Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on November 20th, 2004
Everybody’s favorite guy in a construction hat is back. No, not Sully from Sesame Street It’s Bob the Builder! He stars in Snowed Under: The Bobblesberg Winter Games. To join in on the fun, Bob has his favorite buddies along too, Lofty, Scoop, Muck, Roley, Travis, Spud, Wendy, Dizzy. And there’s even a new character to the crew, Benny. What trouble does Bob have to fix this time? Well…let me tell ya kids. It’s the Bobblesberg Winter games and the course is snowed under. And it’s up to Bob and h...s crew to fix and re-build everything before the opening ceremonies. Can he fix it?? Well…what do you think.
This is a full length Bob episode (just over 50 minutes). It’s about 5 times longer than a normal episode, so the kids might get restless. And there’s a feature where you loop the movie. So the kids can watch the same episode over and over again while Mommy can do the mommy stuff upstairs. Is it worth repeated viewings? The episode length is stretching it a bit. But there is an air of familiarity for the hard-core Bob viewers. The main characters are exactly like expected (even though Scoop seems a little more bossy than usual). But the alpine scenery, action and yodeling are enough to keep the kids attention.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 7th, 2004
"Long ago and far away..."
So begins the latest direct-to-video CGI-animated Barbie movie, Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper. Based on Mark Twain's classic tale, this video/DVD is a modern-retelling of the story. It's Barbie's first musical, and it does a fantastic job of both entertaining kids and giving them something to think about.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on September 18th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 3rd, 2004
Ahh, little Lizzie McGuire. The last time we saw our teen queen on DVD, she was surrounded by an assortment of special guest stars. This time around, the topic is one of the most popular among teen girls… the crush. Specifically, we’re talking about such dreamboats as the paperboy, a substitute teacher, Larry the geek, and of course, Ethan.
For me, some of the best scenes in this show feature my favorite Nerd, Robert Carradine. Many sitcoms paint the character of the father as either disinterested in...the lives of his children, or too stupid to know what is going on. Carradine gets it right, however, striking a humorous line between the caring parent and the clumsy fool. He loves his children unconditionally, yet he is still a flawed and human character. It’s nice to see him still getting work as an actor.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 20th, 2004
A couple of years ago, my wife and I found ourselves watching an episode of The Lizzie McGuire Show on a lazy Saturday morning, when nothing else was on. While we are certainly not the target market, we were both pleased to find that the half-hour was genuinely entertaining. Saturday mornings are a perfect time to watch this show, as it is mildly humorous, yet still benign enough that you don’t really have to get your brain working to enjoy it. It has since become a fairly-regular part of our weekend routine.< ...p>
This disc features four episodes with that ever popular sitcom convention; the guest star. The stars in question here are the unbelievably arrogant Aaron Carter, surprisingly funny Frankie Muniz, rock god Steven Tyler, and Raymond’s own Doris Roberts. Once viewers get past the horrible Aaron Carter episode, the remaining segments (including a bonus featuring Erik Estrada) are the same kind of entertaining family faire that viewers have come to identify with Lizzie.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on March 17th, 2004
Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat… this is a title intended for viewing by small children. Very small children. As a result, all of my usual judging criteria (picture quality, sound quality, character development) are pretty much unimportant. The target audience for this title has trouble forming words, so I am willing to bet that the more subtle nuances of the narrative will be lost on them. Nevertheless, I will continue on as best as I can.
If you are still reading this, you are most likely a...parent, or will soon become one. Personally, I don’t have children. Having said that up front, I feel that this is a tremendous title that would prove to be invaluable in the task of teaching young minds to recognize colors, shapes, and even words. The content is presented in a way that would be interesting to children, with a nice mix of bright colors, moving images, animation and live action. Vocal narration is virtually nonexistent, as the people at Baby Einstein allow the images to speak for themselves.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on January 4th, 2004
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 17th, 2003
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on October 14th, 2003
Synopsis
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on October 6th, 2003
Often family Christmas movies, while ambitious, often miss the mark with a weak story or bad acting. I was worried that a Muppet Christmas movie would follow in these footsteps. Additionally, some of the previous Muppet movies fell short of the comedic styling that resonated within a generation of kids like myself whom grew up with the Muppet Show. Thankfully I was disappointed on both accounts.
It’s a Very Merry Muppet Movie holds it’s own against the best of the family Christmas movies and in my mind riv...ls, if not surpasses, the best family Christmas flick ever – A Christmas Story. What makes a great family movie? A film that has something that appeals to the kids and their parents alike. This movie delivers on both and actually if there is a criticism to be made – it may appeal more to the adults than the kids with numerous pop culture references that a kid just may not get. For example, the Muppet Christmas production is a very funny parody of Moulin Rouge called Moulin Scrooge. I laughed far more watching that scene than my daughter did.
