The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is getting an Extended Edition for Digital download on  October 22th and Blue-ray/DVD on November 5th.

It will be coming with a 13 minute longer cut of the original film and 9 hours of special features like commentary tracks, production history and a look at the sets in New Zealand.

Much like the Extended Edition’s of Lord of the Rings you can start watching the movie some time in the late afternoon and then finish the damn thing around 2:00 AM. Most of that time will probably spent by me replaying the “crack the dishes” scene over and over again. Oh shut up It’s a reference to the classic animated version that I loved as a kid, leave me alone.

– Blu-ray 3D: $54.98

– Blu-ray: $35.99

– DVD: $34.99

For reasons I’m not entirely sure of, I somehow managed to miss Wreck-It Ralph’s theatrical run. Seeing it now on Blu-ray, I realize how much of a colossal mistake that was.

Wreck-It Ralph tells the tale of a 1980s video arcade game bad guy who has grown weary of being treated like a bad guy because he’s not really a bad guy. His job just happens to require untold amounts of property destruction. He goes on a quest to win a medal and be a good guy and finds himself in other games, learning about himself, his world, and others around him through a series of exhilarating adventures.

As a kid who grew up playing video games of the 80s and 90s, this movie was nothing short of perfect. From the cameos of various characters of franchises I love (from Zangief and Bowser to Doctor Robotnik and M. Bison) and kept me smiling the whole way through.

I had to check the cover repeatedly to make sure this wasn’t actually a Pixar film. And maybe that’s the best news we’ve had from the entire Disney/Pixar merger. If the boys at Pixar have been able to infuse this much creativity back into Disney’s animation department, we’re all going to benefit. Let’s hope they apply the same vigor to their 2D animation as well.

On Blu-ray, these modern 3D animated films are indeed stunning. The quality is sharp, and the visual motifs between the 8bit games and the stand up arcade machines was nothing short of breathtaking. The way they incorporated the different styles, established the world, and the rules of that world with cinematic storytelling was gleeful. It was apparent the makers of this film were having a fun time and it comes across with every frame of animation.

And I can’t say enough about John C. Reilly. I’ve long been a fan of his work. His turns in P.T. Anderson films and many, many others, have instilled me with a confidence about him that adds a layer of likability to any movie he’s a part of. Hopefully the rest of the world will catch up with that thinking, because I think he’s absolutely charming. He’s not handsome in a Hollywood way, but he is a fantastic actor with a flawless understanding of craft and is incredibly fun to watch (or listen to, in this case.) His voice is so perfect for the role, but you’d never have thought of it before, much the same way I reacted to hearing Craig T. Nelson as Mr. Incredible.

Overall, my only complaint about this Blu-ray disc was the intermission screen. The way it is now, Chris Hardwicke hosts a variety of video game and movie trivia and visual gags. I’d have much preferred something a little more traditional and involving the characters of the movie since it wears thin fast.

Aside from that one complaint, which is minor, I would put this disc in the “MUST OWN” category. It’s available on Amazon and at fine retail stores everywhere.

For those of you like me, today marks a day full of anticipation not seen since December: Wreck-It Ralph finally makes its way to DVD and Blu-ray.

Wreck-It Ralph, the Academy Award nominated animated feature, is the story of a video game arcade and its rag-tag group of residents who all inhabit the games, most of which we know and love. Our protagonist, Ralph, is the villain of his game and tired of his lot in life. While he sleeps in the garbage dump, and at the drop of a quarter destroys the neighboring apartment building, the game’s hero, Fix-It Felx Jr, gets a medal for fixing the damage Ralph doles out. While Ralph attends AA-esque meetings for villains (one of the highlights of the film) called Bad-Anon, he still dreams of getting his own medal. This leads him into a game-hopping adventure into the worlds of Hero’s Duty, a violent military shooter, and Sugar Rush, a racing game.

This was my favorite animated film last year, and simply one of my favorite films of 2012. As a casual gamer, this reunited me with so many of my favorite characters and video game tropes. And, when it comes to my kids, even having already seen it, they literally begged me one Saturday afternoon last month to take them to go see it again. So we’ve all been looking forward to this release.

To celebrate this blessed day, from which henceforth my children will watch nothing but this for the next three weeks at least, I got to speak with Rich Moore, the director, from of all places London, where he reported it was actually sunny. We spoke about the film, but not before I first geeked out all over the place with him about The Simpsons.

I mentioned what an indelible influence early Simpsons had on me as an adolescent, specifically thanking him for Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment, still one of my favorite episodes, in which Homer gets an illegal cable hookup. “That was my first episode that was about Homer and Lisa: I really like those episodes that paired those two characters. They’re both so different, but have a great father-daughter dynamic.”

In much the same way, Ralph and Vanellope von Schweetz, the glitchy racer intent on competing in Sugar Rush, form a bond in the film. Moore explained the evolution of the script, “We let the story kind of come organically. There was a time when the story was more about Ralph and Felix… We found that the real heart of the story was with Ralph and Vanellope, these two misfits.”

I had to ask with what I saw as some beautiful parallels between Homer and Lisa’s relationship and Ralph and Vanellope with Ralph as an almost parental figure if he drew any inspiration from that. Moore pointed to a different inspiration (at least partially): the birth of his daughter. He was also able to draw from his love of these games, which he got to experience when they first came out. “The best games came from great characters.” And so for inspiration for the film, he pointed to Pac-Man as a great character running through a maze: but why? What does this mean? What’s the story behind that?

Pac-Man was one of dozens of classic video games that they were able to license, from Q-Bert to Tapper to Sonic the Hedgehog. However, there was one notable exception: Mario. This was not, however, due to any interference from Nintendo. Indeed, Moore said Nintendo was a “great partner” and they had even gotten initial clearance to use Mario. With the character of Bowser and his performance in the Bad-Anon meeting, it was a perfect fit. But with Mario, they never found a spot to fit him in organically. “It never really came. It felt like I was trying to force something into the movie that didn’t feel natural. I just didn’t feel like we had the perfect spot.” With the success of the film and the expanse of the universe, Moore quixotically and offhandedly mentioned maybe we’d get to see Mario in a sequel.

Moore’s fingerprints are also seen in the film in a couple of other places. He provides the voices of Zangief, the musclebound Russian from Street Fighter, and also Sour Bill, one of King Candy’s henchman in Sugar Rush. Moore describes himself as “a reluctant actor” but tells how he ended up doing the voices as being the work of producer Jon Lasseter, producer of numerous Pixar films. Since voice recording and digital animation is an iterative process, often animators provide temp tracks for dialogue to animate around. Just like how Finding Nemo director Andrew Stanton provided the voice for Crush the sea turtle and they simply couldn’t find anyone better, Lasseter heard the scratch dialogue for Zangief and Sour Bill and didn’t think they needed to look any further. (I heartily agree.)

Moore is an incredible talent, and Wreck-It Ralph is the latest testament of that. Also amazing is his humility. He seemed so full of gratitude to have been able to work with some of his heroes, from Matt Groening and Jim Brooks on Simpsons to Lasseter now. Moore said of Lasseter, “He is the best” and as good a creative partner as he is a friend. I can think of no better testimonial of the excellence of Moore and Lasseter’s work here that that statement.

Wreck-It Ralph is available starting Tuesday March 5 for digital download and on Disney DVD and Blu-ray. Pick it up in hi-def. It’s worth it.

Joining the ranks of other Marvel anime series is Blade, bringing us the story of half-vampire Eric Brooks, otherwise known as—you guessed it—Blade.

The Blade Anime unsurprisingly brought to mind the first Blade movie starring Wesley Snipes, since that is my only connection to the character prior to watching this series.  So with nothing other than that to compare it to, I have to say this was entertaining, though I did not enjoy it quite as much as I liked the Wolverine series.  I thought it moved a bit more slowly, and I’ve just always liked Wolverine more than most Marvel characters.

A brief synopsis is that Blade seeks revenge on Deacon Frost, the murderer of his mother while she was still pregnant with him.  Much of Blade’s history is told through flashbacks, and we see his mother’s brutal death, his subsequent birth, and the loving relationship between him and his aunt.  But tragedy follows wherever he turns, and his only solace is to hunt the creatures of the night.

His battles against the vampires are dazzling to watch.  He uses special sword techniques that throw them off balance long enough for him to strike, and his speed and agility are remarkable.  The vampire blood that flows through his veins provides him with preternatural skills, but he is immune to the devastating effects of sunlight, unlike his fanged brethren.

As with the Wolverine Anime DVD, this series also has three featurettes included in the two-disc  set:

The Marvel Anime Universe: Blade Re-Awakened, which explores the process that went into developing this new take on the vampire-hunter.

Blade: The Vampire-Slayer, comparing Marvel’s Blade with traditional vampire stories

Special Talk Session: Marvel Anime’s Blade and Wolverine, an interview with series creators.

If you’re a fan of Blade, then you just may love this series.  I can only go so far to say I liked it, but it was worth watching once, at least.

Tranformers Prime – One Shall Stand seamlessly blends the finale of Season One of the animated series with the first three episodes of Season Two to create a movie length viewing experience.

Transformers Prime: One Shall Stand will be available on DVD beginning July 31, 2012.  Obviously, if you own Season One, then you’ll have the season finale episodes, but since Season Two hasn’t been released yet, then it’s great for the more impatient fans.  Also, the bonus to owning this is to have the episodes edited together for a seamless experience.  And I could not tell where one episode ended and the other began, which is impressive, since usually when watching television series on DVD or Netflix, I can identify where every commercial break was placed.

I haven’t really watched any of the Transformers Prime episodes prior to this DVD, but I am amazed at the beautiful animation as well as voice talent with Peter Cullen as Optimus Prime and the endless talent of Frank Welker as Megatron.  Even the music does not fail to disappoint, bringing an epic quality to the battle sequences.

Some of what follows may be considered spoilers, but I’ve tried not to include anything not already in the official press release.  Still, as always, read at your own risk.

The story follows the awakening of the powerful Unicron, who becomes connected to Megatron through the dark energon that is revealed to be found underneath the earth.  Natural disasters of all kinds begin plaguing humans, and the Autobots must destroy the evil Unicron to stop the carnage.

In one of the more visually stunning scenes, Optimus Prime and Megatron fight against the backdrop of an erupting volcano.  It’s dark energon erupting from the earth, according to Optimus.  Purple bursts of energy shoot from the volcano like fireworks.  We shared some images from this episode just before it aired, but those pictures did not do this sequence justice.

However, Megatron realizes that Unicron is more foe than ally, and he and Optimus forge an uneasy alliance to bring the enemy down.  Victory is not without its casualties, though and Optimus, who was once known as historical archivist Orion Pax, reverts to a pre-Prime state.

Yes, Optimus Prime was once an archivist.  And not always the powerful leader of the Autobots. This was news to me, but I’m only a casual Transformers fan, with my interests primarily centered on that loveable Bumblebee.

But if I, as a casual fan, can love this movie, then I’m sure everyone else will, too.  And the DVD includes two extras:  a chat with some of the talent behind the episodes (executive director Jeff Kline and writers Duane Capizzi and Steven Melching) and one of the episodes as an animatic, prior to computer rendering.

So, all that’s left to say is . . . Autobots, roll out!

The River came out on DVD today, and since I’ve already shared some of my thoughts on the show, I’ll take this opportunity to walk you through some of the extras on the DVD.

First of all, the menus are pretty creepy, with dolls and blood-stained teddy bears hanging from trees.  I don’t know why, but children’s toys can be some of the scariest things on film (and if you don’t believe me, go watch Poltergeist.)

You have your choice between deleted scenes, a brief behind-the-scenes look at the creation of the show, and audio commentary.

I’ve never been a huge fan of deleted scenes on DVDs because half the time you can’t tell why the scenes were deleted, and they’re usually so brief you feel like it wouldn’t have made a difference one way or the other if they’d been included.  So it is with these clips, though they mostly seem to merely further characterize the various members of the boat The Magus.  I would guess that in most places the characterization simply worked better in a different scene, and the eliminated clips therefore became redundant.

I really enjoyed the brief behind-the-scenes portion, though.  I learned that they filmed the pilot in Puerto Rico and the rest of the series in Hawaii.  And the river wasn’t actually a river at all; it was a small inlet where they pushed the boat back and forth (due to the shallow water).

The storyline came up in a Dreamworks meeting and famed director Steven Spielberg told the team to pursue it.  Spielberg has shown an interest in the dark and creepy before (see above reference to Poltergeist), and he is credited as one of the executive producers of the show.  The writers pulled stories from real Amazonian lore, helping to tie each episode to the Boiuna, the mysterious and magical section of the river.

Filming on location no doubt lessened the neat for special effects as far as scenery, though CGI was still an integral part of the show.  One impressive example was the conversion of a small girl dressed in black into a monkey with a mask on its head.  When I first saw that scene, I just assumed it was a real monkey, but perhaps a CGI mask.

The variety of camera angles and styles really gave the show its character.  Scenes included quick cuts from one camera to another to enhance suspense, and lines were added in later to give certain scenes a degraded security camera appearance.  They also used a radio-controlled heli-cam to get aerial establishing shots, conveying the wide expanse of the Amazon River and the dense jungle surrounding it.

I recommend viewing this show if you’re into things creepy, weird, documentary, nature-loving, or all your shows have ended for the season and you’re just looking for something to watch.  Even if you don’t fall into any of the above categories, I still say at least watch the first episode.  You might just realize “There’s magic out there.”

My Little Pony – Friendship Is Magic: Royal Pony Wedding will be available on DVD August 7 from Shout! Factory.

And while it’s not quite on the same scale as Will and Kate’s now year-old royal nuptials, the ceremony is a pretty big deal in the pony land of Equestria.  Twilight Sparkle (I know I’m not the only person who had a small chuckle at that name) has an older brother named Shining Armor, and this gallant lad is engaged to marry Cadence, the niece of Princess Celestia.  However, Twilight Sparkle isn’t so happy about the wedding-to-be.

The DVD will contain 5 episodes of the show, including “A Canterlot Wedding Part 1,” A Canterlot Wedding Part 2,” “Sweet and Elite,” “Hearts and Hooves Day,” and the season finale of Season One “The Best Night Ever.”  Bonus features will include a coloring sheet and even more goodies.  Hasbro also will reportedly be carrying wedding-themed figures, play-sets, and vehicles.  However, I tried to find wedding-themed items on their website and found nothing.

The wedding episodes originally premiered on The Hub network on April 21 to record numbers.  The first of the two-parter had the “best-ever audience numbers for any series in the history of The Hub among the target demographics of Kids 2-11, Kids 6-11 and Households.”

The series has found fans from everyone from kids to adults, male and female, equine and other.   Season 3 will likely premiere in the fall.

The River—The Complete First Season (and possibly only season) makes its DVD debut later this month.  The series had the honor of having as executive producers Steven Spielberg, whom I unabashedly adore, and Oren Peli, producer of the Paranormal Activity films.

Zombietron shared his thoughts on the series when it first aired.  The main storyline is that wildlife expert Emmet Cole has disappeared, and his wife enlists the aid of their son Lincoln and a documentary crew to venture into the Amazon to search for him.  I’m sure those who have already seen the show could see some parallels between Cole and the late Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin.  Both were beloved television personalities that loved and respected nature, and they shared their lives and families on screen through the years.

And there are certainly similarities to the Paranormal Activity films, unsurprisingly.  Very often there is a feeling that you see something out of the corner of your eye, but before you can focus on the object, the screen changes, displaying the view from an entirely different camera.  Each episode pits the crew of the Magus against the forces of nature, inhabitants of the Amazon, and things that defy all scientific explanation.

When asked what tempted him to accept the role, actor Bruce Greenwood (Emmet Cole) replied, “There are really large, classical themes like life and death, and what it means to be here. Is there a collective unconscious? There’s also a big father-son component to the arc of my character and Joe Anderson’s character [his son, Lincoln] – and those hold a special interest for me. Overall, it reached out to a lot of the things that I find really interesting. And then you get to work and you realize you’re making a scary show and it’s very different. It’s been a wonderful experience.”

Joe Anderson is Lincoln Cole, and he originally thought that the character’s story arc “would be for Lincoln to fill his father’s shoes and become a young Indiana Jones-type figure on the same crusade that his father was on. But if you take into account the issues that happened before the pilot episode and the fact that they have an estranged relationship, then that wouldn’t be an easy journey at all.”

He just said the magic words.  Young Indiana Jones.  (insert requisite Sean Patrick Flanery swoon).  And there is definitely an adventurous feel to The River, as well as the horror factor.  I don’t recommend watching the show in the dark.  I watched all eight episodes when the show aired, and though it took an episode or two to really grab me, I found myself a true fan by the time the season finale aired.  Though the show’s fate is unknown (much like the fate of the Magus crew), you can at least count on the DVD being chock full of goodies like deleted scenes and bonus materials.

The River is available on May 22.

In Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Marvel Animation’s X-Men Anime, recently released on DVD, the X-men must put their grief aside as they reunite to embark upon a mission that takes them to Japan to search for a missing girl.

Their travels reveal that far more is going on than a simple missing person case.  Mutants have been disappearing all over the area, and this knowledge leads the X-Men to the not-so-imaginatively-named U-Men, a group of lunatics intent on creating its own army.

I can’t compare this series to the comics, since I think the only time I picked up an X-Men comic was to read about Jean Grey and Scott Summers’ wedding, but I feel like I know the characters pretty well through watching the movies and the Saturday morning cartoon that aired years and years ago.  (That was when I realized how much I loved Mr. Sinister.  His sense of fashion is unparalleled).

So, I’m not an expert by any means, but I’m also not an X-Men newbie.  And I think the characterizations of Wolverine and Cyclops were great.  Beast, too, I’d say.  Wolverine (Logan) has a few great one-liners, and he’s sarcastic and has an attitude.  This is in line with how I perceive the character.  He’s always such a bad-ass.  Cyclops (Scott), in comparison, is the serious one, the leader of the group.  And as bland as a cupcake without frosting.

But I’m biased.  I’ve never liked Cyclops.  And at least for part of this series he’s like a depressed teenage boy, with  hair falling over his eyes and tantrums and deep silences.  In one scene, he stares up into a sky filled with stars, their light reflecting in his visor.  He has a flashback accompanied by the sound of the ocean, drenched in romance and nostalgia.  The ocean and music, along with the bluish tint of the scene reminded me of a scene between Yuna and Tidus in Final Fantasy X.  Maybe that seems completely random, but it’s what flashed through my mind.

Overall, I liked this series, but I think if I had to choose between it and Iron Man, I’d choose the latter.  Plus, I ended up watching it in English rather than in Japanese.  I kept hearing the word “mutant” in Japanese but it wasn’t written in the subtitles.  This annoyed me too much, and I wondered what else was being left out of the translation, so I had to switch.

In the English version, actor Scott Porter portrays Cyclops (The Good Wife, Friday Night Lights, Caprica). Bonus features include:

·      Re-Examining The X-Men takes viewers behind-the-scenes of creating X-Men’s mutant tales.

·      X-Men: A Team of Outsiders provides an in-depth exploration of Marvel’s most heroic and infamous mutants.

·      Special Talk Session round table discussion with the creators of Marvel anime’sX-Men and Blade.

If you’re an X-Men fan, you’ll probably like this series.  Even a casual fan like myself can easily enjoy it, at least a little, but if you go into it without any knowledge of the characters, then you probably won’t get much out of it.

Now available on DVD is the Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and Marvel Animation Iron Man Anime. This series originally aired on G4, but it is now available to own with bonus materials.  We recently held a contest to give away two copies of Iron Man as well as the X-Men Anime, and the winners Richard and Andrew have been notified.  Thanks to everyone who entered!

I actually don’t watch a lot of anime unless you count Sailor Moon, but I do love animation, period.  And the Iron Man series is very well done, in my opinion.  Tony Stark is wonderfully portrayed as a confident and wealthy American in Japan who also happens to be a superhero.  There is an ease and grace in the way that he moves that I find a bit more elegant than the portrayal by Robert Downey Jr. in the live-action feature films, but both are equally intriguing.

I also liked the use of occasional soft lighting in scenes.  I think it’s most often used when hinting at a romantic interest, but it was really done beautifully, and I have never really seen an animated comic adaptation just look so pretty.

If you choose to listen to the English dub, Adrian Pasdar (Heroes, The Lying Game) is Stark and Iron Man.  However, when given an option, I always prefer the original language and therefore read the subtitles and try to listen out for the little Japanese I know.  It’s easy to switch between the two, though, and I think both voice casts are great.

The plot centers on Stark as he arrives in Japan to build the Arc Reactor, which is a power plant that will provide free energy to the world.  He also plans to retire the Iron Man persona, but his plan is thwarted by the Zodiac group.  He must battle cultural differences, Mech monsters, and handle the press.  The latter isn’t too much of an issue, though, since sparks (forgive the pun) fly between him and a local newspaper reporter.

There are 12 episodes and the bonus features are:

·      Re-Imagining Iron Man explores the plot and themes of the anime series.

·      21^st Century Hero: The Technology of Iron Man introduces fans to Tony Stark’s high-tech suits and gadgets.

·      Special Cross Talk round table discussion with the creators of the Iron Man and Wolverine anime series.

·      Voicing Tony Stark, an interview with Japanese actor, Keiji Fujiwara.

I really enjoyed this series and would recommend it.