Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (Blu-ray Review)
September 13th, 2010 by Sean Ferguson
My family and I are big Disney fans. We go to Disneyland whenever we can, we watch the Disney Channel, and we also enjoy all of the Disney/Pixar movies too. My two year old especially loves all things Disney so we watch a lot of it in our household. He seems fascinated by Tinker Bell and I’m not sure if it’s because she is cute, short, and blond which seems to be his preference or if it’s because she can fly around. Whatever the case, he is a fan of Tinker Bell and I am fond of her as well from my time growing up watching Peter Pan. Continue reading ‘Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue (Blu-ray Review)’
Hidden by darkness. Guarded by witches. Discovered by a boy. Stolen by a King. Whoever owns it controls the world. Or destroys it… That was the original tag line to Disney’s 25th animated release of one of my all-time favorite Disney movies. This was such a different kind of Disney film that a lot of people thought that it was too dark, especially after following The Fox and the Hound, but that darkness and the fantasy aspect to it is what made me want to see the movie so badly. 
For those 8.9 million Disney Channel Movie premiere viewers who made Camp Rock a huge success, here comes the sequel you’ve been waiting for…Camp Rock 2! All of the elements that made the first one so popular have returned – The Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, and a new talented group to round out the cast. I’ve never seen the first movie but thanks to my son’s love of the Disney Channel, I’ve seen plenty of music videos and clips of the movie to be familiar with it. 
For those 8.9 million Disney Channel Movie premiere viewers who made Camp Rock a huge success, here comes the sequel you’ve been waiting for…Camp Rock 2! All of the elements that made the first one so popular have returned – The Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, and a new talented group to round out the cast. This time, a rival Rock Camp opens up across the lake and rivalry develops between them. Of course that means war between Camp Rock and the snobby Camp Star and the returning cast from the first movie are back to help Camp Rock win. 
Hidden by darkness. Guarded by witches. Discovered by a boy. Stolen by a King. Whoever owns it controls the world. Or destroys it… That was the original tag line to Disney’s 25th animated release of one of my all-time favorite Disney movies. This was such a different kind of Disney film that a lot of people thought that it was too dark, especially after following The Fox and the Hound, but that darkness and the fantasy aspect to it is what made me want to see the movie so badly. 
“They f****d with the wrong Mexican!” You ain’t never lied! Chopped straight from the pages of Robert Rodriguez’s Planet Terror comes the tale of the man, the myth, the MACHETE! Featuring an all-star cast that include: Danny Trejo, Robert DeNiro, Jessica Alba, Jeff Fahey, Michelle Rodriguez, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan, Steven Seagal, and Cheech Marin, the film continues the tradition (at least in 2010) of eclectic casting (The Expendables and RED come to mind). I was honored to have had a chance to screen the film before audiences and nearly had a stroke in doing so. Machete kicked my butt! 
One of Walt Disney’s biggest gambles has to be the much beloved Fantasia. At the time, Disney wanted to bring Mickey Mouse back in a big way as a comeback vehicle where the animation would be combined with classical music selections to tell a collection of different stories. Disney spared no expense to achieve the desired focus on quality and detail and even Mickey Mouse was redesigned to have a more modern and realistic look. Famed conductor 
One of the most influential movies of the post-apocalyptic genre, Mad Max will arrive on Blu-ray on October 5. This is the movie that catapulted the career of an unknown Mel Gibson into a box-office draw. In this movie, Gibson stars as Max Rockatansky who is basically Dirty Harry of Australia. Set in a dystopian future, where the civilized world as we know it has ended and societal norms have degraded to the point that gangs openly terrorize what’s left of the populace. 
Yes, the hills will be alive with the Sound of Music this November! This is one of my all time favorite musicals (a genre that doesn’t have that many movies that interest me) and I can’t wait for this to come out. Brilliantly directed by Robert Wise, with a stellar cast, great songs and choreography, and breathtaking panoramic visuals, this is the kind of movie that Blu-ray was created for. 
The final season of arguably one of the greatest TV shows ever made will be released this August with a ton of great extra features especially if you buy the complete collection that includes even more goodies; like the Senet game played by Jacob and the Man in Black and a collectible ankh and a black light along with a custom LOST island replica. I have to say that I loved this show even though it’s deliberate machinations sometimes maddened me to distraction. This is a show that you need to watch in order and with your full concentration. 
One of the funniest shows on TV right now is The Office and this September Season 6 finally arrives on Blu-ray and DVD! Some of you may know that this is an American remake of a hugely successful British series that starred Ricky Gervais. In my opinion, this new version is far superior in every way. With a stellar cast led by funny-man Steve Carell, this is a ground-breaking show that consistently makes me laugh. One of the rare things about this show is that they cast wears several hats as they also frequently write and direct some of the episodes as well as produce the show. 
One of the greatest movies of the 80s is finally coming to Blu-ray and it’s coming in style! The Goonies 25th Anniversary Box Set will arrive this September with a lot of extra goodies. I’ve always loved this movie and I think this was a one of those rare movies that is a part of our cultural landscape and loved by most of my generation. You can’t go wrong when the movie was conceptualized by Steven Spielberg, written by Chris Columbus, and directed by Richard Donner and has a fantastic cast. 
A lot of people including some reviewers on this site were somewhat disappointed with the latest re-imaging of Robin Hood, but I enjoyed it although I wish the movie began where it ended which would have been the traditional Robin Hood story. I’m a big fan of Ridley Scott and Russel Crowe and I have a lot of respect for their efforts to do something new but for a story that is so ingrained culturally across the world, I think they should have added more of the Robin Hood mythos along with the new back-story. 
Coming to save us all this September is MacGruber! For those of you that may not be familiar with this character which is a take off off MacGyver, it began as an Saturday Night Live sketch starring Will Forte and Kristen Wiig who inevitably have to defuse a bomb in a short amount of time. While some of the sketches are repetitive, this movie expanded the premise and was critcally well received, but it didn’t do as well at the the box office that many had hoped for. 
If you enjoyed the first two Family Guy Star Wars spoofs (Blue Harvest and Something Something Dark Side) like me, then you will love the final installment in the saga, It’s a Trap! I’ve always been impressed with how much effort the Family Guy team puts into matching the source movies down to the smallest details such as the escape from the Death Star scene from Star Wars where the Millennium Falcon evades a TIE Fighter. Even the editing is dead on accurate which thrills the inner Star Wars geek in me. 
When this movie was released in 1989 it I don’t remember hearing about it and I’d never seen it until now. At the time of this movie’s release, Mickey Rourke was near the beginning of his career freefall after a decade of hits. After this movie failed, his rollercoaster career began which is a shame because he did some good work in this movie. It all has a happy ending however, as The Wrestler brought him back front and center and he just played the main villain in Iron Man 2 so it will be interesting to see where his career goes now. 
I’m an unabashed Sylvester Stallone fan especially when it comes to the Rocky and Rambo movies. Back in the 80s he was in top form but towards the end of the decade, I noticed the quality of his movies were starting to go down starting with Cobra and then continuing on with movies like Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot! Lock Up falls squarely in that period but fares a little better than a lot of those. It seems like Stallone was getting restless and most likely felt typecast and was trying as many different genres as possible. 
