Early Summer Fever DVD Review Round-Up
Ah, the lazy daze of summer! Is it too expensive for you and your buds to hit the multi-plex for the latest blockbuster? Then gather the gang at home to watch these fun DVDs. We've checked out a fluffy rom-com, a fantasy adventure and a film headlined by two big teen and tween faves.
From Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment
The Princess Protection Program: Royal B.F.F. Extended Edition
From the Disney Channel and now on DVD, this BFF-driven movie centers on two teens who couldn't be more different. Carter Mason (Selena Gomez) works at a bait shop in Louisiana with her father (Tom Verica) who lives an underground life as a secret agent for the Princess Protection Program. Carter just isn't in with the in-crowd at school and queen bee Chelsea (Jamie Chung) goes all "mean girl" on her daily. Carter likes cute Donnie (Robert Adamson) but he thinks of her as a tomboy.
Meanwhile, Rosalinda (Demi Lovato) is on her way to becoming the queen of the small country of Costa Luna. A nasty general wants to be king so he takes over and Carter's dad has to help Rosalinda flee and hide until she can return to take the throne and save her people. Of course, dad brings her home to Louisiana (he's the only one she trusts) and asks Carter to help her fit in as "Rosie" a "cousin" at school. Guys are attracted to Rosie, including Donnie so this makes a close friendship for the girls almost impossible. Of course, each girl knows something about life that the other should learn and all is eventually worked out for both.
Special Features: Quite a few! BTW, Selena Gomez told us in our interview that there is a special edition of this DVD that includes a cute best friend necklace to share with your galpal!
"Royal & Loyal BFF's" is a fun featurette with Selena and Demi. It further cements in our brains that these girls are actually BFFs in real life. There are on-set moments and comments from other actors. You get everything from yogurt-eating to secret crushes! Selena wears a cool blue dress that didn't end up in the film as well. In "A Royal Reality", real-life princess, India Oxenberg (step-daughter of cute actor Casper Van Dien) and granddaughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, talks about what a real princess should be and her own experiences as a royal. You get a few short comments by cast and crew emphasizing that a princess should work for her people and not just live for great clothes and castles.
You get the cute music video "One and the Same" which is the first time pals Demi and Selena have sung together on film! Very danceable.
Wrapping Up: Selena and Demi are very watchable in the film. Both seem quite comfortable in their roles and bring their bubbly, gung-ho enthusiasm and personal friendship to the story. You can relate to some of the high school moments and problems, enjoy the prom clothes and probably be entertained by the entire cast. Well worth a rental or buy.
From Touchstone Home Entertainment
Confessions of a Shopaholic: 2-Disc Set
This fluffy and fun rom-com stars adorable Isla Fisher as Rebecca Bloomwood (from the novels by Brit Sophie Kinsella). Rebecca, like a lot of us, is in debt on her credit cards bigtime! She can't stop shopping for high-end fashions. She's attracted to her boss (Hugh Dancy) at the financial magazine where she works as a stepping stone to her dream job writing for a high-fashion mag. Needless to say, her bad credit doesn't fly well while she is giving readers financial advice. Will she get her dream job and her man or sink further into secret debt?
Special Features: On this set, we get no audio commentary or behind-the scenes, making-of stuff. (That's on the Blu-Ray version). You do get a few bloopers (cute) and deleted scenes (cute but not really needed in the film) and a music video for "Stuck With Each Other" by Shontelle and Akon that is fun. A digital copy of the DVD for watching on the electronic device of your choice, is also provided.
Wrapping Up: The best thing about this film is the wonderful Isla Fisher. You can identify with Isla and root for her. She is also great at physical comedy (a la a modern-day Lucille Ball) and then there is adorable Hugh Dancy (yum!). Well worth a rental or a buy if you like Isla, Hugh or are collecting fun rom-coms.
From Warner Home Video
Inkheart (Widescreen and Fullscreen versions)
Inkheart, based on the novel by Cornelia Funke, is about young dad Mo (Brendan Fraser) who has the power to bring books to life simply by reading them aloud. Of course, this goes terribly wrong (a lot of characters are just not friendly) and Mo's teen daughter Meggie (Eliza Bennett) becomes involved when Mo finds a rare copy of the novel Inkheart in whose magical pages, his wife; Meggie's mom, disappeared. Seems that when you bring a character out of a book, someone in our world has to go in! Now, mom must be found and rescued. Aiding the dad and daughter for his own purposes is colorful Dustfinger played by the wonderful Paul Bettany.
Special Features: Only one on the DVD version. "Eliza Reads to Us" features teen star Eliza Bennett reading one of her favorite passages in the book, one that did not appear in the movie. The reading is accompanied by illustrations. This is pretty cool and well worth a watch. Of course, behind-the-scenes stuff or interviews would have been nice to have.
Wrapping Up: The Inkheart film is missing part of its title; the "heart". Although it is visually fun and even amazing at time and it's a nice adventure, the movie doesn't have the strong emotional heart present in the Harry Potter films for example. However, performances are good (love Paul Bettany and the ferret) and the story of the power of words is really relevant in our modern age when the printed word (with decent grammar and spelling) is disappearing in favor of blogger-blasts! Rent this, then go read a good novel! Yes, you can read it on your Kindle if you must!
