Reviews :
Steve Carell (Get Smart) returns in his Golden Globe®-winning role of The World s Greatest Boss Michael Scott in Season Four of the hit comedy series The Office! This must-own four-disc set includes every irreverent episode from Season Four including the five extended full TV-hour specials plus hours of hilarious deleted scenes and bonus features! Rejoin Jim (John Krasinski) and Pam (Jenna Fischer) as they bring romance to the workplace Dwight (Rainn Wilson) as he continues his quest to be Michael s right-hand man and newly deemed Wunderkind Ryan (B.J. Novak) who s working to drag Dunder Mifflin into the digital age. Developed for American TV by Primetime Emmy® Award winner Greg Daniels (King of the Hill The Simpsons) The Office is the intelligent and edgy Primetime Emmy® Award-winning series that critics are hailing as the funniest show on TV (Gavin Edwards Rolling Stone). You ll enjoy the inappropriate remarks uncomfortable silences and petty behavior again and again!System Requirements:Running Time: 405 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 025195017329 Manufacturer No: 61102114
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Reviews :
I Feel Cheated
I enjoyed the season, and I'd hoped that they would develop a strong ending to the virus arc. They gave us a short glimpse into the future, like they had in season 1, and I'd hoped they would have developed the virus arc they way they developed the bomb arc in Season 1.

This season should have fit on two disks, maybe three if you include the deleted scenes and commentary. Each disk had no more than three episodes, and they could have put the entire season on two disks. They did include commentaries on the episodes as well as deleted scenes. But the real reason I gave this two stars was the fact they picked up all the unaired scenes off the cutting room floor to fill up a fourth disk. In addition to that, while they showed how they originally planned to finish out the second half of the season, Tim Kring's smug comment (and his not looking at the camera) about the show moving in a different direction, and now the only place to find this lost footage was to buy the DVD really disturbed me.

Maybe they realized they'd written themselves into a corner, and decided to scrap the second half of the season because it would be too hard for them to finish the season properly.

I had hoped that Season three would have fleshed out the virus storyline in more detail. However, they smugly explained the fact all they needed to change was the scene where Peter stopped the vial from shattering, and so ended the virus arc. To make matters worse, they included all the scenes they'd shot on the DVD (to get that fourth disk). It also showed me how extravagant the producers of Heroes are. Basically, the cost to shoot several scenes from two episodes that were scrapped. It would have been better to leave it all out, instead of giving us a glimpse of what would have been a great story after a long hiatus.

Sure, we can blame the writer's strike, but Desperate Housewives managed to finish up a complete season. So I don't understand why the writers associated with Heroes wouldn't finish up the season. It's bad enough that they put all the networks on hold for half a year. In any other business, if workers leave the project half done would be deserve getting fired. Instead, they get raises then go on vacation for eight months.

Just sit back & enjoy
Was season 1 better than season 2? Yes. The novelty of a new show and the curiosity of where it will go will do that. Was it a shame that there were fewer episodes? Of course. More is always better. Was this a bad season (to the degree that many have put it)? No. There was a plot, a catastrophe to avert and a villain to stop (albeit a villain who I feel was depicted to be alot more fearsome and intimidating than he should have been considering his non-threatening ability). New characters were introduced. Old characters had their own personal issues to contend with in the midst of everything. Sure, it could have been better if there were more than 11 episodes. I wouldn't say extremely better because it wasn't a bad season. So just enjoy the season for what it has to offer, knowing that it is leading into what should be a thrill ride of a season in season 3.
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Reviews :
Fearless
I've already mentioned my tenuous link to the Dexter crew in my review of Season One, so I'll just skip to why I love this show so much: because it's fearless.

This season takes many of the established tropes that make Dexter's life (Michael C. Hall) as a vigilante/serial killer plausible and tosses them out the window. Everything that was a minor annoyance in the first season is amped up to 11. Dexter's dumping ground for corpses, a quaint little spot in the ocean that nobody ever noticed, gets noticed. Officer Doakes (Erik King), who was openly hostile to Dexter, becomes a very real threat. Harry's Code, which keeps Dexter on the mostly-straight and somewhat-narrow path, comes into question. LaGuerta (Lauren Velez) stoops to new lows to get her old job back. And Dexter's sister Debra (Jennifer Carpenter), who was always annoying to begin with, moves in with him to become even more annoying.

The show doesn't forget its past. Debra is traumatized by the fact that she almost married a serial killer; the characters regularly forget the incident and stumble over apologies as they make insensitive remarks. Dexter greatly misses his serial-killer brother, the only person who understood him. Until he finds a new soul mate: Lila (Jaime Murray).

Lila seems to rub a lot of people the wrong way (or the right way, if you like brunettes). She's gorgeous in a goth fashion, completely uninhibited, and madly in love with the Dexter she doesn't see. She's also a complete loon. All these attributes make her a perfect fit for Dexter...except Dexter is very much a family man, a killer who would never harm children, who despite his violent excesses surrounds himself with the trappings of family. Lila throws in sharp relief what vestiges of Dexter's personality are decent, and as such she's a perfect foil for season 2.

The other breakout character is Doakes. Once Doakes unearths Dexter's past, the two come to an understanding. Throughout the season are philosophical arguments that detail each man's past in a game of one-upmanship. Who is worse: the special ops soldier who murders people he's ordered to kill, or the vigilante who uses free will to determine whom he executes? We don't get a clear answer, only more questions.

There are some entertaining nods to the field of serial killer investigation. Don Foster (Author Unknown: On the Trail of Anonymous) gets a shout-out...and is soundly, brutally mocked for his language analysis, sorry Don. So does Bob Ressler (Whoever Fights Monsters) in the form of Special Agent Frank Lundy (Keith Carradine). An awkward but believable subplot develops between Lundy and Debra, just further exemplifying that none of Dexter's heroes are one-dimensional, but fully developed and all too humanly flawed.

We tore through this season on our Netflix list, clearing out our queue to ensure we could watch all the DVDs back to back. The show is that good.


Awesome
Man, This show is soo addicting. Glad I decided to purchase.
If you don't know or have heard of this show.......GET IT AND CLEAR YOUR SCHEDULE.
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Reviews :
Starts the same, ends strong
For the first start of the season, it's only a little more varied than the normal House formula. But the season finale(s) are very well thought out and edge of your seat good. If you are to watch 2 episodes from season 4 I would recommend the last two.

House Fans Beware
I was so excited when the forth season of House M.D. became available. My husband and I are huge House fans. I was somewhat shocked when I got season four to find that it only had sixteen episodes. I felt somewhat cheated. Then watching it I felt that the first five or six episodes, while okay, seemed more like some reality TV show where House is eliminating his choices for his team down to three. I became more interested in who was going to be fired next than House's brilliant diagnosis' and bizarre treatments. Once House picks his team, the shows begin to feel more like those of season's one thru three. But then the two part season finale hits kind of out of place with the rest of the season. I felt like I had skipped a couple of episodes. I don't want to spoil the season for anyone who hasn't seen it, but I will say that the finale was completely unexpected. True House fans might be somewhat dissapointed as I was, but true fans will still buy it and watch it.
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Reviews :
"I bought a car. Turned out to be an alien robot. Who knew?" deadpans Sam Witwicky, hero and human heart of Michael Bay's rollicking robot-smackdown fest, Transformers. Witwicky (the sweetly nerdy Shia LaBeouf, channeling a young John Cusack) is the perfect counterpoint to the nearly nonstop exhilarating action. The plot is simple: an alien civil war (the Autobots vs. the evil Decepticons) has spilled onto Earth, and young Sam is caught in the fray by his newly purchased souped-up Camaro. Which has a mind--and identity, as a noble-warrior robot named Bumblebee--of its own. The effects, especially the mind-blowing transformations of the robots into their earthly forms and back again, are stellar.

Fans of the earlier film and TV series will be thrilled at this cutting-edge incarnation, but this version should please all fans of high-adrenaline action. Director Bay gleefully salts the movie with homages to pop-culture touchstones like Raiders of the Lost Ark, King Kong, and the early technothriller WarGames. The actors, though clearly all supporting those kickass robots, are uniformly on-target, including the dashing Josh Duhamel as a U.S. Army sergeant fighting an enemy he never anticipated; Jon Voight, as a tough yet sympathetic Secretary of Defense in over his head; and John Turturro, whose special agent manages to be confidently unctuous, even stripped to his undies. But the film belongs to Bumblebee, Optimus Prime, and the dastardly Megatron--and the wicked stunts they collide in all over the globe. Long live Transformers! --A.T. Hurley
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Reviews :
Nightmares
Disney should have a warning label. My 3.5 yr old watched this in tears on the way to "the happiest place on earth" and after meeting Mickey, Minnie and Goofy, still had nightmares about mommy dying. Who the hell decided this was a good subject for a kids movie?

Gorgeous Visuals, Mild Story, Continuity Give and Take
This is a big summer for me, because my two tippy-top favorite Disney girls, Ariel and Tink (despite the fact that I really go for the Alice and Wendy performers the most at the theme parks), are getting very special DVD releases; direct-to-video prequels, to be specific. The first is out now, sometimes referred to as The Little Mermaid 3, but released as "The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning".

The plot of this all new, thankfully traditionally animated feature (unlike the upcoming Tinker Bell CGI movie, though that one still looks good), involves King Triton's tragic loss of Ariel's mother, Queen Athena (And yes, we do see Athena in the film, and she looks more like Ariel than one would probably have imagined), and the way the entire kingdom is soon forced to suffer as he does. King Triton places a ban on all music in the kingdom of Atlantica, because music reminds him of his lost beloved, and this results in ten years of boredom and misery for Triton's subjects and his own seven lovely daughters. After that flashback, narrated by Sebastian the crab, we catch up with Triton and his family sometime during Ariel's fifteenth year, when an encounter with a new fish friend named Flounder leads her to discover a secret, underground club in which music is played and celebrated nightly. Ariel's curious and excitable sisters soon join her on her visits to the secret club, and this is their undoing. For their governess, the scheming Marina Del Ray, is out to get Sebastian's job, and that means she's out to get Sebastian, who just happens to be the illegal, musical nightclub proprietor and head entertainer. It's a rather simple plot about how music was brought back to the kingdom of Atlantica, which isn't a spoiler if you've seen the original film at all, with a mild villain thrown in for a little danger. Marina does turn out to be a threat, but the real hurdle for the heroes in the film is Triton and his anti-music agenda.

"The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning" is definitely a film that walks the line of great and disappointing probably more than any Disney sequel. It's beautifully animated for the most part, with my only real complaint being a few scenes of some significant music box figures done in CGI that looks unfinished in close-ups. The plot is not too shabby, but probably too simple to meet most adult viewers' hopes and expectations (yes, there are tons of adult Disney fanatics out there, like myself). Disney tends to aim its direct-to-video films more squarely at kids than its usually MUCH better bigscreen outings or even its animated TV shows. I consider this to be part of the problem with Disney's line of direct to video releases. Also, the villain of a Disney film is often the best aspect for most folks, and in this case, Sally Field's Marina Del Ray is a good character played beautifully, but not all that important as a villain and certainly not very imposing. She has a creepy pack of electric eels to increase her danger quotient though. Of course, she also has a comedic sidekick, a manatee named Benjamin (who seems to not require much oxygen), who I found a bit annoying really but others seem to enjoy.

The biggest problem with the story and the film itself though, for hardcore Little Mermaid fans anyway, is probably that it is hard to buy as a precursor to the original, classic Disney masterpiece. And don't get me started on how annoying it is that the direct-to-video prequel and sequel present Ariel's life as having 10 years of misery and deprivation in her childhood years and ten years of misery and deprivation at the start of her marriage. I know Anderson's mermaid was a tragic character, but this is the most internationally beloved Disney princess of them all! That's beside the point though. As I was saying, it is a bit hard to buy these events as having led up to the original film, and I consider the Disney animated TV series, which I suppose is no longer considered canon (though it is to me), to be a much better prequelization. Something that increases that feeling is the problem "Ariel's Beginning" had with character continuity. First, there's the issue of voices, most noticeably, King Triton's (though Ariel's sisters sound totally different from in the theatrical film too). Jim Cummings has taken over as the voice of King Triton after years of Kenneth Mars playing the role. Now, Jim Cummings is a Disney treasure, but he doesn't sound like Triton much at all, and it just doesn't work for me. In fact, of the two biggest complaints I've read about the characterizations in "Ariel's Beginning", that's one of them. The other is the character of Flounder. He is a completely different character in this film. Flounder, the cowardly "guppy" of the classic film and TV series, is presented here as a Baloo/King Louie wannabe with a rebellious streak. The saddest part is that the one scene in which he really acts just like the original Flounder can be found in the deleted scenes section.

But let's talk about chicks, man. Specifically, Ariel, the girl of my dreams, and her six hottie sisters. Ariel is voiced perfectly here by her original voice actress, Jodi Benson, whose voice is still straight from Heaven. And, thankfully, Ariel is totally in character in this movie. Her sisters finally get some decent screen time too, and I gotta tell ya, the exposure we get to Ariel's sisters here is one of the biggest strong points of "Ariel's Beginning". I came away from it absolutely adoring Arista.

Not a hot female, but also reprising his role perfectly here is the great Samuel E. Wright, who voices Sebastian the crab. Mr. Wright actually performs the most memorable song in the film, which unfortunately is not one of the new, original songs written for the film, but instead is the well-known "Jump in the Line". This song is performed twice in the film in two different ways, and it's the best musical aspect aside from Ariel singing "I Remember". Sadly, the original songs here are not very memorable. This is usually a problem with direct-to-video animated films that attempt to be musicals, and a prime example of a mistake frequently made is the villain's song here, "Just One Mistake", which attempts to emulate the song sang by Ursula in the first film but instead is just all over the place and fails to establish a catchy tune.

So, when all is said and done, "Ariel's Beginning" is a visually impressive, mildly entertaining new story about Ariel and her friends that unfortunately holds to very little character/story continuity and feels more like it takes place in a parallel universe rather than in the same one as the original film (and totally, disappointingly disregards the TV series; I hate it when they do that!). Honestly, though I still need to rewatch and review it (haven't seen it in a while), I'd be just as comfortable tossing "The Little Mermaid 2" into that parallel universe too. I don't care to see Ariel having another 10 years of sadness, nor do I care to see her married to anyone other than me, or with a kid I didn't sire. *ahem*

Folks who simply don't feel we need new stories about the Disney princesses shouldn't bother to watch or review this film, but for those of us who do, we would love to see more if they had this level of visual quality but were just written better. Of course, it is said that this is to be the last of the Disney direct-to-video prequels and sequels (we'll see about that), the Tink movie being more of a Fairy franchise thing like the Barbie DVDs, but the real problem was never the concept of making such films, it was just how much work, heart, talent, and of course money was put into them. "Bambi 2", despite the uninspired title, remains the best of the Disney animated sequels (aside from "Rescuers Down Under", of course) and is really an outstanding film with only the flaw of some all-too-modern sounding songs. "Ariel's Beginning" was one of the ones that came close to that level. Visually, it is beautiful. As a stand alone film, it's pretty good/enjoyable. Good enough for me to give it four stars. It just disregards too much of what has already been established as part of Ariel's universe, and writing down for a younger audience is never really a good thing. If they didn't have to do it for the bigscreen films, why do it for the direct-to-video ones? Is it worth a purchase though? Yes, unless you just hate Disney sequels. It's a good film that looks gorgeous on DVD (it's anamorphic widescreen, by the way). The continuity issues may make you mad, they may not, but it's a good film, and truly the real highlight is getting to know Ariel's sisters better. The DVD includes a couple of deleted scenes, song selections, a short behind-the-scenes featurette with the director, Peggy Holmes, a personality match game (I got Ariel, no cheating!) that is part of a bigger interactive experience that teaches you more about Ariel and her sisters by letting you explore their individual vanities, and the best extra is a behind the scenes look at the new "The Little Mermaid" Broadway musical, which I'm DYING to see. A couple of the sisters in that one are cuties too. If you're a fan of Ariel the Little Mermaid, yeah, it's a must purchase. I just so badly wish that Disney's "The Little Mermaid" TV series would get a complete DVD release too.



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Reviews :
As light and frothy as the Vivienne Westwood wedding gown that's an unofficial fifth star, the film version of Sex and the City is both captivatingly stylish and sweetly sentimental. Viewers who loved hanging with Carrie Bradshaw and her three pals during the series' TV run will feel as though no time has passed. Except that it has: Carrie and Big are poised to make a Big Commitment; Miranda and Steve are facing the breakup of their wonderful family; Charlotte and Harry have added to their brood; and Samantha (are we sitting down?) has been devoted to hunky Smith for five full years. Still, in all that time, the women's style, conviviality, and appetite for bons mots have only grown. When practical attorney Miranda learns that Carrie is considering moving in with Big (in possibly the coolest apartment in Manhattan), she can't help but frown in that but-you-might-lose-everything way. Carrie's retort: "For once, can't you feel what I want you to feel--jealous?!"

The cast is spot-on, as always. Sarah Jessica Parker is effortless as the angst-ridden yet practical, stylish yet vulnerable Carrie. Kim Cattrall is deliciously decadent as Samantha, but she's wiser now and knows herself and her needs for a real relationship. Kristin Davis, as Charlotte, has quietly become the most gorgeous among the beauties, her sleek presence both winsome and sophisticated. And Cynthia Nixon (Miranda) shows nuance as a woman torn between betrayal and grudging hope. Supporting roles include Candice Bergen as the Vogue editor who anoints Carrie "The Last Single Girl in New York," and Jennifer Hudson, as a starry-eyed, ambitious romantic who represents the new generation of SATC women. Through it all, New York is a benevolent cocoon that envelopes and nurtures the women and their friendships and careers. No matter that none of them appears to have any semblance of "real" family; as long as they have each other, and Manhattan, all will be right with their world. --A.T. Hurley
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Reviews :
You know you're going to get a different kind of superhero when you cast Robert Downey Jr. in the lead role. And Iron Man is different, in welcome ways. Cleverly updated from Marvel Comics' longstanding series, Iron Man puts billionaire industrialist Tony Stark (that's Downey) in the path of some Middle Eastern terrorists; in a brilliantly paced section, Stark invents an indestructible suit that allows him to escape. If the rest of the movie never quit hits that precise rhythm again, it nevertheless offers plenty of pleasure, as the renewed Stark swears off his past as a weapons manufacturer, develops his new Iron Man suit, and puzzles both his business partner (Jeff Bridges in great form) and executive assistant (Gwyneth Paltrow). Director Jon Favreau geeks out in fun ways with the hardware, but never lets it overpower the movie, and there's always a goofy one-liner or a slapstick pratfall around to break the tension. As for Downey, he doesn't get to jitterbug around too much in his improv way, but he brings enough of his unpredictable personality to keep the thing fresh. And listen up, hardcore Marvel mavens: even if you know the Stan Lee cameo is coming, you won't be able to guess it until it's on the screen. It all builds to a splendid final scene, with a concluding line delivery by Downey that just feels absolutely right. --Robert Horton
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Reviews :
Sure it would be great to have it all but at what price? For Vince Eric Drama and Turtle life in Hollywoods fast lane can be an intoxicating ride. In Season Four in fact Eric and Vince have taken on new roles as producers. Will their film be hailed as a critical masterpiece or will it end up on the trash heap of broken Tinseltown dreams?Running Time: 360 min.System Requirements:Running Time: 360 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 883929014156 Manufacturer No: 1000037648
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Reviews :
Enter a world of change in the irresistible and unforgettable fourth season of one of television's most acclaimed dramas. Love lies and family ties are revealed as the surgeons of Seattle Grace discover that their choices have major unintended consequences. And coupled with the arrival of some very eager new interns life at the hospital sizzles with more emotion excitement and heartbreak than ever before. Get an extra dose of GREY'S ANATOMY in this comprehensive 5-disc DVD box set complete with never-before-seen extended episodes and exclusive bonus features that take you inside the world of your favorite doctors. From the very first minute you'll be hooked on TV's most talked about show.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS UPC: 786936754193 Manufacturer No: 05636400
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