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WHO GETS THE DOG? (DVD)

October 29, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Entire Family, PG rated, Romantic Comedy Leave a comment

whogetsthedogcoverGrade: C-
Entire family: Yes
2016, 95 min., Color
20th Century Fox
Rated PG for language and a brief drug reference
Aspect ratio: 2.40:1
Featured audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Bonus features: n/a
Trailer
Amazon link

Australian actor Ryan Kwanten stars opposite Alicia Silverstone in Who Gets the Dog?—a cute-premise film whose writing and scenic construction never rise to that same level of cuteness. In fact, this formulaic, straight-as-the-crow-flies romantic comedy can feel plodding and downright dull at times, perhaps because we’re never given any scenes that explain what attracted Chicago Wolves hockey goalie Clay Lonnergan (Kwanten) and doctor Olive Greene (Silverstone) to each other in the first place, and what, specifically, drove them to the divorce that’s announced in the very first scene.

whogetsthedogscreen1All we’re told is that Olive is tired of waiting (wait for it) . . . for Clay to “grow up.” Yet he doesn’t engage in any irresponsible behavior. In fact, if they had to go to trial for their divorce rather than for who gets custody of their white lab, then Exhibit A might be that he dresses sloppily, lives sloppily and can’t cook. But that’s not the clichéd Peter Pan syndrome. That’s just an informal guy who also still likes hanging out with the guys, and why wouldn’t he? Clay makes his living as a professional athlete, where guy bonding is crucial to success. What we see in him is a hard-working goalie who wants to make it to the next level of professional hockey. And he works with kids too. What’s not grown up about that?

Consider it one example of facile writing, and a logical problem that’s matched by some head-snapping others in the film. Set in Chicago during a typical Chicago winter, Who Gets the Dog? features some great shots of the city, but it does make you take notice when truck tires screech and “burn rubber” in snow and slosh, just as later when Clay is living by himself and burning muffins so badly that the RV fills with smoke, and  he removes the tray with an oven mitt but then seconds later barehands it, no problem. You tend to notice things like that when there isn’t much else to divert you. A side plot featuring dog whisperer Glen Hannon (Randall Batinkoff) trying to date Olive isn’t developed nearly enough, and neither is a side plot involving youth hockey—which, let me say, seems like another hard-to-believe scene. We’re talking about players older than age 10 and they’re falling down on the ice after a face-off as if they were five and six year olds.

whogetsthedogscreen2But the biggest problem is that there’s not nearly enough exposition to make you care about the characters or really want them to get back together again. You care more about the dog, and maybe that’s the point. We see Clay working out and talking with a friend, and we see him involved with youth hockey. But we really don’t see much of Olive’s life apart from the main plot, and even that main plot revolves around such goofy things as seeing a doggie counselor together or dealing with site visits from court-appointed authorities.

Silverstone and Kwanten are likable enough, but they don’t have the chemistry between them to explain the happy ending that the film offers, and dog lovers can’t help but think that the one Timmy’s-in-the-well moment also could have been stronger, and that the dog actually could have been featured more. Who Gets the Dog? feels like the kind of made-for-TV movie you’d see on the Hallmark Channel, which seems to crank out dog movies and Christmas movies because people like them. But it’s a film that never rises to the level of cuteness promised by its premise. Whole families can watch Who Gets the Dog? and it’s simple enough for even the youngest children to follow. But there are better options out there.

COMMANDO CODY: SKY MARSHAL OF THE UNIVERSE (Blu-ray)

September 16, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Entire Family, G rated, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Leave a comment

commandocodycoverGrade: B-
Entire family: Yes
1953, 361 min. (12 episodes), Black-and-white
Olive Films
Not rated (would be G)
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Featured audio: DTS 2.0 Mono
Bonus features: n/a
Trailer
Amazon link

Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe probably owes his existence to Flash Gordon.

In the early ‘50s, baby boomers woke on Saturday and Sunday mornings to discover not just cartoons and new programs, but syndicated, recycled black-and-white shorts and serials that were made decades earlier to be shown in theaters—features like The Three Stooges, The Little Rascals, and yes, Flash Gordon.

When Republic Pictures noticed that youngsters were hungry for more of the old Flash Gordon serials, they decided to create a TV series that would look like one of those early Flash adventures or several of their own, like King of the Rocket Men (1949) or Radar Men from the Moon (1952). The interesting thing about Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe is that while it commandocodyscreen1looks like an old movie serial, it was made for television, and as such, it lacks the cliffhangers that end every serial. These episodes are more self-contained, despite a narrative arc that also stretches across all 12 included here: Enemies of the Universe, Atomic Peril, Cosmic Vengeance, Nightmare Typhoon, War of the Space Giants, Destroyers of the Sun, Robot Monster from Mars, The Hydrogen Hurricane, Solar Sky Raiders, S.O.S. Ice Age, Lost in Outer Space, and Captives of the Zero Hour.

Though it was made in 1953, Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe has the look and feel of the old Flash Gordon serials. Even now, without knowing anything about the production, you’d swear that it was made in the ‘30s. That in itself is an achievement—though Commando Cody doesn’t have the same range or production values. The cast is smaller, the budget isn’t as big, there aren’t as many villains or costumed aliens of different kinds, and the sets aren’t as elaborate.

commandocodyscreen2But Commando Cody is just as campy and still fun. Though it was made for children, many families might enjoy it now because, well, what’s not to like about a man with a bulky metal mask and jet-pack who can fly through the air like Superman? Or hydrogen hurricanes, magno-force rays that can tilt the Earth on its axis, freeze rays that will remind you of playing freeze tag, and a thought-control chair that looks like a cross between a barber chair and an old Victorian parlor chair? Or robots from Mars? Or any number of gizmos and gadgets that might inspire your kids to head for the craft table and make a few of their own. Some of the fun comes from seeing how low-budget and low-tech some of the props are.

It’s hard not to laugh at Commando Cody’s atomic-powered rocket ship, which he unclogs at one point using a plunger-like device, and which has standard-issue office chairs with seat belts. When the camera tilts and the men lean back on their seats to give the appearance of “lift-off,” your family will probably crack up, if yours is anything like mine. And the top-secret headquarters for Commando Cody? You don’t have to look too carefully to see that they filmed it in front of a southern California apartment building complex and just propped a phone and two guards in front of one entrance. It’s funny too to watch Commando Cody leave his “decompression chamber” and walk on top of his stratosphere-bound rocket ship, leaning over an exhaust that looks more like it came from a giant firework pinwheel than a jet-propelled aircraft.

In Flash Gordon, the planet Mongo’s emperor, Ming the Merciless, caused natural disasters all over Earth as a first step toward conquering the planet, and Flash took off in a rocket ship with two others to thwart him. In Commando Cody the plot is similar. Commando Cody (Judd Holdren) is somehow appointed Intergalactic Sky Martial (though it’s unclear who actually appointed him) and his activities are so top secret that even viewers can’t be told. But we do know this: a cosmic ruler from another planet known simply as The Ruler (Gregory Gaye) has spies on Earth who are transmitting information to him and helping him carry out his own plan to conquer Earth. But not if Commando Cody can help it . . . with the help of his assistants Ted Richards (William Schallert) and Joan Gilbert (Aline Towne), with Richard Crane replacing Schallert midway.

The acting, as in most serials and B-movies, is no great shakes, but there’s just enough science fiction in here to make it interesting, and plenty of low-budget props and scenes to make it unintentionally funny. Commando Cody could easily serve as a warm-up for family movie night, with the installments spread out over a dozen weeks as originally intended. Yes, you can watch the episodes on YouTube, which is where the screen grabs come from, but the audio-visual quality on this two-disc set from Olive Films is far, far superior.

YOURS, MINE AND OURS (1968) (Blu-ray)

September 11, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Entire Family, Family, PG rated, Romantic Comedy Leave a comment

yoursmineandourscoverGrade: B-
Entire family: Yes
1968, 111 min., Color
Olive Films
Not rated (would be PG for mild language and innuendo)
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Featured audio: DTS 2.0 Mono
Bonus features: n/a
Trailer
Amazon link

In 1968, a year before The Brady Bunch charmed television audiences, two blended family movies played in theaters: With Six You Get Eggroll, starring Doris Day and Brian Keith, and Yours, Mine and Ours, with Lucille Ball and Henry Fonda as the parents. The latter was popular enough to spark a less successful 2005 remake (with Rene Russo and Dennis Quaid). Of them all, the original Yours, Mine and Ours is the best—partly because of a decent script by committee, partly because of the stars’ steady performances, and partly because it’s based on a real story.

yoursmineandoursHelen North was a Navy wife whose husband was killed in an air crash when she was 30 and pregnant with their eighth child. When she married Navy Warrant Officer Frank Beardsley in 1961, her eight children were blended with his 10. And a year later, when each of them legally adopted the others’ brood, they made headlines for the largest group adoption in California history and ended up as guests of Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. Yours, Mine and Ours is based on her memoir, Who Gets the Drumstick.

Only a fraction of her story is recounted in the film, which focuses on the courtship between Helen and Frank, their marriage, and their attempts to raise 18 children together in the months leading up to that adoption. Though dated (what sixties’ movie isn’t?) Yours, Mine and Ours is still cute —and “cute” is the word that came to my wife and myself as we watched and sometimes laughed out loud.

It’s a little bit of a stretch to accept 57-year-old Ball and 63-year-old Fonda as fertile parents of these combined families, but the casting makes sense when you realize that Ball’s Desilu Productions bought the movie rights. Though the two of them are old enough to be the children’s grandparents, they still make for believable parents once you get over the initial shock. Fans of the old I Love Lucy series will find it interesting to watch Ball in a mostly seriocomic role, with only two scenes that feature slapstick/physical comedy—things that Ball did best. There’s a funny scene at a crowded bar, and later, when Frank brings Helen home to meet his children, the teenage boys (among them Tim Matheson of Animal House fame) put a little extra booze—make that a lot extra—in her drink. Ball, in that scene, evokes a few memories of her Season 2 episode “Lucy Does a TV Commercial,” in which Lucy takes a little too much of the alcohol-based elixer Vitameatavegimin.

yoursmineandoursscreen2Fans of vintage TV will also smile seeing another TV dad, Tom Bosley (Happy Days) playing a doctor. If you’re a Brady Bunch fan, you’ll realize how many of the blended family situations came from this movie. The level of realism and believability is enough to offset anything corny or quaint comes from Yours, Mine and Ours being so wholesome and nearly 50 years old. It’s still enjoyable family fare, and because it is so dated looking it’s going to provide a nice touchstone for children to see what’s changed and what’s stayed the same when it comes to family dynamics.

Aside from Matheson, the actors who play the children are believable but unremarkable, while the same could be said of the film’s minor characters—except for Van Johnson, a leading man who gets to play the sidekick this outing. Directed by Melville Shavelson—who got his experience shepherding stepparents and stepchildren in the Oscar-nominated romantic comedy Houseboat, starring Cary Grant and Sophia Loren—Yours, Mine and Ours is a wholesome, cute family movie. And age hasn’t diminished its cuteness one bit.

Age has, however, affected the print, which is a little rough in the opening. But the graininess gradually becomes less after the title sequence. Like the stars’ ages, once the film gets rolling you it all smoothes out, and the colors especially look rich in this HD presentation.

Language: Nothing here except literally a handful of “damns” and “hells”
Sex: Nothing here either, apart from a few phrases (“sex maniac”), a boy reading a Playboy, mild innuendo, and references to a boy who expects a teenage girl to “prove her love”
Violence: Just one scuffle and an implied schoolyard fight with a black eye to prove it
Adult situations: Aside from the innuendo, a few fertility jokes, and the drinking/drunkenness, nothing offensive
Takeaway: As old as Ball and Fonda seem at the beginning of the film, you quickly forget their ages and appreciate two professionals—two Hollywood legends—at work

SUPERGIRL: SEASON 1 (Blu-ray)

August 7, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Entire Family, TV Drama, TV-PG Leave a comment

Supergirl1coverGrade: B/B+
Entire family: Yes (except for preschoolers?)
2015, 877 min. (20 episodes), Color
Warner Bros.
Rated PG-TV for violence
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 5.1
Bonus features: C-
Trailer
Amazon link

There are two DC Universes, and Melissa Benoist really brightens up the television one. She has the kind of charisma that propelled Lynda Carter to stardom as TV’s Wonder Woman during the seventies and the kind of girl-next-door likeability and warmth that inspired the writers of Supergirl to refer to her “humanity” after otherwise drawing a distinction between humans and aliens.

Then again, alienity just doesn’t cover it when we’re talking about Benoist as Kara Danvers, aka Supergirl. In this winning 2015 CW series she’s the “girl” you want to be friends with, to confide in, to rely on, to have fun with, and, if you’re a guy, to date. Though Supergirl comes from the planet Krypton, with Benoist wearing the costume she embodies everything that’s good in humanity.

Supergirl1screen1Supergirl offers a less dark DC Universe in which characters have down time, bond, laugh, share food and drink, and grapple with problems that audience members face—like questions about identity, body image, relationships, glass ceilings, and juggling career and personal life. The series’ feminism and “stronger together” theme is even reflected in the Hillary Clinton campaign, and who knows? Maybe this is the year that a female who is dedicated to the prospect of helping people is finally able to be accepted as a hero. That’s certainly Kara’s main focus in Season 1.

Kara Zor-El was sent to Earth to look after her younger cousin, but because her pod strayed off-course she arrived after Kal-El, who’s grown up and already accepted as a hero in Metropolis. Instead of her taking care of him, he’s the caretaker who whisks her her off to foster parents. The series begins when Kara, who had been experimenting with her powers off-camera all this time, is now 24 and working in National City as an assistant to media mogul Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart).

Kara’s boss reminds her that things come easier for men, and that women have to work twice as hard in order to be accepted. That’s no truer than for Kara, who is still feeling the burden of role reversal. She was supposed to take care of her cousin, and instead, once a disaster forced her to reveal herself as a superhero before she felt ready, the unseen Superman continues to be her protector. In fact, Superman even asked his good friend Jimmy Olsen (Mehcad Brooks) to move to National City and work at the same media corporation so he could keep an eye on Kara. Who else knows her secret identity? Aside from her foster mom and an older sister (Chyler Leigh as Alex Danvers) who works for the DEO (Dept. of Extra-Normal Operations), just tech expert and good friend Winn Schott (Jeremy Jordan). Well, and Alex’s boss, Hank Henshaw (David Harewood), who eventually allows the sisters to work together. And her Kryptonian mother’s deceased sister Astra, who escaped destruction because she was on a prison transport full of hundreds of aliens that also crashed on Earth—which she now wants to conquer.

Supergirl1screen2The Supergirl writers do a nice job of withholding information and adding characters along the way in order to keep the series fresh, and a reviewer with no spoiler scruples could go on and on about plot twists and the numerous thematic threads. Relationships are also a focus, as unrequited love seems as abundant as the number of Kryptonian criminals who either surface or break out of prison. Winn likes Kara who likes Jimmy who likes Lucy Lane (Lois’s sister, played by Jenna Dewan Tatum). In the DC movie universe the focus seems to be on creating a puzzle that readers can piece together, Marvel-style. But Supergirl is all about the female hero and the many challenges she faces—both physical and emotional.

If all this estrogen starts to make Supergirl sound like another Gilmore Girls for women only, rest assured: The action and special effects are decent and there are plenty of DC villains to interest a broader audience. This season you’ll encounter the insectile Hellgrammite, the bio-electric Reactron, the newly electrified Livewire, the wonderfully rendered Red Tornado, the Toyman, a plant known as Black Mercy, the Martian Manhunter, the Master Jailer, Myriad, and a not-so-nice human industrialist in the Tony Stark vein named Maxwell Lord (Peter Facinelli). Sometimes the villains are rendered in a way that it reminds you vaguely of Power Rangers, but for the most part they’re villainous enough. Just.

Bottom line: Supergirl hooks you quickly and Benoist holds your attention until the writers can toss in a new wrinkle every now and then to keep things interesting. She’s even a strong enough hero to where you don’t mind if she battles a villain that seems a bit hokey. But you can’t help but wonder, as Cat Grant’s mother does, “Why Supergirl? Why not Superwoman?”

Language: n/a
Sex: n/a
Violence: Battles between good people and bad, superheroes and villains, elite fighters and worthy opponents; not much in the way of violence to everyday people
Adult situations: There is drinking, but no intoxication
Takeaway: This series has a lot going for it, but the big plus is Melissa Benoist, who was also one of the few charismatic replacement characters Glee brought in when the main cast changed

KUNG FU PANDA 3 (Blu-ray combo)

June 30, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Entire Family, PG rated Leave a comment

KungFuPanda3coverGrade: B-/C+
Entire family: Yes
2016, 95 min., Color
DreamWorks/20th Century Fox
Rated PG for martial arts action and some rude humor
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: C+/B-
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

The Blu-ray box proclaims that Kung Fu Panda 3 is “Certified Fresh” by Rotten Tomatoes, with an average rating of 6.8/10 and 126 critics giving it a “fresh” rating, while 20 pronounced it “rotten.”

Fresh, rotten. With this film it’s splitting hairs.

Tomatometer critics gave Kung Fu Panda 2 an average rating of 6.9, and the original Kung Fu Panda earned an average rating of 7.2. I thought both were better than that, but while I enjoyed and found myself instantly invested in them, that wasn’t the case with the third. In the early going I was squirming like a three year old, wondering when #3 was finally going to find it’s footing and engage the audience. That’s a shame, considering all the high-powered voice talents in this animated sequel— among them, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, Kate Hudson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Wayne Knight.

The opening sequence is all action and no context, and the first 29 minutes are a narrative mish-mash. Only after Kung Fu Panda master Po (voiced by Jack Black) gets a surprise visit from his biological father (Bryan Cranston) does the film finally find its trajectory so you can finally KungFuPanda3screen1start to care. Apparently discovering in previous films that he’s the Dragon Warrior isn’t enough. In this animated adventure Po still has an identity crisis when Master Shifu (Hoffman) tells him there’s more to identity that Kung Fu. He has to learn who is IS. So when his real dad shows up and tells him he will teach him the secrets if he’ll return with him to the hidden village of the pandas (which Po thought were all dead), Master Shifu agrees, and Po’s adoptive duck father, Mr. Ping (James Hong), reluctantly consents.

The new bull villain is almost Marvelesque, but the villains in the first two movies made more sense. In Kung Fu Panda (2008), a former pupil of turtle Master Oogway who chose the dark side had escaped from prison and the powerful leopard was intent on taking his revenge out on the entire Valley of Peace. In Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011), a prequel, an evil peacock named Lord Shen tried to exterminate the panda population in order to negate a prophecy that a panda warrior would be his undoing. Later Po and the Furious Five Kung Fu Masters set out to stop Lord Shen from unleashing a powerful weapon that would make him the new ruler of China.

KungFuPanda3screen2Both of those scenarios were more instantly understandable than what we’re given in the third installment. Kai is an old friend of Master Oogway, and together they apparently healed the secret village of pandas after it was attacked by Lord Shen. The pandas, in return, taught the two how to use Qi. Oogway apparently defeated Kai and banished him to the spirit realm, where, confusingly, a deceased Oogway also floats around among unanchored mountains and Monument Valley formations. Meanwhile, Kai escapes from the spirit world and, using Qi, defeats the Kung Fu masters one by one and obtains their essences, their Qi, which he hangs from his belt like shrunken heads that he then can unleash like super zombies of sorts to do his bidding.

Then we get a little Magnificent Seven as Po and his father and his stowaway adoptive father reach the secret valley and learn that Kai is headed there. In really short order—not much longer than the span of a montage—Po starts to teach the panda peasants how to be Kung Fu masters, and the great defense battle is on. How much you like Kung Fu Panda 3 will depend on how much you’re willing to overlook those first 29 minutes and just watch the film and not think too much about questions and explanations.

Typically it’s adults who want more logic and character development rather than simply colorful action, cutesy characters, and physical humor. As a result, though the first two Kung Fu Panda movies were bona fide family movie night options for the everyone, this one may appeal mostly to the kids, unless you just sit back and enjoy the animation and Blu-ray quality, which is superb. The Rotten Tomatoes critics gave Kung Fu Panda 3 a 6.8, which is just below B range. It’s a B-/C+ on the Family Home Theater scale, and whether you flip that or not, it’s still the weakest entry in the trilogy.

Language: n/a
Sex: Nothing except for an androgynous panda who may be a transvestite
Violence: Everybody was Kung Fu fighting
Adult situations: n/a
Takeaway: Funny how we have idioms to cover everything: third time’s the charm or three strikes and you’re out; after this third film, I’m just not seeing where this franchise could possibly go

ZOOTOPIA (Blu-ray combo)

June 3, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Action-Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Entire Family, PG rated Leave a comment

ZootopiacoverGrade: A
Entire family: Yes
2016, 108 min., Color
Disney
Rated PG for some thematic elements, rude humor, and action
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: B+
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

Most of the time trailers oversell a film. Not Disney’s Zootopia, which is even better and more distinctive than the trailer would have you believe.

Like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, it’s a crime mystery featuring animated characters (but without the live action component), and like any number of Disney movies it’s about a main character who dreams beyond the limitations imposed by parents, society, or physical stature. It’s about a young bunny named Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) who wants to go against her biological destiny to farm carrots like her mother and father and instead become a police officer in the big animal city of Zootopia.

Disney has a deft way of introducing the basic premise and characters, then quickly getting to the start of the action. We saw it in that poignant montage in Up, and we see it here as directors Byron Howard, Rich Moore, and Jared Bush take us to an amusing (and spot-on) Zootopiascreen2performance of a school play with Judy’s parents filming her sketch about the history of animals—how once animals were predators and prey before they evolved into a higher order where predators and prey could peacefully co-exist and could become anything they want. But we quickly see the clash between idealism and the kind of realism that kids today can identify with, when on the school playground a fox bully takes tickets away from a group of “prey” kids, and Judy, still in her I-wanna-be-a-police-officer uniform, tries to stop the much bigger bully. She’s feisty, but is knocked down and clawed as a reminder that she is what she is, and told by the fox that she’ll never become a police officer. But some animals—and people—rise to the challenge, and when we fast-forward 15 years later we see Judy leaving her small-town environment and heading for Zootopia to train at the Police Academy.

After rising to the top of her class Judy becomes the first bunny police officer, only to find herself going up against a good-old-boy network led by Chief Bogo (Idris Elba), in a a work environment where everyone is taller, bigger, stronger. Even the mayor is a lion (J.K. Simmons) who has an assistant who’s a sheep (Jenny Slate). So there are still subtle traces of a natural order based on survival of the fittest, which means Zootopiascreen1that Judy has to become more resourceful to break her glass ceiling. Assigned the demeaning job of meter maid, she nonetheless finds a way to earn a shot at finding one of 14 missing predators in the city’s biggest investigation. Given 48 hours, she partners with a con-artist Fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) the way that Nick Nolte did with Eddie Murphy in 48 Hours. And yes, the allusion is deliberate. When they later come across a lab operation that reminds you of Breaking Bad, in case you don’t get the visual allusion they toss out the line about “Walter and Jesse coming soon.” And what would an animated crime film be without an homage to The Godfather?

It’s these kind of touches that make Disney animated films entertaining for adults as well as children. The dialogue in Zootopia is sharp, and the writers have a lot of fun playing with clichés pertaining to species like lemmings, sloths, and rabbits (“Your mom and I and your 275 brothers and sisters”). The characters have as much personality as any human, the plot is complicated but not confusing, and Disney once again does what Disney does best: creating a complete world that’s fun to visit. Fans of Shakira will like that she plays pop star Gazelle, and Nate Torrence is incredibly endearing as Officer Clawhauser. Really, though, all of the voice talents—name or no name—do a fantastic job. Add on a few positive messages for children and adolescents and you’ve got another animated classic-to-be. Zootopia is top-tier Disney, the kind of film that families will want to watch over and over again, so be sure to go with the Blu-ray for top-quality HD.

Language: OMG and euphemistic versions of swearwords is all
Sex: One comic scene has Judy “shocked” to go to a “nude spa club” for animals, none of which are wearing any clothing (but no genitalia visible—think Barbie and Ken dolls)
Violence: Given the criminal investigation at the heart of the film, there really isn’t much. One character is attacked and blinded off-screen, two more are scratched, and there’s an extended moment of peril for the two main characters
Adult situations: A poisonous plant being distilled in a lab and some con-man trickery stand out, but the whole idea of a police investigation is pretty adult, and bullying emerges as a theme
Takeaway: The House of Mouse makes animation look easy, but it all starts with characters we care about, and there are plenty of likeable characters to be found in Zootopia

CAROL + 2: THE ORIGINAL QUEENS OF COMEDY (DVD)

May 21, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Entire Family, G rated, Musical, PG rated, TV Comedy Leave a comment

Carolplus2coverGrade: B+
Entire family: Yes (Once Upon a Mattress)
1963-1972, 277 min., Color and black-and-white
Time Life/StarVista Entertainment
Not rated (Once would be G, the others PG)
Aspect ratio: 1.37:1
Featured audio: Dolby Digital 2.0
Bonus features: n/a
Amazon link

The Carol Burnett Show aired from 1967-78, making it one of the last yet longest running of the old vaudeville-inspired variety shows that combined song and dance with sketch comedy. Burnett broke into TV as a regular on The Garry Moore Show and in 1966 was given her own TV special. The network wanted her to ask Lucille Ball to guest star, as well as the Tony Award-winning Zero Mostel, who was currently appearing on Broadway as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. Both said yes, and the result is Carol + 2, a one-hour special that all but set the format for The Carol Burnett Show to follow.

Carol + 2 is a part of television history, and for general fans it will be the gem on this DVD, which (sorry, Mr. Mostel) is being marketed as Carol + 2: The Original Queens of Comedy. But it’s not the big draw for families with children. The reason to buy this DVD, if you have children, is the colorful TV movie version of the beloved Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, “The Princess and the Pea,” starring Burnett as the princess.

Burnett got her big break in 1959 as a 26 year old when she was cast by the legendary George Abbott to star in the off-Broadway production of a new show based on that fairy tale, and Once Upon a Mattress quickly moved on Broadway for a total run of 244 performances. Burnett earned a Tony nomination for her role as Princess Winifred the Woebegone, and as a TV personality she would star in three special televised productions of Once Upon a Mattress: in 1966, 1972, and 2005, the latter in which she would play the queen rather than the unconventional princess. The version on this DVD is the 1972 special, which is indeed special because Jack Gilford and Jane White reprise their original off-Broadway roles as King Sextimus and Queen Aggravain.

Carolplus2screen1Once Upon a Mattress is aimed at families, which is made clear from the beginning as Burnett reads and shares an abbreviated picture-book version of the fairy tale, after which we’re told we’re about to see the “adult version” of what really happened. Don’t be alarmed. Even your four year old can watch and enjoy this production, which sports outrageous and colorful costumes and lines that are delivered slowly enough that the smallest children won’t need much in the way of narrative summary. Once Upon a Mattress is an engaging 90-minute romp that showcases Burnett’s talents as a physical comedienne and also features verbal comedy, singing, and dancing.

The plot is simple, yet, like so many fairy tales, timeless. Queen Aggravain is so domineering that her husband, the king, has been rendered unable to speak. Communicating only in pantomime, he’s like the fifth Marx Brother. Their son, Prince Dauntless (Ken Berry), is also dominated by the queen, yet this mama’s boy, despite being in his mid-thirties, yearns to marry. Trouble is, he can only marry a true princess, and Mama devises a different test each time so devious that none of the princesses who visit the castle are ever able to pass. When a rain-drenched Princess Winifred (who prefers to be called “Fred”) turns up on the doorstep, the vetting process begins anew. Children will especially get a kick out of a “dance off” in which Fred instantly masters the silliest local folk dance and outlasts everyone else in the kingdom. The Queen tells the princess that she needs to get her sleep because the big test will be tomorrow, when in fact the test is whether she can detect a tiny pea placed underneath a stack of 20 mattresses. The “adult version” is that this happily-ever-after tale didn’t come about because Fred was indeed able to detect that pea. She had a little help. Bernadette Peters stars as Lady Larkin, while Carol Burnett Show regular Lyle Waggoner appears as Sir Studley, and Wally Cox (who gave voice to the TV cartoon Underdog) narrates as The Jester. Look closely and you’ll even see a cameo by Kermit the Frog. All in all, it’s a highly entertaining 90-minute TV musical special.

Carolplus2screen2Carol + 2 is geared more for adults than families, and while it’s great to see two of television’s First Ladies perform together and Zero Mostel is as wild-eyed and manic as ever, the sketches and performances are a mixed bag. The funniest might be the opening sketch featuring Burnett and Mostel as a married couple grown spiteful of each other who find out briefly that a mistake means they’re not married after all . . . and that changes the way they see each other. Close behind is “Goodbye Baby,” in which Ball plays an older sister who drops in for a visit on her way to her annual vacation. Burnett is the younger sister with a baby buggy in the park who insists that her sister not leave until she hears the little guy say “Goodbye.” Of course, as with all sketch comedy, things escalate, and while the ending might be a little far-fetched it’s the progression that’s fun to watch. Some of the other sketches are less successful, but Ball and Burnett sing a spirited song about “Chutzpah” as Hollywood charwomen, and this one-hour color special gives contemporary audiences a chance to see three legendary talents at work.

Thrown in as a bonus feature is the very first black-and-white Charwoman sketch that Burnett performed as part of her first special, An Evening with Carol Burnett. It was a character that, animated, would become part of her long-running TV show’s title credits. This 1963 sketch is more of a historical artifact than a family entertainment, though Burnett’s introduction to it, as with her introductions to the two TV specials included on this DVD, is nice to have.

THE PEANUTS MOVIE (Collector’s Edition Blu-ray)

April 2, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, Entire Family, Family, G rated Leave a comment

PeanutsMoviecoverGrade: B+
Entire family: Yes
2015, 88 min., Color
20th Century Fox
Rated G
Aspect ratio:1.85:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: A-
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

Steve Martino is a brave man. Sure, he directed the Dr, Seuss classic Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and Ice Age: Continental Drift (2012), the fourth installment in the Fox animated prehistoric series. But Charles Schulz is in a totally different league.

One of the most famous cartoonists of all time, Schulz received the Congressional Gold Medal for his influence on America culture—an influence that famously extended into the U.S. space program, with the Apollo 10 command module named “Charlie Brown” and the lunar module named “Snoopy.” Over his career Schulz drew close to 18,000 Peanuts comic strips, published dozens of collected strips in books, and came into American homes through a series of now-iconic television specials, many of which were linked to holidays. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Upon his death, Schulz requested that his characters remain essentially unchanged, and The Peanuts Movie was to be the first time the characters were rendered in 3D CGI. In addition, the script was written by Cornelius Uliano and Schulz’s son and grandson, who also had a hand in producing the film. But hey, no pressure!

PeanutsMoviescreen1Martino presides over a production that remains faithful to the spirit of the Peanuts world, choosing to surprise viewers not with twists or deviations, but with the clever rendering of familiar elements from the Peanuts gang repertoire and recognizable visual cues from the comics themselves. Snoopy hauls out his typewriter and takes to the skies atop his doghouse to fight the Red Baron, Charlie Brown is smitten by a new red-haired girl in the neighborhood, and everyone starts to think differently about failure-magnet, disaster-prone Charlie after he scores a perfect 100 on an exam.

In the end, the perceived messages about never giving up, the thin line that often separates failure from success, and the fickleness of public opinion come across loud and clear—whether you’re an adult or a child. And universal messages like that are a big part of what has made the Peanuts adventures popular with all ages.

PeanutsMoviescreen2If The Peanuts Movie feels like a first, it’s only because it’s the first full-length animated feature to be produced for the big screen in 35 years. It’s the fifth film, really, though this one feels like a first film because it introduces all of the familiar elements for a new audience. Yet, old ones will take delight in the way that those familiar elements are treated. Lucy is her old irascible self, setting up her psychiatric advice booth on the street in the middle of winter—though she could probably stand to see a shrink herself because of her self-image and anger-management issues. Pigpen doesn’t have much to do, but his cloud of dirt appears every now and then. Schroeder is more visible with his Beethoven fetish and his toy piano, and Charlie’s sister Sally seems to lurk everywhere in the wings, like a real little sister.

Despite being set in winter, The Peanuts Movie manages to bring in all of the most famous “bits,” from Charlie Brown’s disastrous attempts at kite-flying to school talent shows, or from birdie Woodstock and Snoopy’s comic antics to and Charlie Brown’s dance lessons. The 3D CGI characters and stylized backgrounds seem perfectly melded by comic-strip wordless graphics like gigantic stars briefly flashed to signify an explosion or implosion, thought balloons, or eyes and eyebrows on a character that shift like drawings hovering over the CGI bodies. The effect is fairly mesmerizing and adds a charming uniqueness to the faithful tone and treatment of familiar material. The Peanuts Movie is one of the better 3D CGI animated adaptations in a sub-genre that sees far too many wrong turns and stinkers.

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS: THE ROAD CHIP (DVD)

March 23, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Entire Family, Family, PG rated Leave a comment

RoadChipcoverGrade: C+/B-
Entire family: Yes
2015, 92 min., Color
20th Century Fox
Rated PG for some mild rude humor and language
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Featured audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Bonus features: C-
Includes: DVD, Digital HD
Trailer
Amazon link

If you’re thinking of picking up Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip, you probably already know what’s in store: a cutesy, formulaic blend of live-action and CGI animation that showcases the antics of squeaky-voiced Alvin, Theodore, and Simon.

So it makes no sense to review this film against classic road movies like National Lampoon’s Vacation, Thelma & Louise, and Little Miss Sunshine. It’s not in that league, nor does it try to be. It only tries to appeal to the same audience that was entertained by the original 2007 film about struggling songwriter David Seville (Jason Lee) and the singing chipmunks that brought him fame. And I will say this: The Road Chip strikes me as the best of the sequels thus far.

The opening high-energy production number mostly gives animators a chance to show what they can have these furry 3D animated guys do with a bunch of dancers and partiers, but once the main plot is established—David has met someone he plans to marry, and she has a teenage son they met earlier, someone who bullies them—the could-be stepbrothers hop in a car together to try to sabotage the proposal. Why? Because the Chipmunks think that Dave will drop them like three fuzzy hot potatoes after he’s married, or worse, that they’ll be sentenced to a lifetime with a new stepbrother who torments them.

RoadChipscreenThe minute they get inside that car together, you know the road trip will bring them together, and that eventually their dad and mom (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) will take another step on the road to their own happily ever after. It’s in the stars (or script). And in the Chipmunk movies there’s another formula: a single determined antagonist—like David Cross, in the first film—that pursues the Chipmunks. In The Road Chip it’s Tony Hale (Arrested Development, Veep) who has the honor of taking pratfalls for the cause. Hale plays an Air Marshal who goes full-bore Capt. Ahab in his pursuit, to sometimes genuinely comic effect. Meanwhile, as Alvin (voiced by Justin Long), Simon (Matthew Gray Gubler), and Theodore (Jesse McCartney) try to work together with their new nemesis and potential stepbrother Miles (Josh Green), viewers from blended families or children of single parents fearing change can find some hope for their own futures.

In The Road Trip the Chipettes (voiced by Christina Applegate, Kaley Cuoco, and Anna Faris) appear as more successful performers than their male counterparts, but they’re really just window dressing. It’s all about potential stepbrothers this outing, and the mishaps that threaten to keep them from completing their mission.

The integration of animated characters into live action films has really come a long way since Pete’s Dragon, and The Road Trip is fun to watch just because of all the detail. For such an eye-feast, Blu-ray is the best. But make no mistake: the filmmakers are not pitching this at entire families, though it’s certainly suitable for all to watch. It’s aimed mostly at smaller children, who will give it two thumbs up. Older family members will say that in fairness it’s more like a C+ or B-, depending on your mood. And they’ll probably be more entertained than they’re willing to admit.

THE GOOD DINOSAUR (Blu-ray combo)

February 26, 2016

James Plath, Family Home Theater Animation, Entire Family, Family, PG rated Leave a comment

GoodDinosaurcoverGrade: B-
Entire family: Yes
2015, 94 min., Color
Disney-Pixar
Rated PG for peril, action, and thematic elements
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1
Featured audio: DTS-HDMA 7.1
Bonus features: B+
Includes: Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD
Amazon link
Trailer

The Good Dinosaur is a good movie, but a weird one. How weird, you wonder?

Picture a dinosaur version of a western involving cattlemen and sodbusters, with vegetarian apatosauruses as the farmers, carnivore T-rexes wrangling prehistoric longhorns, and pterosaurs the rustlers.

Picture a dinosaur version of Jack London’s Call of the Wild, flipped upside-down so that the dog who eventually answers to the “call of the wild” is a prehistoric human that hasn’t learned to walk upright yet and acts a bit like Donnie from The Wild Thornberrys, while his “master” is an apatosaurus.

GoodDinosaurscreen2Picture a dinosaur version of The Lion King, with young apatosaurus Arlo getting a life lesson in one scene that shows him and his father looking skyward, while later we watch as the father pushes the son to safety when a calamity sweeps through the valley and (not really a spoiler if you’ve seen The Lion King) kills the father, who comes back in a vision when his young son needs him most.

Picture realistic backgrounds with an animated green dinosaur that will have you flashbacking to Pete’s Dragon.

And picture a dinosaur version of “ohana,” the lesson we learned about family from Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, with more pathos, overall, than humor.

The Good Dinosaur is still entertaining, but it’s less than what you’d expect from Pixar and more than a little weird. Just as unusual for a Disney-Pixar film, especially one that was in production for six years, is that there are so many déja vu moments. Pixar built a name for themselves by coming up with completely unique stories, so this more standard and familiar entry is a bit of a surprise. But families with young children especially won’t care.

Using photorealistic scenery and cartoonish characters, Disney-Pixar offers a story with themes about making a mark in the world, living up to parental expectations, and dealing with stronger, more accomplished siblings—all of which ought to resonate with young viewers. Child/teen actors Jack McGraw and Raymond Ochoa give voice to Arlo, the runt of a litter who has a hard time keeping up with his rambunctious brother (Ryan Teeple/Marcus Scribner) and sister (Maleah Padilla).

GoodDinosaurscreen3Poppa (Jeffrey Wright) and Momma (Frances McDormand) put their marks on the side of a stone silo they built to hold winter corn, and soon so do Buck and Libby. Only poor runty Arlo isn’t able to accomplish a task in order to make his mark. Encouraged by his father, he takes on the challenge of catching and killing the “varmint” that keeps stealing and eating their corn. Of course he can’t do it, because he’s the “good dinosaur”—a kind of prehistoric version of the old children’s book hero Ferdinand the Bull, who wanted to smell flowers rather than fight in the bullring. When Arlo is separated from his family and runs into that “varmint,” whom he names Spot (voiced by Jack Bright), an unlikely friendship develops that will also, of course, enable Arlo to finally prove himself while facing all sorts of dangers.

More strange than it is totally original, The Good Dinosaur is the kind of movie that will really appeal to children. Parents? Not nearly as much—though it’s easy to get lost in the film’s captivating art decoration, set design, and animation, all of which look terrific in Blu-ray.

Language: n/a
Sex: n/a
Violence: A head is ripped off a large bug, there’s a traumatic Lion-King style death, and the main character is in near-constant peril.
Adult situations: Like the intoxication scene in Dumbo the main character and his friend eat some bad fruit and hallucinate.
Takeaway: We’re so used to everything to come out of Pixar Studios being so extraordinary that when a good story instead of a great one comes along it’s a shock to the system, and maybe that’s unfair.

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