Uncle Grandpa: Tiger Trails
This fairly new Cartoon Network series gets its first DVD, without any special features to speak of. But the show itself ends up being hilarious, with a cast of fun, wacky characters and an enjoyably zany nature behind it all. |
Toy Story That Time Forgot
The latest adventure starring everyone’s favorite toys proves to be a fun one, with cool new characters and great jokes. Just don’t expect it to feel like a Christmas special. |
Penguins of Madagascar
Penguins of Madagascar is not Pixar, but it’s not trying to be either. It compares much more favorably with the Looney Tunes cartoons of the past — zany, silly fun for fun’s sake. And, Hoover Dam, does it succeed! |
The Wind Rises
The final Miyazaki is a fictional account of the life of a major figure in Japanese history. It’s a tricky and even controversial subject, leading to conflicted viewer reactions, but the filmmaker’s craft has never been stronger. |
Kiki’s Delivery Service
This charming Studio Ghibli film about a good little witch lands on Blu-ray with improved picture, and all of the improtant DVD features. |
Princess Mononoke
The Studio Ghibli masterpiece finally comes to Blu-ray, sporting a vastly improved picture and new-to-disc supplements, but dropping the literal translation subtitle track. |
Phineas And Ferb Star Wars
Disney allows its hit TV show to cross over with its newly bought Lucasfilm franchise, and the result is a fun celebration of both. |
Star Wars – The Clone Wars: The Lost Missions
The post-cancellation episodes of the excellent Star Wars program push the mythology further, and accomplish the task of making the prequels better, simply by giving them context. |
Big Hero 6
Big Hero 6 is yet another winner from Disney — with an assist from Marvel! Despite some nit-picking criticisms of the story, audiences will be more than satisfied with their film. |
Maleficent
Angelina Jolie is excellent as Disney’s iconic villain, here given the backstory treatment in a visual feast of a film, though this new Blu-ray disappoints with a lack of any magnificent extras. |
Planes: Fire & Rescue
Dusty is back again with the second in the Planes franchise (and fourth film set in the world of Cars), this time joining a band of air firefighters for a lightweight diversion. |
Toy Story Of Terror!
With Halloween upon us, we take a look at the Blu-ray release of the Toy Story gang’s creepy stay at a roadside motel, now on disc with a terrifyingly great package of extras! |
Adventure Time: The Complete Fourth Season
Cable television’s most popular show reins in the craziness just enough to produce a season’s worth of charming stories that are about as insane as ever, but are becoming more cohesive, heartfelt, and often even poignant. |
The Book of Life
Story, as the saying goes, may be king. But a weak story doesn’t have to be the death of a film when, like The Book of Life, the animation, music, humor, acting, and everything else is so heavenly. |
Jack And The Cuckoo-Clock Heart
The astounding clock-punk rock opera masterpiece from Europe comes to North America. Read the review to find out more about one of the year’s best releases. |
Thunder And The House Of Magic
Shout! Factory brings us a wonderful animated movie from Europe that may not transcend the family film genre, but it does provide quality entertainment, while also providing one of the best 3D experiences out there. |
The Boxtrolls
The Boxtrolls isn’t necessarily bad. And it tries very hard not to be. But it takes more than crazy characters in a cardboard cutout story to make a really good movie. |
Planes: Fire & Rescue
With a more interesting subject and setting, and a wider canvas, Planes: Fire & Rescue is better than its predecessor — but it isn’t quite a first-class upgrade. |
How To Train Your Dragon 2
Though it doesn’t quite reach the same heights, How To Train Your Dragon 2 is a worthy followup to the original. And it makes us yearn for DreamWorks to stop coasting and train themselves to fly higher. |
Son Of Batman
Talia al Ghul has a surprise for Batman, in the form of an arrogant but accomplished ten-year-old. It’s a great premise, but the presentation has some problems in terms of believability and basic taste. |
Green Lantern: The Animated Series
The film was a bust, but it did lead to the production of what turned out to be a very fine cartoon show. Sleek CGI animation, strong scripts, and intriguing characters add to an already great sci-fi concept, and make the show impressive. |
The Pirate Fairy
This fun family film keeps up the quality of the Fairies franchise, serving as a clever prequel to Peter Pan, while in some ways almost being a super-hero film for little girls. |
Rio 2
Rio 2 is the type of film that needs to become an endangered species in Hollywood — a vapid, unoriginal movie that will appeal only to young children who aren’t familiar with all the cliches and stereotypes. |
The Venture Bros.: The Fifth Season
The latest season of the [adult swim] fan favorite sees the rebirth and fall of SPHINX, The Monarch gain his revenge on Doctor Venture (or so he says), and the recently graduated Venture Bros. clumsily finding their way in the world, even as family secrets come to light. |
Adventure Time: The Complete Third Season
The third season of the hit show keeps the strange stuff, while developing relationships a little further. Above all, it stays entertaining and creative in a way that can captivate both kids and adults. |
Mr. Peabody and Sherman
Mr. Peabody and Sherman’s focus on family is a nice change from the classic series, but the lack of humor and a good story make it improbable you’ll enjoy the film. |
Justice League: War
A younger version of the Justice League comes together as it battles Darkseid, not to mention a stale script and unappealing characterization. There are kernels of goodness here, though, as well as a nice set of bonus features. |
The Lego Movie
The Lego Movie is an unexpectedly good film. And just like Legos themselves, it’s something that boys and girls, no matter their age, can all enjoy. |
The Nut Job
Despite the clever title and concept, The Nut Job fails to deliver the goods on just about every level — with a stale story, unremarkable animation, and lackluster acting. |
The Puppetoon Movie
George Pal’s amazing “replacement animation” shorts are now in HD. This two-disc set has three features, loads of bonus shorts, and a bevy of bonuses. This just could be the release of 2013! |