Mike Spring
What’s New in Home Video & Pop Culture – March 31, 2026
This week is a bit smaller, but I’m also a bit under the weather, so a few titles have been pushed back until next week so I can have time to review them properly. In the meantime, here are the most noteworthy home video and graphic novel releases hitting shelves to wrap up March!
Check out my video-games-meets-slasher-movies graphic novel on Kickstarter at tinyurl.com/Slasher8
In This Week’s Column:
- Anaconda (4K Ultra HD + Digital Steelbook)
- Blazing Fists (Blu-ray)
- Lurker (Blu-ray)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Volume 9 (Graphic Novel)
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: TMNT Vs. NYC (Graphic Novel)
Anaconda (4K Ultra HD + Digital Steelbook)
Official Synopsis:
Lifelong friends Doug (Jack Black) and Griff (Paul Rudd) finally leap into their long-held dream of remaking their favorite cult classic, Anaconda, in the depths of the Amazon. But things get real when an actual giant anaconda appears, turning their comically chaotic movie set into a deadly situation. The movie they?re dying to make? It might just get them killed…
The Movie:
I remember walking out of a movie theater last year and seeing the poster for Anaconda in the theater’s lobby. As this point, I hadn’t seen a trailer yet or even heard about it, so the image of Paul Rudd and Jack Black screaming made me wonder if I was the victim of a practical joke. Not long after that, I did eventually see the first trailer for the film, and as someone who loves creature features and comedies (as well as the original Anaconda!), it was a foregone conclusion that this movie would get my money.
The original Anaconda plays things completely straight, and even though it doesn’t utilize much in the way of humor, it’s absolutely a classic in the giant-creature-run-amok genre. The new film is not a remake, but essentially a… metarebootquel? The film sees a group of childhood friends setting off to the amazon to remake Anaconda, a movie they watched and loved in their youth. There’s a lot of talk about following your dreams and aging and the like, and eventually it becomes clear that a real giant anaconda is stalking the filmmakers… and the snake might be the least of their worries.
I really enjoyed Anaconda. The humor is right on point, the special effects rae good, and the action scenes work well. If I have any complaints it’s that maybe the balance is just a touch off and there could have actually been a little bit more snake action. The ending of the film feels just a little bit rushed for my money, but that’s a minor complaint for a movie that I had a heck of a lot of fun with.
The 4K Video/Audio:
Anaconda is available on 4K Ultra HD (and other formats) and the 4K format works very well for the film. The picture is crisp and clean with razor sharp clarity, and the colors have a nice balance between realism and “pop,” which means that things look vibrant without moving into looking unrealistic. The surround soundtrack is also a very strong effort. This is a movie with plenty of action, and you’ll feel like every snake sound, breaking branch, splash, and gunshot fly past your head. The dialogue remains centered, and the soundtrack is full of energy. This A/V presentation is a nice complement to the film itself.
The Bonus Features:
- Hiss-terical Outakes & Bloopers
- Deleted & Extended Scenes
- A Ride into Chaos with Jack & Paul:
- Friends in the Wild: The Cast
- The Snake Charmer: Tom Gormican
- Reinventing the Legend: Anaconda
Digital Copy Included: Yes
Blazing Fists (Blu-ray)
Official Synopsis:
Having buddied up in juvie, troubled youths Ryoma (Kaname Yoshizawa) and Ikuto (Danhi Kinoshita) took in a motivational visit from MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura… and decided that training for his tourney would be the best path out of their circumstances. The lure of the streets and a secret in their shared past, however, might derail both ambitions and friendship. Pulpy sports saga from Takashi Miike also stars Gackt, Wataru Ichinose, Nobuaki Kaneko, Konatsu Kato.
The Movie:
Takashi Miike will probably forever be linked to his most extreme movies, such as the 1999 horror film that scarred a generation of movie viewers, Audition, or his violent psycho thriller Ichi the Killer (2001). But never let it be said that the director traffics in just one genre, as he has continually branched out into different kinds of films and filmmaking.
His latest movie to hit western home video is 2025’s Blazing Fists (originally titled Blue Fight: The Breaking Down of Young Blue Warriors in its native country.) In some ways this is a sports film a la The Karate Kid or The Boxer, but it will come as no surprise that it is also much more visceral and violent than most American sports films.
The movie traffics in some well-worn tropes: young friends bonded through trauma, revenge, rising above your station, and so on. It also tackles said subjects through the lens of a master filmmaker, and while it’s probably not a movie you’d show to a bunch of summer camp kids like you might with a Karate Kid film, it’s hard not to be won over by the film.
The Bonus Features:
- Trailer
Digital Copy Included: No
Lurker (Blu-ray)
Official Synopsis:
When a twenty-something retail clerk encounters a rising pop star, he takes the opportunity to edge his way into the in-crowd. But as the line between friend and fan blurs beyond recognition, access and proximity become a matter of life and death.
The Movie:
Alex Russell’s Lurker is an intriguing and exciting feature film debut. Russell, who’s best known as a writer and producer on the cultural phenomenon The Bear (as well as the hit limited series Beef), serves as both writer and director for his first movie, and there’s no denying that he’s got some talent.
The film sees Matthew, a retail store worker, encounter pop star Oliver and his entourage in the retail store Matthew works in. Matthew impresses Oliver enough to invite him to hang out, at which point he sort of becomes an entry-level hanger-on. But Matthew wants more, and at a certain point his desire to be in Oliver’s orbit begins to become an obsession.
The film feels very current and very now, both in its filmmaking styles — which are a mash-up of cinema verite and music video — and it’s use of modern tropes and devices such as social media as a plot device. All of which gives the film an immediacy that only adds to its tension. I didn’t know much about Lurker coming in, but I have to admit I was quite impressed with it.
The Bonus Features:
There are no bonus features on the disc.
Digital Copy Included: No
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Volume 9 (Graphic Novel)
Official Synopsis:
Presenting the complete TMNT stories in recommended reading order, including one-shots, crossovers, and event series. Everything a beginner could need, everything a diehard could want.
Agent Bishop’s long-gestating hunt for mutants begins in earnest, and no one is safe! The Mutanimals are the first targets, but the Turtles’ turn will come soon enough, and they’ll be hounded like never before. Alopex and Nobody are looking for a little rest and relaxation but get more than they ask for when they become the unwilling guests of a never-ending party thrown by the hedonistic Toad Baron! Plus, Karai has always embodied the Foot Clan. With the clan under the control of Splinter, what path will she take during her travels in Japan? Danger and intrigue await her, Koya, and Bludgeon!
Collects issues #67–72 of the ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Universe issues #9–15, and the TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo crossover.
The Book:
This week, we have the ninth volume in the terrific Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection series. This massive 360-page book continues the compilation of the entire IDW run of the series (and all its various spin-offs) in chronological order, which is both a huge undertaking and a much appreciated one, especially the inclusion of all the spin-offs and miniseries.
This entry includes issues #67 through 72 of the ongoing series by Tom Waltz, Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, Mateus Santolouco, and Dave Wachter. (At this rate, with only five issues from the main title represented here, you do start to wonder how many values of this series it’s going to take to collect all 150 issues.) This arc includes the Deperate Measures four-part story which sees Slash fall under the control of Agent Bishop and wreak havoc on the Turtles’ world. Those issues are supplemented by the next seven issues of the TMNT Universe series, which features main stories (and back-ups stories) mostly by Sophie Campbell and Erik Burnham Finally, the critically acclaimed Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Usagi Yojimbo crossover by the legendary Stan Sakai is included as well.
While I will never be the biggest fan in the world of IDW’s new take on the Ninja Turtles universe, I do enjoy getting the chance to go back and revisit some of the issues I’ve missed when they are collected like this, and the fact that they’re all presented in chronological order is huge bonus. While not all of the issues in here are necessarily linearly structured as part of the greater storyline, these larger volumes do feel much more cohesive than reading a slew of floppies or trade paperbacks in a willy nilly fashion.
The Specs:
- Publisher: IDW Publishing
- Format: Softcover
- Page Count: 360 pages
- Cover Price: $39.99
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: TMNT Vs. NYC (Graphic Novel)
Official Synopsis:
An all-new era of TMNT comics continues in this explosive second arc of the series! After being split up for some time, the family reunion hasn’t exactly gone as planned. Even if they could put their sibling feuds aside, there’s no time for the brothers to celebrate. Hunted by a new Foot-enhanced police force led by the relentless D.A. Hieronymus Hale, the Turtle brothers must endure their worst gut punch yet: New York City is no longer safe for the TMNT, forcing the mutant heroes to take drastic measures!
Volume 2 collects issues #7–12 of the new ongoing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic series by bestselling writer Jason Aaron and artist Juan Ferreyra.
The Book:
I really wish I could rave about this new collected trade paperback of Jason Aaron and Juan Ferreyra’s final arc on the current series of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Unfortunately, after a fairly strong first four issues of the series, in which we caught up with each turtle individually before they reunited, I feel like the story kind of fell apart. And it pains me to say that, because Jason Aaron is one of my favorite comic book writers, and Juan Ferreyra’s art is — if not to my particular tastes — at least competent to tell a story.
But for some reason, this whole story arc just didn’t work for me. The introduction of District Attorney Hieronymous Hale as a bad guy was interesting enough, and the conclusion of the story — without spoilers — which sees the city recognize the Turtles’ contributions over the years, are both high points. But as a reading experience, I found much of Aaron’s run to be a little too dark and dreary for me. I don’t want to say he doesn’t get the characters right, because I think he stays true to the individual characters; it’s more like I don’t care for the direction he takes the each in and how he chooses for them to evolve.
The new series has been quite popular from what I understand, and I’m sure there are readers who love it. It’s not like it’s a terrible book, I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted to from a creator I love so much.
The Specs:
- Publisher: IDW Publishing
- Format: Softcover
- Page Count: 160 pages
- Cover Price: $19.99
