BRANDON’S Top 10 Blu-ray And Top 10 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray For 2021!
The year comes to a close in a matter of days, so that means its time break out the obligatory end of year/best of/top 10 of things from 2021. This year saw a nice surge in titles coming to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray, ending the year with Criterion FINALLY getting on board and getting involved in a big way to launch. Up front, time has not been something I’ve had much of in the past few weeks, so I’ll be delivering both my Top 10 standard Blu-ray list and my Top 10 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray lists via my 4K BLUsday method – on video! For those who like to read, As much as I appreciate your love of the typed word, my digits didn’t have it in them this year for that. I’ll provide you a cheat sheet below the video, but if you watch the video you’ll receive my reasoning for each choice. Thanks, as always, for indulging me!
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Time to dive back into the machine world, as The Matrix Resurrections opens this weekend in theaters and on HBO Max (for 31 days). Two decades after computer programmer Thomas Anderson followed the white rabbit, solo director Lana Wachowski (Lilly is not involved) and several key members of the original cast have returned. They’re older, wiser, and still quite knowledgeable of kung fu. Shot during COVID, this is the last major film of the year from Warner Bros. Keanu Reeves is sporting his John Wick look, but can he still do his Superman thing? How will newcomers like Neil Patrick Harris, Jessica Henwick, and Jonathan Groff fare in the virtual world of green ones and zeros? Surely, Carrie-Anne Moss can still outrace any agent on her Ducati, right? One thing’s for sure: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II certainly looks like the best Morpheus cosplayer ever.
We’re all ready for the end of another crazy year. It’s mind-blowing to me as I get older just how quickly time passes. Things fleet right past me and I just wonder how things went so fast. Even now, I’m kind of blown away that I purchased and watched nearly 100 4K titles this year. This is saying a lot and made for a very interesting choosing style for this year’s 4K top ten. I made a list – funnily enough, I made a long list then broke it down into one comprehensive list. Yes, it took days… but I’m loving the variety and am so excited to share this with you all!
Here we are about to wrap a bow on 2021 and some things have certainly improved from twelve months ago while some of this all feels the same. One aspect which hasn’t changed is the unfaltering delivery of our shows, our films and our comic books to dodge and parry the current norm. We’ve all still managed to find our escapes through these various media, and not only that, but some have gone beyond just good entertainment or solid reads. Some, such as the comic books you’re about to become acquainted with, rose to that tier for one reason or another. We can agree, we can disagree, but we can all be entertained by them.
West Side Story, the second filmed adaptation of the Tony award-winning Broadway musical, is, shockingly, legendary filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s first full foray into the world of singing and dancing. Besides a USO number in 1941 and that time Kate Capshaw belted a mostly Mandarin “Anything Goes” in the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom opener, the Spielberg-verse has been sorely lacking in show-tunes. Finally, two decades into the 21st century, we’re being treated to an outright stunner of a picture featuring songs many know by heart and a story that’s both timeless and timely. Starring Ansel Elgort alongside newcomers Rachel Zelger, Ariana Debose, and Mike Feist. Rita Moreno, who won Best Supporting Actress in the 1961 original, also returns in a different but no less important role. The gang’s all here, so why not feel pretty instead of making with a rumble? Faithful, invigorating, and at the top of the heap when it comes to pure filmmaking, West Side Story is one of the year’s best films.
It’s been 8 years since I published my first Blu-ray Wishlist article during my first year writing here at Why So Blu. In 2013, I decided to take something always on my brain and put it to text. From DVD to Blu-ray, late in their life, I have always been curious on just what films haven’t made the jump to the format. Not every theatrical film made it to VHS, BetaMax or CED. Even less made it to Laserdisc. And not every film on VHS made it to DVD. And it only continues to shrink from there. As many a cool release or double dip upgrade comes out on a title we love, so many are still missing. So many fans of those films continually waiting for a picture improvement from whatever format they currently cling to. The purpose for it was to have fun and see what other people would be wanting or bring to my attention that I hadn’t realized was missing. I even had too big of eyes and attempted it as a weekly series in 2014, but quickly realized I’m probably better suited for it as an annual piece. At the end of the day, it created an awareness and sometimes the distributors did indeed take note. Shout! Factory once responded to one of Twitter that they had attempted one of the titles I listed but were not successful. 
House of Gucci is the second film this year by legendary director Ridley Scott. The filmmaker is 83 years old and, like Taylor Swift, who turns 32 next month, has absolutely shamed my lazy butt during the pandemic. Imagine the fortitude to complete two epic-sized features (or, in Swift’s case, two Grammy-nominated albums and two more because #lifegoals) with an impressive roster of A-list talent. The true story of the Gucci empire through the turbulent seventies up to the nineties stars Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Salma Hayek, and Jared Leto. The latter is unrecognizable under tons of makeup and ugly corduroy suits. Sadly, although the soundtrack includes George Michael, the Eurythmics, and Blondie, Swift’s tracks are absent because, well, she hadn’t been born for most of the story’s run time (Then again, Tarantino used David Bowie in his WWII-era flick Inglorious Basterds). Would this award-seeking film about the Italian fashion house earn one star higher if it included a montage of Gaga on the runway while “Bad Blood” played? Definitely. Regardless, Sir Scott had a full plate during COVID, so he can sashay away knowing he’s accomplished a ton.
Opening exclusively in theaters, Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City is the seventh live-action feature based on Capcom’s survival horror videogame series. Sony Pictures is relaunching a movie version just in time for the 25th anniversary of the Umbrella Corporation’s unhealthy obsession with turning the citizens of Raccoon City into zombies. Unlike the Milla Jovovich-led films by Paul W.S. Anderson, which grossed over 1.2 billion, 2021’s entry is a more faithful adaptation of the first two Resident Evil games. Both debuted on the original PlayStation in the 90s (Resident Evil 2 was recently remade in glorious 4K for the PS4 era). Will Crawl‘s Kaya Scodelario be the big screen Claire Redfield fans have been clamoring for? She definitely has a red leather jacket, so that’s a start, right?
Opening in theaters and streaming on HBO Max (for 30 days) this weekend, King Richard arrives just in time for awards season. The biopic focuses on a crucial three-year span in the lives of Venus and Serena Williams, their mom, their sisters and, the titular king/father played by Will Smith. Warner Bros. hopes to serve up a win with the Academy of Motion Pictures of Arts & Sciences by releasing a feature that critics and audiences alike claim Hollywood too often doesn’t make anymore. The true story about a family from Compton struggling to survive the streets as well as the highly competitive tennis circuit would almost certainly be a bonafide hit in non-pandemic times. As it stands, WB should be more than satisfied that, regardless of the box office receipts, they’ve delivered one of the best family dramas in years. As for Smith, a third Best Actor nomination, if not a win, is undoubtedly in his future.
After several delays due to COVID, Sony Pictures is finally releasing director Jason Reitman’s direct follow-up to the Ghostbusters movies from the Reagan era, Ghostbusters: Afterlife. OG ghostbuster Dan Aykroyd had supposedly tried to resurrect the beloved series for decades but could never get a script into an acceptable state for the other cast members, most notably Bill Murray. In 2016, director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) released an all-female remake to theaters. The film was a box office disappointment made worse by fanboys who can be less than gracious towards women trying to play with their toys. For the record, I enjoyed the Kristen Wiig/Melissa McCarthy-led feature as much as the 1984 original. So here we are in 2021 with Ivan Reitman’s Oscar-nominated son, Jason Reitman, attempting to deliver more magic than jokes in a franchise that has had a tough time being relevant in the 21st century. Is this another nostalgia-focused attempt? More of what certain middle-aged dudes have been clamoring for? Not at first, and then, sure.
Spencer stars Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana Frances Spencer. Yes, THAT Diana. Fans of Netflix’s award-winning series, The Crown, will no doubt remember Lady Di having a blast at Buckingham Palace, jamming with her Walkman on roller skates. Pablo Larrain’s indirect follow-up to Jackie, another film about an extremely privileged white woman from another era, is about as far from the good times of that roller skating scene as one can get. More a gothic descent into madness than the fairy tale of the royal family, think Black Sawn, and you’re in the right ballpark. No amount of KFC buckets can hide Diana’s psychological torment on a three-day Christmas getaway at the Sandringham estate in Norfolk, England, in 1991. As a horror fan, a lot of this is right in my wheelhouse. I wonder, though, how such a claustrophobic tale saddled with intentionally unflattering photography will play for anyone expecting a tasteful costume drama. 
In 2019, DC Comics released a six-issue mini-series titled DCEASED, which was, if nothing else, one of the most gripping storylines the publisher has released to date. If it was described to you simply as DC’s most famous super heroes fight zombies, you might immediately revert to the thought of Marvel Zombies. However, this couldn’t be further from the reality of DCEASED in which many DC characters transformed into the undead. Building on that age old notion of the animated post-living, DC now brings us its latest mini-series, DC vs. Vampires.
Wes Anderson’s tenth studio feature, The French Dispatch, opens wide this weekend. Several regulars, such as Bill Murray, and newcomers like Jeffrey Wright fill the screen cover to cover in an unofficial sendup of The New Yorker. The news that Anderson grew up reading the Big Apple staple should shock no one. What might surprise, however, is how the film uses the layout of a magazine to tell multiple stories anthologically. Officially titled, The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun, this is a Wes Anderson film through and through. For better and well, honestly, there is no worse to be had. It’s a delight. 
So the curtain may be closed for this year’s Los Angeles based 
Dune, the much-anticipated epic, based on Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi novel, opens this weekend on the biggest (and smallest) screens in North America. As director Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) has stated in interviews, anyone eager to drink in the vast desert vistas of the planet Arrakis, IMAX is the intended viewing experience. For those less inclined to venture out to theaters just yet, one hopes they at least have a big 4K TV to stream such a ginormous film on HBO Max. The all-star cast includes Timothy Chalamet, Oscar Issac, Rebecca Ferguson, Zendaya, and even Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, just to name a few. If you’re thinking, “HBO? Why isn’t this a series in the vein of Game of Thrones instead of a movie?” Well, for starters, I’d wager signing on the aforementioned cast of A-listers for several seasons of a series would not have been possible. But the real reason? This is big screen entertainment the likes of which Hollywood hasn’t attempted since arguably, Warner Bros’ own The Lord of the Rings trilogy two decades ago. Yes, I love the MCU like everyone else on planet Caladan… I mean Earth, but those movies aren’t even close to the scale of this project. Breathtaking set pieces, political intrigue, and the biggest space worms ever await on Arrakis, Dune, the desert planet… 
