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November 19, 2009 - The Heat Miser and Snow Miser from Rankin/Bass' The Year Without a Santa Claus return in A Miser Brothers' Christmas. This hour-long stop motion special asks the battling brothers to fill in for Santa Claus (voiced by Mickey Rooney) when he gets laid up. Now available, Warner's DVD includes a 23-minute making-of featurette. More...
Read all about this week's new releases.
November 18, 2009 - Stay in the holiday spirit with our review of I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown. Warner's ninth Remastered Deluxe Edition, this one pairs the hour-long 2003 holiday special with new-to-DVD Happy New Year, Charlie Brown (1986). The disc also includes a brand new featurette on Linus' younger brother Rerun, who stars in the titular cartoon. Read on...
Our newest review covers Paramount's recent Forrest Gump: 15th Anniversary Chocolate Box Giftset. As if you don't already know, this blockbuster 1994 Best Picture winner stars Tom Hanks as an Alabama simpleton who achieves all sorts of extraordinary things in the middle of the 20th Century. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, this dramedy co-stars Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson, and Sally Field. Read our review to learn what's new (and what isn't) in this release.
November 17, 2009 - Last year's hit comedy Four Christmases becomes this week's latest DVDizzy.com review subject. Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon play a couple whom foggy skies force to celebrate part of Christmas Day with each of their four divorced parents (Oscar winners Robert Duvall, Mary Steenburgen, Sissy Spacek, and Jon Voight). The DVD is in stores next Tuesday. Read on...
November 16, 2009 - The Buddies are back in Santa Buddies, our latest review subject. The fourth film to center on the Disney/Keystone talking puppies, this one finds the gang helping Puppy Paws to save Christmas. A sick kid, a mean dogcatcher, a magical icicle...it's holiday fun for the whole family.George Wendt stars as Santa Claus, Tom Bosley voices his top dog Santa Paws, and Christopher Lloyd plays that icy dogcatcher. Get into the spirit with our early review.
It's a big week for Star Trek fans and we've got reviews of two new Paramount DVDs out on Tuesday. First, Kelvin Cedeno looks at The Best of "Star Trek", Volume 2. Then, join Aaron Wallace for The Best of "Star Trek: The Next Generation", Volume 2. Each of these single-disc releases holds four major episodes from the iconic hour-long sci-fi series.
November 15, 2009 - Our review of Walt Disney Treasures: "Zorro" - The Complete First Season has been updated and finalized. Synopses, screencaps, and credits now represent the entire 41-episode limited edition set, which has been hard to find in stores. More...
Upcoming DVDs of ten major studio movies are now just $9.99 each at Amazon.com. Enjoying the competitive stocking stuffer prices are Disney's G-Force and Santa Buddies: The Legend of Santa Paws, Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, Julie & Julia, Four Christmases, My Sister's Keeper, and the single-disc versions of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Star Trek, Terminator Salvation, and Angels & Demons.
November 13, 2009 - Aaron Wallace wraps up our coverage of this week's new Pixar Blu-ray/DVD combos with a detailed look at Monsters, Inc.. The studio's beloved but somewhat overlooked fourth film makes its high-def debut with two Blu-ray discs, Disc 1 of 2002's fully loaded two-disc DVD, and a digital copy of the movie. Bonus features are gained and lost and this is the only place you'll find out about both. Read on...
Those looking to buy all three of this week's Pixar Blu-ray/DVD Combos might want to consider Amazon.com. Add Up, Monsters, Inc., and Cars: Ultimate Gift Pack to your cart, then type in the promotional coupon code PIXARBLU at checkout to receive $26 off. At current pricing, your total drops to $42.47, a whopping 69% off the trio's $136.97 list price. If you just want Up and one of the other two, use coupon UPBLURAY to receive $15 off your order. Added bonuses include not wasting time, gas, and ink; qualifying for free Super Saver Shipping (and likely no sales tax); and -- best of all -- a portion of your purchase would support this site, which has brought you detailed reviews of all three titles in the past week.
Disney has announced a February 2nd Special Edition of Air Bud: Golden Receiver ($29.99 SRP) that's very much in the mold of last March's Air Bud rerelease. The 1998 football family film, the franchise's first sequel and its last to go to theaters, will receive a new 16:9-enhanced widescreen transfer and the bonus feature "Sports Channel Play-by-Play Buddies Style", in which Air Bud's talking pups become broadcasters discussing his gridiron greatness. Included on pack is an Air Bud sports whistle necklace.
November 12, 2009 - Our newest review covers Brüno, the third and latest film born out of Sacha Baron Cohen's "Da Ali G Show" personalities. This one closely follows Cohen's hit Oscar-nominated 2006 mockumentary Borat, as it brings the eponymous Austrian fashion reporter to America, where he hopes to find fame at any cost. Extras on Universal's DVD include nearly an hour of deleted/extended/alternate scenes (including the widely-reported, hastily-cut La Toya Jackson interview scene, which you can see here) and an enhanced out-of-character commentary by Cohen and director Larry Charles. Check out the full review if you dare.
November 11, 2009 - Funny People marks something different for star Adam Sandler and writer/director Judd Apatow. Despite the title adjective, the nearly 3-hour film leans more heavily to drama than comedy. One of Universal's big summer flops, the film co-stars Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann, Jonah Hill, Jason Schwartzman, and Eric Bana. Read our review.
November 10, 2009 - Kelvin Cedeno covers another of today's new Pixar releases, with his review of Cars: Ultimate Cars Gift Pack. The 2006 DVD and an updated Blu-ray of Pixar's seventh feature film come together alongside model cars of Lightning McQueen and Mater. Bonus features include theatrical short One Man Band, made-for-video Mater and the Ghostlight, deleted scenes, two audio commentaries with Cine-Explore visual enhancements, a featurette, documentary shorts and more. See our review for much more, including a high-res photo of the Ransburg-painted character cars.
The reviews continue with a look at Say Anything...: 20th Anniversary Edition. Cameron Crowe's first directorial effort stars John Cusack as an average guy dating the beautiful valedictorian (Ione Skye) upon their high school class' graduation. Fox's recent re-release of this esteemed late-'80s romance includes two new featurettes and all of the fixings of the movie's 2002 Special Edition disc, including an audio commentary that runs longer than the film and nearly an hour of deleted, extended, and alternate scenes. Read on...
Aaron Wallace serves up our review of Walt Disney Treasures: "Zorro" - The Complete Second Season, which picks up where its only concurrent Treasures tin leaves off, supplying 39 half-hour episodes and 2 hour-long shows starring the people's masked outlaw and his civil alter ego. Additional bonus features on this very limited 6-disc set include an introduction by Leonard Maltin and two all-new retrospective featurettes. Read the full review.
November 6, 2009 - We've just posted an interview with Up writers/directors Pete Docter and Bob Peterson, conducted last week in conjunction with the movie's DVD and Blu-ray release. The filmmakers, who have been with Pixar since before Toy Story's release, discuss Up's inspirations, characters, look and sound, as well as their related trips to Venezuela and Cannes. Click here to read the full 2-page article.
In anticipation of Tuesday's DVD and Blu-ray release of Up, we bring you Up Fun Facts. These two dozen tidbits shed light on everything from animation challenges to repeat Pixar voice actors to the appearances of company staples (the number A113, Luxo Jr.'s ball, the Pizza Planet truck). We've included more pictures from the film. Check out Up Fun Facts and don't miss our fully-loaded Up Blu-ray and Deluxe DVD Review.
More of Disney Channel sitcom "Jonas" is coming to DVD with the release of Volume 2, titled I ♥ Jonas, on January 26, 2010. The slipcovered disc ($19.99 SRP) will contain 7 additional episodes, a bonus feature in which Jordin Sparks gets "JoBro'd" (pranked), and three I <3 Jonas magnets (one for each brother). Two weeks later, Minnie Mouse will take the spotlight in "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse": Minnie's Bow-tique, a 4-episode collection equipped with two Interactive Adventure modes. This February 9th release ($19.99 SRP), the eighth born out of the Playhouse Disney show, will also include a Minnie magnet.
Our updated latest review looks at Up, Pixar's tenth and latest hit feature film. In it, a 78-year-old widower uses thousands of helium balloons to lift his house to the exotic South American mountains he's always planned on seeing. Joining him are this adventure are a young Wilderness Explorer needing a badge, a giant tropical bird, and a friendly dog who communicates via a mechanical collar. Our review covers next Tuesday's 4-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo pack, which keeps most extras exclusive to the two Blu-ray discs. We'll also be bringing you an interview with the film's directors. For now, check out the review.
November 3, 2009 - Today brings the ninth wave of Walt Disney Treasures DVDs, the smallest wave in print run and subjects, but the largest by disc count. We've got a review of "Zorro": The Complete First Season, which serves up the 39 half-hour episodes that aired on ABC during the 1957-58 season plus two of the hour-long 1960 anthology installments, a Leonard Maltin introduction, a Zorro featurette, a "Fourth Anniversary Show" except, a pin, a lithograph, and a certificate of authenticity. Read the full review.
Recent Disney DVD and Blu-ray Reviews:
• Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed In at the House of Mouse - More than 60 characters from over 70 years of Disney animation come together for this hour-long feature comprised largely of two classic holiday Disney shorts and two 1999 "Mickey Mouse Works" segments. Bonus features include the premiere "House of Mouse" episode, a short sound effects featurette with Mickey voice Wayne Allwine, and two sing-along songs.
• Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure - In this second entry to the direct-to-video computer-animated Disney Fairies movie series, the Peter Pan pixie works to construct a scepter for the Autumn Revelry, a task of importance to all in Pixie Hollow. Our article looks at the Blu-ray/DVD combo and includes Demi Lovato's music video "Gift of a Friend" in full.
• Disney Educational Productions DVDs - Eight recent classroom-ready DVDs are covered here: three from The Science of Disney Imagineering series, three Disneynature discs (including two exclusive documentaries), and two from the new mathematical short series Bill Nye's Solving for X. Each disc includes a DVD-ROM educator's guide and public performance rights. Other bonus features include quizzes on the featured content, project demonstrations, and featurettes taking us behind the scenes of Disney's Animal Kingdom.
Recent Non-Disney DVD and Blu-ray Reviews:
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (Blu-ray/DVD Combo) - In this third entry to Blue Sky's hit prehistoric computer-animated franchise, mammoths Manny and Ellie are expecting, while Sid gets mixed up with a family of Tyrannosauruses. The 3-disc set serves up an audio commentary, deleted scenes, a Storybook Maker game, Scrat's two shorts, and 13 making-of featurettes.
• North by Northwest: 50th Anniversary Edition - From the middle of the period for which the director is best remembered, this 1959 comic thriller stars Cary Grant as a New York ad executive mistaken for a spy and wanted dead. Warner's new 2-disc set includes TCM's feature-length Grant biography, new documentaries on the film and Hitchcock's signature style, an audio commentary, a track isolating Bernard Herrmann's score, the 2000 DVD's making-of featurette hosted by Eva Marie Saint, three trailers, and stills.
• Orphan - Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, and Isabelle Fuhrman star in this psychological thriller about an adopted girl who may be quite evil. Warner's DVD includes deleted scenes and an alternate ending.
• Taking of Pelham 123 - John Travolta plays a man who hijacks a New York City subway train asking for $10 million. Denzel Washington is the dispatcher turned negotiator. On DVD, this R-rated action remake is joined by two audio commentaries, three featurettes, and three trailers.
• Whatever Works - Woody Allen returns to New York for this comedy about a misanthropic intellectual (Larry David, "Curb Your Enthusiasm") who marries a young Southern belle (Evan Rachel Wood). Patricia Clarkson, Michael McKean, and Ed Begley Jr. co-star in this film, originally conceived in the 1970s.
• Peanuts 1970's Collection, Vol 1 - Six animated CBS specials that first aired from 1971 to 1974 come together in a two-disc set that also includes two song downloads and a featurette on Woodstock. Among the featured specials are It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, You're Not Elected, Charlie Brown, Emmy winner A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, and two programs never before released to DVD.
• "Legend of the Seeker": The Complete First Season - Adapted from Terry Goodkind's bestselling Sword of Truth novels, this syndicated series centers on a young man prophesied to vanquish an evil lord. The 5-disc set serves up 22 episodes plus audio commentaries, featurettes, and extended scenes. Get a look at the show with video clips and much more.
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