Category: Home Video

Monsters University is a 2013 movie, and a sequel to the 2001 movie Monsters Inc.  The movie got all the main characters to reprise their roles, and it was directed by Dan Scanlon.  The movie was a huge success world wide pulling in over $724 Million.

The story follows a young Mike Wazowski as he tries to follow his dreams to become a professional scarer.  The problem is that he is adorable and decidedly un-scary, so he has to work at it very hard.  Meanwhile James P. “Sulley” Sullivan is a natural scarer, but is to lazy to study his craft.

The movie is actually just a standard college frat movie, but written for kids.  So if you have seen Old School or Animal House, you will kind of know what to expect here, but your four year old can watch it.  Luckily there is enough Pixar charm to cover over its generic nature.

Billy Crystal and John Goodman are great with their roles.  They seem to understand what makes a good voiceover.  The rest of the cast is good too, especially the Pixar usual suspects.  I liked that Nathan Fillion had a role too as the leader of the rival frat.

Monsters Inc. was never my favorite Pixar movie, but they did a good job with this.  If you are looking for good family film, Monsters University is a fine choice.  It is not quite the up to the Pixar classics, but it was cute, and had a lot of heart.

If you know me than you know that I love the Muppets, so Muppet Treasure Island is a guilty pleasure for me.  It came out in 1996, and it was directed by Brian Henson.  It may not be the best Muppet movie, but it is certainly not the worst.

The movie for the most part fallows Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic tale of a boy Jim Hawkins (Kevin Bishop) and his friends, Gonzo and Rizzo, who are given a map by the ex-pirate Billy Bones (Billy Connelly).  They are soon off on an adventure on the high seas, or the big blue wet thing as Squire Trelawney (Fozzie Bear) calls it.  The cook/pirate captain Long John Silver is played by the always wonderful Tim Curry.

Billy Connelly and Tim Curry are perfect for Muppet movies with their exaggerated acting ability and over the top perfomances.  Kevin Bishop on the other hand tries his best, but he is not as talented as the Connelly and Curry.  It is a shame too since he has so much screen time.

The musical numbers are mostly good in this movie with Cabin Fever and Professional Pirate as the stand outs.  Curry directing the staging as the pirates sing always cracks me up.

The puppet work by Jim Henson Studios is fantastic as always.  If I could act or use my hands well, puppeteering would be a dream job!  It is always amazing how quickly I forget that all the Muppets are puppets.

This is not the greatest movie in the world, but for me it is always fun to watch because I love the characters so much, and there is something about felt puppets preforming classic literature that just does it for me.  I watched this movie on HBO Go, but I am sure that you can get it any number of places.

Four Lions is a British film that came out in 2010.  It was created by first time film maker Chris Morris.  The film stirred up a lot of controversy when it came out, and it is not hard to see why.

The film is about a group of radicalized Muslims that are trying to plan a suicide bombing.  The problem is that they are complete and utter idiots, so things do not always work out for them as planned.  Yes that is the plot.

This film is hard to watch.  It takes something that is a current threat and lampoons it in a very British deadpan sort of way, and because of the subject matter I felt bad every time I laughed, and to its credit it is very funny.

I think that is why it is such a brave film as well.  The laughter disarms us enough that we can see the argument the film is making without instantly turning away.  The film is trying to show us the real people behind these attacks, so that we can see that they are somewhat normal people with deeply flawed and twisted thinking.

The film is so uncomfortable to watch that I don’t think I would recommend it to anyone, but it is a good piece of filmmaking.  Not one that I necessarily agree with, but it is filmed in a way that makes the argument palpable enough to listen too.

If you want another take on the movie Daniel compares it with some of Chaplin’s work here.

African Cats is a nature documentary that came out in 2011. It is about a pride of lions and a litter of cheetahs.  If you like Disney’s nature docs than you will like this movie.  If you like a little more science in your nature documentaries you will be left wanting.

The movie follows a mother lion Layla and her cub Mara as they hunt and try and survive in the harsh African wilderness.  Meanwhile a cheetah mother Sita tries to do the same with her kittens.  The movie compares and contrasts the two techniques and lifestyles of these African Cats.

The problem I have with this movie is that they try and humanize the animals and tell a story instead of tell you about that cats, but the story they tell is cute and heartwarming if not super informative.

One of the major selling points for this film is how it looks on a high definition television.  The picture is absolutely stunning.  This is one of those Blu-Ray disks that prove the format is worthwhile.  It will not look this good on streaming video.

If you like cute stories about cats or a looking for a movie to try out your new TV, African Cats might be just the ticket.  If you are looking for a lot of information about the animals look elsewhere.

Disney recently re-released Robin Hood on Blu-Ray.  Robin Hood was never considered to be one Disney’s top classics, and that is probably why this re-release was not given the fanfare of a lot of their films, but it is still well thought of, and since my wife is a Disney freak, I decided to buy it for her.

The film follows an anthropomorphic fox version of the titular character as he works to steal back the money that was taxed from the poor by interim king lion Prince John.  Robin Hood is also trying to win the heart of the beautiful vixen Maid Marian.

The film is super simple, and does not tell a deep story, but it is effective.  The shots of all the poor animals in chains are quite moving, and they play Robin as the perfect likable rouge doing what he can to help the people out.

The upgrade to Blu-Ray has done wonders for this film, and it looks great in high definition with its bright colors and well drawn characters.  Some people complain that some of the detail is lost when these old movies are upgraded, but I can see none of that here, and it definitely looks better than a VHS version would on a big screen.

This movie is simple and makes me smile.  It has fun characters and a big heart.  If you are a Disney collector than the Blu-Ray is a must buy, and if not it is still worth it because it is a fun family film that can be enjoyed for generations to come.