Dust Bunny (2025, Lionsgate, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, R, 105 min.). There were unexpected thrills in watching “Dust Bunny,” as I knew nothing before starting the film. Star Mads Mikkelsen (“Doctor Strange,” “The Hunt”) worked with writer-director Bryan Fuller before as Dr. Hanibal Lecter in the 2013-2015 TV series “Hannibal.” Fuller also wrote for the TV series “Pushing Daisies,” “Star Trek: Voyager” and “Star Trek: Discovery.”

As 8-year-old Aurora (Sophie Sloan) sleeps, we see a small, rotating cloud of dust fall from the sky into her bedroom, where it combines with other dust particles under her bed to form a dust rabbit. Fearful of the “monster” under her bed, Aurora takes to sleeping outside on her balcony, from which she notices her across-the-hall neighbor (Mikkelsen). The next night, she follows him, including crossing several rooftops to keep him in view below, and sees him kill a dragon. He actually slays the men inside and with the parade dragon prop.

The next night, Aurora says “Goodbye” instead of “Good night” to her parents and, sure enough, they are killed that evening, presumedly by the dust bunny, which is possibly acting out Aurora’s desires. We find out later that those were her third set of parents and the others had all previously died.

Convinced the monster has eaten her parents, Aurora tries to hire her monster-killing neighbor to destroy the monster, using the $327.42 she steals from a church service donation plate. Aurora tells him the monster “even eats your screams.”

The neighbor reluctantly takes to protecting Aurora, as he feels her parents may have been killed by someone who was trying to kill him. He brings the problem to his handler Laverne (Sigourney Weaver of “Alien,” “Avatar,” acting a bit overly weird). Later, we learn her high heel shoes have pistols in them (a fun touch).

Soon after, the neighbor not only has to protect Aurora from the now very large dust bunny, but also from a series of assassins, either trying to silence her or kill him. One fun scene has some of the adult killers screaming like children when they see the all-too-real monster.

Fuller has written a very effective script and sometimes the violence is offscreen, just depicted by noise or gunfire flashes. There also is a nod to “Alien,” with a Ripley-like stare down between the neighbor and the monster. The film is highly stylized in its production design, particularly in Aurora’s apartment building. I also enjoyed the use of Abba’s “Tiger” during the closing credits.

Brief extras include a making-of featurette (11:56); a teaser look at the monster (36 secs.); cast members discussing the monster (26 secs.); a Q&A with Mikkelsen and Fuller (43 secs.); a split-screen look at an action scene (1:01); and more cast comments (32 secs.). Grade: film 3.5 stars; extras 2 stars

Rating guide: 5 stars = classic; 4 stars = excellent; 3 stars = good; 2 stars = fair; dog = skip it

Purchase link for some titles: https://moviezyng.com?bg_ref=ApLKdWV51k

Blue Thunder (1983, Arrowe Video, 4k Ultra HD Blu-ray, R, 109 min.). In this truly exciting film, set in Los Angeles, Officer Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider of “Jaws,” “The French Connection,” “All That Jazz”) is a veteran Metropolitan Police helicopter pilot who suffers from severe trauma due to his bad experiences during the Vietnam War (we see several flashbacks). Murphy and Richard Lymangood (Daniel Stern of “City Slickers,” “Home Alone”), his resourceful new observer/partner, are tasked with testing an advanced and heavily armed experimental helicopter known as Blue Thunder. Their boss is Capt. Jack Braddock (Warren Oates of “The Wild Bunch,” “Stripes”).

Prior to testing the new helicopter, a regular chopper patrol includes a stop to view a naked woman exercising in her apartment, helping apprehend two liquor store robbers and preventing the rape of a city councilwoman, who is on the mayor’s Task Force on Urban Violence. The councilwoman is shot and dies, however.

They then get to test the prototype new helicopter, which has NATO armor plating and 20mm electric cannons that can shoot 4,000 rounds of ammunition per minute, shots that can be directed through the pilot’s helmet as he looks where he wants to shoot. The story is it is intended as extra security for the upcoming Olympics.

However, Murphy and Lymangood discover a more sinister planned use when they use Blue Thunder’s high-tech surveillance equipment to follow Murphy’s enemy from a Vietnam mission. He is Blue Thunder pilot Col. Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell of “A Clockwork Orange,” “Time After Time”). Cochrane had tied to have Murphy court martialed back then, and now he loosens a screw on Murphy’s regular police helicopter, forcing it to crash.

The film contains a brutal end to one character and then an exciting aerial duel between helicopters driven by Murphy and Cochrane among Los Angeles’ skyscrapers.

Candy Clark (“The Man Who Fell to Earth,” “American Graffiti,” “Zodiac”) plays Kate, Murphy’s on-and-off girlfriend, who has some crazy car-chase driving.

Extras include an archival audio commentary by director John Badham (“WarGames,” “Saturday Night Fever,” “Short Circuit”), editor Frank Morriss and motion control supervisor Hoyt Yeatman; three new interviews with Badham (13:45), Clark (12:41) and McDowell (13:32); an archival three-part documentary (2006; 44:45); an archival featurette on the design and construction of the helicopter (2006; 8:13); a 1983 promotional featurette (8:26); one extended scene part of the car chase with Kate; 1:29: and an image gallery. There also is a booklet with new writing by Dennis Capicik and the original production notes. Grade: film 3.75 stars; extras 4 stars

Blue Thunder: The Complete Series (1984, Sony Pictures, 3 Blu-rays, NR, 529 min.). Released the same day (May 5) as the HD version of the feature film is this set of the 11-episode, follow-up TV series, which paired pilot Frank Chaney (James Farentino of “The Final Countdown,” “Bulletproof”) and observer Clinton Wonderlove (Dana Carvey of the two “Wayne’s World” films, TV’s “Saturday Night Live”) as those who fly Blue Thunder over Los Angeles and adjacent less populated areas. Added is the two-member Rolling Thunder ground support, consisting of former NFL football players Dick Butkus (“Any Given Sunday,” “Gremlins 2: The New Batch”) as driver Richard “Ski” Butowski and Bubba Smith (six “Police Academy” films, “Gremlins 2: The New Batch”) as Lyman “Bubba” Kelsey. The two argue a lot and their characters also are former football players.

The role of Capt. Braddock is filled by Sandy McPeak (“Kelly’s Heroes,” TV’s “The Gallant Men”).

The first episode uses a lot of the Blue Thunder training runs footage from the film.

Their first opponent is P.V.C. (Richard Lynch of “Halloween,” “Invasion U.S.A.,” “Deathsport”), who flies a plane from Mexico that shoots down Los Angeles police helicopters, killing two policemen with the third downed chopper. P.V.C. had previously killed a partner of Chaney’s.

Despite a “Star Wars” reference and Wonderlove doing a Jimmy Stewart impersonation, the initial episode lacks the excitement of the feature film. The new aerial photography just doesn’t have nearly the same intensity.

Other episodes involve a paramilitary group as bank robbers; drug smuggling and Chaney’s former Vietnam flame; the KGB stealing an F-86 Sabre jet; two kidnappings, including one of Braddock’s daughter; a private space shuttle being in danger; and a trip to a Caribbean island to prevent the assassination of the prime minister.

The series jettisons the film’s darker view of the increase in police surveillance for a more standard police procedural approach. Grade: series 3 stars

The Front (1976, Sony Pictures, 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray, PG, 95 min.). In Martin Ritt’s film, Howard Prince (Woody Allen of “Annie Hall,” “Manhattan,” “Hannah and Her Sisters”), who works as a restaurant cashier in the early 1950s, helps out a black-listed writer friend by selling a TV station a script under his own name. The friend is TV writer Alfred Miller (Michael Murphy of “Manhattan,” “Nashville,” TV’s “Tanner ‘88”), who supplies scripts for the TV show “Grand Central.”

Since the money is useful in paying off his gambling debts, Prince takes on two more such clients in Herbert Delaney (Lloyd Gaugh of “Sunset Boulevard,” TV’s “The Green Hornet”) and William Phelps (David Margulies of “Ave Ventura: Pet Detective,” two “Ghostbusters” films). Prince is politically pretty innocent, but he becomes involved with Florence Barrett (Andrea Marcovicci of “Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone”), who quits TV in disgust over the blacklist, the device by which the inquisition launched by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) prevented allegedly communist sympathizers or supporters from working in film and television.

In the film, another who suffers from the blacklist is Hecky Brown (Zero Mostel of “The Producers,” “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum”), the on-screen narrator of “Grand Central,” who is fired. He also is a comedian whose resort jobs have been drying up. Prince has befriended Brown and does not realizing when Brown has been talked into spying on him to see if Prince has any communist ties so Brown can get off the blacklist.

The film’s comedy is often satirical. In one instance, a gas company sponsor asks that a script be changed because the holocaust victims die in a gas chamber.

The film also is very serious about how evil HUAC and the blacklist were. Those involved in the film who were actually blacklisted included director Ritt in 1951, writer Walter Bernstein in 1950, actor Mostel in 1950, actor Hershel Bernardi (plays Phil Sussman) in 1953, actor Gough in 1952 and actor Joshua Shelley (plays Sam) in 1952.

There is an audio commentary by actress Marcovicci and film historians Julie Kirgo and Nick Redman. Grade: film 3.5 stars; extra 2 stars

Sniper: No Nation (2026, Sony Pictures, DVD, R, 95 min.). This is the 12th film in the “Sniper” series and, unfortunately, it has a cliffhanger ending, meaning there will be a 13th film. The series of action/war films began in 1993 with “Sniper,” which centered upon Master Gunnery Sgt. Thomas Beckett (Tom Berenger of 7 “Sniper” films, “Platoon,” “Major League”) and his son, Gunnery Sgt. Brandon Beckett (Chad Michael Collins of 9 “Sniper” films), who work initially as Force Reconnaissance Scout Snipers in the U.S. Marine Corps. Later, Brandon works for G.R.I.T., the Global Response & Intelligence Team, usually with Ezekiel “Zero” Rosenberg (Ryan Robbins of 5 “Sniper” films, TV’s “Riverdale,” “Battlestar Galactica”).

All three are reunited in this new film, which seems a direction continuation of “Sniper: The Last Strand” (2025), which had Brandon lead a special ops team in Costa Verde (a fictional Central America country) to prevent a dangerous arms dealer from deploying a lethal weapon. While mentoring a rookie shooter, Brandon struggled with his new leadership role as the mission grew deadlier.

The film opens with Brandon and Zero on a ship under attack by Costa Verde forces. Brandon is shot in the stomach, but never appears to have a wound or scar in subsequent shirtless scenes, including a filler boxing match “for fun” with Zero. At this point, both are prohibited for entering Costa Verde, which makes it difficult to continue aiding the revolutionaries against strongman Roman Diaz (Gerard Rudolf).

Diaz has just imported the Iron League mercenaries from East Africa, who attack the revolutionaries’ encampment, killing more than 50 and taking, as hostages, Zondi (Sizo Mahlangu), Angel (Masasa Mbangeni) and Lorenzo (Clayton Evertson). With only two days before Diaz plans to hang the three, Brandon, joined by his father, and Zero have to come up with a plan to rescue the trio despite heavy odds. The Becketts are helped by Nova and Skylar (Jones Danica) with logistics for the rescue attempt.

The film opens with some action, slows in the middle and closes with an action set piece, before fading to black as a shot rings out. It is most annoying. Grade: film 2 stars

Gilmore Girls: The Series (2000-2007, 2016, Warner Bros., 30 Blu-rays, NR, 6,634 min.). The set contains all seven seasons of the beloved show that takes place in Stars Hollow, Connecticut, population 9,973. Central to the narrative are 32-year-old Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and her 16-year-old daughter Rory (Alexis Bledel), aka the Gilmore Girls. Quick-witted Lorelai is the manager of historic Independence Inn and her daughter's best friend, confidante and mentor. Lorelai is determined to help Rory avoid the mistakes that sidetracked her when she was a teenager.

When Rory's attention turns from dreams of private school and Harvard to boys and adolescent self-reliance, single mom Lorelai begins noticing more of her own rebellious youth in Rory.

The show's pilot introduces Lorelai's wealthy estranged parents, Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard Gilmore (Edward Herrmann), whom Lorelai must approach for assistance in paying Rory's tuition to attend the prestigious Chilton Preparatory School. They agree to a loan, on the condition that Lorelai and Rory have dinner with them every Friday. This arrangement sets up one of the show's primary conflicts, as the Gilmores are forced to face their differences and complicated past.

Other key cast members include Rory's best friend, Lane Kim (Keiko Agena), who must conceal her rebellious interests from her authoritarian mother, Mrs. Kim (Emily Kuroda), a strict, religious Korean immigrant, who runs an antique shop. Lane secretly dates, listens to rock music and loves pop culture. Meanwhile, her mother tries to set her up with a Korean boy who will be a future doctor. Lane eventually falls in love with a member of her band, Dave Rygalski (Adam Brody). Dave was written out in the following season as Brody left the show and Lane’s romantic attention turns to another band member, Zach Van Gerbig (Todd Lowe), whom she eventually marries and has twin boys with.

Lorelai’s best friend is Sookie St, James (Melissa McCarthy), the inn’s chef. Sookie has a bubbly personality and is accident-prone. She becomes romantically involved with the inn's vegetable supplier, Jackson Belleville (Jackson Douglas), whom she marries and they have children.

Additionally, there is Luke Danes (Scott Patterson), the owner of Luke's Diner, where Lorelai and Rory frequently eat. He becomes a surrogate father figure to Rory and eventually begins a romantic relationship with Lorelai.

The set also contains the 2016 miniseries “Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life,” the follow-up that ran almost 10 years after the original series ended. Now it is Rory who is 32 and juggling career complications and ex-boyfriends, while Lorelai still runs Dragonfly Inn, which she opened in the original series, and lives with Luke. Matriarch Emily has to adjust to a widow’s life. Grade: series 3.5 stars

Lucy Worsley Investigates the American Revolution (2026, BBC, DVD, NR, 110 min.). This is not the first time British historian Worsley has investigated American history. In 2019, she had the TV miniseries “American History's Biggest Fibs with Lucy Worsley.” In the miniseries, she revealed how some of the biggest moments in U.S. history are actually fibs and stories concocted by pop culture, politics and nationalistic pride.

In this two-part series, she gives the British perspective of the American Revolution, including the mistakes made by Britain’s King George III, who somewhat ironically had bought more than 300 books about the American colonies. The segments are called “The Break Up” and “A Messy Divorce.” An early interesting tidbit is that when a statue of King George III was attacked in New York City, the bulk of it was melted down in Connecticut and made into 42,000 musket balls to use in the fight against British soldiers. Worsley examines the surviving horse’s tail from the statue.

Worsley also visits the house in London where Benjamin Franklin lived for 16 years and demonstrates the portrait of King George III that he had with a metal crown that provides an electric shock when touched. She also examines an original copy of the Stamp Act document that so angered the Americans that they decided to rebel.

While she covers some of the key battles in America and Franklin persuading France to help America defeat Britain (despite his secretary Edward Bancroft being a British spy), she also tells what was going on in England, including a Scotsman bombing a Portland port and the six days of the Gordon Riots. Grade: miniseries 3.5 stars