Blu Tuesday is a weekly column where we review the newest Blu-ray and 4K releases, along with a brief rundown of the included bonus material, to determine whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping.
Pick of the Week: “Top Gun: Maverick”
Tom Cruise might be the last real movie star on the planet. His dedication to making massive, spectacle-driven blockbusters — the kind best experienced with an audience on the big screen — is something to be admired. He really seems to care, and it shows, perhaps no more so than in this decades-in-the-making sequel to the 1986 original. Though “Top Gun: Maverick” contains a lot of winks and nods to that film (more than is probably necessary), the movie seems to flourish off that nostalgia, paying respect to its predecessor while also surpassing it in virtually every way. The main cast are all solid in their roles (especially Cruise, Miles Teller and Glen Powell), while the fighter jet sequences are exhilarating to watch, setting the film apart from other blockbusters with its incredible in-camera stunts. “Top Gun: Maverick” isn’t without its flaws, but in a year that hasn’t offered cinemagoers much to get excited about, it’s one of the most purely entertaining films thus far.
Extras include a behind-the-scenes look at making the movie, a 45-minute masterclass with Cruise from the 2022 Cannes Film Festival and more. FINAL VERDICT: BUY
Also Out This Week:
“In the Mood for Love” — Wong Kar-Wai’s 2000 romantic drama “In the Mood for Love” is arguably one of the director’s most acclaimed films, yet it’s one that I’ve never been able to fully enjoy due to a frustrating and largely uneventful narrative that moves at a snail’s pace. With that said, there’s so much to like about the film from a technical and performance standpoint that it’s impossible to discount it completely. Hong Kong stalwarts Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung deliver excellent work as the star-crossed lovers, while frequent Wong collaborator Christopher Doyle fills the frame with some absolutely gorgeous cinematography and compositions that give the movie a painterly quality that is almost dreamlike. Though Wong has better films to his name (including my personal favorite “Chungking Express”), it’s hard not to admire “In the Mood for Love” for what it accomplishes with so little. Extras include a making-of documentary, a 2001 interview with Wong, deleted scenes with optional director commentary, a new essay by novelist Charles Yu and more. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
Disclosure: Bullz-Eye was provided a copy of the above titles for review purposes.
