Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on December 1st, 2011
"You have been activated."
You've got to hand it to Robert Rodriguez. Since he came onto the film scene in 1992 he has earned a reputation for delivering some very innovative films. His specialty appears to run toward more adult fare with such cult hits as Dusk To Dawn, Sin City, and his recent splashes into grindhouse territory. Anyone who has seen those films might find it strange that the writer/director is also responsible for a somewhat beloved children's franchise with the Spy Kids films. First introduced in 2001 the film pulled in a respectable box office and became a hit for the younger crowd who have fantasies of being James Bond spies with all of the terrific gadgets and the extra benefit of making evil adults look bad.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by William O'Donnell on November 15th, 2011
Six different Nickelodeon children's programs aimed at preschoolers each have their own Christmas (or Holiday) special episodes and are compiled together on this DVD release.
Dora the Explorer: Using tons of repetition and visual cues, Dora and her friends teach kids while alternating between English and Spanish. This time they need to go to the North Pole.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on October 20th, 2011
It is that time for more cartoon goodness from the people at Nickelodeon. As we have seen, I seem to attract odd cartoons to review. Let’s see, there is a dude with a football as a head, a beaver with a surfer voice or perhaps a monster who has to carry his own eyeballs. This time I lay witness to a Cat and a Dog conjoined at the stomach devoid of tails or hind legs. What sounds like a bad science experiment might be full of cartoon love.
CatDog started out as a sneak peek cartoon before the Rugrats movie. In April of 1998, forty initial episodes were ordered. When it was all said and done, it would last half a dozen years and sixty eight episodes. It was not an overly strong cartoon but it would go on to accumulate a fairly quiet fan base and some minor nominations for an Annie as well as a Kid’s Choice Award. One might think with this mediocre run that the cast of voice actors was mediocre. That would be completely wrong.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 17th, 2011
One of my favorite “kiddie” type cartoons is Fairly Odd Parents. A giant size of wit (surprisingly adult in nature on occasion) and a ton of charm make the cartoon a boatload of fun to watch. It was created by Butch Hartman who has a long list of popular toon credits including Johnny Bravo, Cow and Chicken and Dexter's Laboratory. Eventually Hartman started to do more than storyboard or write cartoons. He created cartoons, including one such cartoon named Danny Phantom which is our subject today.
Danny Phantom was created in 2004 by Butch Hartman mostly based on the popularity of Fairly Odd Parents. (Basically, Nickelodeon wanted another cartoon from Hartman and asked him if he had an idea. Before “Danny Phantom” came out of his mouth, he had a contract). The show would run for a mild 45 episodes, 4 specials and roughly 3 seasons of work. But in doing so, he certainly generated a fan base who are still looking for new episodes until this very day. But before we get nose deep in some ghost hunting, lets go over the characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on September 4th, 2011
It is cartoon review time boys and girls. We have a very special guest today, he is the president of the The More Angry Beavers in Cartoons Today Thingy club. He is going to show us a cartoon today called, wait for it. *Waiting* *Random children start to flic boogers at each other* It's the Angry Beavers! *One kid cheers and the others throw paper wads at him* Wait, you don't know the Angry Beavers?! Well, then let us start the show and we will introduce to these two, Daggert and Norbert who live in a bachelor dam (not under the sea but above it!).
The Angry Beavers was a very successful cartoon for the Nickelodeon network that ran from 1997 to 2003. They did a total of sixty three episodes over four seasons and were nominated for eleven awards, four of which they actually won including a Daytime Emmy for Sound Editing and an Annie Award for Production Design. But enough about how wonderful this show and let us move on to the main characters.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by BABY on August 31st, 2011
Baby here again, and I'm not exactly a happy German Shepherd/Chow mix puppy right now. Do you wanna know what's put the growl in my scowl this time? The other day I heard Gino say that somebody was in the doghouse. That sure sounded like fun, but it turns out the dude got fired and that being in the doghouse turns out to be not such a good thing. Now I understand if they said that UPS was in this dog's house. That would be bad for the UPS guy. And that spells O U C H. But why is it that humans say that when someone is in trouble. Heck, I spent most of my life in a doghouse, and I was havin' a good time. I never got fired or yelled at. Okay, I made that last part up. Yeah, I get yelled at all of the time, but it's never exactly my fault, you understand. How 'bout you guys start saying cathouse when someone's in trouble, although I think I heard someone use that word to describe something else. Never mind.
You know what else puts me in a snarlin' mood? It's when a studio takes a really good movie and decides to put out a new movie with the same name, 'cept they really don't have anything to do with each other. Somebody's just looking to get a bowlful of treats without working too hard. Me, I work for my treats, which reminds me... Anyway, that's exactly what you get with Marley & Me: The Puppy Years.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on August 18th, 2011
Sometimes, I look through my collection of dvd and blu-rays. I tend to notice patterns fairly well. First, I like plenty of science fiction or thriller types. On the animation front, for the most part I tend to like anything oddball or superhero. Plain jane ordinary kid cartoons never seem to be my thing. The weirder the better. Today, I review Hey Arnold!, the first season. Perhaps I can give this Nick classic some bland cookie cutter love.
Hey Arnold! was a show that ran from 1996 to 2004 on the Nickelodeon network. It was a staple for that station for many years. It even churned out a movie at one point. It had a ton of characters but I will go over a few. There is the main character, Arnold who is in the fourth grade. His head is shaped like a football (something that many of the earlier cartoons beat to death) and he stays with his grandparents, Phil and Gertie. He also has a pet pig named Abner and they live in an old apartment building.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on May 24th, 2011
The story of Romeo and Juliet is a story that is retold at least once every generation. It can be retold using a different time period or with alien races or perhaps even in a thirty second commercial. It is a fairly easy story and parts can be tweaked given the audience and intention. So begins the story of Gnomeo and Juliet. Take one part animation, one part garden gnomes and a dose of laughter that could be just what the classic play needs. Or it could become a tragedy of the highest order.
There are two elderly people who share a large house. One is Mrs. Montague and the other is Mr. Capulet. They can not stand each other. In such, part of their daily routine is to look after their separate prized garden. One is decorated in blue (Montague) while the other is decorated in red(Capulet). However, they both share one thing in their design. They both like to use garden gnomes. When Mrs. Montague and Mr. Capulet go away however, the gnomes magically come to life. So starts our story.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 29th, 2011
"Jellystone Park, one of the nation's oldest and most beautiful stretches of wilderness. For years, families have headed out from the busy city eager to enjoy a little camping, fishing, and, of course, observing the park's natural wildlife..."
He's smarter than the average bear. Children and adults alike have been watching his adventures since 1959. Yogi and his young sidekick Boo Boo were one of the most popular of the Hanna-Barbera stable of talking animal characters that reached a peak of popularity on the Saturday morning cartoon shows of the 1960's and 1970's. The two brown bears lived in the fictional Jellystone Park, which is often considered to be intended as Yellowstone Park. Such real-life fixtures as Old Faithful appeared in the original cartoons. The park was kept in order by Ranger Smith, who was always frustrated by the plots and exploits of Yogi, particularly his obsession with acquiring pic-a-nic baskets. It sure beat foraging, and Yogi would go to incredible lengths just to snatch an unsuspecting camper’s lunch.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by David Annandale on March 23rd, 2011
The more famous a star, the more curious their early, pre-icon efforts become. Thus, we watch agog as Humphrey Bogart plays a murderous, blood-thirsty zombie in The Return of Doctor X (1939). And here, a 16-year-old Nicole Kidman makes her debut as a BMX-obsessed teen who runs afoul of a group of not-very-competent gangsters. Once again, one watches agog.
Kidman, Angelo D'Angelo and James Lugton are the trio of teens who need to raise funds to buy new bikes. They happen across a cache of walkie-talkies that are supposed to allow a gang of bank robbers to hear the police while being unheard themselves (though, as matters develop, the opposite is true), and sell them. Understandably irked, the thieves pursue our heroes, and all sorts of car vs BMX chase scenes ensue.
