Summer is the time when the biggest movies of the year come to theaters, so staying home with a Blu-ray or digital movie may not be on your mind. After all, now is about the time when movies from the beginning of the year are coming home, and January/February movies just aren’t much to celebrate. But there are always a few that stand out though, and this month also saw the release of a few notable festival hits and classic catalog titles, as well as a legendary TV series.
So as always, here we are, with are Crave’s picks for the top 10 Blu-rays and digital movies (and TV) of the month.
Fred Topel is a staff writer at CraveOnline. Follow him on Twitter at @FredTopel.
The Top 10 Blu-rays and Digital Movies of June 2015
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10. Sleepaway Camp II and III
Ah, the ‘80s, when straight to video movies were still shot on film. Both of these Sleepaway Camp sequels were made at the same time but released a year apart, so it’s no surprise that they look the same on Blu-ray. Film grain is good and when the camp is bright and sunny it looks clear and colorful. Of course, a lot of Sleepaway Camp movies take place in the dark when bad stuff is happening. You’ll have to settle for a little digital noise and some image flickering, but it’s nothing to do with whether the footage is daytime or nighttime. It’s just the best they can do with what’s available. Check out the VHS quality workprint of Sleepaway III in the bonus features to see how good we have it now.
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9. Project Almanac
This teenage time travel movie isn’t a visual showcase, but it looks fine on Blu-ray. It would look better if it weren’t found footage, with an extra jittery camera during the time travel scenes, but the regular old scene work is clear. Some of the visual effects show off high definition details, mainly because they manipulate mundane locations, not like flying DeLoreans. The alternate endings provided include some interesting different directions the film could have taken. One was clearly a mistake but one I may have even liked better than the actual theatrical ending.
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8. Chappie
happie had a number of problems, mostly narrative, but the visuals were not one of them. On Blu-ray, Chappie is a bright multicolored potpourri. It’s not dissimilar to the look of District 9 and Elysium, although it has more outlandish characters thanks to Die Antwoord’s lead roles. The Chappie robot itself looks stunning. You never doubt that it is a real character and Shartlo Copley’s performance hits all the notes, even the misguided ones. Waiting until Blu-ray with low expectations makes me a little more forgiving of Chappie as a movie. The ending is so bonkers I sort of have to admire that it’s the ending of a Hollywood movie, whether it’s appropriate or not.
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7. Run All Night
Run All Night is not a pretty film. The underbelly of New York City is shown, when the actual people who don’t sleep rule the night. Even though there are bright lights and slick streets, it’s about as unglamorous as a mainstream studio film could probably get. I mean, this isn’t a scathing documentary but it’s an aesthetic that’s distinct. I think the CGI zooms across the city look ridiculous, but as long as we’re watching real New York locations, it’s a textured location against which the action can explode.
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6. Focus
Since it came out on June 2, I had to tell you about the Focus Blu-ray last month to give you the heads up it was a worthwhile purchase or rental. But since it is a June release, it still warrants inclusion on this month’s list, and now I can tell you how the Focus digital copy looks too. The noirish underbelly of New Orleans and Buenos Aires holds up equally well on digital, as does the lavish party atmosphere of both locations. The digital version might not be quite as gritty, as HD Blu-ray has a bit more specific details, but that might just be part of the con. While you’re analyzing the difference between Blu-ray and digital, they’re stealing your wallet.
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5. The Wire
Likewise, for a TV on Blu-ray release the magnitude of The Wire, I jumped the gun and included a preview of the June 2 release in May. Now I can take a look at the digital copies. I was hesitant to say too much about the digital noise, as it’s to be expected of a TV show that began in the ‘90s, but the digital versions seem to minimize that. It’s at the cost of smoothing out some of the show’s intentionally rough edges, but it still looks great in HD. Either version is cropped to make a 16 x 9 frame, so in this case you might prefer the digital versions that hide some of the seams of that process.
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4. Vanilla Sky
Spoiler alert for Vanilla Sky because my technical review of the Blu-ray relates to the film’s twist. By now it’s pretty well known, but just in case, spoiler warning. Vanilla Sky looks stark on Blu-ray, which is a surprise to me given the dreamlike quality the film portrays. It makes sense for the first half when we’re seeing real events, but even when the sky goes vanilla and other surreal things happen, the aesthetic doesn’t change drastically. It still works seeing those scenes in stark, natural colors with visible film grain, it’s just unexpected. Two new bonus features on this Blu-ray release are quick and interesting. Mask tests show alternate versions of Tom Cruise’s mask and remind us of when they had to test the appearance of costumes on film and wait for it be developed to see what looked good. A Kurt Russell single take shows the actor doing his rooftop scene, breaking, but getting back into it. Cameron Crowe provides commentary on both short featurettes and the previous DVD content is still included.
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3. Apollo 13
The 20th Anniversary of Apollo 13 earned it a new, restored high definition transfer. The 15th Anniversary Blu-ray is already vague in my mind but I recall it being a little grainier and not as sharp. Or maybe now that I own Gravity I’m just that much more of a space movie connoisseur. On its own, this transfer of Apollo 13 looks great. Space looks real, or as real as movies have led us to believe. Inside the shuttle, the details get increasingly more tense as the failing craft begins to bubble and frost over. It’s not just space though, the stuff on the ground looks like the ‘60s (technically 1970 but they hadn’t gotten around to leisure suits yet). Part of this is probably due to shooting on old school film and composing the scenes for the format, but it stands out 20 years later. And who would have thought it would be so poignant to hear James Horner’s glorious score this month?
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2. Wild Tales
The breakout hit of Telluride, and subsequently TIFF and AFI Fest, looks great on Blu-ray with seven distinct shorts, each of them with its own look. The road rage short looks like a Mad Max movie, while the parking ticket has a cool blue tint to match the bureaucratic cityworks motif. The finale is a lavish wedding party, with gaudy flashing lights to boot. Bonus features include a Toronto Q&A in English and a Spanish language behind the scenes piece with some of writer/director Damian Szifron’s concept sketches in beautiful HD color as well.
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1. Spring
One of my favorite movies of Fantastic Fest, Spring was released by Drafthouse Films and it has now been put out on Blu-ray. It looks great in HD, primarily because the Italian settings would look great in any format, even VHS. The picture is sharp and clear, but the color does not seem enhanced in any way because it doesn’t need to be. The brick streets and coastal farmlands just look like that already. When there are makeup and visual effects in those natural settings, they look real enough to belong there. Bonus features also reflect directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead’s sense of humor, with some self-deprecating deleted and alternate scenes including their irreverent comments.
