A high-severity SSRF vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2026-20230, in Cisco Unified Communications Manager Server is now being exploited in attacks.

Cisco released security updates for the CVE-2026-20230 flaw on June 3, warning that exploitation could give attackers root privileges on the device.

“A vulnerability in Cisco Unified Communications Manager (Unified CM) and Cisco Unified Communications Manager Session Management Edition (Unified CM SME) could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to conduct server-side request forgery (SSRF) attacks through an affected device,” warned Cisco.

“This vulnerability is due to improper input validation for specific HTTP requests. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted HTTP request to an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to write files to the underlying operating system that could be used later to elevate to root.”

The flaw was disclosed to Cisco by SSD Secure, who did not share any technical details at the time.

Today, threat intelligence firm Defused warned that the flaw is now being actively exploited in attacks.

“Over the weekend we observed exploitation of CVE-2026-20230 – Cisco Unified CM (CUCM) WebDialer SSRF → root file-write (CVSS 8.6) No previously recorded exploitation, and not yet listed in CISA KEV,” Defused warned on X.

Defused says the attacks are originating from a single IP address and use properly constructed file:// payloads to create files on the device.

While the flaw can be exploited in attacks to drop webshells and gain root privileges, the PoC observed by Defused appears designed to identify vulnerable devices by attempting to write a text file named ‘/tmp/cve-2026-20230-test.txt’ to them.

After the exploitation was disclosed, SSD Secure published a technical write-up of the flaw explaining how the vulnerability works and sharing a proof-of-concept exploit.

The researchers found that an unauthenticated attacker could abuse the Webdialer component’s handling of user-supplied URLs to force the application to write arbitrary files to the operating system using file:// URIs.

By controlling the file path and the content written to disk, an attacker could exploit the bug to achieve remote code execution and ultimately gain root privileges on vulnerable devices.

SSD Secure noted that exploitation requires the attacker to first obtain the target system’s hostname before carrying out the file-write attack. However, the researchers demonstrated how that information can be retrieved from the device before exploitation.

While the current exploitation appears to be reconnaissance in nature, now that the flaw has been fully disclosed, we will likely see more threat actors target these servers.

BleepingComputer contacted Cisco to ask if they, too, are seeing the flaw exploited in attacks and if any IOCs can be shared with defenders, and will update the article if we receive a response.

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A good power bank isn’t exciting until your phone drops to 5% during a flight, a commute, or a long day away from an outlet. That’s when having a reliable backup battery suddenly feels essential. Prime Day is packed with portable charger deals, but many of them are generic products that look good on paper and disappoint in daily use. For this shortlist, I focused on trusted brands, practical features, portability, and unique use cases. Whether you want a dependable everyday charger, a MagSafe companion, or an emergency battery for outdoor adventures, these are the power banks I’d consider buying during Prime Day.

Anker PowerCore 10K – My everyday favorite power bank

If someone asks me to recommend a portable charger without any qualifications, Anker is usually where I start. The PowerCore 10K strikes an ideal balance between capacity, portability, and reliability. With enough power to recharge most smartphones nearly twice, it’s compact enough to slip into a backpack, jacket pocket, or carry-on without adding noticeable weight. Anker has also built a reputation for dependable charging technology and strong safety features, making this one of the safest recommendations on this list. For travelers, students, and commuters, it’s difficult to find a more practical all-around option.

Ridge Magnetic Power Bank – Best deal for iPhone users

Magnetic charging accessories have become incredibly popular among iPhone users, and the Ridge Magnetic Power Bank embraces that convenience. Instead of carrying cables everywhere, you can simply attach the battery to the back of a compatible device and continue using your phone while it charges. The slim design makes it particularly appealing for travel and daily commuting, while the premium construction aligns with Ridge’s reputation for durable everyday-carry products. If convenience matters more than maximum capacity, this is one of the more attractive Prime Day options available.

BLAVOR Solar Power Bank – Best one for outdoor adventures

Most power banks are designed for urban life, but the BLAVOR Solar Power Bank takes a different approach. Built with outdoor use in mind, it combines a 10,000mAh battery with solar charging support, a flashlight, and a rugged design. While solar charging isn’t fast enough to replace traditional charging methods, it can provide valuable backup power during camping trips, hikes, or emergencies. If you’re building an emergency preparedness kit or spending time away from conventional power sources, this is one of the most versatile products in the category.

Aaoyun Portable Charger – Extremely convenient for everyday use

The biggest annoyance with portable chargers is often remembering to carry a cable. That’s what makes the Aaoyun Portable Charger interesting. Its compact design and integrated charging solution reduce the number of accessories you need to carry, making it particularly convenient for people who prioritize portability. It won’t replace a high-capacity travel charger, but it serves as a useful everyday backup for keeping a smartphone alive through long workdays, concerts, festivals, and travel delays.

Belkin USB-C Power Bank – Wins the reliability game

Belkin has spent years building accessories for major technology brands, and that experience shows in its portable charging products. The company’s USB-C power bank focuses on reliability, compatibility, and straightforward performance rather than flashy features. It’s an excellent choice for professionals, frequent travelers, and anyone who values dependable charging from a well-established brand. While it may not offer solar charging or magnetic attachments, it delivers exactly what most users need: consistent power when their devices run low.

Prime Day is full of portable charger deals, but these five products stand out because each serves a different need. The Anker PowerCore 10K is the safest overall recommendation, the Ridge Magnetic Power Bank is ideal for iPhone users, the BLAVOR Solar Power Bank is built for outdoor adventures, the Aaoyun Portable Charger prioritizes convenience, and the Belkin USB-C Power Bank focuses on reliability. If you’re planning to pick up a backup battery this Prime Day, these are the models I’d shortlist first.

Look, I get it. I was a holdout on bidets. Like most Americans, I didn’t grow up with one. I hadn’t tried it, but didn’t like the idea of jets of water pointed at my keister.

And then I moved into a house that already had one installed, and became a convert in less than a week. Turns out that the French, the Japanese, and the self-righteous citizens of South Park were correct, and I was wrong. I now feel extra-clean, all the time. But here’s the problem: A large percentage of American bathrooms don’t have a power outlet easily accessible from the toilet. This includes my new front bathroom. Which means a lot of the best bidet models, the ones with heat and lights and fans and fancy doo-dads, are inaccessible to me.

The Tushy Classic 3.0 is a great option for that problem in particular. I didn’t really need all that to begin with, to have a clean bottom. For a lot less money, a company called Tushy specializes in bidet attachments that don’t require electricity. They instead hook in easily to the room-temperature water hose that connects to your toilet tank. Analog knobs control the water jets.It slips under your existing toilet seat for extra-easy installation, and right now, it’s also on sale for less than $100.

My colleague Nena Farrell tested this model for well over a year, and said that while she noted a few cracks on some of the rotating flanges inside of the housing (which you have to remove to even see), hers is still going strong. Note also that the Classic comes in a few colors, but there’s a chance it won’t exactly match your existing toilet.

The Classic is not the model I’ve tested, however. I have an updated model of the Wave, whose O.G. model is also on sale for a hefty discount on Prime Day, just $141. The Wave actually replaces your existing toilet seat, with a couple different shapes depending on the shape of your toilet bowl. (Make sure to check whether your toilet is “round” or “elongated” for proper fit.)

The White House is drastically shortening the deadline for government agencies and organizations to adopt new quantum-resistant encryption systems that will withstand attacks that use quantum computers, as the federal government seeks to protect decades’ worth of secrets belonging to militaries, banks, governments, and most individuals on Earth.

The executive order, titled Securing the Nation against Advanced Cryptographic Attacks, requires computing systems for “high-value assets” and “high-impact systems” to transition to post-quantum cryptographic key establishment schemes by December 31, 2030, and to quantum-safe digital signature schemes by December 31, 2031.

Heading off a significant threat

The new deadline, which for many organizations is about five years sooner than the previous one, comes on the heels of recent research showing that the resources and cost for building a cryptographically relevant quantum computer are far less than previous consensus estimates. In response, Google, Cloudflare, and other companies recently tightened their timelines for moving off vulnerable systems to 2029.

“The advent of large-scale quantum computers, particularly in the hands of adversaries, will pose a significant threat to widely used cryptographic security systems,” Monday’s executive order stated. “Ongoing cyber activity against our Nation also presents the risk of adversaries collecting United States information now, and decrypting it later once large-scale quantum computers are operational.”

Under a timeline the National Security Agency published in 2022, “National Security Systems”—a class including only defense and intelligence systems under the authority of the agency—were under orders to be quantum-ready between 2030 and 2033. Most other organizations had until 2035 to complete the transition. Now, many of them will be required to transition much sooner.

“So, for any system that falls into this new bucket of high-value assets and high-impact systems, their transition timelines just got shortened by 4-5 years (from 2035 to 2030/2031),” Brian LaMacchia, a cryptography engineer who oversaw Microsoft’s post-quantum transition from 2015 to 2022 and now works at Farcaster Consulting Group, told Ars. “That is a significant shortening of the transition timeline for these systems, and it follows similar timeline revisions from Google and Cloudflare that we saw announced back in late March/early April.”

Across the United States, K-12 schools have spent the past decade building one-to-one device programs. These initiatives have established an essential baseline for digital access, making it easier for students to complete daily schoolwork across grade levels and subjects. By putting a device in the hands of every learner, districts have created a standard foundation for digital literacy, research and everyday classroom engagement.

As STEM programs continue to grow and mature, however, school leaders are beginning to encounter new questions about how well those devices support more advanced coursework. Pathways in fields like robotics, engineering, cybersecurity and data science increasingly rely on specialized professional applications that reach well beyond general-purpose classroom software.

In many cases, students can successfully complete introductory work on school-issued devices. But as instruction progresses, the tools required for STEM programs place different demands on student computing resources. As a result, educators and technology directors are taking a closer look at how hardware capacity can keep pace with shifting curricular needs.

STEM Tools and Computing Demands

While web-based applications work well for introductory coursework and daily assignments, many expanding STEM pathways introduce entirely different technical requirements. Courses in engineering, 3D modeling, cybersecurity and data science rely on industry-standard applications that demand substantial local computing capacity, robust memory and dedicated graphics processing.

A prime example is SolidWorks, a professional computer-aided design (CAD) platform used in both higher education and engineering industries. When students build detailed, multi-part models or run stress-test simulations, the performance of the device they’re using directly affects how efficiently they can work. Insufficient hardware can lead to severe rendering delays, software lag or sudden crashes that disrupt the entire classroom flow. 

This reality highlights a practical procurement consideration for districts: As STEM curricula mature beyond basic web-browsing activities, classroom devices must have sufficient local processing power to keep up.

A Robotics Program in Practice

To see how these hardware dynamics play out in a real classroom, consider the experience of the Firebots robotics team at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, California. The team competes each year in the FIRST Robotics Competition, a global program where students design, build and program large robots to complete complex engineering challenges under tight, real-world constraints.

The work inside a competitive robotics program closely mirrors a commercial engineering environment, spanning mechanical design, fabrication, electrical systems and software development. Students use CAD tools to design components from scratch, test digital iterations and refine mechanisms on a tight competition timeline.

To support this technical workflow, the Firebots use ASUS TUF Gaming laptops. In robotics programs like this, student devices are not just tools for looking up information; they are central workbenches used across multiple stages of the design process. Students rely on them for modeling, code compilation, data logging, documentation and coordination among subteams.

Reliable on-device performance eliminates a common source of classroom friction. When software runs consistently and responsively, students can spend their limited class time troubleshooting their designs rather than troubleshooting their devices. Free from technical slowdowns and long file loads, they can focus on testing solutions and iterating on ideas. Ultimately, the Firebots’ systematic approach and focus on execution earned the company the FIRST Excellence in Engineering Award, which recognizes strong engineering design and system integration.

What This Means for STEM Instruction

The experience of programs like the Firebots raises a broader question for school leaders and instructional technology directors: How should district-wide device strategies evolve as STEM instruction becomes more technically demanding?

One-to-one computing programs continue to serve as the foundation for most day-to-day classroom learning, providing the baseline connectivity and performance needed for a modern education. At the same time, STEM courses can reveal distinct moments where standardized, general-purpose devices reach the limits of demanding software and workflow requirements.

In many districts, this variation is already being managed through a mix of approaches. Some schools rely on shared physical lab spaces equipped with higher-performance workstations dedicated to specialized software. Others use cloud-based streaming solutions where possible, while reserving more resource-intensive local applications for specific instructional settings.

The goal is not to dismantle existing one-to-one initiatives, but to recognize where a single hardware standard may limit technical pathways. As STEM education continues to expand and diversify, school leaders find themselves balancing the competing priorities of deployment consistency, procurement cost and instructional fit. In this changing landscape, device planning is no longer treated as a separate IT purchasing decision. Instead, it is increasingly part of a larger conversation about how schools design learning environments that accurately reflect the kinds of hands-on work students are being asked to do.

from the green-is-color-of-MAGA-tears dept

Yeah, that’s a shame. It couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy bigger asshole. It’s as if Trump asked his underlings to generate the perfect metaphor for his second administration and they fucking nailed it.

Trump has tried to impose his self-gratification on an event even he can’t possibly hope to destroy: the 250th anniversary of this country’s independence. His race against the clock has resulted in a lot of federal contractors racing around DC to apply gold Sharpies to any monument that doesn’t look sufficiently garish.

Trump also decided he could do what many other presidents couldn’t: revamp the DC reflecting pool without being subjected to discolored water and/or logistic missteps. Trump made sure he couldn’t achieve the latter by ordering his motorcade to drive onto the unfinished reflecting pool, delaying its completion. And he couldn’t beat nature in terms of the former, especially after demanding the floor of the pool be painted with a very algae-friendly shade of “American flag blue.”

The pumps kicked in and hours later, the reflecting pool resembled any Chicago waterway on St. Patrick’s Day. Department of Interior personnel were brought in to run vacuums, scatter hydrogen peroxide, and assure visitors and locals that the ectoplasm-esque fluid being routed to the nearest storm drains was perfectly safe and not likely to spawn thousands of murderous C.H.U.D.S. (also in the non-literal sense) that will terrorize the DC area for decades to come.

It is the metaphor Trump never wanted but one he absolutely earned. He promised that some of his pool guy buddies were capable of humiliating previous presidential attempts to “modernize” this DC fixture, thus elevating him to Supreme God King Of The Wading Pool. Instead, he got exactly what he should have expected, if he were anyone else but Donald Goddamn Trump. And it’s not a problem inherent to Donald Trump. It’s something that plagues the entirety of his most loyal supporters. I’ll turn this over to David Roth of Defector, a site you should absolutely be reading and subscribing to:

If everyone in the United States weren’t living downstream from its consequences, it would be a pretty good tragic flaw that Donald Trump wants more than anything to be seen as a brilliant man who has always been right about everything when he is transparently a butterfingered dunce whose professional expertise more or less begins and ends at making cutting remarks from a safe distance and directing other people to file nuisance lawsuits on his behalf. If assessed from a sufficient remove, the spread between the opening proposition—the man who knows more about every subject than any expert without even having to study or even pay attention to any of it, because he is just that much of a natural talent—and the relentlessly oafish output is a great bit, if admittedly also a bit one-note.

Lots of awful people are like this, and a great percentage of the degenerate gentry that is Trump’s truest and most durable base is extremely like this: Dumb old bullies all grandiose and soft from golf and infidelity; illiterate real-estate types with detailed opinions on The Differences Between The Races; the luridly unemployable adult children of car-dealership guys; anhedonic beneficiaries of a good investment or two who have, through sheer restless indolence and various dull biases, backed into some truly berserk and totally bespoke authoritarian worldviews. Aging phone addicts who think the country “needs a pharaoh.” Ruddy tax evaders who fear cities and are insecure about their boats. None of these people really do things especially well, and all of them are visibly getting worse, but they are all far enough from experiencing any kind of consequences that they can’t really imagine failing at anything they try.

When these are the people this debacle is happening to, no regular person feels even the least bit of sympathy for someone who thought they could buy and bully their way past nature.

But they can try to bully their way through this news cycle. While there were plenty of accounts detailing curious visitors to the pool picking out pieces of floating paint likely loosened by the DOI’s aggressive attempts to pry the landmark free of the algae’s grasp, no one but the Trump administration — including his DC District Attorney — has suggested LOLing about the peeling blue paint is a federal crime.

Now, we have this bullshit going on because Trump desperately needs to blame anyone but himself for the pool that’s going to need to be drained, repainted, resealed, and refilled yet again, with July 4th less than two weeks away.

“Five individuals have been arrested for vandalism. Five additional individuals were issued federal citations,” a department spokesperson told The Hill. 

The spokesperson said a total of 14 police reports have been filed for vandalism, including the alleged crimes described in President Trump’s recent Truth Social posts.

Question 1: Five? And what for exactly?

Question 2: Fourteen? And who filed these reports?

Question 3: Get the fuck out of here with this.

If you want more details on these allegations, you have to go to the source. And while you won’t get any details or anything approaching evidence, you will get the thrill of Trump attempting to Pizzagate his own pet project’s abject failure:

In an entirely predictable development, when Donald Trump was just pressed by reporters to explain the flawed renovation of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, he denied that the contractors he awarded the work to were to blame and instead insisted that “vandals” had used a knife or box-cutter to cut a 350ft “slit” in the newly applied sealant, which started peeling away from the floor and floating to the surface within days of its application.

“I can’t help it if somebody goes in with a knife and starts hacking it up,” the president said.

In all fairness to this tyrant-on-training-wheels, it would be impossible for Trump to prevent “vandals” from creating a 350-foot “slit” in the pool. First of all, some vandals would have needed to have attempted this. Second of all, someone running the place might occasionally need to glance up from their Truth Social feed to keep an eye on the pool.

Considering the remake/remodel debacle has been the subject of intense 24/7 coverage since the refill effort began, you would think someone would have seen (and reported on) 350-foot slitting efforts by vandals. And yet, the only reports to surface so far deal with the algae infestation, the peeling paint, the people amused/bemused by all of this, and the government’s unproven assertions that the pool was vandalized.

Beyond Trump being hoisted by his own petard, there’s some joy to be had in seeing him struggle to blame others for him being so wrong about everything and then having to suffer through the aftermath of his abject failure. The downside is that this government is seeking to punish people because the president embarrassed himself. That’s fucked up. And that’s the lesson that needs to be internalized here. Even if you’ve done nothing wrong, this administration will bring its powers to bear against you because it’s always someone else’s fault when it fucks up.

Filed Under: asshats, dc, department of interior, donald trump, failure, jeanine pirro, loser, reflecting pool, trump administration

Animation in 4K is its own unique experience. The format’s exceptional clarity and expanded color palette can elevate the beauty and wonder of stories too out-there for live action. Ultra HD can occasionally expose the limitations of the medium, including choppy legacy line art, but it ultimately remains a definitive showcase for the art form. By unlocking explosive HDR highlights and a wider color gamut, 4K discs can breathe new life into both classic hand-drawn animation and state-of-the-art digital work, freeing vintage hues from past technical constraints. Today’s filmmakers, meanwhile, exploit these advances with an impact that was once impossible to achieve at home.

Five recent disc releases remind us exactly what the format can do. All feature native 4K presentations. Four include Dolby Vision, while one relies entirely on standard dynamic range to make its case.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment)

Video game adaptations have come a long way from their misguided baby steps, as evidenced by both live-action entries such as A Minecraft Movie and Illumination’s animated take on the Mario universe. This even glossier follow-up to 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie expands an already impressive core cast of Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Jack Black with Brie Larson, Benny Safdie, and Glen Powell for a spectacular rescue mission that takes the gang across the cosmos.

Visually, though, Galaxy pushes the envelope by shifting the action from the sunny Mushroom Kingdom to the dark reaches of outer space, requiring a completely different lighting approach. Glowing Lumas and floating Star Bits cast vibrant colors across the characters and environments, while specular highlights on the slick metal spaceships create sharp reflections that give the animation an advanced sheen. Individual threads and weave patterns are visible on costumes, the backgrounds boast a massive jump in rendering complexity, and motion blur remains tightly controlled, like a next-generation game engine running at maximum capacity.

The Dolby Atmos mix uses discrete steering and aggressive height-channel placement to pan spaceships and debris effortlessly around the room. This hyperkinetic soundfield is anchored by authoritative, subwoofer-testing low end and a massive orchestral score that spreads wide into the surrounds, all while keeping dialogue pristine. There are a few basic extras, but skip them and just rewatch the movie in awe.

Movie Details

• STUDIO: Universal Pictures Home Entertainment
• FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (June 16, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 2026
• ASPECT RATIO: 2.39:1
• HDR FORMATS: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with TrueHD 7.1 core
• LENGTH: 98 mins.
• MPAA RATING: PG
• DIRECTORS: Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic
• STARRING: Chris Pratt, Charlie Day, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, Donald Glover, Keegan-Michael Key

Our Ratings

Where to buy:

Alice in Wonderland (Disney/Sony)

Shifting from the newest to the oldest movie in this batch, Walt Disney’s 1951 adaptation combines elements from both Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel, Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There. While British purists complained that the sacred texts had been dumbed down, prudish Americans, surprisingly, did not object to the druggish undertones inherent in the eccentric characters and wild scenarios. In fact, they largely ignored Alice. The movie sat in the vault until the psychedelic era brought renewed interest, leading to a full theatrical re-release in 1974. It has been beloved ever since.

Timed to the film’s 75th anniversary, Walt Disney Film Restoration spent nine months restoring Alice, beginning with scans of the original nitrate successive-exposure negatives and preserving the proper 1.37:1 aspect ratio. This work was followed by extensive cleanup to address dust, warping, and other signs of age, with archival production artwork used as a reference to optimize color and luminance in every shot. Walt & Co.’s cheerier tone is reflected in an explosively vibrant palette, with pinks and blues that pop off the screen so intensely that viewers may begin to question what is real.

Alongside a lossy two-channel mono track, the disc includes a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 remix that feels modern while remaining faithful to the original, with particularly strong fidelity in the songs. All of the extras are housed on the bundled HD Blu-ray, including an excellent picture-in-picture mode and a deep selection of vintage and retrospective programs, along with behind-the-scenes material.

Movie Details

• STUDIO: Disney/Sony
• FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (May 5, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 1951
• ASPECT RATIO: 1.37:1
• HDR FORMATS: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• AUDIO FORMAT: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
• LENGTH: 75 mins.
• MPAA RATING: G
• DIRECTORS: Clyde Geronimi, Wilfred Jackson, Hamilton Luske
• STARRING: Kathryn Beaumont, Ed Wynn, Richard Haydn, Sterling Holloway, Jerry Colonna, Verna Felton

Our Ratings

Where to buy:

Fire and Ice (Blue Underground/MVD)

Two titans joined forces for a once-in-a-lifetime collaboration when the singular fantasy artist Frank Frazetta teamed with celebrated animator Ralph Bakshi to create the original screen adventure, Fire and Ice. In a savage prehistoric world, the buff warrior Larn and mysterious masked avenger Darkwolf embark on a perilous quest to rescue Princess Teegra from the evil ice lord Nekron, whose advancing glaciers threaten to consume the world.

To capture the look of a Frazetta painting brought to life while maintaining realistic anatomy, Bakshi relied on rotoscoping, a process pioneered by Max Fleischer decades earlier. Live-action performers were filmed, then each frame was painstakingly traced and painted. The backgrounds, meanwhile, were largely created by a young Thomas Kinkade, whose name was misspelled in the credits. Long before becoming “The Painter of Light” and the head of a multimillion-dollar art empire, Kinkade experimented here with a luministic, chiaroscuro style that draws the eye through small bursts of light and color. His brushstrokes and the texture of the line art are fully preserved in the 4K, 16-bit scan, while the occasional static foreground “fog” adds depth to the main action.

The new Atmos reconfiguration is remarkably strong, with fluid placement of effects across the soundfield: arrows zip past pterodactyls, swords land with heavy clangs, and the mix builds on Blue Underground’s previous 6.1 and 7.1 remixes. The original stereo track is also included, along with 5.1 audio, all in DTS-HD Master Audio. William Kraft’s score adds a visceral, primal pulse and is included here on a 70-minute, 21-track CD.

New featurettes spotlight Frazetta’s granddaughter, Sara Frazetta, and superfan filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, alongside a strong collection of legacy content that includes a Bakshi audio commentary. The SteelBook packaging is especially elegant: a clear plastic slip carries the title and logos on the front, with the usual disc information on the back. Remove it, and Frank Frazetta’s poster art is left unobstructed, with animation art displayed on the reverse.

Movie Details

• STUDIO: Blue Underground/MVD
• FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (June 30, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 1983
• ASPECT RATIO: 1.85:1
• HDR FORMATS: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with TrueHD 7.1 core
• LENGTH: 82 mins.
• MPAA RATING: PG
• DIRECTOR: Ralph Bakshi
• STARRING: Randy Norton, Cynthia Leake, Steve Sandor, Sean Hannon, Leo Gordon, William Ostrander

Our Ratings

Where to buy:

Perfect Blue (GKIDS/Shout! Factory/Radial Entertainment)

Perfect Blue is smart and sophisticated enough to have worked as a live-action psychological thriller, and in fact it almost was before first-time director Satoshi Kon turned it into one of the most influential anime films ever made. The story follows young Mima’s transition from pop idol to aspiring television actress, a journey filled with unexpected hurdles that soon leads her down a dark path where she begins to question her own sanity. This unrated cut can get rough, with murder, sexual violence, and a stalker all driving the story toward a major twist that I did not see coming.

Although it was originally greenlit as a modest direct-to-video release, the production quality far exceeds the assignment. The hand-drawn, hand-painted artwork delivers nuanced characters and richly detailed backgrounds, particularly in its Tokyo cityscapes. Kon’s masterful camerawork, lingering film grain, and occasional dirt combine to create a genuinely cinematic feel, capturing a twilight moment just before the industry shifted more decisively toward digital cel animation.

The 5.1 track is unlike any other mix in this lineup: punchy, aggressive, and full of discrete left and right cues, with hard surround activity that makes unapologetic use of the rear channels. Dialogue remains consistently crisp, although I cannot claim to understand more than a handful of Japanese phrases.

A more affordable, though still premium, alternative to last year’s collector’s edition, Shout!’s SteelBook arrives across three discs, with much of the bonus material presented in standard definition. The highlight is a series of Satoshi Kon lectures totaling roughly two hours, with English subtitles, in which he digs deeply into possible interpretations of the labyrinthine narrative, along with the film’s themes and techniques.

Movie Details

• STUDIO: GKIDS/Shout! Factory/Radial Entertainment
• FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (June 16, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 1997
• ASPECT RATIO: 1.85:1
• HDR FORMATS: n/a (SDR)
• AUDIO FORMAT: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (Japanese and English options)
• LENGTH: 82 mins.
• MPAA RATING: NR
• DIRECTOR: Satoshi Kon
• STARRING: Junko Iwao, Rika Matsumoto, Shinpachi Tsuji, Masaaki Ôkura, Yôsuke Akimoto, Yoku Shioya

Our Ratings

Where to buy:

Hoppers (Disney/Sony)

One of Pixar’s better efforts of late, Hoppers takes audiences into the animal kingdom in a whole new way. Animal-loving college student Mabel uses hush-hush technology to “hop” her consciousness into a lifelike robotic beaver body and live among the creatures of the forest. They can understand her, and she can understand them, though neither side quite knows what to make of the other. But when her passion to protect wildlife at all costs gets the better of her, she is in for a hard lesson about the real laws of nature. It is funny, there is ample cuteness afoot, and the environmental message lands without becoming obnoxious as Mabel learns that complicated problems do not always have simple answers. You know, the usual Pixar existential crisis, but with beavers.

Remember when rendering fur and feathers was a big deal? Hoppers makes it look easy, with an exceptionally clear, detailed image that takes a step beyond realism through a playful visual style that pleases the eye without straining for ultimate photorealism. Woodland colors are lush and lovely, as only Dolby Vision can deliver. Note that the 4K disc is a SteelBook-only release.

There is plenty of 360-degree and overhead audio action from the abundant creatures of air and land, along with no shortage of manmade mayhem, all underscored by serious bass kick. The hopper equipment itself features thoughtful sound design that conveys the transfer into the synthetic body, then reinforces it with subtle mechanical accents. The supplements are wholly adequate, covering the creative team’s character research, a brisk making-of featurette, a study of a key scene, plus bloopers and deleted scenes.

Movie Details

• STUDIO: Disney/Sony
• FORMAT: Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray (June 2, 2026)
• THEATRICAL RELEASE YEAR: 2026
• ASPECT RATIO: 1.85:1
• HDR FORMATS: Dolby Vision, HDR10
• AUDIO FORMAT: Dolby Atmos with TrueHD 7.1 core
• LENGTH: 105 mins.
• MPAA RATING: PG
• DIRECTOR: Daniel Chong
• STARRING: Piper Curda, Bobby Moynihan, Jon Hamm, Kathy Najimy, Dave Franco, Eduardo Franco

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