Blu-ray

After two very funny outings, the antics of Hollywood's latest answer to Cheech and Chong are looking a little tired in this festive flick. Despite some cute claymation antics and another great cameo from Neil Patrick Harris, fewer gags hit the target this time around. At least the 3D is thrillingly over-the-top with loads of out-of-the-screen moments - although the DTS-HD 5.1 mix isn't as playful. The accompanying 2D platter also looks great, and sports a handful of extras, including a look at the claymation sequence and deleted scenes.

Noel Clarke stars in this British genre flick about a group of Londoners being stalked around a 24-hour storage facility by an otherworldy monster. The fact that Clarke also co-wrote it means that he should take a large part of the blame for how derivative it is in its attempts to ape Alien – albeit in a more mundane setting, with less believable characters and a crap monster. The clarity of the Blu-ray's AVC 1.85:1 1080p encode only emphasizes how cheap the film looks, although the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix manages to give it a slightly better impression of scale. Extras are generous, if hardly enlightening.

Expanded from a short film (also included on this Blu-ray), The Pact delivers a wonderfully spooky opening act before quickly descending into a more mundane plot that wouldn't have looked out of place in an episode of The X Files. The Blu-ray itself scores highly for its impressively sharp and detailed AVC 1.85:1 1080p visuals, but the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix is so low-key that it proves no more expansive than the LPCM 2.0 track also included on the disc. As well as the original short mentioned above, the disc also includes three short featurettes about the cast, director and location.

Originally conceived by producer Arthur Freed as a way of re-using MGM’s existing catalogue of songs, Singin’ in the Rain still stands as the best musical Hollywood ever. That it’s also the funniest and most insightful movie about filmmaking ever made (and tackles the subject of the transition from silent films to talkies with more panache than The Artist) is why it rates as one of my favourite films. So this new Blu-ray has it’s work cut out trying to impress me…

Further mysteries are resolved and even more are uncovered in this penultimate collection of 22 episodes from the smartest sci-fi show on TV. As well as satisfying the brain on so many levels, this cult favourite is also a treat for the eyes and the ears on Blu-ray. The AVC 1.78:1 1080p imagery reveals minor crush and artefacts in some scenes, but looks particularly striking the rest of the time. Better yet are the DTS-HD MA 5.1 mixes, which prove surprisingly expansive and active for a TV show. A 30-min roundtable chat is the best of a rather modest set of extras.

This fun sci-fi actioner stars Guy Pearce as Snow, a smart-mouthed former government agent accused of a crime he didn't commit. When the inmates onboard an orbital prison escape and take the President's daughter (Maggie Grace) hostage, the authorities have no choice but to send Snow in to get her out alive.

Eureka has added a new crown jewel to its acclaimed Masters of Cinema range with this superb Blu-ray debut for Carl Theodore Dreyer's silent masterpiece. Arriving in a deluxe slipcase, accompanied by a mammoth 100-page collection of essays, the disc features a choice of stunning 20fps and 24fps presentations of a new 2K restoration of the original 1928 version of the film (with optional, alternate music scores). Also on offer are a restoration comparison and the re-edited Lo Duca version created in the 1950s (also in 1080p).