To celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the beloved Disney classic, The Tigger Movie, Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment presents a new, two-disc edition DVD. Available on August 4, 2009, The Tigger Movie 10th Anniversary Edition weaves magical storytelling, charming characters and memorable songs into an endearing tale of adventure and heart. The DVD includes a plethora of bonus material including two new-to-DVD Tigger adventures plus a ‘DisneyFile’ Digital movie copy. Providing consumers with unprecedented quality, value and portability, this enables viewers to enjoy the film in iTunes or Windows formats.

Set in the Hundred Acre Woods, The Tigger Movie 10th Anniversary Edition features Tigger and the gang ( Roo, Rabbit, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, Christopher Robin) in this musical tale of friendship and adventure. Tigger sets off on a journey to find other “Tiggers” who he could call his own family after feeling left out while the gang prepares for a gloomy winter. Through his adventures, Tigger realizes that families come in all shapes and sizes, and even though they look different, the Hundred Acre Wood friends, are his true family. Originally released in theatres in 2000, The Tigger Movie, is the best-selling pre-school DVD of all time. (Source: Nielsen, 12/08). The Tigger Movie 10th Anniversary Edition includes all of the beloved bonus features from the original edition plus two all new-to-DVD episodes from the popular TV series “The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.

Check-Out the trailer:

BONUS FEATURES
*”King of the Beasties” and “Tigger’s Houseguest” – New-to-DVD episodes from TV series
“The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.”
*”Your Heart Will Lead You Home” – Music video/music by Kenny Loggins.
*”Round My Family Tree” Sing-Along Song
*Tigger Movie Trivia Game
*Thingamajigger Matching Game
*Round Your Family Tree
*Tigger Movie DVD Storybook

This 10th Anniversary Edition of The Tigger Movie hardly sets an exciting precedent for other theatrically-released DisneyToon Studio features to get revisited. It returns to stores with a list price $10 above the price-dropped original release and adding only two “New Adventures” episodes and a digital copy. Most will consider the episodes more cause for excitement than the portable copy, but even those could have been better presented. At least everything from the original DVD is retained (save for the superior sing-along), which means that if you wanted to own the movie, this is your best and now easiest bet.

And, though it might come as a surprise to you, The Tigger Movie is a winning movie that’s well worth owning. In Disney’s vast Pooh canon, only the original featurettes and some of the “New Adventures” are better. This sweet, fun outing wins over all ages while staying true to the spirit of Milne’s work as filtered through Disney animation. This movie is worth picking up for those who don’t already own it.

Why is is that so many people love watching Adam Sandler talk like a two-year old?  I really wish somebody could explain this to me, because until I figure that out I will never understand the appeal of most of his so-called comedies.  I’ll admit that I haven’t seen all his films, and for the most part, I wish I hadn’t seen the ones I did watch.  I’m probably not the right person to write this review, but I promise that I went into The Waterboy with an open mind.  I never root for a film to fail, and I really wanted to just have a good time.  And I found that impossible.

As far as I could tell, there is no reason for this film to exist.  There are no laughs, no characters worth rooting for, and not much of a story at all.  Sandler plays Bobby Boucher, the title character of the film.  He’s “slow,” for lack of a better word, and his entire life has hung on providing “high quality H2O” to football teams.  He finds this to be an all-important task until he discovers that he has a gift for tackling.  All he has to do is visualise those that have wronged him (basically everybody), and his anger fuels his football skills.  What follows is your standard underdog sports story featuring one of the most gratingly obnoxious characters I’ve seen in a long time.  Oh, and of course there’s a love story.  Spoiler alert: he gets the girl.

Co-starring in this travesty are Kathy Bates as his overprotective mother (why Kathy?!) and Henry Winkler as the awful football coach (why Henry?!).  I couldn’t believe that I was watching the great Kathy Bates overact in such a shameful way.  I can’t fathom why she would have taken a role like this.  Maybe she had friends working on the film or maybe she just really needed a paycheck.  Either way, it was embarrassing to watch.

I know this movie was semi-popular.  People always tell me that they like to shut off their brains at the movies, and I guess that must be part of the appeal.  But there is such a thing as not having to think, and then there is just being insulted.  It’s hard to find the humor of a film where the entire joke hinges on his character stuttering while speaking in a childish gibberish.  I just don’t get it.  When the filmmakers did try to throw in some actual jokes, they all fell flat. 

If you’re a fan of Sandler’s baby-talk, then maybe you’ll enjoy this attempt at comedy.  However, don’t expect too much from the newly released Blu-Ray.  There are literally no extras.  It’s the first Blu-Ray I’ve seen where nothing is included but the movie.  I guess the picture looks good, but it doesn’t really matter.  This isn’t a movie dependant on the quality of the image.  You’ll know whether this is a movie for you before ever even starting it.  If you’re already a fan of this type of humor, then have fun.  But if not, The Waterboy will do nothing to change your mind. 

I can vividly recall the night I first saw Sling Blade.  It was way back in 1996, and while my friends and I realized we had just seen a great movie, all we could focus on was Billy Bob Thornton’s voice.  Every sentence we uttered ended with the gutteral clearing of the throat Thornton used in his portrayal of Karl Childers.  And we never got tired of saying his famous line “I don’t reckon I got no reason to kill nobody.”  Having just watched the film for the first time since that night 13 years ago, I’m shocked at how powerful the film actually is and genuinely surprised that I didn’t remember much beyond the voice.

Thornton’s depiction of Karl Childers was a revelation, and helped to make Thornton a household name.  The character of Childers is a mentally challenged man, locked away in a mental institution for most of his life after killing two people as a child.  One of them being his own mother.  The film picks up on the day he is released back into the real world, a place he describes as “too big.”  What follows is an emotionally riveting story of his friendship with a young boy named Frankie, Frankie’s mother Linda and her gay best friend Vaughan, played by the always terrific John Ritter.  Adding a dark undercurrent to the film is Linda’s abusive boyfriend, Doyle Hargraves, played by Dwight Yoakam.  It’s a terrifying performance that feels all too real. 

This is a slow movie that really lets the audience immerse themselves in the world that Thornton created.  As well as starring, he directed and wrote the screenplay.  He really takes his time telling the story and lets the camera linger on the characters, reveling in the emotion on display.  Although the film takes place in the present, it feels like a world long gone.  It’s one of those places where everybody seems to know each other, and there is a simplicity that is missing from the modern world.  Because things do move so slowly, the story feels epic and the inevitable outcome is completely earned.

The Blu-Ray itself has a lot of features, almost all focusing on Billy Bob Thornton.  It seem pretty indulgent to have included so much material on himself, much of it having nothing to do with the film.  There is a biography on Thornton that runs over an hour, a 43 minute Bravo profile on his body of work, a seven minute interview with Robert Duvall (who was barely in the film) about working with Thornton, etc.  Probably the most interesting feature is a modern-day roundtable discussion with Thornton, Yoakam, Mickey Jones (who plays a small role in the film) and producer David Bushell.  It runs an hour and 15 minutes, and is a pretty insightful look at what went on behind-the-scenes of the film.  All are obviously close friends and it’s a very natural conversation. 

Overall, the best feature of this set is the movie itself.  The transfer looks good, but occasionally grainy, and doesn’t seem to be a huge improvement over previously released versions of the film.  But if like me, all you remember from your first viewing is “french fried potaters,” it’s definitely worth visiting again.  It may have become a pop-culture punchline, but there is a lot going on underneath the surface, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have seen the film with fresh eyes.

When I see the words “based on a true story” attached to a film, I tend to get a little worried.  Odds are that the filmmakers will distort the facts in order to get the maximum emotional manipulation.  As such, I often find these types of movies cloying rather than uplifting.  I also worry when I go into a film featuring “Oscar-Bait performances.”  That is, a performance featuring mental illness, accents, social issues, etc.  These portrayals always feel forced to me, and I tend to see the actor performing rather than the character existing.  So it was that I began the Soloist, a film “based on a true story,” featuring Jamie Foxx as a schizophrenic, homeless, Julliard dropout.  Despite my biases however, I found myself completely wrapped up in the story, and thoroughly impressed by the film as a whole.

Robert Downey, Jr. stars with Foxx as Steve Lopez, a journalist for the Los Angeles Times.  Always looking for a story, he finds himself drawn to Foxx’s character of Nathaniel Ayers after seeing him on the side of the road playing a violin with two strings.  After briefly speaking with him and discovering his eccentricities, he begins to think he has a story.  Digging into Ayers’ past, he discovers his history at Julliard and is eventually able to provide him with a cello, all strings attached.  From this point forward, it is obvious that Lopez will be benefitting from this friendship as much as Ayers, and it is this relationship that provides the backbone of the film.  Both performances are completely believable on their own, but it’s the interplay between the two that really evolve the film.  

One of the features of the Blu-Ray is an interview with the real-life Lopez and Ayers.  In watching this feature, it becomes very apparent that Downey, Jr. and Foxx put a lot of work into capturing the essence of these characters.  It’s almost unsettling watching these interviews after seeing the film.  Lopez and Ayers don’t look entirely like Downey, Jr. or Foxx, but the subtleties of the character are exact.  Seeing this interview also helps to reinforce the nature of truth to the film.  I still don’t know how much of the film was fabricated, but by adding this interview I find myself buying into the story more than I would have otherwise.

Overall, director Joe Wright did an amazing job capturing what it’s like to live in Los Angeles.  Filmed all over the city, Los Angeles becomes a character itself.  The movie is beautifully shot, even when showing the ugly side of what it’s like to live there.  Of particular note is the Walt Disney Concert Hall.  A pivotal set-piece in the film, it’s a gorgeous location used to maximum effect.  Another aspect of the film masterfully captured by Wright is the monumental importance of music to the characters.  Music is the backbone of the story, and is something any director would have trouble conveying on film.  There are sequences where he just lets the music play, absorbing the characters and the audience alike.  There is even a momentary section reminiscent of Fantasia.  Ayers shuts his eyes while listening to a piece and we see the entire number represented as flashes of color on the screen.  It is a brave moment to have included and one that could have easily alienated his audience.  Personally, I found it very effective.

Despite my initial reservations, this film really works.  It is not as formulaic as it would initially appear, delving into the complicated relation between the two leads as well as Ayer’s early descent into mental illness.  There are no pat answers or solid resolutions by the end.  The movie simply exists, painting a portrait of this moment in these two people’s lives.  The Blu-Ray itself looks great.  The details of Los Angeles really shine through.  This clarity helps to enhance the viewing experience.  The sound is also top-notch.  Considering the critical role that music plays in the film, it is important that the sound comes through and it definitely does.  This is a really solid disc for a really solid film.  I highly recommend it.     

There is no denying that Joss Whedon is a master storyteller.  Looking at his history in television, every one of his shows has been about story first and foremost.  Buffy, Firefly and Angel thrived on riveting drama with captivating characters, witty dialogue, and a constant progression of story from week to week.  As a fan, I went into his newest creation, Dollhouse, with extremely high expectations.  And after watching the first couple of episodes, I was really scared.  This was not the Joss I knew.  As stand-alone episodes, they were entertaining enough, but there was no momentum.  There were clues that something more was going on under the surface, but nothing was coming together.  It took awhile, but eventually, the show found it’s footing and can easily hold it’s own with the best of Joss’s work. 

New to Blu-Ray, this is the perfect way to watch the show.  As stated above, it was difficult getting into things when it was on regular television.  But in this format, it’s much easier to push through those opening episodes and get to the real meat of the series.  For the uninitiated, the story deals with a secret agency that wipes people’s individual identities and replaces them with new ones, manufactured to provide a service to their clients.  They can turn anybody into any anybody else, providing any service.  The show is mostly told through the point of view of one of these “dolls” named Echo, played by Eliza Dushku.  It is an amazing feat to have a lead character that is literally a different person every week, but they have managed to pull it off.

Eventually, the show does branch away from the focus on Echo and becomes a very strong ensemble-piece.  There are many “actives” or dolls who we begin to follow and discover pieces of back-story, and the Dollhouse itself becomes a sort of character itself.  It obviously has a pretty elaborate backstory, and while hints are dropped, I believe there is a lot of information coming in the next season.  There is also a side-plot regarding an investigation from the outside into the Dollhouse, which is considered nothing more than an urban legend in the real world.  Full of twists and turns, the show deals with a lot of questions regarding identity, purpose, the soul, etc.  It’s a relatively thought-provoking and emotional show that doesn’t provide a lot of easy answers.

The absolute highlight of the Blu-Ray is an episode written by Joss Whedon that Fox decided not to air.  Entitled Epitaph 1, the story is set in the year 2019, and shows us where everything is going on a global scale.  It’s a very bleak end-game, and extremely gutsy to reveal this far in advance.  I hope Fox decides to air it someday, but for now it’s worth picking up the Blu-Ray for this episode alone.  Other extras include the unaired pilot, a relatively generic making-of, a feature showcasing the behind-the-scenes staff and their history together, a look at Dushku’s work in the lead role, etc.  There is nothing too substantial in these segments, but they’re still kind of interesting for the fans. 

The transfer to Blu-Ray looks great.  Everything feels more cinematic than it ever did on television.  The Dollhouse itself is beautiful to look at, and the show is a lof of fun to watch on a visual level.  The details come through really well in this format.  It’s a great transfer. 

The show requires patience.  In order to get to the good stuff, you have to suffer through some mediocrity, but it’s worth it.  Joss has created another masterpiece and has completely reaffirmed my faith in him and his ability to tell a story.  Here’s hoping Fox gives him enough time to tell it in its entirety.  In going through the show for a second time, it is very obvious that there is a lot we don’t know yet, and I can’t wait to fill in the missing pieces.

Mr. Goat Boy’s new stand-up is very reminiscent of his past.  Jim Breuer starts his comedy routine recollecting his memories from HALF BAKED and “Saturday Night Life”, which he joined in 1995.  Being a little worried that he was only going to talk about his past, Breuer fortunately quickly switched to talking about his recent life activities.  Looking forward where he was going with his stand-up, I was little disappointed that he would only talk about his family.

Jim Breuer’s routine was still funny, but I wouldn’t say I found myself laughing out loud much.  His impressions, which I didn’t know he did, were actually quite good.  Make sure you watch the video being played during the menu screen.  Here Breuer is acting as if he is talking to the viewer about picking a selection on the menu.  During this he does impressions of Dave Chappelle, Metallica, Joe Pesci, and even some of his classic Goat Boy bit.  There is also a semi-funny video that plays during the special features screen.

One thing you must realize before going into this DVD is that Jim Breuer is now a family man.  He has a wife and three children, and loves talking about them.  His comedy is relatively clean to what’s out there today.  Being such a clean comedy act, I would almost say this is family friendly.  There are only a few bits that are questionable.  I was mildly entertained throughout, but I don’t see many people finding this absolutely hilarious unless they already were fans.

An aspect I was really impressed with was how active and physical he was with his comedy.  Jim was all over the stage jumping and crawling doing some superb physical humor.   I always appreciate a comedian that goes up there and puts forth a lot of effort like this.  The audience really seemed to find it hysterical, but I am going to say I was just entertained.  That might be possibly all you need.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
Photo Shoot – Just a short video taken during a photo shoot for the DVD.

Fireside Chat with Dad – Actually quite funny! How Jim and his dad talk with each other is hilarious.  Best part is how quick his dad is with comebacks.  “Now scram!”

The special features selection is quite small with not more really to offer then his just over an hour long stand-up routine.  I must say, he looks a lot older and his comedy is as well.  Not necessarily a bad thing.  At least he doesn’t appear as “high” as he used to, then again that was a part of his shtick and he’s still trying to bank off of it.

I’m glad to see Jim Breuer still doing some stand-up and I do look forward to his next special even though this wasn’t anything unique.  I haven’t heard his SIRIUS Satellite Radio show entitled “Breuer Unleashed”, but I’m glad he is still doing something with himself.  Hopefully his next tour focuses more on other parts of life then his family.

At long last! Sony Pictures Television has delivered a series that truly lives up to it’s name. Spectacular Spider-man is a truly unique look at Peter Parker’s early years, from high school teenager to arachnid-skilled vigilante. This season showcases classic stories pulled from every adaptation of Spider-man, borrowing heavily from the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko comic run and even the more recent Sam Raimi film series.

Of the season’s thirteen episodes, (all included in this collection) Editorial highlights include: Ep. 7 Catalysts (In which the Green Goblin makes his chaotic debut) Ep. 10 Persona (Perhaps the most plot-heavy episode to date, featuring Chameleon, Black Cat, and a certain alien-symboite…) and my personal favorite Ep. 11 Group Therapy (Which includes the epic formation of the Sinister Six and an all out Spider-war)

The overall flow of the series is well-thought out and seemless, from the carefully crafted story-boards to the impressive visuals by lead designer Sean Galloway. The writing crew also infuses a rather interesting notion of the Villians often being introduced several episodes before they even assume their well-known Super-status.

Overall, The first season leaves little to ask for. Chock-full of heroic musical underscoring, gorgeous character design and down-right enjoyable stories make this a recommended pick for Spiderfans every where. (From first time viewers to long time readers, this series guarantees some major entertainment for everyone.)

Special Features included:

Spider-Man Re-Animated: A short and sweet look at why/and how Spectacular Spiderman became just so dang-Spectacular
Stylizing Spidey: dive in to a closer examination of the animation techniques and styles used in this gorgeous series

Special Features excluded:

No Subtitles: Sorry folks…the Spectacular Spider-man is not going to be helping with those spanish lessons this time around.

In Closing, this DVD’s widescreen presentation is crisp and matches the show’s own “mainstream/modern” aesthetic theme. Thus for an impressive and full-collection, tell-all features, and an all around rock-solid series; Spectacular Spiderman receives a spider-sense tingling 4 out of 5.

(Author’s Advisory: The Spectacular Spider-man is filled with so much web-headed’ goodness, it’s almost TOO much for one sitting...Not to mention without proper precaution the show’s solid theme song will stick in your head forevermore)