Author: Jason Zingale

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 High Note” As one of the first movies to pivot from a theatrical release to video on demand due to the uncertainty surrounding the global pandemic, Nisha Ganatra’s “The High Note” actually benefits quite well from the at-home experience. It’s the kind of light and fluffy crowd-pleaser that is best viewed curled up on a sofa with your significant other, and…

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: “His Dark Materials: The Complete First Season” Based on the popular fantasy series by Philip Pullman, “His Dark Materials” doesn’t come close to filling the massive gap left by “Game of Thrones,” but it’s yet another well-made HBO drama that should appeal to both fans of the books and those unfamiliar with Pullman’s work. Though the story is pretty dense — it…

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: “Marriage Story” It’s hard not to wonder how much of “Marriage Story” is based on writer/director Noah Baumbach’s own marriage to actress Jennifer Jason Leigh — there are some obvious similarities throughout — but setting aside the potentially autobiographical nature of the story, the movie serves as an intimately raw, honest and heartrending look at what it’s like to go through a…

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: “Clueless” It’s hard to believe that it’s been 25 years since Amy Heckerling’s “Clueless” arrived in theaters, not only because it makes me feel incredibly old but because it still holds up really well. Loosely based on Jane Austin’s Regency-set comedy of errors “Emma,” “Clueless” is by far one of the best modern-day takes on classic literature, especially considering that it came…

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: “Watchmen” The prospect of a “Watchmen” TV series was equally exciting and worrisome. Though there’s plenty of room to expand upon the pages of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s groundbreaking graphic novel, as well as an appetite for more stories from that world, the risks seemed to outweigh the potential rewards. The end product falls somewhere in the middle; it’s better than…

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 Invisible Man” Back in 2017, Universal announced its grand plans to create a shared cinematic universe based on its roster of classic movie monsters, only for the idea to quickly fizzle out after the disappointing performance of “The Mummy.” Fortunately, that opened the doors for writer/director Leigh Whannell to deliver his own unique take on “The Invisible Man” that uses the…

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: “Onward” There’s no denying that “Onward” is one of Pixar’s lesser films, but considering just how good the studio’s output has been over the past 25 years, that’s kind of like comparing Beatles albums. Despite its minor flaws, “Onward” is a delightful adventure comedy that uses its “Dungeons & Dragons”-inspired backdrop to good effect. It also contains a number of fun set…

“Prince Caspian,” the second installment in C.S. Lewis’ seven-part series dubbed “The Chronicles of Narnia,” might just be the most violent PG movie ever made. Children wage war by shooting and slashing their way through armies of men, while little CG mice slit the throats of their enemies with the ease of a paintbrush stroke. It’s all pretty dark stuff, which seems to be the unspoken rule in making a sequel these days, and it ultimately results in a trade-off that sees storytelling take a backseat to action. Unlike the other fantasy series that “Narnia” has drawn comparisons to, however,…

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: “Birds of Prey” One of the few bright spots of “Suicide Squad” was Margot Robbie’s performance as Harley Quinn, so it’s great to see the manic but bubbly antihero receive her own movie, even if she has to share the screen with yet another group of underdeveloped characters. Though Ewan McGregor is clearly enjoying every minute as the film’s antagonist, and Jurnee…

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 Rhythm Section” Director Reed Morano created quite the calling card with her work on the first three episodes of Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” establishing a visual style that became an integral part of the show’s success, so it’s unfortunate that her feature-length debut is such a disappointment. Based on the 1999 novel of the same name, “The Rhythm Section” is a…