Check Out the Trailer

If George Miller's original dancing and singing penguins film has a happy surprise than its sequel is the opposite — nothing about it is surprising. The story borrows a little from the original and attaches it to a familiar family/action plot. The first incorporated popular songs into the fabric of its world and the characters, while the songs here are uninspired, obvious or just not that good. Not even two krill that sound a lot like Brad Pitt and Matt Damon can save the day.

Now Mumble (Elijah Wood, LORD OF THE RINGS) is a famed hero in the community and dance it embraced by all the penguins. However his son Erik (Ava Acres) doesn't have the same dance prowess as his dad so he feels like an outcast (much like his dad did in the original because he couldn't sing). Erik ends up following Ramon (Robin Williams, GOOD WILL HUNTING) back to his penguin colony where a strange big-billed "penguin" named Sven (Hank Azaria, THE SMURFS) has become an idol because he can fly. He tells Erik that whatever he wishes will come true, so to the chagrin of Mumbles, Erik believes that he can just wish his way into flying.

Check Out the Trailer

For a heist to work it needs a good plan, but it also needs perfect execution. Brett Ratner's heist comedy has a good plan, but doesn't deliver on the details. It's inspired by the Bernie Madoff scandal where the fraudulent investor bankrupted the savings of thousands of people. In the film, a wealthy investor runs a similar Ponzi scheme, but in this fiction his victims set out to steal the millions he has hidden in his penthouse apartment.

Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller, TROPIC THUNDER) is the general manager of the most luxurious apartment tower in New York City. He tells the new elevator operator Enrique (Michael Pena, CRASH) that residents aren't just buying posh pads and top security, but also the 24-7 attention of the staff. Kovacs is great at his job and impresses the penthouse owner Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda, TV's MASH). But when Shaw is arrested for fraud, Kovacs has to tell his employees that their pension fund has been wiped out. Feeling responsible, he decides to break into Shaw's apartment and steal the money he knows is hidden there.

Check Out the Trailer

Part of what made SHREK 2 work was the addition of Puss in Boots to the franchise. It's not surprising that he would get his own film. Unfortunately some of the sharpness the character brought to that film has been declawed for this one. The irreverent take on fairy tales is gone. In its place — cat jokes.

Don't get me wrong the cat gags are the funniest bits, but they don't have the layers that made the first two SHREK films special. In this origin story, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas, DESPERADO) is cast as an orphan who becomes blood brothers with fellow orphan outcast Humpty Dumpty (Zack Galifianakis, THE HANGOVER). They are in search of the magic beans of legend. The duo continuously get in trouble until one day Puss gets a taste of being a hero and vows to go straight. Bad blood forms and Puss is wrongfully believed an outlaw. Years later he is reunited with Humpty, who now has a female feline thief sidekick named Kitty Softpaws (Selma Hayek, DESPERADO). Humpty wants to put their past behind them and work together to steal the magic beans from the notorious murderers Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thonrton, SLINGBLADE & Amy Sedaris, STRANGERS WITH CANDY).

Buy It Now!

I've been reading a lot of reviews of this Blu-ray release hating the darkness of it, but then saying that it's part of the film. When reviewing the quality of a transfer the only thing to really take into account is the intent of the filmmakers and has that been brought to the home entertainment experience. With Disney's 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer of the fourth PIRATES film, they have done this masterfully. Yes, some of the early scenes are dark and mysterious, but that was director Rob Marshall and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski point. Even in the darkness you can relish in the inky blacks and remarkable detail. It has been described as smoky, which is true, but nothing is lost. When the film sails into the day, the details jump from the screen in the clothing and sets. The color palette is muted, but uber natural, which provides some of the visual awe. Digital anomalies are minimal. There is some faint digital fuzziness in the darker scenes and edge enhancement ringing can be found if you're looking for it.

If people have been nitpicking the picture quality, they are not doing so with the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 because you can't. This is one of the Blu-rays of the year to rock the surround sound with. Directionality is masterfully done to the point that it actually made my head turn — hey what's that behind me. Pans across the soundscape and the general ambiance make for a very immersive experience. Dialogue, score and sound effects are balanced precisely. Every sword clash, pistol fire, explosion, splash or snarky line is given its proper due.

Check Out the Trailer

From the moment the sun rises over the savanna and we hear the African chant, THE LION KING grips the audience's attention. Combining fable with Greek tragedy, this film has a serious undertone that many Disney animated features do not have. The studio dealt with the death of a parent before, but not like this. This is a world with real consequences, which is the basis to all classic children's tales and what makes this film not just for the kids.

The opening calls together all the animals of Pride Rock to witness the presentation of the new male heir of the kingdom — the lion cub Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas as child and Matthew Broderick as adult). His father Mufasa (James Earl Jones, STAR WARS) teaches him to be a just ruler. He explains that the circle of life has the lion eating antelope and when they die they help the grass grow, which new antelope will eat. Simba hasn't learned yet that there are creatures out who would kill for other reasons. This is the case with his scheming uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons, REVERSAL OF FORTUNE), who sees his nephew as the boulder in his way to the throne.

Check Out the Trailer

This 1080p/AVC-encoded Blu-ray is about as good as it gets. On it's picture and audio alone, it's one of the must-own Blu-rays of the year. From the first moment when the sun rises over the savanna, the richness of color is impressive. Black levels are solid as well. Details really make the artistry of the animation stand out. During the wildebeest stampede, nothing gets lost in the chaos as dust swirls around the air. The fires at the end with their striking reds, yellows and oranges make a powerful impact. The presentation is clean from both dust and digital anomalies.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 soundtrack is equally as impressive. Everything is balanced nicely and powerfully. You feel the command of Mufasa when his roar rocks the LFE track. The aforementioned wildebeest stampede is a highlight of the entire sound field and directionality. You feel like you are Simba in the middle of the mayhem. Hans Zimmer's score is crystal clear and makes an impact right from the first note of the African chant that starts the film. One particular element that stuck out was the dialogue balance that really fit the character and the moment.

Check Out the Trailer

A 27-year-old man is out jogging early in the morning. He stops for a traffic light. There are no cars in sight. Another runner races past him and crosses the intersection against the hand. The young man waits. He doesn’t drive or smoke or drink. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who would get a rare form of spine cancer.

Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, INCEPTION) is this young man. Jonathan Levine’s film opens in this seemingly innocuous way, but it says a lot about Adam who doesn’t speak about how he feels about having a 50/50 chance of survival. He doesn’t really like to be consoled or coddled or even touched… at least by strangers. When asked how he is feeling he usually replies that he is okay.

Check Out the Trailer

How can you not be romantic about baseball? That's what Brad Pitt's Billy Beane says in this great baseball movie, which is more about the business of baseball than the game. And that said the film still does stir the desire to grab some peanuts, popcorn and Cracker Jack and head out to the ole ball game.

The story follows Billy Beane, the general manager of the Oakland A's, as he is forced to rebuild his team after losing three key players to other clubs. The dirty little secret in baseball, that anyone who knows baseball knows, is that the playing field is not level. As Beane says, there are rich teams and there are poor teams and there is 50 feet of crap and then there is the A's. When a trip to visit the Indians' GM about player trades goes badly, he seeks out the quiet guy by the door who seems to make the others listen to him. That guy is Peter Brand (Jonah Hill, CYRUS), an Ivy League economics grad who believes that professional baseball has it all wrong when it comes to staffing teams.

Check Out the Trailer

The economy of storytelling is the most impressive element of this slight animated feature. Following the poor performances of PINOCCHIO, BAMBI and FANTASIA, the lavish production values were toned down. Less spectacle but not less character. This story of an elephant with jumbo ears fills the big top with emotion in only 64 minutes.

When the stork delivers Mrs. Jumbo's baby son, her fellow elephants label him with the name Dumbo, because of his giant ears. The ridicule he receives only makes the shy little pachyderm even more bashful. Like any good mother, Mrs. Jumbo defends her child from tormentors, but her actions are not taken favorably by the circus management. Dumbo, whose real name in Jumbo Jr., is now left to fend for himself as the circus decides to put the silly looking animal in the clown act, so people can laugh at him more.

Check Out the Trailer

Narratively the original HOODWINKED was a mess, but there were moments of general inspiration within cliché and tired routines. The sequel is just cliché and tired routines. The original was done independently on the cheap and looked it, but this one feels cheaper because it has no purpose other than to cash in on the surprise success of the original.

Unlike the mysterious RASHOMON-like plot of the first film, this picture is pretty straight forward. It’s perfectly structured as a “good” screenplay is supposed to be structured, but leaves no surprises along the way. Red (Hayden Panettiere, TV’s HEROES) is off training with the Sisters of the Hood, while Wolf (Patrick Warburton, TV’s SEINFELD) is manning the spy agency they now work for. After Red’s Granny (Glenn Close, FATAL ATTRACTION) is kidnapped by Verushka the witch (Joan Cusack, WORKING GIRL), Red is called back to investigate.