NEW ON BLU (JAN. 8, 2013): 'Frankenweenie,' 'Dredd,' 'House at the End of the Street,' 'Hit and Run'

You're a busy person. You don't have time to check the newspaper ads for the latest blu-ray releases. Well, you're in luck, since Popculturology is doing the heavy lifting for you with New on Blu. Check out this column every week for a breakdown of the latest blu-ray releases. To help you impulse buy any of these blu-rays, all you have to do is click on the photo of a case, and you'll be taken to Amazon.

This week's featured blu-rays: Frankenweenie, Dredd, House at the End of Street, Hit and Run.

Frankenweenie
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Charlie Tahan, Frank Welker, Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Robert Capron, Atticus Shaffer
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 88 percent

When it comes to Frankenweenie, I kind of feel bad for Tim Burton. The guy puts out a film that's filled with heart and is about a boy who loses his dog, but no one went to see it in theaters. I've discussed this before, and I'll bring it up again here. People are Burton'd out. After a slew of movies that all looked exactly the same, that all starred Johnny Depp in funny makeup and featured Helena Bonham Carter, I think people have grown bored of the director. He clearly wasn't interested in making anything original these past few years, so why should people be expected to see a movie of his that just might be something different?

Dredd
Directed by: Pete Travis
Starring: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Wood Harris, Lena Headey
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 78 percent

Despite the fact that nobody saw Dredd in theaters, the remake actually fared pretty well with critics. It sounds like the movie improved on previous adaptions of the Judge Dredd comic books, with star Karl Urban and an impressive use of 3D making Dredd worth seeing.

House at the End of the Street
Directed by: Mark Tonderai
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Max Thieriot, Elisabeth Shue, Gil Bellows
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 11 percent

If it wasn't for the fact that Jennifer Lawrence became a superstar thanks to The Hunger Games and X-Men: First Class, you probably would have never been able to see House at the End of the Street. Filmed in 2010, the movie was shelved until this past fall when Relativity Media released it to take advantage of Jenniferlawrencemania.

Hit and Run
Directed by: David Palmer, Dax Shepard
Starring: Dax Shepard, Kristen Bell, Kristin Chenoweth, Tom Arnold, Bradley Cooper
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 47 percent

It just dawned on me that between House at the End of the Street and Hit and Run, you can stage you own version of Silver Linings Playbook, as that film's two leads found themselves in less-than-Oscar-worthy movies with these two. Yes, despite the fact that the movie's blu-ray cover doesn't even mention him, Bradley Cooper (soon-to-be Oscar-nominee Bradley Cooper) has a role in Hit and Run. Pick up House at the End of the Street and Hit and Run. Play them at the same time. Maybe Lawrence and Cooper's parts sync up?