May 2, 2008 - Disney has announced a July 15th DVD and Blu-ray debut for the father/daughter comedy College Road Trip and Touchstone's well-attended sequel Step Up 2 The Streets. The slipcovered Road Trip will serve up bloopers, alternate opening and endings, deleted scenes with director's commentary, Raven's Video Diary and "Double Dutch Bus" music video, plus a pair of audio commentaries (one with the writers, one with Raven and director Roger Kumble). The DVD version will contain both fullscreen and widescreen formats. Step Up 2's "Dance-Off Edition" will contain 8 deleted scenes, 5 music videos including Flo Rida's hit "Low", making-of featurette "Through Fresh Eyes", "Outlaws of Hip Hop - Meet the '410'", and a Robert Hoffman video prank.

April 29, 2008 - New and/or revised cover art has been posted for The Sword in the Stone: 45th Anniversary Edition, The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, and Tinker Bell.

April 28, 2008 - Last week, the Disney Studios announced the launch of Disneynature, a new production banner for theatrical nature documentaries which harks back to Walt Disney's True-Life Adventures series of the 1940s and '50s. The second film to emanate from the France-based unit will be Earth, reaching cinemas next Earth Day, April 22, 2009, from producer/director Alastair Fothergill (Planet Earth, The Blue Planet) and narrator James Earl Jones. The studio announced six other Disneynature film subjects now in development: The Crimson Wing: Mystery of the Flamingos (December 2008), Oceans (2010), Orangutans: One Minute to Midnight (2010), Big Cats (2011), Naked Beauty: A Love Story That Feeds the Earth (2011), and Chimpanzee (2012).

April 25, 2008 - Today, we fight the mid-spring doldrums with a new DVD review of Miramax's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. This acclaimed and decorated French-language drama tells the incredible true story of a healthy middle-aged man who suddenly becomes paralyzed head to toe. Able to blink just one eye, he struggles to communicate and recover, while we share his perspective and an active mind livened with flashbacks and fantasies. In stores next Tuesday, the disc provides two featurettes, PBS host Charlie Rose's 20-minute interview of director Julian Schnabel, and an audio commentary. Read the full review.

Disney has announced release dates for season set DVDs for eight popular ABC series. First comes "Desperate Housewives": The Complete Fourth Season - Sizzling Secrets Edition on September 2. "Grey's Anatomy": The Complete Fourth Season and "Ugly Betty": The Complete Second Season follow suit on September 9th. September 16th brings The Complete First Season of spin-off "Private Practice" and "Dirty Sexy Money". On September 23rd, stores will have the ensemble drama "Brothers and Sisters": The Complete Second Season and the Christina Applegate comedy "Samantha Who?": The Complete First Season. Finally, 5-disc set "Lost": The Complete Fourth Season - The Expanded Experience will reach stores on December 9th in time for Christmas and presumably another January start.

July 29th has been set as the release date for two more Disney Channel episode compilations which mark the DVD debut for the featured shows. "Wizards of Waverly Place": Wizard School will hold four episodes and the cast set tour "Work it Like a Wizard". "Phineas and Ferb": The Fast and the Phineas will serve up five episodes of the animated series including an unaired 2-parter plus a Homemade Tree Shade arcade games and creator Dan Povenmire's original pitch. Per custom, each disc offers fullscreen picture, Dolby 5.1 sound, and a $19.99 list price.

April 19, 2008 - Today, we take an early look at Saludos Amigos & The Three Caballeros: Classic Caballeros Collection, a 2-movie DVD that pairs up Disney's first two anthology films of the 1940s. Each incorporates Latin American culture into a number of animated and live-action sequences. Appearing here are Donald Duck, Goofy, Walt Disney and his staff, and newly-created personalities Joe Carioca and Panchito. On the low-priced disc, the two movies are accompanied by the 33-minute travelogue South of the Border with Disney, a short but relevant Walt Disney interview excerpt, and two bonus Donald cartoons. We compare the new release to the discontinued Gold Collection versions. Read the full review.

April 14, 2008 - Our newest DVD review looks at Cloverfield, the virally-marketed, J.J. Abrams-produced film which offers an effective, contemporary spin on the monster movie with a character handheld video perspective reminiscent of The Blair Witch Project. Twentysomething friends gathered at a going away party have their night shaken when mysterious disaster threatens Manhattan. Paramount's DVD satisfies with two big featurettes, a commentary by director Matt Reeves, outtakes, deleted scenes, alternate endings, and more. In addition, we shed light on eleven Easter eggs not easily found. Read the full review.

Visitors to this site have probably sent more e-mail inquiring about the 1989 made-for-TV movie Polly and its 1990 sequel Polly: Comin' Home than anything else in Disney's catalog. Musical adaptations of Pollyanna starring Keshia Knight Pulliam as Polly and her "Cosby Show" mom Phylicia Rashad as Aunt Polly, both were recently released to DVD. But you can't buy them in stores and online you can expect to pay in the neighborhood of $45-$75 (Polly, Comin' Home). Why? Because the two made their way to DVD in the same way that most live-action Disney fare has in the past few years, as Disney Movie Club exclusives. Existing members can buy the titles for $19.95 each plus shipping. Non-members can now enroll in the club with a 3 movies for $1.99 each deal . Explore our full list of Disney Movie Club Exclusives (with links to buy from Amazon) or see the exclusives at Disney Movie Club while you consider joining.

Recent Disney DVD Reviews:
• Enchanted - Successful fantasy-comedy leans heavily on Disney's fairy tale tradition, with 10 minutes of 2D animation, songs from '90s Renaissance composers Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, and various allusions and cameos. Princess-to-be Giselle (Amy Adams) is transported to present-day New York City, where she is taken in by a divorce lawyer (Patrick Dempsey) and his young daughter. The witty hit's DVD supplies terrific picture and sound, but impresses less with a meager extras menu.

Recent Non-Disney DVD Reviews:
• The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep - Walden Media's fantasy of a boy and the unique sea monster he befriends in 1940s Scotland. Jay Russell (My Dog Skip) directs the family film from a book by Dick King-Smith (Babe) with a cast headed by Alex Etel, Emily Watson, and Ben Chaplin and visual effects from Weta of Narnia fame. Sony's 2-Disc Special Edition provides the film in dual screen formats plus eight deleted scenes and six featurettes that total 77 minutes.
• The Chipmunk Adventure: Special Edition - The gang's first theatrical outing, this 2D-animated 1987 film offers a good time with Chipmunks and Chipettes music and round-the-world travel. How special you consider the set depends on whether or not you own the 2006 DVD: it is repackaged alongside the lively full 11-song soundtrack CD at a modest price.
• Alvin and the Chipmunks Go to the Movies: Funny, We Shrunk the Adults - This slight disc serves up three increasingly fun episodes of the 1990 animated TV series, supplying twists on hit '80s comedies Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, Big, and Back to the Future.
• Juno - Ellen Page stars as a sarcastic teenager who becomes pregnant and seeks to give her baby to an affluent couple (Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman). There's plenty of reason this quirky, Oscar-winning dramedy has found considerable success with audiences and critics alike.
• Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street - Tim Burton proves to be a perfect match for the dark, ironic Stephen Sondheim musical. Inspired direction, a potent performance by Johnny Depp, and solid renditions of Sondheim's fine songs all add up to a "thrilling, funny, and exceedingly clever" film which ranks among "Burton's very best." DreamWorks' 2-Disc Special Edition provides over two hours of exclusive featurettes and some snazzy packaging.
• There Will Be Blood - Paul Thomas Anderon's turn-of-the-century drama follows an oil man and his young adopted son to small-town California. That synopsis can't do justice to the supremely crafted character study which soars on the Oscar-winning performance of star Daniel Day-Lewis. Paramount's 2-Disc Collector's Edition scores points for inspired packaging, but its light supply of supplements clocks in at under an hour and says little.

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