ethnosax

There's your mistake—trusting Disney with anything related to Star Wars. Who would do that??

Pretty good year for WWA steelbooks! Though one studio (whose name I won't mention) clogged up the WWA landscape with the "Disney100" line, other studios brought out some creative editions. I totally agree with @F.M.S that the Maltese Falcon steel is a lot of fun, perfectly executed. Here are three others that I liked this year: 1. The new Schindler's List steel is, in my opinion, far superior to the previous one. And the extra packaging from outside the US made it a really fine edition. 2. I love steelbooks for classics, and the Rebel without a Cause steel is beautiful. For me, the perfect finish for that vintage-photo look. Very clean design. 3. Strange New Worlds is the first time in decades I've been interested in Star Trek. The season one steelbook has a great cover. Back cover, not as good (Why silhouettes? Why not show the characters?). But overall, I like it. Honorable mentions: Cool Hand Luke (UK); The Mandalorian 1 & 2; It Came from Outer Space Disappointments: Oppenheimer. The debossed title is great, but both WWA steels (especially the Best Buy) are hindered by bland finishes.

It's easy to do. I once mixed up WWA and WEA when posting to explain to someone the difference between WWA and WEA. 🤦‍♂️

Yes, but I can't recall anything other than some production stills that were released in the lead-up to the film. What else was there?

WEA, and yes, always official poster art. Premium editions of Nolan films are usually only allowed to use official poster art, so with only a limited number of posters for a film, that's why all the additions look very similar. Different rearrangements of the same images. So far as I know, Oppenheimer only has these five official posters; not much for Manta to work with:

It's not an official poster, so you're all safe. When I posted it, I'd seen it on a site that made it seem official. And honestly, it looks good enough to me to be official. I was totally expecting the Manta steelbook to use the "Oppenheimer watching the explosion" art, so the fact that it turned up on one of the WWA steels surprised me, and now I don't know what to expect from Manta for the steel itself. My hope is that the Best Buy steel artwork is nowhere to be seen in the Manta release.

This seems totally different from the established retailers that receive permission from the studios. This product is clearly unapproved artwork. It's almost like they're trying to be as obvious as possible that this is a bootleg. I assume they're trying to sneak past the studios by only selling a very small number. But I was surprised to see MP promoting this release. Could someone on staff provide details on the legality of this release?

294 euros for a one click with two WWA steelbooks? It's a genius idea for RaroFilm, I guess...

I'm pretty sure he'll ask you to pay money to see it, though.

I know there's a lot of mystique with the HDZeta set, but honestly (and I know this is heresy on this website), the steelbooks aren't very thrilling by today's standards. Compare the Dark Knight steels with the LOTR (gold) steels, and you see how far the hobby has come in the years in between. So I can understand the demand decreasing, especially with a good set from Blufans and what I expect will be also good from Manta. Times change!

I have no idea what's going on. I didn't understand the original post about Manta's FB, and nothing since has brought clarity.

10 from me. Manta has become my favorite retailer in the past couple years. I'm not interested in every title they do (especially as they get more into superhero stuff), but they've made some great choices, and their design team is often exactly in line with what I like for the visuals. I'm hopeful they'll be able to do a complete run of Nolan films eventually.

25 from me. Thanks!

Proofreading would have added another year to the production time.

Not original trilogy, but: Blufans (Rogue One, Force Awakens, Last Jedi); SM Life (Rise of Skywalker); Nova (Force Awakens); Kimchi (Rogue One) Mondo did so many SW posters, I always wished they'd use some for the steelbook line. This is one I'd have been happy with:

...and the person who started that GB has refused to respond to questions about its progress for years. It's a dead project, but he won't even stop by to say that much and close the GB. Your La Dolce Vita poster was the cover of the Criterion blu-ray several years ago. It needs a 4K Criterion, with slipcover, and they can definitely keep using that cover. Beautiful!

I'd also like Zavvi to finish off the Shyamalan steels for The Good (or at least decent) Shyamalans, to match the steels they did once upon a time for Sixth Sense/Unbreakable/Signs.

Some from me that I would like to see become reality—either movies that haven't had a steel at all, or that haven't had a really good one yet.

It'll be a single lenti for me, as that's what I'm doing for the ML Nolan films. On the front of the slipcase, I want this IMAX poster as a lenti: On the front of the steelbook, this teaser poster:

Just a bad lenti, glued onto a very plain slip. Disappointing, but the steelbook is good, and honestly, I'm happy to support any place that gives attention to something besides Marvel.

Injoingan did the recent steelbook release of Minari, which is the worst lenticular slip I've ever seen. This slip doesn't look very exciting either, so I'll probably pass.

Where is he? I've missed his steady stream of TP reaction gifs, and now this release without him feels empty.

The Roman cult of emperor worship?

CHALLENGE 32: THE STICKY END I thought I'd done this one, but it seems that I didn't, so here it is. I'm going with Option A for all five selections. 1. Roy Batty (Blade Runner). What a gloriously poignant end for that character. For part of the movie, you think his end will be an Option B, but then he delivers that speech and it becomes all Option A. 2. Éponine Thénardier (Les Misérables). Beautiful, heartbreaking sacrifice, and Samantha Barks plays the character perfectly in the film (and stage) version. 3. Maximus Decimus Meridius (Gladiator). The finale of the film gives a simultaneous Option A and Option B, but it's the Option A death that leaves me in tears every time. 4. Chirrut Îmwe (Rogue One). For me, one of the classic scenes of battlefield salvation. Chirrut demonstrates unwavering faith, and through his death he brings his best friend back to faith. 5. Boromir (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring). There are things I like and don't like about this adaptation of one of my favorite books, but Boromir's death scene is perfect. Nobody dies in a movie like Sean Bean. Ultimate sticky end: I don't think any of these is more "ultimate" than the others, but since this is a challenge where series are allowed, I'll go with the death of Kanan in Rebels. That series built up such connection and emotion with the protagonists, and when he sacrifices himself to enable the crew to achieve victory on Lothal . . . tears flowed freely. Such a good conclusion to a peak–Star Wars story. I love those characters so much, I wish they wouldn't bring them back in live-action, or even in another animated series. Let them remain perfect.