Home Media Magazine - March 16-22, 2008 - (Page 18) REVIEWS Edited by John Latchem www.homemediamagazine.com I GRIZZLY TALES: A TANGLED WEB/DR. MORIBUNDUS I ENCHANTED Street 3/18 Disney, Fantasy, B.O. $127.4 million, $29.99 DVD, $34.99 Blu-ray, ‘PG’ for some scary images and mild innuendo. Stars Amy Adams, Susan Sarandon, James Marsden, Patrick Dempsey, Idina Menzel, Rachel Covey. Prebook 3/19; Street 4/22 PorchLight, Animated, $14.98 DVD each, NR. Voice of Nigel Planer. I THE SEEKER Street 3/18 Fox, Fantasy, B.O. $8.8 million, $29.98 DVD, ‘PG’ for fantasy action and some scary images. Stars Alexander Ludwig, Ian McShane, Frances Conroy, Gregory Smith, Christopher Eccleston. O T ake one part “Harry Potter,” one part “Narnia” and two parts Jumanji, and you have The Seeker, a special effects explosion that relies more on CGI than story to bring Sandra Cooper’s “The Dark Is Rising” book series to the big screen. Will Stanton (Ludwig) is an American teen living with his family in London. If the changes in his body and locale aren’t enough to deal with, the forces of both good and evil start playing mind tricks that soon unravel his destiny. Apparently being the seventh son of a seventh son comes with powers and the permanent job of fighting an evil known as The Dark. The opposite of The Dark is — you guessed it — The Light. Will is the youngest member of this aging bland band, and as the Seeker, he must travel through time to collect the six signs that will help save the human race. The Seeker is a perfect example of how effects cannot make a movie. That said, it never seems to forget who its fans are: those that can relate to a 14-year-old trying to save the world with magic. All others might appreciate a few of the illusions, but most pale in comparison to its cinematic predecessors. While the film might be filled with special effects, the disc lacks anything special, missing even the obligatory deleted scenes and theatrical trailers. Are the merits of the movie alone supposed to lure people to plop down their money for this small release? That would be magical indeed. – Rachel Cericola nce upon a time, a princess-to-be named Giselle (Adams) lived in the magical land of Andalasia, a place “just beyond the Meadows of Joy and the Valley of Contentment.” Giselle is engaged to the handsome Prince Edward (Marsden), but Edward’s evil stepmother, Queen Narissa (Sarandon), fearing Giselle will take her crown, sends Giselle to a place where “happily-ever-afters don’t exist” — New York City. Giselle’s visit to New York proves to be humorous as she makes her way through the city expecting it to be like her magical Andalasia. While she waits for Edward to rescue her, she meets Robert (Dempsey) and his daughter, Morgan (Covey). Giselle quickly wins both their hearts with her beautiful singing and contagious happiness. The DVD contains some funny bloopers and insightful director’s commentary about the deleted scenes, plus a look at the original songs that received well-deserved Academy Award nominations. The Blu-ray edition features a unique option that displays the “mysteries and gems” of the Disney classics that inspired the film, throughout the actual movie. Who can forget the wonder of Sleeping Beauty, the witty musical performances in Mary Poppins, or the magic of The Little Mermaid and her quirky curiosity for another world? Also unforgettable are the lesson of love in Beauty and the Beast, the delightful tale of Cinderella and the glass slipper that changed her life, and the captivating story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Enchanted is a charming potpourri of everything that is Disney. – Ruby Cardenas I f “Fractured Fairytales,” those wonderful cartoons that featured Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and “Tales From the Crypt,” the creepy TV series hosted by the animatronic Cryptkeeper, were to have an illegitimate child, it would look very much like “Grizzly Tales.” The premise is that Uncle Grizzly owns a very strange movie theater, the Squeam Screen, which shows some extremely creepy, cautionary tales for tots. Each tale, based on the award-winning stories by Jamie Rix, is voiced by a single actor, Planer, who is both delightful and diabolical in his deadpan delivery. Flying in the face of conventional children’s fare, these stories involve animated children often experiencing the dire consequences, albeit fantastical, of their vain, greedy, selfish, misbehaving actions. In “The New Nanny,” siblings torture their babysitter until a couple of new, not necessarily human, nannies are sent in for reinforcement. In “Death by Chocolate,” a particularly greedy little girl learns when not enough is actually way too much. The programs, which originally aired on British television, are the antidote to “Barney”like shows that are infused with saccharine sweetness. In “Grizzly Tales,” children are often in danger and, very often, are not rescued in time to avoid dire consequences. But these programs are infused with a wonderfully sardonic sense of humor that will appeal to children and their parents, while still reinforcing the kinds of lessons of which parents are likely to approve. – Anne Sherber Q U I C K TAK E Revisiting A Pioneer of Film M any film fans may not recognize the name Georges Méliès, a French filmmaker who pioneered many of the film techniques used today. Flicker Alley and Blackhawk Films are celebrating his achievements with a new five-DVD collection, Georges Méliès: First Wizard of Cinema. The $89.95 set includes 173 Méliès short films made between 1896 and 1913. It’s a must-have for anyone interested in the history of film. Included is his masterpiece La Voyage dans la Lune (A Trip to the Moon) made in 1902. It is from this film we get the iconic image of a space capsule crashing into the eye of the Man in the Moon. The DVD set also includes a guide book and the half-hour biography Le Grand Méliès, made by director Georges Franju in 1953. – John Latchem 18 Home Media Magazine March 16–22, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
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