As promised, here's more in our weekend coverage of Pixar's Brave. On Sunday we'll be posting a review. In the meantime check out this Witch's Brew.

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry."

That famous proverb comes from a couplet in the Robert Burns poem "To a Mouse." ("The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men/Gang aft agley") Simply put, it means that even the most carefully prepared plans can go wrong at any time. The line also provided the title for John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men", the classic 1937 novella that has since become required reading in many high schools, along with "To Kill a Mockingbird", "The Great Gatsby" and others. Steinbeck tells the tragic story of slow-witted Lenny and his friend/protector George, two migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression. I imagine Steinbeck's best laid plans probably didn't involve his story becoming the basis for a British cage fighting movie.

As mentioned previously in my reviews, Iron Man in animated form does not have the greatest track record. I remember watching the Iron Man animated film not too long ago (check here for a small review: https://upcomingdiscs.com/2012/04/29/marvel-animated-features-3-movie-collection-blu-ray/) and just thinking that it never even got close to the awesomeness that is the live action films with Robert Downey Jr. Today, we get to review some episodes of Iron Man Armored Adventures. Hopefully the series improves from last season.

"History prefers legends to men. It prefers nobility to brutality, soaring speeches to quiet deeds. History remembers the battle, and forgets the blood. However history remembers me if it remembers anything at all, it shall only remember a fraction of the truth for whatever else I am: a husband, a lawyer, a president; I shall always think of myself first and foremost as a hunter."

It's been almost four score and seven years ago, it seems, since there's been a really good vampire movie.

It's been a busy weekend for movies. We also caught Pixar's new film Brave. A review is coming. It's another fun adventure. While you're waiting go behind the scenes for some Pixar magic

Expectations can mean everything when you go into a film. That's usually a problem for that certain class of movie which defies definition at almost every turn. It's the kind of movie that often flows from a first-time director and writer. It's also the kind of film that plays best in the festival circuit where the audience isn't really looking to so much pigeonhole a movie as much as a mainstream audience does. When Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World decided to join a crowded summer of blockbuster anchor films

With technology constantly evolving and becoming more affordable, it has allowed more and more film makers to get their projects made.  With so many films now filling the market it’s become harder to sort through the crowd and find the ones that actually stand out from the pack, and because of this some really good films just get lost among the masses.  A Bag of Hammers seems to be one of those films.  This isn’t groundbreaking cinema, but it’s a story that has us look at the idea of what family is from a unique perspective without beating the message into our head.

Our friends at A&E & Lifetime have given us two movies to give away to a couple of lucky readers. We have Girl Fight with Anne Heche and James Tupper along with The Bell Ring Yn Chang and Austin Butler.

To win just follow these instructions.

"I'm a consulting detective of some repute. Perhaps you've heard of me? My name is Sherlock Holmes."

In 1887, readers of the popular periodical Beeton’s Christmas Annual were to receive quite a special treat. There wasn’t much fanfare or hype to the event. Inside the pages of the magazine was a story called A Study In Scarlet. It was a detective story, perhaps like many published before, except for the detective himself, a certain Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Together with his faithful companion and chronicler Dr. Watson, Holmes would win the hearts of those holiday readers.

When I saw that Nicolas Cage and January Jones were headlining a little-seen/straight-to-DVD-caliber title, part of me was perversely excited. This had the potential to be a historic summit of bad acting! To be fair,  I generally enjoy the — shall we say — avant garde stylings of Cage's performances, but I'm much less impressed by the relentless joylessness Jones bring to her work (even on the excellent Mad Men). In short, I was prepared to laugh and I was prepared to wince. However, I was not prepared to enjoy this entertaining, preposterous thriller as much as I did.