DVD

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (Single-Disc Edition)
$29.98
This version is almost as good as the original. Cute movies, well done. Not a critical masterpiece perhaps, but very entertaining and I will watch it several times I am sure.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
$29.98
I give this three stars with a heavy heart. I really enjoyed the first and second films. The animation is as good as ever, the main characters as endearing as ever, but for me, the joke has gone stale. I found myself struggling to maintain attention and it was only with effort that I made it to the end.

Up (4 Disc Combo Pack with Digital Copy and DVD) [Blu-ray]
$45.99
There is probably no name I trust more today in film and television than Pixar (with the exception of Mutant Enemy). Both the quality of their productions and the excellence of their scripts stand out among animated films. I particularly loved this one because it shatters all previous templates for what a film is supposed to be about. The main protagonist is a 78-year-old man who bears a resemblance to to Spencer Tracy and his main traveling companion is a young, rotund Asian boy scout. Along the way they acquire a delightfully absurd and gigantic bird and a talking dog (while I saw this film I was reading Clifford D. Simak's CITY, which features several talking dogs, so for a while talking dogs were a motif in my cultural life). All of this while attempting to relocate a house carried by thousands of helium-filled balloons to a mythical spot in South America called Paradise Falls. And the entire affair was prefaced by a story within the story, of the story of Carl and Ellie's long life together.

I've yet to see a Pixar movie that wasn't a complete delight. And as for the appropriateness for small children, I would not hesitate to show it to one. I think a child will find it entertaining, moving, and inspiring. The messages in the film are good, positive ones and I not only think that children can see this film without harm, but should be encouraged to do so.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy & BD-Live) [Blu-ray]
$35.99
I love the Harry Potter series and Half-Blood Prince is one of the best books in the series. To be honest i enjoyed the movie except for the beginning and the ending. I didn't care for the fact that Dumbledore had met Harry at the train station. I was really excited to read in the book that Dumbledore had gone to the Dursley's and took Harry out of there. I was also disappointed when they didn't have Dumbledore's funeral. They pretty much just let him lay dead on the pavement. I thought the cave was exciting and i was really happy that it turned out the way it did in my head when i read the book. I thought it was a bit dark and different for the Harry Potter series. I liked that the writters incorporated the fact that Tonks and Lupin were in a relationship. I thought that it could have had a better ending. All in all i like H-BP and anyone who is a big fan of the books would probably like me and be alittle dissapointed!