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Blu-ray Today: G.I. Joe, Star Trek, Guillermo del Toro and More


Yes, folks, I’ve decided to change the name of this feature. I loved the punnery of “Blu in Your Face,” but it just wasn’t as optimized for searches as a naive writer might suspect. As always, however, it remains my favorite Blu-ray picks of the week, with a chance to endorse your home entertainment choices in comments below.

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G.I. Joe: Retaliation Love it or hate it, there was no denying that at least this movie was a genuine G.I. Joe film, with vehicles from the toy line, grandiose schemes from the cartoon and a whole bunch of ninjas on ziplines. It also offered the only opportunity you’ll have to see Channing Tatum die a violent death any time soon. Part 3 has already been greenlit, and I can’t help but hope for Cobra-La, Darklon and Toxo-Zombies; in the meantime, The Rock punching out Ray Stevenson is a pretty good time.

Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox I am generously assuming that folks who don’t want to pick up a buttload of new comics can watch this animated film and learn why all the major superheroes in the DC Universe now have unnecessary “piping” down the sides of their costumes. Because if so, it’s doing the lord’s work. If not, screw it.

The Incredible Melting Man While this is one of those classic scif-fi pulp movies I’ve always wanted to see, I have to admit that the idea of a melting man is gross, but not the scariest thing ever. If he constantly melts, couldn’t you just wait him out till he’s completely done? But you have to love the audacious tagline “the first new horror creature.” Really? After 70+ years of cinema, this is the first? And it’s a dude who liquefies?

Peggy Sue Got Married Kathleen Turner time-travels, and remembers falling in love with Nicolas Cage, who does his best Pee-wee Herman impersonation here. I’m not kidding. Watch this and you may find you have to buy it, like, five minutes ago.

The Devil’s Backbone: Criterion Collection – While I’d call the Hellboy movies Guillermo del Toro’s masterpieces, this was the first film that really made me take him seriously – a ghost story set at an orphanage during the Spanish Civil War that centers on an unexploded bomb and a missing child. Pan’s Labyrinth elaborated on these themes in more fantastical ways, but the conflict between harsh reality and the supernatural began in earnest here.

The Fog Ghost sailors come ashore in what is unfortunately not an adaptation of James Herbert’s bio-warfare-gone-bad novel. It’s decent John Carpenter horror, though; not among his classics but worth a look.

Star Trek: The Next Generation Season Four – Amid touchy feely family bits like learning about Worf’s adopted parents, we also get moments like Denise Crosby returning as Romulan Commander Sela to teach us the dangers of inter-timeline sex.

Black Rock Kate Bosworth, Katie Aselton and Lake Bell vacation at an island off the coast of Maine, but fall afoul of some locals. I was invited to see this movie multiple times but never quite mustered up the interest.

Banshee: Season 1 – An ex-con becomes sheriff of a corrupt Amish town. If it can manage to be more compelling than the multiple reality shows about Amish criminals that Julia watches, I’m interested.

Them be my picks. What are yours?