Super-Sized Top Ten: Aaron’s Spectacular Blu-ray Picks For 2019
“Next year I’ll narrow it down a little more.” Yeah, that’s what happened… Okay, so I thought I was going to make a simpler top ten Blu-ray list this year, but there’s a lot out there to enjoy, and I, apparently, just find it easier to go overboard. As it stands, Why So Blu’s Brian, Brandon, and Adam have their 4K setups, and Gerard has his region-free player for some imported choices to check out as well. As usual (see: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018), this list has some rules. I have to have watched the movie for the sake of assessing the video and audio quality. Checking out the special features is essential as well. One last thing, I like to keep films that may appear on my upcoming “Top 10 Films of the Year” list separate from this one. All of this helps keeps this list interesting, and it all comes after plenty of bonus sections. So, here we go!
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Dare to go back when director Mike Flanagan continues the story of Danny Torrance, 40 years after his terrifying stay at the Overlook Hotel in “The Shining” with “Doctor Sleep,” a screenplay based on the novel by Stephen King. Witness “A masterwork of suspense and fear.” (Kylie Mar, Made in Hollywood) on 4K Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD February 4th, 2020 and on Digital January 21st!
Guys… this is it! The last stop! The final installment! The ending to one of the most, if not the most, prolific franchises on this earth! I know I’m being a bit dramatic, but like I said guys… this is it! Since the debut of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) many had speculated where the new sequel trilogy would go? Although upon viewing Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) many figured that the new trilogy would follow suit of the first trilogy, given that the film had “A New Hope” vibes going for it. Many believed that the second installment in the trilogy would be reminiscent of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), which it was, but not in the way everyone expected. Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) was subversive and polarizing which put the new trilogy in an odd position. Despite this conundrum everyone wanted to know what was going to happen knowing that JJ Abrams was going to take back the helm. Well now that we have the scrolling text out of the way let’s take off! 
One of the most heralded comic book mini-series turned graphic novel, Superman: Red Son will make a grand entrance to standard and 4K Blu-ray this March! Originally released as a three-issue series in 2011 from Mark Millar (Kick Ass, Chrononauts), this iteration of the Man of Steel retells the tale of Krypton’s last son landing as an infant not in Kansas, but the Soviet Union. The concept itself opens a whole plethora of paths the story could go and Millar masterfully conducted all of it to satisfying cohesion. Now that the story jumps from the pages of the book onto various high-def home formats.
With the clock ticking down, an NYPD detective is plunged into the midst of a large-scale conspiracy, while trying to bring forth justice in 21 BRIDGES, arriving on Digital February 4, 2020 and Blu-ray™, DVD and On Demand on February 18, 2020 from STXfilms and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Another calendar year has come and gone in the “death of physical media” era we’ve been living in for years upon years now. While I think in the eyes of those of us collectors who prefer ownership, things are still thriving and benefiting us immensely (You SPOIL us, Reverend Entertainment!), 2019 has seen the desire of the big studios’ future plans come more to fruition. At Why So Blu alone, there have seen severe disappointments with announcements of digital only 4K Ultra-HD releases (The Limey, in particular) and new beloved movies only getting a standard Blu-ray release with bare minimum bonus features (Midsommar). On the brighter side, stingy big studios allergic to sub-licensing their catalogs have begun to soften their stance and the unthinkable of Warner Bros, Paramount and Sony (Moreso in terms of allowing new bonus features, something they used to not do) started unloading onto us in 2019. Your move, Lionsgate (The most head scratching and frustrating studio with catalog releases). As I’ve been saying for years, I don’t see a death for physical media ever happening, it’ll just be changing and a smaller output that has standards already have been practiced for almost 10 years now. It’ll evolve to look more like the current state of vinyl records in its future, and that’s okay. The people who are still passionate about putting these out know how to blast excitement into it (I mean, who doesn’t get antsy about the Vinegar Syndrome Black Friday sale every year?). But, enough about the future, let us get to the now, my Top 4K Ultra-HD and Top Blu-ray titles released in the 2019 calendar year. 
Shout Select will release retro classic The Wizard
Happy Holiday, folks! This time of year means the WSB staff opens the floodgates on their top 10’s. While I didn’t experience the treasure trove of films in the theater this year I had hoped for (by quality, not amount), the list of quality Blu-rays was lengthy, but alas, narrow it to ten we must. I did finally experience what WSB-founder Blu-ray Brian has been stating for some time now about Disney Blu-rays. While I absolutely loved Captain Marvel as a film, the audio on its Blu-ray release was incredibly mundane and severely disappointing. Shame on you, Disney. Off the list it went. Rest assured, however, there were plenty of titles clamoring to make our lists and while Captain Marvel on disc was left in the dust, there is more than enough entertainment to fill out ten impressive releases.
The final installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy and (supposedly) the Skywalker Saga comes to an end with fun surprises, spectacular emotional payoffs, and quite a bit of silly retconning in The Rise of Skywalker. Is the latest trip to a galaxy far, far away compromised because of backlash by a small but vocal minority who despised The Last Jedi? Was the full vision of Episode IX cut short the moment Carrie Fisher sadly passed away? Did Disney ever really have a plan? Or maybe it was, as Han says in The Force Awakens, “all of it.” [Note: This review is based on my first viewing. Anyone who knows what a big Star Wars fan I am knows more trips to the theater will inevitably happen. So, as a kind of disclaimer, there was a lot to consider here. Now, let The Rise of Skywalker commence!]
OK, so here’s the thing… I’m kind of, sort of, terrible at this sort of thing. Who can confine themselves to ten of anything? Ten artists. Ten singers. Ten favorite foods… Ten of anything seems like a lot but if you’re an over-thinker like myself, chances are ten is never enough. There’s always that one more something that becomes the “might have been” on the list! With this, my first top-ten list for this absolutely amazing website, I have been going over my choices day by day and have decided to try my very best to contain myself and even as you read this list published now, I’m thinking of whether or not I need to go back and revise… I kid you not, ten is just not enough! I am so excited that 2019 was yet another step in the right direction for film fans who love physical media and this year’s huge amount of 4K Blu-rays have been wonderfully varied and so many amazingly done releases have come out for us to cherish, critique and revisit. I’ve done my best to compile my favorites and hope I have some of you saying “Absolutely!” And others saying “I’ll have to check that one out!” Enjoy!
Bombshell is a film I’m only here for because of the 3 leading women, most notably 
From producer James Cameron and director Tim Miller (Deadpool), comes “the Terminator movie we’ve been waiting for” (Scott Menzel, We Live Entertainment). TERMINATOR: DARK FATE arrives two weeks early on Digital January 14, 2020 and on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD January 28 from Paramount Home Entertainment. 
Next March, John M. Stahl’s singular Hollywood masterpiece Leave Her to Heaven– a stunning Technicolor melodrama infused with the darkness of film noir and graced with a chilling performance by Gene Tierney- will join the Criterion Collection, making its Blu-ray debut in a new 2K restoration. Spike Lee’s provocative satire Bamboozled, a scathing indictment of racism in American pop culture, will also appear on Blu-ray for the first time. Irene Dunne and Paul Robeson star in James Whale’s beloved screen version of Show Boat, Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern’s classic American musical, featuring Robeson’s soul-shaking rendition of “Ol’ Man River.” Director-producer-star Barbra Streisand’s The Prince of Tides, an emotionally wrenching adaptation of Pat Conroy’s best-selling novel, will appear in a new 4K restoration. And that’s not all: the Maysles brothers’ Direct Cinema classic Salesman and Mikhail Kalatozov’s visually exhilarating Soviet-cinema landmark The Cranes Are Flying will arrive on Blu-ray, newly restored.
Ad Astra is a film I purposely avoided in the theater.
So I went to see Richard Jewell (2019) earlier this week. I remember seeing the trailer a month ago or so and being pretty intrigued by the premise of the film. What attracted me the most was the fact that the film was based on a true story… A true story I was unaware of, given that I was about 6 years old at the time that it came about. That aside I was along for the ride and eager to see how the whole thing would turn out. So without further ado lets get into it! 
What started out as merely a Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff collection has pivoted into a pretty swell, and less limited, release line for Scream Factory. That original release became the Universal Horror Collection which has now spawned 4 volumes (The fourth coming in 2020), featuring various films that aren’t captured under the “Classic Monster” banner. Films, actors, directors and effects artists that all deserve their due on Blu. Volume 3 sees a more all-star lineup (In terms of casting) that feels a bit of a rebound after Volume 2’s Lionel Atwill heavy set. This third in the collection features Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Vincent Price, Lon Chaney Jr., Basil Rathbone and Lionel Atwill (Again!). Any classic horror hound would love to probably have this as a gift, so make sure you lock one in using our paid link for next week’s release (December 17th) and swoop in with the ultimate surprise gift this holiday season.
