Blu Tuesday: “Wednesday” and More

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: “Wednesday: Season One”

Alfred Gough and Miles Miller have previous experience with taking an existing IP and turning it into a successful teen drama (“Smallville”), so the duo’s Gen Z reimagining of “The Addams Family” should come as no surprise. The show itself is a bit of a mixed bag. Though it starts out as an obnoxiously one-note high school drama that wouldn’t feel out of place on the CW, it gradually improves over the course of the season as the writers are forced to develop the title character beyond her monochrome personality. But while Jenna Ortega delivers great work as Wednesday, the rest of the young actors are awful, save for Emma Meyers as Wednesday’s bubbly roommate, Enid. In spite of that, “Wednesday” is a lot more enjoyable than its early episodes would suggest, thanks in part to some fun supporting turns from Gwendolyn Christie and Christina Ricci, though your mileage will vary depending on your tolerance for cringey teen melodrama. FINAL VERDICT: RENT

Also Out This Week:

“Saint Omer” — Based on the true story of a Senegalese-French woman who was convicted of murdering her 15-month-old daughter in 2013, documentary filmmaker Alice Diop’s narrative debut sounds great on paper but never really comes to life in the way that you’d hope. The procedural drama is comprised largely of bone-dry court scenes where it feels like the characters are reading from a transcript of the actual case, exhibiting such little emotion that it’s difficult to connect with either of the two main characters. Kayije Kagame’s literature professor spends most of the film simply observing the proceedings from within the courtroom, and while Diop attempts to draw parallels between Kagame’s character and Guslagie Malanda’s defendant, the link is tenuous at best. “Saint Omer” isn’t a complete failure, but by the time Diop finally arrives at the point of the story in its final moments, you’d be forgiven for having already checked out. Extras include a series of interviews and conversations with Diop, as well as an essay by film critic Jennifer Padjemi. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP

Disclosure: Bullz-Eye was provided a copy of the above titles for review purposes.