UltimateDisney.com/DVDizzy.com Reviews: Discussion Thread

[James]

Really looking forward to the upcoming reviews for Ellen Season Four, Sin City, Monsters, Inc., Tuck Everlasting, The Santa Clause, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, and Sharks, Flipper and Lopaka. I'm also eagerly anticipating the Roundup review, because I've wanted reviews for about half of the CDs listed there. I've really enjoyed the recent reviews, like Twitches, Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Scrubs, The Fox and the Hound, That Darn Cat, The Big Green, Wendy Wu, The Straight Story, that new Winnie the Pooh DVD, and all of the new interviews. I love how you're going back to review other DVDs, it's great. Keep up the great work guys.
-James

[MadonnasManOne]

Aaron, I have to say that I am somewhat surprised by your review of Ellen: The Complete Season Four. I'm sorry that you feel the show suffered, creatively, after Ellen came out of the closet. It is obvious that the show would take a different tone, after she came out, but, I don't think that it necessarily suffered. I believe it is just a natural turn, after someone you looked at one way, "suddenly" is another way. It was something that Ellen, the person, had to do, and I believe for her to fully embrace who she was, she also had to live that out through her character. Granted, I'm sure the producers, as well as the network, made sure to keep a tight grip on the show, and I believe that it would have been much more entertaining, had Ellen been given full control of the show. In fact, watching her daytime talk show, you can see that Ellen is far from cliched, and is a very talented person.

At any rate, thanks for the review. We all appreciate the time and effort that you, and the other reviewers, put into them!

[ichabod]

Just read the Ellen Season 4 review and I couldn't help but notice that a couple of episodes seem to run a bit shorter than the others, are they cut?

[Wonderlicious]

Good CD review page...but can anybody tell me who critiqued what, please? I'm just a little curious.

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

Great CD reviews! I've finally finished reading all of them, and all were at least amusing, especially the line, "I'm afraid it's true: The Cheetah Girls are back."

Good CD review page...but can anybody tell me who critiqued what, please? I'm just a little curious.

Well, I'm not so certain and not the expect on UD reviewers' writing styles(I'm sure Escapay is ), but it looks like Luke has written the majority of them, while I think Aaron has at least written "The Nightmare Before Christmas" review(mainly because I recall Luke not being a fan of the film ) and Baby Einstein.

[bruno_wbt]

I think that The Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack should have a 4 stars at least.

It's the second best-selling CD of the year after HSM (in Walt Disney Records)

[Escapay]

It's the second best-selling CD of the year after HSM (in Walt Disney Records)

"The Greatest Show on Earth" won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1952, but many today do not consider it as highly regarded as other films of that year, including Singin' in the Rain (which wasn't even nominated), High Noon, and The Quiet Man (both which were nominated).

Likewise, Cheetah Girls 2 may be the second-best selling CD within sale for Walt Disney Records, but isn't held in high regards as other films/soundtracks.

Escapay

[Escapay]

Excellent review for Tuck Everlasting, Lukester!

It was actually the very first Disney DVD I bought (according to the receipt (February 13, 2004), nearly a year after it came out!). It was at Blockbuster, but wasn't during that whole "crazy employee carrying a conversation while trying to push his chocolate hearts" incident. For some odd reason, we were at Blockbuster renting movies, and I checked out there used ones. Both Tuck Everlasting and Star Trek Nemesis were there used for $12.99 (and 2 for $20), and I picked them up. My parents actually let me buy DVDs back then because my collection wasn't huge. Since then I've replaced Star Trek Nemesis with the 2-disc, but I've still got Tuck Everlasting (among like 600 other things...)

Anyways, it's been more than 2 years since I've owned the disc, so after reading the review, decided to give it a spin again. Loved it, loved it and I forgot how much I loved the music to the film. Especially that hand-cranked music box that Mae kept playing.

One thing that makes me sad is the old SoapNet promo. 2002/2003 wasn't that great a year for the ABC soaps, but seeing those characters...half of them are gone now! And since that promo aired, "Port Charles" has been canceled, and they no longer air any of the primetime soaps they original acquired: "Knots Landing", "Hotel", "The Colbys", or "Falcon Crest".

Escapay

[MichaeLeah]

Good CD review page...but can anybody tell me who critiqued what, please? I'm just a little curious.

Whenever there is no name on a review, that means Luke wrote it. There may be the rare exception I am not aware of but Luke would have to fill you in on that.

Luke, I loved reading the CD review because I enjoyed the humor. That was really funny! Amazing, I actually am using an emoticon. I don't think I have done that before.

[Luke]

Time for some feedback to the feedback. Thanks to all who have posted with remarks on the reviews. They're always appreciated.

Timon/Pumbaa fan, you were half-right before you edited your post and after you did, you were still only half-right. I'll leave it to you to figure out which half.

Escapay, glad you liked that <i>Tuck Everlasting</i> review. It's cool that it inspired you to revisit the film and that you enjoyed it. As much as we strive to be timely in the publishing of our reviews, I find that more viewing pleasure seems likely to come from an unscheduled revisitation. I've enjoyed doing that on the 4-5 back titles I've found time to cover this fall.

MichaeLeah, there are a few exceptions, but you're generally right. However, the CD Roundups have a byline (buried at the bottom), which is typically arranged by the number of reviews written for that review. (The last roundup's count also left things alphabetically, pure coincidence.) Glad you liked the roundup! Aaron and Renata did great jobs with their CD reviews and spared you all having to read 13 consecutive critiques from yours truly!

Keep reading the reviews and we'll keep writing them. We're about to pass a significant milestone this weekend!

[Disney-Fan]

WOOT! Awesome Cars review. I enjoyed every word of it. I will wait for the inevitable double-dip and then I'll finally see the second half of the movie. Brilliant work, well done!

[Escapay]

Well, I'm not so certain and not the expert on UD reviewers' writing styles(I'm sure Escapay is )

Hehe, I'm not so much an expert, just that I can sometimes easily tell who's talking based on how they say things.

My guesses for all 13 reviews:

Cheetah Girls 2 - Renata (it's so sardonic it HAS to be!)

The Little Mermaid SE - Initially, I thought it'd be between Renata and Aaron, but, and not trying to be sexist, I lean more towards Renata because I can't imagine a 4-year-old Aaron in 1990 getting excited for a TLM cassette tape.

The Little Mermaid Karaoke - I want to say it's Luke, but it's too short to be a Luke, I'd have to guess it's Aaron.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse - Aaron

Baby Einstein - Aaron

Ralph's World - coupled with the fact that it mentions going to the parks 7 weeks ago, and it's descriptive length, this definitely is a Luke review!

Cars Karaoke - tough to say, it's a blend of everyone's style that I can't give a good guess. But I feel inclined to say that Luke wrote it.

Cheetah Girls Karaoke - Want to say Renata, since it mentioned the soundtrack ("CG2 soundtrack did not win me over"), but given that Luke and Renata are a thing, could be either one of them. I'd go for Luke.

High School Musical Karaoke - Renata always has great snappy remarks, this definitely is hers.

Radio Disney Party Jams - Aaron, who IIRC, also wrote a review for the Disney Mania in Concert (DVD or CD, can't remember).

Muppets Green & Red Christmas - Luke

Nightmare Before Christmas SE - Aaron, for the reasons Justin mentioned, plus the especially critical paragraph about the second disc.

Hannah Montana - must be Aaron, he almost always seems to handle a lot of Disney Channel-relate stuff for UD.

Total:
Aaron - 6
Luke - 4
Renata - 3

So...how'd I do? 100% correct? 85%? 4.9%?

Escapay

[Timon/Pumbaa fan]

Oh dear.

Lukes gave Chicken Little 3.25 out of 5 stars for the Chicken Little DVD, while gave Cars 4.25 out of 5 stars for the Cars DVD, when both had(almost) the exact amount of bonus material?

I may have to avoid talking to Luke the next couple weeks.

[Escapay]

Oh dear.

Lukes gave Chicken Little 3.25 out of 5 stars for the Chicken Little DVD, while gave Cars 4.25 out of 5 stars for the Cars DVD, when both had(almost) the exact amount of bonus material?

CL had more, though they lose points for having insipid music videos/karaoke/sing-alongs and a lousy game.

Chicken Little had:
4 Deleted Scenes (with Introductions)
"Shake Your Tail Feather" Music Video
"One Little Slip" Music Video
"One Little Slip" Karaoke
"One Little Slip" Sing-Along
"Where's Fish?" Game
"Hatching Chicken Little" - 18-minute featurette
Two Easter Eggs

Cars had:
"Mater & the Ghostlight" Short
"One Man Band" Short
"Epilogue" Short
"Inspiration for Cars" - 16-minute featurette
4 Deleted Scenes (with Introductions)
1 Easter Egg

Escapay

[Simba3]

Great review for Cars, I still wish it was 2-discs though. I am very anxious for Tuesday so I can pick it up. I still haven't seen the movie yet so that only heightens the anticipation. Ony 4 more days!! Woop woop!!

[AwallaceUNC]

Total:
Aaron - 6
Luke - 4
Renata - 3

So...how'd I do? 100% correct? 85%? 4.9%?

You guessed the right number, but named only three of mine correctly (Nightmare, Hannah Montana, and Radio Disney Party Jams). The other three were The Cheetah Girls 2, The Cheetah Girls 2 Karaoke, and High School Musical Karaoke. As for how Luke and Renata's broke down... well, that shall remain a mystery! (I don't have an authoritative answer either, but I'm pretty sure I know).

-Aaron

[AwallaceUNC]

Also, thanks for the feedback on my recent reviews, everyone.

Just read the Ellen Season 4 review and I couldn't help but notice that a couple of episodes seem to run a bit shorter than the others, are they cut?

Without tapes or source copies of the original airings, I don't have anything to go by but memory, which after ten years, is not necessarily reliable. I don't specifically remember anything that I noticed not being on the DVD, but again, that's not necessarily reliable. The slightly shorter running times could just be the result of ABC requesting more ad time for those weeks and since syndicated cuts hasn't been an issue before, I'd like to think that this is the case. I'm afraid that I can't give a better answer with any more certainty. I'm sure there <i>are</i> people with taped copies of "Ellen" out there, but this show gets covered by so few online outlets and even fewer non-net media that I'm not sure if we'll hear from them.

It was something that Ellen, the person, had to do, and I believe for her to fully embrace who she was, she also had to live that out through her character.

I do know that Ellen felt a lot of personal pressure at the time and the show reflected that. I see my job here as reviewing the show, though, not commentating on social issues except where it is necessary for discussing the content. There's a lot to be said about the fourth and fifth seasons of "Ellen," but I really feel that its virtues as a sitcom were dealt a blow. As a fan of the show, I would rather have seen many more years of really funny comedy.

In fact, watching her daytime talk show, you can see that Ellen is far from cliched, and is a very talented person.

Oh, I definitely agree with you there. Her show suffered, yes, but Ellen is brilliant and remains so today. As I've said in a previous review of the show, I consider her to be one of funniest entertainers we've ever had. I really enjoy her talk show too.

-Aaron

[Escapay]

Great review of The Santa Clause: Special Edition Lukester! Sorry to hear that it doesn't live up to its banner, but as usual, top-notch critique! I've avoided picking this up for awhile (mainly because I can never find the widescreen one), but since it's in the BestBuy promotion, I'll probably get it to tide me over until an eventual re-release.

And it's 500 reviews now! Woohoo, go UD!

I'd give you 500 pink elephants, but that'd be too many, so multiply this by 100:



Escapay

[MichaeLeah]

Oh dear.

Lukes gave Chicken Little 3.25 out of 5 stars for the Chicken Little DVD, while gave Cars 4.25 out of 5 stars for the Cars DVD, when both had(almost) the exact amount of bonus material?

I may have to avoid talking to Luke the next couple weeks.

The star rating is not just based on the bonus material. It is based on the DVD as a whole. Evidently, Luke considered Cars a better DVD overall, that includes the movie itself and bonus features.

[Escapay]

Read the Baby Einstein and Mickey Saves Santa reviews. Great job, Ed and Luke! Glad to hear your son had more fun with Baby Einstein than I ever could! Lukester, I might blindbuy Mickey Saves Santa thanks to your review.

A pink elephant for baby Tanner to stare in amazement at:



A pink elephant for young Elias to dance with:



A pink elephant for Ed's great review:



A pink elephant for Luke's great review:



A pink elephant for the best caption ever (about the slide) :



Ahh, it's good to have my minion back, bwahaha!



Escapay