January Blu-ray & 4K Releases: Must-See Titles

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

In the wake of the big holiday push, January has long been an eclectic repository for the previous quarter’s theatricals and some “the-time-has-come!” catalog releases. From boxed sets of beloved series to Oscar misses to would-be blockbuster sequels and beyond, we’ve rounded up a gaggle of Blu-rays and 4Ks worth a look.

Exorcismo: Defying A Dictator & Raising Hell in Post-Franco Spain Blu-ray (Severin Films)

The “exorcism” of the title is a clever double-entendre, denoting Spain’s liberation and subsequent cultural revolution following the death of dictator Generalissimo Francisco Franco in 1975. This opened the door for a great many shocking exploitative films, some quite arty, bizarre and pushing boundaries simply for freedom’s sake. The ten-disc set kicks off with Alberto Sedano’s original documentary, Exorcismo: The Transgressive Legacy of Clasificada “S,“ narrated by Iggy Pop, a fascinating overview of this cinematic movement. From there we’re given a collection of 18 prime entries of this specific sub-genre, most newly scanned in 4K from the camera negative and making their Blu-ray debuts, looking and sounding better than ever:

• Exorcismo: The Transgressive Legacy of Clasificada “S”/Far from the Trees (Lejos de los árboles)
• The Bell from Hell (La campana del infierno)/Creation of the Damned (El refugio del miedo)
• The Devil’s Exorcist (El juego del diablo)/After… Part One: Can’t You Be Left Alone? (Después de… Primera parte: No se os puede dejar solos?)
• The People Who Own the Dark (Último deseo)
• Battered Flesh (Carne apaleada)/The Priest (El sacerdote)
• Sins of a Nympho (Bacanal en directo) / Dimorfo
• Bloody Sex (Sexo sangriento)/Morbus
• Faces (Rostros) /Triangle of Lust (Desnuda ante el espejo)
• That House in the Outskirts (Aquella casa en las afueras)/Supernatural (Sobrenatural)
• Poppers/After… Part Two: Tied Up and Tied Up Well (Después de… Segunda parte: Atado y bien atado)

A total of nine expert commentaries and an extensive assemblage of interviews with the original talent unlock the method behind the madness, and the thick companion book inside the rigid slipcase provides further illumination to this wild and wonderful bit of film history.

Lucifer The Complete Series Blu-ray (Warner)

Fox-born and Netflix finished, Lucifer puts a drastic spin on the tried-and-true police procedural, an elaborate exploration of one of my favorite themes: redemption. If the world has decided you’re the villain, do you have the guts to prove them wrong? Lucifer Morningstar (from Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman on DC’s darker Vertigo imprint, embodied here by the endearing Tom Ellis) ditches Hell to run a Los Angeles nightclub, but finds himself assisting a detective on case after case that hits close to home. The show takes bigger risks with bigger payoffs as it progresses, with some profound character arcs for Lu-Lu & Co. on the way to a satisfying sixth-season conclusion. Warner brings together the previously released Blu-rays in one big, boxed clamshell case, with all the legacy extras in tow: deleted scenes, Comic-Con panels, featurettes and bloopers.

Orwell: 2+2=5 Blu-ray (Decal Releasing)

The latest documentary from Oscar nominee Raoul Peck introduces younger viewers and reintroduces the rest of us to the prescient author Geroge Orwell, a pathologist of power who diagnosed the vulnerabilities of the human mind. Would that 2+2=5 was available back in my high school days, when I read Animal Farm–and was supposed to have read 1984–and my eyes were first opened to the ways the corrupt prey upon the weak. The film is structured around the three paradoxes of 1984’s Doublethink: “War is Peace” (exposing perpetual conflict), “Freedom is Slavery” (the illusion of choice) and the most aggressive chapter, “Ignorance is Strength,” examining how the war on expertise has been leveraged against the masses. Actor Damian Lewis reads directly from the author’s private diaries, letters and journals, interwoven with AI-generated imagery and songs and deep-faked clips, illustrating in meta fashion how easily reality can be “liquefied.”

Roofman 4K (Paramount)

Even in today’s rapidly changing film release landscape, sleeper hits still do happen, with word of mouth bringing this “little” true-life crime drama the success it deserved. The unusual shift from heist thriller to earnest romance simply would not have worked were it not for Channing Tatum’s career-best performance as ghost bandit Jeffrey Manchester and the chemistry with co-star Kirsten Dunst. The terrific Dolby Vision/TrueHD 5.1 go a long way to help tell their engaging story, and the highly recommended extras transcend Roofman’s production to the real-world people and events.

TRON: Ares 4K (Disney/Sony)

It helps to think of this third (and final?) TRON as a sensory experience, letting the masterfully crafted visual effects (I love how the digital Ares armor interacts with the rain-slicked streets of Seattle) and sonics (that blistering Nine Inch Nails score) flow over you, perhaps while also indulging in your refreshment of choice. Rather than delve into the details of the “plot,” I’ll just say that Disney has taken the saga in some new and different directions to bring us chases and grand spectacles in a class by themselves. The bundled HD Blu-ray offers a few featurettes and deleted scenes.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere 4K (Fox/Disney/Sony)

For anyone wondering why Jeremy Allen White saw his role in Season 4 of The Bear diminished, and why he spent so many of his scenes wandering around Chicago in a daze: He spent his mid-season hiatus filming Deliver Me from Nowhere, playing a depressed and disillusioned Bruce Springsteen… wandering around New Jersey in a daze for most of the movie. In truth, the creation of his defiant album Nebraska is a key chapter in The Boss’ history, and writer/director Scott Cooper (Crazy Heart) takes us on the warts-and-all odyssey that fans might find revelatory. The native 4K video is crystal-clear while not razor-sharp, the Atmos audio impresses with its rendering of the music in all its forms, and the supplied HD Blu-ray carries a four-part “making of.”

Wicked for Good 4K (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

Absent a real showstopper like “Defying Gravity,” For Good never really takes off to the same heights as its predecessor, yet it functions as a slow-burn denouement to the epic, book-enhanced stage play adaptation. There’s no denying that it’s a treat for the eyes and ears, with no shortage of music and fantastical action, notably some bold flying broom work. If you want to show off what the quantum dots on your TV can do, jump about 42 minutes in (“The Wizard is Sentimental”) to scope out the specular highlights, black levels and once-impossible colors as Glinda’s pastel bubble floats above the saturated Emerald City. Director commentary, deleted scenes, “making of,” featurettes and sing-along mode are here again as well.

Read our full theatrical review of Wicked: For Good