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Posted on 09.23.08 by Widge @ 11:14 pm
Comments on this: none yet. Add your own. An ongoing attempt to help you cope with the sheer amount of stuff people want you to buy. Should you? I'll try and help.
Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning is yet another of what we've come to know and fear as cheapquels, true. But at least the new Dixar regime tried to retool it and make it a bit more palatable before releasing it. And the original Ariel and Sebastian are back, and I'm always a sucker for Sally Field, who's playing the new villain. Now kids are going to enjoy this no matter what, and if you do have kids, then as we've discussed so often with these, you're already doomed. But adults are going to look at the idea of the King having banned music from the kingdom and Ariel's goal of bringing music back to the hearts and non-ears of her fishy friends and think... "Isn't this Footloose in Atlantis?" The release comes with deleted sequences in storyboards, a behind the scenes bit, a look at the Broadway musical, and more. If you can get away with a rental for your kids, do it. If you can't there's no shame in buying. (Click here to get it from Amazon..) Categorized as: Headsup
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Posted on 09.23.08 by ScottC @ 10:29 am
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Belle Epoque. While trying to escape from the Spanish Civil War, young Fernando is befriended by Amalia, a free-thinking artist. They talk of life and religion and politics. Things get complicated as they usually do by women. Specifically Amalia's four daughters: Clara, Rocío, Violeta, and Luz. All share remarkable beauty and their father's free spirit. Now Fernando is being pulled hither and yon by the sisters' desire and his own lust is adding fuel to the fire. Can love be found in all this romantic confusion? Winner of the Best Foreign Film Oscar in 1994, this fun and frothy romantic comedy comes with a commentary from the director, Fernando Trueba. Click here to buy it from Amazon. Categorized as: Headsup
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Posted on 09.15.08 by Widge @ 4:59 am
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It's sort of impossible not to like Paul Newman. And I'm not just talking about the fact his brand offers up some killer salsa. I mean that he's been in so many great movies, it's sort of silly to call anyone a signature role. This would be a contender, though: Cool Hand Luke is offered up here by Warner Brothers in a new deluxe edition. It's not as deluxe as you might like (I'm still waiting for my Newman commentary, just like I'm waiting for my Redford/Newman commentary on Butch Cassidy) but it does come with restored picture and audio, a new half-hour retrospective docu, and a commentary from a Newman biographer. But no Newman involvement, shame. The film's good enough to own just by itself, but the features are a nice addition. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.) Categorized as: Headsup
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Posted on 09.10.08 by Widge @ 5:28 am
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Transformers Animated is the latest iteration of the franchise, taking the Michael Bay Transformers idea and making it very kid-friendly. This includes a kid protagonist who allies herself with the Autobots and a very modern superhero animation style. This you can tell by the cover art in which even the Autobots seem to have magnificent chins. All sixteen first episodes are here across two discs. Now we previously mentioned when the first release came out that you might want to wait for this to hit. Now I'm saying that if you've got a kid who just wants to watch this on demand, you might want to purchase. Otherwise it appears to be playing once a day on Cartoon Network. And with this having a season 2 photo gallery sneak peek as its only feature, it's sort of hard to justify. But again, if you must do it for the kiddies, we won't think less of you. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.) Welcome to Wayside School, named as such because instead of the rooms all being on a single floor, each room is stacked up on its own floor, for a total of thirty floors. Todd, the newest student, finds himself on the top floor having to adjust to not only the weirdness of school in general but the weirdness of this school in particular. Paramount and Nickelodeon bring you this first season's thirteen episodes (twenty-six stories) across two discs. The story on this is the same as the above--although I can't quite tell when the show is airing currently, if a kid wants this show and this inspires him especially to pick up the original books and start reading, then more power to everybody involved. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.) Categorized as: Headsup
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Posted on 09.08.08 by Widge @ 5:34 am
Comments on this: none yet. Add your own. An ongoing attempt to make sense of the onslaught of new swag that people want you to buy. Should you? I'll try and help.
The Fletch Collection are both of the films starring Chevy Chase, one of which was actually quite damn funny and the other one which quite damn wasn't. In fact, what's startling about looking back at Fletch Lives is not just that it was a bad movie, but that it was so eminently forgettable. I know that I saw the movie. In fact, I'm fairly certain I caught it at the cinema. But it's like I blocked it from my memories like I did with my third grade year. The downside is that watching it again is like reliving the nightmare for the first time. When I saw this arrive, my question was--since we seem to be seeing a lot of repackaging jobs--I wonder, is this a repackaging job? Slice open the plastic and...why, yes. Yes it is. The Fletch disc says "The Jane Doe Edition" on it. Fletch Lives I haven't owned, but considering it's the same lack of features, I'm assuming it's the same disc as before on that one too. There's really only two featurettes on here and it's equally priced as I write this with the Jane Doe version. Honestly, I would tell you to go get that one instead, to spare you the second film. Click here to buy the Collection from Amazon. If you must. Categorized as: Headsup
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