On the Shelf: ‘Highest 2 Lowest,’ ‘John Singleton’s Hood Trilogy,’ a Nancy Meyers Double Feature and Action-Packed Spectacles Highlight the Physical Media releases for the Week of April 27
The last week of April 2026 brings us a new joint from legendary director Spike Lee, alongside a new trilogy box set from director John Singleton, as well as two films from Nancy Meyers making their Blu-ray debut, and two Arrow video action releases. In Highest 2 Lowest, a titan music mogul is targeted with a ransom plot, causing him to get jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma involving family, legacy, and music. Led by the incredible Denzel Washington, and an equally great A$AP Rocky, Lee’s remix of Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller High and Low is a reminder of the youthful energy still resonating within the director’s work. In my review out of the Cannes Film Festival, I stated that Lee is allowed “to look to the past in order to understand the world that is currently forming around him. He’s an old soul adapting, shape-shifting, recalibrating his unique brand of storytelling to convey messages of grave importance like most of his career,” and is “a worthy companion to Kurosawa’s career best feature.”
Over at Criterion, the closest welcomes a trio of films from influential director John Singleton with his Hood Trilogy, which covers the films of Boyz in the Hood, Poetic Justice, and Baby Boy. With his electrifying debut feature, Boyz n the Hood, Singleton brought his South Central Los Angeles community to the screen with a bracing relatability that rocked 1990s American cinema and popular culture. Poetic Justice and Baby Boy completed what the director’s trilogy, a series of richly nuanced films that constitute a dramatic universe all their own. Featuring phenomenal performances from supernova talents like Cuba Gooding Jr., Angela Bassett, Regina King, Tupac Shakur, and more, these indelible tales of urban life explore the experience of growing up Black and searching for one’s place in the world.
From Warner Bros. and Sony comes the Blu-ray debut of two Nancy Meyer’s productions, Private Benjaminand Something’s Gotta Give. The first is about a sheltered, young high-society woman joins the Army on a whim and finds herself in a more difficult situation than she ever expected. The second follows a divorced, successful playwright has given up on finding a fulfilling romantic relationship, that is until she meets her daughter’s older boyfriend, whom they share the same age; and after a weekend of taking care of him post heart attack, they fall in love. Not only do both films contain Oscar nominated leading actress performances from Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton, as well as Meyers’ own nomination for Best Original Screenplay, but both share a long connection of not being able to own on any type of elevated physical media, especially Something’s Gotta Give; the director’s best work. Go on and buy this double feature and then after you are done watching Something’s Gotta Give, listen to our Director Watch episode where Jay Ledbetter, Sophia Ciminello, and myself cover this Nancy classic.
Last up is our friends at Arrow Video, two action films arrive on 4K to delight all of those who love to see things smash, crash, and explode on the big screen. First up is Joe Dante’s Innerspace, which follows a test pilot taking part in a secret miniaturization experiment is accidentally injected into a hapless store clerk, the two must work together in order to prevent the technology from falling into the wrong hands. Produced alongside Steven Spielberg, Dante’s unique mix of wit, charm and screwball action, as well as extraordinary Oscar-winning visual effects, makes Innerspace a beloved classic of 80s cinema that remains as funny and exciting as ever in this brand new 4K restoration, which features new audio commentaries from Dante and the cast. Next up is Soldier, from the mind of Paul W.S. Anderson, and starring Kurt Russell. When a soldier trained from birth is deemed obsolete and dumped on a waste planet, he is reluctantly taken in by a community of defenseless, stranded wayfarers. Trashy and fun in all the right way, Soldier is an underrated, underseen gem worth discovery; one you can grab on 4K alongside Innerspace this week and add to your collection.
Other Notable Releases for the Week of April 27, 2026 include:
Badge 373 (1973, Blu-ray, Cinématographe)
Dust Bunny (2025, 4K Blu-ray, Lionsgate)
Eclipse Series 48: Kinuyo Tanaka Directs (1953-1962, Blu-ray, Criterion)
Stardust (2007, 4K Blu-ray, Paramount Pictures)
Throw Momma From the Train (1987, 4K Blu-ray, Kino Lorber)
Tiger on the Bear I & II (1988-1990, 4K Blu-ray, Shout Factory)
- On the Shelf: ‘Highest 2 Lowest,’ ‘John Singleton’s Hood Trilogy,’ a Nancy Meyers Double Feature and Action-Packed Spectacles Highlight the Physical Media releases for the Week of April 27 - April 27, 2026
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On the Shelf: ‘Highest 2 Lowest,’ ‘John Singleton’s Hood Trilogy,’ a Nancy Meyers Double Feature and Action-Packed Spectacles Highlight the Physical Media releases for the Week of April 27 
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