CRYSTAL BOWERSOX AND LEE DEWYZE TO COMPETE FOR “AMERICAN IDOL” CROWN TUESDAY, MAY 25, ON FOX

CASEY JAMES IS ELIMINATED FROM COMPETITION

Winner To Be Announced on Two-Hour Season Finale

Wednesday, May 26

Crystal Bowersox and Lee DeWyze are AMERICAN IDOL’s Top 2 finalists after Casey James received the fewest of America’s more than 47 million votes. The season’s most important performance show promises to be a night to remember as Bowersox and DeWyze face off for the IDOL crown at the NOKIA Theatre L.A. LIVE Tuesday, May 25 (8:00-9:00 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX.

Tune in the following night for the most anticipated television event of the season. Over 100,000 people auditioned, and now only one finalist will be crowned the next AMERICAN IDOL on the season finale Wednesday, May 26 (8:00-10:07 PM ET live/PT tape-delayed) on FOX. Next week’s celebration will feature special performances and surprise guests, and the Top 12 finalists will reunite on stage one last time before America’s vote is revealed.

Additionally, it was announced tonight that auditions for Season 10 of AMERICAN IDOL kick off this summer in Nashville, TN; New Orleans, LA; Jersey City, NJ; and San Francisco, CA. Other audition cities and more information to be announced.

AMERICAN IDOL is created and executive-produced by Simon Fuller, founder of 19 Entertainment; and executive-produced by Cecile Frot-Coutaz, CEO, FremantleMedia North America; and Ken Warwick, executive producer, FremantleMedia North America.

Visit americanidol.com for exclusive videos, interviews and photos of the finalists as well as special behind-the-scenes information and all of your AMERICAN IDOL news.

Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

Hilarious, crude and just outright funny!  Much, much better than the previous Star Wars parody “Family Guy: Blue Harvest” and most of all,  finally….a “Family Guy” release on Blu-ray!

Images courtesy of © 2009 Twentieth Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side

DURATION: 54 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: Full screen 4×3 aspect ratio (1:33:1 – Full Frame), English 5.1 Dolby Surround, Line 21, English for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, English, Spanish, and French stereo and subtitles: English, English SDH, Spanish, French, Cantonese, Mandarin, Danish, Finnish, Swedish and Norwegian

RATED: Contains language not suitable for all ages.  Parental discretion is advised.

COMPANY: Twentieth Century Fox

RELEASE DATE: December 22, 2009

Created by Seth MacFarlane

Produced by Seth MacFarlane, Mark Hentemann, David A. Goodman

Directed by Dominic Polcino

Written by Kirker Butler

Starring:

Seth MacFarlane as Peter Griffin/Han Solo, Stewie/Darth Vader, Quagmire/C-3P0

Alex Borstein as Lois Griffin/Princess Leia

Seth Green as Chris Griffin/Luke Skywalker, Brian Griffin/Chewbacca

Mila Kunis as Meg Griffin/Monster

Mike Henry as Cleveland Brown/R2-D2

The story of The Empire Strikes Back is retold. Darth Vader (Stewie) is hunting the rebel Luke Skywalker (Chris) and his troops relentlessly across the galaxy. On the ice planet Hoth, Luke has a vision of his late mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi (Herbert), telling him to go to the Dagobah system to learn the ways of the Force under Jedi Master Yoda (Carl). Meanwhile Princess Leia (Lois) finds herself taking a shine to the scruffy pilot Han Solo (Peter) and, against all odds, the two soon fall in love. But an encounter with Han’s old friend Lando Calrissian (Mort) lands them in the clutches of the Empire. Envisioning this, Luke chooses to forgo his Jedi training to save his friends. It all comes to a head in a climactic confrontation with Darth Vader himself…

In 2006, Seth MacFarlane received George Lucas’s blessing to create a Star Wars “Family Guy” hour-long episode titled “Family Guy: Blue Harvest” which would be based on “Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope”.

The series would celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the “Star Wars” franchise and would be the season premiere of the sixth season of “Family Guy”.  Needless to say, many “Star Wars” fans jumped at the chance to own the DVD release as it came in a limited edition box set.  Also, the DVD would feature a much more mature content than what was aired on television.

Sure enough, after the success of the first “Star Wars” adaptation, a sequel titled “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something Dark Side” was created for season eight (it was planned originally as the finale for season seven) and would be released on Blu-ray and DVD. As “Blue Harvest” was loosely based on “Star Wars IV: A New Hope”, this sequel is based on “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back”.  The Blu-ray release contains mature language and is bundled with a digital copy of the animated film.

In “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”, with a power outage, the family are without their television set and the children ask their father Peter Griffin to tell them another “Star Wars” story and thus begins Peter’s tale.

Similar to the live action film, Peter gives his retelling of the “Empire Strikes Back” storyline of the group fighting their enemies in Hoth and Luke Skywalker (Chris) along with R2-D2 (Cleveland) going to train in the Dagobah System to receive training from Yoda (Carl).

While Han Solo (Peter), Chewbacca (Brian), Princess Leia (Lois) and C-3P0 (Quagmire) escape from Hoth and try to evade Darth Vader (Stewie) and the stormtroopers, along with the Empire’s tie fighters and find refuge in Cloud City on the Planet Bespin and meet up with Lando Calrissian (Mort).

The sequel actually features a storyline that pays homage to “Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back” but has its share of storyline twists through Peter’s retelling of the story.  We get a little “Rocky IV”, “Juicy Fruit” and even Ryan Seacrest.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side” is presented in 1080p High Definition via Full Screen (1:33:1) and AVC @ 33MBPS.  This film actually looks much, much better than “Blue Harvest” as the animation has much more shading and looks absolutely vibrant on Blu-ray.  According to Seth MacFarlane on the audio commentary, for the seventh season they started making their series in HD.  But because the presentation is in 4:3 format, some Blu-ray fans may feel that this is unacceptable.  Otherwise, the picture quality is much more detailed and vibrant than “Blue Harvest”.

Where this special episode shines is its lossless audio soundtrack.  The John Williams music sounds absolutely gorgeous on HD (and will definitely make fans salivate to hear their favorite “Star Wars” songs on this special as they wait for a Blu-ray version of the “Star Wars” films to be released) and with this film featuring so many special effects, there is good use of the surround, rear surround channels and also LFE.  From the fight in Hoth to the fight between the Millennium Falcon and the Tie Fighters, there is great use of audio in “Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”.

Subtitles are in English SDH, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, Danish, Sweden and Norwegian.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side” comes with the following special features:

• Audio Commentary  y Executive Producers Seth MacFarlane, Mark Hentemann and David A. Goodman, Writer Kirker Butler, Director Dominic Polcino and actor Seth Green - For many of the cast and crew, they did not see the final cut, so they seem to be amazed by the work they have done.  Overall, a hilarious commentary.
• Family Guy Fact-Ups – While watching the full episode, various facts related (and unrelated) to the film pop up on screen.
• “Family Guy – Something Something Something Dark Side” Table Read – Featuring Acts 1 & 2 – (49:27) The actual table reading for “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”.  Very awesome that this was included on the Blu-ray release.
• Sneak Peek of “Family Guy – Episode VI:  We Have a Bad Feeling About This” Table Read – (2:26) A taste of what is upcoming in the “Episode VI” with a two-minute look at the Table Read.
• Behind-The-Scenes Featurette – “The Darkside of Poster Art” – (9:17) Mick Cassidy (character designer) and Joe Vaux (painter) talk about their work on the poster for “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side” and paying homage to Roger Kastel’s original “Star Wars” poster artwork.
• Animatic Scene-to-Scene with Commentary by Director Dominic Polcino – (6:36) Director Dominic Polcino’s shows us the rough animatic (pencil drawn rough reel) and compare them with the final animated reel.  Polcino talks about how the making of the episode is the final pencil-drawn animatic done for “Family Guy”.

It’s important to note that there is a limited edition of this release available on Blu-ray via a a lunch box set which comes with a t-shirt.

When I first watched the first Family Guy – Star Wars related film “Blue Harvest”, I had some mix feelings about it.  As a “Family Guy” fan and having owned the seasons on DVD prior, I thought that the musical numbers and the lecherous Herbert as Obi-Wan Kenobi really dragged the story down.  Sure, there was a lot of humor but I felt the film started to go from high to low.  With “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”… no musical numbers, less of the creepy Herbert and pretty much focused on parodying the “Empire Strikes Back” storyline very well.  So, I did enjoy this episode (or film…whatever you want to call it) a lot.

I also enjoyed the animation for the series.  There was a lot more detail, colors stood out and it just looked cool!  Also, it was great to have a “Family Guy” release on Blu-ray (even if it was presented in 4:3) and the special features were pretty enjoyable to watch, especially the table reading!

For the parents who don’t see the rating on the back of the box and were curious about watching this on family night, “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side” has its share of profanity.  A good number of F-words, S-words and sexual humor, so you don’t necessarily want to watch this with your children.

Overall, “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side” was a hilarious, crazy and fun episode.  The fact that crew focused on incorporating “Empire Strikes Back” and not deviating too much of the storyline was pretty cool.  Sure, there is some “Rocky IV” and “Juicy Fruit” homage included but I would rather have that than the musical bit that was featured in “Blue Harvest”.  It’s going to be interesting to see where the film goes for “Family Guy – Episode VI:  We Have a Bad Feeling About This” since another popular film was hinted at the end of this episode but in the end, I really did enjoy this episode.  Hilarious, crude and just outright funny!

If you are a big fan of “Family Guy” and you enjoyed “Family Guy: Blue Harvest”, you’ll definitely enjoy “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”!

And when you’re all done watching the Blu-ray release of “Family Guy: Something, Something, Something, Dark Side”, definitely check out the following related games online:

Create your own scrolling message (like mad libs):
http://www.familyguywritteninthestars.com/

Facebookers – answer some questions and find out who’s your daddy (a pay off clip will be added later this week):
http://www.familyguywhosyourdaddy.com

Game – use the force to help Luke fight Darth Stewie:
http://www.familyguyunarmedanddangerous.com/

“Glee” Season 1: Road To Sectionals (a J!-ENT DVD Review)

A series that is just so fun to watch, well-written, well-cast and songs that catchy and enjoyable. Definitely one of the highlights on television for 2009!  Gleeks will definitely enjoy this DVD box set featuring the first half of season 1!

Image courtesy of © 2009 Twentieth Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: “Glee” Season 1: Road To Sectional

DURATION: 13 Episodes (580 minutes)

DVD INFORMATION: Widescreen (1:85:1), English Dolby Surround

COMPANY: Twentieth Century Fox

RELEASED: December 29, 2009

Created by Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy

Directed by Brad Falchuk, Elodie Keene, Ryan Murphy and John Scott

Written by Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy

Executive Producer: Dante Di Loreto, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy

Co-Executive Producer: Ian Brennan, John Peter Kousakis

Producer: Alexis Martin, Michael Novick

Associate Producer: Jennifer Morrison, Thomas Kuehl

Music by James S. Levine

Cinematography by Christopher Baffa

Edited by Bradley Buecker, Nathan Allen, Joe Leonard

Casting by Eric Dawson, Carol Kritzer, Robert J. Ulrich

Production Design by Mark Hutman

Art Direction by Kevin Constant, Peter Clemens

Set Decoration by Barbara Munch

Series Costume Design by Lou Evrich

Starring:

Jane Lynch as Sue Sylvester

Matthew Morrison as Will Schuester

Lea Michele as Rachel Berry

Cory Monteith as Finn Hudson

Dianna Agron as Quinn Fabray

Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel

Jessalyn Gilsig as Terri Schuester

Jayma Mays as Emma Pillsbury

Kevin McHale as Artie Abrams

Amber Riley as Mercedes Jones

Mark Salling as Noah “Puck” Puckerman

Jenna Uskowitz as Tina Cohen-Chang

Naya Rivera as Santa Lopez

Heather Morris as Brittany

Iqbal Theba as Principal Figgins

Harry Shum Jr. as Mike Chang

Dijon Talton as Mark Rutherford

Patrick Gallagher as Ken Tanaka

Stephen Tobolowsky as Sandy Ryerson

Josh Sussman as Jacob Ben Israel

Give a cheer for TV’s hottest, funniest and most talked-about new series when “Glee” Season 1: Road To Sectionals debuts on DVD December 29 from Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Filled with beloved characters and sensational musical numbers, “Glee” Season 1: Road To Sectionals is an electrifying, pitch-perfect winner. William McKinley High School once had a champion glee club, but now they are floundering. That is when an idealistic Spanish teacher (Matthew Morrison, Music & Lyrics) takes up their cause, vowing to transform the rag-tag group of singers and dancers into champions.

With a lot of hype behind the teen musical/comedy/drama series “Glee”, many people catching “American Idol” wondered what this new series would be about.   The series created by Ryan Murphy (writer for “Nip/Tuck”, “Popular”), Brad Falchuk (producer for “Nip/Tuck”) and Ian Brennan would gain attention because of its music but for the most part, it would prove to become successful with its catchy music (with actual talent that can sing), a witty storyline and its well-cast characters.

The series proved to become so popular that two soundtracks have been released for the television series and even was nominated for four 2010 Golden Globe Awards.  With support from various media sites to even celebrities and a fanbase that have branded themselves as “gleeks”. “Glee”, although not exactly original (“Fame” was known for its musical teens in the 1980′s and the teenage jock musical was featured heavily in the Disney “High School Musical” films) and a cast of talent playing teenagers from various ethnicities and even one who is handicapped, “Glee” manages to capture the drama of high school life but also the fun of watching this group of underdogs trying to succeed.

The series revolves around the glee club of William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio.    Spanish teacher Will Schuester (played by Matthew Morrison, “As the World Turns”)  becomes the director of the club and his goal is to turn this group of underdogs to achievers and bring them to Sectionals.  Will used to be part of a successful Glee Club back in high school and wants to make the club prominent once again.  But with money now being diverted to this new club, money is taken out of the cheerleading squad (aka “Cheerios”) led by head coach Sue Sylvester (played by Jane Lynch, “Julie & Julia”, “Two and a Half Men”).  And Sue is literally hell bent in doing what she can to close the Glee club down.

Members of the Glee Club known as “New Directions!” include:

• Rachel Berry (played by Leah Michelle) – Very driven and wants to be come a famous talent.   A talented singer and has feelings for Finn.
• Finn Hudson (played by Cory Monteith, “Kyle XY”, “Kaya”) - The star quarterback of the football team who has alienated his teammates for joining the Glee Club.  Dates the cheerleader Quinn and has feelings for Rachel.  He is also the main male singer of the club.
• Quinn Fabray (played by Dianna Agron, “Heroes”) -  The head of the Cheerios (cheerleading squad) and the Celibacy Club who joins the Glee Club to spy on them for her coach Sue Sylvester and because she notices that her boyfriend Finn has eyes for Rachel.
• Mercedes Jones (played by Amber Riley) – The talented singer of Glee Club who hates being second fiddle to Rachel.  She is attracted to Kurt.
• Kurt Hummel (played by Chris Colfer) – A gay student who is picked on because he of his flamboyant style.
• Noah “Puck” Puckerman (played by Mark Salling) – Finn’s best friend and a teammate on the football team.  He joins the Glee club only so he can impress mothers at the PTA meetings.
• Artie Adams (played by Kevin McHale, “Zoey 101″, “True Blood) - A guitarist and also a paraplegic.  He is seen as a nerd and loves being part of Glee Club.
• Tina Cohen-Chang (played by Jenna Uskowitz) – The shy member of the Glee Club and is attracted to Artie.
• Santana Lopez (played by Naya Rivera) – A member of the Cheerios and the Glee Club.  Joined along with Quinn and Brittany to spy for their cheerleading head coach Susan Sylvester.
• Brittany (played by Heather Morris) – The not-s0-smart cheerleader.  Joined along with Quinn and Santana to spy for their cheerleading head coach Susan Sylvester.

Other main characters of “Glee” include:

• Jayma Mays (played by Emma Pillsbury, “Heroes”, “Ugly Betty”) – The guidance counselor who is attracted to Will but she is dating and engaged to the high school football coach, Ken Tanaka.
• Terri Schuester (played by Jessalyn Gilsig, “Heroes”) – Married to Will but a woman who will do anything to prevent Will from leaving her and dislikes his commitment towards the Glee Club.
• Ken Tanaka (played by Patrick Gallagher) – Head coach of the football team and is dating and engaged to Jayma Mays.  Not too fond of Will.
• Principal Figgins (played by Iqbal Theba) – The fair principal who tends to listen to Glee Club director Will Schuester and Cheerios Head Coach Susan Sylvester going at each other’s throats but trying to make sure there is decorum.

The first season of “Glee” features a total of 22 episodes but the first half, a total of 13-peisodes (which aired from May, September-December 2009) is featured on this four-disc DVD release.  Here is a spoilerless summary of each episode:

DISC 1:

• EPISODE 1: Pilot - Will Schuester, a former member of the Glee Club and a Spanish teacher of McKinley High School tries to restore the Glee Club in school.
  
• EPISODE 2: Showmance - The Glee club performs in front of the school in order to get new members.  Meanwhile, Will takes a second job as a janitor when he finds out his wife is pregnant.
  
• EPISODE 3: Acafellas - Will forms an all-male a cappella group known as the “Acafellas”.  Mercedes falls in love.
  
• EPISODE 4: Preggers - Rachel doesn’t feel she is being treated right in the Glee Club and Quinn receives shocking news.
  

DISC 2:

• EPISODE 5: The Rhodes Not Taken - Will brings a former high school classmate and Glee Club friend April Rhodes (played by Kristin Chenoweth) to spice things up with the current Glee Club.
• EPISODE 6: Vitamin D - Will starts a competition between the boys and the girls.
• EPISODE 7: Throwdown - With Cheerios coach Sue, now a co-leader of the Glee Club, she makes sure to cause tension amongst the members.
• EPISODE 8: Mash-Up - Will composes a mash-up.  Puck decides to ask Rachel out on a date.

DISC 3:

• EPISODE 9: Wheels - Artie’s chances of traveling with the Glee Club at regionals comes to question and Kurt takes on Rachel for a “Diva-Off”.
• EPISODE 10: Ballad - Will splits the Glee Club into teams who must sing a ballad.
• EPISODE 11: Hairography - Will suspects that Susan may be leaking information about their Glee Club to another high school.

DISC 4:

• EPISODE 12: Mattress - The Glee Club are asked to take part in a commercial without Will’s knowledge.
• EPISODE 13: Sectionals - Will takes a bullet for the Glee Club and is suspended.   Finn finds out the truth about Quinn.  With problems facing the group,  now the Glee Club must prepare for their competitions at Sectionals without their director and one of their members.

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“‘Glee’ Season 1: Road To Sectionals” is featured in widescreen (1:85:1).  Episodes feature four episodes per disc.  Picture quality is very good and compared to other television series that I have seen on DVD, I didn’t see any major noise issues during low light sequences or any major artifacting.

Audio is presented in English Dolby Surround.  The series is front and center channel driven but with those who own modern home-theater receivers may find it a benefit to have the audio set at stereo on all channels if they have a 5.1, 7.2 or higher setup.  Audio is clear and understandable.

With several Twentieth Century Fox TV shows released on Blu-ray, specifically the titles that are popular, I hope that “Glee” is released on Blu-ray in the near future.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Glee” Season 1: Road to Sectionals comes with the following special features:

• Welcome to McKinley! – (5:02) A video of Principal Figgins introducing 8th graders to his office before they go to McKinley High School.  A hilarious featurette.
• Glee Music Video – (2:44) A music video for “Somebody to Love”.
• Full Length Audition Pieces – Featuring the full-length audition pieces of Rachel performing “On My Own” and Mercedes performing “Respect”.
• Fox Movie Channel Presents Casting Session – (11:58) The creators of “Glee” talk about how it was important to have a cast that can sing and dance.  The creators and FOX execs also discuss how “Glee” became a television show.
• Deconstructing Glee with Ryan Murphy – (2:49) Ryan Murphy talks about “Glee” and how it’s different from other musicals.  Classic songs being performed on the show and more.
• Dance Boot Camp – (3:12) Interview with choreographer Zach Woodlee about training the cast to learn their dance routines.
• Jane Lynch A to Glee – (:52) Jane Lynch talks about what the vowel “A” means to her.
• Meet Jane Lynch – (1:03) Jane Lynch talks about her character Sue.
• 5 Things you don’t know about Jayma – (:39) Know more about Jayma Mays.
• 7 Things you don’t know about Cory – (1:00) Know more about Cory Monteith.
• 6 Things you don’t know about Amber – (:58) Know more about Amber Riley.
• 7 Things you don’t know about Chris – (:41) Know more about Chris Colfer.
• Video Diaries – Video diaries for Jane Lynch, Lea Michele, Matthew Morrison, Cory Monteith, Kevin McHale, Amber Riley, Chris Colfer and Dianna Agron.  The video diaries which last about 2-3 minutes long features each talent going to New York City and back to Los Angeles to promote the show.

The first time I watched “Glee” was its pilot episode and thought it was pretty fun concept, especially with the popularity of musicals such as “High School Musical” but what I liked about “Glee” is that you have your average students and the members of Glee Club are pretty much the underdogs that are picked on by the jocks.  It’s really interesting to see how the group dynamics start to evolve from the beginning to the 13th episode.

But what hooked me to the series was the music.  Personally, I’m not a fan of covers but the fact that the people on the show can sing and for the most part, how the songs are incorporate to the storyline has definitely made me a weekly viewer of the series.

I think the various love triangles on the show are quite interesting but the fact that you get situations such as teenage pregnancy to even drama between the adults, I liked how the show manages to hook in viewers that are young and old.

“Glee” is not a group of perfect teenagers, each of these characters have their faults but these characters are well fleshed out in the series that you actually care about these characters and each play their part in each episode.   Will, a teacher and the director of the Glee Club deals with his marital strife with his wife, who is determined to make sure her husband doesn’t leave him.  And the honest feelings that people have in high school and the usual drama enhanced several times to make things seem so much worse than it is.  It’s high school life well-covered.

So, far I found the music to really be pretty fun and enjoyable.  The series has strong talents especially with the voices of Leah Michelle and Amber Riley and Glee cast jams are pretty fun to listen to as well.   I like how the characters don’t burst out in song, the music is typically done when they are performing during Glee Club.   And it’s not just the students that sing, Will’s singing “The Thong Song” to Jayma or rapping to Kanye West’s “Golddigger” is pretty awesome.  I never expected him to bust out singing but the man does a great job singing those songs quite well.

Overall, there are a good amount of special features on this DVD box set to keep Gleeks busy but for those who wonder what the hub-bub is all about and why the media is giving so much coverage to this series or seeing “Twilight’s” Ashley Greene showing her love for the show, it’s a fun and entertaining musical/drama series and what best to prepare for the second half of the first season by checking out the first half on DVD.  I never expected it but even I’ve become a Gleek and own the soundtracks because I enjoyed the series that much.

“Glee” Season 1: Road to Sectionals” is highly recommended!

NOTE: We received e-mails from people asking about information on the 50% off voucher (a voucher for savings on the next “GLEE” DVD release).  Because we received a pre-review copy from FOX, we were not aware of the voucher.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (a J!-ENT Blu-ray Disc Review)

The sequel to “Night at the Museum” features more gags, higher production and action. “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” definitely looks great on Blu-ray and is absolutely loaded with special features.  If you enjoyed the film, you’ll definitely enjoy this solid Blu-ray release!

Images courtesy of © 2009 Twentieth Century Fox. All Rights Reserved.

TITLE: Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian

DURATION: 105 Minutes

BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1080p High Definition/Widescreen 2:35:1, AVC @ 20MBPS, English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish and French 5.1 Dolby Digital, Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, Portuguese

RATED: PG (Mild Action and Brief Language)

COMPANY: Twentieth Century Fox

RELEASE DATE: December 1, 2009

Directed by Shawn Levy

Written and Characters by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon

Executive Producers: Thomas M. Hammel, Josh McLaglen

Produced by Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus, Shawn Levy, Mark Radcliffe

Associate Producer: Ellen Somers

Music by Alan Silvestri

Cinematography by John Schwartzman

Editing by Dean Zimmerman, Don Zimmerman

Casting by Donna Isaacson

Production Design by Claude Pare

Art Direction by Michael Diner, Anthony Dunne, Helen Jarvis, Grant Van Der Slagt

Set Decoration by Lin MacDonald

Costume Design by Marlene Stewart

Starring:

Ben Stiller as Larry Daley

Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart

Owen Wilson as Jedediah Smith

Hank Azaria as Kahmunrah, The Thinker and Abe Lincoln

Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt

Christopher Guest as Ivan the Terrible

Alain Chabat as Napoleon Bonaparte

Steve coogan as Octavius

Ricky Gervais as Dr. McPhee

Bill Hader as General George Armstrong

Jon Bernthal as Al Capone

Patrick Gallagher as Attila the Hun

Jake Cherry as Nick Daley

Rami Malek as Ahkmenrah

Mizuo Peck as Sacajawea

History is larger than life — and twice as funny — in this monumental comedy sequel. Ben Stiller (Meet The Parents, There’s Something About Mary) stars as Larry Daley, a former night watchman at the Museum of Natural History, where the exhibits come alive after dark. But now Larry’s nocturnal friends are being retired to the archives of the Smithsonian Institution, luring him back for a hilarious, all-out battle against a cranky Egyptian Pharaoh who plans to take over the museum… and the world!

With the box office success of “Night at the Museum” in 2006 (the film made over $525 million worldwide), both director Shawn Levy (“Cheaper by the Dozen”, “Pink Panther”) and actor Ben Stiller (“Madagascar”, “Tropic Thunder”, “There’s Something About Mary”) waited for the perfect script before getting involved in a sequel.  And if they were going to do a film, it would be in a much bigger scale and trying to make the film better than the original and sure enough, this time around, the film worked with the Smithsonian.

“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” went on to make over $412 million worldwide and now the film is available on Blu-ray via a 3-disc set which includes the Blu-ray, DVD and Digital Copy.

In the first film, we learned about Larry Daley (played by Ben Stiller) who worked at the American Museum of National History as a night guard and every night, because of the Tablet of Ahkmenrah, since it’s arrival to the museum in 1952, at nights the various props at the museum turn to life.  The first film focused on Larry winning his son and also trying to prevent three older night guards from stealing the magical tablet.

In the sequel to “Night of the Museum”, It has been nearly three years later and Larry Daley no longer works for the museum as a night guard.  He is now an inventor in which his creations for Daley’s Devices are sold via TV infomercial and has become successful.

But on his day of visiting the National Museum of Art and History, he finds out that the place is temporarily closed and being renovated.  The props are being moved to the Smithsonian to make room for holographic props.  But on that night, some will be moved to the Smithsonian and some won’t, and with the Tablet of Ahkmenrah being moved, Teddy Roosevelt (played by Robin Williams) explains to Larry that the night is their final celebration together and it would be his final time of turning to life.

While Larry is saddened by the situation, it’s when he receives a call from Jedediah (played by Owen Wilson) and learns that Dexter the monkey has stolen the tablet.  To make things worse, evil Pharaoh Kahmunrah (played by Hank Azaria) is now after the tablet (and joined by Napoleon Bonaparte, Ivan the Terrible and Al Capone) and also with the tablet at the Smithsonian, that means that ALL props will now turn to life and possibly causing some major problems.

As Pharaoh Kahmunrah goes after the the tablet (his goal is to raise an army from the underworld), he captures Jedediah and locks up a few of Larry’s museum friends.

Will Larry and Amelia Earhart (played by Amy Adams) with the help of a few friends, be able to prevent the evil pharaoh from retrieving the tablet?

VIDEO & AUDIO:

“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” is featured in 1080p, Widescreen (2:35:1) and once again, Twentieth Century Fox delivers with vibrant and detailed picture quality.  You see the textures within the costumes, the metal lining of the pharaohs headdress, the detail of various settings and overall, a colorful film.  Even the prop/characters such as the Abraham Lincoln, the fossilized T-Rex, Teddy Roosevelt look very good.  There are scenes where the green screen effect wasn’t too convincing (ie. Amelia and Larry on a plane outside of the museum) and almost looked a bit campy.  But you can’t help but be hooked in by the awesome production of the film and watching this film in HD really brings out the beauty of the film.  So overall, picture quality for “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” is solid.

As for the lossless audio of “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, the film tends to be front channel heavy.  I actually was expecting the film to be quite immersive and there are some scenes (one with Amelia crashing into the museum with the plane or Abe Lincoln taking on the underworld soldiers) that sound quite awesome, but it was not filling up the soundscape that I was quite hoping for.  But for the most part, dialogue is clear and understandable, Silvestri’s music also comes out quite nicely through the front channels as well.

Subtitles are in English SDH, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin and Portuguese.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” comes with the following special features:

• Audio Commentary by Director Shawn Levy – Very informative, upbeat and detailed audio commentary by Shawn Levy.  Complimentary to the cast and crew, Levy’s commentary is pretty thorough on discussing many scenes, setting it up and what he wanted to accomplish.
• Audio Commentary by Writers Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon - An upbeat commentary.  Informative and fun, both writers tend to joke around but also give information on what is seen at certain museums and explain certain experiences and more.
• Gag Reel – (8:09) “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” bloopers.
• 12 Deleted Scenes Including Alternate Ending -(11:28) Twelve deleted scenes (which include Out of Town Emergency, Brunden: The Director’s Cut, Meet Ivan, Napoleon and Al Capone (Extended), Ivan Interrogates Larry, World Twister, Capone Gets Invited, How Many Bad Guys Can You Fit In an Elevator?,  Custer’s Plan (Extended), Moon Rover, Takin’ Em Down, Gangster Style, Larry’s Pep Talk to Custer (Extended), Alternate Ending with Dick Van Dyke, Mickey Rooney and Bill Cobbs) featuring optional audio commentary by director Shawn Levy.  From improvisation with Ben Stiller and Jonah Hill, Amelia Earhart’s moonrover scene and more.
• Curators of Comedy: Behind The Scenes With Ben Stiller - (19:55) Behind-the-scenes of “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”.  Interviews with the talent and how they wanted to make this series much better than the first and making history come to life.  And the cast discussing their favorite scenes in the film.
• Museum Scavenger Hunt Game – While watching the film, you can activate a scavenger hunt where you find items during the film.
• The Jonas Brothers in Cherub Bootcamp -(3:53) Director Shawn Levy talks about needing to hire people to play the cherubs and so he found out that the Jonas Brothers would be perfect.  A hilarious featurette featuring Shawn Levy putting the Jonas Brothers through cherub bootcamp.
• Phinding Pharaoh With Hank Azaria – (4:48) Director Shawn Levy talks about having Hank Azaria experiment with various vocals.
• Show me the Monkey Featurettes – (17:56) “Monkey Business” – Interviews with director Shawn Levy and cast about the Crystal the monkey who is in the film and how the trainer utilizes the skills of the talented monkeys in the film.  Behind-the-scenes footage of the trainers working with the monkey and more. (12:52) “Primate Prima Donnas” – Showcasing the monkeys Crystal and Squirt and using a second monkey for the film. (6:24) “The Secret of Life of a Monkey Movie Star: Life Off Camera”.  A look at how a typical day is for the monkeys.
• Historical Confessions: Famous Last Words – (6:27) Featuring interviews with the characters of “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” and what they contributed in their career.
• Secret Doors and Scientists: Behind-the-Scenes of The American Museum of Natural History – (15:57) Ellen Futter, President of the American Museum of Natural History and other staff talk about what is seen in the film can be seen at the American Museum of National History and more.  A walkthrough through various parts of the museum and more.
• Cavemen Conversations: Survival of the Wittiest – (4:17) Interviews with the three cavemen of “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” (and of course, all the cavemen do is grunt and make noises).
• Museum Magic: Entering The World Of The Photograph – (5:39) The filming of the post-World War II (VJ Day in Times Square) scene recreating the scene of the Eisenstaedt photo.
• Director 201: A Day in the Life of Director/Producer Shawn Levy – (19:17) The camera follows Director Shawn Levy on the set of “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” for a day.  Also, meeting the various crew members working closely with Shawn Levy.
• Gangster Levy – (1:55) A B&W noir short featuring director Shawn Levy and his assistant director.  Recreating a gangster noir clip which would be used in the film.
• FOX Movie Channel Presents Making a Scene - (9:35) Interview with the cast and crew and discussing the “No Go for Launch” scene.
• FOX Movie Channel Presents: World Premiere – (5:28) Host  Tava Smiley in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian for the world premiere of “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”.
• TRAILERS - Trailers for upcoming Twentieth Century Fox films.

“Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” was a film that was entertaining but similar to the first film, both films are not strong on plot but a film that features good use of CG, special effects and action.

If anything, the hijinks and craziness of the film is still intact and I really did enjoy the scenes featuring both Larry and Amelia.  But the film seems like a clutter of comedians and characters trying to get their time on the screen and director Shawn Levy tried to focus too much on these crazy antics of those characters than focus on the overlying storyline.

If anything, the film is your classic cat and mouse game with the evil pharaoh trying to catch Larry and Amelia for the tablet.  It’s a simple storyline that tries to include jokes and things that just come out of left field and just sputters downward.  Darth Vader and Sesame Street’s Oscar the Grouch in a scene together?  Or an octopus trying to hug and kiss Larry?   The humor of some of the jokes just didn’t fly well with me and felt some of the comedy was not funny at all.

Granted, it was nice to see some of “The Office” (USA and UK) cast in the film, Hank Azaria showcasing his voice talent for the character of the Pharaoh and giving the character a comical spin and although short,  the improv scene with Stiller and Jonah Hill was fun.   I do admit that I felt my attention of the film was more for Amy Adam’s Amelia Earhart character.  Adam’s is a talented actress and seeing her act on screen was definitely one of the highlights of the film.

And as for Ben Stiller, although he was in the film, I felt that his character was downgraded and most of the focus was on the surroundings rather than his character.  And I suppose it depends what one expects from this film.  Those wanting more props, special effects, gags and action…then this film is for you.

Of course, “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, like its predecessor,  is looked at as a family film.  A film where kids can be entranced by the surroundings of the museum and almost be taken to a fantasy world.  Seeing how my son enjoyed both films tremendously, I suppose the formula works especially since the film has achieved tremendous box office success worldwide.

But in the end, I felt the film was mediocre at best but as a Blu-ray release was quite solid when it came to picture quality and definitely for the inclusion of so many special features.  And for children who loved the film,  the fact that the Blu-ray release  comes with the Blu-ray disc, a DVD and a digital copy of the film is pretty awesome.

Overall, “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian” may not be a great film but it does make for a good popcorn flick with awesome production and also has plenty of fun moments.  But as long as you are not looking for a serious plot or anything deep, then you’ll definitely be entertained.  As for the Blu-ray release, it’s a pretty solid release with 3-discs, awesome picture quality and a lot of special features.  So, I have no doubt in my mind that fans of the film will definitely enjoy this release.