New to Blu: April 30-May 6

Videophiles should be happy with the Blu-ray of Philomena, which offers two distinct styles.

“One [is] the predominant clean digital photography representing the modern-day story and the other the significantly grittier and somewhat softer footage capturing the scenes from five decades past. Both look marvellous.”

“Sharpness is very striking throughout the movie, and there are plenty of details to be seen particularly in close-ups.

“Colour is true with realistic flesh tones.”

Star Steve Coogan and screenwriter Jeff Pope “team up for a commentary.

“They spend their fair share of time watching the film, but also toss in some production recall and a stray thought or two on Guinness and whisky.

“It is a solid track for fans of the film.”

August: Osage County “looks incredible … with a beautiful and consistent film-quality transfer.”

“Crisp and clean best describes this stellar 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 effort … that hits all the appropriate benchmarks, but somehow still lacks the wow factor that distinguishes the best transfers.”

“The DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio track is excellent, the biggest boost coming in the form of classic rock tracks by Eric Clapton and Billy Squire.

“Otherwise, this is a dialogue heavy film that sports a strong centre channel.”

Free Birds is the second animated release in two weeks to get a 3D Blu-ray here but not in the US (and one which is being bundled with the 2D version).

“The high definition presentation is brilliantly crisp and well defined, with some great looking rendering of things like bird feathers.”

“The visuals pop to life, with vivid colours and superb depth.

“The smallest visual cues are evident, so every feather on these turkeys is visible.”

“The audio is just as good. The featured audio is an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 that’s as robust as can be, with sound spread naturally across the field and everything mixed so that dialogue is slightly dominant over the music and effects.

Also new are Chicago Fire: Season One, Mrs Browns’ Boys Live: Mrs Brown Rides Again and Grace Jones: Nightclubbing.