#7: Wreck-It Ralph (Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy)

Wreck-It Ralph (Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy)
John C. Reilly (Actor), Sarah Silverman (Actor), Rich Moore (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(241)

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Prepare for adventure when 'the most original film in years' (Bryan Erdy, CBS-TV) that thrilled audiences of all ages drops on Blu-ray! From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes a hilarious, arcade-game-hopping journey in Disney's Wreck-It Ralph. For decades, Ralph has played the bad guy in his popular video game. In a bold move, he embarks on an action-packed adventure and sets out to prove to everyone that he is a true hero with a big heart. As he explores exciting new worlds, he teams up with some unlikely new friends including feisty misfit Vanellope von Schweetz. Then, when an evil enemy threatens their world, Ralph realizes he holds the fate of the entire arcade in his massive hands. Featuring an all-star voice cast and breakthrough bonus features that take you even deeper into the world of video games, Disney's Wreck-It Ralph has something for every player.Wreck-It Ralph is a very funny film about an arcade game "bad guy" (John C. Reilly) who's tired of being overshadowed by "good guy" Fix-It Felix Jr. (Jack McBrayer) and goes game jumping while the arcade is closed in an attempt to reinvent himself. Felix heads out to drag the oversize Ralph back to their own game, and the pair travels through a time warp of arcade games from the past 30 years that's absolutely hilarious and will cause you to never look at an electrical outlet or surge protector in the same way again. Ralph first lands in the action game "Hero's Duty," where he gets to live his dream and fight the bad guys--he even gets his hands on a hero's medal. Ralph's next stop in "Sugar Rush" yields some unexpected pitfalls that include quicksand that consists of a familiar chocolaty drink mix and a glitch called Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) who has the potential to change everything--both in her game and in Ralph's future. Little does Ralph know that he's unwittingly carried and released a cybug from the world of Hero's Duty into the Sugar Rush landscape, where it will soon multiply and threaten to take down every game in the arcade. Luckily Sergeant Calhoun (Jane Lynch), with the newly besotted Felix close at hand, is in pursuit with a plan to eradicate the pesky bugs. What makes this film so hilarious is the avalanche of subtle, and not-so-subtle references to past arcade games (think Pac-Man and Q*bert) and the clever comic exaggeration of everything from teaching someone to drive a stick shift to creating a volcanic eruption with Mentos and diet cola. The animation is great, the humor abundant, and the lessons that everybody's got a job to do and it's important to love yourself aren't bad either. (Ages 5 and older) --Tami Horiuchi Read more

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#9: Rise of the Guardians - Limited Edition Easter Gift Pack (Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy + 2 Hopping Toy Eggs)

Rise of the Guardians - Limited Edition Easter Gift Pack (Blu-ray / DVD / Digital Copy + 2 Hopping Toy Eggs)
Chris Pine (Actor), Alec Baldwin (Actor), Peter Ramsey (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(88)
Release Date: March 12, 2013



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2013 Golden Globe® Nominee, Best Animated Feature Film
10 Annie Award Nominations, including Best Animated Feature

A magical and heartwarming adventure for the whole family!Based on William Joyce's the Guardians of Childhood book series, Rise of the Guardians is a gorgeously animated film about Boogeyman Pitch Black's attempts to spread darkness and fear throughout the world and the guardians' attempts to foil him. Charged with the duty of watching over the children of the world, guardians Sandman, North, Tooth, and E. Aster Bunnymund are loved by children everywhere. When the Man in the Moon appoints Jack Frost to be the newest guardian, the other guardians doubt that Jack can be of much help against Pitch, especially considering that the children don't even believe in Jack Frost's existence. But when Pitch prevents Tooth from collecting the children's teeth, keeps E. Aster Bunnymund from hiding eggs on Easter, and turns the children's happy dreams into nightmares, the guardians realize that they're going to need all the help they can get. The children stop believing in the guardians one by one, and the question that remains is what can one fun-loving, somewhat immature boy with the power to freeze everything he touches possibly do to counteract the fear and darkness enveloping the world? The animation effects are excellent in this film--especially the images of frost and ice spreading across ponds and windowpanes. The characters are interestingly quirky, the action is constant and well paced, and the considerable voice talent includes Alec Baldwin, Chris Pine, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, and Hugh Jackman. A familiarity with the books aids deeper understanding of characters like North and Sandman, but viewers unfamiliar with the books will have no problem enjoying this film. (Ages 7 and older) --Tami Horiuchi Read more

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#9: Life of Pi [Blu-ray 3D]

Life of Pi [Blu-ray 3D]
Suraj Sharma (Actor), Irrfan Khan (Actor), Ang Lee (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(168)
Release Date: March 12, 2013

Buy new: $49.99 $27.99

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Review & Description

Embark on the adventure of a lifetime in this visual masterpiece from Oscarr winner Ang Lee*, based on the best-selling novel. After a cataclysmic shipwreck, young Pi Patel finds himself stranded on a lifeboat with the only other survivor - a ferocious Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Bound by the need to survive, the two are cast on an epic journey that must be seen to be believed.There are only so many filmmakers fearless or foolhardy enough to tackle a challenging novel, like Yann Martel's Life of Pi, but adaptation specialist Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) was well positioned to take it on. As a structuring device, he uses an interview between a journalist (Rafe Spall) and Pi Patel (The Namesake's Irrfan Khan), a Montreal immigrant with an unusual back story. As he tells the writer, his parents oversaw a zoo in French-Indian Pondicherry, and he found himself drawn to the Bengal tiger, Richard Parker--the name resulted from a clerical error--but his father (Adil Hussain) warned him to stay away. On his own, Pi became entranced by Islam, Hinduism, and Catholicism, which comes in handy when his family relocates to Canada by freighter and a brutal storm--as believably horrific as anything in Titanic--leaves Pi (now played by Suraj Sharma) stranded in a lifeboat with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and the tiger. Soon, it's just Richard and Pi struggling against the elements for 227 days, and since he doesn't want to end up as cat food, he spends most of his time in a makeshift raft attached to the boat. It's giving nothing away to say that he makes it out alive, but the point of the journey remains more enigmatic, since fate tests Pi's faith at every turn. Whether that makes this visually spectacular film a religious allegory or not, Richard (a marvel of CGI technology) remains the biggest mystery of all. --Kathleen C. Fennessy Read more

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#9: Game of Thrones: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)

Game of Thrones: The Complete Second Season (Blu-ray/DVD Combo + Digital Copy)
Emilia Clark (Actor), Michelle Fairley (Actor) | Format: Blu-ray
(333)

Buy new: $79.98 $36.99
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Based on the best-selling book series by George R.R. Martin, Game of Thrones is an epic drama set in the grounded fantasy continent of Westeros, where ambitious men and women of both honor and ill-repute live in a land where summers and winters can last years. Season 2 plays out against the backdrop of a fast-approaching winter – the season of the white raven. In King’s Landing, the coveted Iron Throne is occupied by cruel young Joffrey, counseled by his conniving mother Cersei and uncle Tyrion, who has been appointed Hand of the King. But the Lannister hold on the Throne is under assault on many fronts. There’s Robb Stark, son of the slain Lord of Winterfell, Ned Stark, who seeks autonomy in the North and has taken Cersei’s brother Jaime prisoner in battle; Daenerys Targaryen, who looks to shore up her depleted power in the east through three newborn dragons; Stannis Baratheon, eldest brother of the late King Robert, who rejects Joffrey’s legitimacy and aligns with a powerful priestess to raise a naval attack; and Stannis’ brother Renly, who has maintained his own claim since fleeing King’s Landing. In the meantime, a new leader is rising among the wildlings North of the Wall, adding new perils for Jon Snow and the order of the Night’s Watch. With tensions and treaties, animosity and alliances, Season 2 of Game of Thrones is a thrilling journey through a riveting, unforgettable fictional landscape. Read more

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#3: The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Blu-ray/DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy Combo Pack)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Blu-ray/DVD + UltraViolet Digital Copy Combo Pack)
Ian McKellen (Actor), Martin Freeman (Actor), Peter Jackson (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(154)
Release Date: March 19, 2013

Buy new: $35.99 $25.99

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The adventure follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins, who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug. Approached out of the blue by the wizard Gandalf the Grey, Bilbo finds himself joining a company of thirteen dwarves led by the legendary warrior, Thorin Oakenshield. Their journey will take them into the Wild; through treacherous lands swarming with Goblins and Orcs, deadly Wargs and Sorcerers. Although their goal lies to the East and the wastelands of the Lonely Mountain, first they must escape the goblin tunnels, where Bilbo meets the creature that will change his life forever Gollum. Here, alone with Gollum, on the shores of an underground lake, the unassuming Bilbo Baggins not only discovers depths of ingenuity and courage that surprise even him, he also gains possession of Gollum's "precious" ring that holds unexpected and useful qualities A simple, gold ring that is tied to the fate of all Middle-earth in ways Bilbo cannot begin to knowA fellow named Bilbo Baggins lives in the Shire--but perhaps you've made his acquaintance already? If you're familiar with J.R.R. Tolkien's epic Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the films that Peter Jackson wrought from them, of course you have. And here is Bilbo, played again by Ian Holm, shuffling about his hobbit hole and recalling a grand adventure from his past, when he left the Shire with a wizard and some dwarves and found a certain ring and a very peculiar creature named Gollum. This is The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, which Jackson and his LOTR crew have expanded on from Tolkien's 1937 novel. And boy, have they expanded: this 169-minute escapade is merely the first of three separate movies made from that one book, and it gets the young Bilbo (played by Martin Freeman) only a little ways into his grand trek. Many loud, garish battles and chases fill the time, along with some (it pains one to say it) fairly tedious adolescent-level humor. Jackson tends to dally with scenes that might have been more effective in half the time, and the bumptious dwarves are some of the least charming characters in the Tolkieniad. Thank goodness, there's Gollum (played, as before, by the digitally transformed Andy Serkis), who shares a riddle-trading scene with Bilbo that sends genuine shivers up the spine. Ian McKellen returns as Gandalf, and a few other LOTR folk make cameos, but the more An Unexpected Journey goes on, the less you sense the magic afoot. Despite the fun moments, this feels like a prologue for the actual movie, which is still to come. (Originally released on many screens in 3-D, the film was also showcased in some theaters in a pioneering format that increased the clarity of the image--or made it look like a soap opera, depending on your receptiveness to the flat, frictionless technology.) --Robert Horton Read more

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#9: Django Unchained [Blu-ray]

Django Unchained [Blu-ray]
Jamie Foxx (Actor), Christoph Waltz (Actor), Quentin Tarantino (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(107)
Release Date: April 16, 2013

Buy new: $39.99 $22.99

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Django (Academy Award® winner Jamie Foxx) a former slave-turned-hired gun heads back to the plantation to free his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from a tyrannical plantation owner Calvin Candie (Academy Award® nominee Leonardo DiCaprio),with the help of a German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz (Academy Award® winner Christoph Waltz).From the moment Jamie Foxx throws off a filthy, tattered blanket to reveal a richly muscled back crisscrossed with long scars, it's obvious that Django Unchained will be both true to its exploitation roots but also clear-eyed about the misery that's being exploited. Django (Foxx), a slave set free in the years before the Civil War, joins with a German dentist-turned-bounty hunter (the marvelous Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds), who has promised to help Django rescue his wife (Kerry Washington), who's still enslaved to a gleeful and grandiose plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio, plainly relishing the opportunity to play an out-and-out villain). What follows is a wild and woolly ride, crammed with all the pleasures one expects from a revenge fantasy written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Plot-wise, some things happen a little too easily (for example, Django instantly becomes a master gunslinger), but the moral perspective is not glib. For all its lurid violence and jazzy dialogue, this is a still-rare movie that paints slavery for what it was: a brutal, dehumanizing practice that allowed a privileged few to profit from the suffering of many, a practice guaranteed by the gun and the whip. Think of it as the antidote to Gone with the Wind. Tarantino is more heartfelt in Django Unchained than in any of his previous movies--without sacrificing any of the pell-mell action, tension, and delicious language that made Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill, and Pulp Fiction so very enjoyable. --Bret Fetzer Read more

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#6: Les Misérables (Two-Disc Combo Pack: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet)

Les Misérables (Two-Disc Combo Pack: Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy + UltraViolet)
Hugh Jackman (Actor), Russell Crowe (Actor), Tom Hooper (Director) | Format: Blu-ray
(158)
Release Date: March 22, 2013

Buy new: $34.98 $23.99

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Hugh Jackman, Academy Awardr winner Russell Crowe and Anne Hathaway star in this critically-acclaimed adaptation of the epic musical phenomenon. Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Mis‚rables tells the story of ex-prisoner Jean Valjean (Jackman), hunted for decades by the ruthless policeman Javert (Crowe), after he breaks parole. When Valjean agrees to care for factory worker Fantine's (Hathaway) young daughter, Cosette, their lives change forever. This enthralling story is a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit and "an unforgettable experience" (Richard Roeper, RichardRoeper.com).Les Misérables is a deeply powerful film that's rich with raw feeling, the grittiness of life in 19th-century France, and the conflict between right, wrong, and the concept of redemption. Les Misérables takes viewers on an emotionally exhausting journey as it follows ex-convict Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) after his release from prison. Valjean breaks parole, but he is granted a second chance by a kind bishop. He then moves from place to place throughout France, trying to live an honest life while ruthless policeman Javert (Russell Crowe) hunts him relentlessly. Valjean meets the broken-spirited Fantine (Anne Hathaway), promises to care for her daughter Cosette (Amanda Seyfried) as Fantine is about to die, and finds his own life completely changed as a result of that promise. Like the stage play, the film is dark, gritty, and passionate, but it enhances the sense of place in early- to mid-1800s France as a staged version simply cannot. The intricately woven plot is somewhat easier to understand here, thanks to an abundance of visual cues and the camera's unique ability to focus in so closely on the actors' faces. In fact, the intimacy of the extreme close-ups used throughout is at once uncomfortable and hugely effective. The vocal performances are generally quite good, especially considering the decision to record them live versus the customary overdubbing. Sure, some of the actors' voices seem pushed and strained at times, but that fact often only adds to the emotional intensity of the moment. Hathaway's performance is stellar, both for her vocal prowess and for the depth of feeling conveyed and maintained in her facial expressions throughout even the lengthiest and closest of close-ups. While Crowe seems an odd choice for Javert and is definitely outsung by the other members of the cast, he holds his own when it really counts with solos that are on-pitch and arguably even more powerful for their imperfections. Discerning listeners will not choose the film's Highlights from the Motion Picture Soundtrack over the full-length London or Broadway cast recordings, but sometimes an outstanding performance isn't all about musical perfection--the overall Les Misérables film experience is definitely one of those cases. New for the film is the song "Suddenly," written by the musical's original composer and lyricist Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg. Trivia buffs will note that the bishop is played by Colm Wilkinson, who originally played Valjean in the London and Broadway stage productions, and Whore #1 is played by the original London and Broadway Eponine, Frances Ruffelle. --Tami Horiuchi Read more

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