DVD Collectors Online

The Ant Bully, a review by KinkyCyborg

The Ant Bully




Title:The Ant Bully
Year: 2006
Director: John A. Davis
Rating: PG
Length: 89 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Julia Roberts
Nicolas Cage (1964)
Meryl Streep
Paul Giamatti
Zach Tyler Eisen

Plot:
When you're as small as an ant, the world is big - and adventure is bigger! That's what young Lucas learns after he aims his water pistol at some hapless ants. They retaliate with a secret potion the shrinks "the Destroyer" to their size...and turns an anthill into a mountain of thrills, action and laughs! 'Julia Roberts', 'Nicolas Cage', 'Meryl Streep' and 'Paul Giamotti' head the voice cast of this rollicking, warm-hearted family treat.

Extras:
Scene Access
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Closed Captioned
Seven Animated Shorts


Amusing story of a young boy, forever tormented with wedgies and noogies from the neighborhood kids, turns his frustration on an anthill in his front yard. He soon learns humility as he finds himself shrunk down to ant size and sees things from the insect's point of view.

Highly entertaining, plenty of adult humor and some equally hilarious and disgusting moments. Eating the 'honeydew' drops, aka, worm poop, got a loud chuckle out of me, a groan out of my wife and a bevy of giggles from my daughter. 

Always fun to pick out the voice talent and truly a star studded cast in this one. Julia Roberts, Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep and Paul Giamatti were all easy to pick out. I surprised myself by guessing Regina King's voice. Bruce Campbell was an easy spot too and his Fugax character was a scene stealer, easily the funniest in the film. I also picked out Larry Miller and Ricardo Montalban who have distinctive voices but I did miss Lily Tomlin as Mooma, the crazy grandmother.

Plenty of good messages for kids in this one. How not to lash out when you are frustrated, being thoughtful towards others and a sense of community and sharing. I don't know that these messages got through to my 5 year old daughter as after the movie was over she snatched the dvd out of my hand and declared it was now 'hers'.  Fortunately, with the help of the Tickle Monster, I was able to retrieve the movie.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2011 on March 22nd, 2011)

Slacker uprising, a review by Rich

3rd November

Slacker uprising



Michael Moore's new film is strategically timed to mobilize voters in anticipation of the 2008 United States presidential election.

Slacker Uprising takes us back to the 2004 election, when the polling margin between candidates George W. Bush and John Kerry could have tipped either way. Framed like a concert film, it captures Moore's activities as he set out on a campaign trip almost as rigorous and far-reaching as the candidates' own. He targeted young people as the demographic that could make the most difference, visiting sixty-two cities in forty-five days, and holding large rallies on college campuses. He dubbed it the Slacker Uprising Tour.

This documentary of his journey is made in the feisty spirit of independent media, budgeted at a tiny fraction of Moore's recent films. It acts like a time machine, returning us to the weeks prior to the November 2, 2004, election, when campuses across the country were exhilarated by a sense of hope and urgency. Moore masterfully foments this energy, speaking to audiences as large as fifteen thousand. He riles up the crowd with his hilarious improvisation, riffing off the day's headlines or responding to hecklers. He also brings a star-studded lineup of friends - we see appearances and performances by Roseanne Barr, Eddie Vedder, Viggo Mortensen, Steve Earle and Joan Baez, among others. His political opponents certainly take notice, lobbying schools to ban him from campus, sometimes successfully.

Although the election didn't go Moore's way, this film is a cure for the hangover that followed, and a reminder that a new political force emerged on those campuses. Young voters turned out in record numbers in 2004, reversing a trend of decline since 1972 (after the voting age lowered to eighteen). The youth vote increased even more in the following mid-term elections. If you want to understand the future of American politics, Slacker Uprising is a great place to start, showcasing what the filmmaker calls "the birth of a new political generation

As always with Moore films this is entertaining, stage managed, skilfully edited, and enlightening to a European. I'm not sure if he is a patriot or just a troublemaker, but he certainly whips up a fervour on every subject he undertakes.
Good timing for this release, it is important to note the influence of this venture did not keep the war criminal Bush from taking office for a further 4 years.
Biggest downside for me as the viewer were the many musical interludes, it kept stalling the flow of the feature IMO
 

(From November Alphabet Marathon - Discussion/Review Thread on November 3rd, 2008)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Malcolm in the Middle


Pilot
Malcolm introduces us to his world, dominated by omnipresent schoolyard bully Spath and made worse by his enforced friendship with Stevie, an asthmatic wheelchair genius. When a battery of tests reveals that Malcolm has an IQ of 165, he is moved into Stevie's special accelerated class, despite his protests that "around here being intelligent is exactly the same as being radioactive." On the bright side, Malcolm discovers a practical application for intelligence when he and Stevie spontaneously hit on a solution to Spath's persistent tyranny.

My Thoughts:
This is a fun comedy. Though I do think it is a bit out there with the dysfunctional family thing. Much like the next one I am about to watch. But it definitely has some laughs in it... and worth checking out. Unfortunately there was only the first season that was ever released.

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on March 25th, 2010)