The 1987 cult surfing movie, North Shore, is now available on Blu-ray. The film is not the best surfing movie, however it does have a large following and fans of the movie will be delighted with the Blu-ray edition.

The story is about the kinship that evolves between a teen surfer and a long-time surfer who takes him under his wing and teaches him about waves, surfing, and the way of the land, or I should say ocean. The photography is beautiful, taking viewers into the curl and on top of the waves.

Rick (Matt Adler), an artist, has grown up surfing in a wave pool in Arizona. After winning the local championship, he thinks he is good enough to tackle the waves in Hawaii. So off he goes, very naively, to Oahu where he thinks he can fit in with the rest of the surfers. He has no idea that surfing in a real ocean, let alone the big waves on the North Shore, is quite different from the surfing pool back home. He immediately learns that haolies, aka outsiders, are not welcome among the local gang of surfers. Turtle (John Philbin) is well connected and takes pity on the newcomer and befriends him. He knows the way of the islands and works at the local shape shack of Chandler (Gregory Harrison) who makes boards. His boards are the top of the line.

With the Banzai Pipeline competition around the corner, Rick decides he is ready for the challenge but he is in for a rude awakening. Chandler gives him room and board in exchange for Rick’s art expertise designing a new logo for the surfboards. Chandler has been surfing the big waves his whole life and knows all the ins and outs of how the waves break, etc. Soon he is teaching Rick, who becomes his protégé.

The thing about Rick is that the hotshot shredding of some of the pros impresses him. That is not what Chandler is all about. He is a soul surfer who surfs for the love of the sport, not with the intention of showing off or winning contests. Winning is not what soul surfers are in it for. They are only in it for the surfing. That is a lesson that Rick learns. Does he want to be a “shredder” or a “soul surfer?”

While in Oahu for the summer, Rick meets a local Hawaiian named Kiani (Nia Peeples). Their friendship turns into a full-blown romance. Will it keep him from returning to the mainland in the fall to attend art school? Will the lure of Hawaii and the big waves change his mind about becoming a professional artist and will he decide to try his luck at becoming a professional surfer?

The relationship between Chandler and Rick is touching. It is the heart of the film.

On a bonus feature Gregory Harrison acknowledges that his character of Chandler is the most like his real self. He grew up in Catalina and is still an avid surfer today. The bonus feature also reveals that the role of Kiani was recast and all her scenes were reshot with Peeples in the role. An alternate ending shows the original actor in the part, and it is no wonder that Peeples was cast to replace her. Also, the alternate ending is not as satisfying and enjoyable as the one that was ultimately used.

The movie features appearances by wave legends Gerry Lopez and Laird Hamilton and World Champions Shaun Tomson, Derek Ho and Mark Occhilupo. North Shore is a classic for fans of surfing and they who know every line. Move over Gidget and Moondoggie, Chandler and Rick are on the waves now!

North Shore is rated PG.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club and the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.

In the same way Disney/Pixar Inside Out examined what goes on within a person, the new film Soul looks at what goes on with our souls before we are born and after we die. This is an interesting look at life itself, with Jamie Foxx and Tina Fey supplying the voices for the two main characters in this inspiring animated film.

When Joe (Foxx), a school music teacher, finally lands an opportunity to play jazz with a famous quartet, he is over the moon. This is his big chance. His whole life is about jazz. Unfortunately, Joe has an accident before the show, aka gig, and his soul winds up on its way to “The Great Beyond.” Joe resists this transformation and insists on going back to his body so he can take his big chance at playing professionally.

Joe’s soul causes a bit of a problem in the other world and he gets transported to “The Great Before.” This is the place where souls are formed before they go to earth to be born in bodies. Personalities are formed here. But Joe doesn’t care about any of this. He just wants to go back to his own body.

He meets 22 (Fey) who has been a soul without a body forever. She resists everyone who tries to give her a “spark” so that she can be born. She just wants to stay in “The Great Before” and not go to earth.

Things go awry again for Joe when he finally finagles his way back to earth along with 22. The thing is, Joe’s soul gets placed in a cat and 22 gets put into Joe’s body. That’s where their experience discovering about life really begins. Joe and 22 both learn a lot and in the end, well, this is a Disney/Pixar film after all, so in the end all is right with the world.

The movie comes in a DVD, a Blu-ray/DVD/Digital, and a 4K version. The Blu-ray and 4K versions include an entire additional disc with plenty of bonus features. Because the film deals with a world that no one can describe, the filmmakers had to create both “The Great Before” and the way station where souls enter “The Great Beyond.” In other words, as they say, they had to “visualize the unvisualizeable.”

The studio took on this ambitious movie. Producing an animated film about the meaning of life was unique. They used their creativity to invent their vision of where we came from. “The Great Before” is really a beautiful place filled with adorable little “noob” souls that are being prepared for life.

Another bonus looks at the sound and music in the film. And jazz musicians discuss what music means to them: expression, feeling, healing, emotion, etc.  There is an interesting look at and explanation of how an animated film gets made with some fun deleted scenes that just didn’t make it into the final film.

And with Covid taking over the planet, the final weeks of production were undertaken from the various homes of the filmmakers. That was a challenging way to work but they managed to finish with a wonderful film that has garnered plenty of praise from viewers and critics. Yes, it is deep, as far as the message is concerned. But it is also visually entertaining. And it will remind us to “live every minute” of life. “The Great Beyond” might just be an illusion created by Pixar. We just don’t know. So we should live every day to the fullest.

Soul is rated PG for thematic elements and some language.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club and the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.

The classic film The Ten Commandments is now available on 4K Ultra High Definition Blu-ray, which makes a big difference when viewing this epic film. The story of Moses is timeless. Commemorating the 65^th anniversary of Cecil B. De Mille’s wonderful film is this release on 4K HD, which includes the stunning 4K disc along with two Blu-ray discs for parts one and two.

Charleston Heston’s performance of Moses is looked at as one of the best portrayals of a biblical icon, and the best portrayal of Moses. Throughout the rest of his life Heston was pretty much synonymous with Moses that is how much the film has been revered over the years.

The bonus features include commentary by Katherine Orrison who wrote “Written in Stone: Making Cecil B. De Mille’s Epic The Ten Commandments.” The 4K disc has the Ultra High Definition version of the movie. One Blu-ray disc includes part one of the film in the High Definition and the second Blu-ray disc includes part two. There is a bonus feature with the New York premiere showing footage that was taken during that event. It’s quite entertaining to see the glamorous stars arriving for this event. Movie trailers are also included.

The final bonus feature is a “making of” short that was meant as a trailer in the past. This is an interesting look at the production and the story of Moses. De Mille explains how some artists have portrayed Moses with horns, however the Hebrew word from the Bible also means rays of light and many artists have portrayed Moses with beautiful rays of light coming out of his head. As De Mille says, there was a “lifetime between the baby in the basket” and Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. Though these years are excluded from the Bible, the filmmakers had to research historic documents to fill in those eventful years. In this 10-minute short, the various characters are introduced and De Mille said they filmed the movie “on the very ground that Moses walked.” For this filmmaker, Moses’ life is “one of the greatest adventure stories.” This 10-minute short is a great introduction to the story of Moses and the Exodus.

The Ten Commandments stars an impressive array of actors from the past: Charlton Heston, Yul Brynner, Anne Baxter, Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, Martha Scott, Cedric Hardwicke, John Derek, Debra Paget, Vincent Price, John Carradine, Yvonne De Carlo, and many more. This is a great film for family viewing.

The Ten Commandments is rated G. This 4K version is spectacular.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club and the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.

Earwig and the Witch is another fantasy story from Studio Ghibli. At its center is a well-meaning and wise little girl.

Earwig is left at the door of an orphanage when she is just a tot. The note accompanying her explains that her mother is a witch and is running from other witches and will return for her sometime in the future. She is renamed Ericka by the head of the orphanage and the little girl grows up happy. Why isn’t she happy? After all, everyone there does whatever she wants. And she is a kind little girl.

One day a strange couple adopts her, even though she says she does not want to leave. She discovers the woman, Bella, is a witch and only wants her for an extra pair of hands. Earwig agrees to work hard if Bella will teach her spells. The Mandrake is the head of the house and never wants to be disturbed. This is a strange and upsetting place however Earwig accepts the challenge and goes to work.

After awhile she is tired of being treated like a slave and along with the talking cat named Thomas, decides to create some magic to reverse the situation.

When Earwig was left at the orphanage there was a cassette with her. This tape contains a song that Earwig plays and soon discovers it is magical. Life then turns around for Earwig.

Included on the Blu-ray disc is a full-length storyboard layout of the film complete with audio. It provides viewers a peek inside how animated films are created. Another bonus feature (in Japanese with English subtitles) is a look at how the film came to be, what the filmmakers thought about the story and the characters, how music plays an important part in the film, and more. The movie is taken from the novel by Diana Wynne Jones. The story of this clever little girl who faces darkness but turns it into light caught the attention of Studio Ghibli. Kids might want to search for the novel to read the story themselves.

While this is not the best movie from Studio Ghibli, it is entertaining, and Earwig is a delightful character. Earwig and the Witch is their latest film.

Other films from Studio Ghibli

• When Marnie Was There
• The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
• The Wind Rises
• From Up on Poppy Hill
• Arrietty
• Ponyo
• Tales from Earthsea
• Howl’s Moving Castle
• The Cat Returns
• Spirited Away
• My Neighbors the Yamadas
• Princess Mononoke
• Whisper of the Heart
• Pom Pom
• Ocean Waves

Earwig and the Witch is rated PG for some scary images and rude material. The DVD is available April 6, 2021 and Digital platforms March 23, 2021.

About the Author

Francine Brokaw has been covering all aspects of the entertainment industry for over 25 years. She also writes about products and travel. She has been published in national and international newspapers and magazines as well as Internet websites. She has written her own book, Beyond the Red Carpet The World of Entertainment Journalists, from Sourced Media Books, is the entertainment correspondent for Good Day Orange County, and has her own TV show, Beyond the Red Carpet, on Village Television in Orange County. She is a longstanding member of the Los Angeles Press Club and the Television Critics Association and is accredited by the MPAA.