This Week's Popcorn Movie #2

  

  Today in Des Moines the high is 61 degrees, the sky is overcast, and it’s been raining for over week, So, it doesn’t really feel like the last day of summer, but it is. Fall officially begins at 7:05 tonight. Yay! I love autumn. 

    Late September, October, and early November really is my favorite time of the year. The weather is in my sweet-spot. It’s not hot and humid, and it’s not cold and snowy. Jeans, a jacket or a heavy sweater is an outfit that I want to wear. I can still work on projects in the garage, and I can still easily make dinner on the grill.

    I start the charcoal around 5:15 p.m. when I grill in the summer. It takes about 20 minutes to get the coals ready, and the grilling time is normally another 20 minutes. I can usually get the food on the table by 6 p.m. That’s the goal anyway. 

    That process works until daylight savings time ends on Nov. 1st. I don’t know how many times I’ve have gotten an urge to grill in November, but I have forgotten about the clock falling back. By 5:50, I’ll be standing in total darkness struggling to read my meat thermometer. I hate that. 

    That brings me to this week’s Arrow Video Screener Blu-ray.

        Grilling in the dark is one thing. Being eaten in the dark is something else.

    

    The Blu-ray (and its boatload of extras that I probably won’t get through) is going into the Riddick Trilogy case. Pitch Black is going back to Goodwill, but with an upgraded DVD from the trilogy set. Could be a nice surprise for somebody.

    I think it’s funny how the 1999 DVD release of Grad Tour: Disaster in Time tried to capitalize on the artwork from Pitch Black. The two movies aren’t even close to being similar. Grand Tour got a proper Blu-ray release (and cover) in 2023. The new artwork for the slipcover is okay, but it kinda looks like Jeff Daniels is farting while he runs through time to save his family.