Welcome back! Well, to some of you, anyway. To the rest of you, glad you decided to stop by and I hope this humble column helps you navigate the stacks of new releases each week. My goal is to point you toward titles of interest and warn you away from those films that seek to do nothing but leech away your time and give you nothing in return.

Full disclosure: I have not seen many of these titles, and what follows are not necessarily reviews, but opinions based upon what I know of the titles I pluck from the new release lists I peruse. The opinions I give based on the new releases are my own, and my recommendations are based on my personal interest. In any case, I hope you enjoy and perhaps find something you like or a title to point me towards.

Near Dark (Blu-ray). Arriving on Blu-ray is one of the best vampire films ever made. Katherine Bigelow directs this 1987 film that never once utters the "v" word. It brings an innocent young man a whole world of trouble when it turns out the woman he is hitting on is a member of a traveling group of blood suckers. It is a gritty, involving film that will hold your attention from start to finish. The cast includes Adrian Pasdar, Jenny Wright, Lance Henriksen, Bill Paxton, and Jenette Goldstein. I wonder how much the high resolution upgrade will help it?

Up (also Blu-ray). Another week this would have been my top pick. It is one of the best films to hit the screens in 2009. This is an amazing film that works on so many levels. It gets to you on an emotional level. This movie nearly had me in tears inside of 15 minutes before moving into a grand adventure. Through it all, you will be involved with the characters. Pixar has done it again and everyone needs to have this in their collection. It will be available in multiple versions, single and two-disk DVD, and four-disk Blu-ray. The only way to go is the four-disk, as it includes a standard DVD if you don't have a Blu-ray player yet.

Article Author: Chris Beaumont

Christopher Beaumont spends much of his time writing about music and movies when he isn't indulging in them. He is always ready to talk about his favorite form of entertainment and offer up recommendations. Follow: Twitter and Tumblr. Visit: Critical Outcast. …

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