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"TOM AND JERRY MEET SHERLOCK HOLMES" DVD Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: *** (out of 5 stars) DVD EXPERIENCE: ** (out of 5 stars) Not Rated Studio: Kids WB Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
When a series of jewel heists start happening around London, the legendary Sherlock Holmes is brought in to find the culprit. Helping him out are Tom and Jerry, who have been ordered to keep a truce until they uncover the mystery. This 50-minute movie includes cameos by other Tom and Jerry favorites, including Droopy Dog, Tuffy, Butch and Spike.
WHAT I LIKED
There have been several times in the course of popular culture that Tom and Jerry have faltered, and I’m not just talking the bizarre Dietch years in the 60s. The characters faced some mighty fine challenges in the 80s with cheap Saturday morning cartoons, then in the 90s with a misfire theatrical animated film. However, like many elements of animation, the classic duo is experiencing a rebirth in direct-to-video product.
After shaking off the politically correct yoke of the 90s, we have returned to the slapstick nature of the characters, with plenty of cartoon violence and pratfalls. It’s not as good as the legendary Chuck Jones years or the formative Fred Quimby years, but these new Tom and Jerry flicks offer some nostalgia with the pair.
I liked the way the movie brought the classic characters together in new form. In essence, they just cast the slate of cartoon characters into the film inappropriate situations, like having Butch and Spike be security guards and Droopy be a low-key Keystone Cop.
What makes this short film work is that it actually tells a story. Tom and Jerry are along for the ride, but there’s a sense that it’s trying to tell as story and not just stretch a seven-minute cartoon premise into a short feature.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
As much as I appreciate these new animated films, I still long for the good old days of traditional cell animation and freedom from oversight groups declaring Tom and Jerry unfit for kids. Give me the politically incorrect, violent and often inappropriate situations of yesteryear, and I’m happy. Still, this new crop of films is probably as good as we’re gonna get.
DVD FEATURES
The only bonus feature included on this disc is a tutorial on how to draw Tom and Jerry, which seems to be a staple of the Warner Bros. animated DVD line.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Tom and Jerry fans and kids new to the duo.
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"JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: **1/2 (out of 5 stars) Rated PG Studio: Disney Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
From the twisted but beautiful mind of Roald Dahl, Disney brings the stop-motion brilliance of Tim Burton and Henry Selick to another story. James is a British orphan being raised by his evil aunts. Kept as their slaves, James longs to visit another land, and he gets his opportunity when a strange man gives him some magical crocodile tongues that can grant wishes. He loses them, but soon discovers they made their way into the ground, causing several insects and other creepy crawlies – and a lone peach – to grow to fantastic size. James climbs inside, and the peach unhooks, sending him and his new friends on a wild adventure.
WHAT I LIKED
I love the books of Roald Dahl... not just the one everybody’s heard of, “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” I remember reading “James and the Giant Peach” and “Fantastic Mr. Fox” when I was a kid, long before they were developed into feature films.
While there are noticeable differences in this film from the book, “James and the Giant Peach” was a brilliant movie. The most impressive element was the use of stop-motion animation, of which Henry Selick is a genius (as proved by his direction in “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and “Coraline”). It was a bold choice to mix live-action and stop-motion, and it’s not something you’d see today given the pervasiveness of CGI. It’s a lost art, and for this reason alone a film like “James and the Giant Peach” needs to be treasured.
Having the film re-released on Blu-ray is a wonderful thing because this is a medium that preserves the beauty of the image. I also applaud Disney’s choice to not employ any overuse of digital noise reduction. Sure, that results in some rather grainy images in the film, but that’s what they camera captured back in the early 90s.
If you haven’t seen “James and the Giant Peach,” pick it up on Blu-ray and enjoy the ride. And if you’ve only seen it at home on VHS, check it out in high definition. It’s worth the trip.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
The only stumbling block I found with the film, beyond the minor changes in the story from the book, is the decision to include musical numbers. I know that Roald Dahl was a fan of inserting lyrics into his books, but the musical numbers just seemed too distracting.
This was probably because the film was made in the early 1990s, and this was a time when almost every animated film came with a song list. It has only been in recent years that studios have wised up to realize that kids don’t need to be sung to in order to be entertained. I know that reduces the opportunity to have a soundtrack tie-in, but forced songs just seem, well, forced.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
The new Blu-ray includes the vintage special features from the original Blu-ray release, including a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, the theatrical trailer and Randy Newman’s music video of “Good News.” The Blu-ray also comes with a DVD of the film.
New to Blu-ray is an interactive set-top game called “Spike the Aunts,” which isn’t bad but runs a little rough, depending on the reaction capabilities of your player.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of Roald Dahl, Henry Selick or Tim Burton... and anyone who wants to see an extremely innovative kids’ movie.
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"OLD DOGS" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: *1/2 (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars) Rated PG Studio: Disney Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
The director of “Wild Hogs” targets another animal with his new film about two old time friends who are struggling with getting old and finding fulfillment in life. Robin Williams and John Travolta play sports marketers who discover that one of them has kids he didn’t even know about. When the mother heads off to jail for a short stint, the business partners become domestic partners and learn to deal with having a family.
WHAT I LIKED
I will admit that I laughed at certain parts of this film. Not many, but I laughed at some of them. I also appreciated the impressive number of cameos that were scored for this film. Not sure how that happened, but there you go.
Also, this is notable because it was Bernie Mac’s last film. Poor Bernie. He will be missed.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
“Old Dogs” was a painful ride, and it was rotten from the script stage. It used forced jokes and extremely unfunny premises. Neither Robin Williams nor John Travolta brought their A-game to this set, relying on obnoxious mugging at the camera and awkward improv to try to bring out the laughs.
So many moments of the film tried to force jokes where they don’t belong, or they rushed the jokes beyond any sort of believability. It was a thin premise at best, and a lot of the territory has been done more effectively in other films like “The Game Plan” and any other of a dozen parental comedies.
In the end, there was no passion behind it. There was no natural flow to the scenes. It seemed like everyone involved was just collecting a paycheck. Director Walt Becker managed to give a rather amusing film with “Wild Hogs,” but it seems that his success was more of a one-hit wonder rather than a sustainable career.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
Like many of the Disney Blu-rays, “Old Dogs” comes in a three-disc combo pack, including the Blu-ray, the DVD and a digital copy of the film. Bonus material includes deleted scenes, bloopers, an audio commentary by the director and producers and a music video featuring John Travolta and his daughter Ella Bleu Travolta.
Additional material exclusive to the Blu-ray includes the featurette “Young Dogs Learn Old Tricks” as well as a music video by Bryan Adams.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Kids and people who don’t know better.
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"THE VAMPIRE’S ASSISTANT" Blu-ray Review by Kevin Carr MOVIE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars) BLU-RAY EXPERIENCE: ***1/2 (out of 5 stars) Rated PG-13 Studio: Unviersal Back to DVD Review Home |  |
WHAT IT’S ABOUT
Based on the popular young adult book series, “The Vampire’s Assistant” tells the story of a teenager named Darren who stumbles into the mysterious world of vampires and supernatural creatures when he attends a traveling freak show. After his punk friend steals a poisonous spider and gets bitten, Darren agrees to be the assistant to one of the vampires in the show in exchange for an antidote to the spider’s venom. Darren must learn to say good-bye to his mortal world and start live anew in the Cirque du Freak. However, a mysterious man appears, hoping to use Darren to start a war between vampire factions.
WHAT I LIKED
With so many films about vampires as uber-cool romantic figures out there, I welcomed something that presented the classic monsters in a different light. Even though I appreciate “True Blood” and “The Vampire Diaries,” these all seem to be shilling the horror icons just to sell crappy love stories to the “Twilight” crowd. So a film like “The Vampire’s Assistant” was a welcome reprieve from this.
It was also a neat story of a boy coming of age. With vampirism symbolizing the awkwardness of the teenage years, I could actually connect to this character, rather than the emotional pornography we find in the “Twilight” series.
This film reminded me of the type of books I read a child and became so formative to my tastes. The fantastic element of the Cirque du Freak was fun to shake things up a bit, giving a new twist on the Hogwarts school.
The film offered a neat battle between good and evil, between Darren and his friend. It gave us just enough peril to believe that the characters were in real danger, but it wasn’t overly violent or too inappropriate for my kids to watch.
Oh, and John C. Reilly was awesome in this movie. Did you think otherwise?
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE
Adapting a young adult book series into a film like this can be a gamble. It’s hard to give the set-up for some later stories, which probably will be far more exciting than this movie was. Sadly, much of “The Vampire’s Assistant” was a set-up for better stories from later books. And with its poor box office performance, we shall never see those come to the big screen.
BLU-RAY FEATURES
The Blu-ray comes with exclusive deleted scenes, as well as high definition features: “Guide to becoming a Vampire” and “Tour du Freak.” There’s also a picture-in-picture feature on the U-Control menu, which is always neat to watch.
WHO’S GOING TO LIKE THIS MOVIE
Fans of the book series and boys who can relate to being a little bit different.
