Category Archives: Movies

DVD Review: “Sonny with a Chance: Sonny’s Big Break”

51wlvLbYKyL._SCLZZZZZZZ_[1]Sonny with a Chance: Sonny’s Big Break (2009, Disney)
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Disney’s Sonny with a Chance is cut from the same cloth as the mouse house’s other tween sitcoms: bright, pretty young ingénue thrown into a crazy situation and surrounded by an ensemble of wacky supporting characters. In this case, the female star is Demi Lovato; the budding young music star that also has appeared in the Disney hit films, Rock Camp and Princess Protection Program. Lovato plays Sonny; she’s a Midwestern teenager brought to Los Angeles to become the newest star on “So Random,” a sketch show that resembles the old Nickelodeon series, All That. With her wide-eyed optimism and Midwestern gosh oh golly, Mickey and Judy “let’s put on a show” enthusiasm, Sonny is a fish out of water and immediately at odds with “So Random’s” other so L.A. starlet, Tawni (Tiffany Thornton). Tawni is a bratty teen whose ice cool heart is eventually melted by Sonny and they soon become fast friends.

The remainder of the “So Random” cast includes the Mutt & Jeff duo, Nico (Brandon Mychal Smith) and Grady (Doug Brochu). Smith and Brochu are great with the one liners and willing to make fools of themselves. They’re my favorite characters. There is also the standard “bratty little sister” character, this time in the form of Zora (Allisyn Ashley Arm), the youngest cast member. While “So Random” is very popular, it competes for an audience with “Mackenzie Falls,” a sort of Gossip Girl soap opera staring a group of prima donnas. Their leader is Chad Dylan Cooper (a funny Sterling Knight), who is so full of himself, he can’t pass a mirror without looking. Chad loves getting the better of the “So Random” gang, but has a hard time breaking Sonny’s spirit. This confuses him and strangely, makes him drawn to the girl. Continue reading →

DVD Review: “Bedknobs and Broomsticks: Enchanted Musical Edition”

61EY6NRB1oL._SCLZZZZZZZ_[1]Having seemingly reached a lull in its neverending reissue cycle, Disney has been scouring the vaults for “classics” of dubious distinction this year, including Pete’s Dragon, a barrage of Pooh films, and now Bedknobs and Broomsticks, the light ‘n’ fluffy 1971 release that put Angela Lansbury on a flying bed, is getting its latest reintroduction to the marketplace.

This latest iteration, which follows 25th and 30th anniversary reissues, is dubbed the “Enchanted Musical Edition,” and packs some new bonus content onto the expanded 25th-anniversary print, which added 20 minutes to the film itself. New buyers will now get a featurette entitled “The Wizards of Special Effects,” hosted by Jennifer Stone, an actress who just so happens to be one of the stars of the Disney Channel’s very popular Wizards of Waverly Place series. (Synergy!) You’ll also get a number of small features that look at the music of the film, footage from a recording session, and a deleted song, as well as theatrical trailers. The whole kit and caboodle retails for $30, but you can get it at Amazon for $17.99, which is a decent price for the package. Continue reading →

DVD Review: “Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie”

51gZMX4mKoL._SCLZZZZZZZ_[1]It’s a stitched-together reissue, and Pooh purists who reject any non-Milne-created character will scoff at it, but Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie should give the junior Hundred Acre Wood lovers in your household plenty of October fun — and since it comes bundled with new extra content and a stuffed animal, you get a little extra bang for your buck, too.

Heffalump was originally released in 2005, but it’s a little more complicated than that: basically, the movie’s story forms a loose bookend around Boo to You Too! Winnie the Pooh, a 1996 television special that’s stuffed in the middle (and actually makes up more than half of the whole program). How does that work? Well, Heffalump revolves around a Halloween celebration that’s ruined when Pooh eats all the candy, and in order to save the holiday, everyone has to run around in the woods to find a wish-granting Gobloon. Lumpy, the Heffalump that will give Milne loyalists conniptions, is afraid to go Gobloon-hunting, so his best friend Roo relays the story of a fateful Halloween for Piglet — a flashback that plunks Boo to You right down in the middle of the movie. Make sense?

If you’ve never seen Boo to You, it won’t matter much; aside from some slightly flaky animation and some transfer artifacts, there isn’t much of a difference between that and the newer content that frames Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie, and in any case, the whole thing delivers all the sweet, modestly paced adventure we look for in our Pooh movies. My daughter (who’s almost four) and son (who’s almost two) enjoyed it, even if they weren’t held rapt by it, and I’m sure we’ll revisit Heffalump again before Halloween.

The extra content includes a variety of games, including DVD and DVD-ROM material, and a “party planner” that gives you printable bingo cards, invitations, recipes, and more for your holiday shindig.

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The set also includes a Winnie the Pooh stuffed doll (fittingly for the Halloween theme, he’s wearing a Tigger costume).

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