If you’ve heard the name “Buster Brown” at all, you’re probably thinking of a line of kids’ shoes. However, you may not know that these shoes were not named for the guy who started the footwear line. Buster Brown was a popular comic strip character from the early 20th century created by Richard F. Outcault, a comics pioneer who’s perhaps slightly better remembered by modern graphic storytelling geeks for the Yellow Kid.

The character was a dandyish youngster whose angelic looks belied a strong mischievous streak, resulting in frequent corporal punishment at the hands of his mother. I’ve never actually read the strip, but I assume no boozing was involved as Buster was obviously much too young. So, as with last week’s drink, we have another cocktail named for a presumed teetotaler.

Indeed, while cartoonist Richard Outcault licensed his character to the shoe brand, there is really no apparent connection between the name and drink itself. Still, it’s a very nice variation on a whiskey sour. The only real difference is that the Buster Brown is a true cocktail in the original sense as, unlike most sours, it contains bitters.

The Buster Brown

2 ounces bourbon (possibly rye)
1 ounce fresh lemon juice
1/2 ounce simple syrup (possibly 2 1/2 tablespoons superfine sugar)
2 dashes orange bitters

Combine the ingredients in a cocktail shaker with plenty of ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass and contemplate how to do mischievous things without getting spanked.

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Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders, Alex Hibbert, Naomie Harris, Mahershala Ali, André Holland, Janelle Monáe

Barry Jenkins

A24 is without a doubt one of the most creatively exciting players in Hollywood today. They’ve made it their mission to champion less marketable films such as “Swiss Army Man,” “The Lobster” and “American Honey,” just to name a few from this year alone, opening up a whole new avenue for projects that don’t conform to the traditional studio system. It’s hard to imagine a movie like “Moonlight” developing into the festival sensation (and potential Oscar contender) that it’s become without the studio’s support, even if it might be slightly overrated. Adapted from Tarell Alvin McCraney’s play, “In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue,” writer/director Barry Jenkins’ sophomore effort is a powerful but flawed rumination on identity that chronicles the life of a young, gay black man across three different time periods as he struggles to find his place in the world.

The film opens in the late ‘90s as a soft-spoken boy named Chiron (Alex Hibbert) is chased by a group of bigger kids through his poor, crime-ridden neighborhood in Miami. Chiron comes from a broken home with no father figure and an abusive, crack addict mother (Naomie Harris), so when local drug dealer Juan (Mahershala Ali) takes a sudden interest in the runaway, Chiron immediately looks up to him as a mentor, despite Juan’s involvement in his mother’s drug habit. Several years later, Chiron (now played by Ashton Sanders) has grown into a lanky, introverted high school student who’s become the target of bullying as he tries to come to terms with his sexuality. Chiron finds some solace in his casual friendship with Kevin (Jharrel Jerome), but after a sexual encounter between them leads to a startling act of violence, Chiron’s life is changed forever. In the movie’s final chapter, a completely transformed Chiron – now a muscular, drug-dealing adult (Trevante Rhodes) who hides behind a thuggish facade – must confront his past when he’s reunited with an older, wiser Kevin (played by André Holland) at a Miami diner.

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Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Danika Yarosh, Robert Knepper, Patrick Heusinger, Aldis Hodge

Edward Zwick

One of the main reasons why “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” is an invigorating sequel is because it doesn’t share a whole lot in common with its predecessor. While Christopher McQuarrie’s lean and muscular thriller didn’t dig very deep into its titular character, director Edward Zwick’s film raises plenty of questions about the former military man. Zwick, a filmmaker known more for dramas than popcorn thrillers, brings his personal touch to the series based on Lee Child’s popular novels while also producing an impressive crowd-pleaser.

Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) is still drifting, traveling from town to town with a few dollars in his pocket. As the opening establishes, though, the former major isn’t done helping people in need. He also still has some ties to the military, like Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), who often works with Reacher, but only over the phone. After the two develop a friendship and respect for each other, they make plans to meet when Reacher travels to Washington D.C. Once Reacher arrives in the nation’s capital and enters her office, however, he discovers that Turner is facing accusations of treason. Reacher doesn’t buy it, and he’ll do whatever he can do to prove her innocence.

Part of what’s great about McQuarrie’s film is that Jack Reacher is already Jack Reacher. He’s not at a moral crossroads. He knows right and wrong. He knows who he is. On the other hand, what’s so appealing about Zwick’s film is that we get to see Reacher start to ask questions about himself. We learned more about Reacher through action in McQuarrie’s movie, and this time around, screenwriters Richard Wenk, Marshall Herskovitz and Zwick place some of those actions under a microscope. There’s an inherent sadness to the character’s way of life; he has no real personal connections. “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” often likes to take its time to truly show what kind of effect that life of solitude would have on someone.

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Every Tuesday, I review the newest Blu-ray releases and let you know whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping, along with a breakdown of the included extras. If you see something you like, click on the cover art to purchase the Blu-ray from Amazon, and be sure to share each week’s column on social media with your friends.

WHAT: After picking up a young woman in the city and returning to her Upper West Side townhouse to have some fun, Pakistani-American college student Nasir “Naz” Khan (Riz Ahmed) wakes up to find her stabbed to death. In a moment of panic, Naz flees from the scene and is eventually captured and charged for murder. While all evidence points towards him, defense attorney John Stone (John Turturro) believes that Naz is telling the truth about his innocence and offers to help clear his name… or at the very least, get rich off the trial.

WHY: “The Night Of” was originally supposed to star James Gandolfini before the actor’s untimely death, but within the first few episodes of the HBO limited series, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than John Turturro in the role. The veteran character actor is so riveting as the down-on-his-luck attorney that it seems a near-certainty he’ll walk away with an Emmy for his performance. He’s that good, and the same could be said for the rest of the cast, including co-star Riz Ahmed and supporting players like Bill Camp, Michael Kenneth Williams and Peyman Moaadi. However, what really elevates “The Night Of” beyond the typical crime drama is the superb writing by co-creators Richard Price and Steve Zaillian, which delivers a probing examination of the systemic problems in the U.S. criminal justice system (from the police, to the prisons, to the lawyers) and how one crime can affect the lives of not only the accused but the people connected to them as well. Though the actual investigation feels a bit rushed, and the series doesn’t hit as many highs in the later episodes, “The Night Of” is an excellent piece of filmmaking that challenges the way we watch television and tell stories.

EXTRAS: Sadly, there’s no bonus material.

FINAL VERDICT: RENT

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Laughing and screaming are not so different, when you think about it. Both are involuntary reactions to outside stimulus that betray the true emotion of a person. Yet when people talk about horror films, they rarely talk about the crucial element that comedy plays in crafting a successful scary movie. And while not every horror movie uses (or needs) comedy in its storytelling, especially those films that are more interested in cultivating an atmosphere of dread and doom, those that do tend to be crowd pleasers that deliver a more complete experience for the audience.

There’s always been a certain wicked sense of humor in horror, whether it’s the clever wordplay of Edgar Allen Poe or H.P. Lovecraft, the ironic morality tales of comics like “Tales from the Crypt,” or even Stephen King’s moments of levity in his gruesome tales of the macabre. And while many point to “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” as the watershed moment where comedy and horror collided, there are earlier examples in films like “Bride of Frankenstein” that have truly funny moments embedded within them. With the rise of a more cultivated viewership, filmmakers have gone on to inject more comedy into their horror fare. Part of this is a recognition of tired tropes and clichés, but part of it serves a real purpose in telling a scary story.

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