Wizards of Waverly Place: Wizard School

Not enough episodes...
I got this for my teenage sister. Wizards of Waverly Place is her favorite show and Selena Gomez is her idol. The thing I don't like is that you only get four episodes. It'd be better if Disney released full seasons of their shows rather than banking on $15 for just four episodes. They finally released Hannah Montana full seasons after releasing many 4 episode discs over the past couple years.

A better way to own Wizards of Waverly Place....
I find Wizards deeply entertaining. The whole cast clicks very well and Selena Gomez is just awesome. However, you can get the full seasons of 1 and 2 through iTunes. You can get for $41.79 for season 1 and season 2 each. Then you can watch it on your computer, your iPod Classic, your iPod Touch, your iPhone, or connect your iPod up to your tv and watch it there. However, this product is a great alternative for those who don't have and iPod or iTunes.

Damon Medic's review.
Wizards of Waverly Place is a wonderfully entertaining show on the Disney Channel. Selena Gomez and her brother played by David Henrie share a love/hate relationship, and they do it so well! Selena Gomez is both a great actress and singer, who is going to go far in her acting career. She delivers her lines with believable authority. She is so cute! This is something well worth purchasing, albeit it is only four episodes.
-Damon Medic

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Camp Rock (Extended Rock Star Edition)

Camp Rock Is Pure Disney Magic
After the huge Success of the High School Musical series, it appeared that musicals were "hip" again with the tween audience. With that idea in mind, Disney launched a new musical movie series in the summer of 2008 called "Camp Rock", starring Demi Lovato, The Jonas Brothers, Alyson Stoner, and Meaghan Jette Martin.

Did Camp Rock work? Absolutely! Although a bit more mean spirited and adult themed than the High School Musical series, Disney still pulled off a charming movie that while entertains, it also teaches valuables lessons to its target audience. The Disney Company has found another success with a new cast of actors and actresses. Demi Lovato is a great asset to Disney's already amazing cast of tween stars, and supporting cast members. Alyson Stoner and Meaghan Jette Martin held their own which proves they could carry any upcoming Disney Channel movies on their own.

The Camp Rock extended edition DVD contains the full screen version (1.33:1) of the film...

Good movie for the kids
My children and I were lucky enough to see this movie a little early due to the fact that it was on Disney On Demand. Good entertaining movie for the family. I gave it 4 stars, because I thought it was a little short and could have used a little more substance to the story. It seemed to have just raced through to the end. I don't want to ruin the story for everyone, but the music was good and there were some cute parts. Flour in the face, slipping on the floor and the poor brother with his birdhouse obsession. I was disappointed that the other Jonas brothers weren't part of the main story, but rather made cameo appearances. Mitchie and Shane were really cute together and I am glad she put him in his place, because he started out as a real jerk. I loved their duet together at the end where they put their two different songs together and made it flow as one. The end was surpising to my children because the person who won the contest was not who they thought it would be. All in...

Usual Disney song and dance
This is a Disney Channel Original Movie, so don't go into it expecting anything too much in the way of a plot. The sitcom-type story is supported (and padded) by a full soundtrack of tween pop music and dancing, and touches on many of the issues facing the target age group, namely fitting in, peer pressure, un-cool and too-cool parents, jealousy, and last but not least, loving the Jonas Brothers.

Tween idol Joe Jonas plays the leading man, a young pop star who's been behaving badly, and gets sentenced to teaching dance classes at an upscale summer camp for musicians. The other Jonas brothers also play supporting roles, and perform a couple of songs at the camp.

Demi Lovato plays the female lead, a promising singer/songwriter whose mother takes a catering job at the camp so that she can afford the fees. There's also the rich girl, played by Meaghan Jette Martin, and her obligatory two henchgirls; the usual outcast who befriends the new girl (well played by...

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The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning

The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning - Review of the DVD!
I'm not sure why a number of people have chosen to review or bash a movie that they've never seen, but I for one found this movie to be very well done. Is it worthy of a big screen release? Not necessarily; it is a low-key story, but nonetheless, a VAST improvement over some of Disney's previous direct-to-dvd movies. The story is a prequel to "The Little Mermaid (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)," and explains how King Triton banned music in his kingdom when his wife was killed. We learn how Sebastian became the music conductor for King Triton, and how Ariel & Flounder met. Naturally, it is the full-of-life Ariel who helps bring music back to her father's life. Although the villain is not as fun and nasty as the legendary Ursula, Marina Del Rey (ably voiced by Sally Field) is plenty of fun as the evil governess for King Triton's daughter. Not content to be a governess, she plots to usurp Sebastian's position, even if it...

A fun prequel to The Little Mermaid!
"Ariel's Beginning" is a fun animated feature that had my 3.5 year old daughter asking for more. The story is the prequel to The Little Mermaid - it tells the story of how King Triton lost his beloved wife Athena in an accident [back when Ariel and her sisters were little] and thus banned music and all forms of gaiety in his kingdom, living in seclusion and with darkness within his heart. When the pirncesses grow up, they all chafe against the restrictions imposed by King Triton, especially Ariel who, like her mother, loves music and singing. Ariel starts to dabble in music secretly, much to her father's anger and finally runs away with Sebastian in tow, until Triton realises his folly.

It is in this movie that we find out how Ariel meets and befriends Flounder, and how Sebastian becomes the music conductor in Triton's court. There is also a villain in the form of nanny, Marina del Rey, though she is not as scary or menacing as Ursula, the sea witch in The Little...

Pleasing but really pretty average
In the long-standing tradition of direct-to-video sequels, ARIEL'S BEGINNING continues the story of a beloved character without really adding anything new. The music is OK, but doesn't come close to the brilliant exuberance of the original (it's telling that the most inspired musical number, "Jump in the Line," was NOT written for the movie). Likewise, the animation is well-done, but pales in comparison to the theatrically-released original.

Still, young children may find enough to like about the antics of Ariel and her sisters. As sequels go, it nowhere near as awful as The Hunchback of Notre Dame II, but falls short of even the studio's less-celebrated theatrical releases like Home on the Range.

A brief behind-the-scenes peak at Broadway's "The Little Mermaid", a couple of deleted scenes, a profile of the film's...

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Desperate Housewives: The Complete Fourth Season

Desperate Housewives - Season Four
"Desperate Housewives" made its debut in 2004 to rave reviews and high Nielsen ratings. Season one of the show is considered a modern classic. For most people, the same couldn't be said for seasons two and three. Many people though the second and third seasons were disappointing. I thought the second season was good (though not great), and the third season was a slight improvement over season two (though it still didn't top the first season). But after watching the entire fourth season of "Desperate Housewives", the show is back on track. This is the best season since the first.

Season four of the show about those housewives from the fictional Wisteria Lane (located in the town of Fairview) was the most interesting, most intriguing, and most entertaining season since season one. Many of the same major characters are back: Susan, Lynette, Bree, Gabrielle, Edie, Mike, Carlos, Tom, Orson, and narrator Mary Alice. But what really makes the fourth season of "Desperate...

Back to the basics
In season 4 of DH we see the show going back to the basics, to the thing that made fans love DH: the friendships. The friendships of Lynette, Susan, Bree and Gabrielle, as well as each individual character, were tested over and over again and they endured. It was this quality of enduring friendship amongst women that makes this show so good.

Season 3 dealt with each women independently, barely interacting with the other friends and thus we lost that which made the show worthwhile, their interactions. Season 4 takes another route and shows the women provide each other a strong support system. Lynette relies on her friends and family to go through cancer, Bree deals with faking a pregnancy, Susan must deal with her marriage with Mike and Gabrielle must decide between Carlos and Victor.

We also see the introduction of another character, Katherine Mayfair (and of course, her many secrets which...

Terrific extras make an already good season a must-have set for fans.
There's little else to add to what others have said of the season itself. Instead, I wanted to note the great extras that make this DVD set a nice buy. Several are of the same type as previous season sets:

There are audio commentaries for six episodes, the first by Marc Cherry and some writers with nice tidbits (season 3 was to end with the revelation of Bree faking her pregnancy but ABC didn't think that was dramatic enough so they came up with Edie's "Hanging"). The other five are "Couple commentaries" with nice banter between the actors and some fun stuff (like Marcia Cross marveling at how her cleveage was so big early in the season).

"Desperate From Beginning to End" looks at the creation of an episode, this one the tornado ep. It notes what a challenge it was with all the stunts and special effects work and how amazed they were ABC let them destory the set like that. It's a great insight to how they created the amazing story.

Hanging with the Men...

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Ugly Betty: The Complete Second Season

One of the best shows on TV
Ugly Betty was one of the many ABC hits of the 2006/2007 season and charmed audiences with its wit, its new take on the fashion industry, its great design and the simply enjoyable storylines that are admittedly over the top, but TV should entertain and that's exactly what this show does. It doesn't ask you to think a whole lot or focuses on heavy drama, so if you want a serious drama Ugly Betty might not be your cup of tea. Ugly Betty is fun and hilarious, but is not mentally challenging, but this is also part of its charm as it sucks you into its world and you can simply lean back and enjoy.
In the second season the cliffhangers from the phenomenal Season 1 finale were resolved and new storylines introduced that are all truly enjoyable and a pleasure to watch. Everybody goes through changes and especially Betty's love life becomes more and more interesting with a new potential love interest and the "Henry is the father of Charlie's baby" storyline.
New characters are...

A fun Season Two, but huge changes confront Season Three
Warning! Some spoilers contained in the following review!

All in all, Season Two of UGLY BETTY was, like Season One, an utter delight. It certainly was not timid in its story telling, trying to keep true to its roots in telemundo by pushing storylines that beggared credibility, sometimes perhaps crossing the lines of believability, but all in all having a lot of fun.

There were too many plotlines to attempt any summarization, but suffice it to say that if you didn't care for one - and there were some that I definitely didn't care for (primarily Wilhelmina's theft of Bradford Meade's sperm upon his death and then having Christina carry Bradford and Wilhelmina's baby, though secondarily the storyline of having Gene Simmons temporarily feature as Amanda's supposed biological father [like most people I've talked to, I just find anything having to do with Gene Simmons to be more than a little distasteful]) - just wait a week or two and you'd find others you might...

Still one of the best shows on TV
The end of Ugly Betty - The Complete First Season left everything hanging in the air as Henry left for Tucson, Daniel and Alexis got into a possibly-fatal car crash after Alexi paid a hitman to take out Bradford, Wilhelmina and Bradford got engaged, Santos was shot, Claire escaped from jail, Ignacio got sent back to Mexico, and Amanda found out who her mother really was.

The first part of season two wrapped up the loose ends of season one, but introduced new plot elements, some of them just as good as those in season two's preceding season. Betty, Hilda, Daniel and Mark all found themselves with new love interests. Wilhelmina maintained her status as comedic villain extraordinaire as she continued her plan(s) to take over Meade Publications. It's a little over-the-top, but it's all in good fun, and one of the great things about this show is that all the actors seem to have such great chemistry with one...

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Private Practice: The Complete First Season

LOVE PrP!!!
This show just got better and better with each episode. It came into its own, finding a great balance between comedy and drama. The acting is wonderful, Kate Walsh is SPECTACULAR, she just keeps adding more and more layers to the character we have all come to love as the beautifully complicated Dr. Addison Montgomery. Amy Brenamann is wonderful as the talented and flawed Violet. Tim Daly is great as the sexy complex quack Pete. Taye Diggs is deliciously HOT, funny, somewhat dorky, but still manly Sam, Audra McDonald is great as the ex-wife who is trying to keep it all together but you can see that she is on the brink of breaking down completely, and Paul Adelstein is a maverick of talent. LOVE this show I definitely see nominations for the show and the actors in the near future especially for our AMAZINGLY talented leading lady Kate Walsh.

I am so excited for this series to come out. I miss this AMAZING show. I can't wait till it comes back this fall.

Addison starts a new life in LA.......
Private Practice - a spin-off from the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy - debuted in September 2007, with Addison Forbes Montgomery (the beautiful Kate Walsh) starting a new life in a private practice medical clinic in LA.

Many have tried to compare the show to Greys, which should be avoided as it has an entirely different tone - lighter, funnier & less OTT-angsty than Greys. It also benefits from being set where it is actually filmed & features location filming out-and-about in LA.

Kate Walsh shines as Addison & easily carries the show. She is surrounded by a small core cast of experienced & talented actors - Tim Daly, Audra McDonald, Taye Diggs, Amy Brenneman, Paul Adelstein, Chris Lowell & KaDee Strickland.

After a rocky first episode, the writing improved as the series progressed & the show started to find its own identity & distance from Greys.

It was the highest-rated new drama this year & one of the first freshman shows to be picked...

The best new show of 2007 :-)
I absolutely love this show (I saw almost all of it when I was in America and thankful for that because Australia is last again). It's fantastic and addictive and funny and so enjoyable. If I'm going to be completely honest, the main reasons I began watching this is because of Tim Daley and Taye Diggs. Especially Tim - he's so cute. But I found myself getting really involved with the story lines and the characters and now have a new favourite show.
After the initial episode of seeing the crossover from Greys to Private, we see the first episode called In Which We Meet Addison, a Nice Girl From Somewhere Else (all the episodes are called In Which ...) where she joins the Oceanside Wellness Group where she was offered a job. The clinic is mostly owned by one of her best friends in college. One of the other workers there is Dr Pete Wilder (Tim Daley) who throughout the season, she has a strong strong chemistry with. It makes for very interesting situations. Some of the...

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101 Dalmatians II: Patch's London Adventure (Special Edition)

Cute adventure and well executed!
This animated sequel to Disney's 101 Dalmatians (Two-Disc Platinum Edition) is a very cute movie; very much at home on a video release, the animation and vocals are definitely above what you'd expect for a direct to video film. This tale begins where the first movie left off; Cruella de Vil is out on parole while her two flunkies are stuck in the slammer. She hooks up with a beatnik artist, Lars (voiced by Martin Short), who also likes spots. She hires him to create a one-of-a-kind masterpiece just for her. Meanwhile, Anita (voiced by Jodi Benson, best known as Ariel in The Little Mermaid (Two-Disc Platinum Edition)) & Roger are moving to the country. Patch accidentally gets left behind, which is just fine with him, as it allows him to go to London and audition for his TV Hero's show, the Thunderbolt Adventure Hour. When Lars is unable to...

Tickles the Funnybone
This is one of the better Disney sequels.The animation, voices, and music have more thought behind them than previous sequels. The plot is good and and full of humor. ( Martin Short is very funny as Lars the artist as is Barry Bostwick as Thunderbolt.) Patch is feeling lost in a sea of puppies becomes a hero in the end saving his family from Cruella. The story has something for adults as well as kids. If you and your children enjoy the original then this one will be enjoyable as well and worth the money.

Much Better than expected
I expected this movie to be a lame sequel, since I really hadn't heard anything about it. But I thoroughly enjoyed it, and it made me nostalgic about the original which was my favorite movie growing up. I really felt for Patch, who had to deal with being not one of a kind as he liked, but 1 of 101, which is clearly intense competition. He gets himself seperated from the rest of his family and into cahoots with Thunderbird, the "wonder-dog" from his favorite TV show. They both have to find the true hero within and once again save the puppies from the clutches of madwoman Cruella Devil. The original characters all come back, from Pongo and Perdita, Roger and Anita, Cruella and her goons, the feisty nanny and of course the puppies. The new characters blend in perfectly; Lars the artist who paints spots and is quickly discovered by Cruella, and the dogs from the Thunderbird show. The animation was done in a similar fashion as the original, which made it seem more closely linked...

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Metro/Holy Man

Present
I bought this as a present to give to someone. They actually love Metro but this was a deal for 2 movies.





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