New to Blu: December 19 – January 9

Christopher Robin

➢ “Christopher Robin was beautifully photographed on 35mm and 65mm film by Matthias Koenigswieser, and Disney’s Blu-ray captures it quite nicely in this AVC-encoded 1080p transfer that retains the film’s 2.39:1 aspect ratio … Fine detail is excellent, where even the slight movement of the stuffed animal’s digital hair in the wind comes through with no noticeable compression artifacts. Contrast is also excellent, with deep blacks and milky whites.” — Home Theater Forum.

➢ “Overall sharpness worked well. Virtually no softness materialised, so the movie appeared accurate and concise … Many period pieces opt for subdued palettes, and that was definitely true here. The colours of Robin tended toward a laid-back mix of orange/amber and teal, without much to call vivid. Still, these were fine given the stylistic choices.” — DVD Movie Guide.

Smallfoot

” This is a high-quality video presentation that boasts inviting colours that are rich in saturation and bold in depth. Detail is superlative as the video has excellent dimensionality with crisp texture and fine articulation. Contrast is strong and well balanced so that whites are crisp without distortion or loss of detail. Blacks are deep with excellent dynamic and enriching gradational highlights. This is a beautiful and pristine quality digital transfer that sparkles on Blu-ray.” — AVS Forum.

➢ “Warner’s 1080p AVC-encoded transfer retains the film’s original theatrical aspect ratio of 2.40:1, and is, in a word, fantastic. Colours are bold and vivid, with lots of pop where necessary. Detail is strong … Contrast is excellent, with deep blacks and crisp whites with no noticeable crushing or clipping.” — Home Theater Forum.

The Nun

➢ “Warner’s 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray represents the film’s imagery to good advantage, contrasting the brightness outside the doomed abbey (and elsewhere in the world) to the perpetually dim corridors, chambers and catacombs within. Sharpness and detail are excellent, except in the dim shadows where deadly spirits lurk, and there the reduced shadow detail intentionally obscures threats until they burst fully into view.” — Blu-ray.com.

➢ “Because sound effects and loud music are the source of most of the ‘jump’ moments, care has been taken to get these right. On the Atmos track, dialogue is crisp and there’s tremendous bass in the frightening scenes. There’s a good balance between dialogue and ambient sound, especially in the early scenes, in which wind, echoes in the large abbey, and footsteps add nice atmospheric touches.” — The Digital Bits.

Searching

➢ “The visual style of this film is less traditional and appeared to be digitally sourced. Images are lucid, with crisp definition, gratifying levels of colour, stable contrast and punchy blacks. The simulated lower resolution camera footage was noticeably softer but, was certainly clear enough to get the job done.” — AVS Forum.

➢ “While the extras aren’t copious, they are vital: this is a movie anyone with cinematic inclinations will have lots of questions about, and nearly all are answered in the three featurettes (one of which seems to be a digital exclusive) and commentary track … Searching will reward many rewatches, but even the casual viewer who doesn’t need to pick up every detail will appreciate at least a second screening, once you know how the mystery has unfolded, to see how well it was seeded.” — Forbes.

● Also new on Blu-ray are Johnny English Strikes Again, Ladies in Black, The Bombing and, on December 26, The House With a Clock in Its Walls, while winning a 4K-UHD re-issue ahead of next year’s live-action re-make is The Lion King.