Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - (Page 10) REVIEWS BLU-RAY SPOTLIGHT Street 3/10 Disney, Animated, $29.99 two-DVD set, $35.99 Blu-ray, ‘G.’ Edited by John Latchem www.homemediamagazine.com I ACE VENTURA JR. — PET DETECTIVE Street 3/3 Warner, Comedy, $24.98 DVD, ‘PG’ for some rude humor. Stars Josh Flitter, Emma Lockhart, Austin Rogers, Ann Cusack, Ralph Waite. I PINOCCHIO: 70TH ANNIVERSARY PLATINUM EDITION isney knows how to treat its classics right. Just to demonstrate how much Pinocchio has been transformed for Blu-ray, the viewing experience begins with a gag in which the “Blu Fairy” transforms a dark, scratched, tinny-sounding version of the menu screen into a vibrant, colorful, crisp-sounding high-definition display. From there it’s a full immersion into the world of Pinocchio and the challenges facing Walt Disney in adapting Carlo Collodi’s 1881-83 serialized tale about the woodcarver Geppetto’s magical living puppet who yearns to become a real boy. Disney’s second full-length animated adventure carried high expectations with its debut, following the enormous success of 1937’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (which hits Blu-ray this fall). As the film that brought us the Disney anthem “When You Wish Upon a Star,” it’s safe to say that Pinocchio certainly lives up to its legacy. In fact, the process of remastering the 1940 film for Blu-ray may have been a little too good. A near-perfect high-def transfer overwhelms the screen with color, but also exposes some of the rough edges of the old animation styles. On the whole, though, Pinocchio holds up well, especially the underwater sequence of the finale (which was studied nearly 50 years later for The Little Mermaid). The centerpiece of the bonus material is an outstanding retrospective documentary, which in conjunction with a commentary track offers many key insights into the history of animation and some of the experimental techniques used on Pinocchio. The picture-in-picture Cine Explore mode is recommended for the commentary, as some of the speakers refer to graphics that pop up on the screen. Another featurette focuses on modern Geppettos, who discuss what motivates them as toymakers. This program also takes a look at the future of toys, at which point it serves as a nice commercial for an interactive Wall-E robot. Kids will get a kick out of the games that are included. Both the DVD and Blu-ray versions include a puzzle challenge that unlocks scenes from the movie. Exclusive to the Blu-ray version are a trivia game and a series of fun carnival games. BD Live gives access to another trivia game, one that lets the viewer challenge other fans through the Internet. – John Latchem Overall, this is a home video presentation that does Disney’s “Platinum” brand proud. D J im Carrey shot to stardom in 1994 with the original Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. The unexpected success of that film spawned the 1995 sequel Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls, also starring Carrey, plus a video game and a 1995-2000 animated series. Not surprisingly, Carrey was not involved in this direct-to-video third film, which focuses on Ace’s son, played by child actor Josh Flitter. The effect is a repositioning of the franchise into the same “kids playing grown-up” milieu as Spy Kids and Agent Cody Banks. Ann Cusack plays Ace Jr.’s mom, Melissa, likely intended to be the same character played by Courtney Cox in the first film. She worries about her son’s love of animals but doesn’t want him to take after his father, who disappeared years earlier. But fate has another plan, as Ace Jr.’s grandfather (Ralph Waite) explains that wacky behavior is just a family trait of Ventura males, due to a genetic mutation. Soon enough neighborhood pets start to disappear, and young Ace is drawn to investigate. The case picks up when celebrity animals also vanish, and Melissa is framed for stealing a panda cub from the zoo at which she works. The underlying story, about a young boy hoping to follow in the footsteps of his father, is actually kind of endearing, and the movie is built on two key elements children love: cute animals and kids outsmarting adults. The result plays a bit like a tribute to the earlier films, driven by a neverending string of corny gags (a few of which actually work), movie references and a few too many fart jokes. But Flitter delivers an energetic performance as the title character, avoiding a Carrey impression to put his own stamp on the brand. The key difference is that Carrey’s Ace would chew the scenery and dominate his surroundings. The kid version is more of an oddity who seems in over his head and is mocked for his bizarre behavior before winning over the crowd. Be warned — the ending definitely falls into the realm of “don’t try this at home.” The DVD includes some deleted scenes (which set up a potential sequel) and a bunch of zany behind-the-scenes featurettes. – John Latchem I FRANCES: BEDTIME FOR FRANCES Prebook 3/4; Street 3/31 Lionsgate/HIT, Animated, $14.98 DVD, NR. B edtime for Frances features three animated episodes based on the children’s books by Russell Hoban. Frances the badger is a high-energy, fun-loving preschooler with a baby sister and two loving, if somewhat exasperated, parents. The episodes deal with life lessons geared toward small children, such as getting along with siblings, sharing, telling the truth and going to bed. Children will identify with Frances’ emotional ups and downs and will enjoy the songs she creates to express herself as she learns these important lessons. Parents and caretakers will appreciate that the songs are not reminiscent of a certain purple dinosaur, who shall remain nameless. Adults may find they have more to enjoy here than expected. Frances’ father is particularly amusing. It is clear he loves his daughter, but his patience is often stretched by her antics, resulting in some humor- ous moments to which adults will relate. Parents and caretakers alike can benefit from watching the way he gently guides Frances to good behavior. After viewing the DVD, I was interested in seeing who could have produced such a kid-focused but adultfriendly program and was not in the least bit shocked to see it is The Jim Henson Co. Leave it to the folks who brought us the Muppets and Fraggles to now amuse and educate with a loving family of badgers. The DVD is packaged inside a hardcover edition of the book Bedtime for Frances and includes an interactive read-along for the book, a Frances’ Friends and Family Character Gallery and a bonus episode of Fifi and the Flowertots, “Hole Lot of Fun.” – Kyra Kudick 12 Home Media Magazine March 2–8, 2009 http://www.homemediamagazine.com
Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 Contents News TV DVD SXSW Reviews Research Top 20 Sellers Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts Just Announced Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 (Page Cover1) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 (Page Cover2) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 (Page Cover3) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 (Page Cover4) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 (Page 1) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 (Page 2) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 (Page 3) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 (Page 4) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Contents (Page 5) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - News (Page 6) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - News (Page 7) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - News (Page 8) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - News (Page 9) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - TV DVD (Page 10) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - SXSW (Page 11) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Reviews (Page 12) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Reviews (Page 13) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Reviews (Page 14) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Reviews (Page 15) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Top 20 Sellers (Page 16) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Top 20 Sellers (Page 17) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 18) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Top 20 Rentals and Top 10 Charts (Page 19) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 20) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 21) Home Media Magazine - March 2-8, 2009 - Just Announced (Page 22)
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