BLU-RAY TUESDAY: 'Epic' Goes on Pint-Sized Blu-ray Adventure, 'Scary Movie V' Rehashes 'Paranormal' Parody

Caught in a summer where schooled monsters and an army of Minions laid claim to the animated box office, Blue Sky Entertainment's Epic takes the adventure home to Blu-ray. Epic leads this week's new releases which also include: Scary Movie V, Amour, Scooby Doo: Stage Fright, Star Trek: Enterprise - The Complete Second Season and Boardwalk Empire: The Complete Third Season.

Based on William Joyce's children's book, The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs, Epic follows a teenage girl (Amanda Seyfried) magically transported to the unseen world of little people living in her own backyard. Together with the help of Leafmen soldiers, a slug and a snail, she must protect a pod from evil forces in the forest. Epic is distributed on Blu-ray by 20th Century Fox in various formats including the standard Blu-ray, DVD, UltraViolet combo pack as well as a 3D edition. However, Target is releasing an exclusive 24-page Digibook.   

'Elysium' Redresses Current Social Issues as Provoking Futuristic Action Drama

Max (Matt Damon) takes a stand against the socially divided system of the near-future. 

With only two feature films under his belt, what exactly should you expect from a Neill Blomkamp movie? First of all, there's always the dystopian element, leaving Earth or at least part of it in unlivable shambles. Add to that some sort of heavy-hitting message crammed in that affects contemporary society. District 9 was disguised as an alien flick full of immigration and overpopulation issues.

Blomkamp's latest sci-fi film, Elysium, does the same tackling both health care and social segregation. Little over a hundred years in the future, the entire population is divided by social class. The wealthy continue to live a life of luxury on the sole artificial space habitat orbiting the planet and all their health issues are taken care of after a few minutes in a restoration pod. Those not so lucky still live in the ruins of Earth, struggling day to day to survive.

BLU-RAY TUESDAY: 'Olympus Has Fallen' Leads Week's Blu-ray Assault, 'Muppet Movie' Re-Released for Near Anniversary

Before Channing Tatum and Jamie Foxx teamed up to survive an full-fledged assault on the White House in Roland Emmerich's explosion-fest, White House Down, another film with the same exact plot hit theaters this past spring. Olympus Has Fallen leads this week's new Blu-ray releases which also include: The Muppet Movie (The Nearly 35th Anniversary Edition), Once Upon a Time: The Complete Second Season, The Big Wedding and What Maisie Knew.

Much like Emmerich's White House Down, Gerard Butler takes on the Channing Tatum role, playing a Secret Service agent assigned to protect the President of the United States (Aaron Eckhart) after the White House is under siege by North Koreans. Olympus Has Fallen is released on Blu-ray by Sony Pictures as a Blu-ray, DVD, UltraViolet combo pack and is directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day).

'Percy Jackson' Sequel Cranks Up Modern-Day Mythological Adventure

If you're still waiting for the next Harry Potter phenomenon to launch on the big screen, your patience will be tested a bit longer. Back in early 2010, Chris Columbus (ironically the director of the first two Potter films) helmed Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - the first installment of the Rick Riordan series of the same name that mashed Greek mythology with a contemporary setting. While Percy Jackson wasn't exactly a blockbuster ($88 million domestic), there's still a crowd out for a sequel.

Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters is the second installment lined up in the franchise as demigod Percy (Logan Lerman) believes himself to be a one-adventure wonder after procuring Zeus' missing lightning bolt. But as fate would have it, Percy and his get caught up in chasing after the fabled Golden Fleece somewhere in the Sea of Monsters or the Bermuda Triangle as it's known to mortals.  

'Cars' Spin-Off 'Planes' Nosedives Into Straight-to-Video Oblivion

Crop duster Dusty Crophopper (Dane Cook) prepares for the Wings Around the Globe competition.

Little over a month ago, Disney received plenty of heat towards their underwhelming big budget interpretation of The Lone Ranger, but that's just the tip of the iceberg. Originally intended to a direct-to-video release with its sequel to follow in 2014, Planes flies into theaters to capitalize on the studios lucrative Cars brand. Perhaps this spin-off would have been better off grounded for a home media release.

The first image in the animated film reiterates in big bold letters that Planes happens in the world of Cars if the borrowed character designs weren't already a dead giveaway. Forget Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater as they're nowhere to been or heard from. The duo hailing from Radiator Springs get swapped out by second-rate replacements who find their adventures up in the air.

'Smurfs' Sequel Slightly Improves Over Previous Hybrid Adventure

Smurfette (Katy Perry) warms up to her evil captors Vexy (Christina Ricci) and Hackus (J.B. Smoove).

Brace yourself for the return of even more blue beings back on the big screen for a sequel that manages to outperform its predecessor. But don't get too excited if you were expecting the sequel to James Cameron's Avatar. It's not, just another round of Smurf adventures in The Smurfs 2.

Two years have passed since the Smurfs last thwarted their arch-nemesis Gargamel (Hank Azaria) in the heart of Times Square, but that brief setback hasn't stopped the bumbling villain from concocting yet another dim-witted plot to take over the world. This time around, his Naughties, evil gray Smurfs, kidnap his reformed creation Smurfette (voiced by Katy Perry) from Smurf Village, forcing her to reveal the ingredients of a powerful Smurf formula.

'Wolverine' Sequel Claws Its Way to Middle of X-Men Pack

Adamantium-clawed Logan (Hugh Jackman) confronts his own mortality in Japan in The Wolverine.

The quality of the X-Men movies hasn't been the most consistent over the franchise's decade-plus run. When the series belts out rock solid installments such as X2 and X-Men: First Class, they're not just superior superhero films, but rank amongst the best of the their respective years. But then again, the franchise also includes X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Feel free to erase those two from canon.

Much like 2009's X-Men Origins, The Wolverine is a standalone feature that focuses solely on Hugh Jackman's adamantium-clawed loner, Wolverine. Set one year after The Last Stand, Wolverine is summoned to Japan to fulfill the dying wishes of Yashida, an industrial tycoon whose life he saved during the Nagasaki attacks. Yashida offers Wolverine an opportunity to strip away his immortality and put an end to eternal suffering.

'The Conjuring' Frightens Away Guts and Gore For Retro Ghost Hunting

Lorraine Warren (Vera Farmiga) confronts the evil entity tormenting a Rhode Island family.

For a while there, director James Wan failed to generate the same level of genre-changing thrills that his breakout slasher Saw had in 2004. Dead Silence and Death Sentence weren't exactly resume highlights, however Wan returned to the horror scene in early 2011 with his terrifying supernatural thriller Insidious, which gave  audiences a second wind of Wan's contemporary mastery of the genre, and in return scared the living daylights out of them as hefty thank you. Wan now continues to spread his wings into the supernatural once more with The Conjuring.

From the start, The Conjuring claims to be based on the undisclosed investigation of paranormal team Ed and Lorraine Warren, most notable for their involvement in the Amityville Horror case. The Conjuring, however, is set a few years before Amityville as the Warrens (Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga) investigate the disturbing events at house of the Perrons, a Rhode Island couple living with their five girls.

'Turbo' Idles in Pursuit of Predictable Underdog Roads

Turbo (Ryan Reynolds) convinces his brother (Paul Giamatti) that his new powers are for the better.

Back in 2010, DreamWorks Animation was undeniably at the top of their game with acclaimed Viking adventure, How to Train Your Dragon. Flash forward three years later and while fairy-tale Avengers and caveman road trips haven't been complete busts, Rise of the Guardians and The Croods haven't sealed the deal in becoming long-term franchises. And don't think for one second a super-fast snail racing in the Indianapolis 500 is the solution either.

That's right, one of the slowest creatures imaginable right in the middle of the most famous race in NASCAR. Is Turbo an example of "Bizarro world" at its finest or is DreamWorks Animation randomly choosing plot points out of a hat? In actuality, Turbo's quite derivative in the way the underdog story unfolds.

'Pacific Rim' Wins War Against Summer Sequels, Prequels and Reboots

Two pilots control the massive "Jaeger" robots to fend off the "Kaiju" attacks in Pacific Rim.

In a summer where there's practically a sequel or prequel or reboot released weekly, it's a refreshing change of pace when an original high-concept film maneuvers into a pivotal position that challenges the landscape of a sea of summer blockbusters.

Pacific Rim is unquestionably that movie. Visionary Guillermo del Toro returns to the director's chair after a five-year hiatus since helming Hellboy II: The Golden Army back in 2008. Instead of demons and dark fairy tales, del Toro tackles a concept intended to appeal any inner child who was visually fed Transformers, Power Rangers and Godzilla. In that mindset, what can be more entertaining than robots and monsters duking it out for over two hours?

Disney's 'Lone Ranger' Loses Its Way in Bloated Western Adventure

Johnny Depp carries over his quirky Jack Sparrow routine as Tonto in The Lone Ranger.

Ever since Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl made boatloads of booty back in 2003, Disney has desperately gone back to the drawing board attempt to duplicate its financial and critical success. 2010's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time failed to generate any sort of buzz as did last year's John Carter, but now with The Lone Ranger riding headfirst to the big screen, is there any reason to beat yet another dead horse?

Going through the motions to tell the origins of how and why district attorney John Reid (Armie Hammer) and Comanche outcast Tonto (Johnny Depp) crossed each other's paths shouldn't need to include a tonal seesaw shifting between silly lighthearted Jack Sparrow stunts one minute and the villains feasting on a victim's bleeding guts the next.

More Minions and More Mayhem Keep Laughs Loud in 'Despicable Me 2'

The minions are back for even more slapstick humor and mayhem in Despicable Me 2. 

What's wrong with being the bad guy fueled by sinister plots of global domination? After all, the perks that go along with being a stereotypical baddie are plenty of worthwhile incentives. Who wouldn't want top-notch gadgets, a decked out secret lair and most importantly an army of minions?

However since Illumination Entertainment's 2010 breakout animated film, Despicable Me, ex-supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) has reformed into a family man, raising three girls (Miranda Cosgrove, Dana Gaier and Elsie Fisher) until Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig), a high-strung spy abducts him on behalf of the Anti-Villain League to track down El Macho, a villainous face of the past thought to be long gone.

'The Way, Way Back' Refreshes Summer Scene with Charming Coming-of-Age Tale

Teenage wallflower Duncan (Liam James) finds a positive outlet working at a local water park.

There is hardly a kid out there who doesn't look forward to those glorious three months known as summer vacation. After nine grueling months of hitting the books day in and day out, who wouldn't want to spend an entire summer on the beach oblivious of responsibility and expectations.

For Duncan (Liam James), a summer in a remote beach town isn't some cakewalk, particularly when you're an introverted pubescent wallflower raised by a bunch of oddballs who nobody quite gets. On top of that, Duncan can never shake off the reality that his mother's overbearing boyfriend Trent (Steve Carell) ridicules him from the start, flushing what little confidence he had right down the toilet. But when a water park manager (Sam Rockwell) takes Duncan under his wing, the summer looks a bit brighter in The Way, Way Back.

Bullock, McCarthy Mix Havoc with Hysterics in Buddy Cop Comedy 'The Heat'

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy are both cops, but complete opposites in "The Heat."

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy are no strangers to generating breakout comedic success stories over the summer months. Back in 2009, Bullock flexed her comedic wit as a stuffy exec who forces Ryan Reynolds into marrying her to avoid deportation in the romantic comedy, The Proposal. Likewise, audiences recall McCarthy from her notably raunchy, over-the-top performance in Bridesmaids.

Paul Feig, who helmed Bridesmaids back in 2011 is back in the directorial saddle for The Heat. In The Heat, Bullock and McCarthy clash as a by-the-books FBI agent and a local detective each assigned by their respective bureaus to bring down a mysterious drug lord in the heart of Boston. Taking few risks from the buddy cop formula that flashes rehash in bright lights, the success of The Heat solely hinges on the chemistry between the two lead actresses.

Brad Pitt's Zombie Apocalypse Stuck on Loop in 'World War Z'

Brad Pitt and his family attempt to survive the zombie apocalypse in World War Z. 

With AMC's The Walking Dead commanding the cable air waves and The Last of Us making its mark on the Playstation 3 several weeks ago, zombies definitely continue to be the trending facet of apocalyptic fiction in recent years.

Enter onto the summer blockbuster stage World War Z, based on the Max Brooks novel of the same name, which combines the star power of Brad Pitt with thousands of undead CGI co-stars. Pitt takes on the role of Gerry Lane, a former United Nations investigator sent back into the field after several zombie outbreaks occur around the world. Even with minimal information provided about the lead character, World War Z boils down into a non-stop battle between Pitt and zombies.

'White House Down' Showboats Absurdity in Typical Roland Emmerich Fashion

John Cale (Channing Tatum) protects President Sawyer (Jamie Foxx) in White House Down.

Isn't one hostile takeover a year enough for the White House to handle? For director Roland Emmerich, perhaps not. Back in 1996, Emmerich sicked a 15 mile-wide mother ship on America's seat of power in blockbuster hit, Independence Day and in 2013, nearly similar to Antoine Fuqua's Olympus Has Fallen a few months ago, there's no reprieve for the structure in White House Down.

Channing Tatum plays John Cale, a Capitol Police officer, who at the start of White House Down interviews for a post in the Secret Service, protecting President James Sawyer (Jamie Foxx). Concurrently, several key structures around Washington including the White House are targeted by a pack of terrorists motivated by financial and personal agendas. As the White House is compromised, Cale finds himself in the crossfire and teams up with the president to reach a safe point outside.

Marling, Batmanglij Reunite to Target Sins of Corporate Corruption in 'The East'

Sarah (Brit Marling) goes undercover to investigate the eco-terrorist organization, The East.

Brit Marling is one of the most underrated talents working in Hollywood today and for the third straight year commencing with 2011's Another Earth and last year's underground thriller, Sound of My Voice, this magnetically talented producer, writer and actress shakes the indie scene to its core with The East.

Marling reteams up with director Zal Batmanglij (Sound of My Voice) for a second collaborative effort diving headfirst into a trifecta of eco-terrorist plots engineered by the titular group that's solely directed towards three corrupt corporations. The East live by the ancient Hammurabi moral code, "an eye for an eye" turning each of their "jams" by fighting fire with fire, regardless of who gets caught in the crossfire.

BLU-RAY TUESDAY: 'Dark Skies' Crash Lands, 'Cleopatra' Celebrates 50 on Blu-Ray

The final Tuesday in May offers just two new major home media releases. The first 2013 blockbusters still have a few more weeks until their street dates hit in June, but in the meantime, home media audiences can check out Dark Skies and the debut of 1963 classic Cleopatra. 

First out of the gate is Dark Skies, a mixture of sci-fi and horror that copies several classic films from the two genres. Dark Skies, directed by Scott Stewart, poses the question of other beings living alongside us, particularly when young Sammy (Kadan Rockett) believes he's communicating with the Sandman.

BLU-RAY TUESDAY: Fantasy Pair 'Beautiful Creatures,' 'True Blood' Lead New Blu-Ray Releases

Vampires, crime dramas and a return of the "Governator" himself lead the pack in this week's heavily loaded list of new releases. While no major blockbusters are making their way to Blu-Ray yet for a few more weeks, home media audiences can still check out top new releases including Beautiful Creatures, Parker, Side Effects, The Last Stand and True Blood Season 5.

First up from Warner Bros. is Beautiful Creatures, based on the Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl romantic fantasy novel of the same name. Beautiful Creatures isn't here to be the next groundbreaking young adult book-to-film adaptation, but the film wrap still manages to wrap elements of the Deep South, forbidden love and dark magic into a stylistic cinematic interpretation.     

BLU-RAY TUESDAY: 'Cloud Atlas,' 'Texas Chainsaw' Look to Find New Audiences on Blu-Ray

If you don't find success in theaters, there's always a second chance on DVD and Blu-Ray. That statement holds true to both of this week's top new releases, Cloud Atlas and Texas Chainsaw 3D.    

First up is Lana and Andy Wachowski's Cloud Atlas, an ambitious adaptation of the David Mitchell novel by the same name, which interlocks six narratives from six separate time periods. With top name actors, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving and a slew of others unable to draw audiences in on star power alone, Cloud Atlas exploits its complicated story to craft a story of intrigue and epic magnitude.