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R.L. Stein's Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It, a review by addicted2dvd

R.L. Stein's Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It
For 13-year-old goth girl Cassie, fitting into a new school and neighborhood isn't easy, but she entertains herself by playing pranks on the "popular" kids and her little brother, Max. As Halloween approaches, Cassie's search for scares leads her to a mysterious Halloween store and an unusual book called The Evil Thing. When Max begs her to read the book to him, Cassie finally gives in, ignoring the warning "Do Not Read Aloud." But it's when they get to the last page of the book and its clear warning about the Evil Thing - "Don't Think About It" - that the spooky adventure really begins.

Starring Emily Osment and Cody Linley of Hannah Montana, Brittany Elizabeth Curran of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, and the quintessential movie villain, SAW's Tobin Bell, R.L. Stine's The Haunting Hour: Don't Think About It is sure to put a shiver in your spine!

Brittany's Thoughts:
I for one loved this movie. I have been reading  R. L. Stein's books since I was little. Now the stories keep getting better and better. I was really surprised when I heard that he wrote all of those Goosebumps books and he doesn't know how to type and he does it all with only one finger!!! I found this out by watching the interview with him on this DVD.

My Thoughts:
This is a cute Halloween movie that is fun for the whole family. Not something to watch if you are looking for something actually scary... but a good way to spend Halloween night with your kids. I know that Britt and I will be watching it every year now. I also liked the fact that Tobin Bell is in it... I really liked him in the Saw movies. I must say.. I did get a kick out of the young boy (Cassie's brother).. he was such a scaredy-cat... I think the boy was even afraid of his own shadow.

(From Father/Daughter Marathon Review: R.L. Stein on March 22nd, 2008)

Tonari no Totoro, a review by dfmorgan

Tonari no Totoro (1988/Japan) (Japan) Director: Hayao Miyazaki Writing: Hayao Miyazaki (Original Material By), Hayao Miyazaki (Screenwriter) Length: 86 min. Video: Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: Japanese: DTS-HD Master Audio: 2-Channel Stereo, English: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, Cantonese: Dolby Digital: 2-Channel Stereo, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, German: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Italian: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Korean: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Mandarin: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround Subtitles: Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean

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Stars:
Noriko Hidaka as Satsuki Kusakabe (Voice)
Chika Sakamoto as Mei Kusakabe (Voice)
Hitoshi Takagi as Totoro (Voice)
Shigesato Itoi as Tatsuo (Satsuki & Mei's Father) (Voice)
Sumi Shimamoto as Yasuko (Satsuki & Mei's Mother) (Voice)

Plot:
Critically acclaimed as one of the most delightful and charming family films ever, My Neighbor Totoro is a stunning animated treat full of magical adventure from Hayao Miyazaki.

Follow the adventures of Satsuki and her four-year-old sister Mei when they move into a new home in the countryside. To their delight, they discover that their new neighbor is a mysterious forest spirit called Totoro-who can be seen only through the eyes of a child. Totoro introduces them to extraordinary characters-including a cat that doubles as a bus!-and takes them on an incredible journey.

Extras:

• Scene Access
• Feature Trailers
• Bonus Trailers
• Featurettes
• Storyboard Comparisons
• Picture-in-picture

My original review of the R1 DVD is here.

Still a truly marvellous film and this Blu-ray edition enhances it with some added depth and colourings from the added resolution.

Rating: Still a double

(From Ghibli Blu's on July 29th, 2012)

Tom's Random Reviews, a review by Tom

Title: Wonderfalls: The Complete Series
Year: 2004
Director:
Rating: NR
Length: 573 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.78
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital Mono
Subtitles: English, Spanish


Plot:
Although a recent graduate of Brown University, Jaye Tyler decides to ignore her degree, live in a trailer and work at a tourist gift shop in Niagara Falls called Wonderfalls - much to the despair of her well-to-do family. But Jaye's aimless life takes a startling turn after a lion figurine begins talking to her. Her family calls it an "episode," but Jaye knows better. Fearing for her sanity, Jaye nevertheless starts doing exactly what an increasing number of inanimate objects tell her to do and is amazed when her outrageous actions begin changing people's lives in unexpected ways.

Extras:
Closed Captioned
Commentary
Featurettes
Music Videos
Scene Access

A really great series. Also one of the first series which got a DVD release even though it was cancelled early on its run (stupid FOX). I am not sure if I should be sad or happy that there is only this one season. At least this way we got one perfect short season with a concluded story arc (thankfully no cliffhanger ).
Jewel Staite (Kaylee from Firefly) has a recurring guest role (Heidi, Eric's wife).
As I am currenlty also watching "True Blood", I cannot help to notice the many similarities between those two series. In both we have a female protagonist who can hear things others can't (the one hears animal figures talk, the other can read minds), a gift which makes others think she is crazy. And both are wearing a yellow uniform at their jobs. Both have a bartender in love with her. And both have a black best friend who is in love with her brother, and there is also a gay character in the main cast in both series.

#	Episode	Rating
01	Wax Lion
02	Pink Flamingos
03	Karma Chameleon
04	Wound-Up Penguin
05	Crime Dog
06	Muffin Buffalo
07	Barrel Bear
08	Lovesick Ass
09	Safety Canary
10	Lying Pig
11	Cocktail Bunny
12	Totem Mole
13	Caged Bird

(From Tom's Random Reviews on February 27th, 2010)