DVD/Video Reviews Archives - Page 16 of 22

Packers or Steelers, Bears or Horses, Secretariats or Inceptions, Oprah or Secrets?

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With the Chicago Bears losing the NFC Championship Game yesterday, I find myself torn as to if I should cheer on the Pittsburgh Steelers or Green Bay Packers in the Super Bowl, and during this episode of our “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast, I work out my issues with Stu Gotz. Both of us, with our wealth of football knowledge, give our analysis of the Bears loss and if Jay Cutler is to blame, but the other question now is who’s having the Super Bowl party, and which one am I going to?

It was also a weekend for movies with me watching “Secretariat,” which comes out on DVD and Blu-ray tomorrow, and generally liking the movie. I give Stu my quick breakdown, with my full review coming shortly, and on the other side of the coin, Stu saw “Alpha and Omega” and gives his reasons for not liking the movie. Stu also saw “Inception,” and he liked it, so we’ve got that going for us.

I hung out during the football game with The Dude on the Left and other friends, Stu dropped the kids off at a birthday party at a bowling alley on a second floor and that had us both reminiscing about the old Peterson Bowl in Chicago, I cleaned my balls, Stu has seen two movies nominated for a Razzie, and Oprah has a secret, well, at least she had a secret about a half-sister when we recorded the podcast but as of this typing the secret is out.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this podcast! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Is Ricky Gervais Mean, Will the Chicago Bears be in The Super Bowl, and Would the Dalai Lama be Offended?

By: The Dude on the Right

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I forgot to give a “Happy Birthday” shout-out to the world’s fantastical niece, as well as wish Steve Jobs from Apple a “Get well soon” during this episode of our “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast, but at least Stu Gotz was somehow able to fit an f-bomb and Dalai Lama into the same sentence, and such is how it goes sometimes for a podcast!

In the meantime, though, Stu and I talk football, with me ready to book my ticket to see the Chicago Bears in Dallas for the Super Bowl, but Stu thinking there might be some trouble as the Green Bay Packers come to the wonderful turf of Soldier Field. We also give our analysis of Ricky Gervais and his handling of The Golden Globes, because, well, Stu and I are the experts when it comes to award show hosting, and I also give Stu the prediction that Jake Gyllenhaal will end up with Anne Hathaway soon, now that he is busted up with Taylor Swift, but hey, only time will tell.

We are both excited about TV starting back up again, with new episodes of “Chuck,” “House,” “Glee,” the NBC Thursday night lineup, and of course “American Idol,” Stu was okay with “Salt” but not “The Bounty Hunter,” I think Stu is a cheap-ass for bitching about reading a free newspaper, and neither of us are really excited about the upcoming movies of “The Company Men” nor “No Strings Attached.” At least we have the Chicago Bears v Green Bay Packers in the ultimate game of “Winner goes to the Super Bowl!” Hopefully next Monday will be an elation podcast of “We’re going to the Super Bowl!,” but we’ll talk about it for sure.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this podcast! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

MPAA Rated – PG-13
It’s 2:13 Long
A Blu-ray Review by:
– The Dude on the Right

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps Movie Stats & Links
Starring:	Michael Douglas, Shia LeBeouf, Josh Brolin, Carey Mulligan, Frank Langella
MPAA Rated:	PG-13
Released By:	Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Kiddie Movie:	I don’t think they’ll get it, nor enjoy it.
Date Movie:	My wife fell asleep during it.
Gratuitous Sex:	I’d like to say it would have helped, but I doubt it.
Gratuitous Violence:	Nah.
Action:	Nah.
Laughs:	Nah.
Memorable Scene:	Nothing really.
Memorable Quote:	None really.
Directed By:	Oliver Stone
Cool Things About the Blu-ray	The normal audio commentary stuff, conversation with the cast, and stuff that was left on the cutting room floor, among other stuff.

Yes, I will admit that I didn’t see the original “Wall Street,” at least I don’t think I did. I mean, that was 1987, I was just out of high school and wanting to be an engineer, so high finance was the furthest thing from my mind. What I do remember is that Michael Douglas was in it, and he was a bad man, and that is all. Yet here we are, 2011, I no longer want to be an engineer, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” is here, and as much as I want to be involved in high finance, and after even watching the movie, I think I cared even less about the movie franchise.

I do know that Shia LaBeouf is in this version. He’s Jake, a young whippersnapper on Wall Street, with desires of saving the world by helping a fusion energy source get funded, or something to that effect. He’s also in love, with Winnie (Carey Mulligan), who also happens to be Gordon Gekko’s daughter. Yup, that’s Gordon played again by Michael Douglas. Well, Gordon is getting out of jail for the bad stuff he did in the original movie, I guess, and as the firm Jake works at is on the brink of disaster, and his boss kills himself, Jake decides to enlist the help of Gordon, the old master, to set things right.

Gordon, of course, can’t easily be swayed, and what better way to get Gordon back into the picture than to try to get him and his estranged daughter back together, so there Jake is, trusting a snake like Gordon to help humanity, himself, and his daughter. And yup, you can guess it, Gordon is still up to his old tricks, even in this new, digital age that he isn’t very familiar with, but yup, there is some “awakening” by Gordon thanks to, well, I won’t spoil that.

Look, “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps” wants to play off of the market crash we just experienced, wants to have some heart and soul, and seems to want to send some kind of message, only I’m not sure what that message is, other than don’t trust Gordon Gekko. Michaell Dougles is great in his role, but I’m sorry Shia, you’ve’ already been typecast with the “Transformers” seriously so there isn’t any way I’m buying you as the go-getter Wall Street whippersnapper sometimes with a conscience, and sometimes without.

Sadly this movie seems like something just put together like “Hey, the markets collapsed, we need another ‘Wall Street’ movie to explain it all,” and in the end, I pretty much had forgotten most of it by the time the inevitable ending came about. I’ll give Michael Douglas a 3 star performance, dropped the movie some because Shia just is not the person for his role, and drop it a little more for the goofy “technology/internet” montages. With that it’s 2 stars out of 5 for “Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.” I really wanted more, and just didn’t get it.

The Blu-ray does have some extras that seem interesting enough, namely things like a conversation with Oliver Stone and the rest of the cast, some deleted scenes that are probably best deleted (but at least Oliver Stone might explain why since he also does some commentary for them), and some extra character analysis and Wall Street analysis. I was pretty bored with the movie, so I’m not going to lie and say I watched the extras because I didn’t, but I’m guessing that if you like the movie, well, they will give you some fun insight into the movie-making.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

The A-Team

MPAA Rated – Unrated
It’s 1:59 Long
A Blu-ray Review by:
– The Dude on the Right

The A-Team Movie Stats & Links
Starring:	Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Biel, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Sharlto Copley
MPAA Rated:	Unrated Blu-ray
Released By:	Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Kiddie Movie:	Not too young, but the boys will like the explosions.
Date Movie:	Only if she likes explosions.
Gratuitous Sex:	Mostly talk.
Gratuitous Violence:	Lots of it, but on the PG-13 level.
Action:	There’s a whole lot of chasing going on.
Laughs:	Ehh.
Memorable Scene:	Nothing really.
Memorable Quote:	None really.
Directed By:	Joe Carnahan
Cool Things About the Blu-ray	It’s got some extra insight into the characters, how things were made, and some deleted stuff/bloopers that are, ehh.

When I was a kid I loved “The A-Team” and for the longest time I heard about them wanting to make a big-screen movie based on the series, but I figured that as long as there was some fun action, some goofy stunts, and not taking themselves too seriously that things might work out. As the trailers began to come out for the movie I was mildly excited because there seemed to be all of these. Sadly, though, in my assessment of the TV series I forgot about one necessity that made it work, and that was chemistry. In the TV show there was tons of it, carried a lot by Mr. T and George Peppard in the roles of Hannibal and B.A. respectively. Sadly, in the movie, chemistry seemed to have been an afterthought.

As it is, the movie version that hit the theaters and is now out on Blu-ray adapts itself for the 2000’s, shifting our heroes from Vietnam veterans to Gulf War veterans, but instead of diving right into the theme of the TV series, about veterans framed for a crime they didn’t commit and helping others who are innocent, the current version decides to focus on the early days, how the team came together, and the mission that set them up for their being framed. All along it’s just a bunch of explosions, followed by explosions, followed by a thin story, followed by explosions.

As things move along it’s to prison they all go, it’s breaking out of prison they next go, and then it’s to the boys working to track down who originally set them up who might be trying to sell some treasury plates (Hey, we can make money!) to the Arabs. So, of course, there’s this elaborate plan to stop the bad guys, lots of things blow up some more, and our heroes are heroes, only they still aren’t getting the credit, still are considered criminals even though they saved the world economy, and the movie ends setting up a sequel if this one makes enough money.

If you’ll notice, during this synopsis I didn’t mention of the players. I sort of did that on purpose because this version of “The A-Team” focuses more on the explosions and dumb story rather than the players involved, but the thing is, what made the TV series so enjoyable was the players, the interaction, and the chemistry.

For what it’s worth, the main players are Bradley Cooper as “Faceman,” Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as B.A., and Sharlto Copley as Murdock, and, oh yea, I almost forgot Liam Neeson as Hannibal, who I think was the worst of the mis-cast people. Look, I love Liam Neeson as an actor, but for me it always seems like a loner, an stand-off-ish kind of guy, and that seems to translate into the roles he plays. As Hannibal he just wasn’t fun, you didn’t seem him as the Colonel, and I just plain didn’t like him in that role.

As it is, if you want a movie with a lot of things blowing up in a hail of gunfire, go ahead and get “The A-Team,” but for characters with chemistry, with story, with actually caring about them, this isn’t the movie. It’s 2 stars out of 5 for the movie version of “The A-Team.”

As far as the Blu-ray extras, the set actually has an “Extended Untrated Cut” that I didn’t watch because, well, I didn’t really need to see anything else blow up. There is some more detailed explanations of the characters, which is nice, and I’m always liking seeing how various action scenes are done, so that is nice, too.

American Idol is Coming, Sex and the City 2 Sucks, The A-Team Sucks Less, and Happy New Year!

By: The Dude on the Right

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With Stu Gotz out playing with his family it’s time for a solo “Weekend Wrap-Up!” podcast, and what better weekend to wrap up than Christmas weekend! Yup, mine was nice, what with my new wife and all, but it was also nice because it was a time to be with my new family, the Chicago Bears won, and it brings us a little closer to the 2011 season of “American Idol.” (How’s that for a brief summary of topics included in this podcast?!?)

With the weekend also came movies, and although My BFF Wifey and I didn’t go to see “Little Fockers” due to my grumpiness, we did see “Sex and the City 2,” and as much as I couldn’t believe how bad that movie was, I was as much shocked that my BFF thought it totally sucked, only saying it might be deserving of ½ star in total suckiness. She found it flabbergasting, okay, maybe not flabbergasting, but just wondered how those involved in the franchise that has been so successful could make the movie so bad. Oh well.

In other movie news I saw “The A-Team” on Blu-ray, and although my full review will be coming later this week, during the podcast I let you know if you should rent it. I guess I’ll just tease things with “There’s a lot of action.”

Stu should be back next week for a recap of his time off, maybe a reflective look back at a busy year, and maybe a look ahead at what 2011 may have in store. That, or he’ll just talk about “Burn Notice” and “Psych” some more.

Thanks for listening!

That’s it for this podcast! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Amelia

MPAA Rated – PG
It’s 1:51 Long
A Blu-ray Review by:
– The Dude on the Right

Amelia Movie Stats & Links
Starring:	Hilary Swank, Richard Gere, Ewan McGregor
MPAA Rated:	PG
Released By:	Twentieth Century FoxHome Entertainment
Kiddie Movie:	Maybe girls who want to fly, but it’s kind of slow.
Date Movie:	My BFF fell asleep.
Gratuitous Sex:	There are undertones of Amelia being a lesbian but it turns out she is a hussy. Sadly there isn’t too much hussy-dom
Gratuitous Violence:	Nah.
Action:	Nah.
Laughs:	There is a chuckle or two.
Memorable Scene:	Sadly it’s on the “Deleted Scenes” section of the Blu-ray.
Memorable Quote:	“You missed it, though. It’s over there.”
Directed By:	Mira Nair
Cool Thinks About the DVD:	The Blu-ray extras give some in-depth looks at the making of, and are probably a better synopsis of the movie without sitting through the nearly two hour movie.

As I was watching the extras on the Blu-ray of “Amelia” there was a deleted scene that I liked. I thought it encompassed the spirit of Amelia Earhart, it was short, to the point, and funny, and there it was, on the “Deleted Scene” portion of the Blu-ray. I guess such is my end liking of “Amelia.” Let’s get to the story, first.

“Amelia” doesn’t give many people what they might want from an a movie about Amelia Earhart (played by Hilary Swank), namely the crazy theories as to what really ended up happening to Amelia. Sure, there is the ending, recreating the extent of what people seem to know, and it’s pretty simple in the end run, but this movie is really about the life of Amelia, her passion for flying, her love life, and some of the issues a woman might have, being strong-willed in the time when flying was supposed to be mostly for men. The problem is that the movie was so over the place, trying to tell so much of her story that for the most part I was just bored and wondered how they were going to bring the movie back to its core – Amelia Earhart. The movie at times would shift to more about George Putnam (Richard Gere), her husband, than Amelia, then it would shift to Gene Vidal (Ewan McGregor), the dude she had a fling with, and then you would learn something else about Amelia. As my BFF said to me as we were watching it, “This movie is just all over the place.”

The thing is, I wanted to like “Amelia,” I really did. It was one of those movies that when it came to the theaters I thought it would have been a nice to see on the big screen, I think both Hilary Swank and Richard Gere can be great on screen, so I was somewhat excited when I popped the Blu-ray into the player at the dude-pad and snuggled with my BFF, but when she fell asleep, and I kept looking at the counter on the Blu-ray player, I knew there was trouble. It was like the movie couldn’t figure if it wanted to be a straight biopic, if it wanted to be a nice period piece, or if it wanted to just look beautiful (and it did, so I will say, that for the beautifulness of the scenery, it’s a good film), but in the end my BFF had it right, the movie was just all over the place, and for me it didn’t stick to its core, what I thought would have really made the movie, and that was the spirit brought by Amelia Earhart, in the deleted scene “Arrival in Wales.”

I guess if you are looking for a movie that looks beautiful I would recommend “Amelia,” and it does give some looks at the life of the aviatrix, and it is a safe movie, being only rated PG, but things are slow, so be ready for it, and maybe you’ll like the movie more than I did. 1 ½ stars out of 5 stars for “Amelia.”

As far as extras, there are quite a few, many that actually give a better look at the life of Amelia Earhart more than the actual “making” of the movie, and like I said, there is one deleted scene, “Arrival in Wales,” that I thought was perfect, told the story, showed the spunk, and had the rest of the movie kept to the core of that scene, I think I would have loved the film.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes

DVD Rated – Unrated
It’s 1:05 Long
A Review by:
– Stu Gotz

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes Movie Stats & Links
Starring:	Avlin, Simon, Theodore, Brittany, Jeanette, Eleanor, and Dave
MPAA Rated:	Unrated, but it’s for kids.
Released By:	Paramount Home Entertainment
Kiddie Movie:	It’s definitely for them.
Date Movie:	Only if she’s the mother of your children.
Gratuitous Sex:	Umm, no.
Gratuitous Violence:	Cartoonish.
Action:	Nah.
Laughs:	Mostly for the kids.
Memorable Scene:	None.
Memorable Quote:	None.
Cool Things About the DVD:	It’s really just set for the six episodes which is actually probably perfect for kids anyway.

When The Dude on the Right handed me a copy of “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes” I gave him a raised eyebrow look. Before I could follow my look with a rude comment, the Dude cut me off and said, “Maybe have your kids watch it and tell me what they think?” So that is exactly what I did. Later that day I popped the movie into Mama Gotz’s in-headrest car DVD player (Hmm… How come she gets all the cool stuff, and I drive a truck?) and let the kids have at it on the way to and from Tae Kwon Do practice.

So what did the Little Gotz’s think of “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes?” I’ll get to that later. First let me tell you a little about the DVD. The DVD is 6 episodes of the mid-80’s TV show “Alvin and the Chipmunks.” For this special six-pack of special episodes, three female chipmunks mirror Alvin and the boys, with similar personality, dress, and body attributes. Brittany is like Alvin and Jeanette is… Well… Does anyone really know any of the chipmunks besides Alvin? There is a smart chipmunk chick and a chubbier one, the girl’s misadventures coincide with the boy’s misadventures, and if you’ve seen one episode, well, you’ve seen them all. Predictable mayhem occurs. Dave almost looses his wits and by episode’s end, all is well (just like in Star Trek).

So who the heck is this movie for, and why now? I think most people can recall the squeaky-voiced cartoon from the 80’s era of upturned-collared Polo shirts? For those who can’t, the Chipmunks have actually been around since the late 1950’s. Yes, they did exist before that Earl guy made the movie with them. Anyway, the squeaky boys are back (again), and this time they are joined by equally annoying-for-adults female chipmunks. Why? Personally I think it’s to cash in on the whole High School Musical, Hanna Montana, and iCarly craze. Right now kids, starting at far too young of an age in my opinion, are totally hooked on the High School Musical craze and such. This is all fine where and when it is age appropriate, but let me ask you, do you want your 6 or 7 year old coming home singing the Vacation song and wanting to dress like a tart? Not me! So maybe “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes” could be a more age appropriate DVD title to turn your youngerl kids on to.

They key to this though is will little kids like it?? The first day I had “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes” in Mama Gotz’s car DVD player our littlest one wanted to bring it into the house and keep on watching it when the car ride was over. I think that’s a good sign. After about a week I again asked the Gotz’ boys what they thought about “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes.” The 4 going on 5 year old gave me a double finger gesture. No he didn’t flip me the “bird.” He extended his thumbs, but I think that is a copyrighted gesture so I can’t quote him on that. Our oldest boy, now six, said he liked it a lot, though I did notice he tended to watch the episodes and pressed scene skip when the chipmunk music videos came on.

The bottom line, a.k.a. is it worth your money? As an adult I can deal with the chipmunks in small doses, such as I am. My 5 & 6 year olds both liked the episodes, but split their vote on the music videos with the younger Gotz liking everything. I think “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes” is a great age-appropriate alternative to the High School Musical and Montana stuff that is on TV, and in my opinion, also turning girls into tarts and boys into, well, not football players, so for me “Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Chipettes” is money well spent. 4 stars out of 5.
I’m Stu Gotz. ‘nuff said.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

MPAA Rated – PG
It’s 1:49 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice Movie Stats & Links
Starring:	Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina
MPAA Rated:	PG
Released By:	Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
Kiddie Movie:	Not too young, and probably better for the closer-to-teen-group.
Date Movie:	My BFF liked it, so go ahead and snuggle.
Gratuitous Sex:	Nah.
Gratuitous Violence:	Lots of flying lightning bolts.
Action:	There is some chasing.
Laughs:	Quite a few chuckles.
Memorable Scene:	I like anything with Tesla coils.
Memorable Quote:	Nothing really.
Directed By:	Jon Turteltaub

The good that I liked about “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice:” I like Nicolas Cage in that kind of role, and the effects were great.

The not-so-great-but-not-really-bad about “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice:” I didn’t think Jay Baruchel was a good fit for the role of Dave, a.k.a. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and neither did my buddy Stu Gotz who saw the movie in the theater, and neither did my BFF, who thought that he seemed like a young Garry Shandling, which normally isn’t a bad thing, just not for this role.

So let’s get to the movie first…

In “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” we get Nicolas Cage as Balthazar. In the old days, namely back in the 700’s, he’s an apprentice of the great wizard, Merlin, along with a few others. He’s also in love with Veronica (Monica Bellucci). But there is badness in wizard world, and Morgana (Alice Krige) goes after Merlin and wants to take over the world, but Balthazar and Veronica won’t have any of it, and in order to save humanity Veronica sacrifices herself and ends up in a jar, trapped for eternity with the soul of Morgana, or something like that. In any case, on his deathbed, or deathfloor I guess it really was, Merlin gives Balthazar a little dragon and tells Balth that the dragon will tell Balth who will be the next wizard person who can finally defeat Morgana, at which time it will be safe to let Morgana out because the chosen one has been found.

Enter almost present day… and here’s Dave as a young boy, having the little boy hots for a young girl, Becky, and a note back from Becky leads Dave on a wild good chase to Balthazar’s shop, and his destiny, only an accident gives him the reputation as a boy who pees his pants.

Enter present day… Dave’s back! Balthazar and some other magician/wizard type dude, Maxim (Alfred Molina), are let out of the vase they stuck themselves in (it makes sense in the context of the movie), Balthazar convinces Dave that Dave is the apprentice and they must find the jar his love is trapped in, in order to save the world, and Maxim also wants the jar so that he can let out Morgana and us mere mortals of human-kind can suffer at the will of Morgana. Whew.

And so, along the way, there is much peril as Maxim tries to get the jar, beat up Balthazar, and kill Dave, there is also some love as Dave still has the hots for Becky and Balthazar has the hots for his love stuck in the jar, and there is a lot of cool training and effects as, well, this is a movie about a Sorcerer’s apprentice which lends itself to things flying and lightning bolts sparking.

In terms of movies, I thought “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” was a good movie, especially for the getting-a-little-older kid crowd. It had excitement, it had a little bit of love, it had great effects, and I love Nicolas Cage in that kind of role. The only problem I did have, and sorry Jay, but Jay Baruchel as Dave didn’t seem like a good fit for the role. I wish I great reason why, but unfortunately the only thing I have to go with was in talking with my BFF while we were watching the movie and saying I didn’t like the kid playing Dave, to which she agreed and said he seemed like a young Garry Shandling. Oh well. It’s still 3 ½ stars out of 5 for “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” A really good rental for the almost teens and teen crowd, and even for the geeky adults!

As far as the Blu-ray special stuff goes, there is a ton of “making of” bonus features, from the clothing to the car, as well as trying to link he science involved with some of the movie. As usual the deleted scenes were fine being deleted, and I’ve got to think there were better bloopers, but the montage feature was pretty lame. But the Blu-ray more for the fact that the movie looks great in Blu-ray, unless you are really a geeky fan, in which case some of the “making of” stuff will cause you to go back and re-watch for true geekiness!

3 ½ stars out of 5 for “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” it look great on Blu-ray, and for the fan there are enough “making of” stuff to make them happy as well.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

The Sound of Music – 45th Anniversary Edition

MPAA Rated – G
It’s 2:55 Long
A Review by:
– The Dude on the Right

The Sound of Music Movie Stats & Links
Starring:	Julie Andrews, Christopher Plummer
MPAA Rated:	G
Released By:	20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Kiddie Movie:	Good for the whole family!
Date Movie:	Unless she likes lots of violence and nudity.
Gratuitous Sex:	Nope.
Gratuitous Violence:	Hinted.
Action:	Nah.
Laughs:	Some chuckles.
Memorable Scene:	Yes, you can sing-a-long to everything.
Memorable Quote:	Nothing stands out.
Directed By:	Roger Wise

Generally I’m not a fan of Blu-ray extras. Why? Because many a time they are useless add-ons, too complicated to play, or just seem like they are put there to make you feel better for spending extra bucks. This is definitely not the case with the 45th Anniversary Edition of “The Sound of Music” because, for a change, I thought they were a great addition, a real reason to upgrade to the Blu-ray generation if you’ve been waiting to do so, and the movie looks great, too.

I don’t know if I really have to explain the story of “The Sound of Music,” but the basic of this classic is simply that it tells the adapted for stage and screen story of the Von Trapp family, living their lives in Austria at the time Hitler is starting his rise. Maria (Julie Andres) ends up out of the convent and at the household to take care of the Von Trapp children while Dad Von Trapp (Christopher Plummer) attends to his Captain duties. Meanwhile, the good Captain is sweet on The Baroness (Eleanor Parker). While Maria works on taming the children and helping them learn to sing, she falls for the Captain, the Captain falls for her, the children love Maria, they become a family, and Hitler becomes a monster (though we don’t really see this part).

Torn between his duty and his family, we know how the good Captain wants to live his life, the Von Trapp singers woo a crowd, and freedom is right across the mountains.

Look, everyone knows this classic, even me, now, as for years I had never seen the movie in its entirety until I met my BFF (She loves the movie – and rightly so), and yes, even I think it’s a classic. Any other release of this movie would just lend itself to a “Yup, it’s a classic, go ahead and get the disc so you can watch it whenever the feeling strikes you,” but this Blu-ray release lends itself to, if you are any kind of fan of “The Sound of Music,” to full-blown Blu-rayness. For one, combine the Blu-ray player with your way-cool big screen that you are getting this Christmas, and this movie just looks great. It’s a scenic masterpiece to begin with, so put those aspects together and you’ll love the movie even more.

Along with its looking good-ness, the Blu-ray extras don’t stop there. Nope, you also get a sing-a-long track – adding the lyrics to all of the songs as the movie plays (Sure, you may think you know all of the words, but give it a shot!), a trivia track that gives you lots of little tidbits about the movie and the people involved, and some fun photos from while the movie was being made. Then, if that isn’t enough, there is a second Blu-ray disc with even more, like a very detailed “Making of” which also talks about the stage version, and also a nice feature on the Von Trapp family. Here is also where you will find more stuff about Rodgers and Hammerstein, screen tests, and more.

And yes, I know there is a basic DVD for those of you who still have one of those, so that’s nice, and it does give you some sing-a-long goodness along with some more, but for full 5 star out of 5-ness, the Blu-ray with your widescreen TV is really the way to go for this bundle.

And finally, for the uber-fan, the Collector’s Set gives you all of the DVD’s, but also the soundtrack, a 100 page scrapbook, a reproduction of the 1965 Souvenir program, and a letter of authenticity so you can bag to your “The Sound of Music” friends.

Look, in any case, if you have ever found yourself singing “The hills are alive, with the sound of music,” even in jest, this 45th Anniversary edition finally does a special release right by giving you tons of extras that you might actually watch, but most importantly, giving you a great looking version of the movie that yes, instead of renting, if you are a fan, you should really buy it.

I know I sound like a commercial, but for a change I really like a Blu-ray set, liked all of the extras even if I’m not an uber-fan of the movie, and think this release is really worth it for movie history.

That’s it for this one! I’m The Dude on the Right!! L8R!!!

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Here’s a bit from The Dude on the Right’s Blu-ray review of “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time”

…I guess I hate to put it this way, but it seems that “Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time” is a dudette flick. I say this simply by viewing it with my fiancé, whom, after we finished the movie, simply said “It was under two hours. It had a happy ending. I liked it.” Yup, my fiancé has a pretty simple scale for her liking of movies, and yes, she does have to actually like the movie, but as the credits started to roll, and I looked at her and said “Ehh,” she stated her case based on her ratings scale, I said “Really, you liked it?” and she replied “Yes I did.” Hmm?…

Read the full review here.