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February 16, 2009 -

February 14, 2009 - Kelvin Cedeno spins "Wizards of Waverly Place": Supernaturally Stylin', the second compilation given to Disney Channel's fantastical sitcom. It holds four episodes and a wardrobe featurette. More...

February 12, 2009 - Our newest review looks at Spike Lee's World War II drama Miracle at St. Anna. The film centers on four "Buffalo Soldiers" from the Army's African American units who save a boy in Italy. Nazis, partisans, and conflicted locals all add perspectives to our stranded protagonists. This R-rated Touchstone underperformer is now available. Read on...

February 11, 2009 - We've just posted the sites' 900th review with Kelvin Cedeno's critique of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. DreamWorks Animation's sequel to its 2005 hit keeps its cast of four New York zoo animals in Africa for character discoveries. The Move It, Move It Double DVD Pack includes The Penguins of Madagascar, a disc holding two episodes of Nickelodeon's forthcoming series plus a few other extras. Read the full review.

February 10, 2009 - Our latest DVD review covers "Phineas and Ferb": The Daze of Summer. Available today, this second DVD compilation from the popular Disney Channel animated series serves up 10 quarter-hour episodes including the not-yet-aired "Unfair Science Fair". That two-parter inspires the disc's four set-top games. Our review offers a new take on the show plus a 1-minute video previewing the unaired episode. Don't miss it.

February 9, 2009 - Aaron Wallace looks back at last year's cinema in a new article, The Best and Worst of 2008 in Film. Dealing with the subject atop the industry's minds at least through the 81st Annual Academy Awards on February 22, he singles out the good, the great, the ugly, and the in-between, complete with availability news. Check it out.

The reports were true. Disney today issued a press release announcing plans to distribute six DreamWorks films a year under the Touchstone Pictures banner, beginning in 2010.

February 6, 2009 - Surprising Hollywood today are reports that the Walt Disney Company might have a new partner in DreamWorks Pictures. Founded in 1994 by Steven Spielberg, former Disney exec Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen, financially-struggling DreamWorks has been seeking a new distributor since deciding to end its arrangement with Paramount. A DreamWorks-Disney deal, which would let the former independently produce and the latter distribute and share in profits, would not bring Shrek and the Madagascar zoo animals to the Disney family. Spun into its own company in 2004, DreamWorks Animation continues to be Paramount-distributed and has no stake in any agreement. Instead, the deal would find Disney distributing 4 to 8 live-action DreamWorks films a year. DreamWorks was expected to align with longtime Spielberg ally Universal Pictures, but a new press release announced the companies have ended such talks. More on this story can be found at Deadline Hollywood Daily, which reports the now-finalized deal will be announced next Monday.

Our three pages of DVDizzy.com Release Schedule have been updated with countless new titles you can look forward to turning up on DVD and Blu-ray over the next few months. Check it out!

Amazon.com is now selling The Princess Bride: 20th Anniversary Edition for just $4.99. Perfect for bumping you to free shipping or just picking this classic fairy tale romance, read our review for more info.

February 5, 2009 - Aaron Wallace serves up another look at the drama of Wisteria Lane in his new review of "Desperate Housewives": The Complete Fourth Season. Shortened but strengthened by the writer's strike, last season delivered a new housewife, a new mystery, a big tornado, and future-leaping season finale. Disney's 5-disc set provides 17 episodes, 7 audio commentaries, deleted scenes, bloopers, and more. Check out our 2-page review.

We've just posted our review of Blindness, an R-rated Miramax drama. Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo, Gael García Bernal, and Danny Glover star in this tale of a present-day city stricken with an inexplicable outbreak of "white blindness." Fernando Meirelles (City of God, The Constant Gardener) adapted this thematically dark, visually innovative film from José Saramago's novel. After making little impression on the public in theaters (besides outraging blind groups), Blindness comes to DVD next week. Read our full review.

February 3, 2009 - Our newest DVD review looks at Space Buddies. The eighth film in Disney's Golden Retriever series and the third since moving from athletics to talking puppies, this one takes the five Buddies into outer space, where they make friends with a Russian Bull Terrier named Spudnick, and have to overcome obstacles to successfully land on the moon and return home. The fast-selling DVD includes a track of Buddy Facts, a DisneyPedia featurette, bloopers, and an Alyson Stoner music video. Read on...

February 2, 2009 - Easter is more than two months away, but that doesn't mean we're too early on our Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Mystery of the Easter Chipmunk DVD review is too early. Streeting next week, Paramount's disc holds the Chipmunks' half-hour 1995 Easter special and four quarter-hour episodes from the 1980s Saturday morning cartoon. Read the full review.

January 30, 2009 - Available next week, Oliver & Company: 20th Anniversary is our newest DVD review subject. Disney's 1988 animated feature turns Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist into the story of orphaned New York City kitten who joins a band of street dogs. This modest musical hit preceded Disney's '90s animation boom. How does this single-disc reissue compare to 2002's "Special Edition"? For that, you'll have to read the review.

Two DCOMs, one DVD. Neither Hatching Pete nor Dadnapped has aired yet, but the winter 2009 Disney Channel movies are already scheduled to come to DVD together in a Double Feature disc ($26.99 SRP) on May 12th. The tween-friendly comedies, which star Jason Dolley ("Cory in the House") and "Hannah Montana" sidekicks Mitchel Musso and Emily Osment will be presented in fullscreen and Dolby 5.1 sound. Pete will hold the featurette "Unmasking the Mascot", while Dadnapped serves up an animated graphic novel and an extended ending.

One week earlier, on May 5th, Playhouse Disney's biggest hit returns to DVD in "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse": Mickey's Big Splash ($19.99 SRP). This compilation holds four summer episodes plus an unaired fifth one and a game. Alongside it, fellow preschool show "Imagination Movers" will make its DVD debut in a Warehouse Mouse Edition. The widescreen disc ($19.99) holds four episodes.

January 21, 2009 - We've updated our Disney DVD Schedule with details, dates, and preorder links for two dozen releases coming over the next three months. Cover Art has also been brought up-to-date and then some.

Recent Disney DVD Reviews:
• Mary Poppins: 45th Anniversary Edition - The film's fourth and latest release, retains almost everything from its recent deluxe set and adds a documentary, performance, gallery, and MP3 from the Broadway stage show touring the country.
• The Secret of the Magic Gourd - Disney's first Chinese film is a G-rated live-action fantasy about a lazy boy and the talking gourd who grants his every wish. The disc includes English bloopers and a game, a half-hour Chinese making-of featurette, and Baby Zhang's music video for the Mandarin end credits tune.

Recent Non-Disney DVD Reviews:
• Fireproof - The third film frugally made by a Georgia Baptist church group, this PG-rated drama surprised the industry with its strong performance in theaters last fall. "Growing Pains" alum Kirk Cameron stars as a fire chief who accepts The Love Dare, a 40-day program meant to save his rocky marriage. Sony's DVD serves up a commentary by pastors/filmmakers the Kendrick Brothers, deleted scenes, outtakes, featurettes, and more.
• City of Ember - Adapted from Jeanne DuPrau's novel, this Walden Media fantasy tells of an underground postapocalyptic community troubled by blackouts and dwindling supplies. Atonement Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan and Harry Treadaway lead a cast that includes Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, and Martin Landau.
• "Walker, Texas Ranger" - Spend nearly twenty hours with Chuck Norris as he enforces law in Dallas with his fists and feet.
• You're a Good Sport, Charlie Brown - Warner's seventh Peanuts DVD holds two 1970s animated specials -- one involving a motocross race, the other a decathlon. The bonus featurette includes comments from Charles Schulz's son Craig, who inspired the title short.
• Eagle Eye: 2-Disc Special Edition - Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan star in this high-energy suspense thriller about two strangers united by anonymous, threatening phone calls and an assortment of peril. The premium version of DreamWorks' $100 million hit includes deleted scenes, an alternate ending, a gag reel, the trailer, a photo gallery and several featurettes.
• Brideshead Revisited - Miramax's new feature film adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's esteemed 1945 novel stars Watchmen's Matthew Goode as a young man intrigued by aristocracy, the Catholic family that introduces him to it, and their stately palace. Julian Jarrold (Becoming Jane) directs a cast that includes Emma Thompson and Michael Gambon. The DVD-only release includes an audio commentary, deleted scenes, and a 20-minute featurette.

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