Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma
Original creator: Shun Saeki (art), Yuto Tsukuda (story)
Directed by: Yoshitomo Yonetari
Character Design by: Tomoyuki Shitaya
Produced by: J.C. Staff, Showgate
Voice cast: Minami Takahashi, Risa Taneda, Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, Takahiro Sakurai
Air dates: Fridays at 2:25 p.m. CDT on Crunchyroll

Food and sex. People have an endless fascination all over the world with both, and why not? They’re inextricably linked with our most basic drives, survival and procreation. The late Japanese director Juzo Itami poked fun at both in his landmark comedy, Tampopo, and who, of course, hasn’t seen 9 ½ Weeks? Now think of those themes in a fighting high school anime setting, and you’re ready for Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma. Actually, I may be overstating the case a little on the sex aspect of the show, but I got your attention, didn’t I?

When composing an obituary, it is customary to include life accomplishments, surviving relations, and generally create a bubble in which to compress a person’s entire life, so that the reader gets a synopsis of who the real person was beneath it all. I am choosing to walk a different path today, while I talk to you about Seth Kushner. Seth was a great photographer and a spectacular writer/creator, make no mistake about that. His peers and his friends have been properly forthcoming on his Facebook page, and in other social media. But what struck me most about this amazing guy was his genuine love of his family, and of life itself.

This week’s edition of Digital Wire Blu-ray Releases features new release announcements for several important upcoming home video releases, including a pair of acclaimed indie genre flicks, a raunchy comedy smash featuring two of the funniest actors working today, and a trio of high profile cult classics making their Blu-ray debut soon courtesy of Shout! Factory. We also have an update on this summer’s release of an extended cut of one of last year’s biggest blockbusters.

Below you’ll find info on several future home video releases complete with technical specs, release dates, and links to pre-order at Amazon, as well as a list of titles coming out this week.

We would greatly appreciate it if you use those links to order because a small percentage of each order helps keep this website running at max power. The cover art for certain titles has yet to be finalized.

The Scarlet Gospels
Hardcover | Paperback | Kindle Edition | Audiobook
Written by Clive Barker
St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: May 19, 2015

Clive Barker still has it (was there ever any doubt?). The Scarlet Gospels, the last chapter of Pinhead the Cenobite’s story, has him face off against Harry D’Amour, his old foe. His ambitions are small – destroy the world and rule over Hell. That’s not too much ask, is it? The Hell Priest does have his trusty hooks, but uses them in the beginning to desiccate the most powerful magicians to gather their secrets, then does not rely on them so much for a lot of the novel. Barker succeeds in asking us what we are most afraid of, and then exponentially expanding it until we cannot even comprehend the terror we are reading. What can you expect when our setting is a desolate New York, followed by a journey through actual Hell?

Ack, Ack, Ack!

Just the mention of this Kickstarter for Mars Attacks: Occupation Trading Cards made me drag out the DVD from 1996. You know, just to set the mood. Well, anyway, this Kickstarter Spotlight is a lot different than most of the ones I’ve done in the past. The project was created by The Topps Company, and trust me when I say they know a thing or two about cards in general and these cards in particular.

Originally created in 1962, Mars Attacks! was a trading card collection before ever becoming a comic, movie, or merchandise franchise. It revived in the eighties, and again with the movie release. Well, it seems it’s time to breathe new life into it again. So read on to hear more about how you can help make this happen and to see the Kickstarter campaign video.