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: “The Sheep Detectives”
It would be easy to dismiss “The Sheep Detectives” as nothing more than a cutesy animal movie based solely on the plot synopsis, but that would be a mistake because it’s actually a charming murder-mystery comedy — think “Knives Out” meets “Babe” — that balances its lighthearted premise with some surprising emotional depth. Based on the 2005 novel “Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story” by Leonie Swann and adapted for the screen by Craig Mazin (“The Last of Us,” “Chernobyl”), the film boasts an incredible ensemble cast that includes Hugh Jackman, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Bryan Cranston, Emma Thompson and more. In many ways, the movie feels like a spiritual successor to the aforementioned “Babe” in how it sneakily explores profound themes of grief, loss and mortality through the guise of a kid’s film about talking farm animals. Though it’s not quite as memorable as Chris Noonan’s 1995 classic, “The Sheep Detectives” is an entertaining whodunit for the whole family. FINAL VERDICT: RENT
Also Out This Week:
“Practical Magic” (4K) — Griffin Dunne’s 1998 fantasy drama “Practical Magic” was a critical and box-office failure when it debuted in theaters, so it’s quite surprising that the movie has become a cult favorite (mostly among female audiences) in the years since its release because it hasn’t gotten any better with age. Based on the novel of the same name by Alice Hoffman, “Practical Magic” is an absolute mess of a film that jumps between different genres — from romantic comedy to domestic thriller to supernatural horror, often in the blink of an eye — with no clear direction. The uneven tone and disjointed story make it nearly impossible to get invested, and though Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman do their best with the material provided, the movie is so slow and unexciting that it’s beyond saving. Extras include an audio commentary by Dunne, Bullock, producer Denise Di Novi and composer Alan Silvestri, as well as a pair of behind-the-scenes featurettes. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
Disclosure: Bullz-Eye was provided a copy of the above titles for review purposes.
