The box office smash hit Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel sings and shakes its way to Blu-ray Disc/DVD Combo Pack, “Squeak-Along” double DVD, and DVD Single Disc March 30th from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment.  A follow-up to 2007’s Alvin and the Chipmunks, Chipmunk singing sensations Alvin, Simon and Theodore are back for an encore in this hilarious “squeakquel” packed with over an hour more of music. The Squeak-Along bonus content includes new sing-alongs such as Beyonce’s “Single Ladies,” teaches audiences how to dance like the Chipmunks with the “Shake Your Groove Thing” dance instructional video, games and more nutty fun for the whole family!

“Alvin and the Chipmunks” starts off in Paris with Dave (played by Jason Lee, “My Name is Earl”, “Monster House”, “Chasing Amy”) watching over Alvin (voiced by Justin Long, “Live Free and Die Long”, “Planet 51″, “Funny People”), Simon (voiced by Matthew Gray Gubler, “(500) Days of Summer”) and Theodore (voiced by Jesse McCartney, “Greek”) as they perform for a charity.  Dave warns Alvin to not show off because he has to take his brothers into consideration but of course, in his mind, Alvin is the star of the show and eventually shows off.  Unfortunately, by showing off, Alvin accidentally puts Dave into the hospital with broken bones throughout his body.

Because Dave can’t watch over the three, he depends on his Aunt Jackie (played by Kathryn Joosten, “Desperate Housewives”) to watch over them.  But at the airport, her videogame playing, not much of an achiever nephew Toby (played by Zachary Levi, “Chuck”) accidentally pushes her wheelchair and Jackie ends up getting hurt while falling over several steps.  Thus the irresponsible Toby is now responsible for watching over Alvin, Simon and Theodore and also making sure he can prepare them for school.

Meanwhile, the villain of the last film, Jett Records Executive Ian Hawke (“Kung Fu Panda”, “Year One”) is still reeling of how he lost everything because of Alvin and the Chipmunks and despises them.  How will he ever bounce back and become a prominent music exec?  Well, Ian Hawke is fortunate when three female chipmunks known as “The Chipettes” land literally in front of his building’s doorsteps.

From director Betty Thomas (Dr. Dolittle), the heartwarming film stars Golden Globe nominee* Jason Lee (“My Name Is Earl”), Emmy Award winner** David Cross (“Arrested Development”) and Zachary Levi (“Chuck”), and features vocal talent from franchise veterans Justin Long (He’s Just Not That Into You), Matthew Gray Gubler (500 Days of Summer) and actor-pop heartthrob Jesse McCartney (Alvin and the Chipmunks).  Newcomers Christina Applegate (“Samantha Who”), Anna Faris (The House Bunny) and Amy Poehler (“Saturday Night Live”) lend their voices to the musically talented Chipettes as Brittany, Jeanette and Eleanor, respectively.

The hit soundtrack to the Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel features The Chipmunks and The Chipettes covering some of today’s top hits and classic tracks as well as original songs including “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” “Hot N Cold,” “Stayin’ Alive,” and “I Gotta Feeling.” The album is certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over 500,000 and has reached #1 on the Billboard Top Soundtrack chart and #6 on the Billboard Top 200 Album chart.


The Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack includes a high definition Blu-ray version of the film, and all hilarious bonus features from the Squeak-Along Bonus Disc including Sing-Alongs, Chipmunk Adventures, Munk Music Machine, Meet the Chipettes, Meet The Rising Stars, Music Mania, Shake Your Groove Thing, Music Videos, a Live Lookup featurette, and much more.  The pack also includes a Digital Copy and a standard DVD.

Alvin and The Chipmunks: The squeakquel fails to live up to the original’s stronger plot and better applied story. However there is no denying the allure of the cute and cuddly Chipmunks as depicted on film. The addition of the Chipettes plus the reworked music and dance numbers featuring the Chipmunks prove entertaining. Like the original this film looks great in high definition and Fox has included an excellent array of bonus supplements to boot.

Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Special Features:
Disc One
    ·      Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Blu-ray
    ·      Munking History: 50 Years of Chipmunk Mischief, Mayhem & Music
    ·      Munk Music Machine
    ·      Meet the Chipettes
    ·      Rockin’ Rising Stars
    ·      Music Mania
    ·      Meet the Stuffies
    ·      Shake Your Groove Thing! with Rosero
    ·      Music Videos & Sing-Alongs “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It),” “We Are Family,” “Shake Your Groove Thing”
    ·      Music Videos: (“You Really Got Me” featuring Honor Society & “The Song” featuring Queensberry)
    ·      A-l-v-i-n-n-n-n!!! Album Maker
    ·      Live Lookup
    ·      Music In A Nutshell: Song Trivia
    ·      The Chipmunks: Behind the Squeaking
    ·      A-NUT-omy of a Scene

Disc Two
    ·      Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel feature film

Disc Three
    ·      Digital Copy

“Squeak-Along” Double DVD
Disc One
    ·      Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Blu-ray
    ·      Munk Music Machine
    ·      Music Mania

Disc Two
    ·      Munking History : 50 Years of Chipmunk Mischief, Mayhem & Music
    ·      Meet the Chipettes
    ·      Rockin’ Rising Stars
    ·      Chipmunks: Behind the Squeaking
    ·      A-NUT-omy of a Scene
    ·      Meet the Stuffies
    ·      Shake Your Groove Thing!  With Rosero
    ·      Music Videos & Sing-Along (“Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)”, “We Are Family,” &
ldquo;Shake Your Groove Thing”

Single-Disc DVD Special Features
    ·      Munk Music Machine
    ·      Music Mania Featurette

Not being a fan of sports movies, I didn’t go into The Blind Side with the highest of expectations.  I was afraid this would be another cliché sports movie about an underdog football player helping his team to win at the last possible second.  That’s why I was thrilled to discover that the film is not actually about football, but a person who just happens to be a football player. Michael Oher of the Baltimore Ravens suffered great hardships in his youth, but was able to overcome with the help of a family that took him in as one of their own.  The filmmakers manage to tell this inspiring story while maintaining a strong balance of humor and drama.  A definite crowd-pleaser, football might be a constant presence throughout the film, but the movie is about so much more.

At the center of the film is Sandra Bullock’s career-best (and Oscar-winning) performance as Leigh Anne Tuohy, a strong-willed, slightly intimidating Southern woman.  Bullock completely loses herself in the performance.  The recently released Blu-Ray has several behind the scenes features showing the real Tuohy, and it is amazing just how perfectly Bullock represents the character.  She encapsulates everything about this woman, and it is an astonishing to see her transformation.

Quinton Aaron, who plays Oher, doesn’t seem to be doing as much of an impersonation, but his performance is just as strong.  Much like the real-life Oher, Aaron is a very large individual.  But he portrays the character with a frailty in direct contradiction to his physical features.  Seeing Aaron’s representation of this meek giant alongside Bullock’s performance as a tiny powerhouse is fascinating.

When these two characters first meet, Oher is walking down the road at night, alone.  He is heading towards the school gym so he could have a warm place to sleep.  Tuohy’s family happens to be passing and offers him a place to spend the night.  Before they know it, this one generous offer has led to Oher essentially becoming a member of their family.  Throughout the course of the film, we watch his bond develop with Leigh Ann, her husband Sean, daughter Collins and son S.J. (Sean, Jr.).  S.J. often steals the movie from the rest of the cast with his over-the-top energy and enthusiasm for everything around him.  I don’t know how much the real S.J. is like this character, but this portrayal is a lot of fun to watch. 

As Oher is a large African-American, and the Tuohy’s are a rich white family, this does lead to conflict in their town.  The film does briefly address this conflict, but it is given very little notice overall.  In fact, it’s mostly played for humor such as when Oher is included in their Christmas card.  But overall, race is not the point of the film.  It’s about the bond between this family, and their attempt to help him become the best person he can be with his given background. 

There are elements of the story that are cliched, and overall, it does seem kind of manipulative.  But for the most part, the film works.  The only segment that really felt out of place was a brief sequence where Oher runs away after being told by the NCAA that the Tuohy’s might have been so kind to him simply to push him towards playing football at their chosen school.  This moment comes out of nowhere, and is resolved relatively briefly.  I understand that it might have been a significant moment in their real lives, but it didn’t seem to fit in the context of this film.

The most interesting element of the recently released Blu-Ray is the footage of the real-life Leigh Ann talking behind-the-scenes with Bullock.  They seem to have become good friends and it’s fascinating to see how much work went into Bullock’s portrayal.  There is also a brief interview (about 10 minutes) with the real-life Michael Oher, who discusses key moments throughout the film and what it was like to actually live those moments.  Other features include a look at a sequence involving several SEC college football coaches who played themselves in the film.  I don’t watch football, and didn’t even realize these were real people when I was watching the movie, but it was a lot of fun to see all of their enthusiasm to be on a film set, as well as the cast and crew’s enthusiasm to be working with them.  Rounding out the extras are a rather dull feature on Aaron and the parallels of his life to the role he played, and a conversation between the director (John Lee Hancock) and the author of the book on which the film is based (Michael Lewis).  There are also four deleted scenes.

Yes, I admit that the film is not perfect.  There isn’t a lot of drama to the story.  Mostly, it consists of watching happy people helping other people out.  As I said, there is a little bit of forced drama and manufactured conflict, but this is a movie designed to make you feel good.  That’s probably why audiences responded so well to it in the theatres.  It doesn’t matter whether you like sports movies or not.  Only the most cynical viewers wouldn’t be moved by this touching story.

I had no interest in Fantastic Mr. Fox when I first saw the previews.  The animation looked sloppy, the story lackluster, and the characters two-dimensional.  Having never read Roald Dahl’s classic book, I had no nostalgia fueling a desire for the film.  To me, it just looked like a waste of time.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Writer/director Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Life Aquatic) has utilized the artistry of stop-motion animation to create his most sophisticated and beautiful film to date.  While there is never a sense of reality to the proceedings, I still found myself believing in this cast of animals.  There is a subtlety to the performances (and there is no question that these “dolls” are giving performances) that rivals the live-action work of the voice cast.

As the “fantastic” Mr. Fox, George Clooney gives an inspired performance.  Much has been made about his recent work in this year’s Up In the Air, but I found this voice work just as worthy of accolade, if not more so.  The character has the cockiness you typically find in a Clooney performance, but it is matched by a frailty I’m not used to getting from him. 

As the movie begins, we realize that Mr. Fox is a chicken thief.  Mrs. Fox (an amazing as always performance by Meryl Street) asks him to give up his life of crime due to her pregnancy.  Flash forward several “fox years,” and Mr. Fox is now a reporter, having put his old life behind him.  Their son Ash (Anderson staple Jason Schwartzman) is jealous of his visiting cousin Kristofferson, which sets off the expected family drama.  This drama just happens to be in a family of foxes. 

Eventually, Mr. Fox decides to pull off the ultimate heist of three several successful farmers named Bean, Boggis and Bunce.  Putting together a team of various animals, the film escalates into an animated Ocean’s 11, just with foxes and badgers instead of people.  Without giving too much away, the situation evolves as expected and the story quickly turns into a rescue operation.

It’s a very simple story, especially considering the fact that Dahl’s book is only Act Two of the film.  Anderson created a beginning and an ending that are not part of the original story.  And yet, everything flows together perfectly, thematically and story-wise.  However, the film isn’t all about the story.  This is a film that thrives on style.

I already mentioned how subtle the performances are, but what I haven’t touched on is the humor of the film.  This movie is hilarious.  Not only is the dialogue fantastically funny, but there is a very unusual style of visual play at work.  The way the sequences are framed, the transitions and just the style of movement lend themselves to some of the best sight gags I’ve seen in a long time.

The world that populates these fantastic characters and sequences is beautiful in it’s own right.  There are over 120 sets, and they all look like they exist perfectly in this world that has been created.  Every shot is gorgeous, and it is obvious that the people behind the scenes are artists.  You don’t often get artistry, even in animation, and it’s a real treat to see a product that is not created by committee, but rather one where you can feel the passion behind-the-scenes.

This artistry becomes even more apparent when watching the Behind-The-Scenes features on the newly released Blu-Ray.  There is a feature called “Making Mr. Fox Fantastic,” that runs a little under 45 minutes.  This is broken up into many sections, including “The Look of Fantastic Mr. Fox,” “From Scipt to Screen,” “The Puppet Makers,” etc.  It’s a thoroughly in-depth accounting of the entire process, beginning when Anderson was writing the script from Roald Dahl’s house.  This was a passion project, and it shows.

I loved everything about this movie.  It has all the quirkiness you’d expect from a Wes Anderson film, and it turns out that animation is the perfect outlet for that style.  As mentioned, Clooney, Streep, and Schwartzman do great work, but there are also fantastic performances from Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray and Michael Gambon.  It’s a very adult film that would completely appeal to children.  At the same time, it’s a great children’s film that any adult would love.  This balance is very tricky to pull off (usually reserved for Pixar movies), but Anderson got it exactly right.  His perfect understanding of the material helped make this one of last year’s best.

I think it goes without saying that getting to review movies is a great opportunity. Not only do I get to share my thoughts and opinions, but I also get exposure to a lot of different films I would normally have missed out on. However, there is a negative side to all of this. Every now and again, a film comes my way that is something I would never watch of my own free will. Something that I just know is excruciatingly awful before watching a single frame. Something such as “Free Willy: Escape From Pirate’s Cove.”I know that I’m not the demographic for a movie like this. All I can do when going in to these types of films is try to keep an open mind and view the film from the perspective of the intended audience. So that’s what I did. And I think that I can safely say that the intended audience (namely VERY young children) will not be entertained. They might not be quite as insulted as I was, but I seriously doubt many children will find much to like.

Having seen the first Free Willy but none of the sequels, I didn’t really know how this film tied in to the overall Willy mythology. It turns out that this story bears absolutely no connection to any of the other stories beyond Willy’s name. Bindi Irwin (daugher of the late Steve Irwin) stars as Kirra, a young Australian girl forced to spend a summer with her slightly eccentric grandfather Gus (Beau Bridges) in South Africa. Running a dying theme park, Gus is thrilled when a young orca washes into his lagoon during a storm. Of course, he sees this young killer whale as the perfect opportunity to give his park a needed edge over another local, much more elaborate theme park. Giving young Kirra the opportunity to name his new attraction, she randomly decides on “Willy” for no reason beyond giving the film a connection to the rest of the franchise.

Of course, having already established Kirra’s connection to animals in the opening scenes of the film, she quickly bonds with Willy. One of my big pet peeves in film is when an animal character can seemingly understand English, express human emotion and interacts with humans in a way simply to serve the plot. This movie is practically nothing but this sort of behavior. A large portion of the film focuses on Kirra’s attempts to get Willy to eat, and the battle between them and the eventual explanation as to his lack of appetite all ends up pretty silly. After numerous explanations of how killer whales don’t hurt people, Kirra ends up repeatedly in the water, even riding Willy as if he were a horse.

These sequences are laughable enough on paper, but I was amazed at how awful it looked on screen. All sequences where you see Willy above the water are obviously some sort of animatronic/puppet, and all sequences under the water are animated with some of the worst CGI I’ve seen in a long time. Every underwater effect in the film looks like a sub-par video game. It still would have been an awful script, but the film might have been more bearable if there was ANY footage of an actual killer whale.

Of course, there are villains in the film as well. The owner of the rival park is desperate to get Willy for his own park, and the rivalry between him and Gus sets up a lot of the “action of the film.” Eventually, there is an attempted kidnapping, and the film actually resorts to a shot of Willy ripping a guy’s pants, just enough to show his underwear as he scrambles out of the water. Yes, it is that kind of movie.

The only person who comes out of this semi-unscathed is Beau Bridges. I’m not going to say he was good, but he managed a decent balance between over-the-top silliness and an actual representation of a real human being. His struggle with trying to do the right thing by Willy and Kirra and his desire to expand his park was semi-believable, and occasionally even slightly compelling.

As this is a Direct-to-Video Blu-Ray, I wasn’t expecting a whole lot in terms of extras and I was right. The features are geared towards the young children who would be watching, and as such, there isn’t much substance. Most of the features center around Bindi, and she actually comes across more likeable in these features than she does in the film itself. She’s absolutely comfortable in front of the camera, and when she gets to be Bindi Irwin, she’s a natural. When she’s playing Kirra, her acting is never anything but forced.

The features are all very short, and they never show anything besides the cast and crew having fun with each other. I thought it was kind of interesting that they never acknowledge the fake Willy, and constantly refer to it as a real animal that they were filming with. I guess they actually expect kids to buy into the illusion, but I don’t think they’re giving these kids enough credit.

As I said above, I’m not the demographic for this movie. However, there are amazing films out there for children, and I’d hate to think that too many of them would be passing over quality films for something as silly as this. I don’t know how much of a draw the Free Willy brand is, but beyond that, I can’t think of any reason a child would want to watch this. It’s a cheesy and silly film, and not worth anyone’s time regardless of how young you are.

“It is not the challenge of dollars; it is the challenge of ideals and ideas. If the producers of pictures see only the dollar, then I believe those production efforts will fail” Harry Warner at an American Legion dinner back in the 1930’s. This quote truly brings out what the film industry should be about. It also hits upon not only what we see on the screen or TV but how we should live our lives. Something four extraordinary brothers did at a time when many people were just trying to scrape by or do what everyone else did. This is the story of the Brothers Warner who forged their own path and broke down walls that stood in the way of “educate, entertain, enlighten” the world.

This is a documentary of the ups and downs of these four men, Albert, harry, Jack, and Sam, whom many people know nothing about. This is evident in the beginning as director writer Cass Warner Sperling found out when she went out into the public to see if anyone knew if the brothers were real or just a namesake. To be the granddaughter of a Harry and a family that made way for so many studios because they took the risks many wouldn’t and to find out that most people didn’t know they were real, must be disheartening. This is why she set out to bring their story to light. The chances, heartache, rivalry, pioneering, and drive that made Warner Brothers Studio become what it was and is today.

Told through Cass’ narration, we learn from the beginning what four brothers did to create such a milestone of entertainment community. The family immigrated to the US from the part of Russia that is now Poland so that they could be educated and to work, something that was not a right or guaranteed at a time. Since they had no schooling, most of the children went to work. Around 1903, Sam and Harry, saw a nickelodeon show and immediately knew what they wanted to do, soon after Albert and Jack were on board as well. With the help of other family members, including hawking the family heirloom watch and “Bob” the horse, the brothers were in the movie business. Over time after opening up a store front theater using a sheet and borrowed chairs, making their own movies that true profit was in the distribution of films. In 1923 Warner Brothers Pictures Inc. was born. The company would do many things to change the landscape of the industry; the first ‘talkie’ in “The Jazz Singer” which brought sound to film and was the axe to silent films in 1927, making controversial films, “I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang” that helped spark nation reform of prisons or “Confessions of a Nazi Spy” that first told and used the word ‘Nazi’ to the world. The four brothers had their work; Harry as President of the company, Sam the CEO, Albert the Treasure, and Jack as the Executive in charge of Operations.

Even though Harry was the oldest and business savvy, Sam the one who drove the brothers into advancing technologies and Albert the financial brain trust, it was Jack who stood out the most and was the ‘face’ of the company. Jack tended to do things his way or else and if you didn’t like it you were gone. He was the boisterous fellow and life of the ‘party’ that was over the top. Yet when it came down to business he knew what was good for the brothers, the company, and the public. He led the company all the way up to the late 60’s when Warner Bros. Pictures as he knew it came to an end. The Brothers Warner were no part of the film industry. An industry they helped forge and in some cases changed. Whether they were signing the likes of Errol Flynn, Bette Davis, James Cagney, or Humphrey Bogart to star in some of the most memorable films or creating such masterpieces as “The Jazz Singer”, “Yankee Doodle Dandy”, “Casablanca”, “A Star is Born”, and “Camelot”.

This documentary has some wonderful clips from the golden age of cinema. Showcasing the talent the studio helped get started, the film makers they made, the historians who continue to educate those who want to know, facts of these four charming men. What started out as a search for the real surname of her grandfather, Cass Warner Sperling takes us on an amusing journey of the Warner family up thru the eventual sale to Seven Arts and eventually to its current state with AOL and Time as the multi conglomerate AOL Time Warner Communications. Cass does a good job of bringing this story to the public. Whether it is thru the home movies, casual interviews with the aforementioned actors, directors and scholars or her personal search filming, she does well in staying true to the family credo. When it comes to the overall feel of the presentation, it does seem a little slow paced at times and the filming of Cass on screen looks amateurish. With such a huge undertaking of the history of these men, the family, the people and themes they exposed, I would have thought that even though they may not be owned by the family anymore, the studio would have backed her more and given it a much cleaner look and finish.

In all, I want to give my two cents of this production and its meaning, Family. We are all born into one and sometimes find new ones along our path in life. There will always be joy, heartache, reward, support and love within that family as long as you stick together and know each other’s weaknesses and strengths. At times your duty within the family may change and you have to pick up the pace and keep everyone together. No matter what happens when it is done as a family no one can impede your climb to success, not financially, physically, or most important, spiritually. The family Warner credo says what most families should strive for as a group, “educate, entertain, enlighten”. Oh and the Warner family true surname, Wonskolaser.

It was announced by former Disney CEO Michael Eisner that Disney’s Home on the Range would be the companies last hand-drawn animated feature film due to the rise of CGI animated movies.  It was inevitable the end was coming with such flops as Brother Bear and Treasure Planet and such CGI blockbusters as Disney / Pixar’s Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc. along with other hits as Dreamworks Shrek.  Thankfully a very dedicated and true Disney spirit that stood for quality (John Lasseter) was promoted to chief creative officer of both Pixar and Walt Disney Animated Studios.  Lasseter pushes for great stories told with heart and standards Disney has been held up to for so many years allowing for a return toward traditional 2D animation.  Finally, after many revisions, Disney has gallantly restored its rightful place as a king in animation.

Featurette: The Return to the Animated Musical (Bonus)

From directors John Musker and Ron Clements (Aladdin, Little Mermaid and Hercules), The Princess and the Frog tells the story of a lovely teenage girl Tiana (ANIKA NONI ROSE) living in New Orleans of the early 1920’s with a dream of someday owning her very own restaurant, Tiana’s Place.  After the passing of her father, yes another Disney story with only one parent, Tiana’s dream seems unreachable without having enough money to fix up an old falling apart building.  Tiana is still determined and hopes that her obnoxiously spoiled diva yet hysterically funny of a best friend Charlotte le Bouff (JENNIFER CODY) will marry Prince Naveen of Maldonia (BRUCE CAMPOS) to help pay to fix up the old hole in the wall.

The prince is however in town to strike a deal with a shady voodoo doctor, our villain of the story, voiced by KEITH DAVID.  When the deal goes wrong, the prince is turned into a frog.  The prince attempts to become human again by a kiss on the lips with Tiana due to some confusion with a promise to her that he will pay for her restaurant.  That kiss takes an unexpected turn causing Tiana to turn into a frog herself where the insane adventures begin on their quest to become human again.

The two frog’s wild and sometimes ludicrous journey is filled with many outrageous obstacles to get where they are headed.  Okay, this is something seen in countless movies time and time again, but it doesn’t matter how many movies this takes place in as long as the journey justifies the outcome and we found the characters progressing in the story.  Fortunately, The Princess and the Frog manages to pull it off.   Their adventure will take them through the mystical bayous of Louisiana to the banks of the Mississippi and back to the French Quarter for Mardi Gras with a little bit of ageless humor and buoyantly cheerful music.  Along their journey the Prince and Tiana learn about one another as they get help by a 197-year-old priestess, a hopeless romantic Cajun firefly cleverly named Ray, and a trumpet-playing alligator to help their coming of age story teaching them what they want isn’t what they need.

This is a very charming tale with fantastic music that’s actually a nice change from the typical Disney cheesy sing-a-longs from the past.  Instead, the audience is treated to high-energy original themed music very fitting to the time period and setting of the film.  It’s very jazzy and upbeat with a sense of soul and gospel; never too much of one way or another allowing the music to appeal to a broader audience.  There are the traditional and needed slower songs to share emotion from Tiana’s character and dark somewhat scary music, yet strangely more comically big band jazz music to accompany the villains twisted moments.

The entire film is absolutely gorgeous, just magnificent; truly whimsical when appropriate and lush and colorful at other times.  The opening sequence has the great multipane camera shots allowing for multiple background layers and shots zooming in and through trees.  The rays of sun sparkle to an almost gold shine lighting up the trees in each shot.  Music quickly begins with a musical score by Randy Newman giving it a warm feel to the movie similar to Toy Story or Monsters Inc. which is fine except I have watched too many satires making fun of how he sings ruining it for me a little.  Nonetheless, the majority of the time his music is faintly in the background and doesn’t interfere.

The Princess and the Frog brings a new level to an animated Disney film.  It follows more along the lines of Pixar with story and heart and has the charm of the Disney films of the 50’s and early 90’s.  It’s finally a film that has an organic feel to it making everything seem natural and not contemporary like most new CGI films of the 2000’s.  The film still follows a classic formula set by Disney.  Toward the beginning is a Shag styling scene in much remembrance of scenes like “Just Want to be King” in The Lion King or the simplistic less realistic stylized song numbers like “You Got A Friend In Me” in Aladdin or “Be Our Guest” in Beauty and the Beast.  There always seem to be one or two of these abstract scenes in almost every one of Disney new animated musicals.  This keeps the audience realizing you are watching a dream or an outlandish production number that wouldn’t be realistic in the setting or tone of the rest of the film.

You can argue the Americanization of Disney stories and other factors that have been argued about Disney films for the past 50 to 60 decades, but the point is that this movie has everything the classics have had that lead them to such success.  It will surly bring joy to children in theaters across the nation.  It’s a throwback to old fairytales the parents grew up with giving plenty enjoyment and new memories for families.  I anticipate this to be highly successful not just now, but over the course of the future too.  Princess Tiana is now in the Disney Princess line up and I doubt she’s going anywhere.

Throughout our lives we hope to find that one person. Not the one we want to spend our lives with, so to speak, but that one friend who knows us best. What your thoughts are, what you are going to do, how to set you up to succeed, or back you up when all hell breaks loose. Or do you? This is the story of “Old Dogs” with John Travolta (Bolt, Hairspray) and Robin Williams (Night at the Museum, Man of the Year) under the direction of Walt Becker (Wild Hogs, Van Wilder) and we are just about to find out one such friendship in this family comedy.

Along with these two powerhouse names in Travolta and Williams are two very lovable actors in Conner Rayburn (Invention of Lying, According to Jim) and introducing Travolta’s daughter Ella Bleu Travolta. Rounding out the cast in this romp about those whom we should trust is Seth Green (Family Guy, Robot Chicken) as the exec, who’s obsessed with Japanese culture, Kelly Preston (Sky High, Cat in the Hat) as the fling who shows up with a surprise, Lori Loughlin (90210, Full House) as the interpreter, and a throng of cameos including Ann-Margaret, Matt Dillon, Rita Wilson and the late Bernie Mac. Creating the mayhem of life director Becker had the written talents of David Diamond and David Weissman (Minutemen, Evolution).

This is about two men, Charlie and Dan (Travolta, Williams) who are owners of a sports marketing firm. Two friends who have been together since high school, gone to college, started a business together and are working on their biggest venture to date. All the while Charlie is the impulsive one who is all adventure, chasing young women, party guy and Dan is the down to earth, by the numbers, failed marriage and not too good with children guy. This friendship is tested when 8 years after Dan’s divorce, a weekend fling, Vicki (Preston) shows up with a surprise. He’s a dad and to add to that, twins, Zach and Emily (Rayburn, Ella Bleu). At this point we find out that Vicki has to go to jail for her political mischief and after Dan injures the, would be, sitter Aunt Jenna (Wilson). Dan steps up to get to know his kids and watch them during Vicki’s incarceration, not taking into account he is working on a multi-million dollar deal with a Japanese corporation. This is where the fun ensues when you take two kids who are at an age where everything is about fun and put them with two guys who are not “kid” friendly.

The story is a good, humorous look at two men who are polar opposites when it comes to their personal lives but in business work really well together. Travolta playing the philanderer comes of like a cross of his previous characters Danny Zuko from Grease and Woody Stevens from Wild Hogs. Williams is fun to watch purely for the fact he plays the ‘straight’ man in this comedy, almost like a fish out of water at times. The true stars of this film are Rayburn and Ella Bleu. It is true that it’s tough to do any productions with kids because they can steal a show. These two work very well with one another and it shows on the screen. Like two veteran actors doing there umpteenth film. Rayburn truly is a little veteran having done several years on TV and now making the push to the big screen. Ella Bleu is wonderful to watch as she grows into the character as the film progresses. It will be a treat to see these two grow professionally. I wish them the best. The supporting cast of this film does well to play there parts and keep the film moving as we see these four come together as a family. And a family affair it was with Preston playing Vicki.

Added to this Blu-ray combo are the DVD and Digital Copy and features that show some fun and excitement of working with such a dynamic cast. An enjoyable look at Travolta and Williams is thru an interview by their young co-stars, Rayburn with Williams and Ella Bleu with her dad. My favorite part of the interview is Rayburn asking Williams to pay for his college tuition and Williams agreeing as long as Rayburn will employ him. Of course no Williams’s comedy can be complete without bloopers. This segment truly shows that when you’re on set with the likes of Travolta and then throw in Williams there is bound to be numerous takes because you never know what’s going to happen. There are also three deleted scenes that were good choices to cut even though the “Body Check” scene is admirable in context. Two music videos are also include, one with Bryan Adams playing every part of the band for the title song “You’ve Been a Friend to Me” and the fun redo of the Bobby Brown song “Every Little Step” by Ella Bleu and Travolta. This video is a fun video that all parents would love to do with their children. Don’t forget it shows what the one thing most of my generation know, Travolta can still sing.

(Click to Watch the Trailer!)

When I look back at the overall aspect of the film it shows the true bond of a friendship. Yes it has some extreme circumstances of schadenfreude* but when you look past that you see there will always be tough times. When you have that one friend, that confidant, it doesn’t matter what happens because they will always be there for you. You’ll have your fights and times where you’re “done” but they’ll be miniscule compared to nights of exploits or memories of first class bonding. “Old Dogs” is an entertaining family comedy of camaraderie.

*This is for those “Avenue Q” fans out there who will appreciate the humor. If you don’t get it, look it up and have a good laugh.    ;)