Ever since Toy Story burst on the scene with its incredible computer generated images, hand drawn animation began to fade away. After the release of Toy Story, each new CGI feature seemed to outdo the others, advancing the state of art even further, with more realistic and lifelike animation and movement. When it comes to CGI, the sky really seems to be the limit. However, lost in all this technical advancement was the sheer beauty of hand drawn animation, the kind that the folks at Disney Studios made so famous. I guess it was fitting that Disney, under the helm of John Lassiter of Pixar fame, would be the ones to bring hand drawn animation back to the screen with 2009’s The Princess and the Frog, which has finally made its way to Blu-ray. Read the full story

Making a movie out of a popular book is hard enough. Having the condense several hundred pages of text into a coherent two hour film can be quite a daunting task. The list of great books being made into mediocre films is long indeed. Even more difficult I would imagine is taking a very popular short illustrated children’s book and fleshing it out into a full length motion picture, while keeping true to the spirit of the book. Well that is just what director Spike Jonze has accomplished with the subject of today’s review. Where the Wild Things Are. Read the full story

For the most part, it seems that sequels to popular films are nothing but money grabs, attempts to cash in yet again on the popularity of the first film. It this regard, they show little in the way of originality and feature the same cast and essentially the same story line as the prior film, albeit often times taking place a few years later. Same cast, same story and essentially the same film. I am not saying that sequels are bad…  far from it, as they have been several tremendous sequels, especially recent ones, with The Bourne films and The Dark Knight coming to mind. It is just that I look at sequels with a bit of a jaded eye, especially comedies. Which brings us to the subject of this review, Cheaper By The Dozen 2. Read the full story

Adding your typical Jerry Bruckheimer action fare and his team’s excellent CGI capability with a kids story about guinea pigs who are trained by the FBI to be secret agents sounded like an iffy proposition. The trailer did look promising so I was hoping to get my hands on a review copy of the film G-Force once it debuted on Blu-ray. Well, the review copy arrived yesterday and I popped it in to the player for a look last night. I was glad I did. Read the full story

I can’t really say that I was a huge fan of Night of the Museum. Sure it had its funny moments but a comic masterpiece is was not. It did have a side benefit of getting more kids interested in history which may be the film’s greatest lasting legacy. While I was sure that a sequel would follow (don’t they always?), it was difficult to envision how a sequel would be anything other than the same film in a different locale. Well, the sequel has arrived on Blu-ray. Will it prove to be an improvement on the first film or simply more of the same? Read the full story

We all know Tinker Bell as the inspirational fairy who stood alongside Peter Pan with motivational support and knowledge. Well since her original conception she has quite literally taken on wings of her own spawning her own line of books, plays, video games, TV shows, and yes even her own movies. Really she needs no introduction, but can this buzzing side kick really carry her own movie? Preceded by 2008’s self titled Tinker Bell, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue made its way straight to DVD and Blu ray with respectable cast of voice actors. With a third installment already planned this sequel can’t be all that bad, right? Read the full story

There are times when a concept that sounds good on paper fails to live up to expectations once it appears on the big screen. Aliens in the Attic is just such one of those concepts. Looked cute on the trailer but as a film… Here is the full review. Read the full story

Monsters, Inc. was one of those films that simply looked great on DVD on any HDTV. I was really interested to see just how much better the film could look in high def and even better on Blu-ray. Given that the same team involved with UP were involved in the production of Monsters, Inc. I guess it is appropriate that the release of Monsters, Inc. on Blu-ray is timed to the release of UP. I am pleased to report that the video as well as the audio improvement on the Blu-ray edition of Monsters, Inc. over the DVD is simply staggering and a must buy for fans of the film. Read the full story

The folks at Pixar have quite a track record in a rather short period of time. They crank out one great film after another, amazingly topping themselves each time in the process, both in terms of the quality of their computer generated images as well as their story telling. As all Phillies fans know thanks to Brad Lidge, a perfect streak must eventually come to an end and when they do, the result is not a pretty sight. Thankfully, with their latest effort, UP, the folks at Pixar have avoided a Brad Lidge-ish meltdown and continue their streak of incredible films, releasing what is probably, all things considered, their best ever film. UP is a release that is a must have for all film fans. Read the full story

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is the third film in the Ice Age trilogy and is making its way to Blu-ray this month. While I enjoyed the first film, Ice Age a lot, I found the second installment, Ice Age: The Meltdown, to be a bit of a let down although is sure did well at the box office. Will the third installment continue the downward slid or match the level of the first? Read the full story

There are movies that are timeless for their ability to touch audiences over the generations, regardless of the time period in which they were made. These films have several things in common, including a great script, a perfect cast and a message that inspires hope and inspiration. One of these films is Miracle on 34th Street, which made its debut in theaters in 1947 and is making its high def debut on Blu-ray this month. Read the full story

The release of just about every Disney animated film on Blu-ray is eagerly anticipated, especially the old classic films. As far as this writer is concerned, the folks at Disney set the bar real high when it comes to their older venerated catalog with the simply stellar release of Pinocchio earlier this year. An even more eagerly awaited release is the classic film Snow White, which underwent a total restoration as did Pinocchio in preparation for its release on Blu-ray. Well, Snow White has finally arrived on Blu-ray. Was it worth the wait? Will it meet or possibly even exceed the quality of the Pinocchio release? Read the full story

My kids don’t really express an interest in watching many of the films that I have the opportunity to review on Bu-ray all that often. My kids rarely ask me when a particular film is coming out on Blu-ray. However, there is a notable exception to this and it involves Hannah Montana: The Movie. My youngest son is a big Hannah Montana fan. I have therefore been exposed to a lot more of her than most people my age as my son at some points in his young life, has had her show on the Disney channel at home for what seems like days at a time. Naturally, when Hannah Montana: The Movie arrived, it made its way into the Blu-ray player very quickly. Read the full story

In the last few years, there have been several films featuring a common theme. It goes something like this. An adult is unhappy about their life and longs to be young again when times were good, usually when they were in high school. I guess many out there loved their high school years. I for one have enjoyed my adulthood much more than high school and would never want to go back. In any event, the next thing you know, this person wakes up and they are teenagers again and by the end of the film, realize that their lives as adults were not so bad after all. It seems that many of these films involve women, with 13 Going on 30 being the film that comes to mind first. I have found many of these films to be rather lame, perhaps because I don’t look back on my high school years all that fondly. Well, we have another entry into this genre, 17 Again, this time with a male as the lead character, with, regrettably, the same old lame plot. Read the full story

Wholesome family entertainment. That seems to be a very common buzzword these days when it comes to films. Families with kids are complaining that there is just too much violence and sexual content in films that are designed to appeal, in part, to children and pre-teens. Frankly, I feel that that is a bit of an overstatement but I do understand the desire of parents to have available good quality age appropriate entertainment for their kids. Read the full story

When looking at movies like Mr. Troop Mom you really have to put things into perspective and get yourself into that specific mind set in which you can appreciate its simplicity as if you were once again a child. Let’s face it; most of the movies we loved so much growing up have hardly passed the test of time, and despite not having the same effect on us presently they sure did captivate us growing up. While my anticipations of Mr. Troop Mom aren’t equivalent to some of the quality I was accustom to growing up, I can guarantee you there is an audience of adolescence out there who are going to love this film as we once may have. Read the full story

I must say, Brendan Fraser has come a long way from Friends, at least insofar as his career in cinema is concerned. He has become somewhat the action film star, with his starring role in the three very successful Mummy films as well as The Journey to the Center of the Earth. While he is certainly no Harrison Ford in terms of either catalog depth or overall on screen persona, he has certainly developed quite a nice little niche, at least in regards to light, humorous action adventure films. Inkheart just happens to be another one of those types of films. Read the full story