What’s fascinating is just how many levels this ingenious bit of storytelling virtuosity works on. The youngest of minds will be mesmerized by the dazzling colors and the enchanting characters, while more seasoned viewers will be just as deeply engrossed by the complexity of the themes being examined.

I’m honestly not entirely sure what to make of The Stranger. It’s well made, writer/director Guillermo Amoedo (Aftershock), cinematographer Chechu Graf and editor Diego Macho (Crystal Fairy & the Magical Cactus) assembling a series of haunting and unsettling images that are as captivating as they are horrific. But the movie itself never gels, never coalesces, each of the narrative’s pieces coming together in a rather rudimentary fashion keeping emotional investment on my part to an oddly detached minimum.

When Marnie Was There doesn’t just live up to the high standards of the countless classics that proceeded it, in many ways it brings all of the themes and the ideas Ghibli has been interested in dissecting throughout their storied history to brilliant summation. It’s a masterpiece, and as final efforts go I cannot think of anything better than that.

Even so, I still like Rizzoli & Isles. The showrunners have a grand feel for the two main characters Det. Jane Rizzoli and Dr. Maura Isles, their respective journeys during season five as personal and as intimate as it has ever been at any point during the hit TNT procedural’s run.

Again, much like the Empire of the Ants / Jaws of Satan Blu-ray released the same day, neither Food of the Gods or Frogs are very good films. Same time, they make for a much better – and far more enjoyable – double feature, both having just enough charm for genre fans to want to give them a look. Scream! Factory’s presentation is surprisingly strong, while the included extras are excellent.

I wanted to give Chappie a second chance, if only to see if there were things lurking inside of it that I might have missed the first time around that would allow me to see the film is an entirely different light. No such luck.

Of the five films nominated for last year’s Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award Wild Tales has slowly but surely become my favorite of the bunch. Sony’s Blu-ray presentation is superb, and interested viewers are urged to pick this disc up as soon as they can.

But the joy and the fun found inside of Empire of the Ants is undeniable, the unabashed whacked-out silliness of it all making it one of director Bert I. Gordon’s “better” (and I use that word loosely) cinematic achievements.

What else happens? Tons of activity, consternation, lip gloss primping, accusations, recriminations and looks of astonishment, but actually very little of substance as far as the main plot points established way back when in the very first season are concerned. It’s all foreplay…