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Bolt (Single-Disc Edition) Only $16.99 I wasn't expecting Bolt to be this much fun. I kept laughing out loud. One touching part late in the film made me tear up. And the visuals are virtuoso. The story has lots of familiar touches. Its road trip plot channels The Incredible Journey. Pooch Bolt sincerely thinks he has true superhero powers, much like Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story. The truth is that he is on a television series, and has been living a lie most of his life (The Truman Show, anyone?) His human, a preteen girl named Penny, is a child actress, although she truly loves Bolt and longs to give him a normal doggie life. Although the plot could have been stronger, the visual effects and look of the film are amazing. I kept being distracted by the perfection on the screen. My poor daughter, who went with me to see the movie when it was released in theaters, had to endure me continually tapping her arm, saying "Did you see that?! The smoke looks REAL!" or "The rust on the train looks PERFECT!" A number of scenes use techniques I learned about watching a Pixar documentary on the Wall-E DVD. It's about the imperfect lens, or how cameras have inherent limitations. Animation of course doesn't use cameras in the traditional way. Yet in Bolt you see example after example of the filmmakers enhancing the reality of the movie by building in imperfections that don't have to be there. For instance, in one shot Bolt looks up at the sunny sky. The screen shows the squared-off circles you'd see if you pointed a camera's lens into the sun. The film also uses variable depth of field, much like a cameraman does when shooting a live-action movie. It's as if a camera is adjusting its lens as the scene progresses. Bolt is voiced by John Travolta, and Penny by Miley "Hannah Montana" Cyrus. Both these likable actors delivered true-life, believable characters. They even sing together in the closing duet, "I Thought I'd Lost You." Comment Comment | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } Yes No (Report this) Click Here for more information on Bolt (Single-Disc Edition). Wall-E ( Single-Disc Edition) Only $12.99 I am floored. I didn't think it was possible for Pixar to surpass Toy Story, but it has. A sophisticated treat for adults and teens, a cuddly romance for the juice-box set, this comedic science fiction thriller romance (really!) takes the company to a new, more mature level. Filled with artistry, depth, meaning and a lot of humor, WALL-E is a masterpiece. Where Cars was a kid's movie with added adult themes, this is an adult movie with added value for children. DIALOGUE SCHMIALOGUE Before I saw WALL-E I had read about the lack of dialogue, and how it might be a risky move for Pixar to make a film with characters that don't talk in a traditional sense. Well, trash that. The most emotionally powerful scenes in this movie are those with the LEAST dialogue. Fully developed and indeed almost human, the two main characters are Wall-E himself (the letters stand for Waste Allocation Load Lifter-Earth Class; there's also a WALL-A) and EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator), two machines in love. After about a half hour I was wondering if Pixar could continue to pull off this less-is-more concept for the rest of the film -- then the two robots started playing Pong! Such imaginative screenplay carries the film to what should be a Best Picture nomination. Seriously. A TOUCHING STORY WALL-E is a lonely little robotic trash compactor who was left behind after Earth was abandoned some 700 years earlier. He has been methodically cleaning up the trash-ridden planet ever since, and harboring a tiny plant he has found among the garbage. Eve, meanwhile, lives on the immense spaceship Axiom, which is also home to the fat, blob-like remains of the human race. She is a probe robot that flies to Earth to determine if the planet is ready for habitation. WALL-E takes one look at the streamlined, angelic Eve and falls in love. It didn't take long for me to fall in love with the little robot. As soon as he giggled (after his pet cockroach tickled him) I was hooked. This hardworking rusty guy with his small home full of collected treasures is so poignant. His lonely life is so human. Eve is just as likable, but much more sleek. Near the end comes a heartbreaking moment when a key character seems to lose all personality, all self. So well done, it made me think of how families must feel when a loved one disappears inside him- or herself with Alzheimer's disease. All ends well, of course. As the credits roll, the artwork illustrates how everyone and everything lives happily after ever. AN ADULT MEANING For adults, WALL-E is not so much about a cute little robot as it is about the future of man. What happens when humans become such creatures of the consumer culture, so fat they can't even stand up without assistance, living literally on auto-pilot, that they do nothing but buy cheap merchandise, stuff their faces at the Regurgitated Food Buffet and lie around watching video screens? Can they ever get back to the land and set their souls free? Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young asked that question decades ago; Pixar asks it today. There is even a sly political reference. Broadcasting a message to the passengers of the spaceship, the CEO of monster corporation Buy 'n' Large -- played in live-action by the inimitable Fred Willard, and named Shelby Forthright -- says they will be continuing on their never-ending, hopeless cruise to nowhere because they must "Stay the course!" Hmmm, haven't I heard a president use that line? EXTRA TOUCHES WALL-E has so many wonderful touches! After the little robot is charged using his solar panels, he "turns on" with a sound any Macintosh owner will recognize. The robot's collected objects, much like the thingamabobs of The Little Mermaid's Ariel, are things that are uniquely human: bubble wrap, an iPod, a Rubics cube, a singing plastic trophy fish and -- blink and you'll miss it -- a carrousel horse from Walt Disney World. Especially inspired are the two things on this future Earth that are totally indestructible: a cockroach and Twinkies. Stay for the credits. Recalling cave drawings, hieroglyphics, Monet and Van Gogh paintings and early computer graphics, the progressive sequence of art within them sneaks in the history of dialogue-free storytelling. ANIMATED? REALLY? The look of the movie is hard to describe. In one scene, when WALL-E and EVE are investigating a piece of bubble wrap, you can't tell it is an animated film. It actually appears to be live-action. Likewise, the outer space scenes have the same level of realism as any of the Star Wars movies. The trailing tower of squiggly smoke that's left behind by a launching spacecraft re-creates the Florida sky of a Space Shuttle launch to a T. For the most part, it is only when humans are portrayed that you are consciously aware that what you're watching was generated on circuit boards, not in cameras. I've seen the movie three times, first in digital projection and then from a film projector. The digital showing was much sharper, which made all the realistic touches far easier to appreciate. MOVIE REFERENCES It's obvious the Pixar folks are movie lovers; there are so many cinematic inspirations in WALL-E that I lost count. The "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" sequence from Hello, Dolly! shows up -- literally -- maybe half a dozen times. (Disney World fans may also remember the song as one of the background melodies along Main Street U.S.A.) The Axiom spaceship's computer is clearly an homage to HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey; that film's signature overture "Also Sprach Zarathustra" plays at a key moment. WALL-E himself combines the purrs of E.T., the attitude of R2-D2 and the moves of Charlie Chaplin. There's a brief reference to Titanic. OPENING CARTOON The movie is preceded by a Pixar short, "Presto," that had the entire audience I was sitting with in stitches. Its plot: When a magician neglects to feed his bunny a carrot, an escalating disaster results. It's so nice to start a feature with a cartoon. I wish other studios still did it. (Disney fans will note the magician's hat is similar to the one used by Mickey Mouse in Fantasia.) SOUVENIR TOY Might as well budget it in: if you take your kids to see this you're going to be buying a souvenir. Here's the coolest one I've found on Amazon: U Command Wall-E. Will it ever run out? This continuous font of imagination from Pixar? With WALL-E, it sure doesn't look like it. Comment Comments (20) | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } Yes No (Report this) Click Here for more information on Wall-E ( Single-Disc Edition). Family Guy, Vol. 7 (Season 7 Part II, Season 8 Part I) Only $24.49 I still think Family Guy is GREAT and was very happy to see they have been extended through 2012. I agree with the complaints about shortened seasons, but for a really funny and edgy animated comedy, I will pay the price and just enjoy each and every season. I have all Seasons up to this point and plan on buying every season until it goes off the air... Comment Comment | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } Yes No (Report this) Click Here for more information on Family Guy, Vol. 7 (Season 7 Part II, Season 8 Part I). Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete [Blu-ray] Only $21.49 "Final Fantasy VII" is one of the most groundbreaking, most popular video games of all time -- the adventures of flawed hero Cloud Strife and his companions, struggling to save a very self-aware planet. Turns out that the battle isn't QUITE over. "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" picks up a couple years later with new threats to the planet and new silver-haired foes (plus one old one). It's an absolutely stunning piece of work -- though the plot takes awhile to fully sink in, it's awash in beautifully precise, slightly luminous animation, slam-bang action scenes, and some beautifully complex characters, People are falling ill with a mysterious disease called Geostigma. And while Cloud is tooling around in the desert, he's suddenly attacked by a trio of silver-haired youths (Kadaj, Loz and Yazoo) who demand to know where "Mother" is. Weirdly enough, they also call him "brother." Plagued by guilt and geostigma, Cloud isn't terribly interested in finding out about the trio or their connection to Jenova's missing head. But then Loz savagely beats up Tifa in the cathedral, and kidnaps Marlene -- along with all the geostigma-riddled children in Midgar. Unfortunately, Cloud's attempt to get back the kids meets with more failure. And as the brother lay waste to Midgar with materia-generated beasts, Cloud's friends reunite to stop them. And when Kadaj gets his hands on the head, it resurrects an old enemy who may be able to destroy the entire planet... "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" is one of those movies that takes awhile to sink in, and which (at first glance) seems much more complex than it actually is. It's actually a pretty straightforward tale of a hero overcoming his doubts and trying to save the world. But that story is swathed in a heavy dose of symbolism, and many reflections about how you should live for your friends, not mope about the dead. The writing generally tends toward meditative and slightly poetic ("What I want, Cloud, is to sail the darkness of the cosmos with this planet as my vessel..."), wit a sprinkling of dry humor ("Where can I buy a phone?"). And it's crammed with top-notch action scenes -- treetop sword fights, acrobatic motorcycle chases, and a citywide attack from the monstrous Bahamut Sin. The climactic fight is the best: the city is enveloped in a vast cloud of dust and crumbling ruins, as Cloud battles physically and emotionally with his old nemesis Sephiroth. And the animation is a thing of pure beauty. Square Enix outdid themselves with the clarity and vibrancy of the CGI -- luminous flowers and trees, a grey sky, a ruined city, and eerie smoky monsters that rise up and attack. Even the tiny details -- like the texture of Kadaj's leather coat -- are rendered in beautiful detail. Cloud is a likable tortured hero, who works up from despair to quiet strength -- partly from his friends needing him, and partly from Aerith's occasional admonitions from beyond the grave ("I think... I want to be forgiven... More than anything..."). Most of his friends are cameos in the fight against Bahamut Sin, but the strong-willed Tifa and the mysterious Vincent take strong stands in dragging Cloud back to real life. But the best characterization is in Kadaj and his brothers -- they have the minds of small children, but the knowledge and bodies of grown men. And to their minds, everything they do is perfectly reasonable. They want their mommy, dangit! The blu-ray edition promises to be a stunner, if nothing else because the crystal-clear format should be great for the already-gorgeous visuals. The extras for the deluxe Complete edition include trailers, sneak peaks at "Final Fantasy Versus XIII" and "Agito XIII," half hour animated film "Case of Denzel", a "legacy" featurette and a pair of story digests. "Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children" takes a little while to warm up, but the exquisite animation, good writing and likable heroes keep it moving.  Comment | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } }   (Report this) Click Here for more information on Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children Complete [Blu-ray]. Harry Potter Years 1-5 (Widescreen Edition) Only $24.91 I received this set missing the Disc 5 movie (it came with the special features disc instead). I had it replaced only to have the same problem again. Very poorly distributed by the manufacturer. I would not recommend this set until they have figured out the problem. Comment Comment (1) | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } Yes No (Report this) Click Here for more information on Harry Potter Years 1-5 (Widescreen Edition). Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector's Edition (Dirty Harry Magnum Force The Enforcer Sudden... Only $35.99 Warner Home Video has announced the details of new releases of all five Dirty Harry movies with new special features. They'll all be in their original widescreen formats only. They will be available on standard DVD in this 7-disc Ultimate Collector's Edition, or separately in Special or Deluxe editions. ("Special" is better than "deluxe" here--only Dirty Harry gets a 2-disc Special Edition, the others will all be on single discs, but all will have new special features.) Links for the separate DVDs are below. They'll also be on Blu-ray in a 5-disc Ultimate Collector's Edition. Only the Dirty Harry Special Edition will be available separately on Blu-ray. The other four movies will only be available on Blu-ray as part of the complete set. (They won't be available in HD, which Warner officially discontinues at the end of May.) Assuming the transfers are good (update: everyone says the transfers are good, better than the old ones), this looks like an excellent set. Whether those with older DVD releases will want to upgrade will be a matter of personal preference, but I personally find the new commentaries and features very attractive. Here's a bit about each film and the special features, contained in both the separate releases and the sets. The Ultimate Editions will also include some additional features, listed further below. Dirty Harry Special Edition Dirty Harry is generally regarded as a classic, the beginning of a second larger-than-life persona for Clint Eastwood (after The Man with No Name). It's the source of the famous "Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" (The actual quote is "... you've got to ask yourself a question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk?" but the original doesn't quote as well out of context.) Tough cop "Dirty" Harry Callahan has his own simple, commonsense rules for dealing with crime, based on a strong sense of right and wrong and an impatience with needless details and constraints. The latter gets him into continual trouble with the system which, as portrayed in the movie, is more about politics and bureaucracy than doing what needs to be done. This reflected well the frustrations and fears of Americans in the '70s that criminals were taking over the streets and that the law was powerless to stop them because the "criminal-coddling" courts were holding them back. I personally value the Fourth Amendment and other such niceties and shiver to think of some of the political and moral ramifications of this movie (some of which are still very much with us), but whatever one's politics, Dirty Harry is very effective as a police-action thriller, largely because of Eastwood's unique persona. It's hard not to admire and root for him even if you think he's not always right. There are also the standard gunfights and car chases, and high suspense, all well done. In the films that followed in the series, Harry became a somewhat more balanced, complex or confusing character, depending on your point of view, coming down clearly on the side of the law against rogue vigilante cops, for example, and learning to appreciate a female cop as a partner, but the basic idea of Harry standing strong despite the corrupt, wimpy system remained. I'm pleased to see that some of the new special features in the set deal with the "issues" raised by the Dirty Harry films. I look forward to seeing what others make of them. The special features: -- new commentary by filmmaker and Eastwood associate/biographer Richard Schickel -- new featurette "The Long Shadow of Dirty Harry," on the influence and legacy of Dirty Harry -- "Dirty Harry: The Original," with Clint Eastwood and the film's creators looking back at the creation of the Dirty Harry character -- "Dirty Harry's Way," a promotional short focusing on the toughness of the movie's main character -- interview gallery, with Patricia Clarkson, Joel Cox, Clint Eastwood, Hal Holbrook, Evan Kim, John Milius, Ted Post, Andy Robinson, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Robert Urich -- "Clint Eastwood: The Man from Malpaso," a 1993 TV program on his life and career, including scenes from his work and interviews with friends, fellow actors and crew members -- trailer gallery: Dirty Harry, Magnum Force, The Enforcer, Sudden Impact and The Dead Pool Magnum Force Deluxe Edition As the sequel to a classic film, it suffers some from the let-downs typical of sequels, but it's still Clint Eastwood being a tough guy, which is enough to carry the merely average plot and script and make it good entertainment for Eastwood fans. I'd say that applies to all four sequels. In this installment, Harry, the cop frustrated by the rules that hold him back, shows he has his limits when he goes up against wicked vigilante cops killing criminals without any due process. As in the first movie, there's plenty of action, a car chase, suspense, people getting shot, etc. Special features: -- new commentary by director and Magnum Force screenwriter John Milius ("in this gritty, entertaining commentary, legendary Hollywood screenwriter Milius discusses Eastwood, the world of Dirty Harry and the rugged resilience of crime drama in American cinema") -- new featurette "A Moral Right: The Politics of Dirty Harry," with filmmakers, social scientists and authors on the politics and ethics of the Dirty Harry films -- "The Hero Cop: Yesterday and Today" -- trailer gallery The Enforcer Deluxe Edition In this installment, Harry, the renegade cop with some old-fashioned attitudes and no desire to be tied up with a partner, gets stuck with a female partner, well played by Tyne Daly. Surprise surprise, he learns to respect and rely on her as they make hamburger of a group of domestic terrorists. As in the first two movies, there's plenty of action, suspense, people getting shot, etc., but with a chase on foot in place of the usual car chase. Special features: -- new commentary by Enforcer director James Fargo -- new featurette "The Business End: Violence in Cinema" -- "Harry Callahan/Clint Eastwood: Something Special in Films" -- trailer gallery Sudden Impact Deluxe Edition Sudden Impact inspires very mixed reactions, but it's still Clint Eastwood in a classic role, this time with Sondra Locke, his partner in several films and off-screen. Some people hate Locke, but I think she's good with Eastwood. (I liked them even more in the Dirty Harryish Gauntlet and the very un-Dirty-Harry Bronco Billy.) Harry is on forced leave for being his usual trouble-making self while getting the bad guys, but still finds himself in the middle of a string of murders that he undertakes to stop. As in a couple of the others in the series, this movie includes a story line where extralegal justice is an issue, as Locke's damaged rape victim seeks revenge. With the usual action, shootings, and a high level of violence, with women getting their share. This one is the source of the famous quote, "Go ahead, make my day." It was directed by Eastwood. -- new commentary by filmmaker and Eastwood associate/biographer Richard Schickel -- new featurette "The Evolution of Clint Eastwood," on the film in the context of Eastwood's career as a director -- trailer gallery The Dead Pool Deluxe Edition The Dead Pool was pretty well received, considering its place in the series. It has a convoluted plot about a game in which bets are taken on the deaths of celebrities, including Harry, with young Liam Neeson playing a questionable film director who's playing the game. Issues of the celebrity-enslaved press are mixed with romance as Harry dates a reporter. As always, there's plenty of action, suspense, gun play, and, this time, a unique and hilarious car chase with a very small but dangerous car. -- new commentary by Dead Pool producer David Valdes and Dead Pool cinematographer Jack N. Green -- new Featurette "The Craft of Dirty Harry," including the cinematography, editing, music, and production design of the Dirty Harry films -- trailer gallery The Ultimate editions will contain all of the above features, plus some: -- the feature-length documentary Clint Eastwood: Out of the Shadows (which has been and is available separately) -- 40+ page hardcover book -- wallet with metal badge and removable ID card -- five 5" x 7" lobby poster reproduction cards and an exclusive Ultimate Collector's Edition card -- "Scorpio: Portrait of a Killer" 19" x 27" map of San Francisco detailing Harry's hunt for the killer in the first film -- never-before-seen production correspondence The Out of the Shadows documentary is a substantial bonus (87 minutes) for the Ultimate edition. You can get it separately pretty cheap used, though. There's an Amazon page for it, with reviews, here. Comment Comments (17) | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } Yes No (Report this) Click Here for more information on Dirty Harry Ultimate Collector's Edition (Dirty Harry Magnum Force The Enforcer Sudden....