Home Media Magazine - July 6-12, 2008 - (Page 12)

REVIEWS Edited by John Latchem www.homemediamagazine.com I HANNAH MONTANA AND MILEY CYRUS: BEST OF BOTH WORLDS CONCERT — THE 3-D MOVIE Prebook 7/8; Street 8/19 Disney, Music, B.O. $65.3 million, $34.99 two-DVD set, $35.99 Blu-ray, ‘G.’ T he enormous success and instantaneous sellouts of Miley Cyrus’ concert tour, coupled with hundreds of thousands of disappointed pre-teen and tween fans and more than a few irate parents, prompted Cyrus and her alter ego, Hannah Montana, to release this concert film. And, because Hannah is a Disney property — she rose to prominence as a consequence of her wildly popular Disney Channel show — this is not just any concert film. It is, among other things, the first Blu-ray Disc that can be viewed in 3-D. The film, which can also be viewed in standard-DVD format, opens with Cyrus preparing for a concert and alternates between concert performances and interstitial footage of her preparing for the tour, learning the choreography, and orchestrations, and giving the audience a backstage tour of the sets and costumes. The title refers to the slightly schizophrenic nature of Cyrus’ ce- lebrity. To hundreds of thousands of her fans, she is Hannah Montana, a singing sensation. But Cyrus also is trying to carve out a singing career as herself. So half the concert is Cyrus singing as Montana and, in the other half, she sings as herself. Hannah Montana songs include “Rock Star,” “Life’s What You Make It,” “Just Like You,” “Nobody’s Perfect,” “Pumpin’ Up the Party,” “I Got Nerve” and “We Got the Party.” The Jonas Brother Band, another Disney creation, jumps in for a musical interlude with “When You Look Me in the Eyes,” and “Year 3000.” Cyrus returns as herself and performs “Start All Over,” “See You Again,” “Let’s Dance,” “Right Here,” “I Miss You,” “Girls Night Out” and “The Best of Both Worlds.” The program includes only a couple of extras. Viewers can follow the bouncing ball and sing along with several songs from the movie. Also included is a Backstage Disney program, a basic featurette that includes interviews with Cyrus, the film’s director and crew and her father, country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Not only did the concert tour sell out, but the film’s one-week theatrical run also sold out. So there should be a great deal of pent-up demand for this title. – Anne Sherber I EON KID: SEASON ONE VOL. ONE Prebook 7/10; Street 8/12 Anchor Bay, Animation, $16.98 DVD, NR. D espite his futuristic surroundings, Marty isn’t your average 11-year-old. While working at a robot scrap yard, Marty stumbles upon an ancient Iron Fist. Marty tries on the glove, only to discover it has mystical powers and he is actually a descendant of Eon, who ended the Robot War 100 years prior. Now the glove won’t come off, making him an unwilling superhero. The glove seems to have a mind of its own — and enemies to match. Despite being produced by anime kings Manga Entertainment and having a bit of an anime appearance, “Eon Kid” is actually a Korean import. Until recently, the U.S. version ran on The CW’s Saturday morning KidsWB block. This initial volume includes the first four of the show’s 25 episodes, and a bonus titled “Strength Isn’t Everything.” Super-fans will appreciate the extra installment, which was previously combined into another episode for its U.S. airing. These five episodes show how Eon Kid came to be and a bit of what he can do, in more than 100 minutes of 3-D CG animation. The show is probably a bit intense for the wee ones, but kids ranging from 5 to 10 should be riveted by the action and animation style, which looks more like a video game than CGIs such as Toy Story. Adult fans might appreciate the extra episode, but otherwise only kids will be interested in the few extras, which include a photo gallery and a downloadable mini poster. Fans of all ages should also clamor for Anchor Bay’s toy tie-in with Playmates, which will hit around the same time as this DVD release. – Rachel Cericola I WHEN I FIND THE OCEAN Prebook 7/8; Street 8/5 Monterey, Drama, $24.95 DVD, ‘PG’ for thematic material involving violence and racial slurs, and for language. Stars Diane Ladd, Graham Greene, Lee Majors, Amy Redford, Bernie Casey, Richard Tyson, Lily Matland Holly. T here’s a really decent movie hidden somewhere inside When I Find the Ocean, but unfortunately it’s drowned beneath a bevy of lessons and melodrama. Preteen Lily (Holly) is grieving over her father, a sailor lost at sea. She lives on a farm with her paternal grandparents and her mother, who is about to marry a man (Tyson) who thinks a belt is a proper tool for disciplining a child. Obsessed with the ocean and unable to withstand these secret beatings, Lily runs away, drifting down a creek that’s filled with more dangers than you could imagine — a cougar, redneck poachers and a whole lot of racial injustice. The setting is lovely and Lily’s relationship with her grandfather (Majors) is touching and inspiring — what kid wouldn’t want to grow up free on a farm with an outdoorsy grandfather and his friend (Greene) teaching her how to survive in the wilderness? But what could have been a poignant family film centered just on Lily, her grief and the unveiling of her monster stepfather-to-be turns into a treatise on race relations in the South in the 1960s that has nothing new to say and only gets in the way of the 12 Home Media Magazine July 6–12, 2008 http://www.homemediamagazine.com

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Home Media Magazine - July 6-12, 2008

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