Beauty And The Beast - Belle's Magical World (Special Edition) (1998) Review

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(More customer reviews)I find it interesting that many of the reactions to this collection of shorts are extremely hostile. The shorts are not that bad, but neither are they that good. This DVD is much like three Saturday morning cartoons that are in one collection. My only complaint is that the price of the DVD is quite high for the value received, which may have been the reason some reviewers were upset.
The title of the first story is "The Perfect Word." In this story the Beast and Belle disagree and there is a copious amount of rudeness and insensitivity all around. The story heaps on the need for each of the characters to forgive each other, which I found distracting. The story made the point early and was relentless in setting up the need for people to apologize and forgive.
The second story is "Fifi's Folly." This time Fifi, Lumiere's girlfriend, is upset with Lumiere because she thinks that Belle is trying to steal Lumiere away. Fifi acts meanly and tries to sabotage the evening that she thinks Belle and Lumiere are going to have. Of course, the evening is for Fifi and Lumiere and the plan predictably backfires. Once again the story was heavy-handed because the point was made early in the short, but the point was continually ground in until the final moments of the short.
The final story is "Broken Wing," which I found charming in some ways. Belle rescues a small bird with a broken wing. The Beast first wants to throw the bird out and then he wants to cage the bird. I was annoyed that the Beast's behavior was so awful. I thought that some younger children might find the beast to be terrifying in some places, particularly as the Beast seemed prepared to hurt the bird. However, the bird was nicely animated and Belle tried her best to get the Beast to be kind. This story has a nice ending if you can reach it through the Beast's heavy-handed and over-the-top behavior.
In addition to the three shorts are a variety of other features on this DVD. While some of the features are interesting, the value of this DVD should be the "feature," which is not a feature because the three stories are independent stories. The voices of Robby Benson, Paige O'Hara, Jerry Orbach, David Ogden Stiers and others are unable to make this DVD a must have. The stories are too forced and try too hard to capitalize on the success of the original "Beauty and the Beast" movie. I recommend this movie only to those who must have all the "Beauty and the Beast" movies, or all Disney movies. Everyone else should move on to better Disney movies.

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Enter the enchanting world of Belle, one of Disney's most beautiful Princesses, as her adventures continue in the Beast's unpredictable castle. This Special Edition full-length movie, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST: BELLE'S MAGICAL WORLD, brims with delightful stories and songs, and all your favorite characters and voice cast from the acclaimed and beloved movie masterpiece. Share in the fun as Belle, Beast, Cogsworth, Lumiere, and charming new friends work side-by-side to bring new happiness to the castle and all its inhabitants. You'll discover how true friendship and cooperation can turn a gloomy castle into an enchanted palace fit for a Princess!

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Kicking and Screaming (2005) Review

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(More customer reviews)Will Ferrell is always funny, and the part of Phil Weston would seem to be tailor-made for his comedic antics. Phil's basically a little boy in a man's body, a little boy who wants to finally prove himself to his father and make up for never having met the old man's expectations. Robert Duvall lends the film an importance presence and additional laughs as the highly competitive Buck Weston, sporting goods king and highly successful coach of the Youth Soccer League Gladiators team. Phil (Ferrell) has never been able to get a leg up on his father - but certainly not from lack of effort. When he got married, his father got re-married; when he had a son, his father's wife gave birth to a son (slightly larger, of course) the same day. Young Sam and his equally young uncle Bucky play for the Gladiators, Buck's team, and they are all but unbeatable. Sam, though, is the proverbial benchwarmer, so Buck decides to trade his own grandson to the league's worst team. Yes, it's another team of misfits of all shapes and sizes that just need an incredible coach to take them to unsuspected glory. That coach is nowhere to be seen, and Phil ends up taking on the job.
That's when the competitive juices start flowing. The first big move Phil makes is to take on an assistant coach, his dad's neighbor and long-time enemy Mike Ditka. Iron Mike is surprisingly good in this film and more than holds his own beside both Ferrell and Duvall. He only takes the job to try and make Buck's life more difficult, but he soon goes about whipping the little misfits into shape. The team still stinks, but their fortunes begin to change when Ditka and Phil bring in two new players, a pair of Italian kids who were apparently born with soccer balls balanced on their feet. The team begins winning, and with every win Phil goes a little more cuckoo for cocoa puffs; his new coffee addiction doesn't really help, either. Sure, it's funny to watch Ferrell go about inspiring his team in pretty unorthodox ways, but it eventually gets to the point that the whole thing stops being funny. Even Ditka can't get behind telling the kids to cheat (without getting caught, of course) or break a few clavicles. Ferrell's character just goes so over-the-top that you just want to slap him; he lets the desire to beat his dad corrupt him completely, and the lack of moderation in the second half of the film is a real negative.
There are a lot of laughs to be had in Kicking and Screaming. It's exceedingly formulaic and predictable, but that doesn't matter all that much as long as the laughs keep coming. The script just takes Ferrell's character way too far over the line; watching a crazy guy coach soccer is funny, but watching a freak going bonkers on the sidelines is more annoying than anything else. The film could really have used more Ditka in the later stages. Don't go thinking this is some cameo by Iron Mike; he gets a lot of screen time, and he makes this movie better and funnier with all of his trademark habits.
In the end, Kicking and Screaming is a very funny movie, but it's not a great comedy. Despite excellent performances all around (especially Ditka's), the film is just too over-the-top for its own good. You can't say the movie tries to be anything more than it is, though - it's all about generating laughs and nothing else.

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Will Ferrell's trademark off-the-wall lunacy kicks in for a comedy sure to score big with the whole family! Phil Weston (Ferrell) is a mild-mannered suburban dad - who's suddenly transformed into a caffeine-fueled sports maniac when he becomes the coach of his son's unruly soccer team. But when the championship pits Phil's underdog team against the squad coached by his own domineering dad (Oscar winner Robert Duvall), it's game on for the most uproarious mismatch of the season! Suit up for fun, Ferrell-style, with the comedy Ebert & Roeper give "Two Thumbs Up!"

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Open Season 2 Review

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(More customer reviews)I had high hopes for this one as animation can look so pristine in BD, but I was in for a shock. Sony Animation was behind this, but it had the whole Cartoon Network look to it instead. The main voice talents from the first film did not come over,nor did any of the writing/production staff (and it shows).
The story is just ok, entailing friends helping and rescuing each other with plenty of adventure and rabbit abuse. One of the main characters is a dachshund so apparently the "wiener" humor is what passes for hilarity these days. While it has been playing in the store kids of all ages are entranced by it but the parents haven't been thrilled with the parts they have seen. The "..that lady pulled my wiener.." and "..my beautiful rack.." lines raise a few parent's eyebrows so it hasn't exactly been a hit like I had hoped.
The BD supplements are painful, including "deleted scenes" which were hand sketched and not worth the time. The "Weenie Arcade" has a horribly spliced "Who Let the Dogs Out" video by the Baha Men, a how to draw the animals tutorial, and a featurette about the faces behind the voices.
I loved Hoodwinked, even with that style of animation, and OS2 looks similar in nature (no pun meant) but is much less of a quality film. I have read where people say this an ideal family film, which nothing really offends me so I would watch it with my kids, but needless to say I lost a few rentals playing it in the store. And for a BD, not one of the memorable ones.

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Boog and Elliot are back for more crazy adventures. After falling head over hooves in love with Giselle, Elliot's road to the altar takes a slight detour when Mr. Weenie is kidnapped by a group of pampered pets determined to return him to his owners. Boog, Elliot, McSquizzy, Buddy and the rest of ?the woodland creatures launch a full-scale rescue mission for their sausage-shaped friend and soon find themselves in enemy camp: the world of the pets. Led by a toy poodle named Fifi, the pets do not plan to let Mr. Weenie go without a fight. Can a toy poodle REALLY bring down an 900-pound grizzly bear? Will Elliot ever marry Giselle? Find out in Open Season 2.

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