’ And Her Personal Song ‘Neil Young’
Chilean American singer-songwriter Marilyn Hucek made it past The Blinds with her rendition of the Shakira song “La Tortura.” Tonight on The Voice she squares off against fellow Team Adam member Lexi Stephens in the Battles. Hucek talked to Deepest Dream about her Blinds performance, gigging in Washington D.C., and how her song “Neil Young” has a personal connection. Full interview in our post!
Read more: Marilyn Hucek Talks ‘The Voice,’ Performing Shakira’s ‘La Tortura,’ And Her Personal Song ‘Neil Young’“‘La Tortura’ holds such a special place in my heart,” said Marilyn Hucek. “I’ve been singing that song for years already. I was very familiar with it (and) it’s my favorite song. I do a lot of gigging her in DC – I’m from Washington, DC. And that’s one of the cover songs that I’ll whip out with me and the acoustic guitar, and I’ll kind of strip it down and make it my now.”
“(With) The Voice being such a huge platform, I wasn’t playing around,” added Hucek. “I treated it like a brand new song (and ) I dissected it line by line, playing around with the instrumentation (and) really trying to make it my own. And yeah, I put in a lot of time.”
Hucek also puts in a ton of time into her music, and one of her most evocative songs is “Neil Young.” “That’s one of my most personal songs about my dad’s battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s,” said Hucek. “He was diagnosed when I was 16 and battled it for several years, and it was really tough to see him go through that and watch him lose his memory day by day. And one of the things that he eventually forgot was my name, and it was really a hard thing to process.”
“That’s why I love music so much, and that’s why I got into songwriting, was to be able to process all those feelings and also be able to share my story on that front with my dad’s disease,” added Hucek. “That’s kind of a dual purpose for me, is to use my platform to not only write music that I love, but to also share my story in regards to what I went through with my dad’s disease. But my dad loved Neil Young, and as his memory faded, one of the things that kept us connected was music. I would play him his favorite songs, and he’d come to life.”
“Neil Young” is one of the songs featured in Hucek’s self-titled 2025 album:
As for any advice for people wanting to try out for The Voice, Hucek cites that prospective participants should get ready for a lot of “hard work.” “All the artists are so talented,” said Hucek, who reflected on her performance on ‘La Tortura.’ “It’s a lot of work to sing those songs, and we’re looking at where we’re taking breaths, our cadence, and what stylistic choices we are making. It’s not just someone gives you a song and you sing it. To sing that one song for 90 seconds, there was so much work that went behind that.”
Full interview with Marilyn Hucek:
Catch Marilyn Hucek tonight on The Voice at 8/7c (streaming next day on Peacock).
Mia Knight Talks ‘The Voice,’ Songwriting, and Being Inspired By Queen Latifah
Mia Knight delivered a self-assured and memorable rendition of Sienna Spiro’s “You Stole The Show” during the Blind Auditions. Queen Latifah used her “first-in” to pick Knight on her team, and now she battles fellow Team Queen member Sophia Liano on tonight’s The Voice. This interview was done several weeks ago, so Knight’s discussion is primarily focused on her Blind Audition as well as her own music and songwriting. Check out the full interview below!
Read more: Mia Knight Talks ‘The Voice,’ Songwriting, and Being Inspired By Queen Latifah
“I’ve loved that song for the longest time,” said Mia Knight on performing ‘You Stole The Show.’ “And so before I went and performed it in front of the judges, I did a lot of practice. I was basically practicing the song every day for a couple months. Then when I got on stage it felt felt more comfortable. I was more scared to talk to the coaches afterwards than actually perform the song. It’s just a song that I love so much that I felt comfortable singing it because I had passion when I sang it.”
Just 17, Knight is an experienced artist whose soul-based aesthetic can be heard on her two singles “Messin'” and “Prisoner of My Mind.” That said, Knight actually didn’t expect anyone to turn for her performance, and ultimately she received turns from Riley Green, Kelly Clarkson, and Queen Latifah.
“That whole experience was just great because Queen Latifah, I saw that she had so much faith in me,” said Knight. “We’re both from Jersey, and she’s just had such a successful career and I look up to her. She’s a big role model and inspiration to me because she’s been doing kind of the similar things that I’ve been doing (at) my age. She’s built herself into this big sar and that’s what I aspire to me. And she’s very versatile.”
Listen to Knight’s introspective single “Prisoner of My Mind” (It’s been on steady rotation for me on Spotify!):
Along with being a confident performer, Knight also loves songwriting.
“I write songs every day after school,” said Knight. “That’s kinda that’s my free time (and) the time that I have to just relax. I use it as an outlet and it’s honestly a great outlet that I recommend to anybody. Just making your own music. I just write from experience or it, it doesn’t really have a structure. Sometimes I make the music and then I write the lyrics, and vice versa.”
Listen to the upbeat Mia Knight track “Messin'”:
Full interview with Mia Knight:
Catch Mia Knight tonight on The Voice (8/7c, NBC) with the new episode streaming the next day on Peacock!
Nadir Saribacak Talks “Healing” Journey Behind Making Award-Winning ‘Gazelle’
The award-winning indie feature Gazelle, from Turkish actor/filmmaker Nadir Saribacak (Winter Sleep, Ivy), is currently playing at Laemle Town Center 5 in Encino, Ca. through October 29. Saribacak, who co-wrote the feature with Ayhan Hulagu and co-directed with Samy Pioneer, talked to Deepest Dream about the incredible journey behind Gazelle. It’s a film that totally grabbed me with its uncompromising storytelling and layered performances. Check out the full interview with Saribacak below for more info on Gazelle.
Read more: Nadir Saribacak Talks “Healing” Journey Behind Making Award-Winning ‘Gazelle’Yakup (Nadir Saribacak) is a Turkish music teacher who lives in New York and is seeking asylum. He is also trying to get his wife and young daughter from Turkey since the family is in danger. If Yakup returns to Turkey, he will be jailed, and his most logical option is to bring his family to New York. The feature deals with the sacrifices Yakup makes to ensure this ambitious goal is achieved, even if the odds are not in his favor.
For Saribacak, Gazelle is more than just a movie about an immigrant’s struggles. The filmmaker also drew from his own experiences of moving to America and attempting to rebuild his career. Although he had already established himself as an actor in Turkey, Saribacak found himself working different jobs to support his family.
“My first couple of years were so tough for my wife and me,” said Saribacak. “We struggled to adapt because everything happened suddenly. One night I changed my career from acting to Uber driver. It’s normal in the United States, by the way, but psychologically it was tough. We tried to find the answer to how immigrants recover themselves. All of them should face the difficulty, right? How do they overcome the difficulty? How do they figure out the difficulty?”
One of the more compelling aspects of Gazelle is how Yakup attempts to find his footing in America. His sense of isolation is palpable, and Saribacak understands that feeling. Though Yakup’s circumstances are different from Saribacak’s, the filmmaker used his own journey to help shape the character.
“The first couple of years I had a lot of existential questions, and I tried to heal myself, but it was tough,” said Saribacak. “I wanted to get back to my job, but it’s difficult. That’s why my co-writer and I transferred that psychological process to Yakup’s experience. When I started three or four years before, I was an Uber driver, and all of the nights I was getting notes in my mind. Then I would come back in the middle of the night and write the notes.”
That creative process became an important part of Saribacak’s recovery. Rather than simply waiting for another acting opportunity, he decided to create his own project. Writing Gazelle gave him a renewed sense of purpose, and the filmmaker believes he is in a much better place today because of that experience.
“I never complained about the situation because I got excited,” said Saribacak. “I couldn’t explain to you how I recovered myself. I started healing myself writing writing Gazelle, and I feel better right now after 10 years.”
Although Gazelle is rooted in the experiences of Turkish immigrants, Saribacak hopes the film will connect with audiences from all walks of life. The filmmaker has already witnessed that connection at festival screenings, where viewers have shared their own stories about immigration and family separation.
“It’s not just a Turkish or Kurdish movie,” said Saribacak. “I want other immigrants to understand the process. They share their feelings, the same process their family is going through. That makes me excited and gives me a lot of courage. But I want to say again, it’s not about me. We have a good crew. This is a collective collaboration, supporting each other.”
With Gazelle, Saribacak has not only made a feature that is resonating with audiences, and he has also discovered a new perspective on his creative path. He is currently writing another story, and his Gazelle experience has provided a valuable lesson.
“This process taught me I don’t need to be searching for agents during the 10 years,” said Saribacak. “The pencil and paper is enough. That’s why I started the second story. I don’t want to think about results, just to write because I feel good right now. This process taught me to write again. There are a lot of possibilities, but this process showed me just start. Don’t think too much.”
Full interview with Nadir Saribacak:
Gazelle received award at the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF Vanguard Audience Award) and Dances With Films: New York (Industry Choice Award). Catch the film through October 29 at the Laemmle Town Center 5 in Encino, Ca.
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***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.
Jackie Kelly Talks ‘Human,’ Extreme Horror and Pushing Her Acting To The Limit
Now out in select theaters and available on VOD/Digital, Human is a horror/thriller that won me over with its overall audacity. Powered by a first rate performance by Jackie Kelly as a woman who tries to survive a traumatically bloody evening, Human was not well received by my CinemAddicts co-hosts Eric Holmes or Bruce Purkey. But screw it, I love the film (my rating: 3.5/⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) and I had the chance to chat with Kelly. For further insight on this cosmic horror splatterfest, check out our full interview below!
Read more: Jackie Kelly Talks ‘Human,’ Extreme Horror and Pushing Her Acting To The LimitDani Ferris (Jackie Kelly) is an actress who is left alone on a bed in the San Fernando Valley. She’s ready to shoot a movie, but to save a little money she stays in the warehouse (which has a bed) and presumably waits for the next day of shooting. The story’s first act has Dani messaging a former hook-up and a close friend. From the friend, she wants to get high, and after getting into that state, Dani wants a night of debauchery from Mr. Right Now.
Before any of these escapades can happen, Dani is confronted by a supernatural force that puts her life and overall sanity in danger. Directed and penned by Matt Stuertz, Human gets very bloody and extremely surreal. At the center of the tale is almost a one-person performance from Kelly, who really goes all out for this role. One sequence, which has Dani possibly imagining things in a bathroom and bathed in what might be blood, is a total standout.
For Kelly, embracing the discomfort that comes with extreme horror is simply part of the job. That aforementioned bathroom sequence, which is one of my favorite moments in Human, was not exactly a walk in the park.
“She’s experiencing something that is just so horrible and repulsive, and the nature of shooting something like that is I’m getting sprayed with all kinds of fluids and stuff,” said Kelly. “The experience of making a scene like that as an actor is incredibly unpleasant. It just is. There’s no comfortable way to shoot that.”
That said, Kelly believes horror actors have a certain resilience that enables them to endure physically challenging scenes.
“I think horror actors are kind of built different than a lot of other actors because you get used to discomfort, and you kind of just push through it,” said Kelly. “I was going through it when we shot that, and the character’s going through that.”
Check out our Gazelle reviews on this week’s CinemAddicts:
Human is a wild ride that’s worth taking, especially for horror fans who enjoy their cinema on the extreme side. I’m hoping for a physical media release of the flick with all the trimmings, and unfortunately I forgot to ask Kelly if the film will hit DVD and/or Blu-ray. Still, for my money, Human is worth a shot on Digital: Kelly’s performance alone is worth the price of admission.
Human is now playing in select theaters and is available on VOD/Digital. Check out my full interview with Jackie Kelly below!
***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.