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: “Relay”
Director David Mackenzie has made some great films over the past decade or so, especially 2016’s “Hell or High Water” and 2013’s “Starred Up,” so it’s somewhat surprising that his latest feature has managed to fly so far under the radar. An old-school conspiracy thriller about a man who works as a fixer for corporate whistleblowers, “Relay” features a unique twist on its otherwise formulaic premise by having its protagonist communicate through a phone-relay service for the deaf as a means of protecting his identity. It’s not something that I’ve ever seen in a movie before, and it brings a real freshness to the proceedings… only for all that good work to be washed away by a last-act twist that undermines everything that came before it. “Relay” is a tense and clever conspiracy thriller up until that point, led by a strong lead performance by Riz Ahmed, but unfortunately, it doesn’t stick the landing. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
Also Out This Week:
“Smurfs” — Chris Miller’s 2026 iteration of the Smurfs is the third time in only 14 years that Sony has tried to build a franchise around the blue-skinned creatures, and at this point, it’s beginning to look a little desperate. Though the studio had some box office success with 2011’s “The Smurfs” and its 2013 sequel, neither film was any good, and it’s only gone downhill from there. Most kids these days have never even heard of the Smurfs before, which makes the decision to produce yet another Smurfs movie all the more bewildering, as there doesn’t appear to be an actual target audience for the film. Watching “Smurfs” is what I imagine a lobotomy would feel like — it’s truly that awful — though if nothing else, at least it serves as a warning against the kind of soulless, IP-driven slop that Hollywood has become far too comfortable releasing these days. Extras include a collection of behind-the-scenes featurettes and a pair of music videos. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” — Adapted from the 1972 children’s novel by Barbara Robinson, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” isn’t as cheesy as most faith-based films, but it’s still a relatively shallow Christmas movie that seems less interested in spreading holiday cheer than serving as a Christian recruitment video. The unruly kids at the center of the story are treated more like props than actual characters — their bad behavior is constantly excused because they’re (gasp) poor, while none of the supposedly good Christian families who get involved seem to care about the whereabouts or well-being of the children’s parents. All they care about is that it makes them feel good about themselves, inadvertently exposing the superficiality of Christianity as a religion. It’s a massive self-own that director Dallas Jenkins obviously didn’t intend, and that alone would be enough to disqualify the film if it also weren’t so poorly made. Extras include an audio commentary by Jenkins and producer Kevin Downes, as well as behind-the-scenes look at making the movie, deleted scenes, a blooper reel and more. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
Disclosure: Bullz-Eye was provided a copy of the above titles for review purposes.
