Dragon Ball Z: Fusion Reborn Review

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(More customer reviews)It's tough to review movies because you don't want to give away too many details. But at the same time, with Dragonball Z movies, they all seem to follow the same pattern (A *monster* comes or is formed, is dealt with, then powers up to a level beyond the heroes, but the heroes somehow band together and find a way to win, etc.) anyway. This one to me was one of the best DBZ movies. In a nutshell, the movie's about a mistake taking place in the underworld by a bit of a slacker that has dire consequences, bringing the dead back to life while combining loads of negative energy into one being named Janemba (or Janempa - can't remember which form was the fat one vs. the sleek one). After the fat one is dealt with, the sleek one's more than a match for the powered up Goku and Vegeta sucker punches the villian to save his life, etc. etc. (you've seen it before). This time, Fusion's the only thing that may be able to save the day. It was interesting though - you even get to see Freiza & the Ginyu force come back to life in this one, along with another movie villain (albeit briefly... if you blink you miss it) - Bojack and some of his minions.
This movie lines up with the Buu saga and as such, some of the same concepts take place (Fusion, Saiyaman, etc.) So you know what relative power the villain would have - although this one had a sort of teleportation power that was pretty neat, and that it would take a Fusion of Goku and Vegeta to stand a chance. The action was pretty good and I really liked how unlike previous movies, this time the powered up villian didn't spend 50% of the movie beating up the heroes and Goku/Vegeta got a few shots in - leads more to the imagination - I liked that Goku did somewhat okay against the monster before the sword was deployed.
There were a few negatives though to the movie. As for the movie, I wish they didn't worry so much about time, as they couldn't done a few more interesting things with Freiza coming back or Cell or whoever. 2, I like how funimation does voice-overs. But in this movie in particular, they changed the dialogue a bit too much from the original japanese version. You can tell in the end of the movie - the Japanese/American version had Trunks/Goten joking about completely different things. And then at the end of Fusion, the dialogue between Goku/Vegeta, which wasn't fitting to Vegeta's personality. Throughout the argument with Goku/Vegeta - the USA version took away from Vegeta's dejection, eliminating a pretty important piece of their relationship which would eventually close the series, let alone when Janempa's sword crumbled and why (which stems from that). Finally, funimation did a pretty lousy job at distributing this to outlets.
Still, it's a good movie that I definitely recommend for any and all Dragonball Z fans - maybe the very best (not sure if there's another one left), and Funimation was smart to include the Japanese version. Check it out!

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An industrial disaster in Other World has unleashed a gargantuan monster, and the Z fighters are taking action! Janemba's arrival has thrown the dimensions into turmoil, leaving the door between worlds gaping open and the dead are rising from their graves. To combat this juggernaut, Goku must power up to his race Super Saiyan 3 form, but shockingly the move is not enought. It's a battle on two fronts and teamwork is the key! As time runs out, Goku stumbles across a weary Vegeta and devises a risky plan that might be the universe's only hope...Fusion Reborn!

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The Ice Age Collection (Ice Age/ Ice Age: The Meltdown) - Full Screen Editions (2002) Review

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(More customer reviews)Ice Age and Ice Age 2: The Meltdown are 20th Century Fox's CGI successes. Both movies warm the heart; they make you appreciate the value of friends and family; they teach good morals. They are class-A family films (with the all important adult-asides).
There has been a tremendous proliferation of computer generated image films over the past couple of years which has certainly diluted the excitement that used to surround these movies. 2006 has got to set the record with 13...count 'em...13 releases that I can think of (Cars, The Wild, Happy Feet, Doogal, Open Season, Monster House, Chicken Little, Barnyard, Over the Hedge, The Ant Bully, Hoodwinked, Ice Age 2 & Flushed Away).
But the overkill of computer animation in 2006 should not sway anyone into missing Ice Age 2; it is the best of all 13 in 2006 by far. And if you've not seen the original, this 2-pack has your name all over it.
The picture is just awesome; this computer generated animation is amazing to see on a high-def TV. It's almost 3D. Unbelievable.
The Ice Age movies are classics and should not be missed by anyone, infant right up to senior movie-goer.

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Disc 1: Ice Age: The Meltdown *Full Screen Feature *All ?New Scrat Short- "No Time for Nuts"*All ?New Crash & Eddie Stunts - 3 Short Shorts *Crash and Eddie Blooper *Commentaries by Director Carlos Saldanha, Producer Lori Forte and the Production Team. *The Animation Director's Chair- Storyboard, Animation, Final for "Play Dead," "Fish Story," "Nuts," "Family," "Face Off," "Drain" *Intro Into New Characters- "Meet Ellie" and "Meet Crash and Eddie" *Lost Historical Films on the Ice Age Period: The Sloth "Nature's Lovable Lisper,"The Wooly Mammoth "Nature's Beast of Burden," The Saber-Tooth Squirrel "Nature's Nutty Buddy," The Saber-Tooth Tiger, "Nature's Fearsome Feline," The Vulture "Nature's Cleaners," The Possum "Nature's Spunky Spectacles" *Sloth Dancing to Sid's Sing-a-Long *Set Top Games- Factoid Meltdown, Scrat's Piranha Smackdown, Sid Soccer Game, Personality Match Game, Vivendi Universal Game Memory Challenge. *Silly Sid & John Leguizamo ? A Featurette*DVD Rom Content- Link to Website Games *Marketing of Ice Age - Scrat on Family Guy footage, Sid hosting Domination Line up *Inside Look - Simpsons The Movie *Cross Promo TrailersDisc 2: *Ice Age *Full screen feature *Commentary by director Chris Wedge and Co-director Carlos Saldahna

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Scooby's All Star Laff-A-Lympics, Vol. 1 Review

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(More customer reviews)Great cartoon, poor release. It is crazy only releasing 4 episodes. The complete series would fit on a two disc set. I love this show but I don't think I can bring myself to buy it a disc at a time.

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After Olympic fever swept the nations, especially the United States in 1976 (the nation's bicentennial), the worldwide sporting competitions would be sorely missed until 1980, as well as 1984, when the U.S. would be the host nation for the Summer Games. Fortunately Hanna-Barbera provided a worthy substitute in animated form as up to 45 of their cartoon characters (classic and otherwise) were featured on this show competing for the gold medal. While some events were similar to real-life Olympic events, most were pretty offbeat and quite unusual, and could only be done on cartoons like this. Among these weird events were racing on ostriches, camels, kangaroos, rickshaws and unicycles, as well as scavenging for creatures like the Abominable Snowman, vampires, and the Loch Ness Monster. With events like these, each Laff-A-Lympics was bound to be a major adventure!

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Whisper of the Heart Review

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(More customer reviews)Whisper of the heart is one of the most sensitive, heartwarming and beautiful films ever made. Based on a shojo manga by Aoi Hiiragi, Written and produced by Hayao Miyazaki and directed by Yoshifumi Kondo, whisper of the heart is a tale of self discovery and coming of age of a high school girl Shizuku who is not sure what she wants in life. A series of dramatic events bring her closer to a guy Seiji from her own school. Together they embark on a journey which will help them find their inner potentials, realize their dreams and also love for each other. Also featured in the movie is an old man who runs an antique shop stocked with amazing treasures, including a magnificient porcelain figurine "the baron" (also featured in "The cat returns). Both of these characters play an important role in the film. Though "The cat returns" is kind of follow up to "whisper" yet for some reason it was released on dvd before "whisper".
Rarely is a film as honest and realistic as whisper of the heart and that's what makes it amazingly special, charming and successful. Within its thin plot and realistic settings, whisper has its magic moments which are downright uplifting and strike a chord somewhere deep inside. The film itself is a breath of fresh air.
Whisper of the heart, though slow in pace, draws you in from the very beginning and refuses to let you go. Its a heartwarming tale which makes you feel nostalgic and helps you relive the adolescence. Except for the Shizuku's dreamy fantasy sequence, the film relies heavily on dialogues and simple and real situations. The locales and the backgrounds shown in the film are as beautiful and breathtaking as in any other ghibli film. Open spaces, beautiful countryside, deep blue sky with summer clouds, a bicycle ride atop the hill, there are numerous things and moments in the film that set the mood just right, leaving the viewer spellbound and satisfied. After a while you forget completely that you are watching an animated film. Music plays an important role in the film and is soft and relaxing though we do get lots of those silent moments too for which ghibli films are famous. Also featured in the film is John Denver's song "country roads" which makes the perfect backdrop for the film. Not to mention here, the royalty disputes which arised later, making it difficult for the movie to see an American release.
Be it character development, animation or background art of the film, attention to details is simply stunning.The incredibly detailed backgrounds of the fantasy sequences were done by Naohisa Inoue who was an established artist and a long time Miyazaki fan. Impressed by his fantasy work, Miyazaki himself invited him to work on the film. Whisper of the heart dvd released by Buena Vista in Japan includes a special documentary showcasing the dreamy artwork of the film.
Director Yoshifumi Kondo had worked on many ghibli films such as Kiki's delivery service, Grave of the fireflies and Pom poko etc, as an animator. Hayao Miyazaki, who was looking for new breed of directors for ghibli, recognised Kondo's talent in no time and gave him a chance to direct this movie. Unfortunately, whisper of the heart remains to be the first and the only film directed by Yoshifumi Kondo. Just after the release of whisper, Kondo succumbed to aneurysm. It is evident from whisper of the heart how immensely talented and sensitive director Kondo was.
Films like whisper of the heart are very rare and come once in a lifetime. Watching a film like this is an experience to behold and cherish forever.

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From the creators of the Academy Award(R)-winning SPIRITED AWAY (Best Animated Feature Film, 2002) comes a tale based on the screenplay from the legendary animator Hayao Miyazaki. During summer vacation, a schoolgirl named Shizuku, who longs to discover her true talents, observes an ordinary-looking cat riding by himself on the train. Intrigued, she decides to follow him. This chance encounter leads her to the mysterious Seiji, a boy who is determined to follow his dreams, and The Baron, a magical cat figurine who helps her listen to the whispers in her heart. Soon, Shizuku's exciting adventures carry her far beyond the boundaries of her imagination. Featuring extraordinary storytelling, enchanting animation, and an all-star voice cast, this 2-disc set will inspire dreams and warm hearts of all ages.(c) 1995 Aoi Hiiragi/Shueisha • Nibariki • GNH

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Surf's Up (Widescreen Special Edition) (2007) Review

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(More customer reviews)'Surf's Up' is one of the best animated films I have ever seen or at least in the CGI era of animation. The Mockumentary style and incredible animation keep the story fresh, funny and amazing to look at! Even if your not a fan of animated films, this one may change your mind. The film also has a hip and appropriate soundtrack. The DVD transfer is excellent and this is a must see movie!.....Cowabunga!

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Surf’s Up is an animated feature that goes behind the scenes of the high-octane world of competitive penguin surfing. The film profiles Cody Maverick, an up-and-coming surfer as he enters his first pro competition.Inspired by his hero, a legendary wave rider named Big Z, Cody leaves his family and his town of Shiverpool, Antarctica to travel to Pen Gu Island for the Big Z Memorial Surf Off. Cody believes that winning will bring him the admiration and respect he desires. But when he unexpectedly comes face to face with a washed up old surfer named The Geek, Cody begins to understand that the greatest champion isn’t always the one who comes in first

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Wallace & Gromit - The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Widescreen Edition) (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)When else have I ever been able to write a review where both the words "clever" and "adorable" fit together?
From my perspective as a parent: I just took three boys, ages 3, 7 and 8, to see Wallace and Grommit: the Curse of the Were-Rabbit. They all had a great time with it, laughed often and were completely absorbed by the story. There was not one scary or inappropriate thing in this movie for kids. Thumbs up!
From my perspective as an adult: Hilarious, clever, silly, and somehow adorable all at once, just what one would expect from a W&G film but even better, if that's possible. If you haven't been introduced to Nick Park's creations Wallace and Grommit (an uber-inventor and window washer by trade, with his all-too-human dog) before, I urge you to look up the other short movies on Dvd as soon as possible and spend the next few evenings with them. I promise you that you will be surprised and delighted with the quirky Aardman universe, the sly parodies of cinematic clichés, and the perfect attention to little details that went into creating the claymation sets and figures. This is surely the pinnacle of its art form, and a lot of fun for "kids of all ages" to boot.
This new movie, Curse of the Were-Rabbit, continues in the world of W&G, but with a new twist; the pair are now in the business of pest control with the very unique humane policy; they cannot dispose of the marauding garden pests that they capture in the usual manner because Wallace is too soft-hearted, so instead they keep them in cages at their home. Of course this has become a growing problem since the business took off and has been very brisk lately...until Wallace hatches an ingenious plan to change the very nature of rabbitiness, from ravenous vegetable-munchers into...well, we aren't entirely sure. It would seem that something went awry with the latest mind control gadget. Now, there's some kind of giant rabbit monster on the loose and naturally the town is desperate to protect their prize-winning vegetables for the annual Harvest Faire. Can Grommit solve the mystery of the monster's true nature before somebody decides to exact some not-so-humane pest control?
Without a doubt, I am going to rush out and buy this one as soon as it's released on Dvd in order to complete my Nick Park collection.
-Andrea, aka Merribelle

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WALLACE & GROMIT:CURSE OF THE WERE RA - DVD Movie

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Ice Age - The Meltdown (Widescreen Edition) (2006) Review

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(More customer reviews)Ice Age: The Big Chill was very good and entertaining. Just seen The Meltdown and was thoroughly entertained. Hollywood finally put something out that didn't have a bunch of sex, blood and gore. Wonderful one liners and originality in this. The QUEEN did an outstanding job, and Ray just made it all the better. This would be one for the DVD Library for sure. Kids AND adults both had a great time. Thank you Hollywood for finally having something that was fun.

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Your favorite sub-zero heroes are back for another incredible adventure in the super-cool animated comedy Ice Age the Meltdown! The action heats up?and so does the temperature?for Manny, Sid, Diego and Scrat. Trying to escape the valley to avoid a flood of trouble, the comical creatures embark on a hilarious journey across the thawing landscape and meet Ellie, a female woolly mammoth who melts Manny's heart. With its dazzling animation, unforgettable characters and an all-new Scrat short, Ice Age: The Meltdown is laugh-out-loud fun for the whole family!

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Mary and Max (2009) Review

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(More customer reviews)Mary and Max is an independent claymation flick from Australia, with a darkly comic theme about a lonely and misunderstood 8-year-old girl who strikes up an unlikely and disturbing correspondence and friendship with a 48-year-old overweight depressive male diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome. While that sounds unlikely enough as a topic for an animated film, what was truly unexpected was the moving power of its simple message, achieved without resorting to sentimentalism or cliche.
The film, apparently based on a true story, plays like Wallace and Gromit conceived by Oliver Sacks and imagined by David Lynch and Robert Crumb. The animated characters, who tend to be overweight with exaggerated melancholy expressions, are nevertheless enormously expressive - and the film seamlessly shifts from the muted colors of the rundown Australian suburb where Mary lives to the expressive black and white of Max's New York City.
Mary (Toni Collette) is a curious and lonely girl, whose father is unavailable and whose mother is an alcoholic kleptomaniac and whose neighbors are each in their own way inscrutable. Confronted by questions the adults around her are unwilling to answer, she selects Max's name at random from an American phonebook and writes an inquisitive letter to a complete stranger. Initially thrown for a loop by this unexpected query, Max detects a kindred spirit and responds to her letter with complete sincerity. So begins a peculiar correspondence, fraught throughout with misunderstanding but culminating in a lifelong friendship that is able to carry them both through a great deal of personal misfortune and tragedy.
The voice of Phillip Seymour Hoffman invests the character of Max with a deeply sincere confusion about the peculiar games that people play. A card carrying communist and atheist, he nevertheless wears the skullcap he wore as a child, when his mother taught him babies came from egg-laying rabbis. He is honest to a fault, incapable of saying the kinds of things people like to hear; his imaginary friend, a psychiatrist by the name of Mr. Ravioli, stopped speaking to him after his real psychiatrist convinced him he was no longer necessary.
Mary and Max was dark and tender and strange and disconcerting and lovely. Its simple theme, conveyed lightly and through dark circumstance, is captured in a concluding quotation by Ethel Mumford: "God gave us relatives. Thank God we can choose our friends."

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From Academy Award® winning writer/director Adam Elliot and producer Melanie Coombs (HARVEY KRUMPET) comes the hilarious and moving new claymated feature film about the pen-pal relationship between two very different people: Mary Daisy Dinkle (voiced by Oscar® nominee Toni Collette) is a lonely 8-year-old in the suburbs of Melbourne, Australia. Max Jerry Horovitz (Oscar® winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is an obese 44-year-old with Asperger s Syndrome living in the chaos of New York City. Over the course of 20 years and 2 continents, their unusual journey of friendship will explore autism, taxidermy, alcoholism, where babies come from, kleptomania, sexual differences, trust, copulating dogs, religious differences, agoraphobia and more of life s big and little surprises.

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Wallace & Gromit: The Complete Collection (4 Disc Set) Review

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(More customer reviews)Update: This film has one big problem. The third film, A Close Shave is in the 16:9 format on this disc while the original was in 4:3. This means the original film has been cropped to fit a widescreen TV. Pretty upsetting that they wouldn't include the three original videos in their original form. The first two, A Grand Day Out and The Wrong Trousers are in their original 4:3 format.
This is a great collection of the Wallace & Gromit films. The films all look excellent in HD and the behind the scenes features and commentary tracks are wonderful to listen to and really provide a lot of insight into the creation of the films.
For example, the commentary track for A Grand Day Out, the first film, talks about its production over about 6 years and the tricks that Nick used to film each shot. I'm pretty sure that these commentary tracks are taken from the DVD release, so they are nothing new if you have that version. The film also has several behind the scenes features which are also a lot of fun to watch and give good insight into the animation process, Nick Parks career, and the growth of the Wallace & Gromit franchise.
The packaging consists of a standard blu-ray case with a paper sleeve that has the same art as the case. There is no booklet with the film, just the disc.
I think the only thing missing from this collection is the full length feature film, but I think Wallace & Gromit works best in this shorter format.
I would recommend this collection to any Wallace & Gromit fan. The noticeable improvement in quality when viewed in HD and the behind the scenes and commentary tracks make it a joy to re-watch these excellent films and notice all the little details in the sets and animations.

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Millions of fans agree – no one makes animated mayhem like crackpot inventor Wallace and his faithful dog, Gromit. Join the Oscar®- winning sensations for four madcap adventures in their cheesiest, breeziest and funniest collection yet! Hang on for an out-of-this-world ride as Wallace’s mad craving for cheese leads to a space rocket adventure in A GRAND DAY OUT. In THE WRONG TROUSERS, Gromit smells something fishy after a penguin moves in and plots to make off with Wallace’s Techno-Trousers. Then it’s time for A CLOSE SHAVE as Wallace & Gromit™ get wrapped up in a sheep-rustling scheme. Finally, trouble rises after Wallace & Gromit start a bread- baking business and are ensnared in a murder mystery that becomes…A MATTER OF LOAF AND DEATH!

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