FROZEN - BLU-RAY REVIEW

FROZEN - HOME RELEASE (BLU-RAY)

Release Date: Out Now (Monday 31 March 2014)

Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee

Starring: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Josh Gad, Jonathan Groff, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk (voices)

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

THE FILM:

Disney are riding high on the (admittedly deserved) success of Frozen, having last month added two Academy Awards (Best Animated Feature, Best Original Song) to it’s now sizable mantle of gongs and plaudits, a Broadway musical adaptation confirmed as being in the works and just today having been announced as officially the most successful animated film of all time, surpassing previous record holder Toy Story 3. Arriving on DVD, Blu-Ray and Digital HD this week is no doubt only going to add to the cultural behemoth that the film has become.

SAVING MR. BANKS - BLU-RAY REVIEW

SAVING MR. BANKS - HOME RELEASE (BLU-RAY)

Release Date: Out Now (Monday 24 March 2014)

Director: John Lee Hancock

Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti,

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

THE FILM:

Despite some initial audience confusion as to precisely what it was actually about, Saving Mr. Banks comes together with extraordinary clarity and efficiency, shedding off any ambiguity or identity crisis from the off, managing to juggle various different elements and timeframes into a thoroughly charming, consistently entertaining and brilliantly judged piece of filmmaking which has all the charm, whimsy and heart of anything Disney put his name to. Fundamentally it presents a dramatisation of the early pre-production work that went into the making of the Mary Poppins movie back in the early 1960’s, which saw the cantankerous and principled author of the original books, P. L. Travers (a resplendent Emma Thompson) come to loggerheads with a determined Walt Disney (Tom Hanks, who suggests rather than imitates the famous studio head) who saw the opportunity to alter her works through a more fantastical and family-friendly filter that she expressly loathed. 

MARY POPPINS 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION - BLU-RAY REVIEW

MARY POPPINS 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION - HOME RELEASE (BLU-RAY)

Release Date: Monday 18 November 2013
Director: Robert Stevenson
Starring: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber
Home Released Reviewed: UK Blu-Ray Release (1 Disc)

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

THE FILM:

Disney’s back catalogue is undoubtedly one of the most continually celebrated, fondly remembered and generally timeless collection of releases that very few studios can compare with - though this is mostly thanks to its stable of animated classics. Far fewer of its live action features of yesteryear continue to be held in the same regard as its swathe of hand-drawn staples such as Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, The Jungle Book and of course, the one that started it all, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. However, one of the most cherished and enduring exceptions is undoubtedly 1964‘s Mary Poppins, proudly arriving in this 50th anniversary celebration which serves as a delightful reminder of a movie that has lost none of its innate charm and remains as surprisingly relevant as ever with its universal themes of parenting, responsibility and imagination.

CURSE OF CHUCKY - BLU-RAY REVIEW

CURSE OF CHUCKY - HOME RELEASE (BLU-RAY)

Release Date: Monday 21 October 2013

Director: Don Mancini

Starring: Fiona Dourif, Danielle Bisutti, Brad Dourif, Brennan Elliott, Maitland McConnell, A Martinez

Home Release Reviewed: UK Blu-Ray Release (1 Disc)

Reviewed by Kyle Pedley

THE FILM:

It’s somewhat difficult to believe it has been almost a decade since we last saw a new Chucky instalment, so eponymous and iconic a horror icon has the diminutive terror become. However, on the grounds of the abysmal and woefully misjudged Seed of Chucky, it’s general box office underperformance, not to mention the severe backlash it received from fans of the franchise, it seems the time off has done the murderous good guy some good.