Jim Bray, CFP Automotive Editor

New on 4K disc: Beastly Transformers makes for nonsensical fun – while Rosemary's Baby never looked scarier

Paramount Pictures' latest kick at the Transformers cat, er can, is more fun than I expected, and it's an interesting counterpoint to the studio's other major release for this week: Rosemary's Baby.

As with Bumblebee before it, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts is a throwback in time, this time to the 1990's, before the Michael Bay-driven original set of movies were supposed to have happened. This time, the Autobots are tasked with saving the earth from some new threat that could wipe out the entire planet, taking the hero Transformers out as well as the human race these Autobots have yet to discover can be allies.

New MotoMaster winter tires promise an affordable and safe snowy drive

My son has just retired.

Not from his job, mind you (though I'm willing to bet he'd love that as well!), but from his aging winter tires to a brand new – and surprisingly affordable to these eyes – set of full winter tires from Canadian Tire. The new rubber appears to be a sequel to an earlier model because the folks at Canadian Tire have named them "MotoMasterWinter Edge II" so I assume these are an upgrade to an earlier version.

Obscure giant critters get a new lease on life thanks to new film restoration and distribution company

Well, they may not have been huge box office successes, though the supplements accompanying this two-disc Blu-ray set say the producer made his investment back multiple times over, but The Giant Gila Monster and The Killer Shrews are well worth your "guilty pleasure" time even though they have never gained the kind of adoration of such contemporaries as Forbidden Planet, or even Them!

Lexus downsizes its RX 350's power and upsides its annoyances

Lexus' top-selling mid-size SUV has received a new set of clothes, a new engine, and new interfaces for its current generation. I only wish I could say they're all good things.

Top Hughes and Wyler films make their way onto 4K disc

Paramount has released another round of popular titles to their growing library of 4K discs and, while they may not be the most spectacular examples of the 4K disc medium, they both shine on the ultra high-definition discs and are well worth seeing and/or owning.

Ford Raptor R – R stands for Reality-challenging!

Forgive me if I write this column while hunkering down under my desk, because I'm afraid I might get struck by lightning for actually liking a full-sized pickup truck.

Warner Bros. releases sparkling new versions of a classic western – and a classic "eastern" – on 4K disc

One of the great westerns of all time, Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo, has made the transition to 4K disc, and it was worth the wait.

Ditto for "East of Eden," Elia Kazan's take on John Steinbeck, a movie I didn't like very much but which many others seem to think is equally classic to Rio Bravo. Those people are wrong, of course, but at least fans of the film now have a much more state-of-the-art version to be bored by.

Mazda's big new SUV bucks trends as well as embracing them

Is Mazda's all-new CX-90 three row SUV another "Mazdapiece" from the Japanese manufacturer?

I'd say yes, having just spent two weeks in two different versions of the vehicle. Now, I'm a Mazda fan anyway, thanks to their Japanese reliability and Mazda's famous "Zoom-Zoom" fun to drive quotient. Even a big SUV like this – formerly called the CX-9 – was more fun to drive than it had any right to be. They don't use that little kid's Zoomy utterance any more, alas, but the vehicles still embody the concept well.

Keeping your wheels turning on summer roads requires only some common sense

Now that summer is here and many folks are preparing for their vacation road trips, it might make sense to ensure your vehicle will get you where you want to go.

This might seem like a "duh" moment, but it's easy to forget to take a few seconds to give your vehicle the once over – twice, if necessary – to see that it's up to snuff and the chances are minimized that you won't get to your destination, let alone back again.

Warner Brothers unpacks National Lampoon's Vacation for 4K disc

Director Harold Ramis unleashed Chevy Chase and his family's first cinematic vacation on an unsuspecting public back in 1983 and now Warner Brothers, as part of its 100th anniversary celebration, is unleashing it again, this time on 4K disc.

New Accord continues Honda's flagship car's overall excellence

Honda's Accord has been a winning choice for car consumers for decades, and this new, 11th generation promises that great ride in the marketplace of life will continue for at least a few more years.

That's a good thing, especially in an environment where some companies are phasing out their cars completely, moving to the SUV market alone. I think this trend is stupid – some companies are abandoning the car vehicle market to the competition, which seems like a pretty lame marketing idea considering pendulums tend to swing both ways and once people are buying cars again some manufacturers will be forced to play catch up.

Honda Ridgeline Black a nifty small pickup truck

Honda's Ridgeline is a very interesting pickup truck; it's really a mid-sized, two row SUV whose rear cargo area has been replaced by a pickup truck bed/trunk combo that Honda undoubtedly believes makes it the best of both SUV and small truck worlds.

Shazam sequel proves you can't go home again – and Paramount dips into the vault with a 4K steelbook set of Transformers

Shazam! The Fury of the Gods is the interminable sequel to the mostly watchable and kind of fun original, but it ups the ante substantially and unnecessarily to become a fairly incoherent mishmash that had us checking our watches repeatedly to see if the ordeal was coming to an end yet.

Toyota Tundra Platinum – a big truck aimed at big truck people

While the "Big Three" North American carmakers have owned the full-sized pickup truck market since there really was such a market, Toyota has been working hard at getting a major slice. And they seem to be making progress, though it's still an uphill battle for the Japanese automotive giant.

Deep Impact strikes the planet with a brand new 4K transfer

Talk about a "hit" movie!

Deep Impact was one of two "When Worlds Collide-type" movies released in 1998, the other being the Michael Bay/Bruce Willis action/adventure flick "Armageddon." The latter did better at the box office, but pales Deep Impact, in my never humble opinion, in its status as a good science fiction movie. Or even as a good disaster movie.

Subaru's Ascent into the three row SUV market an interesting entry

Subaru's largest vehicle, the Ascent, has received some tweaks and upgrades for the 2023 model year, undoubtedly to help it compete better with such vehicles as Mazda's terrific CX-9, the Honda Pilot, Toyota Highlander, VW Atlas, etc. with which it goes head-to-head.

Ekrin Athletics' massage gun - aye, there's the rub!

Do you like to have your sore or tight muscles massaged, but don't like having to trek down to the local masseur/masseuse/masswhatever all the time?

Well, there is a number of massage tools available for such folks, from products dedicated to a particular body part (such as your feet or neck) to hand held massager "guns" that bring their own calibre of performance and flexibility to the task.

I looked at such a hand-held beast a couple of years back, the Theragun Elite, and though I don't use such things very much, my dear wife liked it a lot, and in fact uses it to this day. She likes the concept because she now has a machine that rubs her the right way, unlike her husband.

Star Trek's Next Generation films hit 4K and Blu-ray

Paramount Pictures has finally released the quartet of Star Trek: The Next Generation movies, and it's about time.

Now, TNG movies have been pilloried for years as not being up to Trek snuff – and I generally agreed with the pillorying over the years. Now, however, having not seen any of these films for at least a decade, my revisiting the collection has given me a, perhaps, more mellow feel toward them.

Toyota ditches the six for the 2023 Highlander

The bad news? It's true that you can no longer get a V6-powered Toyota Highlander. The not as bad news is that the turbo four that replaces it puts out plenty of poop, such that you may find yourself not missing the oomph and smoothness of the old 3.5 litre V6.

I have to admit, I missed it, but not nearly as much as I thought I would. The new turbo does a very good job.

Dragonslayer soars onto Blu-ray and 4K disc

Paramount Studios has finally released the epic fantasy Dragonslayer on high definition disc and it's a very nice transfer, and you even get some pretty substantial extras in the Blu-ray box.

Dragonslayer is, as I noted in my original review of the DVD about 20 years ago, one of the best fantasy films I've seen – perhaps not counting Peter Jackson's epic Lord of the Rings trilogy. It's a classic man vs. monster story featuring a great screenplay that tells the tale intelligently and with humour. It also features top notch performances and terrific special effects (for the pre-CG era) that were nominated for an Academy Award when the film came out.