New to Blu: January 18-24

Critics were divided over the HD benefits of the comedy, Friends With Benefits.

“This is a very disappointing presentation of material that should have been HD eye candy,” argued High-Def Digest.

“The only area in which Friends With Benefits exceeds is within its colour scheme.”

But Blu-ray.com found it more user-friendly: “Friends With Benefits scores a nice looking 1080p Blu-ray transfer from Sony.

“The digital photography doesn’t yield as much character as do film transfers, but this is nevertheless a steady, accurate, and pleasant image.

“It’s noticeably glossy, but not troublesomely or distractingly so.”

Other critics also liked Sony’s transfer of The Zookeeper: “many scenes take place in brightly lit spaces and the zoo practically pops off the screen” (DVD Verdict); “while a tad flat and lifeless, the actual image is excellent” (DVD Talk); “there’s very little wrong with the transfer” (DVD Authority).

But, again, High-Def Digest wasn’t as effusive: “The transfer also comes with strong definition and fine object detailing, but it’s not as sharp as one would expect from a movie shot in HD.”

The rest of the week’s releases largely are divided between back-catalogue westerns (Barquero, Gunfight at Dodge City, Man of the East, Navajo Joe) and direct-to-disc thrillers (Mother’s Day, Born to Race, The Veteran).

The pick of the latter, Mother’s Day, is “immaculate for the most part”.

There’s also a re-issue of Halloween as well as the documentary, The Doors — Mr Mojo Risin’: The Story of LA Woman.