Angels & Demons

The Hangover

Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince

Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor 

Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham  

Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Michael Gambon, Jim Broadbent 

Ron Howard 

Todd Phillips 

David Yates 

The kidnapping by the mysterious Illuminati of four potential successors to the recently deceased Pope sends Robert Langdon (Hanks) on a thrilling chase across Rome tracking clues embedded in the very art and architecture of the city itself. 

In the highest grossing (in more ways than one) comedy of 2009, four buds head to Vegas for a pre-wedding day blowout.  They awake the next morning missing both their memories and the groom-to-be.  Crude, obnoxious, slapsticky hijinks follow as the gang tries to piece together what  happened the night before. 

In this 6th installment in the popular series, it is revealed that Harry Potter is the "Chosen One," the only magician who can defeat the evil Lord Voldemort.  The tone of this movie is perhaps more dramatic and weighty than its predecessors, but that's in keeping with the series' heading toward its inevitable climax. 

Single Disc (MSRP $28.96), Two-Disc Extended ($36.95), Blu-Ray ($39.95) 

R-Rated Single Disc (MSRP $28.98), Unrated Two-Disc ($34.99), Unrated Blu-Ray ($35.99) 

Full Screen (they still make these?, MSRP $28.98), Widescreen Single Disc ($28.98), Widescreen Two-Disc ($34.99), Blu-Ray ($35.99)  

Inglourious Basterds 

Julie & Julia 

The Proposal 

Brad Pitt, Mike Myers, Eli Roth, Christoph Waltz, Melanie Laurent, David Krumholtz 

Meryl Streep, Amy Adams, Stanley Tucci  

Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Malin Akerman, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White 

Quentin Tarantino 

Nora Ephron 

 Anne Fletcher 

Inspired by, but not a remake of, The Dirty Dozen and Inglorious Bastards (a 1978 film), Tarantino's latest giddy killfest follows a band of Nazi-killing "basterds" behind the enemy lines of World War II as they take down the leaders of the Third Reich.  The usual Tarantino tics are here: non-sequitur scene jumps, some too hip for its own good dialogue, and oodles of violence, but Tarantino adds to his bag of tricks with some scenes of quiet, mounting suspense and tension that are more riveting than his violent excesses. 

Meryl Streep has been on quite a roll these last few years as she's taken her career in a decidely more commercial direction with crowd-pleasers like The Devil Wears Prada and Mama Mia.  In Julie & Julia, Streep is the legendary television chef, Julia Child.  The story, however, is told from the perspective of Julie Powell, an aspiring writer who blogs her way through  Child's famous book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.  In following the intertwining  stories, we discover the many similarities of two women of different backgrounds separated by decades as each embarks on her quest for self-fulfillment with a good man standing by her side. 

2009 has been a good year for Sandra Bullock.  Two of her three films have done very well at the box office, and she even snagged Best Actress  Golden Globe nominations for both of those films -- The Blind Side and The Proposal.  In The Proposal, the top romantic comedy of the year, Bullock plays Margaret Tate, the type-A book editor who engineers a green-card-type marriage to avoid deportation back to her native Canada.  Ryan Reynolds, as her long-suffering assistant  Andrew Paxton, gets roped into the scheme, but goes along with it in exchange for a promotion.  The easy chemistry between Bullock and Reynolds lifts this film above the restrictions of its genre, and Betty White as Reynolds' grandmother proves that she is still a comedic force to be reckoned with. 

Single Disc (MSRP $29.98), Two-Disc Special Edition ($34.98), Blu-Ray ($39.98)  

DVD ($28.96), DVD with shopping bag ($28.96), Blu-Ray ($39.95)  

Single Disc (MSRP $29.99), Two-Disc with Digital Copy ($39.99), Blu-Ray ($44.99) 

Star Trek 

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen 

Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail 

 Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldaña, Simon Pegg, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, Eric Bana 

Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Tuturo, Peter Cullen (voice) 

Tyler Perry, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Derek Luke, Robin Coleman, Jackson Walker, Viola Davis 

J.J. Abrams 

Michael Bay 

Tyler Perry 

In a year crowded with science fiction and fantasy  films ranging from Transformers to Twilight, J.J. Abrams' high-octane reimagining of the venerable Star Trek franchise still managed to become one of the highest grossing and most talked about films of 2009.  In large part, this is thanks to winning performances from  newcomers Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Mr. Spock.  Their chemistry is just as strong as that of Shatner and Nimoy from over 40 years ago.  More action-packed and less talky and ponderous than its predecessors, Star Trek revives the moribund franchise and boldy takes it into the 21st century. 

Director Michael Bay's latest noise machine ranks as the top grossing film of 2009 and the ninth grossing film of all time (unadjusted for differences in ticket prices).  Once again, the Autobots and Decepticons clash and us poor earthlings are caught in the middle.  "The Fallen" refers to a rogue Transformer from the ancient Dynasty of Primes who broke the code against putting life-bearing planets in jeopardy by erecting a "Sun Harvester" on Earth to drain our sun of its energy in order to power the All Spark, which gives life to all Transformers.  We think.  It actually doesn't matter, does it?

Grossing over $41 million in its first weekend, Madea Goes to Jail had the highest grossing first weekend ever for both a Tyler Perry film and for a film from its distributor, Lionsgate Entertainment.   Its total box office gross of over $90 million makes this by far the most successful film of Perry's movie career which began just a few short years ago in 2005.  Madea's anger management problems eventually land her in jail, hilarity ensues, and that's all you really need to know.  Keshia Knight Pulliam (Rudy from The Cosby Show) also appears in an interesting out-of-typecast role as a drug addicted prostitute.  Like many of Tyler's films, it's adapted from his play by the same name, which is also on DVD. 

Single Disc (MSRP $29.99), Two-Disc with Digital Copy ($34.98), Blu-Ray Three Disc with Digital Copy ($39.99)  

Single Disc (MSRP $29.98), Two-Disc Special Edition ($34.98), Blu-Ray Two Disc ($39.99)  

Fullscreen (MSRP $19.98), Widescreen (MSRP $29.95) 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Coraline

G-Force

Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Neil Patrick Harris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Andy Samberg, Mr. T, Benjamin Bratt

Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, Keith David, Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Ian McShane 

Nicholas Cage, Penélope Cruz, Steve Buscemi, Sam Rockwell, Tracy Morgan 

Director 

Phil Lord, Christopher Miller 

Henry Selick 

Hoyt Yeatman 

Loosely based on the 1978 children's book by Judi and Ron Barrett, Cloudy comes to us from Sony Animation and is a fun, funny, and entertaining comedy that still managed to find a sizable audience in a marketplace that is becoming increasingly overcrowded with CGI animated fare.  On the other hand, with this year's entries all being so well done, there's not much to complain about.  In Cloudy, inventor Flint Lockwood creates a machine that allows food to rain from the sky.  Mayor Shelbourne realizes that this could be a major tourist attraction and refuses to allow the machine to be turned off even when the food starts coming down in giant sizes, threatening the town.

A modern fairy tale done in the old style when fairy tales were quite creepy and unsettling, Coraline the film is based on the graphic novel of the same name by acclaimed comic book writer and novelist, Neil Gaiman.  Moving to an old mansion in the middle of nowhere with her family, young Coraline soon discovers a doorway to another world behind an old amoire.  This other world seems perfect in every way including, as it does, duplicates of her very own parents.  These other-parents, however, seem much more attentive and loving than her true parents, and Coraline soon prefers this other world to her own.  Eventually, that begins to change as Coraline discovers that things in this other world aren't quite what they seem.  Unfortunately, it may be too late for Coraline to return to the real world.

An elite team of FBI-trained (and CGI-rendered) guinea pigs saves the world from a crazy billionaire who seeks to conquer the earth by programming home appliances to follow his instructions.  Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, this combination of live action actors with CGI animals was this summer's Disney non-Pixar animated release.  Lots of laughs come from the incongruous placing of little guinea pigs into the over-the-top Bruckheimer action movie template.

Single Disc (MSRP $28.96), Two-Disc ($34.95), Blu-Ray/DVD combo ($39.95) 

Single Disc (MSRP $29.98), Two-Disc ($34.98), Blu-Ray/DVD with Digital Copy ($39.98), Blu-Ray Gift Set ($69.98)

Single Disc (MSRP $29.99), Two-Disc with Digital Copy ($39.99), Blu-Ray/DVD with Digital Copy ($44.99) 

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Monsters vs. Aliens 

Up 

Ray Romano, Queen Latifah, Dennis Leary, John Leguizamo, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck 

Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Kiefer Sutherland, Stephen Colbert 

Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Delroy Lindo, John Ratzenberger (of course) 

Director 

Carlos Saldanha, Michael Thurmeier (co-Director) 

Conrad Vernon, Rob Letterman 

Peter Docter, Bob Peterson (co-Director) 

20th Century Fox's third entry in the frenetic and slapstick Ice Age franchise finds Manny & Ellie expecting a baby mammoth.  Sid the Sloth, feeling left out, finds and takes care of three large eggs.  Chaos ensues when those eggs turn out to be dinosaur eggs, and Mama T-Rex isn't far behind looking to reclaim her offspring. 

Let's see, so far all of the usual suspects have released a major animated feature this year, and here comes the latest entry from animation powerhouse,  Dreamworks.  When Susan Murphy is mysteriously transformed into the monsterous "Ginormica" after an encounter with a meteorite, she is taken by the government to join other monsterous, but friendly, creatures.  Eventually the monsters are called upon, as the movie's title suggests, to stop an alien robot bent on destroying the earth.

2009 was another good year for animated feature films with no less than three of them landing in the top 10 movies of the year.  We've already discussed the other two, Monsters vs. Aliens and Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, but, of course, the top animated film of 2009 was Pixar's latest, simply titled Up.  It sticks closely to many of the tropes that have made Pixar films so popular: mismatched duo who eventually become friends, journey away from home, sight gags, and sentimentality.  It still works, and Up is another success story in the Pixar catalog.  Ed Asner gives a moving performance as an elderly man in search of one last great adventure.

Single Disc (MSRP $29.98), Double DVD Pack includes "Scrat Pack" short ($34.98), Blu-Ray/DVD with Digital Copy ($39.99)

Single Disc (MSRP $29.99), Double DVD Pack includes "BOB's Big Break In" short ($34.98), Blu-Ray ($39.99)

Single Disc (MSRP $29.99), Two-Disc with Digital Copy ($39.99), Blu-Ray/DVD with Digital Copy ($45.99), Blu-Ray Limited Edition Luxo Jr. Lamp Pack ($199.99)

Glee: Season 1, Volume 1 - Road to Sectionals

The Paper Chase: Season 2 

Saturday Night Live: The Complete Fifth Season 

Matthew Morrison, Jane Lynch, Jayma Mays, Jessalyn Gilsig, Lea Michele, Cory Montieth, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer, Kevin McHale, Jenna Ushkowitz, Mark Salling, Dianna Agron

John Houseman, James Stephens 

Jane Curtin, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, Laraine Newman, Gilda Radner, Harry Shearer 

Are you a Glee-geek?  You know, a "Gleek"?  If you are or you know someone who has latched onto this offbeat, funny, and uplifting show from Fox, this might just be the perfect gift for him or her (or you!).  Filled with toe-tapping musical performances and eccentric characters, Glee has spawned a devoted and fanatical cult following that have made this new show one of the few hits with both critics and audiences this television season.

CBS broadcast a single season of this series (based on the 1973 movie of the same name based on the 1970 novel of the same name) during 1978-1979.  Critically acclaimed, but audience deficient, The Paper Chase, about a group of young, idealistic law students under the tutelage of the fearsome Professor Kingsfield was disbarred after its first year.  Four years later, Showtime rescued this series and broadcast 37 additional episodes over 3 seasons.  This set comprises Showtime's inaugural season of 19 episodes, about half the number of what they would eventually produce.

All good things must come to an end, and so the final season featuring the original Not Ready for Primetime Players arrives and we say goodbye to Jane Curtain, Laraine Newman, Garrett Morris, Bill Murray, and, of course, Gilda Radner.  Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi had departed after Season 4, but there are still laughs to be had by the remaining cast who are joined by a pre-Spinal Tap Harry Shearer and others.  The dazzling array of musical guests includes Blondie, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, The B-52's, Marianne Faithfull, Paul Simon, James Taylor, and Paul and Linda McCartney among others.  If you've been buying the SNL seasons thus far, getting this set is a no-brainer.

Title 

Star Trek: The Original Series Seasons 1-3 

Wagon Train: The Complete First Season 

Walt Disney Treasures: Zorro - The Complete First and Second Seasons 

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, Walter Koenig 

Ward Bond, Robert Horton, Frank McGrath, Terry Wilson 

Guy Williams, Gene Sheldon, Henry Calvin, George J. Lewis 

If you enjoyed the new Star Trek movie this past summer, go boldly back and revisit the original series and journey with the crew on their five-year mission to discover new and exciting worlds throughout the known galaxies.  Paramount has remastered the 1960s classic in high definition and presents them in the Blu-Ray format with a wealth of extras.  New and enhanced special effects have been added to each episode, but they also have the option to be watched in their original formats.  While quite pricey, the original series will probably never look better than this.  A must for all fans of Star Trek or science fiction. 

Set in post-Civil War America, Wagon Train chronicles the adventures of Major Seth Adams, his crew, and his passengers on a wagon train headed from Missouri to California.  Each episode's story focused on guest stars, Love Boat style -- heretofore unseen passengers of the wagon train who, after the conclusion of the episode, were often never seen again, but presumably still part of the wagon train somewhere in the background.  By the end of this first season,  and after numerous travails and clashes with Indians, they finally arrive at their destination in Sacramento, California.  The crew then returned to their point of origin to start a new wagon train for the next season.  This hit series ran for a total of 8 seasons and 284 episodes.

Walt Disney's first foray into dramatic episodic television produced this fondly remembered fan favorite series that ran 2 seasons from 1957 to 1959.  Storylines often continued over the course of several episodes, espeically in the first season which comprise three story arcs over its 39 episodes.  Italian-American actor Guy Williams (born Armand Catalano) starred as the titular character in the first of his two main television roles (the other being John Robinson on Lost in Space) portraying the swashbuckling Spaniard in his heroic adventures to save old California from the forces of evil.  Our advice to lovers of classic television or DVD collectors in general is to snatch these sets up immediately before they go out of stock.  These DVD sets are part of the annual Walt Disney Treasures tin sets that are often impossible to find within weeks of release except in the aftermarket at exhorbitant prices.  The tins are already out of print from Disney: they only made 30,000 copies of each season and once they're gone, they're gone.  Many online and offline retailers have already sold out of their allotments and will not be able to get any more.  You have been warned.

GI Joe: A Real American Hero - Complete Collectors' Set 

Robot Chicken Season 4 

Tom and Jerry: Chuck Jones Collection 

Jackson Beck, Peter Cullen, Dick Gautier, Charlie Adler, Jack Angel, etc. 

Seth Green, Tom Root, etc. 

Mel Blanc 

They fight for freedom wherever there's trouble.  GI Joe is the name of America's highly-trained special missions force whose main target is the terrorist organization known as COBRA.  But you knew that already, didn't you?  Footlocker DVD case contains a wealth of extras and bonus materials.

Pop culture sketch parody series features stop-motion animation of toy action figures to enact its stories.  Skewered in this season: Indiana Jones, the GoBots, Strawberry Shortcake, He-Man, Star Trek, Batman, The Dukes of Hazzard, and Punky Brewster to name a few.

Let's get the obvious out of the way right from the get-go: the Chuck Jones series of Tom and Jerry shorts from 1963 to 1967 are simply not as good as the classic, Oscar-winning cartoons directed by Bill Hanna and Joseph Barbera, but they do have their own merits even though Chuck Jones himself once dismissed them as Road Runner and Coyote in cat and mouse drag.  Also, the canned music that permeates these shorts is an aggravating lowlight.  Still, these shorts are gorgeously animated and often quite inventive -- particularly the future-Tom and future-Jerry trilogy ("O-Solar-Meow," "Guided Mouse-ille," and "Advance and Be Mechanized") and the Man from UNCLE parody, "The Mouse from HUNGER."  A must for Tom and Jerry completists and classic animation fans.