YOGI BEAR'S ALL STAR COMEDY CHRISTMAS CAPER (1982) DVD Review

Over the weekend, I was at the movie theatre with my four year old nephew seeing TRON. When it was over, we were standing in front of the movie posters. I looked up at the poster for YOGI BEAR and asked him if he knew who was in the poster. He shrugged his shoulders.

He didn't know who Yogi Bear was!!

YOGI BEAR'S ALL STAR COMEDY CHRISTMAS CAPER is a good introduction to Yogi.

This 1982 special finds Huckleberry Hound, Snagglepuss, Quick Draw McGraw and the rest of the Hanna Barbera gang arriving at Jellystone Park at Christmas to visit with Yogi and Boo Boo. They find out that Yogi has gone to the city to visit them.

In the city, Yogi hides out as a department store Santa and befriends the disillusioned daughter of one of the wealthiest men in the city. Will Yogi teach her the true meaning of Christmas?

This is truly an "All Star" special. Even Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble make cameos. It is a fast paced 23 minutes.

Also on the DVD is a 1961 special YOGI'S BIRTHDAY PARTY. This time, Yogi is told that there will be a birthday party thrown for him. He prepares while the rest of the Hanna Barbera gang show up for a sort of THIS IS YOUR LIFE tribute to him.

Both of these specials are good overviews of Yogi and the rest of the Hanna Barbera characters. While Hanna Barbera was never at Disney level as far as the animation goes, they should be nostalgic fun for parents wanting to introduce the characters to their familes.

YOGI BEAR'S ALL STAR COMEDY CHRISTMAS CAPER is available now on DVD from Warner Home Video.

SHOWS I LOVE: AMERICAN PICKERS

AMERICAN PICKERS has quickly become one of my favorite TV shows.

I don't watch the History Channel as much as I should, but caught an episode a month or so ago on a Sunday afternoon. I was hooked. I quickly set my DVR to record it every time it was on. Thanks to repeats and the first season being on DVD, I think I'm all caught up now.

AMERICAN PICKERS is a reality show that follows two guys, Frank Fritz and Mike Wolfe. They run Antique Archeology, an antiques store of sorts in Iowa.

Each episode has them driving in their van in a different part of the country, looking for treasures. They visit people who contact them or they "freestyle", look for old run down barns or yards filled with trash, and go to speak to the owner about looking through and finding things to buy. The two literally crawl through old barns and basements looking for old oil cans, motorcycle parts, pretty much anything they could resell.

Back at home, they keep in touch with their office manager Danielle, sort of a tattooed version of Ashley Judd. She gives them tips of where to stop.

The best part of the show comes, not from the "picking", but from the people they meet. They come across some of the most interesting people you are likely to see on TV. From the man in Pennsylvania who has built an underground dwelling with 23 rooms, to the ex-hippies living in the woods, you never know who they are likely to meet.

The show is sort of an anti-HOARDERS. While HOARDERS gets people to clear out old junk, AMERICAN PICKERS finds a way to almost celebrate it. While some of the people on the show, who refuse to sell items that have been buried in old rundown barns for decades, clearly may have issues, others have very nice collections of stuff that they enjoy.

Unlike a lot of the "reality" shows that are on the air these days, this doesn't feel too scripted. Sure, some of the scenes back in Iowa seem a bit staged, but it all works.

If you are looking for a reality show that doesn't insult your intelligence, be sure to tune in.

AMERICAN PICKERS airs Monday nights at 9 PM EST on the History Channel.

CHARLIE BROWN'S CHRISTMAS TALES (2002) DVD Review

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS remains one of the most popular Christmas specials of all time. The 1965 special has remained a favorite, airing every year on a major network.

Other Peanuts Christmas specials have aired throughout the years, but none have caught on like the original.

Now being rereleased on DVD is CHARLIE BROWN'S CHRISTMAS TALES.

This special, first airing in 2002, is made up of various vignettes featuring Charlie Brown, Lucy, Snoopy and the rest of the gang. It is a collection of shorts, about the length of a Sunday cartoon. While a fun cartoon, it isn't as memorable as the original.

Also on the DVD is 1983's IS THIS GOODBYE, CHARLIE BROWN?.

IS THIS GOODBYE finds Lucy and Linus moving away when their father gets a new job. While I may not be an expert on the entire Peanuts series, this seems a bit of a departure as in a few scenes, adult characters are shown. From the movers, to in one scene Lucy and Linus' parents driving a car, they all appear as characters, not just as offscreen trombone voices.

While both of these cartoons may not be true Peanuts classics, they are sure to be entertaining for family audiences.

CHARLIE BROWN'S CHRISTMAS TALES is available now on DVD from Warner Home Video.

STEP UP 3 (2010) Blu-Ray Review

STEP UP 3 is the third film in the STEP UP series. I am mentioning that, not as a joke, but because when I saw STEP UP 2: THE STREETS (which seemed to always be on cable) I thought the 2 was just a way of saying TO. I never saw the first STEP UP film. If there are big storyline reveals in STEP UP 3 that tie in with the first film, I missed them.

Moose, a supporting character from STEP UP 2, returns as a Freshman at NYU. He was going to give up dancing and focus on studying Electrical Engineering. Instead, he falls in with a dance crew who recruit him to join them in a big battle.

Basically, this is just an updating of the BREAKIN films of the 80’s, or heck, go back to the Mickey Rooney / Judy Garland “Hey let’s put on a show” storylines. There are the typical obstacles. The dancers are going to lose their home unless they win the big dance tournament. There is jealousy with an ex-teammate. The lead character having to decide whether they should dance or continue in school.

What follows are a lot of big dance numbers. There is a wonderful sequence, shot in one unbroken take, with two characters dancing down a New York city street.

When STEP UP 3 played theatrically over the summer, it was in 3-D. It was a rarity among 3-D films in that critics not only praised the film as a pleasant surprise, they praised the 3-D. Unlike many of the other 3-D films, even AVATAR, this one actually used the format to effect.

Unfortunately, unless you have a 3-D TV, player and the special 3-D Blu-ray version of the film (which is available) STEP UP 3 can only be seen in standard 2-D. That said, it looks like the 3-D was indeed impressive. A scene with the characters standing over an airvent with Icee Drinks looks like it might have worked quite well.

If you are a dance fan, this film is a must. Even though I can’t make it through an episode of SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE or DANCING WITH THE STARS, I found some of the dancing pretty impressive. The bass heavy soundtrack sure gave my sound system a workout.

The cast is made up of a group of actors that I have to admit I wasn’t familiar with.

However, I was quite surprised that, among the dancers, and not mentioned anywhere on the Blu-ray case, is none other than Harry Shum Jr. who plays Mike Chang on GLEE, one of the main dancers on the show. He appears in the second part of the film.

Both the DVD and the Blu-ray feature a collection of nine music videos (running 29:48) from songs in the film, by performers such as Flo Rida, T-Pain, Trey Songz, and more. There is also a making of segment for the music videos (7:16) and a music montage with additonal dance sequences (7:18).

The Blu-ray features eight deleted scenes with introductions by director Jon Chu (23:57) along with a full version of “Born From A Boom Box” (11:51) the film the lead actor is working on.

STEP UP 3 will be available December 21, 2010 on DVD and Blu-ray from Touchstone Home Video.

THE DUKES (1983) COMPLETE SERIES DVD Review

THE DUKES, the animated Hanna-Barbera spin off of THE DUKES OF HAZZARD, is now being released in a 4 DVD set featuring all 20 episodes from the Warner Archive.

Confession - I was a huge DUKES OF HAZZARD fan. From season one, I never missed an episode on Friday nights. I had a poster on my wall. I had the 45 single of the theme song. Even today, I have all the season sets on DVD. While I was never a car guy, whenever I see a Dodge Charger, especially one painted like the General Lee, I still think it is pretty cool.

That said, if I was aware of the animated series, I had forgotten it. By 1983, when the show aired, I think I had outgrown it.

The series which aired on CBS in 1983 features Coy (voiced by Byron Cherry) and Vance (Christopher Mayer), the Season five cousins who stepped in when Bo (John Schneider) and Luke (Tom Wopat) were on a salary dispute. Bo and Luke joined THE DUKES in the second season, with episode 14.

The rest of the Dukes cast is present. Daisy Duke (Catherine Bach), Uncle Jesse (Denver Pyle), and my favorites Rosco P. Coltrane (James Best) and Boss Hogg (Sorrell Booke) are all here with their original voices.

The premise is sort of WACKY RACES meets SCOOBY DOO. The Dukes are racing Boss Hogg and Rosco around the world. The boys want to use the money to save their farm. Told in letters back home to Uncle Jesse, each episode has the teams in a different country. From Australia, Africa, Venice, Morocco, London, India, Hong Kong, Switzerland, they travel the globe.

The show is typical of the “limited animation” of the early 80’s Hanna Barbera cartoons. Storywise, it is like SCOOBY DOO, with different evildoers in each episode out to get the gang.

One note about the transfer, while the episodes look fine, I don't know if all the copies are like this, but I found that the sound effects track on the episodes were louder than the dialogue and music, making it sometimes a bit difficult to hear. This could have been my copy, or TV, but thought I would mention it.

Is this a great series? No. But if you grew up watching it, you should enjoy the set.

THE DUKES is available now from the Warner Archive

INCEPTION (2010) DVD Review

INCEPTION was a rarity this summer at the movies. It was a serious film made for adults that was a hit with both critics and audiences. It is now on DVD and Blu-ray.

The good news for fans of the film, the film looks and sounds great on standard DVD. I can only imagine how the film looks on Blu-ray. If you loved the film, you should be very happy with it.

If you haven’t seen the film, INCEPTION stars Leonardo DiCaprio as an “extractor”, a man who is able to enter the dreams of others to steal information. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Ken Watanable, Marion Cotillard and Michael Caine also star.

INCEPTION was written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Nolan’s previous films include MEMENTO and THE DARK KNIGHT. Like those films, and especially THE DARK KNIGHT, this is a technically dazzling film. The FX and sound design are just stunning to look at and listen to.

That said, and I realize that I am probably alone here, I found this to be a very cold and empty film. I honestly didn’t care what happened to any of the characters, that is when I could understand just what the heck was going on. I felt like I was watching a technical exercise rather than a film.

But then again, I felt the same way about THE DARK KNIGHT and was pretty much alone on that one. I guess Nolan’s films really aren’t for me. If you did like THE DARK KNIGHT, you may enjoy this like everyone else did.

The DVD contains four featurettes on various aspects of the production, including the set design with the staircase, the castle, and the train being profiled.

INCEPTION is available Warner Home Video.

GOING THE DISTANCE (2010) Blu-Ray Review

GOING THE DISTANCE has its two leads meet while one of them is playing a Centipede video game. Drew Barrymore is getting the high score and Justin Long puts his quarter on the console to signal next game.

Drew's character is just about to leave New York City for San Francisco. The two hit it off, spend some time together and then she leaves. Justin realizes, even though he has just met her, he doesn't want to let her go and asks if she wants to try to have some sort of relationship.

The ups and downs of their long distance relationship is the basis for the film.

GOING THE DISTANCE works because of the cast. Drew Barrymore and Justin Long are very good together. But they are more than helped by the supporting characters.

Justin's best friends are played by the always funny Jason Sudeikis (SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE) and Charlie Day (IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA). Drew's sister is played by Christina Applegate and her husband is Jim Gaffigan. Great cast.

The film might have worked more if the dialogue had been toned done. Rated R mostly for language, there is a lot of dialogue that really didn't need to be as graphic as it was. With so many sitcom veterans in the film, it could have gotten by and been just as funny as a PG-13. In fact, some of the biggest laughs come in the extras, with seemingly improvised dialogue.

The Blu-ray combo pack (that includes a second disc of the film on DVD as well as a digital file) contains a few featurettes on the cast talking about making the film, dating and long distance relationships, as well as a reel of deleted / extended scenes, a music video and a promo on the soundtrack.

GOING THE DISTANCE is available now on Warner Home Video.