Blu-ray Alert: April 7-13

More than a dozen movies and TV series are being released on Blu-ray a week ahead of New Moon blitzing retailers’ shelves.

Most are due on Wednesday with a couple of niche titles, Metallica: Pour Une Nuit and Terry Fator: Live From Las Vegas, to follow on Friday and Monday respectively.

Peppered among such school holiday essentials as Where the Wild Things Are, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Planet 51 are The Vintner’s Luck, The Time Traveler’s Wife, Looking for Eric and The Informant.

US critics scored Wild Things highly for its audio and video but not its extras whereas Meatballs was acclaimed on all three fronts; Planet 51 earned the worst theatrical reviews but one authoritative site highly recommends the Blu-ray for its flawless video.

If you seeking a more adult-oriented ‘toon, try the Australian-made Mary and Max or $9.99; the former appears to getting an Australasian Blu-ray release ahead of other territories, as is Niki Caro’s The Vintner’s Luck while Looking for Eric is the first Ken Loach movie to bow here on Blu-ray.

The Blu-ray transfer of The Informant may bother some, because of director Steven Soderbergh’s bold visual style, but others applauded it, along with the The Time Traveler’s Wife’s.

Also new this week are the direct-to-DVD releases, the Australian-made Blessed and The Broken, a thriller starring Lena Headey (Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), as well as seasons one and two of Chuck, and eight of Smallville.