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Characters even better than the animation in smart Up
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Published: November 12, 2009
Up (G): Pixar continues its tradition of fantastic, family-oriented films with this smart, poignant and imaginative fable. Ed Asner provides the voice of a grumpy widower whose sole joy in life was his wife. Determined to live out her last dream, he tethers thousands of balloons to the home they shared and sets sail by air to a jungle retreat she had hoped to visit. But he has an unwitting stowaway, an eager young Wilderness Explorer who tags along on the journey. Joining them along the way is Dug, an eager, goofy dog who steals any scene he is in. The computer-animation is beautiful, but it is the characters who matter most.
The two-disc DVD has plenty of extras, including alternate scenes, making-of featurettes and a new original short about Dug. The Blu-ray edition adds even more extras, looking at the research that went into the characters.
Also new from Disney this week is a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack of the previous Pixar hit Monsters, Inc., with some new extras as well as the bonus features from the previous DVD version.
The Sarah Jane Adventures: The Second Season: This kid-friendly but rarely childish British science-fiction series is a spinoff of the long-running Doctor Who. Elisabeth Sladen stars as an intrepid journalist who, assisted by a team of youngsters, investigates mysteries that often involve aliens.
Enlighten Up! Yoga is the subject of this tongue-in-cheek documentary, which follows an idealistic filmmaker and a skeptical journalist as they examine different approaches to spiritual enlightenment.
Craft in America -- Season Two: The second season of this PBS series about craftsmanship includes profiles of several North Carolina potters.
Watchmen -- The Ultimate Cut (Unrated): The lengthy superhero film gets even longer in this 215-minute director's cut, which restores the "Tales of the Black Freighter" subplot to the film and also includes almost three hours of bonus material. It's available on four Blu-rays or five DVDs.
Three Stooges Vol. 7: Moe, Larry and Shemp get into more mischief in this compilation with comedy shorts from 1952 to '54. Two of the shorts, "Spooks" and "Pardon My Backfire," are in 3-D, with two pairs of glasses provided.
The General (Unrated): Buster Keaton's silent 1926 classic, which was shown at this year's RiverRun International Film Festival, comes to Blu-ray. Extras include video tours of filming locations and multiple music tracks.
Sesame Street -- 40 Years of Sunny Days: Oscar the Grouch, Big Bird and the rest (yes, even Elmo) are included in this five-hour compilation that celebrates the anniversary of the long-running PBS series with clips, songs, celebrity moments and behind-the-scenes footage.
Justice League -- The Complete Series: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman and dozens and dozens of other superheroes -- including such obscure characters as Shining Knight, Booster Gold and Spy Smasher -- are included in this fun animated series about a team of heroes who save the world, and sometimes more, on a regular basis. This boxed set has 15 discs with all 91 episodes of the series, plus plenty of extras including commentary and documentaries.
Xavier, Renegade Angel -- Seasons One and Two: This Cartoon Network "Adult Swim" comedy series follows the misadventures of a supernatural being on a series of spiritual journeys that invariably go awry. It's not for the easily offended.
Near Dark on Blu-ray (R): Adrian Pasdar, Lance Henriksen, Jenny Wright and Bill Paxton star in this stylish, smart 1987 film that blended Southern gothic and vampires long before True Blood came along. Pasdar plays a young man who falls in with a traveling band of outlaws who thrive on the mayhem that their supernatural abilities allow them.
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