Disney’s Cinderella is available to own on Blu Ray for the first time ever on Oct. 2nd, 2012. Courtesy of Disney Pictures
When Disney’s timeless tale Cinderella was released in 1950, the film had the financial future of Disney studios resting on its shoulders. As we all know, the movie was a smashing success and propelled Disney into the world of gargantuan movie mogul.
Disney’s telling of the humble, beautiful orphaned girl, shunned into slavery by her wicked stepmother and wretched step sisters has never been told better. What sends this fairy tale to the stratosphere of a true classic is the inclusion of a secondary set of animal characters and their complimentary storyline. The humour, suspense and grandeur of the entire production means this film will continue to entertain movie goers for generations to come.
With a complete digital restoration for its Blu Ray + DVD release, this classic looks and sounds as if it were recently animated. They’ve polished the fuzzy animation cells and scratchy soundtrack without adding anything that doesn’t belong. If only George Lucas thought this way.
If you’re a fan of special features, you’ve hit the jackpot! There is a plethora of goodies to dive into, even if the best ones are tucked into the recesses of the menu. You’ll find everything from behind the scenes making-of featurettes that take you into the conception of the film, casting, and musical inspiration. You’ll even hear from the people who animated the characters! There’s also a storyboarded alternate opening sequence, as well as animated shorts, and even a preview of Walt Disney World’s new addition to their theme park: Disney Princess Fantasyland.
Bottom Line: This incredibly remastered, bonus feature laden fairy tale is a must own on Blu Ray for kids and past kids alike.
The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under on Blu Ray + DVD combo available on August 21, 2012. Courtesy of Disney Pictures
Thirty-five years ago, Disney’s animation studios delivered an original tale of two mice risking their lives to save a kidnapped girl from the clutches of a cruel woman. Thirteen years after the success of The Rescuers, Disney delivered one of its first sequels to an animated film in The Rescuers Down Under. For The Rescuers three and a half decade anniversary, both films have been included in the Blu Ray + DVD combo release.
The Rescuers is such a hit simply because it veers away from what so many other films do—talk down to children. Instead, it delivers a darker story everyone can enjoy. Eva Gabor and Bob Newhart work magic together as the unlikely pair of mystery solving, lovable rodents.
In The Rescuers Down Under, the adventure is brought to the other side of the globe where Bernard and Bianca must stop a ruthless poacher in the Outback of Australia. All new characters and phenomenal animation make this sequel a fun ride. Story wise, it just falls short of the first film – But not by much.
This Blu Ray release looked far better than I thought it would on my 60” television and sounded surprisingly good as well. Included you’ll find a wide array of special features to enjoy: “Peoplitis” a deleted song, “Someone’s Waiting For You” Sing-A-Long, and The Making Of The Rescuers Down Under. On top of those, Disney has also included “The Three Blind Mouseketeers” – Silly Symphony Animated Short, and the best feature of all “Water Birds” Disney True Life Adventure. This last feature is a fun video about real birds in nature and how they differ from each other. A must watch for wildlife lovers!
Bottom Line: You and your children will have a blast delving into these timeless mysteries alongside two heroic mice and their companions.
Movie Grades: The Rescuers: A-/The Rescuers Down Under: B
Blu Ray Grade A-
Runtimes: The Rescuers: 78 minutes/The Rescuers Down Under: 78 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
Logan Marshall-Green, Noomi Rapace, and Michael Fassbender star in Prometheus. Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox
It’s difficult not to become completely encapsulated in an epic horror/sci-fi the likes of Ridley Scott’s Alien from 1979. With the standards set from that film, any movie associated with it will be viewed under extreme scrutiny. Luckily, Prometheus separates itself from the original by focusing on the science and adds elements of horror to spice things up.
In Prometheus, a scientific discovery leads to a galactic exploration to find the origins of humanity. What they find when they reach their destination is nothing close to what they expected.
Ridley Scott, the once legendary director, has returned to where his major success had initialized with classics like Blade Runner. With the aid of writers Jon Spaihts and Damon Lindeloff, Scott takes us on a journey that explores man’s greatest mystery: Where do we come from? Both director and writers achieve an incredible level of thought provoking ideas and thrilling storytelling. However, they also left a lot of unexplored venues which will prevent this movie from reaching the stratospheric acclaim of its predecessor.
Casting for this movie hit an almost perfect score with an excellent ensemble of actors to portray the various archetypes. Michael Fassbender is yet again phenomenal in his role as the multi-layered, intriguing android. Alongside him, Noomi Rapace shows equal skill in manifesting her character’s emotions (very reminiscent of Sigourney Weaver in 1979). While the rest of the cast was great, Charlize Theron completely lacked everything that was required to make her performance memorable. Mind you, it is hard to be memorable when your character appeared to be tacked on haphazardly.
The cinematography is beautiful, but the musical score lacked atmosphere to really provide punch to crucial moments.
Scott’s use of the added 3rd dimension works phenomenally. The entire film viewed through 3D glasses delivered the most realistic “looking through a window” effect to date. Definitely worth the additional cost.
Bottom Line: No matter how great this film appears to be, the nagging flaws keep it from becoming an epic classic.
Chris Hemsworth and Kristen Stewart star in Snow White and the Huntsman. Courtesy of Universal Pictures
Earlier this year, Mirror Mirror failed (in every conceivable way) to reimagine the classic fairy tale. However, hopes were very high for the second, darker take on the classic Brothers Grimm tale, Snow White and The Huntsman. Unfortunately, our hopes have been shattered and the blame lay in the hands of many.
This film attempts to give the age old tale some back story while adding more magic and throwing in a lot of CGI action.
If you’re thinking to yourself those sound like the right ingredients for this kind of endeavour, you’d be right. The problem rests with the people involved in making the film. Put simply, they hadn’t the foggiest idea what they were doing.
Starting with inexperienced director Rupert Sanders, whose resume up until now included a handful of overrated shorts and commercials, seemed painfully ill equipped to translate his brooding ideas to film. The question on everyone’s mind after seeing this dismal attempt will inevitably be: who at Universal Pictures thought giving Sanders a whopping $175 million budget was a good investment.
I would have liked to have seen the writers and director elaborating on the backstory of the evil queen, maybe then we would actually care about what was happening to the characters when the drama begins to unfold.
The performances by the primary cast further polluted the film. Kristen Stewart had as much charisma as a rock, even when she was seemingly forcing herself to show more. You’ll also find more chemistry in a kindergarten class than between Stewart and her male co-stars, Chris Hemsworth and Sam Claflin. Shockingly, this wasn’t the worst performance in the film. That shameful title goes to Oscar winning actress Charlize Theron (Monster), whose countless attempts at delivering child-like temper tantrums were painful to sit through.
The only thing worth mentioning were the enchanting seven dwarfs, who were fully grown actors convincingly shrunk down to miniature size.
Bottom Line: This big budget movie has nothing to offer but big time disappointment. Save your money and watch paint dry – Far more entertaining.
Lily Collins stars as Snow White alongside her seven dwarf companions in Mirror Mirror. Courtesy of Alliance Atlantis
Born in the late 1700’s, the Brothers Grimm penned fairy tales that have endured the test of time, becoming the most recognizable children’s folklore around the world. One of their most popular stories, Snow White, is receiving two cinematic re-imaginings this year; Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman. Things are looking up for the latter, as Mirror Mirror will no doubt leave you unimpressed.
In this reworked tale, the story is told from the evil queen’s (Julia Roberts) point of view and pits her against Snow White (Lily Collins) in a battle for the heart of the prince and subsequently the kingdom.
Director Tarsem Singh (Immortals, The Cell) fails miserably to coax a solid performance out of any of the cast. Practically every line of dialogue out of the actor’s mouths felt “good enough” rather than “brilliant!” and, because of this, the entire film suffered.
The visuals are at times interesting, and at others, confusing, with the large amount of unnecessary CGI making the entire affair seem over the top.
There is absolutely no chemistry between Lily Collins (The Blind Side) and Armie Hammer (The Social Network). We simply have to accept that their good looks are enough to warrant their intense romantic pull toward each other.
Hopefully, the second Snow White movie will deliver something more than this travesty.
Bottom Line: Pop in the original Disney classic and shield yourself and loved ones from this movie.
What sends this fairy tale to the stratosphere of a true classic is the inclusion of a secondary set of animal characters and their complimentary storyline. The humour, suspense and grandeur of the entire production means this film will continue to entertain movie goers for generations to come.
With a complete digital restoration for its Blu Ray + DVD release, this classic looks and sounds as if it were recently animated. They’ve polished the fuzzy animation cells and scratchy soundtrack without adding anything that doesn’t belong. If only George Lucas thought this way.
If you’re a fan of special features, you’ve hit the jackpot! There is a plethora of goodies to dive into, even if the best ones are tucked into the recesses of the menu. You’ll find everything from behind the scenes making-of featurettes that take you into the conception of the film, casting, and musical inspiration. You’ll even hear from the people who animated the characters! There’s also a storyboarded alternate opening sequence, as well as animated shorts, and even a preview of Walt Disney World’s new addition to their theme park: Disney Princess Fantasyland. 
Bottom Line: This incredibly remastered, bonus feature laden fairy tale is a must own on Blu Ray for kids and past kids alike. 
