Kubo and the Two Strings (2016)  —  PICK

Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation (2015)  — PICK

ParaNorman (2012)  —  PASS

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)  — PICK

 
On the heels of Laika Studios’ best-and-worst Blu-ray releases of Coraline and The Boxtrolls comes another uneven pair of Laika stop-motion animated films, one almost great and one almost good.

The almost-great one is Kubo and the Two Strings, a swashbuckling folk tale set in ancient Japan. A celebration of music, storytelling, origami, filial piety and parental sacrifice, it works like gangbusters until the disappointing denouement. The almost-good one is ParaNorman, a horror-movie spoof about a boy who sees dead people. The moral themes are muddled, but it’s just interesting enough that I can’t quite pan it. Your call.

One of the most popular movies of all time, The Shawshank Redemption, has a new Ultra-HD/Blu-ray release, and there’s a new Blu-ray release of the best movie from Tom Cruise’s most successful franchise, Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation.

 

CAVEAT SPECTATOR: Kubo and the Two Strings: Fantasy violence and scary images; thematic elements involving family and religious ideas. Older kids and up. Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation: Action violence and menace; an occasionally scantily clad female character and brief partial nudity. Teens and up. ParaNorman: Pervasive creepy/scary images, including animated gore; rude humor; a few mature references, including a fleeting reference to a same-sex romantic relationship. Teens and up. The Shawshank Redemption: Graphic violence and two suicides; crude sexual references; brief nudity; much harsh language and some cursing. Mature viewing.