|
|
Childrens
| | | 101 Dalmations | |  | | Disney's classic tale of a litter of dalmatian puppies abducted by Cruella De Vil and her thugs. Will Pongo and Perdita find them before Cruella uses them to make a lovely dalmatian skin coat? |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | Clyde Geronimi, Hamilton Luske, Wolfgang Reitherman |
|
| | | | 102 Dalmations (Live) | | | | Don't be fooled by the title. Rather than 102, there are 4 reasons to like this sequel to the successful live-action remake of Disney's animated classic. There are the 101 spotted pooches, Glenn Close back in fine form as Cruella De Vil, Oddball--the spotless dalmation pup--and Waddlesworth, a parrot who thinks he's a rottweiler (and is voiced by Monty Python's Eric Idle). There are just as many reasons to be disappointed. Like most sequels, the story line is virtually a rewrite of the first, the secondary casting isn't as interesting, the dialogue merely serves to move the plot along, and the third act substitutes mean-spiritedness for comedy. After a period of rehabilitation, Cruella has returned to her old tricks. Once again, she simply must have a spotted coat and will go to any lengths to get ahold of the 102 dalmatians needed to make one with a hood. She sets her sights on the pups owned by her probation officer, Chloe (Alice Evans), and the owner of a local animal shelter, Kevin (Ioan Gruffudd of Horatio Hornblower). Her servant, Alonso (Tim McInnerny), and flamboyant furrier Monsieur Le Pelt (Gerard Depardieu, in one ridiculous outfit after another) are drafted to aid in her quest. It should come as no surprise that Chloe and Kevin fall in love, Oddball helps to save the day, and Cruella is defeated. Children should enjoy the animal high jinks, but adults are less likely to be enamored by this perfectly competent, but relatively charmless affair. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | Glenn Close |
|
|
| | | | A Bugs Life | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | a christmas story | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Ace of Hearts | | | | Inspired by the beloved Reader's Digest story, join Officer MacKenzie (Dean Cain) and his junior sleuth daughter, Julia, to prove their heroic dog's innocence in Ace of Hearts. Discover that with love and determination, anything is possible! |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | David Mackay | | Cast: | Dean Cain, Anne Marie Loder, Mike Dopud, Zak Santiago, Brenna O'Brien, Matthew Harrison |
|
| | | | Adventures of Milo and Otis | | | | Japanese filmmaker Masanori Hata made this above-average family film about a dog and a cat--friends with a tendency to make mischief--who go on an unanticipated adventure when one is rushed downriver and the other follows. Hata, who took four years to complete the work, relies on purely cinematic storytelling techniques (these animals don't have human voices on the soundtrack), making the film an international favorite. Dudley Moore narrates, but the film works because Hata's filmmaking fundamentals are so good. Kids love this, but adults can easily appreciate and enjoy it, too. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Masanori Hata | | Cast: | Milo, Otis |
|
|
| | | | Adventures of Pluto Nash | | | | The Adventures of Pluto Nash was shelved for nearly two years, and when it was finally released, hardly anyone noticed. In the interim, Eddie Murphy made the marginally better Showtime and started fishing for a career revival that wasn't a sequel to his previous hits. In the satirical, lunar-colony hash of Pluto Nash, Murphy's a variant of Casablanca's Rick Blaine in the year 2087, happily running the moon's hottest nightclub, refusing a buyout offer from a greedy gambler, and suffering the consequences with his sidekick robot (Randy Quaid in yet another thankless role) and newest employee (Rosario Dawson, before doing similar time in Men in Black II). A visual hybrid of Total Recall and A.I., this nearly laughless comedy would be a total write-off if it weren't for Murphy's stalwart attempt to jump-start the flagging humor. He's got the chops of a superstar, but only when his collaborators are on the same page. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | SNL | | Rating: | PG-13 | | Director: | Ron Underwood | | Cast: | Eddie Murphy, Randy Quaid, Joe Pantoliano, Jay Mohr, Luis Guzman |
|
| | | | Agent Cody Banks | | | | Doing for awkward teens what the Spy Kids movies did for grade-schoolers, Agent Cody Banks is a wish-fulfillment adventure for James Bond wannabes who are still too young to shave. Just in time for puberty's curtain call, Malcolm in the Middle's Frankie Muniz stars in the title role as a 15-year-old recruit to the CIA's youth-agent program, who gets what millions of men desire: a face full of Angie Harmon's cleavage. (It's just for laughs; the sexy Law & Order alumnus plays Cody's CIA handler, but you've got to admit this Bond Girl with a boy thing is a bit perverse.) Otherwise, the movie's a low-rent Bond clone from the director of One Night at McCool's, with a pair of twisted villains (Ian McShane, Arnold Vosloo) threatening to unleash stolen "Nanobot" technology that can ruin everyone's day. It's barely fun enough to be worthwhile, but the best gag (at 007's expense) is buried in the soundtrack, when a CIA receptionist announces, "Will the owner of a silver Aston Martin please report to security... you are parked in a handicapped zone." So much for respecting your elders! --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Harald Zwart | | Cast: | Frankie Muniz, Angie Harmon |
|
|
| | | | Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London | | | | The dark, bushy eyebrows of Frankie Muniz star in Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London, ably supported by the natty facial hair of Anthony Anderson (Kangaroo Jack) and the freckled chipmunk cheeks of British pop starlet Hannah Spearritt. Teenage secret agent Cody Banks (Muniz, Malcolm in the Middle) must track down a former instructor who's gone rogue with a mind-control microchip. Banks masquerades as a musical prodigy to get close to a snobby, egocentric scientist in London who's the only person who can make the microchip work. Along the way Banks hooks up with a demoted agent (Anderson) and a cute-as-a-bug Scotland Yard operative (Spearritt). Flimsy, disposable, but only occasionally insulting, Cody Banks 2 will most likely entertain fans of the first movie. Also featuring supporting stalwarts Cynthia Stevenson (The Player, Happiness), Anna Chancellor (Four Weddings and a Funeral), and Keith David (There's Something About Mary). --Bret |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Kevin Allen | | Cast: | Frankie Muniz, Hannah Spearritt |
|
| | | | Air Bud Seventh Inning Fetch | | | | That athletic phenom of a retriever is back for his fourth movie, trying his paw at baseball this time. Disney hasn't strayed far from the franchise formula, siccing upon the poor retriever yet another set of doggie thieves--this time mad scientists who want to capture Buddy and his pups to isolate the "Super Sports Gene." The original Josh (heartthrob Kevin Zegers) is also back, only to be dispatched to college soon after the opening credits. So it's younger sister Andrea (Caitlin Wachs) who needs Buddy's help this time, as she muffs her baseball debut and suffers the benign neglect of her parents (Cynthia Stevenson and Richard Karn). As with its predecessors, this is harmless, if inane, fun. Kids and dogs are heroes; adults are mostly benevolent screw-ups. Raccoons and scientists may take issue with their portrayals, but, then again, how many scientists operate their labs out of trailer parks? Ages 4 and older. --Kimberly Heinrichs |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Air Buddies | | | | Everyone's favorite sports-playing golden retriever is back - and he's the father of five adorable puppies who set off on a daring rescue mission to save their parents.
The young pups (B-Dawg, RoseBud, Dub-Dha, MudBud, and Budderball) will have you cheering at their hilarious and hair-raising exploits in this story of teamwork, family and adventure. |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | Michael Clarke Duncan, Richard Karn, Don Knotts |
|
| | | | Aladdin | | | | Disney's 1992 animated feature is a triumph of wit and skill. The high-tech artwork and graphics look great, the characters are strong, the familiar story is nicely augmented with an interesting villain (Jafar, voiced by Jonathan Freeman), and there's an incredible hook atop the whole thing: Robin Williams's frantically hilarious vocal performance as Aladdin's genie. Even if one isn't particularly moved by the love story between the title character (Scott Weinger) and his girlfriend Jasmine (Linda Larkin), you can easily get lost in Williams's improvisational energy and the equally entertaining performances of Freeman and Gilbert Gottfried (as Jafar's parrot). --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | John Musker, Ron Clements | | Cast: | Robin Williams, Linda Larkin |
|
|
| | | | Alice In Wonderland | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | All Dogs Go To Heaven | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Alvin & The Chipmunks | | | | A struggling songwriter named Dave Seville finds success when he comes across a trio of singing chipmunks: mischievous leader Alvin, brainy Simon, and chubby, impressionable Theodore |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Tim hill | | Cast: | jason lee, david cross |
|
| | | | Anastasia | | | | The daughter of last Russian czar, Anastasia, is found by two young Russian men, Dimitri and Vladimir, who seek reward that her grandmother Marie promised to the ones who'll find her. But evil genius of czar family Rasputin, who for some reason survived in this film, still wants Romanovs family to be destroyed forever. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Don Bluth,Gary Goldman | | Cast: | Meg Ryan, John Cusack, Kelsey Grammer, Christopher Lloyd, Hank Azaria |
|
|
| | | | Angelina Ballerina lights camera | | | |
| Genre: | childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Are We There Yet? | | | | Ice Cube has turned his frown upside down with the family-friendly screwball road movie Are We There Yet? We know the actor/rapper can use his trademark scowl to be funny (the Friday and Barbershop series), or to be mean (Boyz in the Hood)--but can he use it to melt kids' hearts? That's the question Are We There Yet? answers with a resounding yes for youngsters in the audience (which will be the lions' share), but it'll probably be an emphatic shrug for the grownups. The contrived plot has Cube playing a wannabe-player (as in ladies' man) and ex-player (as in washed-up minor league baseball star) who now owns a sports memorabilia business. His partner, played by Jay Mohr is just a throwaway, as is the talented Nia Long, the single mom that Cube sets his blinged-out sights on. To try to get in her good graces, he offers to transport her two bratty kids in his pride-and-joy Lincoln Navigator for a joy ride to a distant city where she's attending an emergency business meeting so they can have a New Year's Eve celebration together. This kiddies version of Road Trip and Planes, Trains and Automobiles has its cute moments, but plenty more gross-out moments which will please the kids no end, especially as the Navigator gets more and more trashed. Suffice it to say they all learn about each others' good sides and hearts are suitably melted all around--until after the credits roll, then you'll probably forget about the whole thing.--Ted Fry |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Brian Levant | | Cast: | Ice Cube, Nia Long, Jay Mohr, Tracy Morgan |
|
|
| | | | Arhturs School of Hard Knocks | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Aristocats | | | | Celebrating the 25th anniversary of its original release in December 1970, will be available for the first time ever on video. This animated masterpiece features a wealth of purebred voices including Phil Harrris, Eva Gabor, and Sterling Holloway. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Wolfgang Reitherman | | Cast: | Phil Harris, Eva Gabor , Scatman Crothers , Sterling Holloway |
|
|
| | | | Around the World in 80 Days | | | | The 2004 version of Around the World in 80 Days is an entertaining hodge-podge of adventure, comedy, and scenery from across the globe. Phileas Fogg (Steve Coogan, 24 Hour Party People), an obsessively precise inventor, bets that he can circumnavigate the planet in 80 days--considered impossible in the Victorian era. In this version, Jackie Chan plays a Chinese peasant who retrieves a stolen idol from the Bank of England, then convinces Fogg to hire him as a French valet so that Chan can get back to his village. Chan supplies numerous spectacular fights against the forces trying to stop Fogg or get the idol, while Coogan is both funny and a surprisingly appealing romantic lead (he flirts with a fetching French painter who joins them). The various episodes--featuring cameos by Arnold Schwarzenegger, John Cleese, Owen Wilson, and Sammo Hung--are uneven, but a goofy good cheer prevails. --Bret Fetzer -- |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Frank Coraci | | Cast: | Jackie Chan, Steve Coogan, CecileDe France, Jim Broadbent |
|
| | | | Arthur head in the clouds | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Arthurs First Crush | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Arthurs Teacher Trouble | | | |
| Genre: | childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Atlantis the Lost Empire | | | | The Disney Studio was built on innovation in animation, so it seems ironic that Atlantis is both a bold departure and highly derivative, borrowing heavily from anime, video games, and graphic novels. Instead of songs and fuzzy little animals, the artists offer an action-adventure set in 1914: nerdy linguist Milo Thatch (Michael J. Fox) believes he's found the location of the legendary Lost Continent. An eccentric zillionaire sends Milo out to test his hypothesis with an anachronistic crew that includes tough Puerto Rican mechanic Audrey (Jacqueline Obradors), demolition expert Vinnie (Don Novello), and butt-kicking blond adventurer Helga (Claudia Christian). When they find Atlantis, its culture is dying because the people can no longer read the runes that explain their mysterious power source--but Milo can. Nasty Commander Rourke (James Garner) attempts to steal that power source, leading to the requisite all-out battle.
Atlantis offers some nifty battle scenes, including an attack on a Jules Verne-esque submarine by a giant robotic trilobite and fishlike flying cars. But the film suffers from major story problems. If Princess Kida (Cree Summer) remembers her civilization at its height, why can't she read the runes? Why doesn't Milo's crew notice that the Atlanteans live for centuries? The angular designs are based on the work of comic book artist Mike Mignola (Hellboy), and the artists struggle with the characters' stubby hands, skinny limbs, and pointed jaws. The result is a film that will appeal more to 10-year-old boys than to family audiences.
Suitable for ages 8 and up: violence, scary imagery, tobacco use, and a difficult-to-follow story. --Charles Solomon
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Avatar Last Airbender | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Avatar Last Airbender V3 | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Avatar Last Airbender V4 | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Avatar Last Airbender V5 | | | |
| Genre: | Action | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Avatar Last Airbender Vol 1 | | | |
| Genre: | Action | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Babys Day Out | | | | Only a mother or a certified baby-phile could love this John Hughes comedy (he wrote and coproduced it). Aside from that endorsement, the diaper starts to stink. Baby Bink is kidnapped by three inept crooks, but the child escapes from their hideaway, leading to a chase through the city. Bink's journey follows the story line of his favorite bedtime book, Baby's Day Out, and he goes to a zoo, a construction site, and a retirement center. Hughes is following his accountant's favorite bedtime tale, "Let's rewrite Home Alone again," but with very little of the humor or impact of that smash. A number of scenes center on the crushing or incineration of Joe Mantegna's groin, not exactly family-fare yuks. There are some moments of levity with the crooks and a gorilla. --Keith Simanton |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Patrick Read Johnson | | Cast: | Joe Mantegna, Lara Flynn Boyle, Joe Pantoliano |
|
| | | | Bambi 2 | | | | A sequel to the 1942 Disney classic, Bambi, is laden with expectations since audiences are justifiably protective of this beloved tale abounding with enchantment and nostalgia. Rest assured: Bambi II rises to the occasion, succeeding at every turn. Brian Pimental directs the 70-minute direct-to-video release, which seamlessly integrates the beauty, subtlety, and essence of the original film. The new tale is actually a "midquel" as it takes place in the middle of the original film's story line, exploring Bambi's coming-of-age challenges. The saga begins soon after Bambi's mother has died--and for viewers who shudder at the thought of having to relive that traumatic movie experience, you won't. With gentle inferences to her passing, Bambi (voiced by Alexander Gould, Finding Nemo) is left to the clumsy-though-well-meaning care of his father, the Great Prince (voiced by Patrick Stewart) who faces the difficult task of raising a son while silently mourning his own loss. Yet the weighty subject of death is soon overshadowed by the wonders of forest life. Through skillful storytelling, the film takes an early turn toward levity. After all, it's spring and Bambi's familiar friends, Thumper and Flower, are ready to play. Especially charming are the scenes where the forest animals give each other lessons in bravery and soon have a chance to test their mettle in scuffles with a newcomer to the mix, a blustering bully named Ronno (voiced by Anthony Ghannam). A strong soundtrack includes selections by Martina McBride, Michelle Lewis, Alison Krauss, and Anthony Callea. There is even a nostalgic nod to the original composer, Frank Churchill, with "Let's Sing a Gay Little Spring Song." The film's strength, however, is in its well-crafted humor: simple one-liners and animated antics that refrain from 21st century trends to cloak inappropriate innuendoes and double entendres in G-rated clothing, hoping to pander to an adult audience. This is vintage Disney; it panders to no one yet pleases all--delightfully worth the wait. The DVD's bonus material includes a "making-of" featurette, Bambi trivia, and a mini-tutorial with a Disney animator. (All ages) --Lynn Gibson |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Brian Pimental | | Cast: | Patrick Stewart, Alexander Gould , Anthony Ghannam |
|
|
| | | | Bambi Platinum Edition | | | | It always comes up when people are comparing their most traumatic movie experiences: "the death of Bambi's mother," a recollection that can bring a shudder to even the most jaded filmgoer. That primal separation (which is no less stunning for happening off-screen) is the centerpiece of Bambi, Walt Disney's 1942 animated classic, but it is by no means the only bold stroke in the film. In its swift but somehow leisurely 69 minutes, Bambi covers a year in the life of a young deer. But in a bigger way, it measures the life cycle itself, from birth to adulthood, from childhood's freedom to grown-up responsibility. All of this is rendered in cheeky, fleet-footed style--the movie doesn't lecture, or make you feel you're being fed something that's good for you. The animation is miraculous, a lush forest in which nature is a constantly unfolding miracle (even in a spectacular fire, or those dark moments when "man was in the forest"). There are probably easier animals to draw than a young deer, and the Disney animators set themselves a challenge with Bambi's wobbly glide across an ice-covered lake, his spindly legs akimbo; but the sequence is effortless and charming. If Bambi himself is just a bit dull--such is the fate of an Everydeer--his rabbit sidekick Thumper and a skunk named Flower more than make up for it. Many of the early Disney features have their share of lyrical moments and universal truths, but Bambi is so simple, so pure, it's almost transparent. You might borrow a phrase from Thumper and say it's downright twitterpated. --Robert Horton --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.
DVD features
The little deer is over 60 years old, but he's never looked better. The 1942 Disney film has been painstakingly restored for DVD so that almost every trace of dirt and damage is gone, and the colors are brilliant. It might not look as sharp as modern films, but that's due in large part to the film's gauzy style. The Disney Enhanced Home Theater mix provides a much fuller sound than the original mono option, but is not very aggressive about using the rear speakers. (Unlike on other Disney DVDs, there is no other English Dolby 5.1 option.) In lieu of a commentary track, there's a "dramatic reenactment" reading of early discussions of the film between Walt Disney and his team. The reading accompanies the film (with insets of sketches and stills) and illustrates how closely the finished product embodies the original vision. That's further shown in the second disc's bounty of archival material. Particularly interesting is a look at the authentic art materials stored in the vaults. There are a variety of proposed characters and scenes that never made it into the film in order to keep the story streamlined. As another example, one of the deleted scenes has been reconstructed using sketches, voice-overs, and music, and it's a perfectly fine moment of Bambi discovering snow, but it's not really needed alongside the classic ice scene. A very fine 53-minute documentary discusses the production and even interviews some of the voice actors. Kids get fewer extras than grown-ups, but they can play a multi-part game (memory, counting, etc.), read along with a Thumper story, and see some footage of real animals juxtaposed with their animated counterparts. --David Horiuchi |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | David Hand | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Barbie Diaries | | | | Barbie trades in the fantasy world of princesses and fairies for the real world of school, friends and fun! Featuring a new, distinctive toon-shaded CGI-animated look and a hip, fun soundtrack of eight pop songs girls are sure to love, this all-new movie follows Barbie and her friends as they begin a new school year full of exciting surprises.
With her special diary and charm bracelet in tow, Barbie learns many valuable lessons about friendship, self-confidence and achieving her dreams as she enters this new phase of her life. With rockin’ music and her best friends by her side, Barbie enters a year of change in which secret dreams become real! |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | Barbie |
|
|
| | | | Barbie Fairytopia | | | | Barbie stars as Elina in her first-ever Fairytopia movie. Come join Elina and discover a magical new land filled with fairies, flowers, and enchanting experiences! Just through the rainbow, in the world of Fairytopia, lives Elina, a beautiful flower fairy who longs to have wings! Her home is a large flower in the Magic Meadow where she lives with Bibble, a quirky but loveable puffball. One day Elina wakes to find that her flower home is sick, and that her fairy friends can’t fly! She summons the courage to help and embarks on a fantastic journey to find Azura, a fairy guardian she thinks can solve the problem. What Elina doesn’t know is that the evil Laverna has caused the flying sickness as part of her plan to take power from the Enchantress, ruler of Fairytopia! Elina’s journey, on the back of a giant and beautiful butterfly named Hue, takes her to strange and beautiful places. She meets new people who test her courage and teach her the value of true friendship. But can a young, wingless fairy save all of Fairytopia?
A message from the Barbie Fairytopia DVD distributor:
While the Barbie Fairytopia DVD is fully functional on virtually all of the 600 plus DVD player models in the marketplace, to date we have identified that there are five DVD players on which the DVD is sometimes prompting a request for a parental code–-rather than allowing the DVD to play. The five players identified to date are: RJTech 1200b, Daewoo model# 5900, Cinevision model# DVR 2000, AMW model# S99, GO Video VHS/DVD model# 1030. We deeply regret the inconvenience that this may cause owners of one these players. We have identified that the issue on these players is tied to one of the fun special features that was included on the DVD designed to further enhance the wonderful enjoyment that kids will have with the Barbie Fairytopia DVD. The interactive game has an element of programming complexity that is confusing these DVD players. We are attempting to resolve the issue for these players, but in the meantime:
If you own one of these players- you may be asked to enter a Parental Code Pass Code. If you are given this prompt–- and have never set up a Parental Code Pass Code--you may be able to resolve the issue by following the instructions below:
1. Refer to your DVD user manual to obtain default Parental Code pass code.
2. Enter pass code and hit select or enter.
3. If you see a black screen for longer than a few seconds, hit the menu button.
4. If the problem is still not solved, eject disc, unplug player, and try again.
If you do not own or play the DVD on one of the DVD players that we have identified, your DVD should play regularly. Once again--we regret any inconvenience to owners of one of the 5 players noted above. If you have any questions or comments--or have identified another player with this parental-code notification, please do not hesitate to contact us at customerservice@lgf.com.
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Barbie Magic of the Rainbow | | | | Believing in oneself can be difficult, even with the support of friends. The formerly wingless fairy Elina has saved Fairytopia more than once, proving herself against Fungus Maximus and turning the evil Laverna into a frog in Barbie Fairytopia and Barbie Fairytopia--Mermaidia, but she still questions her own abilities when Guardian Azura selects her to become her apprentice and learn the all-important flight of spring--a ritual which ensures another year of vitality in Fairytopia. The taunts and snobby attitudes of her fellow apprentices serve to further undercut Elina's self-esteem, but she vows to do her best to master the flight of spring and soon proves worthy of her appointment. When the trickery of Laverna threatens to stop the flight of spring and destroy Fairytopia forever, it falls to the new apprentices to save Fairytopia. Of course, Elina will play a pivotal role in the group's eventual success or failure. Prepubescent attitudes and shallowness reign among most of the apprentices, but most eventually see the error of their ways and the clear message is the importance of believing in oneself. (Ages 3 to 9) --Tami Horiuchi |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | Barbie |
|
|
| | | | Barbie Magic Pegasus | | | | Barbie takes flight in her first original fairy tale movie: Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus! Princess Annika (Barbie) escapes the clutches of the evil wizard, explores the wonders of Cloud Kingdom, and teams up with a magnificent winged horse – who turns out to be her sister, Princess Brietta – to defeat the wizard and break the spells that imprisoned her family. Spectacular 3-D scenes add even more magic to this extraordinary adventure! |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Barbie Mariposa | | | | Join Barbie in an all-new world of Butterfly Fairies! Mariposa is a beautiful butterfly fairy who loves to read and dream about the world outside her home in the land of Flutterfield. Flutterfield is protected by the Queen's glimmering magical flower lights, but when the Queen is poisoned by the evil fairy Henna, the special lights begin to go out one by one. It's up to the brave Mariposa and her friends to journey beyond the safe borders of the city in search of a hidden antidote that will save the Queen. Join the butterfly fairy friends on an exciting adventure that will transform them forever! |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Barbie Mermadia | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Barbie Nutcracker | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Barney 1 | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Barney 2 | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | beauty and beast the enchanted christmas | | | | Amazon.com
Obviously the Disney suits gave more than two figs about the legacy from the first Beast film, as they reassembled the former cast and spent some cash on production and tune-smithing for this straight-to-video effort. The events unfold between the time in the first film where Belle bartered herself to the Beast and her later return to the village to save her father. So the Beast's heart still hasn't been melted yet, and he's susceptible to the inky persuasions of Forte (Tim Curry), a malevolent pipe organ (and former music teacher to the prince). Belle is still trying to win over the Beast and decides that bringing Christmas to the castle will be the way to do it. Please control that gag reflex for this does work remarkably well, and though entirely unnecessary and certainly not a complement to the original, it doesn't tarnish its good name. --Keith Simanton --This text refers to the DVD edition.
Description
The enchantment of Disney's Academy Award(R)-winning film BEAUTY AND THE BEAST continues as BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: THE ENCHANTED CHRISTMAS SPECIAL EDITION happily casts its song-filled spell. This irresistible tale that "recaptures the magic and charm of the original" (Neil Rosen, New York 1) reveals a Christmas past when Belle does her best to warm the Beast's castle with the spirit and hope of the season -- despite the Beast's disdain of the holidays. Belle asks the castle's Enchanted Objects to join the celebration, including stubborn Angelique -- a delicate tree ornament who was once the castle decorator. But can Belle, Cogsworth, Lumiere, and their friends undo the plans of Forte, the pompous pipe organ who hates happy celebrations and tries to keep the Beast apart from Belle's special holiday gift |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Beauty and the Beast Belles magic | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Bee Movie | | | | Barry B. Benson, a bee who has just graduated from college, is disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special trip outside the hive, Barry's life is saved by Vanessa, a florist in New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue us. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Steve hickner | | Cast: | jerry seinfeld, renee zellweger, matthew broderick, patrick warburton, john goodman |
|
| | | | Beethoven 1-5 Pooch Pack | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Benji off the Leash! | | | | Benji: Off the Leash features dozens of close-ups of adorable mutts, guaranteed to make any dog-lover's heart melt. Colby (Nick Whitaker), a clever young boy, rescues a scrappy pup from his cruel father (Chris Kendrick), who breeds purebreds with an eye towards profit but not the animals' well-being. The puppy grows into a scruffy but smart dog who, with the aid of another plucky stray, helps Colby and his mother improve their lives, and the life of a lonely elderly neighbor as well. Along for the ride are two bumbling, slapstick dogcatchers and a wisecracking parrot. Benji: Off the Leash bubbles over with sentimentality that some viewers will find heartening and others will find unbearable. But though the story meanders, the movie is never cynical--writer/director Joe Camp sincerely believes that if people were more like dogs, the world would be a better place. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Joe Camp III | | Cast: | Benji, Nick Whitaker, Chris Kendrick, Randall Newsome, Duane Stephens, Neal Barth |
|
| | | | Big Fat Liar | | | | Pitting kids against grown-ups has always been a reliable source of comedy, and Big Fat Liar indulges the "smart kid vs. dumb adult" fantasy with infectious enthusiasm. In this case it's Frankie Muniz from TV's Malcolm in the Middle, playing a Michigan eighth-grader whose penchant for lying results in parental scorn when he claims that a Hollywood movie mogul (ace character actor Paul Giamatti) has stolen the kid's hastily written English essay and turned it into his upcoming summer blockbuster. The kid only wants to prove his honesty and recruits his girlfriend (spunky TV star Amanda Bynes) to beat the honcho on his Hollywood turf. Elaborate practical jokes and slapstick gags turn this kid stuff (scripted and produced by two former child stars) into an enjoyable send-up of Hollywood absurdity. When combined with Giamatti's mastery of slow-burning megalomania, the show-biz in-jokes and Home Alone-style anarchy make this a harmless diversion for the young and young-at-heart. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Shawn Levy | | Cast: | Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti, Amanda Bynes |
|
|
| | | | Bioncle 3 Web of Shadows | | | | Bionicle 3: Web of Shadows is the most visually and narratively pleasing feature yet in the Bionicle series. With a story that is a little less self-referential than the previous movies, and set against some truly spectacular, computer-generated backdrops, Web of Shadows concerns the return of the heroic Toa to Metru Nui. There, they find an old enemy has overtaken the great city with the help of Visorak--robotic spiders that can quickly encase anything or anybody in near-indestructible webs. The Toa undergo a bizarre metamorphosis while sealed within strange cocoons, and emerge as clunky-looking machines made up of mismatched parts. Though horrified, they find that they also possess some new powers, which prove essential for their subsequent journey (itself full of twists and turns) to restore Metru Nui--and themselves. This delightful Bionicle installment is probably easily accessible for any viewer unfamiliar with the series to date. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Blizzard | | | | A young girl learns the true meaning of friendship from one of Santa's reindeer in BLIZZARD, an enchanting holiday film the whole family will cherish. When her family moves, Katie is sad to leave her friends and ice skating lessons behind. But then she meets Blizzard, a reindeer with special powers, who helps her realize her potential. Although Blizzard risks being banished from Santa’s village, they band toghether to overcome their obstacles. Both Katie and Blizzard are able to share the greatest gift of all: friendship. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | Levar Burton | | Cast: | Brenda Blethyn, Christopher Plummer, Kevin Pollak, Whoopi Goldberg |
|
|
| | | | Bratz | | | | Four teenage girls who come from different social and economic backgrounds empower themselves by rejecting their respective high school cliques and band together, calling themselves Bratz. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Sean McNamara | | Cast: | Nathalia Ramos, Janel Parrish, Logan Browning, Skyler Shaye, Chelsea Staub, Anneliese van der Pol |
|
| | | | Brer Rabbit | | | | Get ready for all of the laughs, adventure and hip-hopping good times in this all-new imaginative and modern retelling of Uncle Remus' best-loved tales.
Parents and kids alike will delight in the escapades of the most mischievous and clever Brer Rabbit as he gleefully outwits, Brer Fox and Brer Bear and a whole cast of other critters!
With irresistible and toe-tapping new songs and an all-star line of voice talent, The Adventures of Brer Rabbit is sure to be a family favorite for years to come! |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Bryon Vaughns | | Cast: | Wayne Brady, Nick Cannon, Danny Glover, D L Hughley, Wanda Sykes |
|
|
| | | | Brother Bear | | | | Brother Bear has a dramatic story--after he kills a bear, a young hunter named Kenai (voiced by Joaquin Phoenix, Gladiator) in prehistoric North America is turned into a bear himself and hunted by his own brother--but the animated movie's tone is more earnest and warm than tragic, focusing on the unfolding relationship between Kenai and an orphaned bear cub named Koda (voiced by Jeremy Suarez). However, it's often the comic supporting characters who prove the most popular, and a pair of moose voiced by Rick Moranis and Doug Thomas in their McKenzie brothers/Canadian dude mode (from SCTV and the movie Strange Brew) will win many fans. The songs by Phil Collins are typically negligible, but the hand-drawn animation is lush (occasional flashes of computer-generated animation clash with the movie's overall look). Kids will also enjoy the mammoths; no sabre-toothed tigers, unfortunately. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Brother Bear 2 | | | | The bonds of true friendship and love are powerful enough to persist through even the most extreme circumstances, but can even the strongest bond endure when a young man and a young woman are split apart by the spirits? Since being turned into a bear as punishment for his insensitivity in Brother Bear, Kenai has managed to find true happiness and a compelling sense of purpose in his new relationship with his adopted brother Koda. But when Kenai's old friend Nita prepares for her wedding day with another man, the spirits send a sign indicating that a strong connection still exists between Kenai and Nita. The tribe Shaman suggests that the two join forces in a ritual to sever the bond between them and Nita, newly endowed with the ability to communicate with animals, seeks out Kenai in the woods. Even as the two friends resolutely journey to break the connection between them, the inescapable bond between them strengthens and threatens to disrupt not only Nita's upcoming marriage, but the special relationship between Kenai and Koda. In the end, destiny may require that each of the three choose between his or her happiness and the happiness of the other two. Like its predecessor Brother Bear, Brother Bear 2 features lush animation; a nice blend of action, suspense, and comedy; and a powerful message. (Ages 3 - 12) --Tami Horiuchi |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Ben Gluck | | Cast: | Patrick Dempsey , Jeremy Suarez , Mandy Moore , Wanda Sykes, Rick Moranis , Dave Thomas |
|
|
| | | | call me clause | | | |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Cars | | | | There's an extra coat of hot wax on Pixar's vibrant, NASCAR-influenced comedy about a world populated entirely by cars. Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) is the slick rookie taking the Piston Cup series by storm when the last race of the season (the film's high-octane opening) ends in a three-way tie. On the way to the tie-breaker race in California, Lightning loses his way off Route 66 in the Southwest desert and is taught to stop and smell the roses by the forgotten citizens of Radiator Springs. It's odd to have such a slim story from the whizzes of Pixar, and the film pales a bit from their other films (though can that be a fair comparison?). Nonetheless, Cars is another gleaming ride with Pixar founder John Lasseter, who's directing for the first time since Toy Story 2. There's the usual spectrum of excellent characters teamed with appropriate voice talent, loads of smooth humor for kids and parents alike, knockout visuals, and a colorful array of sidekicks, including a scene-stealing baby blue forklift named Guido. Lightning's plight is changed with the help of former big-city lawyer Sally Carrera (Pixar veteran Bonnie Hunt), the town's patriarch Doc Hudson (Paul Newman), and kooky tow truck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy). The Incredibles was the first Pixar film to break the 100-minute barrier, but had enough story not to suffer; Cars, at 116 minutes (including some must-see end credit footage), is not as fortunate, plus it never pierces the heart. Trivia fans should have bonanza with the frame-by-frame DVD function; the movie is stuffed with in-jokes, some appearing only for an instant. Ages 5 and up. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | John Lasseter, Joe Ranft | | Cast: | Owen Wilson , Bonnie Hunt , Paul Newman, John Ratzenberger , Richard Petty , Tony Shalhoub |
|
|
| | | | Cartoon Explosion | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Cat Returns | | | | The Cat Returns (2002) brings back Muta, the cranky fat cat, and Baron von Gikkingen, the elegant statue, from the feature Whisper of the Heart (1995). On her way home from school, Haru, a confused 17-year-old, prevents an elegant gray cat from being hit by a truck. She's inadvertently saved the life of Lune, Prince of the Cat Kingdom, and his royal father decides to thank her. He fills her locker with gift-wrapped mice and decides she should come to his kingdom and marry Lune. Haru seeks help from the Cat Bureau, and eventually returns to relatively normal life, with the assistance of Muta and the Baron.
The Cat Returns recalls Whisper of the Heart and Takashi Nakamura's Catnapped, but it offers neither the wistful charm of the former nor the bold visual imagination of the latter. Hayao Miyazaki has been seeking young directors for Studio Ghibli for several years. After preparing the script and storyboards for Whisper, he turned the film over to Yoshifumi Kondo, who died tragically shortly after the film's release. The Cat Returns was directed by Hiroyuki Morita, who shows promise, but lacks Kondo's elegant sensibility. The DVD extras include a fulsome making-of documentary, Morita's voluminous storyboards, and mini-interviews with the vocal cast that includes Tim Curry, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, and Elliott Gould. (Rated G: minor scary imagery and cartoon violence) --Charles Solomon
Description
From the creators of the Academy Award(R) winning SPIRITED AWAY (Best Animated Feature Film, 2002) comes the visually stunning THE CAT RETURNS, a spectacular animated journey to a world of magic and adventure. Haru, a schoolgirl bored by her ordinary routine, saves the life of an unusual cat, and suddenly her world is transformed beyond anything she ever imagined. The Cat King rewards her good deed with a flurry of presents, including a very shocking proposal of marriage to his son! Haru embarks on an unexpected journey to the Kingdom of Cats where her eyes are opened to a whole other world and her destiny is uncertain. To change her fate, she'll need to learn to believe in herself and appreciate her everyday life. Featuring the sensational voice talents of Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Tim Curry, and Elliot Gould, THE CAT RETURNS is a magical animated adventure that will delight and inspire everyone.
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Hiroyuiki Morita | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Catch That Kid | | | | You may not have heard of Kristen Stewart, but she's a promising young actress who's previously appeared in Panic Room, the underrated The Safety of Objects, and Cold Creek Manor. Her charm gives a lift to preteen heist flick Catch That Kid, in which she plays an aspiring mountain climber who gets knocked off balance when an injury paralyzes her father. Unable to raise the money for an expensive operation, she commissions her two best friends (Corbin Bleu and Max Thierot) to help her rob the bank where her mother (Jennifer Beals, Flashdance, In the Soup) works as a security consultant. This hokey but serviceable premise quickly turns into an insult to logic and common sense; Catch That Kid is a disappointment from intriguing director Bart Freundlich (The Myth of Fingerprints, World Traveler). Stewart has charisma; let's hope she can find a better vehicle for her talents. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Bart Freundlich | | Cast: | Kristen Stewart, Corbin Bleu |
|
| | | | Cats & Dogs | | | | How can you hate a movie that features ninja Siamese cats wreaking havoc with their kung fu prowess? That's one of the highlights in Cats & Dogs, an effects-laden family film that mystifies cat fanciers by casting dogs as the undisputed heroes in all-out warfare with nefarious felines. Hidden headquarters and high-tech gadgets are featured on both sides of this age-old battle. On the feline side, the longhaired Persian Mr. Tinkles (voice of Sean Hayes) plots to sabotage the efforts of Professor Brody (Jeff Goldblum) to discover a cure for human allergies to dogs. On the canine side, stalwart shepherd Butch (voice of Alec Baldwin) trains the mistakenly recruited beagle puppy Lou (voice of Tobey Maguire) to foil Mr. Tinkles's scheme--a mission that begins when Mrs. Brody (Elizabeth Perkins) adopts Lou for her son Scott (Alexander Pollock).
Using combinations of live animals, animatronic puppets, and digital wizardry, Cats & Dogs has just enough imagination to match its effects, climaxing with a feline global-domination scheme involving mice sprayed with chemicals that will make all humans allergic to dogs. Goldblum and Perkins gamely play second fiddles to this menagerie of mayhem, and as madcap "realism" gives way to cartoonish fantasy, the movie escalates into utter chaos, burdened by lame jokes but highlighted by a furry supporting cast including a Saluki hound (voice of Susan Sarandon), a shaggy sheepdog (voice of Michael Clarke Duncan), and a Chinese hairless techno-geek named Peek (voice of Joe Pantoliano). Though never as charming as the Babe movies, Cats & Dogs is harmless fun--especially for dog lovers. --Jeff Shannon
|
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Lawrence Gutterman | | Cast: | Jeff Goldblum, Elizabeth Perkins, Alexander Pollock |
|
|
| | | | Cheaper by the Dozen | | | | Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt corral a wild herd of rampaging children in Cheaper by the Dozen, an enjoyable family flick. When Kate Baker (Hunt, Jerry Maguire) gets a book deal for her chronicle of their abundant family life, she also gets drawn into a book tour--leaving Tom (Martin, Bringing Down the House, The Jerk) to run the house and cope with his new, high-pressure job as a football coach. Naturally, chaos erupts, bringing the family to the brink of meltdown. Cheaper by the Dozen is not a great movie or an important movie or even a surprising movie, but it is a warm-hearted crowd-pleaser. The Bakers' family life is a bit idealized and antiseptic, but anyone looking for an escape from their own less-ideal family lives won't mind. Also featuring Tom Welling, Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo, and an uncredited Ashton Kutcher. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Shawn Levy | | Cast: | Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Tom Welling, Piper Pepabo |
|
| | | | Cheaper by the Dozen 2 | | | | The Bakers plan a memorable summer vacation to the rustic Lake Winnetka.
But their retreat soon becomes tense when they enter into a competition with the over-achieving members of a large family headed by Tom's long-time rival, Jimmy Muraugh. |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG-13 | | Director: | Adam Shankman | | Cast: | Steve Martin, Bonnie Hunt, Hilary Duff, Piper Perabo, Tom Welling, Eugene Levy |
|
|
| | | | Chicken Little | | | | After Chicken Little causes widespread panic--when he mistakes a falling acorn for a piece of the sky--the young chicken is determined to restore his reputation. But just as things are starting to go his way, a real piece of the sky lands on his head. Chicken Little and his band of misfit friends, Abby Mallard (aka Ugly Duckling), Runt of the Litter and Fish Out of Water, attempt to save the world without sending the town into a whole new panic. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Mark Dindal | | Cast: | Zach Braff , Joan Cusack , Katie Finneran , Don Knotts, Garry Marshall, Amy Sedaris |
|
| | | | Chipmunk Adventure | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Chomps | | | | A young man invents a robot dog that has super strength, x-ray vision and can detect crimes being committed. A greedy businessman tries to steal the boy's invention from him. |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Don Chaffey | | Cast: | Wesley Eure, Valerie Bertnelli, Conrad Bain, Chuck McCann, Red Buttons |
|
| | | | Cinderella 2 Dreams Come True | | | | Disney continues to "sequelize" its classic features. With smart foresight, the filmmakers choose to go with three snappy short films to comprise this 73-minute feature with the Fairy Godmother granting wishes to various characters. In the opening short, Cinderella must pursue life as queen. Several feathers are ruffled as she brings her down-home ways to the castle (bring the commoners in and open those darn curtains). In the other tales, one of Cinderella's animal pals receives a chance to see the world quite differently, and finally, Anastasia, Cinderella's formerly evil stepsister, finds love with a little help. As with the other sequels, the look of the film helps bridge the distance between the original and the sequel (here over 50 years) and it comes together seamlessly. Little ones from ages 4 to 9 should be entertained while purists may be a bit aghast. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Cinderella III: A Twist In Time | | | | Cinderella and the Prince are destined to be together, but have you ever wondered what would have happened if the glass slipper that was left behind after the royal ball fit someone other than Cinderella? Cinderella's Stepmother and Stepsisters Anastasia and Drisella change history when Anastasia steals the Fairy Godmother's magic wand and her mother uses it to turn back time and then cast a spell on the glass slipper so that it will fit on Anastasia's foot. The Prince immediately realizes that something is amiss, but a quick zap from the magic wand convinces him that Anastasia is his rightful bride-to-be and it looks like nothing that Cinderella or her mouse friends Jaq and Gus can do will set things right. Two questions remain: what will become of Cinderella and can Anastasia ever find true happiness by marrying someone who will never love her for who she really is? This 74-minute animated tale follows the classic Cinderella and its sequel Cinderella II--Dreams Come True and features nice animation, new conflicts between familiar secondary characters like the evil cat Lucifer and mouse friends Jaq and Gus, lots of new songs, and a suspenseful story line. (Ages 3 to 9) --Tami Horiuchi |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Classic Cartoons Vol1&2 | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Clifford's Really Big Movie | | | | The popular Clifford the Big Red Dog children's television series gets a slick makeover, without losing any of its charm or soulfulness, in the feature adaptation Clifford's Really Big Movie. More elaborate background animation and updated computer effects turn this Clifford adventure into a visual treat, perfect for a story in which gigantic Clifford (warmly voiced by the late John Ritter), plus poodle-pal Cleo (Cree Summer) and loyal mutt T-Bone (Kel Mitchell), run off to join a failing animal circus and win (hopefully) a lifetime's supply of dog food. (Clifford is worried his beloved human family is spending too much on his care and feeding.) A guest vocal cast that includes John Goodman, Wayne Brady, and Jenna Elfman turns up the juice as Clifford offers his services to a Big Top spectacular featuring a rollerblading dog, a cow on a high wire, and a juggling ferret. A sweet comedy for the whole family. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Clockstoppers | | | | Who hasn't fantasized about being able to stop time and move things around? A watch with this power drops into the hands of Zak (Jesse Bradford), a teenager who yearns for speed. He uses it to impress Francesca (Paula Garces), the beautiful girl he's got a crush on, but soon they both find themselves running from a government agency led by a ruthless executive (Michael Biehn from The Terminator) who wants the watch at all costs. Clockstoppers suffers from a lack of any internal logic, but the basic idea fuels a reasonably swift story and some decent special effects. The soundtrack is unusually strong, with pop offerings from Blink 182, Sugar Ray, Smash Mouth, and others. Also featuring French Stewart (Love Stinks) as a hapless scientist and Julia Sweeney (It's Pat, God Said "Ha!") as Zak's mother. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen | | | | Tucked into the middle of Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen is a charming sequence in which two girls from New Jersey (Linsay Lohan and Alison Pill) try to go to a rock concert in New York and have their illusions broken, then restored, and then broken, just a bit, again. Lola (Lohan) yearns for glory by playing the lead in the high school play and getting to meet the lead singer of a band called Sidarthur. Despite the spiteful efforts of a popular girl, Lola gets everything she wants without much of a struggle. Most of the movie takes place in a glitzy but flavorless high-school world with glossy teenagers dressed like a less discriminating Christina Aguilera. Pill (Pieces of April) shines in the thankless role of the geeky best friend. Also featuring Glenne Headley (Dick Tracy) and Carol Kane (Office Killer). --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Sara Sugarman | | Cast: | Lindsay Lohan, Adam Garcia, Glenne Headly, Alison Pill, Carol Kane |
|
| | | | Corpse Bride | | | | Who else but Tim Burton could make Corpse Bride, a necrophiliac's delight that's fun for the whole family? Returning to the richly imaginative realm of stop-motion animation (after previous successes with The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach), Burton, with codirector Mike Johnson, invites us to visit the dour, ashen, and drearily Victorian mansions of the living, where young Victor Van Dort (voiced by Johnny Depp) is bequeathed to wed the lovely Victoria (Emily Watson). But the wedding rehearsal goes sour and, in the kind of Goth-eerie forest that only exists in Burton-land, Victor suddenly finds himself accidentally married to the Corpse Bride (Helena Bonham Carter), a blue-tinted, half-skeletal beauty (how pleasantly full-bosomed she remains!) with a loquacious maggot installed behind one prone-to-popping eyeball. This being a Burton creation, the underworld of the dead is a lively and colorful place indeed, and Danny Elfman's songs and score make it even livelier, presenting Victor with quite a dilemma: Should he return above-ground to Victoria, or remain devoted to his corpse bride? At a brisk 76 minutes, Burton's graveyard whimsy (loosely based on a 19th century Russian folktale) never wears out its welcome, and the voice casting (which includes Tracey Ullman and Albert Finney) is superbly matched the film's gloriously amusing character design, guaranteed to yield a wealth of gruesome toys and action figures for many Halloweens to come. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Tim Burton | | Cast: | Johnny Depp , Helena Bonham Carter , Emily Watson , Albert Finney , Christopher Lee , Richard E. Grant |
|
|
| | | | Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course | | | | This first movie from the Discovery Channel favorite opens with a plot of international intrigue over a downed satellite, but within four minutes Steve Irwin is belly flopping after a baby croc on the outback floor. Steve and his nerves-of-steel sidekick wife, Terri, are asked to relocate a cattle-chomping crocodile before it's shot by a local rancher. This same reptile happened to swallow the intelligence-gathering device that fell to earth, and so begins the goofball premise of this lark of a movie. The feds believe the Irwins are appropriating their classified info, and the Irwins think they're running from poachers. Quibblers may object to Irwin's frequent interruptions to introduce a bird-eating spider or paw through croc dung, but Crocodile Hunter fans wouldn't have it any other way. This 89-minute film is rated PG for action violence/peril and mild language. But unless you consider "crikey" an obscenity, it's a safe bet for family viewing. (Ages 4 and older) --Kimberly Heinrichs |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | John Stainton | | Cast: | Steve Irwin, Terri Irwin |
|
| | | | Curious George | | | | A wild collection of hip actors--from Will Ferrell to Drew Barrymore to David Cross--provide voices for Curious George, based on the classic, gentle children's books. Ted (voiced by Ferrell, Elf) works at a natural history museum that's fallen on hard times. The museum director's son (Cross, Arrested Development) wants to turn it into a parking lot, but Ted offers to bring back a mysterious idol from Africa that's guaranteed to pull in crowds. Unfortunately, the idol turns out to be three inches tall. But Ted (who, before he heads on safari, gets outfitted in head-to-toe yellow, transforming him into the beloved Man in the Yellow Hat from the books) accidentally brings back a lonely yet irrepressible monkey, soon dubbed George. In no time at all George gets into all kinds of mischief--painting an apartment, soaring aloft with a bunch of helium-filled balloons, climbing on a dinosaur skeleton, and generally getting Ted into hot water. Older fans of the books will probably wince at the formulaic save-the-museum storyline, as well as at the obligatory love interest (Barrymore, Charlie's Angels) whose role is utterly passive. Jack Johnson's songs are so bland you can't remember the melodies even as you're listening to them, and the animation (an odd but not ineffective blend of two-dimensional drawing and CGI) has grossly cutified the book's illustrations, eroding their origina charm (the contrast is made sadly clear by a montage of the original drawings over the closing credits). But the basic relationship between man and monkey remains sweet, and younger kids will delight in George's innocent troublemaking. --Bret Fetzer
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Matthew O'Callaghan | | Cast: | Will Ferrell, Drew Barrymore , David Cross , Eugene Levy, Dick Van Dyke , Joan Plowright |
|
|
| | | | Daddy Day Care | | | | There are some good laughs to be found in Daddy Day Care, especially if you're a preschooler with energy to burn. This romper-room comedy shamelessly exploits its high concept idea--dropping Eddie Murphy into a seething den of rugrats--but kids will have plenty of vicarious fun as Murphy and his fellow laid-off colleague (Jeff Garlin) battle unemployment by opening a day-care center in Eddie's home. In partial Witches mode, Anjelica Huston hams it up as a day-care competitor bent on closing Eddie down, while doofus extraordinaire Steve Zahn is recruited as a third partner in "Daddy Day Care," trying his best to entertain a pack of hyperactive kids who've stopped taking their Ritalin. Zahn makes a funny Star Trek fan (even when the script contains bogus Trekkie trivia), and Murphy deserves credit for giving his all in a comedy that mostly squanders his talent. Indeed, is Daddy Day Care a comedy or every parent's nightmare? Daring viewers can decide for themselves. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | SNL | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Steve Carr | | Cast: | Eddie Murphy, Jeff Garlin, Steve Zahn, Regina King, Anjelica Huston |
|
| | | | Dennis Menace Christmas | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | Ron Oliver | | Cast: | Robert Wagner, Louise Fletcher, Maxwell Perry Cotton |
|
|
| | | | Diego Moonlight Rescue | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Diego Saves Christmas | | | | Diego Saves Christmas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | Diego |
|
|
| | | | Dinosaur | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Dinotopia | | | | Kids will love this sweeping story of two brothers whose plane crashes on a mysterious island called Dinotopia, where human beings live in harmony with dinosaurs--the herbivores, anyway. The carnivores present a problem, as the humans' defenses against them--a mystical power source called sunstones--are losing strength. As they try to save the island, Carl and David (Tyron Leitso and Wentworth Miller) struggle not only with tyrannosaurs and prehistoric crocodiles, but also with repressive Dinotopian traditions and a scheming malcontent (David Thewlis) who stirs up all kinds of trouble. Meanwhile, they also wrestle with each other over the lovely daughter of the mayor of Waterfall City (Katie Carr). The pacifist ideals of Dinotopia are refreshing, but it's the special effects that will hook viewers: riding on the backs of brachiosaurs, flying atop pteranadons, arguing in court with triceratops and ankylosaurs--anyone fascinated with dinosaurs (and who isn't?) will enjoy this whimsical fantasy. A host of British character actors also helps keep the human side of this four-hour miniseries lively; Alice Krige (also known as the Borg Queen in Star Trek: The Next Generation) gets a much more benevolent role here. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Marco Brambilla | | Cast: | Tyron Leitso, Wentworth Miller |
|
|
| | | | Doogal | | | | A herd of American celebrities--from Whoopi Goldberg to Kevin Smith--have been corralled to redub Doogal, formerly a CGI cartoon from England called The Magic Roundabout based on a French stop-motion tv show from the 1960s called Le Manege Enchante. The title character is a dustmop with a face--presumably a dog of some sort--whose craving for sweets inadvertently traps his beloved owner Florence in a frozen carousel and unleashes an evil wintry wizard named Zeebad (voiced by Jon Stewart, The Daily Show). Doogal and his ragtag group of friends--singing cow Ermintrude (Goldberg, Sister Act), hopeful snail Brian (William H. Macy, Fargo), slacker rabbit Dylan (Jimmy Fallon, Fever Pitch), and a choo-choo train (Chevy Chase, Fletch)--must find three enchanted diamonds to stop Zeebad and bring spring back to the world. Presumably, Doogal's target audience is the very young, yet the dialogue (rewritten for the American market) is crammed with allusions to adult fare like Saturday Night Live and Pulp Fiction. In fact--though it may have seemed differently with the original script--the entire movie comes across as an ungainly patchwork stitched together from scenes fromThe Wizard of Oz, Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Matrix, Ice Age, and much more. The effect is not so much funny as inexplicable. Also featuring the voices of Judi Dench (Iris), Ian McKellen (X-Men), and pop star Kylie Minogue. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | Jimmy Fallon, Whoopi Goldberg , Jon Stewart , Kevin Smith , Ian McKellen , Judi Dench |
|
| | | | Dora Animal Adventures | | | | Dora is a cute little Hispanic girl with mismatch clothes who goes on adventures with her little red boot wearing friend, conveniently named Boots. During he adventures we also get to meet her talking backpack or mochila and the map who sings an annoyingly cute song. The show plays out almost like a computer adventure showing a mouse on different scenes where the kids make a decision. Dora asks your kids questions and then waits for a response. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | Dora the Explorer |
|
|
| | | | Dora Rhymes and Riddles | | | |
| Genre: | childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Dora Undercover Dora | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Dora Were a Team | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | Dora |
|
| | | | Dora Wolf Pup Rescue | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | Dora |
|
|
| | | | Dr. Dolittle 2 | | | | It's only a marginal improvement, but Dr. Dolittle 2 defies the odds by rising above its popular 1998 predecessor (and once again, let's not confuse these movies with the earlier Rex Harrison musical). Eddie Murphy cakewalks through his title role with the confident professionalism of a comedian who knows when to share the spotlight--especially when he's being upstaged by a bunch of animals who steal all the punch lines. And once again the movie's aimed at a preteen audience, so many of those punch lines involve flatulence, bodily functions, and frequent use of the word butt.
The difference this time: Dr. Dolittle has settled into his talk-to-the-animals routine; his 16-year-old daughter (Raven-Symone) is getting to be a feisty handful (it turns out she's coping with a hereditary gift); and his lawyer wife (Kristen Wilson) is representing him in a trial against corporate villains who want to clear-cut a local forest. Naturally, the local critter mafia (their Don is a beaver... fugeddaboutit!) want Dolittle to fight for their cause, and this involves the successful mating of an endangered bear and a domesticated circus bear who's forgotten all the bear necessities of life in the wild. The bears are voiced by Lisa Kudrow and Steve Zahn, and they almost steal the show, but the whole menagerie (with digitally animated "talking") is equally amusing. Adults might wish that the filmmakers had tried harder to make a truly memorable sequel, but this is a movie for kids, and they're going to love it without quibbling. --Jeff Shannon
|
| Genre: | SNL | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Steve Carr | | Cast: | Eddie Murphy, Kristen Wilson, Kevin Pollack |
|
| | | | Dr. Dolittle 3 | | | | Maya Dolittle (Kyla Pratt, One on One) takes center stage in this tweener-oriented sequel to the fur-friendly entertainments. While Eddie Murphy and much of the original gang have moved on, his on-screen daughter talks to the animals and works at a veterinarian clinic--just like dear old dad--when not attending school. Naturally, the animals talk back, like the family pooch and a mischievous monkey--who tends to materialize at the most inopportune times--from the first installments. So some things haven't changed. On the other hand, the 17-year-old's primary concerns are popularity, putting together the perfect look, and bagging a boyfriend. It won't be easy. The other kids think she's a freak because of that animal thing, and the chatty creatures keep getting her in trouble with her parents. Her mom, Lisa (Kristen Wilson, who returns to the fold), sends Maya to a dude ranch to straighten her out, but the animals won't leave the "weirdo" alone. (The ranch is run by John Amos of Good Times fame.) Eventually she finds a way to put her Dolittle skill to good use and returns home a heroine. Fast-paced, if forgettable, this straight-to-DVD movie is manufactured to appeal more to the That's So Raven and Lizzy McGuire set than to fans of the original duo (let alone the British musical with Rex Harrison). --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Rich Thorne | | Cast: | Kyla Pratt, Kristen Wilsen, John Amos |
|
|
| | | | Dr. Dolittle Tail to the Chief | | | | Maya Dolittle, who can talk to animals like her father, is placed on special assignment by the President of the United States of America. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | Kyla Pratt |
|
| | | | Dragonball Z Fusion Reborn | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Duma | | | | This African tale follow the rhythms of director Carroll Ballard's earlier films The Black Stallion and Fly Away Home, namely a child is drawn into the mysteries and magic of an animal. Xan (newcomer Alexander Michaletos) is a 12-year-old living in South Africa with his parents (Campbell Scott and Hope Davis, who appeared as a much different couple three years earlier in The Secret Life of Dentists) when they find an abandoned baby cheetah. They bring it up as their own and name it the Swahili word for cheetah, Duma. After some time, the creature is too big to stay domesticated and Dad tells the boy they will have to journey back to Duma's home to set him free. A sickness makes the family pull up stakes and head to the city where Xan and Duma don't fare well. Xan must take Duma on his own to set him free. To tell more would be a crime. As with any Ballard film, the story is subtext, the visuals rule. First-time cinematographer Werner Maritz fills the screen with the desert landscape and is able to capture the magnificent speed of the cheetah. Ballard's films seem to build on their own inertia, creating scenes that seem to be simply happening instead of scripted, although this often suffers in the balance of wonderment versus all-too-lucky occurrences. Based on the children's picture book/memoir How It Was with Dooms by Xan and Carol Cawthra Hopcraft, this is a film worth seeking out, especially for families and kids above 5 years old. --Doug Thomas
|
| Genre: | Drama | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Carroll Ballard | | Cast: | Hope Davis, Campbell Scott, Eamonn Walker, Alexander Michaletos |
|
| | | | Dumbo | | | | A Disney "classic" that actually is a classic, Dumbo should be part of your video collection whether or not you have children. The storytelling was never as lean as in Dumbo, the songs rarely as haunting (or just plain weird), the characters rarely so well defined. The film pits the "cold, cruel, heartless" world that can't accept abnormality against a plucky, and mute, hero. Jumbo Jr. (Dumbo is a mean-spirited nickname) is ostracized from the circus pack shortly after his delivery by the stork because of his big ears. His mother sticks up for him and is shackled. He's jeered by children (an insightful scene has one boy poking fun at Dumbo's ears, even though the youngster's ears are also ungainly), used by the circus folk, and demoted to appearing with the clowns. Only the decent Timothy Q. Mouse looks out for the little guy. Concerns about the un-PC "Jim Crow" crows, who mock Dumbo with the wonderful "When I See an Elephant Fly," should be moderated by remembering that the crows are the only social group in the film who act kindly to the little outcast. If you don't mist up during the "Baby Mine" scene, you may be legally pronounced dead. --Keith Simanton |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | Ben Sharpsteen | | Cast: | Edward Brophy, Verna Felton |
|
|
| | | | Dust Factory | | | | Hayden Panettiere (Ice Princess) and Ryan Kelley (Mean Creek) are "attractively earnest"(Variety) teenagers who find budding romance in a magical realm somewhere between Heaven and Earth. An "original and imaginative"(Dallas Observer) fantasy about conquering your fears, The Dust Factory co-stars screen veteran Armin Mueller-Stahl (Shine) as the boy's sage grandfather. After suffering accidents, Ryan (Kelley) and Melanie (Panettiere) meet in an enchanting new world called the Dust Factory, where amazing things happen. People walk on water and disappear in the mist, and Ryan's grandfather, who has Alzheimer's, is now lucid. With magic everywhere, will Ryan and Melanie ever find the courage to leave this wondrous sanctuary and return home? |
| Genre: | Fantasy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Eric Small | | Cast: | Hayden Panettiere, Ryan Kelley, Armin Mueller Stahl |
|
| | | | E.T. | | | | Steven Spielberg's 1982 hit about a stranded alien and his loving relationship with a fatherless boy (Henry Thomas) struck a chord with audiences everywhere, and it furthered Spielberg's reputation as a director of equally strong commercial sensibilities and classical leanings. Henry Thomas gives a strong, emotional performance as E.T.'s young friend, Robert MacNaughton and Drew Barrymore make a solid impression as his siblings, and Dee Wallace is lively as the kids' mother. The special effects almost look a bit quaint now with all the computer advancements that have occurred since, but they also have more heart behind them than a lot of what we see today. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Steven Spielberg | | Cast: | Dee Wallace Stone, Peter Coyote |
|
|
| | | | Eight Below | | | | Walt Disney Pictures presents EIGHT BELOW, the thrilling tale of incredible friendship between eight amazing sled dogs and their guide Jerry (Paul Walker).
Stranded in Antarctica during the most unforgiving winter on the planet, Jerry's beloved sled dogs must learn to survive together until Jerry — who will stop at nothing -- rescues them. Driven by unwavering bonds of friendship, enormous belief in one another, and tremendous courage, Jerry and the dogs make an incredible journey to reunite in this triumphant and inspiring action-adventure the whole family will treasure. |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Frank Marshall | | Cast: | Paul Walker, Jason Biggs, Bruce Greenwood, Wendy Crewson, Moon Bloodgood |
|
| | | | Eight Crazy Nights, Adam Sandler's | | | | Adam Sandler fans will find the animated movie 8 Crazy Nights to be another flowering of Sandler's absurdist goofiness. People who find Sandler completely annoying will be triply annoyed by 8 Crazy Nights, because Sandler does the voices for three different characters: Davey Stone, a boozing, belching, self-loathing loser who hates the holidays; Whitey, a tiny old man who tries to rehabilitate Davey; and Eleanor, Whitey's neurotic twin sister, who seems not to have left her house in years. Fans will find the slapdash musical numbers and scatological humor hilarious; foes will find them tiresome and banal. But even Sandler's advocates won't care about the by-the-numbers plot of holiday redemption; you see, Davey's parents died on the first night of Hanukkah, and he just needs to cry about it. Sandler's best when he's walking that line between stupid and smart-ass. When he gets sentimental, it's trouble. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | SNL | | Rating: | PG-13 | | Director: | Seth Kearsley | | Cast: | Adam Sandler, Jackie Titone, Austin Stout, Kevin Nealon, Rob Schneider, Norm Crosby |
|
|
| | | | Ella Enchanted | | | | Fairy tales and contemporary satire collide in Ella Enchanted, based upon the enormously popular young adult novel by Gail Carson Levine. Ella (Anne Hathaway, The Princess Diaries) received an unfortunate fairy gift in her cradle: No matter what anyone tells her to do, she's compelled to obey. Despite this, Ella grows up to be a headstrong young woman who refuses to swoon at the sight of a charming young prince (Hugh Dancy). To get her gift removed, Ella braves a forest packed with ogres, elves, and giants to find her fairy godmother (Vivica A. Fox, Kill Bill, Vol. 1). Much like Shrek, Ella Enchanted is sprinkled with comic modern references; for some, this will make the whimsy too cute, while others will appreciate the snarky jabs. Also featuring Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride), Minnie Driver, Joanna Lumley, Eric Idle, and many others. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Fantasy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Tommy O'Haver | | Cast: | Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, Vivica A. Fox, Joanna Lumly, Minnie Driver |
|
| | | | Elmos World | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Elmos World Springtime Fun | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Elmos World Street we live on | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Enchanted | | | | Life is idyllic in the fairytale world where conflict is minimal and breaking into song solves every problem, but what happens when a princess from the fairy world gets magically transported into the real world? Enchanted begins in the animated fairytale world of Andalasia where Princess Giselle (Amy Adams) is destined to marry Prince Edward (James Marsden) and live happily ever after. Problem is, Edward's step-mother Queen Narissa (Susan Sarandon) doesn't want to give up the throne and will do anything to get Giselle out of Edward's life. Queen Narissa's solution is to push Giselle into a well that magically lands Giselle smack in the middle of the real world--the center of Time Square in New York City, to be exact. This launches the live-action portion of the film where Giselle immediately realizes that things are frighteningly different in this new world and that she is ill-prepared for the callous ways of the people who inhabit it. Giselle finds herself alone on a stormy night in the wrong end of town, but a chance encounter with Robert (Patrick Dempsey) and his princess-loving daughter Morgan (Rachel Covey) leads to a warm, safe place to spend the night and the beginnings of a complicated, yet compelling relationship. As Giselle begins to question the fairy-tale truths she's always inherently believed, Robert's outlook on life and love also begins to change significantly. Parallels to the classic Disney fairytales, Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty abound in the form of a King's and Queen's ball, small animals and rodents who clean house when called, the threat of poisoned apples, characters impulsively breaking into song, and the power of the kiss of true love and the absurd juxtaposition of fairytale idealism and stark reality is hilariously funny. Features music by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz of Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame fame, Wicked's Broadway Elpheba Idina Menzel as Nancy, and even a brief appearance by former Princess voice talent Judy Kuhn (Pocahontas). Enchanted is one of the best, most entertaining Disney films of the year. (Ages 6 and older with parental guidance due to some scary images and mild innuendo) --Tami Horiuchi |
| Genre: | Animation | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | kevin lima | | Cast: | julie andrews, amy adams, patrick dempsey, james marsden, susan sarandon |
|
| | | | Ernest goes to camp | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Ernest Scared Stupid | | | | When Ernest accidentally releases a demonic troll from a sacred tomb, the curse of the tomb threatens his hometown. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | John Cherry | | Cast: | Jim Varney, Eartha Kitt |
|
| | | | Even Steves Movie | | | | Capitalizing on the popularity of the Disney Channel's long-running series Even Stevens, The Even Stevens Movie follows the Stevens family in a rare moment of good fortune. Seems they've won a dream vacation to the tropics, but even a free vacation isn't always a dream. There's the usual bumbling by Louis (Shia LeBeouf), but also the family seems to be getting split up and turned against each other. Sure enough, the Stevens family is actually the unsuspecting victim on a reality show called Family Fakeout, and everyone back home in Sacramento is watching every minute of their frustration and misery. Worst of all, Ren (Christy Carlson Romano) seems to have finally met a nice boy, unaware that he's just an actor hired to romance her. The Even Stevens Movie is typically lightweight Disney Channel fare, but it should entertain fans of the series and provides a good showcase for its two young stars, LeBeouf and Romano. --David Horiuchi
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Sean Mcnamara | | Cast: | Shia LaBeouf, Christy Carlson Romano, Tom Virtue, Nick Spano, Steven Anthony, Lawrence AJ Trauth |
|
|
| | | | Fat Albert | | | | The bright cartoon colors of the Saturday morning classic Fat Albert get brought into the real world--or a Hollywood facsimile of reality, at any rate. When a teenage girl named Doris (Kyla Pratt) sheds a tear onto her TV's remote control, her unhappiness summons Fat Albert (Kenan Thompson, Barbershop 2), Mushmouth, Dumb Donald, Old Weird Harold, and the rest of the gang from Bill Cosby's popular cartoon (inspired by his childhood memories of growing up in Philadelphia). Doris is, to say the least, a little freaked out and doesn't really want Fat Albert to help solve her problems--but with the blithe confidence that only cartoon characters can have, Fat Albert and the gang follow her to school to root out the source of her misery. One of the movie's problems (which are legion) is that Doris's world isn't much more real than the cartoon one; it's a sterile, clean-cut caricature of a city neighborhood. In fact, the whole movie feels suspiciously like a commercial for a DVD of Fat Albert cartoons, an advertisement for which actually appears in the movie, making for a bizarrely self-referential product placement. Thompson, surprisingly, hangs on to his dignity in the face of the inane proceedings and even gives Fat Albert a hint of gravitas. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Joel Zwick | | Cast: | Kenan Thompson, Kyla Pratt, Bill Cosby |
|
| | | | Ferngully Last Rainforest | | | |
| Genre: | childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Finding Nemo | | | | A delightful undersea world unfolds in Pixar's animated adventure Finding Nemo. When his son Nemo is captured by a scuba-diver, a nervous-nellie clownfish named Marlin (voiced by Albert Brooks) sets off into the vast--and astonishingly detailed--ocean to find him. Along the way he hooks up with a scatterbrained blue tang fish named Dory (Ellen DeGeneres), who's both helpful and a hindrance, sometimes at the same time. Faced with sharks, deep-sea anglers, fields of poisonous jellyfish, sea turtles, pelicans, and much more, Marlin rises above his neuroses in this wonderfully funny and nonstop thrill ride--rarely does more than 10 minutes pass without a sequence destined to become a theme park attraction. Pixar continues its run of impeccable artistic and economic success (their movies include Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, and Monsters, Inc). Also featuring the voices of Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush, and Allison Janney. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Fluke | | | |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | Matthew Modine, Nancy Travis, Eric Stoltz |
|
|
| | | | Follow that Bird | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Fox and Hound 2 | | | | Tod and Copper are back, and they've brought along some new friends in this homespun tale of true friendship that can't be broken. Overflowin' with toe-tappin' songs and a star-studded voice cast, including Reba McEntire and Patrick Swayze as The Singin' Strays. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | Reba McEntire , Patrick Swayze |
|
|
| | | | Freaky Friday | | | | In the wonderfully entertaining Freaky Friday, teenager Anna (Lindsay Lohan) and her forty-something psychiatrist mom Tess (Jamie Lee Curtis) have sunk into a rut of frustrated bickering--until a magic spell causes them to switch bodies. Suddenly Tess finds herself faced with petty teachers, vicious rivals, and a hunky boy, while Anna has to cope with her mother's neurotic patients as well as her befuddled fiance (Mark Harmon), who doesn't understand why his bride-to-be is suddenly recoiling from his embrace on the eve of their wedding. Both Lohan and Curtis turn in deft, delightful performances, with Curtis showing a surprising flair for physical comedy. The movie even manages to explore serious issues about fractured families, new parents, and adolescent sexuality with honesty and empathy--and without making the story stop dead in its tracks. It's a mother-daughter film that fathers and sons can enjoy just as much. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Mark Waters | | Cast: | Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan, Harold Gould, Chad Michael Murray |
|
| | | | Getting There | | | | This G-rated effort from the wholesome twins covers the rites of passage of American 16-year-olds: getting the driver's license and getting the cherry red convertible (OK, that may not be universal). Mary-Kate and Ashley (playing twins Taylor and Kylie) invite two girlfriends to hit the road with them for the Winter Olympics in Utah, while three male friends attempt to make the same trip in their convertible. But the expedition is fraught with snafus: one car stolen, the other damaged, flight delays, and wrong buses. In the end, the kids hook up with a teenage orange-grove heiress who ferries them in her dad's private jet. They miss the Winter Games but get to snowboard, ski, and do cannonballs into a heated pool. One parental peeve: Although the girls wear ski helmets, they never "buckle up" during the numerous car scenes. This 80-minute movie will appeal most to girls ages 8 to 12. --Kimberly Heinrichs |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | Mary Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen |
|
|
| | | | Godzilla Tokyo SoS | | | | Reviewer: A. C. Cronvich (Planet Zeist) - See all my reviews
This is the most recent GODZILLA movie to reach US shores and it was an unusually fast trip. In recent years fans have had to wait as long as
six years for a Godzilla film to make it here. For the uninitiated or new and younger fans of Godzilla here is a listing of all the Godzilla projects
in their most current US video titles. There are many spin-off movies such as RODAN, MOTHRA etc. But I have only included the films in which Godzilla himself appears. The films with the * next to them are true sequels and pick up where the previous films leave off.
First we have the original classic and its sequel. Both were in black & white and fullscreen. They were released in 1954 & 1955 :
#1 GODZILLA (JAPANESE VERSION currently in US theatres)
GODZILLA- KING OF THE MONSTERS (american version)
#2 GODZILLA RAIDS AGAIN (aka GIGANTIS- THE FIRE MONSTER)*
The first series (in color/cinemascope) really starts here. It ran from 1962-69. Most had decent effects budgets and were dubbed very well, either in Japan or in the States:
#3 KING KONG VS. GODZILLA*
#4 GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA (aka GODZILLA VS. THE THING)
#5 GHIDRAH- THE THREE HEADED MONSTER*
#6 GODZILLA VS. MONSTER ZERO (aka MONSTER ZERO)
#7 GODZILLA VS. THE SEA MONSTER (aka EBIRAH- HORROR OF
THE DEEP)
#8 SON OF GODZILLA
#9 DESTROY ALL MONSTERS
#10 GODZILLA' S REVENGE
MONSTER ZERO and DESTROY ALL MONSTERS were very science fictiony and had futuristic settings (the late 80s and 90s) This upset the plot continuity of later films (set in the present).
The seventies series starts here, with much smaller budgets and awful dubbing done in Hong Kong. Most are intended for a child audience:
#11 GODZILLA VS. HEDORAH (aka GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG
MONSTER)
#12 GODZILLA VS. GIGAN (aka GODZILLA ON MONSTER ISLAND)
#13 GODZILLA VS. MEGALON*
#14 GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA (aka GODZILLA VS. COSMIC
MONSTER)
#15 TERROR OF MECHAGODZILLA (aka TERROR OF GODZILLA)*
The eighties/nineties films start here. They are in a rectangular widescreen but not the real wide cinemascope like the first series. The plots are connected, each picking up whwere the last left off:
#16 GODZILLA 1985*
#17 GODZILLA VS. BIOLLANTE*
#18 GODZILLA VS. KING GHIDORAH*
#19 GODZILLA AND MOTHRA- THE BATTLE FOR EARTH*
#20 GODZILLA VS. MECHAGODZILLA 2*
#21 GODZILLA VS. SPACE GODZILLA*
#22 GODZILLA VS. DESTOROYAH*
Next is the "Millenium" series. It was shot in the same widescreen as the first series:
#23 GODZILLA (1998)
#24 GODZILLA 2000
#25 GODZILLA VS. MEGAGUIRAS
#26 GODZILLA, MOTHRA AND KING GHIDORAH: GIANT MONSTERS
ALL OUT ATTACK
#27 GODZILLA AGAINST MECHAGODZILLA
#28 GODZILLA- TOKYO S.O.S.*
#29 GODZILLA- FINAL WARS
In addition Godzilla also appeared in the live action japanese
TV series REISEI NINGEN ZON (aka ZONE FIGHTER (1973). in
the animated Hanna Barbera produced show GODZILLA (aka THE
GODZILLA POWER HOUR or GODZILLA SUPER 90(1978) and the
animated GODZILLA: THE SERIES (1998).
Many of Godzilla's films were reedited for American theatres. Most are shorter than the Japanese versions (only GODZILLA VS. MOTHRA is longer in the US) and some have scenes with American actors (like the late great Raymond Burr) added. Of the films currently available on video, the ones most different from the Japanese versions are GODZILLA-KING OF THE MONSTERS, GIGANTIS- THE FIRE MONSTER (don't even call him Godzilla in this one), KING KONG VS. GODZILLA, GHIDRAH- THE THREE HEADED MONSTER, TERROR OF GODZILLA and GODZILLA 1985. The rest are pretty much the same as the Japanese versions.
Contrary to rumours going as far back as the 60s; KING KONG VS. GODZILLA has ONLY ONE ENDING. It is the SAME in both the Japanese and US versions. I won't spoil it and tell you who wins but.......
Both monsters went on to make alot more movies, so do the math.
|
| Genre: | Fantasy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Masaaki Tezuka | | Cast: | Godzilla, Tokyo, MechaGodzilla |
|
| | | | Godzilla Vs The Sea Monster | | | | This is an OK movie. It has a couple bad plot holes and Godzilla doesn't look very good. Also Godzilaa has very Kong-like behavior.(Big Breath) That's because Toho(People who make the Godzilla movies) was planning on making a Kong Flick but didn't have the money to make a good suit so erased King Kong and put in Godzilla! WHEW! Anyway at the very end of this incredibly long boring movie Godzilla wakes up and fights 3 things. A pathetic lobster, a giant bird, and a couple of airplanes. OKay, the scene when Godzilla stomps on the Red Bamboo base is kinda cool looking and with Mothra's breif appearence it's worth watching if your a Godzilla fan.
|
| Genre: | Fantasy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Jun Fukoda | | Cast: | Godzilla, Sea Monster |
|
|
| | | | Godzilla Vs. Hedorah | | | | Ryan Harvey "Wolf Shadow" (Los Angeles, CA USA) - See all my reviews
It's wonderful that American home video distributors have finally started taking Godzilla seriously and releasing excellent DVDs of the Big Guy's flicks. This DVD of the 1971 "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" (originally released in America as "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster") may not offer much in the way of extras, but it lets you see the film as you've never been able to: in a beautiful widescreen image (enhanced for 16:9 TVs) with the option to watch it in Japanese with English subtitles or dubbed into English. For older viewers, I definitely recommend watching it in Japanese; it will change your whole perspective on Godzilla and makes the film seem less cheap and campy. However, the English dub is a good feature to have for younger children, who will definitely want to watch the film as well.
Although watching "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" in Japanese will tone down the camp somewhat, this remains the weirdest, oddest, most mind-bogglingly bizarre of all Godzilla movies. In the 1970s the Japanese film industry entered a steep decline because of competition from television, and the Godzilla films suffered from severe budget cutbacks. One of the guiding fathers of the Godzilla films, special effects wizard Eiji Tsubaraya, died in 1969 and the effects work on the Godzilla films suffered an additional drop in quality. "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" therefore came at a time when the Godzilla films were changing, and not always for the better. A new director, Yoshimitsu Banno, helmed this film and purposely set out to make a completely new kind of Godzilla film: a weird mixture of serious environmental message, frightening horror sequences, rock 'n' roll party scenes, cartoon montages, kiddie antics, and surreal monster fights. This is one strange film! The shift between the often grisly horror sequences (Hedorah the Smog Monster does some nasty things to his human victims) to animated "bumper" sequences and Godzilla actually flying (!!!) will make you wonder if somebody put the reels out of sequence! For all these problems and the film's silliness, there's something endearing about this monster mash: compared to the next few films, which are so cheap and uninspired, "Godzilla vs. Hedorah" feels like a project that the people working on it actually cared about. The environmental slant also provides a real message, the first time since the original "Godzilla" (1954) that the series approached such a heated topic.
Godzilla steps into full superhero mode here. Hedorah (the name comes from the word 'hedoro' meaning 'sludge'), a monster born in the waters from humanity's pollution, rapidly mutates into a jelly-like giant that comes ashore in Japan and starts wreaking havoc and turning humans into skeletons. Godzilla answers the call to save humanity. But Hedorah is a fearsome foe, armed with laser eyes, poison gas, and toxic spit-balls! Godzilla won't have an easy time, but maybe the scientists and the military can lend a hand with their electrode device. In between scenes of monsters battling, you can hang out with Japanese teens at a disco and watch the psychadelic acid pattern show on the wall. Or just listen to the wah-wah-wah soundtrack music -- guaranteed to make you want to buy a lava lamp!
Yeah, this is a weird film. But it's a cult classic, and resembles no other Godzilla film. (Apparently series producer Tomoyuki Tanaka hated the final product and director Banno consequently never directed another film.)
Note about the English dub: Viewers who remember seeing this film on TV in the 1970s and '80s may notice that the English dub on this film is different than the one they remember. This is because there were two English soundtracks made for the film back in 1971. American International Pictures released the film as "Godzilla vs. the Smog Monster" and did their own dub through Titra Sound in New York, composing cool English lyrics for the theme song, "Save the Earth." Toho studios made their own English dub in Hong Kong for use in other English-speaking territories. In the early 1990s, the rights to the picture in America returned to Toho, and the Toho dub has now replaced the American International one. This DVD therefore contains the Hong Kong dubbing job, and that means "Save the Earth" is now in Japanese instead of English. Fans of this classic camp song might be a bit disappointed! |
| Genre: | Fantasy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Yoshimitsu Bannao | | Cast: | Godzilla, Hedorah |
|
| | | | Good Boy | | | | A young boy named Owen learns the startling truth about dogs: They're actually from outer space, sent here to rule mankind. A canine agent from the star Sirius (voiced by Matthew Broderick) gets rescued from the pound by Owen (Liam Aiken) and named Hubble. As Hubble desperately tries to train a motley crew of dogs from Owen's neighborhood to behave like conquerors before the Greater Dane arrives and decides the planet's fate, the outer space pooch slowly bonds with Owen and discovers why dogs may have joined forces with humans instead of dominating them. Good Boy! will charm dog lovers in particular, but the movie has enough clever touches to engage most viewers, and it manages a sweet tone without turning cloyingly saccharine. Featuring the voices of Carl Reiner, Brittany Murphy, Delta Burke, Donald Faison, and--of all people--Vanessa Redgrave as the Greater Dane. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | Molly Shannon |
|
|
| | | | Goonies | | | | You may be surprised to discover that the director of the Lethal Weapon movies and scary horror flick The Omen, Richard Donner, also produced and directed this classic children's adventure (which, by the way, was written by Donner's screen-wizard friend Steven Spielberg). Then again you may not. The Goonies, like Donner's other movies, is the same story of good versus evil. It has its share of bad guys (the Fratelli brothers and their villainous mother), reluctant-hero good guys (the Walsh bothers and their gang of friends), and lots of corny one-liners. Like in an old-fashioned Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew plot, the Goonies need to solve a problem: a corrupt corporate developer has bought out their neighborhood and plans to flatten all their homes. Luckily, the beloved gang stumbles on a treasure map. In the hopes of finding the treasure to buy back their houses, the Goonies embark on their quest through underground passages, aboard pirate ships, and behind waterfalls. This swashbuckling and rollicking ride was also a great breeding ground for a couple of child actors who went on to enjoy numerous successes in adulthood: Sean Astin (Rudy, Encino Man) and Martha Plimpton (Pecker, 200 Cigarettes). --Samantha Allen Storey |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Richard Donner | | Cast: | Sean Astin, Josh Brolin, Jeff Cohen, Corey Feldman, Kerri Green, Martha Plimpton |
|
| | | | Gumby's Greatest Adventures | | | |
| Genre: | childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Hannah Montana One in a Million | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | hannah montana, jonas brothers |
|
| | | | Happy Health Monsters | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Haunted Mansion | | | | Lush production design and sparkling special effects make The Haunted Mansion pretty to look at. Terence Stamp (The Limey), as a malevolent ghost of a butler, provides a suitable air of menace as dematerializes to and fro. Marsha Thomason (Black Knight) is lovely as a real estate agent hired to sell a haunted mansion, but in truth the ghostly owner of the mansion believes she is the reincarnation of his lost love. Wallace Shawn (My Dinner with Andre) and Dina Waters (Six Feet Under) make a modestly amusing comic pair as a ghostly husband and wife who bustle about. Jennifer Tilly (Bound), as a green disembodied head in a crystal ball, glitters appropriately. The movie also features endless clichés, futile attempts at humor, and Eddie Murphy. If you're looking for a movie based on a Disneyland ride, try the very clever Pirates of the Caribbean instead. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | SNL | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Rob Minkoff | | Cast: | Eddie Murphy, Terrance Stamp, Jennifer Tilly |
|
| | | | Herbie Fully Loaded | | | | The simple pleasure of watching a living car squirt oil in a villain's face just never goes away. Disney, in their effort to revitalize the Herbie franchise, has made the wise choice of not trying too hard--aside from a small bit of skateboarding action, just about every element of Herbie: Fully Loaded would fit right into the 1963 original (groovily titled The Love Bug) or its various sequels. Maggie Peyton (Lindsay Lohan, the fiery-tressed starlet of Mean Girls and Freaky Friday) wants to join her family's dynasty of race car drivers, but her father (Michael Keaton, Batman Returns) worries that she'll get hurt. Instead, as a college graduation gift, he buys her a junked-out Volkswagen Beetle--which turns out to be Herbie, a car with a mind of its own. Soon Maggie and Herbie are racing against an arrogant racing champion (Matt Dillon, Crash, There's Something About Mary) and duking it out with monster trucks, e! ventually hoping her father's heart will change. Herbie: Fully Loaded is formulaic fluff, but executed with cheerful enthusiasm; everyone involved has clearly embraced the mix of slapstick hijinks and light family drama. There's even a handful of cameos by NASCAR drivers. The result is every bit as ridiculous yet entertaining as its forebears. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG-13 | | Director: | Angela Robinson | | Cast: | Lindsay Lohan, Michael Keaton, Matt Dillon, Breckin Meyer, Justin Long, Cheryl Hines |
|
|
| | | | Hilary Duff - The Concert - The Girl Can Rock | | | | Disney Channel starlet-turned-movie actress Hilary Duff proves a legitimate contender in her side career as a singer on Hilary Duff: The Concert--The Girl Can Rock. Backed by an ace band of hired guns and immersed in edgy pop arrangements more interesting than her studio recordings, Duff sounds like a worthy centerpiece in The Girl Can Rock's smart orchestration. The title tune kicks things off with an attention-getting backbeat and big (but not bombastic) rock & roll sound, while "Little Voice" comes pretty darn close to approximating the old, critically lauded, power pop sound of the late '70s. "Anywhere but Here" could easily pass as a tune from the Pretenders' songbook, and Duff makes the most out of its emotional counterpoints and minor chord changes. Even at the show's dippiest ("Love Just Is"), musical settings are always tasteful and evocative. Special features include Duff's so-so video for "Come Clean," and a better one for "So Yesterday (Live)." --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Hogfather | | | | In the city of Ankh Morpork, most important city on the Discworld (in the opinion of the Morporkians, and what other opinion is worth considering?) it is Hogswatch - a midwinter festival of celebration and gift-giving which might remind you of quite another holiday on another world entirely. The Hogfather - a jolly fat man, dressed in red - is distributing presents from his flying sleigh and all the children wait to hear trotter-beats on the roof. But this Hogswatch, they may have to wait quite a while... Someone, or something, wants the Hogfather out of the way. And if you're an anthropomorphic personification, you can't be helped by humans - but perhaps a, shall we say 'colleague', could assist. And so Death (voiced by Ian Richardson), his manservant Albert (Sir David Jason) and his granddaughter (don't ask) Susan (Michelle Dockery) set out to save the day, er, night. But while they're doing that, the redoubtable Mr Teatime (Mark Warren) of the Guild of Assassins and his team which includes the inept student wizard Mr Sideney (Nigel Planer) and the man-mountain Banjo (Stephen Marcus) set in motion a devious plan which means much, much more than just the end of Hogswatch... |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | vadim jean | | Cast: | david jason, marc warren, michelle dockery, david warner, tony robinson |
|
|
| | | | Holes | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Andrew Davis | | Cast: | Jon Voight, Sigourney Weaver |
|
| | | | Holidaze | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Home Alone | | | | Now and forever a favorite among kids, this 1990 comedy written by John Hughes (The Breakfast Club) and directed by Chris Columbus (Mrs. Doubtfire) ushered Macaulay Culkin onto the screen as a troubled 8-year-old who doesn't comfortably mesh with his large family. He's forced to grow a little after being accidentally left behind when his folks and siblings fly off to Paris. A good-looking boy, Culkin lights up the screen during several funny sequences, the most famous of which finds him screaming for joy when he realizes he's unsupervised in his own house. A bit wooden with dialogue, the then-little star's voice could grate on the nerves (especially in long, wise-child passages of pure bromide), but he unquestionably carries the film. Billie Bird and John Candy show up as two of the interesting strangers Culkin's character meets. Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern are entertainingly cartoonish as thieves, but the ensuing violence once the little hero decides to keep them out of his house is over-the-top. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Chris Columbus | | Cast: | Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci |
|
| | | | Home Alone Taking Back the House | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Hoodwinked | | | | An updated re-telling of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale Little Red Riding Hood. The satire begins where the fable last left off, as there's always more to every tale than meets the eye!
Furry and feathered cops from the animal world, Chief Grizzly and Detective Bill Stork, investigate a domestic disturbance at Granny's cottage, involving a girl, a wolf and an axe. The charges are many: breaking and entering, disturbing the peace, intent to eat, and wielding an axe without a license.
Not to mention, this case might be tied to the elusive Goody Bandit who has been stealing the recipes of goody shops everywhere. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Cory Edwards | | Cast: | Anne Hathaway , Glenn Close , Jim Belushi , Patrick Warburton , Anthony Anderson, David Ogden Stiers |
|
| | | | Hook | | | | Steven Spielberg's deeply flawed but sporadically fun and moving update of the Peter Pan legend stars Robin Williams as the grown-up Pan, a corporate-takeover type who must embrace his old identity in order to save his kids from Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman). The stars put on a good show, including Hoffman's read of Hook's hysterical personality, Julia Roberts mini-turn as a tiny Tinker Bell, and Maggie Smith's touching performance as the aged Wendy. The visual contrast between the adult Pan's bustling outside world and the insulated fantasy of Neverland is striking, but Spielberg's ideas about the Lost Boys--politically correct in their ethnic diversity, energetic on skateboards--are contrived and cheapening. On the plus side, the story's theme about adults finding their innocence again through their children is very touching (though some people have found it cloying). If you can look beyond the glaring problems, there's plenty to like here. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Steven Spielberg | | Cast: | Robin Williams, Dustin Hoffman |
|
|
| | | | Hoot | | | | The natural beauties of Florida find some young champions in Hoot, based on the young adult novel by satirical crime writer Carl Hiaasen. While trying to resist being bullied on the school bus, Roy (Logan Lerman, Jack & Bobby) becomes intrigued by a barefoot boy running frantically along the sidewalk. As he investigates, Roy learns that a nearby construction site is a habitat for a protected species of burrowing owl and that a tough girl at his school named Beatrice (Brie Larson, Sleepover) has some connection with the barefoot boy, who has some connection with vandalism at the construction site. Hoot has been attacked by conservative critics for promoting eco-terrorism--a charge most viewers may find overheated--but the movie's real weakness isn't political but artistic; the clumsy dialogue barely sounds like human speech and the plot takes some hard-to-believe turns. At one point, as part of protecting the burrowing owls and their chicks, a kid releases poisonous cottonmouth snakes onto the construction site; apparently his ecological knowledge doesn't include the feeding habits of these snakes, which eat birds. The colorful scenery and the affable presence of Luke Wilson (Bottle Rocket, Old School) keep the movie alive. Also featuring Tim Blake Nelson (O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Holes) and singer Jimmy Buffett, whose tropical honky-tonk bubbles up all over the soundtrack. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Wil Shriner | | Cast: | Luke Wilson, Logan Lerman, Brie Larson, Tim Blake Nelson, Neil Flynn, Robert Wagner |
|
| | | | Horton Hears a Who 70 | | | | Chuck Jones was chief animator on this lively adaptation of the famous book by Dr. Seuss. The story of a friendly elephant named Horton who discovers--deep inside a daisy--a tiny city called Whoville with tiny, intelligent residents--this film (fleshed out a bit from the source) is strong on character and has striking, appealing visuals. The little folks of Whoville, with their natural air of aristocracy, are a kick, and when they come to see Horton as a hero for his democratic view of all life big and small, the effect is quite touching. This should be a real treat for kids already familiar with the book, but just might inspire those who haven't read it to pick it up. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Chuck Jones | | Cast: | Hans Conried |
|
|
| | | | How to Eat Fried Worms | | | | Author Thomas Rockwell's hugely popular book, "How to Eat Fried Worms", is now brought to the big screen! On his first day at a new school, eleven-year-old Billy goes up against the school bully in a challenge that ends up with a total gross-out date... to eat 10 worms in one day!
As the pressure mounts, Billy must summon all his strength to meet the dare, all the while keeping his weak stomach from betraying him and his big mouth from getting him in even more trouble! |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Bob Dolman | | Cast: | Luke Benwald, Tom Cavanaugh, Kimberly Williams, Hallie Kate Eisenberg, James Rebhorn, Adam Hicks |
|
| | | | Howl's Moving Castle | | | | Like a dream, Howl's Moving Castle carries audiences to vistas beyond their imaginations where they experience excitement, adventure, terror, humor, and romance. With domestic box office receipts of over $210 million, Howl passed Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke to become the #3 film in Japanese history, behind his Spirited Away and James Cameron's Titanic. Based on a juvenile novel by Diana Wynne Jones, Howl's Moving Castle marks the first time Miyazaki has adapted another writer's work since Kiki's Delivery Service (1989). Sophie, a 19-year-old girl who believes she is plain, has resigned herself to a drab life in her family's hat shop--until the Witch of the Waste transforms her into a 90-year-old woman. In her aged guise, Sophie searches for a way to break the Witch's spell and finds unexpected adventures. Like Chihiro, the heroine of Spirited Away, Sophie discovers her hidden potential in a magical environment--the castle of the title. Using CG, Miyazaki creates a ramshackle structure that looks like it might disintegrate at any moment. Sophie's honesty and determination win her some valuable new friends: Markl, Howl's young apprentice; a jaunty scarecrow; Calcifer, a temperamental fire demon; and Heen, a hilarious, wheezing dog. She wins the heart of the dashing, irresponsible wizard Howl, and brings an end an unnecessary and destructive war. The film overflows with eclipsing visuals that range from frightening aerial battles to serene landscapes, and few recent features--animated or live action--offer as much magic as Howl's Moving Castle. --Charles Solomon |
| Genre: | Anime | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Hayao Miyazaki | | Cast: | Christian Bale, Billy Crystal , Lauren Bacall , Jean Simmons , Emily Mortimer , Blythe Danner |
|
|
| | | | Ice Age | | | | Just as A Bug's Life was a computer-animated comedy inspired by Akira Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai, the funny and often enthralling Ice Age is a digital re-imagining of the Western Three Godfathers. The heroes of this unofficial remake (set 20,000 years ago, during the titular Paleolithic era) are a taciturn mastodon named Manfred (voiced by Ray Romano), an annoying sloth named Sid (John Leguizamo), and a duplicitous saber-toothed tiger, Diego (Denis Leary). The unlikely team encounters a dying, human mother who relinquishes her chirpy toddler to the care of these critters. Hoping, against all odds, to return the little guy to his migrating tribe, Manfred and his associates need to establish trust among themselves, not an easy thing in a harsh world of predators, prey, and pushy glaciers. Audiences that have become accustomed to the rounded, polished, storybook look of Pixar's house brand of computer animation (Monsters, Inc.) will find the blunt edges and chilly brilliance of Ice Age--evoking the harsh, dangerous environment of a frozen world--a wholly different, and equally pleasing, trip. Recommended for ages 4 and up. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Chris Wedge | | Cast: | Ray Romano, John Leguizamo |
|
| | | | Ice Age The Meltdown | | | | The love life of a woolly mammoth--handled with G-rated delicacy--drives this sequel to the first computer-animated romp in the age of prehistoric mammals. While the first Ice Age took a delightful premise and suffocated it with a formulaic plot--in which a mammoth named Manfred (voiced by Ray Romano, Everyone Loves Raymond), a sloth named Sid (John Leguizamo, Moulin Rouge!), and a sabre-tooth tiger named Diego (Denis Leary, Rescue Me) helped an abandoned human infant return to its tribe (basically, Three Mammals and a Baby)--the sequel takes the now-familiar setting, gives it a shapeless, episodic storyline, and yet somehow becomes pretty darn entertaining. Faced with the threat of a flood from melting ice, our heroic trio are on the run to escape from their blossoming valley. On the way, they meet a female mammoth (Queen Latifah, Bringing Down the House) who thinks she's an opossum and get menaced by some freshly defrosted carnivorous fish. Add into the mix a herd of lava-worshipping mini-sloths, some Busby Berkeley-style vultures, and more ingenious slapstick featuring the acorn-crazed Scrat, and Ice Age: The Meltdown will amuse even jaded adults. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Carlos Saldanha | | Cast: | Ray Romano , Denis Leary, John Leguizamo , Queen Latifah , Drea de Matteo , Josh Peck |
|
|
| | | | Incredibles | | | | After creating the last great traditionally animated film of the 20th century, The Iron Giant, filmmaker Brad Bird joined top-drawer studio Pixar to create this exciting, completely entertaining computer-animated film. Bird gives us a family of "supers," a brood of five with special powers desperately trying to fit in with the 9-to-5 suburban lifestyle. Of course, in a more innocent world, Bob and Helen Parr were superheroes, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. But blasted lawsuits and public disapproval forced them and other supers to go incognito, making it even tougher for their school-age kids, the shy Violet and the aptly named Dash. When a stranger named Mirage (voiced by Elizabeth Pena) secretly recruits Bob for a potential mission, the old glory days spin in his head, even if his body is a bit too plump for his old super suit.
Bird has his cake and eats it, too. He and the Pixar wizards send up superhero and James Bond movies while delivering a thrilling, supercool action movie that rivals Spider-Man 2 for 2004's best onscreen thrills. While it's just as funny as the previous Pixar films, The Incredibles has a far wider-ranging emotional palette (it's Pixar's first PG film). Bird takes several jabs, including some juicy commentary on domestic life ("It's not graduation, he's moving from the fourth to fifth grade!").
The animated Parrs look and act a bit like the actors portraying them, Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter. Samuel L. Jackson and Jason Lee also have a grand old time as, respectively, superhero Frozone and bad guy Syndrome. Nearly stealing the show is Bird himself, voicing the eccentric designer of superhero outfits ("No capes!"), Edna Mode.
Nominated for four Oscars, The Incredibles won for Best Animated Film and, in an unprecedented win for non-live-action films, Sound Editing.
The Presentation
This two-disc set is (shall we say it?), incredible. The digital-to-digital transfer pops off the screen and the 5.1 Dolby sound will knock the socks off most systems. But like any superhero, it has an Achilles heel. This marks the first Pixar release that doesn't include both the widescreen and full-screen versions in the same DVD set, which was a great bargaining chip for those cinephiles who still want a full-frame presentation for other family members. With a 2.39:1 widescreen ratio (that's big black bars, folks, à la Dr. Zhivago), a few more viewers may decide to go with the full-frame presentation. Fortunately, Pixar reformats their full-frame presentation so the action remains in frame.
The Extras
The most-repeated segments will be the two animated shorts. Newly created for this DVD is the hilarious "Jack-Jack Attack," filling the gap in the film during which the Parr baby is left with the talkative babysitter, Kari. "Boundin'," which played in front of the film theatrically, was created by Pixar character designer Bud Luckey. This easygoing take on a dancing sheep gets better with multiple viewings (be sure to watch the featurette on the short).
Brad Bird still sounds like a bit of an outsider in his commentary track, recorded before the movie opened. Pixar captain John Lasseter brought him in to shake things up, to make sure the wildly successful studio would not get complacent. And while Bird is certainly likable, he does not exude Lasseter's teddy-bear persona. As one animator states, "He's like strong coffee; I happen to like strong coffee." Besides a resilient stance to be the best, Bird threw in an amazing number of challenges, most of which go unnoticed unless you delve into the 70 minutes of making-of features plus two commentary tracks (Bird with producer John Walker, the other from a dozen animators). We hear about the numerous sets, why you go to "the Spaniards" if you're dealing with animation physics, costume problems (there's a reason why previous Pixar films dealt with single- or uncostumed characters), and horror stories about all that animated hair. Bird's commentary throws out too many names of the animators even after he warns himself not to do so, but it's a lively enough time. The animator commentary is of greatest interest to those interested in the occupation.
There is a 30-minute segment on deleted scenes with temporary vocals and crude drawings, including a new opening (thankfully dropped). The "secret files" contain a "lost" animated short from the superheroes' glory days. This fake cartoon (Frozone and Mr. Incredible are teamed with a pink bunny) wears thin, but play it with the commentary track by the two superheroes and it's another sharp comedy sketch. There are also NSA "files" on the other superheroes alluded to in the film with dossiers and curiously fun sound bits. "Vowellet" is the only footage about the well-known cast (there aren't even any obligatory shots of the cast recording their lines). Author/cast member Sarah Vowell (NPR's This American Life) talks about her first foray into movie voice-overs--daughter Violet--and the unlikelihood of her being a superhero. The feature is unlike anything we've seen on a Disney or Pixar DVD extra, but who else would consider Abe Lincoln an action figure? --Doug Thomas
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Brad Bird | | Cast: | Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter |
|
| | | | Inspector Gadget 2 | | | | A live-action Inspector Gadget is back, this time with higher tech gadgets and more special effects. French Stewart (TV's Third Rock from the Sun) replaces Matthew Broderick as the bumbling detective in a plot that revolves around the glitch-ridden Gadget's replacement by a completely robotized female. Parent Trap's Elaine Hendrix does what little she can with the one-dimensional role of "G2." Still, Gadget falls for his rival and the pair team up with his smart-as-a-whip niece Penny and her brainy beagle for a showdown with Claw. Where Broderick struggled to humanize the caricature of an inept detective in the 1999 original, Stewart doesn't even try. Instead he plays Gadget as a cartoon, with endless mugging and over-the-top theatrics. The enhanced special effects may placate young viewers, but without the comedy of the original, that's small comfort. The best thing about this movie? It's rated G and, thus, harmless. (Ages 4 to 10) --Kimberly Heinrichs |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Alex Zamm | | Cast: | French Stewart, Elaine Hendrix |
|
|
| | | | Invasion of the Tinysauruses, Land Before Time | | | | The small-fry dinosaur friends are back for their ninth outing in this 77-minute movie, but this time they're not the littlest creatures in the Great Valley. A herd of miniature dinos is discovered when Little Foot tries to sneak some "tree sweets," but falls into the tree instead, knocking down all the blossoms. This gives the tiny herd easy access to the food, which they quickly devour and disappear. But instead of taking the blame, Little Foot inadvertently sends the prehistoric adults into a "get Frankenstein" kind of frenzy by blaming the little ones entirely for the loss of the harvest. The kids find the herd first, of course, and protect it from the adults until everyone settles down and accepts each other's differences. A subplot spotlights Cera and her adjustment to Dad dating Tria, a lady Triceratops friend from Dad's past come back to reignite old passions. (Ages 3 to 7)--Kimberly Heinrichs |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius | | | | Jimmy Neutron, the feature that launches Nickelodeon's attempt to create a new children's franchise, plays like a cross between Rugrats and Dexter's Laboratory in outer space. Accompanied by his cyberdog Goddard, "boy genius" James Isaac Neutron (voiced by Debi Derryberry) invents fantastic devices that work only sporadically and with decidedly mixed results. The communications satellite he makes out of his mother's toaster allows for a race of gooey, egg-shaped aliens to kidnap the adults in Jimmy's town with the intent of sacrificing the parents to their chicken-god. Converting amusement park rides into spaceships, Jimmy saves the day, despite a few false starts and misadventures. Several of the characters feel like slightly older versions of Rugrats: smart-alecky Cindy (Carolyn Lawrence) resembles Angelica; sniffling nerd Carl (Rob Paulsen), Chuckie. The most original member of the cast is Sheen (Jeff Garcia), the maladroit devotee of superhero Ultralord--a very funny spoof of cartoon fandom. The characters look more like plastic toys than human beings. Instead of the thousands of individual hairs on the heads of the realistic figures in Final Fantasy, Jimmy sports a one-piece hairdo that recalls a soft-serve ice cream cone. The animation is weightless and the acting minimal, but the often quirky story carries the limited visuals and will appeal to elementary school kids. Rated G; suitable for ages 6 and older; cartoon violence, minor gross humor. --Charles Solomon |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Jonah a Veggie Tale Movie | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Jumanji | | | | Based on the children's book by Chris Van Allsburg, Jumanji stars Robin Williams as a man who escapes his confinement within a devilish board game, only to be followed by all kinds of exotic problems: elephants, lions, zebras, monkeys, floods, giant insects, killer plants, and a big-game hunter. The computer-generated effects all wreak havoc through quiet streets, and while most of this is pretty fun, relationship conflicts and character development are weak and forgettable. The high point, in comic terms, is probably David Alan Grier's hilarious performance as a cop catching the worst of these various plagues--one at a time. The DVD release has a widescreen presentation, Dolby sound, optional French and Spanish soundtracks, optional Spanish and Korean subtitles.--Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Joe Johnston | | Cast: | Robin Williams, Kirsten Dunst, David Alan Grier, Bonny Hunt, Jonathan Hyde, Bebe Neuwirth |
|
|
| | | | K-9 patrol pack 1-3 | |  | | A not very subtle variation on the buddy picture, this fluff comedy/action story squeaks by on the surprising charm generated by Jim Belushi (About Last Night, Salvador). Belushi plays the typically acerbic loner cop who relentlessly pursues a criminal mastermind while trying to juggle a relationship at home with girlfriend Tracy, played by Mel Harris of television's thirtysomething. The catch is that Belushi is saddled with a partner, an unruly German shepherd named Jerry Lee, and the gruff but lovable cop learns to love the dog of his dreams. The film is predictable from its first moments and survives only on the strength of the loose charm of its lead and the inoffensive performance of its lead canine. --Robert Lane
|
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG-13 | | Director: | Rod Daniel | | Cast: | James Belushi, Jerry Lee, Mel Harris |
|
| | | | kangaroo jack | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Kim Possible Movie So the Drama | | | | Opening with a Bond-style action sequence, the 2005 Disney Channel Original Movie Kim Possible: So the Drama finds our heroine attempting to foil Drakken's most insidious plot yet. What can he possibly want with robots from Nakasumi Toys (the company from the series' first episode, "Crush")? Dr. Possible's cybertronic technology, creepy syntho-drones, and the latest teen fads? Kim's used to fighting Drakken; the bigger problem is finding a date to the prom, or--worse--going with Ron, who's so not that kind of friend. Enter the new guy in school, Eric, who's cute enough to inspire cootie alerts. But that means no more hanging out with Ron, who's also having major issues with Bueno Nacho's new management. Hang-ups aside, the two friends will have to figure out a way to save the world one more time, leading to the debut of a spankin'-new outfit and a surprise ending. So the Drama marks the end of Disney's Kim Possible series. For its cool adventures, its nifty gadgets, its hip wit, and a teen heroine that appeals to both youngsters and oldsters, it will be missed. --David Horiuchi
Description
Kim Possible is ready to save the world (again) in this action-packed, seriously exciting adventure. Here's the sitch: Dr. Drakken has an evil new plot for world domination, but his ultimate success depends upon finding out KP's weakness. Could it have anything to do with a certain new hottie named Eric? Kim is definitely distracted by the prom date drama. Meanwhile, Ron is up to his eyeballs in strange little Diablo Devil toys when his favorite food joint, Buenos Nachos, crosses over to the dark side. Now he's acting like such a dweeb -- just when Kim needs him most! If Dr. D can keep up the pressure, KP will SO have to surrender! But it's not over till it's SO over! Don't miss all the undercover adventure, explosive action, and never-before-seen DCOM-Extra bonus features in Disney’s KIM POSSIBLE MOVIE: SO THE DRAMA. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | King and I | | | | For no apparent reason, 1999 became the year of The King and I. The 1956 version with Yul Brynner and Deborah Kerr received a glorious digital transfer on video, and Jodie Foster starred in a new, nonmusical version of this story of the King of Siam and the English schoolmistress hired to teach his children. The oddest rendition of the story is this animated version, complete with the famous Rodgers and Hammerstein musical numbers. Richard Rich's (The Swan Princess) animation is on par with most non-Disney features, but the film is chock full of dull villains, playful animals, and ridiculous action sequences. It's a good introduction into this culture for kids who will watch only animation, but the question remains, "Why was this made?" The 1956 version has aged very well, and is fabulous family entertainment. Still, the animated version is nearly an hour shorter, and for those who want hot-air balloon rescues, this would be the version to keep. --Doug Thomas
|
| Genre: | Anime | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Kronks New Groove | | | | Believing in oneself and remaining steadfast to one's convictions prove vital components of happiness and success in Kronk's New Groove. In this sequel to The Emperor's New Groove, the Emperor fades into the background as the resident nice guy in the palace and henchman Kronk's new life takes center stage. No longer just a dim-witted tough guy, Kronk is fulfilling his dreams as head chef in a local restaurant and camp counselor at Camp Chippamuka. Sure, he's made a few mistakes including being hoodwinked yet again by Yzma, but he's made things right and he's happy. Problem is, his father is coming for a visit and Kronk has led him to believe that he's settled into a house on a hill with a wife and family. Desperate to win his father's approval, Kronk pretends he's someone he's not while bemoaning the events that have deprived him of the status symbols his father demands. In reviewing those events, he learns an important lesson about the value of friendship and doing what is right. Humor abounds in this successful sequel, the animation and voice talent are strong, and the characters are just as appealing as in the original movie. Bonus features include a "Pyramid Scheme" game show with trivia questions from the movie, "Kronk's Brain Game" which is a strange expedition into the workings of Konk's mind, and a "Backstage Disney How to Cook a Movie" featurette with Patrick Warburton (Kronk), Saul Blinkoff and Elliot Bour (Directors) on the crucial ingredients for a successful show. (Ages 2 and older) --Tami Horiuchi
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | David Spade, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman, Eartha Kit, Tracey Ullman |
|
| | | | Land Before Great Day of the Flyers | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Land Before Time | | | | This 1988 animated feature from Don Bluth (An American Tail) focuses on an orphaned young dinosaur, Littlefoot, who has to make his way to the paradise of the Great Valley in order to survive a plague. Along the way, he meets up with some other dinos from different species, and they all bond and travel together. On the way, they have plenty of adventures. Even with elements of suspense, this is a pretty relaxed movie that isn't in a particular hurry to roll out its story. Kids will like the originality of the concept, and the themes of friendship and cooperation are well woven into the fabric of the entertainment, plus the music is great. Bluth's artwork looks good, though--as always--he never seems to quite catch up with the quality of the Disney machine. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Don Bluth | | Cast: | Helen Shaver, Gabriel Damon |
|
| | | | Land Before Time Stone of Cold | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Land Before Time Wisdom of Friends | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Lassie 06 | | | | Set on the eve of World War II in a Yorkshire mining town. After falling on hard times, the Carraclough family is forced to sell Lassie, their beloved dog, to the Duke of Rudling. When she succeeds in escaping her cage, Lassie finds herself transported five hundred miles away to the Duke’s remote castle on the northern coast of Scotland. However, she is determined to defy the odds and return to the home she loves. So begins an incredible adventure, set against a stunning series of landscapes, that sees Lassie facing dangers both natural and human and finding help in unexpected places as she makes her way across the country, to reach home in time for Christmas |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Charles Sturridge | | Cast: | Peter Dinklage, Peter O'Toole, Samantha Morton, Robert Carr, John Lynch, Kelly Macdonald |
|
|
| | | | Leroy and Stitch | | | | Here comes trouble! The adventure never stops as Lilo and Stitch face the challenge of their lives in Disney's hilarious, all-new movie LEROY & STITCH. As a reward for rounding up all 625 experiments, Lilo, Stitch, Jumba, and Pleakley have been placed around the galaxy in a spot where each of them thinks they truly belong. Their lives are all shook up when the dastardly Dr. Hamsterviel breaks out of prison and forces Jumba to create a new experiment -- Leroy, the evil twin of Stitch. To make matters worse, Hamsterviel soon clones the nasty little creature to form his own mischievous army. Now it's up to Lilo to gather Stitch and the rest of the gang from the far corners of outer space to battle the legion of Leroys. When the going gets rough, our friends discover that one place they all truly belong is together. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Like Mike | | | | As its title suggests, Like Mike is a rousing wish-fulfillment fantasy for any kid who's ever dreamed of soaring for a game-winning slam dunk like basketball legend Michael Jordan. It's fun but formulaic, beginning when 14-year-old, 4-foot-8 orphan Calvin Cambridge (played by appealing teen rapper Lil' Bow Wow) dons a magical pair of hand-me-down Nikes with the enticing initials "M.J." written inside. Next thing you know, Calvin's the new star of the L.A. Knights, an instant NBA celebrity taking his team to the playoffs alongside favorite teammate Tracy Reynolds (The Best Man's Morris Chestnut), with a bevy of villains (including reliable weirdo Crispin Glover) trying to steal his thunder. With Jerry Maguire's Jonathan Lipnicki as a fellow orphan, and a solid supporting cast including Eugene Levy, Robert Forster, and two dozen NBA stars, Like Mike is schmaltzy and predictable (and, surprisingly, there's no cameo from Jordan himself), but its sweet, good-natured quality will captivate kids from start to finish. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | John Schultz | | Cast: | Lil Bow Wow |
|
|
| | | | Like Mike 2 Streetball | | | | Jerome Jenkins Jr. (Jascha Washington, Big Momma's House) is a normal 12-year-old. That shouldn't be a problem, except he wants to be king of the neighborhood court, so he'll do whatever it takes to get bigger and better--wear ankle weights, hang upside down, etc. His parents are divorced and he lives with his mom, Lydia (Enuka Okuma, Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye), and cousin, Ray (Kel Mitchell, Kenan & Kel). Back in the day, dad J.J. (Michael Beach, Third Watch) was the local hoops legend, but he choked in a crucial game and failed to make pro. Now he's known as "The Choker." Jerome wants to make everyone forget by becoming the best. As in the first film, a cross between Cinderella and a Nike commercial, a pair of Michael Jordan's old kicks materializes just when he needs them most. An electrical storm brings them to life and Jerome becomes "like Mike" with the roundball. Like most direct-to-DVD sequels, Streetball is essentially a lower-budget remake. The good news is that Washington, taking over from rapper Bow Wow, is a likable lead and the new story is actually less preposterous than the original, in which the NBA signs a 14-year-old. Young b-ball fans are sure to be entertained by the tale of a regular kid who gets a taste of stardom, while the older set should seek out Hoop Dreams or Love and Basketball for a more mature look at the sport. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | David Nelson | | Cast: | Jascha Washington, Kel Mitchell, Brett Kelly, Micha Stephen Williams, Michael Beach |
|
| | | | Lilo & Stitch | | | | Warm, funny, and imaginative, Lilo & Stitch is the best animated feature the Walt Disney Studios have produced in years. On the planet Turo, mad scientist Jumba Jookiba (voice by David Ogden Stiers) has created a miniature monster programmed for destruction. When the monster escapes to Earth, it's adopted as a pet and named "Stitch" by Lilo (Daveigh Chase), a lonely little Hawaiian girl. Lilo and her older sister Nani (Tia Carrere) have been struggling to stay together since their parents died. Stitch and Lilo share some hilarious adventures, evading welfare officer Cobra Bubbles (Ving Rhames) and galactic police agents. They learn the timely lesson that a family can be something you're born into--or something you assemble. A warmth and sincerity that recall The Iron Giant and the films of Hiyao Miyazaki make Lilo a delightful fantasy adults and children can truly enjoy together. --Charles Solomon |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Lilo and Stitch 2 Stich has a Glitch | | | | Familial love proves all-powerful when Stitch gets a glitch that encourages bad behavior and threatens his relationship with Lilo in Lilo and Stitch 2. Like the first Lilo and Stitch (B00005JL96), this straight-to-DVD sequel focuses primarily on Stitch, Lilo, and Lilo's sister Nani. Stitch's nightmares about misbehaving prove prophetic when he begins experiencing moments of uncontrollable badness. Unfortunately, Stitch's unruly actions always seem to interfere with Lilo's important preparations for the May Day hula competition--a competition that Lilo desperately wants to win in her mother's memory. Jumba goes to work creating a fusion chamber that will re-charge Stitch's molecules and purge his badness, but he can't seem to build one that works. In the end, it's Lilo's faith in herself and the power of Ohana that offer the only chance to cure Stitch and fill his goodness level to the top. (Ages 3-12) --Tami Horiuchi |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Lion King 1 1/2 | | | | The Lion King 1½ is an ingenious sequel that retells the original film's story from the perspective of best pals Timon the meerkat (voiced by Nathan Lane) and Pumbaa the warthog (Ernie Sabella). Anyone who has wondered how this odd couple met will find out here, beginning with Timon's flight from home following disgrace and his chance encounter with the sweet but lonely Pumbaa. With the arrival of young Simba (Shaun Flemming), The Lion King's familiar tale is reborn via a fresh angle, fleshed out by returning characters Rafiki the wise monkey (Robert Guillaume), Shenzi (Whoopi Goldberg), and Simba's love interest, Nala (Moira Kelly). While the retooled narrative proves a novel experience, The Lion King 1½ is really a vehicle for voice actors Lane and Sabella, whose comic performances are shamelessly, broadly funny. Matthew Broderick, Julie Kavner, and Jerry Stiller are also in the vocal cast. --Tom Keogh
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Bradley Raymond | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Little Manhattan | | | | Little Manhattan is a feel-good comedy that's perfect for kids and adults alike. In a city known for excitement, two young friends are about to embark on the greatest adventure of all.
Gabe (Josh Hutcherson) and Rosemary (newcomer Charlie Ray) have known each other nearly all of their lives, but when they come face-to-face in a karate class, they see each other in a whole new light. Filled with all the magical, marvelous and maddening moments of first love, this charming film is fun for the whole family! |
| Genre: | Romance | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Mark Levin | | Cast: | Josh Hutcherson, Charlie Ray, Bradley Whitford, Cynthia Nixon, Willie Garson, Tonye Patano |
|
| | | | Little Mermaid | | | | From the moment that Prince Eric's ship emerged from the fog in the opening credits it was apparent that Disney had somehow, suddenly recaptured that "magic" that had been dormant for thirty years. In the tale of a headstrong young mermaid who yearns to "spend a day, warm on the sand," Ariel trades her voice to Ursula, the Sea Witch (classically voiced by Pat Carroll), for a pair of legs. Ariel can only succeed if she receives true love's kiss in a few day's time and she needs all the help she can from a singing crab named Sebastian, a loudmouth seagull, and a flounder. The lyrics and music by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken are top form: witty and relevant, and they advance the story (go on, hum a few bars of "Under the Sea"). Mermaid put animation back on the studio's "to do" list and was responsible for ushering Beauty and the Beast to theaters. A modern Disney classic. --Keith Simanton |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | John Musker, Ron Clements | | Cast: | Pat Carroll, Samuel E. Wright |
|
|
| | | | Lizzie McGuire Movie | | | | The Lizzie McGuire Movie spins around the axis of Disney Channel starlet Hilary Duff, whose glossy good looks and rather mature figure are balanced by a sweetly bashful persona and an endearing klutziness. On a school trip to Rome, Lizzie is discovered to be the virtual twin of an Italian pop star named Isabella--and her dreamy former partner wants Lizzie to take Isabella's place at an award show to avoid a lawsuit. Only Lizzie's loyal best friend Gordo (Adam Lamberg) suspects that Paolo may not be all that he seems. The Lizzie McGuire Movie is competent fluff, but the most fun to be had actually comes from Lizzie's pesky little brother (Jake Thomas) and his Machiavellian friend Melina (Carly Schroeder), who plot to humiliate Lizzie for fun and personal gain. Also featuring Alex Borstein (Mad TV) as Lizzie's tyrannical principal and chaperone. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | Hilary Duff |
|
| | | | Love Bug | | | | This savvy Disney hit from 1969 made a star of a Volkswagen precisely when the car was becoming more popular than ever. Dean Jones and Michele Lee head the cast in a story about a VW bug with a mind of its own. Disney point man Robert Stevenson, director of The Absent-Minded Professor, Mary Poppins, and lots of other Disney live-action hits, makes the slapstick work perfectly and keeps the laughs coming. Buddy Hackett is very funny in a supporting role. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Robert Stevenson | | Cast: | Dean Jones, Michele Lee, David Tomlinson, Buddy Hackett, Joe Flynn, Benson Fong |
|
|
| | | | Madagascar | | | | The penguins steal the show. In the sprightly Madagascar, a mid-life crisis inspires Marty the Zebra (voiced by Chris Rock) to escape from his lifelong home, a New York zoo. His equally pampered friends--Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller), Gloria the Hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the Giraffe (David Schwimmer)--then escape to bring him back. Unfortunately, their attempt at damage control persuades zoo officials that the animals are unhappy, so all four get shipped to an animal preserve in Kenya...only a squad of maniacal penguins change the destination to Antarctica. The quartet end up on an island where, in addition to meeting some hedonistic lemurs, they learn about the food chain--and that Alex is a different link on the chain from the other three. Madagascar doesn't achieve the snappy perfection of a Pixar movie, but it tops most other computer-animated efforts; the collision of friendship and predator instincts makes for an unusually gripping conflict. The vocal performances of the central characters is serviceable, but Sacha Baron Cohen (Da Ali G Show) provides topnotch lunacy as the lemur king, and the penguins--voiced mostly by the animators themselves--are the best thing in the movie. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Eric Darnell Tom McGrath | | Cast: | Ben Stiller , Chris Rock , Jada Pinkett Smith , David Schwimmer , Andy Richter , Cedric The Entertainer |
|
| | | | Magic in the Water | | | | A family takes a summer vacation by a lake renowned for its mythical prehistoric creature. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Rick Stevenson | | Cast: | Mark Harmon, Harley Jane Kozak, Joshua Jackson |
|
|
| | | | March of the Penguins | | | | March of the Penguins instantly qualifies as a wildlife classic, taking its place among other extraordinary films like Microcosmos and Winged Migration. French filmmaker Luc Jacquet and his devoted crew endured a full year of extreme conditions in Antarctica to capture the life cycle of Emperor penguins on film, and their diligence is evident in every striking frame of this 80-minute documentary. Narrated in soothing tones by Morgan Freeman, the film focuses on a colony of hundreds of Emperors as they return, in a single-file march of 70 miles or more, to their frozen breeding ground, far inland from the oceans where they thrive. At times dramatic, suspenseful, mischievous and just plain funny, the film conveys the intensity of the penguins' breeding cycle, and their treacherous task of protecting eggs and hatchlings in temperatures as low as 128 degrees below zero. There is some brief mating-ritual violence and sad moments of loss, but March of the Penguins remains family-friendly throughout, and kids especially will enjoy the Antarctic blue-ice vistas and the playful, waddling appeal of the penguins, who can be slapstick clumsy or magnificently graceful, depending on the circumstances. A marvel of wildlife cinematography, this unique film offers a front-row seat to these amazing creatures, balancing just enough scientific information with the entertaining visuals. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | Penguins, Morgan Freeman |
|
| | | | Mary Poppins 40th Aniversary | | | | There is only one word that comes close to accurately describing the enchanting Mary Poppins, and that term was coined by the movie itself: supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! Even at 2 hours and 20 minutes, Disney's pioneering mixture of live action and animation (based on the books by P.L. Travers) still holds kids spellbound. Julie Andrews won an Oscar as the world's most magically idealized nanny ("practically perfect in every way," and complete with lighter-than-air umbrella), and Dick Van Dyke is her clownishly charming beau, Bert the chimney sweep. The songs are also terrific, ranging from bright and cheery ("A Spoonful of Sugar") to dark and cheery (the Oscar-winning "Chim Chim Cher-ee") to touchingly melancholy ("Feed the Birds"). Many consider Mary Poppins to be the crowning achievement of Walt Disney's career--and it was the only one of his features to be nominated for a best picture Academy Award until Beauty and the Beast in 1991. --Jim Emerson --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.
DVD features
By the end of 2004, fans had become weary of re-releases of previously available DVDs. Often these new DVDs were stuffed with fluff. This 40th anniversary edition of Mary Poppins, the third DVD release in six years, is a welcome exception, with a second disc stuffed with excellent extras and a vivid new print and sound presentation of the film. The commentary track is an excellent combination of new tracks (including Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews having a jolly time) along with archival materials. There's a 50-minute documentary older kids will enjoy as much as their parents, and the created-for-kids "Movie Magic" is a treat. The red carpet footage of the world premiere has been seen in previous releases, but here it's been restored with eye-popping color. A standard type of featurette--deconstructing a special-effects sequence--is reborn here with a simplistic approach: we switch back and forth from the final print of two musical numbers with rehearsal footage, animation, etc. The final results are far more watchable--and entertaining--than their usual DVD counterparts. Superlatives go around with this disc that includes a total reconstruction of the sound that picks up "lost" complexities not heard but never overpower this gem. There's even more archival material (including some remarkable meetings with author P.L. Travers) on the new CD soundtrack that also boasts the never-before-available complete score. --Doug Thomas
|
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Robert Stevenson | | Cast: | Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns |
|
|
| | | | Mask Animated | | | | These may be some unknown cartoons but they are histerical. This video in paticualr was pretty looney meaning some of the things in here are a little over the top. This cartoon also reminds me of the orignal movie. I would recommend to anyone who likes the real movie The Mask to watch these cartoons because they are just as funny.
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Max Keeble's Big Movie | | | | Max Keeble's junior high career is off to an inauspicious start: one bully chucks him in a dumpster, another tormenter takes his friends' money, the ice cream truck guy is after him, and the self-serving principal is after everyone who stands in the way of his budget-draining football field plans. But his family's sudden plans to relocate give him the moxie to stand up to his foes in a big way. This kid revenge fantasy results in gags like a squirrel in the principal's pants and a cafeteria-wide food fight. Of course, Max (Alex D. Linz) doesn't move, forcing him to take responsibility for his actions, or this wouldn't be a Disney film. The broad humor is clearly meant for preteens, but crude jokes, bullying, and sexual innuendo (thus the PG rating) make it inappropriate for younger kids, leaving it for the narrow age range of about 8 to 12. --Kimberly Heinrichs |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Mickey Saves Santa | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | mickeys magical christmas | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Mickey's Treat | | | | Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey’s Great Clubhouse Hunt is an all-new DVD premiere based on the popular series on the Disney Channel. Mickey takes you on the ultimate adventure to find his friends and to put back together the clubhouse, which has mysteriously broken into parts and disappeared with his friends inside! Featuring favorite characters Minnie Mouse, Donald, Goofy and Daisy Duck. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | Mickey |
|
| | | | Miracle Dogs | | | | Cute puppies bring health and happiness to the denizens of an Ohio hospital in Miracle Dogs. When young Charlie Logan (Josh Hutcherson) and his parents (Kate Jackson and Ted Shackelford) accidentally run into a stray Springer Spaniel, the injury is minor but the dog turns out to have cancer in one of her forelegs, which has to be amputated. To save the dog from euthanasia, Charlie smuggles her into the Cleveland Clinic, where his parents work, and keeps her in the basement with the assistance of the cantankerous custodian (Stacey Keach). But in no time the dog, now dubbed Annie by Charlie, starts wandering through the hospital, miraculously healing the patients. Hospital rules and miraculous healing collide in this adaptation of the popular children's book Annie Loses Her Leg But Finds Her Way, which is sure to warm the heart of any dog-lover. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | Craig Cyde | | Cast: | Kate Jackson, Stacy Keach, Rue McClanahan, Josh Hutcherson |
|
|
| | | | Monsters, Inc. | | | | The folks at Pixar can do no wrong with Monsters, Inc., the studio's fourth feature film, which stretches the computer animation format in terms of both technical complexity and emotional impact. The giant, blue-furred James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (wonderfully voiced by John Goodman) is a scare-monster extraordinaire in the hidden world of Monstropolis, where the scaring of kids is an imperative in order to keep the entire city running. Beyond the competition to be the best at the business, Sullivan and his assistant, the one-eyed Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), discover what happens when the real world interacts with theirs in the form of a 2-year-old baby girl dubbed "Boo," who accidentally sneaks into the monster world with Sulley one night. Director Pete Doctor and codirectors David Silverman and Lee Unkrich follow the Pixar (Toy Story) blueprint with an imaginative scenario, fun characters, and ace comic timing. By the last heart-tugging shot, kids may never look at monsters the same, nor artists at what computer animation can do in the hands of magicians. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Mouse Hunt | | | | What might have been a one-note family comedy becomes something more thanks to the comic brilliance of costars Nathan Lane and Lee Evans, as well as the distinctive, dark-fable look given the film by a little-known director named Gore Verbinksi. (Could he be the next Tim Burton?) Lane and Evans play idiotic brothers who inherit a house and all but destroy it in pursuit of one small, pesky mouse. The guys are always the butt of the sight gags--most of which are very funny--but their considerable powers as slapstick artists are also at play. The climactic scene at an auction was the funniest scene in any American movie in 1997, the year of Mouse Hunt's release. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Gore Verbinski | | Cast: | Nathan Lane, Lee Evans |
|
|
| | | | Mulan | | | | Solid entertainment from a new group of Disney animators. The story source is a Chinese fable about a young girl who disguises herself as a man to help her family and her country. When the Huns attack China, a call to arms goes out to every village, and Mulan's father, being the only man in the family, accepts the call. Mulan (voiced by Ming-Na Wen, sung by Lea Salonga) has just made a disastrous appearance at the Matchmaker and decides to challenge society's expectations (being a bride). She steals her father's conscription notice, cuts her hair, and impersonates a man to join the army. She goes to boot camp, learning to fit in with the other soldiers with some help from her sidekick, Mushu, a wise-cracking dragon (voiced by Eddie Murphy). She trains, and soon faces the Huns eye-to-eye to protect her Emperor.
The film is gorgeous to look at, with a superior blend of classic and computer-generated animation. Directors Tony Bancroft and Barry Cook make the best of it: a battle in the snowy mountains is as thrilling as the best Hollywood action films. The menacing Huns are not cute but simple and bad. The wickedness is subtle, not disturbing. The film is not a full-fledged musical, as it has only five songs (the best, "Be a Man," is sung during boot camp). Eddie Murphy is an inspired choice for the comic-relief dragon, but his lines are not as clever as Robin Williams's in Aladdin. These are minor quibbles, though. The story is strong, and Mulan goes right to the top of Disney animated heroines; she has the right stuff. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Barry Cook | | Cast: | Eddie Murphy, Ming-Na Wen |
|
| | | | Muppet Movie | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Muppets Wizard of Oz | | | | Join Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, and all the Muppets as they turn everyone's favorite classic tale into a musical madcap adventure that shines brighter than Emerald City! The fun starts when the Muppets team up with an all-star cast that includes Grammy Award winner Ashanti, Oscar(R) nominee Queen Latifah (2002, Best Supporting Actress, CHICAGO), David Alan Grier, Academy Award(R) winner Quentin Tarantino (1994, Best Original Screenplay, PULP FICTION), and Jeffrey Tambor. Ashanti sparkles as Dorothy, an aspiring singer whose dreams of fame and fortune seem worlds away from coming true in the Kansas trailer park where she lives with her Aunt Em and Uncle Henry. But when a tornado transports her and Toto (Pepe the King Prawn) to the magical land of Oz, Dorothy meets the Wizard, who promises to make her a superstar -- if she and her wacky new friends, the Scarecrow (Kermit), the Tin Thing (Gonzo), and the Cowardly Lion(Fozzie), can defeat Oz's #1 diabolical diva, the Wicked Witch of the West (Miss Piggy)! Featuring original music, hilarious performances, and 20 minutes of never-before-seen footage, THE MUPPETS' WIZARD OF OZ will lift your spirits and blow you away!
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Kirk R. Thatcher | | Cast: | Queen Latifah, David Alan Grier, Quentin Tarantino, Jeffrey Tambor |
|
| | | | My Little Pony Princess Promenade | | | | As the Ponyville spring parade draws near, Wysteria's elaborate plans for the floral festivities are threatened by the awakening of a 1,000-year-old dragon and the coming crowning of a new princess. With her gardens in bloom and her friends all preparing for the upcoming spring parade, Wysteria is devastated when she inadvertently awakens Spike the dragon from his millennium-long slumber. Legend has it that when a dragon is awakened, a new princess is to be crowned -- but who could it be? As the inhabitants of Ponyville eagerly await the announcement of the new crowned head, they are about to learn important lessons in both what it takes to be a princess, and what it means to be a true friend. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | My Neighbor Totoro | | | | My Neighbor Totoro is that rare delight, a family film that appeals to children and adults alike. While their mother is in the hospital, 10-year-old Satsuki and 4-year-old Mei move into an old-fashioned house in the country with their professor father. At the foot of an enormous camphor tree, Mei discovers the nest of King Totoro, a giant forest spirit who resembles an enormous bunny rabbit. Mei and Satsuki learn that Totoro makes the trees grow, and when he flies over the countryside or roars in his thunderous voice, the winds blow. Totoro becomes the protector of the two sisters, watching over them when they wait for their father, and carrying them over the forests on an enchanted journey. When the children worry about their mother, Totoro sends them to visit her via a Catbus, a magical, multilegged creature with a grin the Cheshire Cat might envy.
Unlike many cartoon children, Satsuki and Mei are neither smart-alecky nor cloyingly saccharine. They are credible kids: bright, energetic, silly, helpful, and occasionally impatient. Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki makes the viewer believe the two sisters love each other in a way no American feature has ever achieved. My Neighbor Totoro is enormously popular in Japan, and some of the character merchandise has begun to appear in America. The film has also inspired a Japanese environmental group to buy a Totoro Forest preserve in the Saitama Prefecture, where Miyazaki's film is set. --Charles Solomon |
| Genre: | Anime | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Hayao Miyazaki | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Nanny McPhee | | | | With hairy warts, a stern-looking unibrow and one extremely protruding buck-tooth, Nanny McPhee is a wonderfully comedic substitute for Mary Poppins in this entertaining family fantasy. By loosely adapting Christianna Brand's Nurse Matilda children's books of the 1960s, Oscar®-winning screenwriter Emma Thompson (Sense and Sensibility) has also given herself the plum role of Nanny McPhee, who can tame even the most unruly children with a tap of her magic walking stick. Her latest challenge is the bratty brood of a recent widower Mr. Brown (Colin Firth), who's under pressure to find a new wife or lose his much-needed allowance from wealthy Aunt Adelaide (a tailor-made role for Angela Lansbury). His love for scullery maid Evangeline (Kelly Macdonald) remains unspoken as he wincingly woos the eagerly merry widow Mrs. Quickly (Celia Imrie), but Brown's raucous rugrats have a plan to make things right, especially after they've come under the benevolent influence of Nanny McPhee, whose peculiar brand of discipline works wonders for everyone involved. Both quintessentially British and universally appealing, this wildly colorful comedy (thanks to a bold palette of costume and production design) was capably directed by Kirk Jones, whose appreciation for comic actors was equally apparent in his critically acclaimed 1998 comedy Waking Ned Devine. With just a hint of darkness to offset the whimsy, Nanny McPhee offers a splendid match of director, cast and material, guaranteed to please Wallace & Gromit fans and anyone else with a taste for British zaniness. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Kirk Jones | | Cast: | Emma Thompson, Colin Firth, Angela Lansbury, Kelly Macdonald, Thomas Sangster |
|
|
| | | | NausicaA of the Valley of the Wind | | | | Hayao Miyazaki gained widespread attention in Japan for his complex ecological manga series, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1982), which he adapted for the screen two years later. One thousand years after a war devastated much of the Earth, humanity clings to existence at the fringes of a vast, polluted forest inhabited by monstrous insects. Only Nausicaä, the princess of the tiny realm of the Valley of the Wind, grasps the environmental significance of the forest. She sees beyond petty wars and national rivalries to the only viable future for the planet. In Nausicaä, Miyazaki began to explore elements he would develop more fully in his later films: daring, compassionate heroines; exciting flying sequences; colorful side characters; strong interpersonal relationships; and a call for an ecologically sustainable way of life. Nausicaä prefigures Sheeta in Castle in the Sky and Chihiro in Spirited Away, just as the rough and ready Asbel anticipates Pazu in Castle in the Sky and Ashitaka in Princess Mononoke. For years, Nausicaä was available in the United States only as the badly re-edited Warriors of the Wind. The new English dub from Disney presents the film in its entirety, with strong vocal performances by Uma Thurman, Patrick Stewart, Alison Lohman, and Edward James Olmos. (Rated PG: violence, frightening imagery) --Charles Solomon
DVD features
The extras include a choppy Japanese documentary on the creation of Studio Ghibli, with actors impersonating directors Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata, and producer Toshio Suzuki at various points in the studio's history, and a standard collection of mini-interviews with the voice actors. The most interesting feature is the set of Miyazaki's storyboards, coordinated to the soundtrack. --Charles Solomon
|
| Genre: | Anime | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Hayao Miyazaki | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Never Ending Story | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Nutty Professor II The Klumps | | | | Eddie Murphy's remake of The Nutty Professor used the good professor's alter ego, Buddy Love, in much the same way that Jerry Lewis did in his brilliant original: a representation of the id out of control that plays like an admission of the actor's off-screen sins. In the sequel, Murphy expands on his Klump family from the first film and makes them major characters. Consequently, his dark side has plenty more places to express itself, particularly through the oversexed grandmother, Sherman's aggressively impotent father, and his just plain surly uncle, as well as Buddy Love (all played by Murphy).
The movie opens with professor Sherman Klump barely holding onto his sanity as his internal Buddy Love makes him say inappropriate things. He decides to extract his mutant Buddy Love gene (a sort of genetic version of electroshock therapy), but afterward is unable to maintain his original personality and intelligence. Sherman is the most bland character of the bunch, and the audience gets stuck with his boring romance with fellow professor Janet Jackson, his struggle to be nice, and generic intrigue surrounding a Fountain of Youth formula he developed. When it's not trying too hard to be nice--heck, one character is anally raped by a giant hamster--the movie works. The moral of the story is that Sherman needs to reconnect with their inner Buddy Love. That goes for Murphy, too. --Andy Spletzer
|
| Genre: | SNL | | Rating: | PG-13 | | Director: | Peter Segal | | Cast: | Eddie Murphy, Janet Jackson |
|
| | | | Open Season | | | | In Open Season, the odd are about to get even. Boog (Martin Lawrence), a domesticated grizzly bear with no survival skills, has his perfect world turned upside down when he meets Elliot (Ashton Kutcher) a scrawny, fast-talking mule deer. When Elliot convinces Boog to leave his cushy home in a park ranger's garage to try a taste of the great outdoors, things quickly spiral out of control. Relocated to the forest with open season only three days away, Boog and Elliot must acclimate in a hurry. They must join forces to unite the woodland creatures and take the forest back. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Jill Culton Anthony Stacchi | | Cast: | Ashton Kutcher , Martin Lawrence , Gary Sinise , Debra Messing , Paul Westerberg |
|
|
| | | | Osmosis Jones | | | | After the stiff attempts at realism in many recent features, it's a treat to see broad cartoon-style animation on the big screen in Osmosis Jones, a spoof of cop movies set inside the human body. The title character (voice by Chris Rock) is a street-smart white blood cell, working for Frank's immune system. He and Drix (David Hyde Pierce), an over-the-counter cold capsule, are reluctant partners fighting what appears to be a minor infection. Osmosis discovers Frank has really contracted a fatal virus, Thrax (Laurence Fishburne): he battles a corrupt body politic led by a venal mayor (William Shatner) to save Frank's life and win the affection of the mayor's aide, Leah (Brandy Norwood). Rock's motor-mouth delivery can get annoying, but it contrasts nicely with straight arrow Drix (imagine a fussy Buzz Lightyear). Excellent drawing and a powerful vocal performance make Thrax a genuinely frightening villain.
Osmosis Jones is about two-thirds animation and one-third live action, which is why two-thirds of the film is entertaining and funny, and one-third is not. The life Osmosis and Drix save belongs to Frank, a slob played in live-action sequences by Bill Murray, who's undercut rather than supported by Chris Elliott and Molly Shannon. Shamelessly over-the-top performances make the human characters seem flatter than the two-dimensional cartoons. The live action was shot by the Farrelly brothers and features lots of gross-out gags about zits, flatulence, vomit, snot, etc. The audience endures these leaden segments, waiting to get back to the animation--and the real comedy. Suitable for ages 9 and up: profanity, violence, bodily function jokes. --Charles Solomon --
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Over the Hedge | | | | Spring has sprung, and Verne and his woodland friends awaken from their long winter’s nap to discover that a large, green hedge has cropped up right through the middle of their once-natural habitat. Enter RJ, an opportunistic raccoon who explains that the world beyond the hedge is the “gateway to the good life” where peculiar creatures called humans live to eat, rather than eat to live.
Suspicious and even a little jealous of RJ, the ever-cautious Verne wants to keep his blended family safely on their side of the hedge. But, proving the adage that one man’s garbage is another man’s—or rather animal’s—treasure, the manipulative RJ has his own reasons for convincing the woodland band that there is little to fear and everything to gain from their over-indulgent new neighbors.
Eventually, RJ and Verne form an unlikely friendship as they and their fellow creatures learn to co-exist with—and even exploit—this strange new world called suburbia. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Tim Johnson Karey Kirkpatrick | | Cast: | Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, Eugene Levy, Wanda Sykes , Allison Janney |
|
|
| | | | Peanuts Holiday Collection | | | | Two of the all-time cartoon classics It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966) and A Charlie Brown Christmas (a Peabody and Emmy winner from 1965) highlight this three-disc, six-episode set. Although the DVDs contain no extras (good grief!) and could have been combined on a single disc (drat!), the collection looks and sounds wonderful on DVD. The content is the same on the VHS and DVD sets, with two episodes per tape or disc. Accompanying Pumpkin is You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, a cute spin on politics that has aged very well since its 1972 release. Christmas sports a lackluster sequel of sorts, It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown (1992) that has Sally dwelling on getting (instead of giving), Charlie Brown facing a spending dilemma, and everyone suffering stage fright before the annual school play. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973) also won an Emmy but is not as well known as others; it also suffers from not having the original cast. Snoopy is foremost in helping to put on an impromptu feast (toast and popcorn) as the gang keeps forgetting the true meaning of the holiday. Also on the disc is a better Thanksgiving venue, The Mayflower Voyages (1988), part of the This is America, Charlie Brown series that breathed new life into the franchise. Mostly narrated by Linus, the show traces the Pilgrims' plight and doesn't talk down to youngsters on the hardships they faced. It's a treasure of a gift (for others or yourself), all nicely packaged. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | Charlie Brown and the Gang |
|
| | | | Peter Pan - Return to Neverland | | | | Unlike Disney's other sequels to their classic films, this follow-up to the 1953 version of Peter Pan debuted in theaters. World War II has turned Wendy's preteen daughter, Jane, into a realist, a girl who insists there's no need for stories and fun while London is crumbling. Hook kidnaps Jane (thinking she's Wendy) and returns to "the second star to the right" to foil Pan. Alas, the film doesn't build on this new story line (the London scenes have the most emotional impact), and what follows is a thin reworking of the original. On the plus side, a clever octopus takes over from that old crocodile, and Jane turns out to be a solid--and modern--role model. Those from ages 4 to 9 who have been brought up on the original should enjoy these adventures, even if the story, like Peter himself, "hasn't grown up." The 72-minute film is shown with the delightful 1948 short "Pluto's Fledgling." --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Donovan Cook, Robin Budd (II) | | Cast: | Harriet Owen, Blayne Weaver |
|
|
| | | | Peter Pan (Live) | | | | Fine casting, genuinely special effects, and a keen combination of whimsy and danger make this Peter Pan the one to beat among all previous adaptations of J.M. Barrie's classic children's fantasy. The technical advances of CGI make the magic of Barrie's tale come alive, and the spectacular effects combined with luminous live action create an action-packed Neverland that's both believable and breathtakingly artificial, like a Maxfield Parrish landscape springing vividly to life before your eyes. More important, however, is the fact that director P.J. Hogan (whose splendid films include Muriel's Wedding and My Best Friend's Wedding) has taken care to develop a substantial, pre-adolescent affection between the boyish sprite Peter (Jeremy Sumpter) and resourceful London girl Wendy, played by Rachel Hurd-Wood in a marvelous screen debut. This emotional bond--and the mixed blessing of Peter's eternal childhood--is what gives Hogan's Peter Pan its rich emotional subtext, added to an already bountiful adventure that's equal parts delightful and menacing, especially when the villainous pirate Captain Hook (Jason Isaacs, doubling as Wendy's father) threatens to spoil the fun. With a mischievously dazzling Tinker Bell (played by Swimming Pool's Ludivine Sagnier) and no expense spared on its lavish Australian production, this Peter Pan gets it entirely right by presenting childhood as fun and frightening, in all its wondrous joys and sorrows. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | P.J. Hogan | | Cast: | Jason Isaacs, Jeremy Sumpter |
|
| | | | Peter Pan SE | | | | Peter Pan has a special place in the realm of classic animated Disney films: it instills an element of childlike wonder. The 1953 version of James M. Barrie's story is colorfully told and keeps on the straight and narrow of the book. Barrie's wondrous focus on child's play is the key to its longevity: kids who don't grow up, shadows that run away from their owners, pirates, a fairy, and the magic ability to fly. In short, you can't help wishing the adventure would happen to you. Fueled by a few memorable songs (the stunner being "You Can Fly") and the strong impression of the pixie fairy Tinkerbell and the goofy Captain Hook, Disney's version of this story neither supplants nor lessens the Broadway version with Mary Martin that was produced for television the same decade. Unlike some classics, Peter Pan never ages along the way. --Doug Thomas --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition.
Additional Features
How "special" is the Special Edition? Very, especially if you consider the initial edition of the Disney animated film contained only one extra: a French soundtrack. This new edition packs some background on the story, plus two games for the kids. Roy Disney hosts the excellent commentary track, which combines archival recordings of Walt Disney along with new commentaries from some of the "Nine Old Men" of Disney animation, as well as other experts and talents. The "restored picture" doesn't add much from the original fine quality of the first DVD, but the soundtrack has been remastered for Dolby 5.1, giving the movie an overall kick. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Hamilton Luske, Clyde Geronimi | | Cast: | Kathryn Beaumont, Hans Conried |
|
|
| | | | Piglet's Big Movie | | | | Disney once again plunders the delightful Winnie-the-Pooh books for an animated movie, this one centered around the wee and insecure Piglet. Feeling unappreciated by his friends, Piglet wanders off into the Hundred Acre Wood; in his absence, Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, and Rabbit reminisce about various adventures (including when Kanga and her baby Roo first arrived in their midst, and building a house for Eeyore) and begin to recognize Piglet's crucial contribution to their lives. Unfortunately for moviegoers, the gentle but sly whimsy of A.A. Milne's books has been turned into pure saccharine, which isn't helped by mediocre animation and appallingly bland songs (by Carly Simon, of all people). Even the most Pooh-worshipping kids are likely to find Piglet's Big Movie to be pretty small potatoes. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Francis Glebas | | Cast: | Peter Cullen, John Fiedler |
|
| | | | Pistol | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Polar Express | | | | Destined to become a holiday perennial, The Polar Express also heralded a brave new world of all-digital filmmaking. Critics and audiences were divided between those who hailed it as an instant classic that captures the visual splendor and evocative innocence of Chris Van Allsburg's popular children's book, and those who felt that the innovative use of "performance capture"--to accurately translate live performances into all-digital characters--was an eerie and not-quite-lifelike distraction from the story's epic-scale North Pole adventure. In any case it's a benign, kind-hearted celebration of the yuletide spirit, especially for kids who have almost grown out of their need to believe in Santa Claus. Tom Hanks is the nominal "star" who performs five different computer-generated characters, but it's the visuals that steal this show, as director Robert Zemeckis indulges his tireless pursuit of technological innovation. No matter how you respond to the many wonders on display, it's clear that The Polar Express represents a significant milestone in the digital revolution of cinema. If it also fills you with the joy of Christmas (in spite of its Nuremberg-like rally of frantic elves), so much the better. --Jeff Shannon
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Robert Zemeckis | | Cast: | Tom Hanks , Peter Scolari, Eddie Deezen , Michael Jeter, Nona Gaye , Charles Fleischer |
|
| | | | Pollyworld | | | | Join polly as she hits the world's most fabulicious amusement park full of monster good rides, the ultimate shopping experience and music to the max - including a not-to-be-missed performance by polly and the pockets! |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | Polly |
|
|
| | | | Poohs Heffalump Movie | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Porco Rosso | | | | Porco Rosso (The Crimson Pig, 1992) ranks as Hayao Miyazaki's oddest film: a bittersweet period adventure about a dashing pilot who has somehow been turned into a pig. Miyazaki once said, "Initially, it was supposed to be a 45-minute film for tired businessmen to watch on long airplane flights... Why kids love it is a mystery to me." The early 1930s setting enabled Miyazaki to focus on the old airplanes he loves, and the film boasts complex and extremely effective aerial stunts and dogfights. In the new English dub from Disney, Michael Keaton as Porco delivers lines like "All middle-aged men are pigs" with appropriate cynicism, but his voice may be too familiar for some Miyazaki fans. Susan Egan makes a curiously distant Gina, the thrice-widowed hotel owner bound to Porco by years of friendship; Kimberly Williams is more effective as the irrepressible young engineer Fio. Porco Rosso may be an odd film, but Miyazaki's directorial imagination never flags. (Rated PG: violence, alcohol and tobacco use) --Charles Solomon
|
| Genre: | Anime | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Hayao Miyazaki | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Prince and Me 2 | | | | Paige and Edvard's relationship and the Danish monarchy is in trouble when an old law is brought into light.
To make matters worse, Edvard's fat playmate from his younger years shows up and is now beautiful and ready to marry Edvard herself.
The girls try to outwit each other in this fun romantic comedy that is appropriate for the entire family. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | Catherine Cyran | | Cast: | Luke Mably, Kam Heskin, Clemency Burton-Hill, Maryam d'Abo, Jonathan Firth, Jim Holt |
|
| | | | Princess Diaries 2 Royal Engagement | | | | Okay, sure, if you're a ten-year-old girl, this sequel to Disney's 2001 hit will completely transfix you. How could it not? Bubbly Mia (Anne Hathaway), the American teenager who in the first film learned she was actually European royalty, finishes college and--whoosh!--heads off to Genovia, where she’s given a closet full of fabulous clothes and jewelry in preparation to rule the kingdom under the tutelage of grandmother Julie Andrews. Throw in a horse and a volatile but innocent romantic attraction to the dreamy young stud (Chris Pine) who's also vying for the throne, and you have the kind of stuff that prepubescent girls rhapsodize about at slumber parties. Oh--and there's a slumber party here, too, featuring a bevy of cute, international young princesses mattress-surfing down a giant slide. Resistance is futile. For the rest of us, though, director Garry Marshall has managed to make his Laverne & Shirley days seem positively Shakespearean in comparison. The movie is precious, padded (two hours!), and pandering twaddle; Andrews, in her role as Queen Mother, is even shoehorned into a faux-hip-hop duet with Disney Channel favorite Raven (one of many, many grueling moments intended to sell the soundtrack). Then the film takes a maddening left turn three-quarters of the way into the plot and decides that, despite all the preceding consumption and connubial fantasies to the contrary, it's really about feminine emancipation. But don’t worry--what causes you to smack your forehead in frustration will go right over the heads of its hypnotized target market. --Steve Wiecking |
| Genre: | Romantic Comedy | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Garry Marshall | | Cast: | Julie Andrews, Anne Hathaway, Heather Matarazzo, John Rhys Davies, Hector Elizondo |
|
|
| | | | Pup Named Scooby-Doo | | | | 13 episodes. the complete first season of: A Pup Named Scooby-Doo. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Quest For Camelot | | | | Following their animated/live action hit Space Jam, Warner Bros. jumped into the fully animated feature competition by playing it safe, giving the Arthurian legend a conspicuously Disneyesque facelift. Ingredients from Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and Pocahontas are evident in the tale of a girl named Kayley (Jessalyn Gilsig) whose father, a Knight of the Round Table, is killed by Sir Ruber (Gary Oldman), a maniacal brute who steals Excalibur and threatens to seize King Arthur's Camelot. Kayley enlists the blind, reclusive knight-aspirant Garrett (Cary Elwes) to brave the Enchanted Forest and retrieve the magic sword, and their adventure is (of course) fraught with danger. Adding extra punch to the movie's commercial appeal, the soundtrack songs are performed by big names like LeeAnn Rimes and Celine Dion. And if that's not enough to hold a kid's attention, there's a two-headed dragon ("we're the reason cousins shouldn't marry") voiced by Eric Idle and Don Rickles. With so much talent involved, it's entertaining but uninspired, although cleverly harmless riffs from Dirty Harry, Taxi Driver, and other movies spice up the adventure with enjoyable pop-culture references. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Frederick Du Chan | | Cast: | Cary Elwes, Gary Oldman |
|
|
| | | | Racing Stripes | | | | When you start watching Racing Stripes, you may not be prepared for how unbelievably cute a young zebra is. A travelling circus accidently abandons an adorably helpless zebra in the middle of Kentucky on a stormy night. Fortunately, the wee zebra is found by Nolan Walsh (Bruce Greenwood, The Sweet Hereafter), a brilliant horse trainer who's given up his calling after a riding accident that killed his wife. His daughter Channing (Hayden Panettiere, Raising Helen) names the zebra Stripes and, before you know it, Stripes has grown to young adulthood and is aching to race at a nearby track. Thus begins a fairly formulaic triumph-over-adversity tale combined with talking animals--but Racing Stripes understands its formula and executes it without any pretensions. It doesn't hit the bullseye struck by Babe (an earlier triumph-over-adversity tale combined with talking animals), and there are bad puns and gags aplenty, but Greenwood's solid presence gives the movie an unexpected emotional fullness. Featuring a bizarre assortment of voices for the animals, including Whoopi Goldberg, Dustin Hoffman, Frankie Muniz, Mandy Moore, Joe Pantoliano (as a Mafioso pelican), Steve Harvey, David Spade, and Snoop Dogg. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Fredrick Du Chau | | Cast: | Frankie Muniz, Mandy Moore, Michael Clarke, Jeff Foxworthy, Joshua Jackson, Joe Patolliano |
|
| | | | Read it and Weep | | | | A journal is a safe place to record one's innermost thoughts, so imagine Jamie's (Kay Panabaker) horror when her private electronic journal is inadvertently entered in a writing contest and becomes a best-selling book in the Disney Channel Original Movie Read it and Weep. Initial worries about her schoolmates recognizing characters created in their images seem unfounded, but as success and instant fame begin to go to Jamie's head and stress becomes a part of her daily schedule, Jamie's alter-ego "Is" (Danielle Panabaker) becomes increasingly influential, encouraging her to act in disturbing ways that test the bonds of her closest friendships. A slip on a television talk show alerts her classmates to the parallels between themselves and the characters in Jamie's book and suddenly Jamie's newfound fame turns into a cold rebuke that leaves her feeling alone and despised. Can a heartfelt apology and a simple confession of what really transpired salvage Jamie's relationship with her friends and classmates and help her realize the importance of true friendship? Bonus features include a making-of featurette, interviews with sisters Kay and Danielle Panabaker, and the never-before-seen music video "Outside Looking In" by Jordan Pruitt. (Ages 7 to 13) --Tami Horiuchi |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | Kay Panabaker, Danielle Panabaker, Alexandra Krosney,, Marquise Brown |
|
|
| | | | recess christmas | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Road to El Dorado | | | | In its third foray into animated features, DreamWorks came up with something unfortunate: the routine animated picture. Plagued with production problems (it was originally conceived as a mold-breaking PG-13 adventure), the likable film is a Hope/Crosby-style road picture about two scalawags who stumble upon the Latin American paradise of El Dorado, the mythical city with riches of gold. Kenneth Branagh and Kevin Kline are quite fun as Miguel and Tuilo, two Spanish con artists who are shipwrecked in the New World with a scene-stealing horse. The pair follow a map to the secret city where their loyalty will be tested: do they return home rich men or continue to live in this paradise? Of course there are some obstacles: a high priest (Armand Assante) is locked in a power struggle with the benevolent chief (Edward James Olmos) and the perfunctory girlfriend (Rosie Perez) puts the two friends at odds. Like too many of the animated features of its time, The Road to El Dorado impresses only on a visual level (it's drenched in gorgeous greens and golds). The story and Elton John's songs are quite forgettable; only Branagh and Kline's playful banter keeps the film alive. The PG rating is for some bare backsides and a suggestion of off-screen sex that should soar right over the little ones' heads. Slick and light, it's a fine 83-minute entertainment for ages 5 and up, including the nondiscriminating adult. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Don Michael Paul, Will Finn | | Cast: | Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Kline |
|
|
| | | | Robots | | | | The delightful designs of William Joyce (writer/illustrator of such popular children's books as George Shrinks and Bently & Egg) make Robots a joy to behold. The round, bouncy, and ramshackle forms of hero Rodney Copperbottom and his computer-animated friends are part of an ornate and daffy Fender providing assistance.
Rube-Goldberg universe of elaborate contraptions and gleaming metallic surfaces. Rodney (voiced with a hint-of-Scottish lilt by Ewan McGregor) is a young inventor who sets off for Robot City to work for Big Weld (Mel Brooks), the supreme inventor of the mechanical world. But upon his arrival, Rodney discovers that Big Weld has disappeared, and the slick, shiny Ratchet (Greg Kinnear, As Good As It Gets) is phasing out the spare parts that lumpen robots need to function and replacing them with "upgrades"--expensive and glistening new exoskeletons. Unfortunately, from this suitable beginning, the story degenerates into a series of action sequences that make very little sense, though some are kinetic and fun (though others are only there to serve the inevitable Robots video game). Most kids will enjoy the sheer visual pleasure of the movie, but compared to the narrative richness of Pixar movies like The Incredibles and Toy Story, that pleasure is pretty short-lived. Also featuring the voices of Robin Williams, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Amanda Bynes, Jennifer Coolidge, and many, many more. --Bret Fetzer
DVD Features
Jennifer Coolidge returns as the voice of Aunt Fanny in a mildly amusing new short, "Aunt Fanny's Tour of Booty," which allows her to again be the butt of the joke. Fans of the characters will enjoy both a 17-minute discussion of the robots' creation as well as profiles of 11 of the bots, including early, almost unrecognizable conceptual sketches and brief interviews with the voice cast. The original short is fairly dull, and of the three deleted scenes, the most finished is an extended version of Rodney's initial meeting with Tim at the gate. One other is in sketch form only but does preserve another performance by Robin Williams. The kids' games are pretty good. There's a dancing robot that will perform eight routines on command or in random order. A memory game has a bit of replay value, and the build-a-bot segment takes some thought and investigation. The Xbox demo is a nifty little diversion that transforms one element (the transport-pod race) of the full-length, single-player Xbox game into a frenetic one- to four-player free-for-all.
In their commentary track, director Chris Wedge and producer-inspiration William Joyce have to remind each other to stop patting themselves on the back, but it is interesting to hear them talk about old games such as Mousetrap that played a part in developing the film. (Wedge's frequent references to a possible "director's cut" might not seem like a joke to DVD buyers who have gotten tired of DVD rereleases.) The commentary track by the Blue Sky technical team might be better, offering insights into the characters and the creation of the film without lapsing into too much techie-speak. --David Horiuchi |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | Robin Wiliams, Mel Brooks, Halle Barry, Paula Abdul, Terry Bradshaw, Jim Broadbent |
|
| | | | Rocky and Bullwinkle | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | rudolph | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | RV | | | | The long tradition of family vacation comedies continues in RV, with Robin Williams doing his best to keep things amusing. He succeeds, for the most part, by downplaying his manic persona and settling comfortably into his role as well-meaning husband and father Bob Munro. Determined to combine work and pleasure, Bob rents the titular motor home to drive his wife (Cheryl Hines), teenage daughter (Joanna "JoJo" Levesque) and pre-teen son (Josh Hutcherson) on a scenic vacation in the Colorado Rockies while secretly preparing his presentation for a high-stakes corporate merger. Their dysfunctional road trip leads to repeated encounters with the all-too-happy Gornicke family (led by Jeff Daniels and Kristin Chenoweth), who only appear to be stupid rednecks, when in fact they represent the familial togetherness that Bob is striving to regain. As directed by comedy veteran Barry Sonnenfeld (whose image as "Irv" the RV rental king is plastered across the side of the Munro's RV), these warm-and-fuzzy sentiments are strictly by-the-numbers, along with plenty of jokes about raw sewage, scavenging raccoons, and RV's run amuck. There aren't any real highlights, and the outcome is utterly predictable, but RV delivers enough comedy to qualify as an enjoyable diversion. Those who remember Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in Vincente Minnell's 1954 hit The Long, Long Trailer may find RV similarly entertaining. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG-13 | | Director: | Barry Sonnenfeld | | Cast: | Robin Williams, Josh Hutcherson, Cheryl Hines, JoJo, Jeff Daniels, Kristin Chenoweth |
|
|
| | | | Sandlot | | | | When egghead Scotty Smalls moves to town just before the summer vacation of 1962, his first priority is to make friends. He heads to the nearby sandlot only to humiliate himself before the local kids, but star player Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez befriends the awkward boy, teaches him the basics of baseball, and welcomes him to the team. It's a summer filled with camaraderie and fun until Smalls hits his first home run. Problem is, Smalls's home run sends his stepfather's "Babe Ruth" autographed baseball into a neighboring yard that's patrolled by a snarling, slobbering monster called "The Beast." Creativity reigns and hilarity ensues when the boys risk everything to retrieve the ball. A final heroic encounter with "The Beast" and his owner yields some very surprising results. Action, humor, and friendship permeate this 101-minute film appropriate for ages 5 and older. Rated PG due to name-calling and some pubescent behavior. --Tami Horiuchi |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | David Mickey Evans | | Cast: | Tom Guiry, Mike Vitar, Patrick Renna, Chauncey Leopardi, Marty York |
|
| | | | Sandlot Heading Home | | | | Take the field with a new lineup of scrappy sandlot sluggers! Starring Luke Perry as a pampered pro athlete who rediscovers his love for the game, The Sandlot: Heading Home is a pulse-pounding and heartwarming tale about losing your ego, putting your friends first...and winning it all!
Major league baseball superstar Tommy Santorelli (Perry) racks up great numbers at the plate, but his "me-first" attitude drags his team down. But Tommy gets a second chance when he's knocked unconscious by a pitch and wakes up as a 12-year-old on his childhood playing field...the sandlot! Now, with a greedy developer, Earl Needman, threatening to bulldoze the sandlot unless Tommy's ragtag friends can beat Needman's much-better team, Tommy must decide whether to put his own interests first by switching teams...or stay true to his friends by leading them to their greatest victory yet!
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | William Dear | | Cast: | Danny Nucci, Luke Perry, Sarah Deakins, Sonja Bennett, Cainan Wiebe |
|
|
| | | | santa clause 2 | | | |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | School House Rock | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Scooby Doo 2 Monsters Unleashed | | | | The animated pooch detective returns in Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, which packs a wealth of ghostly villains from the Saturday morning cartoon into one movie. When Mystery Inc. opens a museum exhibit of costumes of their old foes, a new masked foe appears and steals everything--and before you know it, all the costumes come to life, chasing Fred (Freddie Prinze Jr., Head Over Heels), Daphne (Sarah Michelle Gellar, TV's Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Velma (Linda Cardellini, Freaks and Geeks), Shaggy (Matthew Lillard, SLC Punk), and the computer-animated Scooby Doo all over Coolsville. It's no better or worse than the first Scooby Doo movie. Watching live-action scenes that you've previously seen in two dimensions is vaguely uncanny; it's like deja vu turned inside out. Also featuring the weirdly unsynchronized lips of Alicia Silverstone (Clueless), Seth Green (Austin Powers), and Peter Boyle (Young Frankenstein). --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Raja Gosnell | | Cast: | Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, Matthew Lillard, Linda Cardellini, Seth Green, Peter Boyle |
|
| | | | Scooby Doo Winter Wonder Dog | | | | Sometimes it takes a Scooby scramble to satisfy an entire family, and in the peace-to-all holiday spirit, that's what's on offer here. Winter WonderDog spans the Scooby generations. We scroll through a splattering of Scrappy, where the hotheaded little hound hooks up with Scoob and Shag for a few fits of mystery-free bad-guy nabbing, but the classic Mystery Machine players also pull up for several episodes. In "That's Snow Ghost" they meddle at a spooky ski lodge where a mechanical abominable snowman look-alike's on the loose, and "The Nutcracker Scoob's" lineup links the entire groovy gang minus Velma for an investigation into the ghost of Christmas present, who's spooking an orphanage. It's the snowcapped, red-and-green Scooby-snack wrapped, all-era caper-scraper that'll see Scooby fans of all stripes circling the tube. The sort of spirits it ushers in may not be standard issue, but the jinkies-generating snooping and sleuthing are. --Tammy La Gorce
|
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Scooby Doos Original Mysteries | | | |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Scooby-Doo | | | | "I would've gotten away with it if weren't for you meddling kids!" Equal parts remake and spoof, this tongue-in-cheek live-action resurrection finds the old Saturday-morning-cartoon gang reunited to investigate the zombie teens of a haunted amusement park. Frantic action and big-screen special effects stand in for logic, but for a while it makes for a spirited send-up. Freddie Prinze Jr., under a blond hairdo and an ascot, turns Fred into a preening pretty boy, and Sarah Michelle Gellar plays with her own Buffy image as eternal damsel-in-distress Daphne (in magenta mini-dress and maxi-boots, no less), but this show belongs to gangly Matthew Lillard, who is the adenoidal beatnik Shaggy. His loyal-to-the-end friendship with the computer-animated Scooby-Doo is the most convincing relationship in the whole two-dimensional goof. Some of the supernatural nasties may be scary for young kids and the humor careens from winking self-awareness to Scooby doo-doo gags, but otherwise this is as harmless as a Saturday-morning chapter and as substantial as a Scooby snack. --Sean Axmaker |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Secret of NIMH | | | | In his book, Robert C. O'Brien called his brave widow mouse "Mrs. Frisby," but Disney escapee animator Don Bluth must have thought kids would laugh the wrong way at that. They renamed her "Mrs. Brisby" for NIMH. That acronym stands for the National Institute of Mental Health, and the rats that live near Mrs. Brisby came from NIMH--they have strange ways. But they're the only ones who can save her house and her children, so Brisby seeks them out with the help of a humorous crow (Dom DeLuise). The magic gets laid on a little thick but this is Don Bluth's most successful attempt to achieve a complete, sincere, animated film. It's often forgotten, but it's a true surprise and a rare treat in the vast wasteland of insubstantial children's fare. --Keith Simanton |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Don Bluth | | Cast: | Dom De Luse, Elizabeth Hartman, Derek Jacobi, Hermonie Baddeley, John Carradine, Peter Strauss |
|
| | | | Shaggy Dog 06 | | | | Tim Allen barks, growls, and slobbers his way through the latest remake of the classic Disney suburban fable The Shaggy Dog. A mystical long-lived dog is kidnapped from Tibet by a nefarious corporation; when it escapes, it bites aspiring District Attorney Dave Douglas (Allen, The Santa Clause, Toy Story), who finds himself regressing into a dog in the courtroom. There's more to the plot--something to do with creating a youth serum from the dog's blood--but let's face it, that's not what anyone's going to see the movie for, and the "bad dad remembers how to love his family" theme is equally perfunctory. This is all about Allen running around like a dog and a cute sheepdog running around trying to do human things, and the movie does a competent job of playing with that scenario. Allen throws himself into doggieness with amusing abandon. Also featuring Kristin Davis (Sex and the City), Spencer Breslin (The Cat in the Hat), Jane Curtin (3rd Rock from the Sun), Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon), and Robert Downey Jr. (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Wonder Boys), who seems to be enjoying himself as a nefarious scientist at the nefarious corporation. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Brian Robbins | | Cast: | Tim Allen, Kristin Davis, Danny Glover, Spencer Breslin, Zena Grey, Robert Downey Jr. |
|
|
| | | | Shark Tale | | | | When a shark accidentally clobbers himself, a small fish named Oscar (voiced by Will Smith, I, Robot) just happens to be around, prompting everyone to believe that he killed the shark himself. This lie soon makes Oscar a celebrity, worshipped by the general mass of fish, wooed by a glittering golddigger (Angelina Jolie, Girl, Interrupted), missed by his best friend (Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain)--and hunted by the godfather of great whites (Robert De Niro, Goodfellas). Can a vegetarian shark named Lenny (Jack Black, School of Rock) get Oscar out of this mess? The formulaic story of Shark Tale never reaches the giddy heights of Pixar's output (Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., Toy Story) or the freewheeling comedy of Shrek, but it's capably told and impeccably animated--the sheer technical skill is stunning. Kids won't get the mobster jokes or the other pop-culture references, but they'll enjoy it nonetheless. --Bret Fetzer --This text refers to the Theatrical Release edition.
Description
A comic catch from the studio that brought you Shrek, Shark Tale is a hilarious hit and "a wonderful under-the-sea adventure for movie lovers of all ages!" (Clay Smith, Access Hollywood)
Oscar (Will Smith), a lowly tongue-scrubber at the local Whale Wash, becomes an improbable hero when he tells a great white lie. To keep his secret, Oscar teams up with an outcast vegetarian shark, Lenny (Jack Black), and the two become the most unlikely of friends. When his lie begins to unravel, it’s up to Oscar’s loyal friend Angie (Renée Zellweger) and Lenny to help him stand up to the most feared shark in the water (Robert De Niro) and find his true place in the reef. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Jenson,Bergeron,Letterman | | Cast: | Will Smith, Robert DeNiro, Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Jack Black, Martin Scorsese |
|
| | | | Shrek | | | | William Steig's delightfully fractured fairy tale is the right stuff for this computer-animated adaptation full of verve and wit. Our title character (voiced by Mike Myers) is an agreeable enough ogre who wants to live his days in peace. When the diminutive Lord Farquaad (John Lithgow) evicts local fairy-tale creatures (including the now-famous Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and the Gingerbread Man), they settle in the ogre's swamp and Shrek wants answers from Farquaad. A quest of sorts starts for Shrek and his new pal, a talking donkey (Eddie Murphy), where battles have to be won and a princess (Cameron Diaz) must be rescued from a dragon lair in a thrilling action sequence. The story is stronger than most animated fare, but it's the humor that makes Shrek a winner. The PG rating is stretched when Murphy and Myers hit their strides. The mild potty humor is fun enough for 10-year-olds but will never embarrass their parents. Shrek is never as warm and inspired as the Toy Story films, but the realistic computer animation and a rollicking soundtrack keep the entertainment in fine form. Produced by DreamWorks, the film also takes several delicious stabs at its crosstown rival, Disney. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | SNL | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Andrew Admanson Vicky Jenson | | Cast: | Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow |
|
|
| | | | Shrek 2 | | | | The lovably ugly green ogre returns with his green bride and furry, hooved friend in Shrek 2. The newlywed Shrek and Princess Fiona are invited to Fiona's former kingdom, Far Far Away, to have the marriage blessed by Fiona's parents--which Shrek thinks is a bad, bad idea, and he's proved right: The parents are horrified by their daughter's transformation into an ogress, a fairy godmother wants her son Prince Charming to win Fiona, and a feline assassin is hired to get Shrek out of the way. The computer animation is more detailed than ever, but it's the acting that make the comedy work--in addition to the return of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz, Shrek 2 features the flexible voices of Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins), John Cleese (Monty Python's Flying Circus), Antonio Banderas (Desperado), and Jennifer Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous) as the gleefully wicked fairy godmother. --Bret Fetzer -- |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Andrew Adamson Kelly Asbury Conrad Vernon | | Cast: | Mike Myres, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Julie Andrews, Antonio Banderas, John Cleese |
|
| | | | Shrek 3 | | | | Shrek and Fiona are reluctantly reigning over Far, Far Away, but they dream about returning to their happy confines of the swamp. Unfortunately, the only way that they are going to see their beloved swamp again is if they are able to find the rightful heir to the throne and return him to Far, Far Away.
Shrek, Donkey and Puss in Boots set off to locate the heir while Fiona holds off a coup d'etat being spearheaded by Prince Charming. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Chris Miller Raman Hui | | Cast: | Mike Myers , Cameron Diaz , Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas , Justin Timberlake, Rupert Everett |
|
|
| | | | Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas | | | | Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, an animated adventure from the DreamWorks studio, has little connection to the original fables from the Arabian Nights, but it's an entertaining romp nonetheless. Sinbad (voiced by the midwest vowels of Brad Pitt) gets commissioned by the wicked goddess Eris (Michelle Pfeiffer) to steal a magical book called the Book of Peace from the city of Syracuse--but the prince of Syracuse turns out to be a childhood friend of Sinbad's. So Eris steals the book herself and frames Sinbad, making the hero sail to the edge of the world to get it back, accompanied by Marina (Catherine Zeta-Jones), a woman he's secretly loved for years. The movie skillfully blends hand-drawn and computer images. The storyline is surprisingly well-constructed and actually has some thoughts about friendship and personal fiber, while providing all the swashbuckling, derring-do, and cliffhangers you could want. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Tim Johnson, Patrick Gilmore | | Cast: | Brad Pitt, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Michelle Pfeiffer, Joseph Fiennes |
|
| | | | Sky High | | | | The idea of a high school for superheroes will appeal to teens and preteens, who struggle powerlessly with petty authoritarians, bullying peers, and their own rampant hormones, and Sky High spotlights young Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano, Lords of Dogtown), the son of top-of-the-heap superheroic couple the Commander (Kurt Russell, Tango & Cash) and Josie Jetstream (Kelly Preston, View from the Top). Unfortunately, though he's about to be dropped into the midst of kids who can stretch, turn to living stone, or shoot fire, Will has yet to develop any powers at all--and may never develop them. His development anxieties (and some entertaining metaphors for high school social hierarchies) contrast with a bubbling plot by an old foe of the Commander's to destroy Sky High and all of superhero-dom. Sky High has a great supporting cast (including Bruce Campbell, Army of Darkness; Dave Foley, NewsRadio; Lynda Carter, Wonder Woman; and Cloris Leachman, Young Frankenstein) and a handful of funny, offhand bits, but the bulk of the movie is bland and obvious. Younger kids may not mind the clumsy action scenes, generic dialogue, and tacky production design, but even comic-book-loving teenagers will label Sky High bargain-basement. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG-13 | | Director: | Mike Mitchell | | Cast: | Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston, Michael Angarano, Danielle Panabaker, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Bruce Campbell |
|
|
| | | | Sleeping Beauty | | | | Disney's 1959 animated effort was the studio's most ambitious to date, a widescreen spectacle boasting a gorgeous waltz-filled score adapting Tchaikovsky. In the 14th century, the malevolent Maleficent (not dissimilar to the wicked Queen in Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) taunts a king that his infant Aurora will fatally prick her finger on a spinning wheel before sundown on her 16th birthday. This, of course, would deny her a happily-ever-after with her true love. Things almost but not quite turn out that way, thanks to the assistance of some bubbly, bumbling fairies named Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather. It's not really all that much about the title character--how interesting can someone in the middle of a long nap be, anyway? Instead, those fairies carry the day, as well as, of course, good Prince Phillip, whose battle with the malevolent Maleficent in the guise of a dragon has been co-opted by any number of animated films since. See it in its original glory here. And Malificent's castle, filled with warthogs and demonic imps in a macabre dance celebrating their evil ways, manages a certain creepy grandeur. --David Kronke
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Sleepover | | | |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Joe Nussbaum | | Cast: | Alexa Vega, Mika Boorem, Jane Lynch, Sara Paxton, Brie Larson, Steve Carell |
|
|
| | | | Small Soldiers | | | | Here's the pitch: "It's like Toy Story but these toys that come to life really kick butt!" That's essentially it for this breezy popcorn flick. In a very smart first 10 minutes, new toy-company owner Denis Leary tells his crew he wants toys "that play back." Hence the small soldiers land in Anytown, U.S.A., and the loner kid Alan (Gregory Smith) opens them up before they are supposed to be on the shelves. Those military-grade chips sure make them smart and give the toys plenty of pithy retorts to boot. Plenty of violence, er, action, most of it fun enough. The vocal talents, including Tommy Lee Jones, Frank Langella, and cast members of The Dirty Dozen are inspired characters, the humans less so. With Gremlins director Joe Dante at the helm, it plays like a sequel to that '80s fantasy. Amazing visual effects, of course. --Doug Thomas
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG-13 | | Director: | Joe Dante | | Cast: | Kirsten Dunst, Gregory Smith, Jay Morh, Phil Hartman, Kevin Dunn, Denis Leary |
|
| | | | Snow Buddies | | | |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Snow Queen | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs | | | | One of the brightest nuggets from Disney's golden age, this 1937 film is almost dizzying in its meticulous construction of an enchanted world, with scores of major and minor characters (including fauna and fowl), each with a distinct identity. When you watch Snow White's intricate, graceful movements of fingers, arms, and head all in one shot, it is not the technical brilliance of Disney's artists that leaps out at you, but the very spirit of her engaging, girl-woman character. When the wicked queen's poisoned apple turns from killer green to rose red, the effect of knowing something so beautiful can be so terrible is absolutely elemental, so pure it forces one to surrender to the horror of it. Based on the Grimm fairy tale, Snow White is probably the best family film ever to deal, in mythic terms, with the psychological foundation for growing up. It's a crowning achievement and should not be missed. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | David Hand, Perce Pearce | | Cast: | Harry Stockwell, Lucille LaVerne |
|
|
| | | | Son of the Mask | | | | Son of the Mask is a frantic sequel tailor-made for short attention spans. For 86 manic minutes, this belated follow-up to 1994's Jim Carrey hit The Mask compensates for Carrey's absence by casting Jamie Kennedy as a cut-rate animator who becomes heavily animated himself (courtesy of non-stop computer-animated effects) when he dons the ancient mask that belongs to Loki (Alan Cumming, nicely cast), the Norse god of mischief. As in the Carrey film, the mask turns its wearers into cartoonish whirlwinds of confident bluster, and that includes a little dog named Otis, and especially Kennedy's mask-induced offspring, a frenetic shape-shifting baby that's more creepy than comedic, like Ally McBeal's dancing infant on steroids and speed. This woebegone sequel quickly vanished from theaters, but it's a harmless babysitter that kids will enjoy, from the director of the similarly effects-driven Cats & Dogs. --Jeff Shannon
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Lawrence Gutterman | | Cast: | Jamie Kennedy, Alan Cumming, Traylor Howard, Steven Wright, Kal Penn, Bob Hoskins |
|
| | | | Spirit - Stallion of the Cimarron | | | | Horse lovers young and old will celebrate this utterly enjoyable and marvelous-looking animated film. The titular stallion runs free in the Cimarron (New Mexico) wilderness until a series of men try to master the proud horse, leading to adventures through a U.S. Cavalry fort, Native American settlements, and a railroad camp. Despite a heavy dose of political correctness and realism (the animals don't talk; we only hear Spirit's internal monologue, voiced by Matt Damon), directors Kelly Asbury and Lorna Cook give their hero many only-in-a-movie moments, including an action sequence rivaling any of Rambo's escapes. The stirring mix of 2-D and 3-D animation is absolutely stunning and aptly fueled by composer Hans Zimmer's synthesized score. The film earns one demerit for '80s rocker Bryan Adams's abundant songs--a different singer could have brought more to the film. Rated G but there is some rough treatment of horses shown, so nix the sensitive preschoolers. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Kelly Asbury, Lorna Cook | | Cast: | Matt Damon, James Cromwell |
|
|
| | | | SpongeBob Atlantis Squarepantis | | | | SpongeBob and his pals are on the ultimate underwater adventure in SpongeBob SquarePants: Atlantis SquarePantis! Join them as they travel to Atlantis in search of "The Oldest Living Bubble" and other whacky adventures filled with outrageous fun! On November 12th Nickelodeon will go under water for 3 hours leading up to the big premiere hosted by Patchy the Pirate! |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | SpongeBob Christmas | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | SpongeBob Squarepants Movie | | | | How many movies offer the rare spectacle of a parasailing pink starfish flying over a crowd with a congratulatory pennant clenched between his buttcheeks? And that's only the tip of the iceberg--The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie is a freewheeling goof of a cartoon, full of surreal twists as its diminutive heroes head down a dangerous road to rescue the lost crown of King Neptune. SpongeBob (voiced by Tom Kenny), an arrested adolescent in the mold of Pee-wee Herman, works at a fast-food restaurant that serves something called Krabby Patties (as the restaurant owner is himself a crab, it's not clear what exactly they're made of). His best friend Patrick Starfish (Bill Fagerbakke) lives under a rock and has an IQ in the lower digits. Still, their friendship carries them through many a tight spot as they strive for manliness. Anyone seeking a coherent world will be disappointed; in this undersea adventure, things catch on fire or seem to be surrounded by air whenever it's convenient for a gag. The jokes are often more silly than actually funny, but there's an undeniably energetic joviality to the proceedings. Featuring the voices of Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Tambor, Alec Baldwin, and a fully fleshed appearance by David Hasselhoff. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Stephen Hillenberg | | Cast: | Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Clancy Brown, Roger Bumpass, Alec Baldwin, David Hasselhoff |
|
| | | | spongebob to love a patty | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Spy kids | | | | Carmen and Juni Cortez will soon find out that their favorite bedtime story, "The Spies Who Fell in Love," is really the story of their parents. So begins this affable fantasy, a James Bond adventure for wee ones with all the trimmings. When Dad and Mom (Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino) mess up their first mission after coming out of retirement, their kids must come to the rescue, equipped with some cool gadgets. The Cortez family gets involved in a bizarre plot hatched by a Pee-wee Herman-type entertainer named Fegan Floop (a wonderfully hammy Alan Cumming) that's as giddy as it is ridiculous. Needless to say there is plenty of derring-do concerning long-lost uncles, goofy monsters, double agents, evil robots, look-alikes, and energized chases. Did we mention the gadgets? Although Banderas and Gugino make terrific impressions, the movie is carried (as it should be) by the younger Cortezes, winningly played by Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara. Who would have thought an action/horror studio (Dimension) and writer-director Robert Rodriguez had this pleasing family film up their sleeves? Rodriquez (who produced with his wife Elizabeth Avellán) seemed to be mired in cheesy horror films but here breaks out by capitalizing on the talent that gave him instant status with his debut, El Mariachi (1992). Spy Kids has plenty of verve but never swerves into potty humor (OK, there is one good potty joke) or wicked gunplay. All 7-year-olds should have a film as fun as this in their movie-going lives. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Robert Rodriguez | | Cast: | Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugion, Alan Cumming, Teri Hatcher, Cheech Marin, Danny Trejo |
|
| | | | Spy kids 2 The Island of Lost Dreams | | | | This delightful sequel to Spy Kids demonstrates once again writer-director Robert Rodriguez's remarkable gift for wild invention. Carmen and Juni Cortez (Alexa Vega and Daryl Sabara) are now regular operatives for a spy agency, but a couple of rival spy kids are making their lives difficult. When an important gadget gets stolen, Juni gets blamed and loses his job--but Carmen hacks into the agency computer, reinstates him, and sends them off on a high-security mission to a mysterious island to clear the boy's name. The pace is zippy, every situation is crammed with dazzling eye-candy, and the cast is great--Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino return as the kids' parents, Steve Buscemi plays a crackpot scientist, and Ricardo Montalban comes in as the kids' grandfather. Fans of the classic Sinbad adventure movies will particularly enjoy the elaborate creatures that Carmen and Juni battle on the island. Pure fun. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Robert Rodriguez | | Cast: | Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Mike Judge, Ricardo Monteban |
|
|
| | | | Spy Kids 3D Game Over | | | | The adventures of pint-sized secret agents Juni and Carmen Cortes (Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega) continue. As Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over opens, Juni has left the spy agency and launched a career as a private detective--but when he learns that his sister Carmen has disappeared into a nefarious multi-user computer game, he agrees to go in after her, with the assistance of his grandfather (Ricardo Montalban). Three-dimensional special effects launch us into a topsy-turvy world of battling robots, souped-up motorcycle races, frogs on pogo sticks, surfing on hot lava, and much, much more. The story is even more incoherent than an actual computer game--but the movie storms along, driven by writer/director/editor/everything-else Robert Rodriguez's sheer visual enthusiasm. Featuring Sylvester Stallone, Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, and everyone else who appeared in the first two Spy Kids movies. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Robert Rodriguez | | Cast: | Antonio Bandras, Carla Gugino, Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Ricardo Montalban, Holland Taylor |
|
| | | | Stitch! The Movie | | | | Disney sets a record for bringing out a direct-to-video sequel after the initial film. Stitch: The Movie arrives only a year after the enjoyable Lilo & Stitch played theaters and reunites the title character (otherwise known as Experiment 626) with his earth-bound family in the warm Hawaiian sun. The story has a nice set-up: since Stitch is Experiment 626, where are the first 625 invented by Dr. Jumba Jookiba? Odds are the island paradise will soon be spaceport central for many more aliens. As with other made-for-video Disney titles, the animation is not as complex or rich. This hurts this sequel even more since the original film had such a unique, pastel beauty. Unfortunately, the other elements of the film are just as flat. Even though most of the original voice cast returns, the entire production lacks the same spirit and charm, and the story's theme is recycled (get ready for more "Ohana means family"). On the plus side, the film starts with an Elvis Presley song ("Slicin' Sand") and is only 64 minutes long. The movie sets up the Disney TV series The Adventures of Lilo & Stitch. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Stuart Little | | | | This live-action version of E.B. White's novel doesn't have quite the magic of, say, Toy Story. Instead of entertainment the whole family can be enthralled with, Stuart Little is squarely aimed, and successfully so, at the 4- to 10-year-old watcher. Does this make it a bad family film? Not in the slightest. The gee-whiz visual effects (created by original Star Wars wizard John Dykstra) and the film's ebullient wholesomeness make this a welcome addition to the home library.
In E.B. White's world, it's hardly surprising that human parents would adopt "outside their species." The smooth-talking mouse Stuart (voiced by Michael J. Fox) seems the perfect new child for parents Geena Davis and Hugh Laurie, especially with an adorable wardrobe of very small sweaters and pants. Harder is fitting in with the Little's family cat, Snowbell (voiced by Nathan Lane, who also deftly voiced Timon in director Rob Minkoff's last feature, The Lion King). The simple story deals with Stuart trying to fit in with his new life, including big brother George (Jerry Maguire's scene-stealing Jonathan Lipnicki). And of course there's an adventure when Snowbell's schemes lead Stuart into true danger, in the form of the devious plans of an alley cat named Smokey (voiced by Chazz Palminteri). Brisk--85 minutes--amusing, and tolerably cute, Stuart Little stands tall. Two curios: The effects are so cleanly done that we could call Stuart the first successfully computer-animated actor, and the screenplay was cowritten by M. Night Shyamalan, who made bigger waves in 1999 writing and directing The Sixth Sense. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Stuart Little 2 | | | | Stuart Little 2 is that rarest of movie breeds, a sequel that surpasses its charming, popular predecessor to achieve near-classic status. Mr. & Mrs. Little (Hugh Laurie, Geena Davis) are portrayed with good-natured, storybook purity, and the rest of the movie follows suit, beginning when their lonely mouse "son" Stuart (perfectly voiced by Michael J. Fox) befriends an orphaned canary (Melanie Griffith), who is reluctantly stealing from the Littles for the villainous Falcon (James Woods). The con game turns into a search-and-rescue thriller, with family cat Snowbell (Nathan Lane) quipping like a borscht-belt comedian, but the real fun of Stuart Little 2 comes from Bruce Joel Rubin's hilarious, marvelously inventive screenplay and returning director Rob Minkoff's visually dazzling combination of live action and lavish computer animation. Matching the Babe movies as a wondrous marvel of family entertainment, Stuart Little 2 is an all-ages romp that's smart, sweet, and completely irresistible. --Jeff Shannon -- |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Stuart Little 3 | | | | Goodbye realistic family with an implausible child, hello animated world of make believe. Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild takes a marked departure from the realistic footage of the Little family and a skillfully animated mouse son in Stuart Little and Stuart Little 2 with this fully animated presentation that views like just another animated cartoon television show. That said, the story and action are good. While Stuart may be tiny and have a reputation as delicate, he's determined to prove his strength and independence during his family's summer stay in a cabin on the shores of Lake Garland. Stuart (voiced by Michael J. Fox) pleads to be allowed to join the Lake Scouts where he seems destined to be unsuccessful in spite of much perseverance. He develops an unlikely friendship with a skunk named Reeko (voiced by Wayne Brady), but that friendship leads Stuart and his cat Snowbell (voiced this time by Kevin Schon) to the brink of disaster with "The Beast" that lives in the woods. Can courage, ingenuity and the bonds of true friendship overcome the wrath and brute strength of a ferocious monster? This third movie in the Stuart Little collection remains true to its predecessors in its wholesome message and fast-paced adventure, but the full animation is definitely disappointing. (Ages 4 to 10 years) --Tami Horiuchi |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | Audu Paden | | Cast: | Michael J. Fox , Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie , Wayne Brady |
|
| | | | Suite Life of Zack & Cody Victory | | | | Dylan Sprouse and Cole Sprouse star as 14-year-olds whose lives change when their single mom gets a job as the headlining singer at Boston's swankiest hotel and, as part of her contract, an upper floor suite in which they all now live. Ashley Tisdale stars as the hotel's teenage gift shop clerk and part-time babysitter who foils the twins' antics; Brenda Song stars as the hotel owner's spoiled daughter; Kim Rhodes stars as the twin's mother and Phill Lewis stars as the hotel manager. While mom works to keep them in line, the twins are elated with the amenities of their new home, especially room service, a swimming pool, a game room and a candy counter. Then the hotel's teenage gift shop clerk Maddie steps in as part-time babysitter and foil to the twins' pranks. To the chagrin of the hotel manager, Mr. Moseby, they try to turn the hotel into their playground, and along the way make friends and foe with the disparate staff, guests and residents including the owner's spoiled daughter London. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | Dylan Sprouse, Cole Sprouse |
|
|
| | | | Superbabies Baby Geniuses 2 | | | | In this high-adventure sequel to the smash-hit "Baby Geniuses" the baby geniuses find themselves at the center of a nefarious scheme led by powerful media mogul Bill Biscane (Jon Voight). Joining the babies in their battle against evil is a legendary baby named Kahuna. Part ultra-cool spy, part superhero, Kahuna joins babies Archie, Finkleman, Alex and Rosita in a race against time to stop the villainous Biscane from using his state-of-the-art satellite system to control the minds of the world's population. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Bob Clark | | Cast: | Jon Voight, Scott Baio, Vanessa Angel, Peter Wingfield, Justin Chatwin, Anastasia Trovato |
|
| | | | Sword In The Stone | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Tarzan & Jane | | | | As Tarzan and Jane's one-year marriage anniversary approaches, Jane searches the jungle for the perfect gift for Tarzan, enlisting the help of the hilarious Terk and Tantor. As they recall the many adventures they've shared so far, Jane realizes what an exciting year it's been in the jungle; from encounters with both old friend and new adversaries, to outsmarting prowling panthers to surfing the lava down an erupting volcano. But that's nothing compared to what Tarzan has in store for Jane--a surprise that will show her just how much he understands her world. All of the favorite characters from Disney's TARZAN are back, including Terk, Tantor and the Professor, in an action-packed tale full of surprises. TARZAN & JANE features irresistible new music, including a new duet of "Two Worlds" performed by Phil Collins and Mandy Moore. The wonderful new musical number "Singing To The Song Of Life" is also sung by Moore.
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Don Mackinnon, Victor Cook | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Tarzan II | | | | Whereas the original Tarzan tells the story of a man raised by gorillas who learns to bring together the human and animal worlds, Tarzan II is a prequel, of sorts, focusing on a chapter from Tarzan’s childhood where he realizes he is not an ape and sets out to discover his true identity. The young misfit runs away from his loving mother, Kala (voiced by Glenn Close), and wanders up the Dark Mountain to come face to face with the monstrous Zugor. But all is not serious in this 72-minute boondoggle; there is Disney’s usual foray into frivolity by way of a few wisecracking sidekicks--a couple of gorilla brothers named Uto and Kago, and their nettlesome Mama Gunda (voiced by Estelle Harris, a laudable choice). Despite the star-studded voice cast, there is a sense of re-tread ground here, and the story (loosely based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’ distinctive tale) shows signs of formulaic Disney. Nonetheless, Phil Collins’ trio of original songs livens the pace to make the effort a short-lived smile. (Ages 6 to 14) --Lynn Gibson |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Teacher's Pet | | | | A high-energy and wildly comic reinterpretation of Pinocchio, Teacher's Pet: The Movie follows Spot (voiced by Nathan Lane), a dog who desperately wants to be a boy, much to the chagrin of his owner Leonard (Shaun Fleming), who just wants to play with his dog. Disguised as his human alter ego Scott, Spot heads down to Florida in the hopes of being transformed by a mad scientist (Kelsey Grammer)--but the transformation proves to be more complicated than Spot expects. Teacher's Pet almost looks like it was drawn in crayon--the unusual and dynamic visual style sets it apart from most Disney cartoons, and the witty dialogue and songs--voiced with zip and aplomb--make the movie hugely entertaining for kids and parents. Also featuring the voices of Jerry Stiller, Paul Reubens, Megan Mullaly, David Ogden Stiers, and Wallace Shawn. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Ten Commandments | | | | The Ten Commandments showcases Moses, the reluctant prophet, who was the only man in Biblical history to see the face of God and call him "friend." This special animated version is filled with high adventure, miraculous events and a gentle sense of humor. Condemned to die by the Pharaoh while just a baby, Hebrew Moses is set adrift on the River Nile by his mother and his sister. Rescued by the daughter of the Pharaoh, he grows up thinking he’s an Egyptian prince. Eventually exiled from Egypt when he is exposed as a Jew, he is touched by God and told that he will lead his enslaved people to the Promised Land. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Bill Boyce | | Cast: | Ben kingsley, Christian slater, alfred molina, elliot gould |
|
|
| | | | Three Musketeers | | | |
| Genre: | | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Thunderbirds | | | | The deep love that young boys feel for planes, cars, and gadgets is the driving energy of Thunderbirds, a live-action movie based on the British puppet TV show of the 1960s. Bill Paxton (Near Dark, One False Move) plays Jeff Tracy, billionaire ex-astronaut, who's turned his family of heroic sons into a crack rescue squad, zooming to danger and saving people using super-sophisticated vehicles. The youngest boy (Brady Corbet) hasn't yet joined the team and resents every moment he's not in uniform--but he gets his chance when a malevolent villain called the Hood (Ben Kingsley, slumming a bit from Gandhi and Sexy Beast) traps the rest of the family on a crippled space station and turns the Thunderbird vehicles to his evil purposes. Expect bright colors, clumsy dialogue, and a less-than-thrilling plot, but many kids will enjoy the fantasy of a secret island, rocket ships, and flying cars. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Jonathan Frakes | | Cast: | Bill Paxton, Anthony Edwards, Sophia Myles, Ben Kingsley |
|
|
| | | | Tiger & Pooh Christmas Movie | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Tigger & Pooh Friendly Tails | | | | Hooray! It s a hunny-ful day; so put on your cap, hop on your scooter and join Pooh, Tigger, Darby and the whole gang as they laugh, play and discover fun new mysteries in the heart of the Hundred Acre Wood! Any time there s a problem to solve or a riddle to unravel, the Super Sleuths are on it. Whether they re hunting for pirate treasure, hot on the trail of a missing puppy dog or curing a tigger-ific case of the hiccups, when they team up with YOU in search of adventure, just about anything is possible! Bursting with endless fun, delightful music and wonderful surprises, My Friends Tigger & Pooh: Friendly Tails celebrates the magic of friendship and the happiness that comes from helping others. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Tom & Jerrys Greatest Chases | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Toy Story | | | | There is greatness in film that can be discussed, dissected, and talked about late into the night. Then there is genius that is right in front of our faces--we smile at the spell it puts us into and are refreshed, and nary a word needs to be spoken. This kind of entertainment is what they used to call "movie magic," and there is loads of it in this irresistible computer animation feature. Just a picture of these bright toys on the cover of Toy Story looks intriguing, reawakening the kid in us. Filmmaker John Lasseter's shorts (namely Knickknack and Tin Toy, which can be found on the Pixar video Tiny Toy Stories) illustrate not only a technical brilliance but also a great sense of humor--one in which the pun is always intended. Lasseter thinks of himself as a storyteller first and an animator second, much like another film innovator, Walt Disney.
Lasseter's story is universal and magical: what do toys do when they're not played with? Cowboy Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), Andy's favorite bedroom toy, tries to calm the other toys (some original, some classic) during a wrenching time of year--the birthday party, when newer toys may replace them. Sure enough, Space Ranger Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) is the new toy that takes over the throne. Buzz has a crucial flaw, though--he believes he's the real Buzz Lightyear, not a toy. Bright and cheerful, Toy Story is much more than a 90-minute commercial for the inevitable bonanza of Woody and Buzz toys. Lasseter further scores with perfect voice casting, including Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head and Wallace Shawn as a meek dinosaur. The director-animator won a special Oscar for "the development and inspired application of techniques that have made possible the first feature-length computer-animated film." In other words, the movie is great. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Toy story 2 | | | | John Lasseter and his gang of high-tech creators at Pixar create another entertainment for the ages. Like the few great movie sequels, Toy Story 2 comments on why the first one was so wonderful while finding a fresh angle worthy of a new film. The craze of toy collecting becomes the focus here, as we find out Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks) is not only a beloved toy to Andy but also a rare doll from a popular '60s children's show. When a greedy collector takes Woody, Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) launches a rescue mission with Andy's other toys. To say more would be a crime because this is one of the most creative and smile-inducing films since, well, the first Toy Story.
Although the toys look the same as in the 1994 feature, Pixar shows how much technology has advanced: the human characters look more human, backgrounds are superior, and two action sequences that book-end the film are dazzling. And it's a hoot for kids and adults. The film is packed with spoofs, easily accessible in-jokes, and inspired voice casting (with newcomer Joan Cusack especially a delight as Cowgirl Jessie). But as the Pixar canon of films illustrates, the filmmakers are storytellers first. Woody's heart-tugging predicament can easily be translated into the eternal debate of living a good life versus living forever. Toy Story 2 also achieved something in the U.S. two other outstanding 1999 animated features (The Iron Giant, Princess Mononoke) could not: it became a huge box-office hit. --Doug Thomas
Los
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Transformers the Movie | | | | Ultra Magnus and the Transformers fight planet Unicron and the Decepticons in 2005. Animated. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Eric Idle, Judd Nelson, Orson Wells, Scatman Crothers |
|
|
| | | | Treasure Planet | | | | From the directors of Disney's ALADDIN and THE LITTLE MERMAID comes a spectacular new motion picture for the entire family. Buckle up for thrills and excitement as a classic story of friendship, courage, and self-discovery gets an incredible futuristic twist for an all-new generation. It's "another jewel in the crown of Disney animated classics" (Clay Smith, Access Hollywood). A secret map inspires a thrilling treasure hunt across the universe as young Jim Hawkins and a hilarious cosmic crew headed by the daring Captain Amelia set off in search of their destiny. Aboard a glittering space galleon, Jim meets the ship's cyborg cook, John Silver, who teaches him the value of friendship and the power of dreams. Jim soon teams up with his crazy new robot pal, B.E.N., and the shape-shifting Morph to discover a treasure greater than he ever imagined. Featuring an all-star voice cast including Emma Thompson, Martin Short, David Hyde Pierce, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brian Murray, and Michael Wincott -- TREASURE PLANET is "a magical, inventive, and utterly delightful movie" (Paul Clinton, CNN). |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Ron Clements, John Musker | | Cast: | Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Brian Murray |
|
| | | | Tuck Everlasting | | | | With the makings of a classic, Disney's Tuck Everlasting compares favorably with such family favorites as The Secret Garden and Fairy Tale: A True Story. Loosely but respectfully adapted from Natalie Babbitt's beloved children's book, this appealing fable focuses on the timeless Tuck family, blessed--and cursed--with immortality after drinking from a magical spring. Hiding their secret over passing decades, they are discovered in 1914 by Winnie (Alexis Bledel)--the only daughter of stern, upper-crust socialites--who encounters the life-affirming Jesse Tuck (Jonathan Jackson) and grows enchanted with his family (Sissy Spacek, William Hurt, Scott Bairstow) while her parents fear she's been kidnapped. The film's teenage romance is invented (Winnie is younger in Babbitt's book), but it's charmingly appropriate, and Ben Kingsley is perfect as a menacing man of mystery. Scoring a solid follow-up to his equally enjoyable My Dog Skip, director Jay Russell turns Tuck Everlasting into a magical plea for living life to its fullest. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Jay Russell | | Cast: | Sissy Spacek, Alexis Bledel, Ben Kingsley, Jonathan jackson, William Hurt |
|
|
| | | | Twitches Too | | | | Exciting secrets are lurking in the shadows of TWITCHES TOO, the Double Charmed Edition DVD. Join stars Tia and Tamera Mowry as they take you behind the scenes for a revealing look at the special effects tricks used in the movie -- and the funny tricks played on the cast and crew -- as well as a mystical alternate scene. Now that "twin witches" Alex (Tia) and Camryn (Tamera) know the truth about their royal birth, it's time for the girls to learn about each other and how to use their magical powers -- with hilarious results! While Alex wants to focus on college and having a semi-normal life, Camryn is all about the "princessing" -- glamour, gowns and tiaras. But their dreams must be set aside when destiny calls again. There's a new supernatural evil threatening the people of Coventry, and it's up to the twitches to save them. Twice the magic, twice the fun! You'll be doubly charmed by Twitches Too! |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | stuart gillard | | Cast: | tia mowry, tamera mowry, kristen wilson, patrick fabian, pat kelly, leslie seiler |
|
| | | | Two Brothers | | | | Doing for tigers what The Bear did for Grizzlies and Kodiaks, Two Brothers offers lush adventure with a message that anyone can take to heart. French filmmaker Jean-Jacques Annaud directed both films, blessing them with his keen eye for beauty and a love for wildlife that's as impassioned as it is infectious. This time, the adorable critters are Kumal and Sangha, sibling tiger cubs in French Indochina circa 1920, separated when a treasure-hunting adventurer (Guy Pearce) inadvertently leads them to capture. He makes amends by defending their right to freedom, but before that can happen, the now-grown tigers must endure cruel treatment that younger viewers (and sensitive adults) may find somewhat traumatic. There's a purpose to their ordeal, however, and Annaud (along with a world-class tiger trainer, 30 different tigers, and minimal use of digital trickery) films this uplifting story as a child's fable, with equal measures of danger and irresistible charm. As a family-friendly plea to protect endangered tigers everywhere, Two Brothers is cute, cuddly, and easily recommended. --Jeff Shannon |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Jean Jacques Annaud | | Cast: | Guy Pearce, jean Claude Dreyfus, Freddie Highmore, Oanh Nguyen, Phillippine Leroy Beaulieu |
|
|
| | | | Valiant | | | | The whole world is looking for a hero, and it's up to a little pigeon named Valiant to step up and bravely serve his country. Valiant (Ewan McGregor) and his fine, feathered friends take to the sky on a wing and a prayer to prove that it's not your wingspan but the size of your spirit that truly counts. Together this rag-tag squadron of birdbrains engages in hilarious aerial adventures at a spitfire pace. From the first bumbling day of basic training through the final feather-raising mission, the flock of comical characters swoops their way toward victory. From the producer of SHREK and SHREK 2, VALIANT delivers stunning animation, a top-flight voice cast, and an action-packed story loaded with laughs. It's a soaring family comedy that truly earns its wings.~ |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Gary Chapman | | Cast: | Ewan McGregor , Ricky Gervais , Tim Curry , John Cleese, John Hurt , Jim Broadbent |
|
| | | | Veggie Tales Duke of the Great Pie War | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Veggie Tales Lord of the Beans | | | | Sunday morning values, Saturday morning fun! It’s a tale of good versus evil with beans! Lord of the Beans follows the fantastic journey of a Flobbit named Toto Baggypants (Junior Asparagus) who inherits a most unusual and powerful bean. With the help of his mentor Randall and a spirited group of friends, Toto embarks on a mission to discover how he should use his gift. On their quest, the group encounters many challenges, including crossing the mountains of Much-Snowia, and facing the dreaded Lord Scaryman – who seeks the bean for misguided, selfish reasons. Will Toto discover the purpose of his giver, or will the scary dude and his Spark army capture the bean and wield its awesome powers? Find out in VeggieTales Lord of the Beans. DVD features include over 60 minutes of bonus content! "Making of" feature. "It’s About Love" Wynonna Music Video. Wynonna Interview behind the scenes. Full length Studio Commentary. Veggie Commentary. Art Gallery with Commentary. Trivia Game, Sing along, DVD Game, Family Activity, Cookie Recipe, How-toDraw, Hidden Easter Eggs, English and Spanish Subtitles, DVD-ROM Fun, 5.1 Surround Sound, Closed Captioned. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | very merry christmas | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Wallace and Gromit Curse of the Were Rabbit | | | | A decade after their last hilarious short, the Oscar-winning A Close Shave, Claymation wonders Wallace and Gromit return for a full-length adventure. Daffy scientist Wallace (voiced by Peter Sallis) and his heroic dog Gromit are doing well with their business, Anti-Pesto, a varmint-hunting outfit designed to keep their English town safe from rabbits chomping on prized vegetables. Wallace meets Lady Tottington (Helena Bonham Carter), who appreciates Wallace's humane way of dealing with rabbits (courtesy of the Bun-Vac 6000), and sets up a rivalry with the gun-toting Victor Quartermaine (Ralph Fiennes, enjoying himself more than ever). Creator Nick Park, with co-director/writer Steve Box, delivers a story worthy of the 85-minute running time, although it stretches the act a bit; the formula plays better shorter, but the literally hand-crafted film is a joy to watch. Taking a chapter from classic horror films, a giant were-rabbit is soon on the prowl, and the town is up in arms, what with the annual vegetable contest close at hand. (Anyone who's seen the previous three shorts knows who saves the day.) Never content to do something simply when the extravagant will do, W&G's lives are filled with whimsical Rude Goldberg-style devices, and the opening number showcasing their alarm system is pure Aardman Animation at its finest. Even though there's a new twist here--a few mild sight gags aimed at adults--this G-rated film will delight young and old alike as Park, like team Pixar, seems incapable of making anything but an outstanding film. --Doug Thomas |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Nick Park Steve Box | | Cast: | Peter Sallis , Helena Bonham Carter , Ralph Fiennes , Peter Kay |
|
| | | | When Good Ghouls Go Bad | | | |
| Genre: | Comedy | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Where the Red Fern Grows | | | | Based on Wilson Rawls's 1961 novel of the same name, Where the Red Fern Grows is the touching story of a 12-year-old, Ozark mountain boy (Joseph Ashton) who wants a dog so badly he performs odd jobs for months and saves enough to get two hunting hounds. Just as he hoped, the dogs usher in a period of golden adventure and happiness. Moreover, the pets prove profitable at awards shows and courageous while fending off danger from wild animals. No story about a farm boy and his best four-legged pals is complete, however, without sacrifice and ensuing wisdom; Where the Red Fern Grows has plenty of both. This 2003 feature is co-directed by the original 1974 film's producer and screenwriter, Lyman Dayton, and while it is both efficient and emotionally effective, one might have expected this second go-round to be a bit more deeply felt. Supporting performances by Dabney Coleman and Kris Kristofferson are commendable, while Dave Matthews (yes, that Dave Matthews) has a sweet presence as the hero's kind father. --Tom Keogh |
| Genre: | Dogs | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Lyman Dayton | | Cast: | Dabny Coleman, Dave Matthews, Joseph Aston, Renee Faia, Kris Kristofferson, Mac Davis |
|
| | | | Where The Wild Things Are | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Wild | | | | A cuddly koala who wants to be fierce, a squirrel in love with a sarcastic giraffe, an addle-pated anaconda, and a lion with a secret set off from their cozy zoo to rescue the lion's adolescent cub from an accidental kidnapping. After braving the dangers of the big city and stealing a boat, they find themselves in the African jungle, where a renegade herd of wildebeest have decided they want to change their position on the food chain (understandable, really). The Wild is hodgepodge--it's never clear why these mismatched creatures are friends and plot elements seem haphazardly plucked from Finding Nemo, Madagascar, and Ice Age: The Meltdown (though the latter two were made at the same time as The Wild, so it's just unfortunate for this movie that they came out first). Despite a general air of manic desperation, The Wild does have its strengths: The animation is richly realistic, leading to some gorgeous depictions of light (not exactly a selling point for kids, but adults can appreciate it). Several characters pop out--a pair of sewer crocodiles sound like NPR's Car Talk guys; William Shatner (Star Trek, Boston Legal) is effectively scary as the cult-leader/choreographer of the wildebeest; and comedian Eddie Izzard lends some of his trademark smart and silly humor to Nigel, the disgruntled koala bear. Successful bits and pieces don't make for a great movie, but they keep The Wild from the brink of disaster. --Bret Fetzer |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Steve "Spaz" Williams | | Cast: | Kiefer Sutherland , Jim Belushi , Janeane Garofalo , Eddie Izzard, George Carlin , William Shatner |
|
| | | | Wizard | | | | Less raunchy than Tommy and more conventional than Tron, The Wizard also revolves around gaming. There's even a Bridges on board. In Tron it was Jeff, in The Wizard it's Beau. As opposed to the rock opera’s pinball-playing "deaf, dumb, and blind kid," however, quasi-catatonic Jimmy (Luke Edwards) is a video game wiz. While the nine-year-old lives with his mother, half-brothers Corey (Fred Savage, circa The Wonder Years) and Nick (Christian Slater, fresh from Heathers) live with their father, Sam (Bridges). When Jimmy, who recently lost his sister, is placed in a home, Corey busts him out for a trip to California. (Today, Jimmy's condition would be labeled post-traumatic stress disorder.) As they're leaving Utah, they join forces with gaming enthusiast Haley (Rilo Kiley's Jenny Lewis), who suggests LA's National Video Game Championships. So, off they go by foot, skateboard, and the kindness of strangers. Sam, Nick, and obnoxious bounty hunter Putnam (Will Seltzer) are close behind. The outcome may be a foregone conclusion--the fractured family makes their peace--but The Wizard still offers a nostalgic, Nintendo-laden look at 1980s gamer culture (Power Glove, Super Mario Bros. 3, etc.). Plus, sharp-eyed viewers will spot Toby Maguire milling around before the showdown at Universal Studios Theme Park. If not for the hitchhiking, gambling, and reckless automotive destruction--after Putnam takes a knife to Sam's tires, Sam smashes his headlights with a shovel--the movie would be appropriate for all ages. In other words, it earns its PG rating. --Kathleen C. Fennessy |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Todd Holland | | Cast: | Fred Savage, Beau Bridges, Christian Slater |
|
|
| | | | Wizard of Oz | | | | A Kansas schoolgirl and her dog Toto are caught by a twister and deposited beyond the rainbow in Munchkinland. The girl befriends a scarecrow, a tin man, and a cowardly lion and seeks to find a way back home. |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Victor Fleming | | Cast: | Judy Garland, Ray Bolger |
|
| | | | wowser a dog day afternoon | | | |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | Not Rated | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Young Black Stallion | | | | Created as an IMAX movie based on the novel by father/son team Walter and Steven Farley, Disney's Young Black Stallion tells the story of a wild colt who befriends a young girl in the Arabian desert, eventually becoming her equine soul mate and champion racehorse. Set in 1946 North Africa, the story begins as Neera gets separated from her desert caravan by an ambush of soldiers. Alone and lost, she discovers a colt among the drifts and, in time, they forge a friendship of interdependence. The spirited horse and child ride like the wind, yet when they arrive home, the colt bolts, leaving Neera to convince her grandfather that the legendary stallion is more than a mirage. Ultimately, she proves this in a climatic action sequence brimming with girl power. The cinematography dazzles with its large-format visuals and sweeping panoramas, yet the 50-minute length truncates the story into a seemingly abridged version. An extra hour of plot and character development would have allowed it to venture closer to the magnificence of the original Stallion installment. (Ages 8 and older) --Lynn Gibson |
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | G | | Director: | Simon Wincer | | Cast: | |
|
| | | | Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie | | | | In their first theatrical feature, Yugi and his friends face their greatest challenge when their arch-rival Seto Kaiba obtains powerful cards from the now retired Maximillion Pegasus. More is at stake this time than a monster card championship, or even the rescue of Yugi's amateur-Egyptologist grandfather. Kaiba's challenge coincides with the discovery of the tomb of Anubis by a team of Egyptologists. The jackal-headed god is portrayed as an evil sorcerer whom the Pharaoh defeated 5,000 years ago. The resurrected wizard uses Kaiba as a pawn in his plan to destroy the world, with everything hinging on the card game between Yugi and Kaiba. The threat of world destruction is more than the premise of the series can sustain: Yugi may be a good sport, a loyal friend, and a champion player, but he's an unlikely candidate for saving the world. Neither Kaiba nor Yugi/Pharoah can play a card without screaming about the monster's power, and anyone not familiar with the game will be hopelessly lost. (MPAA rated PG: "scary combat and monster images") --Charles Solomon |
| Genre: | Anime | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | | | Cast: | |
|
|
| | | | Zathura | | | | Zathura, a smart and stylish kid's adventure, launches into action when Danny (Jonah Bobo) twists the key of a dusty science fiction game--a game that unleashes a localized meteor shower and wrenches Danny's house into orbit around a distant ringed planet, bringing Danny's brother Walter (Josh Hutcherson, Kicking and Screaming) and sister Lisa (Kristen Stewart, Panic Room) along. Soon a defective robot, a rangy astronaut (Dax Shepard, Without a Paddle), and an alien spaceship enter the picture. Only by completing the game can the kids return their house to its proper space-time coordinates, but the game board falls into the hands of some nasty, carnivorous lizards. Zathura has some obligatory emotional conflict and resolution between the two brothers, but that's pretty much beside the point; what makes Zathura a delight is the wonderful design, the skillful escalation of disasters, and the adroit direction of Jon Favreau (Elf), who is quickly becoming the go-to guy for mass-market movies with wit and timing. Some situations may be too intense for younger kids; Favreau ratchets up the suspense at a few points. Based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg (Jumanji). Also featuring Tim Robbins (The Shawshank Redemption). --Bret Fetzer
|
| Genre: | Childrens | | Rating: | PG | | Director: | Jon Favreau | | Cast: | Josh Hutcherson, Tim Robbins, Dax Shepard, Jonah Bobo, Kristen Stewart, Douglas Tait |
|
| |
|
|
