Blu-ray

Knight and Day is as frivolous a piece of popcorn cinema as you’re likely to see all year. Coasting by on flashy action scenes and the supposed charisma of its two grinning stars, the film cares not a jot for tension or characterisation, it simply wants to entertain its target audience by giving them Tom Cruise doing stunts and Cameron Diaz being a bit ditzy. Director James Mangold sums the film up best, saying ‘There’s movies that you make because you want to deliver a message. There’s movies you make because you want to take someone on an emotional journey. This is a movie that’s supposed to be a ride’. To which we can only add that, although fun while it lasts, you shouldn’t expect it to be a journey you’ll want to take more than once.

The Expendables is pure wish fulfilment for fans of ‘80s action movies. The plot is little better than most Direct-to-DVD fodder (blow up some foreign-types and save the girl), but who cares when it’s jam-packed with so many memorably staged fights, shootouts and explosions? And then there’s the incredible roster of testosterone-fuelled talent onboard including Sylvester Stallone (who also wrote and directed the flick), Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Steve Austin, Gary Daniels, Eric Roberts and even fun cameos by Bruce Willis and the Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger!

Inception is that rare commodity: an overblown blockbuster that glowers into the face of its audience and dares them to keep up. It’s worth making the effort. Chris Nolan’s cerebral heist movie delivers more digital wow than (nearly) every other film released in 2010. That you should add it to your BD collection goes without saying. The only question is should you opt for the Triple Play release (two Blu-ray discs, one DVD and the keys to a Digital Copy download), or geek out with the stainless steel Briefcase Edition? This includes a replica of Cobb’s spinning top token, a PASIV (Portable Automated Somnacin IntraVenous) Device User Manual and Movie art-cards. If you go for the latter, we suggest you don’t broadcast the fact to your friends.

The A-Team is an extremely silly film – an over-the-top cavalcade of ludicrous action, broad humour and macho attitude that rarely ever stops for breath. But, what else were you really expecting from a movie remake of this particular ‘80s TV franchise?

Avatar is a frustrating film in so many ways, not least the fact that while Cameron has clearly spent years creating an engrossing and entirely believable new cinematic world, he then uses it as the backdrop for a fairly ordinary tale packed with wooden acting and leaden dialogue.

The Big Four: Live From Sofia is an indispensable BD platter for thrash metal hedz, as it captures the only time these titans of the genre (Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica) have shared the same stage. Filmed at the Sonisphere music festival in Bulgaria, and running for five hours, it’s a non-stop barrage of razor-sharp riffs, pounding kick drums and snarled vocals that’s guaranteed to leave fans grinning from ear to ear.