New to Blu: July 8-14

Ahoy me hearties! There’s a bounty of new Blu-rays to binge on if the weekend has you shivering more than your timbers.

Home, That Sugar Film and season two of Black Sails are the latest Blu-rays to go on sale here ahead of the the UK and UK while getting an HD makeover are The Other, Audrey Rose and Joan Of Arc: The Messenger (unfortunately, as is the norm in this market for classics, The Other has none of the extras on the US or UK version).

Also out just as their latest seasons go to air are S2 of The Following (“while details are impressive throughout, the transfer falls just short of reference quality thanks again to the fact that the showrunners insist on using mostly natural lighting in the majority of scenes”) and S4 of Falling Skies.

“The Blu-ray release of Falling Skies‘ third season suffered from poor contrast leveling, an unintended product of a misbegotten encode rather than a faithful representation of the showrunners’ intentions.

“Thankfully, The Complete Fourth Season is back on track with a solid 1080p/AVC-encoded video presentation. Black levels often reach the deepest depths and contrast is more vibrant, striking and true to the series’ photography.”

“The Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack gets a major improvement over the heavily compressed Dolby Digital 5.1 track used in the cable and satellite broadcasts, taking full advantage of the increased bandwidth and fidelity of the lossless Dolby TrueHD codec.”

“Project Almanac may be a ‘found footage’ movie, but it at least doesn’t look like one … General details are a great strength. Basic image clarity excels.

“Backgrounds in several key locations reveal accents with pinpoint precision. Facial and clothing textures are spot-on accurate, too.”

“This doesn’t have the grain and low definition ‘lines’ added in to give it an aged look, no it’s pretty consistent with something you’d shoot on, well, your camera.

“While not perfect, colours are bold and bright, detail is precise and save for a few intentional scenes, it’s a pretty darn good-looking transfer.”

“The DTS-HD 5.1 audio has clear dialogue and really shows surround presence during the time travel sequences, which will test the limits of your subwoofer.”

“Captured digitally on the Arri Alexa camera system, Seventh Son arrives on Blu-ray in a stunning AVC-encoded 1080p transfer that replicates how it likely appeared on movie screens during its very brief theatrical run.

“Colours are consistent throughout, although for most of the film are purposely desaturated, with a lean toward grays, blues, and browns.”

“The cinematography alternates from sharp deep focus during CGI-laden action sequences to soft diffusion filters, creating a dreamy haze during more intimate conversations.

“Thankfully, those softer moments don’t lose any of the ultra-fine definition, maintaining excellent visibility and detailing of the surrounding foliage, on the costumes and the revealing facial complexions.”

“No surprise that the 7.1 DTS-HD Master Audio track packs a wallop, given the frequent boisterous sound effects at work.”

Also new are: The Loft, with Kiwi Karl Urban (“showcases a clean, clear image, one that’s mildly flat but that presents a sharp, well defined picture”), Metro Manila (“image depth is very pleasing, but there are areas of minor fluctuations”), Beauty & the Beast, Lupin the Third, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Movie Rebellion, Kill La Kill Volume 05 – Episode 20-25, Freezing Vibration Collection, D-frag! Series Collection and Paul Mccartney – Musicares.