New On DVD – November 10, 2009

Monsters, Inc. (Blu-ray) CityNews.ca Pick of the Week Out of the ten films Pixar has released, Monsters, Inc. falls smack dab in the middle at number five for me (Up, the other Pixar release this week comes in at eight). It’s a great story about the monsters in our closets and how they need to scare children in order to generate power for Monsters, Incorporated, the main hydro company in Monstropolis. With a great voice cast that includes John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Steve Buscemi, and Jennifer Tilly, along with some of the best animation from Pixar, Monsters, Inc. is a solid, fun film that kids and adults will both adore. Seeing it in high-definition for the first time had me in awe of the details on the characters, especially Sully, a big, blue, hairy monster. Watching the hair on his body move with such fluidity is enough to keep you glued to the set. Special features include a round table with the filmmakers, audio commentary, a featurette on the Montropolis ride at the Tokyo Disneyland, and the animated short films For the Birds and Mike’s New Car. Also includes a DVD and digital copy of the film. Film **** Blu-ray **** (out of 5 stars).

Up (Blu-ray) Up tells the story of 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner). Carl and his wife Ellie (who he met as a child) lived the majority of their life wanting to go on an adventure to Paradise Falls in South America. Unfortunately they never made it because of the mundane day-to-day stuff getting in the way. We see Carl and Ellie grow old together in a montage of time passing that ends on a sad note. Carl is now a grumpy old man living out his remaining days alone. After he has an incident with a construction worker (in which he hits him with a cane), he is forced to move into a home for the elderly. That’s when he decides it’s time to go on his adventure once and for all. Before the men from Shady Oaks can take him away, he unleashes thousands of balloons from the roof of his house. The house detaches from the ground and floats away. Off to Paradise Falls Carl goes. Only Carl has a visitor with him – young wilderness explorer Russell (voiced by newcomer Jordan Nagai), who was under the front porch when the house took flight. Like Pixar’s Cars and A Bug’s Life, Up didn’t grab me the way I thought it would. The animation is beautiful and the story is decent but I find it lacking the heart that made WALL-E or Monsters Inc. (see above) so brilliant. It’s still a good watch though and the Blu-ray release is a must-own. Special features span two discs and include the animated short films Partly Cloudy and Dug’s Special Mission, a making-of featurette, alternate scenes, an expanded character background, and a ton more. Also includes a DVD and digital copy of the film. Film *** Blu-ray **** (out of 5 stars).

Read our original His Take/Her Take review of Up

In The Loop – From the creator of the hilarious BBC shows I’m Alan Partridge and The Thick Of It comes a very funny, underrated satire of British and American politics. Peter Capaldi reprises his character Malcolm Tucker from The Thick Of It and carries In The Loop well. James Gandolfini, Anne Chlumskey and Steve Coogan also star. It’s a film worth watching and I highly recommend checking it out. No special features on the DVD. Film *** DVD * (out of 5 stars).

The Ugly Truth (Blu-ray) – Mean, dumb rom-com that is neither romantic nor funny. Katherine Heigl is Abby, a morning show producer who wants a man and Gerrard Butler is Mike, the star of the show who has advice on how Abby can get one. The result is painful to watch. Special features include a digital copy of the film, deleted and extended scenes, gag reel, and more. Film * Blu-ray ** (out of 5 stars).

More new DVD releases this week: The Tudors Season 3, Enlighten Up

brian.mckechnie@citynews.rogers.com

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