Author: Robert Greenberger

Tales from the Crypt 25th Anniversary Plans Announced

fright-rags-lovell-cryptkeeperIt’s hard to believe that Tales from the Crypt celebrates its 25th anniversary this year. HBO’s horror anthology show changed TV as we knew it. Fright-Rags is showing its gratitude in the way it does best: making kick-ass horror shirts!

A trio of fan-favorite artists – Jason Edmiston, Christopher Lovell and Jeff Zornow – each offer their unique take on the show’s cackling, pun-spouting host, the Crypt Keeper. The three designs are limited to 500 pieces each and available on unisex shirts, girl shirts and zip-up hoodies.

The diehard boils and ghouls who want all of the shirts are in for a real treat. Fright-Rags is offering a limited edition box set that includes all three designs, a bonus glow-in-the-dark Tales from the Crypt logo shirt (exclusive to the set), an 11×17 poster and a sticker pack, all packaged in a collector’s box. Only 200 box sets are available. Please note that sizes and quantities are limited, and hoodies are not available in the set.

Pre-orders are up now on Fright-Rags.com. Due to the limited quantities, they may sell out during the pre-order period – so act fast! Orders are expected to ship in mid-August.
The prolific company also recently released new shirts that imagine horror icons Jason Voorhees and Freddy Kruger as comic book characters. Those shirts and many more can be found on Fright-Rags’ website.

Designs are attached for your use. Fright-Rags founder Ben Scrivens is available for interview opportunities.

REVIEW: Jedi Academy #2: Return of the Padawan

Jedi Academy #2: Return of the Padawan
By Jeffrey Brown
Scholastic, 176 Pages, $12.99

jedi-academy-return-of-the-padawanJeffrey Brown is an incredibly entertaining storyteller and I fell in love with his Darth Vader and Son when I it was pointed out to me in a museum gift shop. Apparently, Scholastic and Lucasfilm love him, too, because they have recruited him to challenge The Diary of a Wimpy Kid with Jedi Academy a series of book presuming the trials and tribulations of middle school is the same in a galaxy far, far away.

Undiscerning young readers (this is aimed at readers 8-12) fell in love with the first volume and this month we see the release of the second installment. The main character is underdog Roan Novachez, who wants to be a pilot but his natural talent with The Force led him to be diverted to the Jedi Academy, taught by no less than Yoda himself.

While certain universal truths are here: unrequited crushes, rivals, bullies, challenging teachers, and mystery meat for lunch, the book is too thinly disguised. As a result, we have the equivalent of Facebook, Parent/Teacher conferences and genuine soccer. Everyone involved seems to have forgotten Star Wars is basically a space fantasy set nowhere near Earth and deal with archetypes not inside jokes.

The sheer joyful humor found in his single panel gags is absent here as Roan goes from mishap to mishap. Apparently, Yoda and his teachers know the reality of each incident but he is never vindicated in the eyes of his peers. As a result, the special quality that got him recruited to the Academy is absent. There are plenty of teaching moments throughout the story, which is mostly about his second year and attempting to master the flying simulator. The pressure of following in his father’s pilot footsteps is pretty much gone in this sequel so it has more to do with staying out of trouble.

Brown’s art style is appealing and the black and white page designs are nicely varied, switching from sequential panels to narrative. However, it also feels like he was handed a checklist of familiar visual elements to include to remind one and all this was really a Star Wars story. Wookiee? Check. Hoth?  Check. And so on.

What could have been a refreshing, enchanting story set in a well-known universe is merely a watered down Wimpy Kid knockoff. It is hard to say how much of this is Brown’s limitations from Scholastic and/or Lucasfilm or his own shortcomings. But, as long as these sell, we will no doubt follow Roan through the remainder of middle school until he how somehow saves the universe.

September Blu-ray release for Beware the Batman: Dark Justice

BEWARE2DSKEWPre-orders are now open for Warner Archive Collection’s Blu-ray™ release of Beware The Batman: Dark Justice.”Featuring the final 13 episodes of the groundbreaking, all-new CGI series’ first season, the single-disc Blu-ray™ will be released on September 30, 2014.

Beware The Batman: Dark Justice pits Batman, Alfred and swordstress Katana against the underworld likes of Anarky, Professor Pyg, Mister Toad and Magpie. Over the final 13 episodes, the rogues gallery expands with appearances by Killer Croc, Man-Bat, Deathstroke and more. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, this action-packed detective thriller deftly redefines what we have come to know as a ‘Batman show.”

Pre-orders for Beware The Batman: Dark Justice can be placed now.

 

REVIEW: 300: Rise of an Empire

DisplayMAMExtViewThe Blu-ray edition of 300: Fall of an Empire comes out on Tuesday from Warner Home Entertainment and there’s still no sign of the source material. Nearly four years after promising Xerxes, the sequel to his acclaimed 300, Frank Miller is apparently nowhere near done. As a result, it’s very hard to tell how well director Noam Murrow did. Instead, we have Zack Snyder’s visual feast adaptation of 300 to compare this with and the bottom line is that Rise is a pale comparison.

The Greeks who died at Thermopylae holding off the Persians have inspired story, song, and film in the past but Miller returned it to the public consciousness with a stark artistic retelling that Snyder lovingly reworked for film, helping create a new vocabulary for cinematic storytelling. It also had Gerard Butler and an army of incredibly fit men, brutal bloodshed, and the rallying cry of “We are Sparta!” This time around, Butler is gone, replaced with Sullivan Stapleton as Themistokles, an Athenian who happens to have killed God-king Xerxes’ (Rodrigo Santoro) father.

The problem is, we have nothing new to offer. More six-pack abs, Eva Green and Lena Headey, more bloodshed, more of the same sort of storytelling. Told from the Athenian side of the fight, Themistocles and his navy take on the Persians, knowing Leonidas was holding back the towering Xerxes,. Miller tends not to repeat himself,, adding something fresh to his sequels be it the resurrection of Elektra, the Dark Knight Strikes Again, or Sin City. What he brought to Xerxes remains to be seen so it’s hard to say if screenwriters Snyder and Kurt Johnistad had much to work with.

Watching the film, it has a familiar feel and not a pleasant one because the first was fresh and exciting. Less so the second time around without a new ingredient. Stapleton is not Butler and it robs the army of a charismatic leader. There is no nobility to the battle, no poetry to the dialogue, and no acting to make you root for the Greeks.

The video transfer is just fine and needs to be since this is visual interesting despite the repetitive feel. Colors are rich, blood soaks into sand quite nicely. The DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround track is up to task so every effect, every grunt, every musical note is clear.

There are a fine assortment of Special Features, including Behind the Scenes: The 300 Effect (30:00) which traces Miller’s idea for a sequel to film production; Real Leaders & Legends (23:00), which compares fact to fiction; Women Warriors (12:00), spotlighting  Green’s Artemisia and Lena Headey’s Queen Gorgo; Savage Warships (11:00), giving us a look at the actual Naval vessels and strategies employed in our world; and, Becoming a Warrior (5:00), the obligatory training segment.

REVIEW: Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

cms1_-beautyshot_01-e1402005438353-6840782We’ve been wondering about the stars since the first intelligent biped stared into the night sky.  Personally, I find the possibilities beyond our atmosphere fascinating and wish I had the mind to absorb the hard science. I took Astronomy in college and when I struggled with the math involved I went to the professor who asked if it was part of my major. When told no, he told me to drop the course. A year later, PBS aired Cosmos: A Personal Journey, Carl Sagan’s lauded and beloved miniseries about the stars. Being in college at the time, I missed watching it or reading the gorgeous companion volume but know it had a major impact on society.

Among those influenced by the show was Neil deGrasse Tyson who recently concluded a thirteen episode sequel, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, which is now available ion a handsome four disc Blu-ray set from 20th Century Home Entertainment. It comes at a time when America relies on Russia for engines to reach orbit and a recent analysis declares we don’t have the budget or political wherewithal to reach Mars anytime soon. We still have members of Congress automatically pooh-pooh any sort of scientific warning about our climate or evolution or the value of exploring the universe.

They should all watch this. We’re reminded of the awe-inspiring vistas of stars, solar systems, and galaxies. Credit goes to Renaissance-man Seth MacFarlane for producing this series, using his clout to get this funded and on the air. Among the executive producers is Brannon Braga, known better for mangling science fiction than embracing science but his presence here is a welcome one. Tyson partnered with Sagan’s widow Ann Druyan to write the series and collects images culled from telescopes and satellites representing a true international collective.

While Sagan was a scientist-poet, Tyson is more of an everyman but still inspires us with his wondrous tour of the cosmos. He honors his predecessor, showing what we’ve learned since the original series and builds on what was presented then. With his own version of a starship, we tour the stars and the intent was to bring a cinematic sweep to the smaller screen and it works beautifully.

The Blu-ray transfer is just shy of perfection with photography and stunning CGI recreations. The lossless DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 mix is more than match for the visuals so watching this again and again will be a pleasure.

Each of the four discs comes with Special Features such as:

Disc One:

“Standing Up in the Milky Way” Commentary from Druyan, Mitchell Cannolo, Braga, Jason Clark and Kara Vallow.

Disc Two:

Celebrating Carl Sagan: A Selection from the Library of Congress Dedication (34:37) . Credit goes to MacFarlane for getting Sagan’s papers delivered to the people’s Library.

Disc Three:

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey at Comic-Con 2013 (40:13) shows that much as we love our spaced fantasy, we’re also geeks for the real thing.

Disc Four:

Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey – The Voyage Continues (41:20) shows how the first miniseries informed and inspired the second.

Interactive Cosmic Calendar: Druyan hosts a timeline accessible from any given cosmic “month”.

REVIEW: RoboCop

robocop_2014_bd_oring-e1401481562990-4480548The best science fiction is the kind that uses the settings to make comments about our society today, making us think. When Paul Verhoeven gave us RoboCop in 1987, it was a commentary on the rapidly rising role of technology in the world along with the increasing spread of urban crime. The idea that a mortally wounded cop (Peter Weller) was involuntarily turned into a cyborg and sent out to clean up the city was riveting. The performance, blood, and violence made the film an interesting statement and the beginning of a franchise that got watered down in lesser hands.

MGM saw the moribund property as a chance to make some fresh cash with a reboot because everything else has been dusted off and for the most part done pretty well. But did Brazilian director José Padilha have something to say or was he brought in for stylish mayhem? Apparently he did, working with screenwriter Joshua Zetumer, building on the original script by Edward Neumaier and Michael Miner. Omnicorp, a subsidiary of OmniConsumer Products (OCP), is a next generation supplier of military weapons in the form of humanoid ED-209 and EM-208 mechanized warriors at a time global tensions mean a steady supply of soldiers is required.

OCP CEO Raymond Sellars (Michael Keaton) wants to sell a domestic version of his machines but is thwarted by Senator Hubert Dreyfus (Zach Grenier) and his just passed Act outlawing such domestic police. Undaunted, Sellars finds a loophole in the law and orders man put inside one of the machines, something general counsel Liz Kline (Jennifer Ehle) and marketing chief Tom Pope (Jay Baruchel) endorse. He instructs Dr. Dennett Norton (Gary Oldman) to take his prosthetics research to the next level and the scientist screens candidates until he settles on Detroit police detective Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman). Welcome, RoboCop 2.0.

Partnered with Lewis (Michael K. Williams), he takes on the underworld in the form of Antoine Vallon (Patrick Garrow) while risking his humanity as his wife Clara (Abbie Cornish) and son David (John Paul Ruttan) grow increasingly distant. Meantime, one battle is overt, while the covert story is machine versus corporation over Free Will. OCP has intentionally “dumbed down” Murphy, hoping he would merely follow orders after being trained by Rick Mattox (Jackie Early Haley) but Murphy is his own man and not the “Tin Man” Mattox insists on calling him.

Things blow up just fine and the human conflicts sometimes take a backseat to the PG-13 violence (a crass commercial move that robbed the film) but this is better than we feared when the collective consciousness said, “We don’t’ need a RoboCop reboot.” Yes, its’ commentary is not as sharp as Verhoeven’s original nor is the action any better despite enhanced special effects or the presence of Samuel L. Jackson. And maybe we don’t but what we got is a cut above and well worth a look. Padilha’s American debut is done with affectionate nods to the original film while still having its own voice.

The film, now out on home video as a Blu-ray, DVD, Digital copy combo pack form MGM Home Entertainment, has an excellent video transfer with sharp  colors. The audio is a notch below this but the overall 5.1 lossless DTS-HD MA sound mix is fine.

The Blu-pray comes with a standard assortment of unremarkable special features including Deleted Scenes (3:59), 10 Omnicorp Product Announcements (3:27); RoboCop: Engineered for the 21st Century (The Illusion of Free Will: A New Vision, 7:46; To Serve and Protect: RoboCop’s New Weapons, 6:05, The RoboCop Suit: Form and Function, 14:54); and, two theatrical trailers.

Win a Copy of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey

cms1_-beautyshot_01-e1402005438353-5669361Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
presents a fantastic journey through the universe as Carl Sagan’s visionary series continues with COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY, arriving on Blu-ray and DVD June 10.  Debuting tomorrow, two days after the epic conclusion, fans can re-watch this legendary story 13.8 billion years in the making just in time for Father’s Day in spectacular high-definition.

We have ONE copy to give away to a luck reader. Details below.

Hosted by renowned astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson and executive produced by Ann Druyan, Seth MacFarlane, Mitchell Cannold and Brannon Braga, COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY features incredible bonus materials including a stunning five-part documentary on the making of this critically-acclaimed ground-breaking event.  Fans can also discover what connects us all and see the past, present and future of our galaxy with the interactive “Cosmic Calendar,” exclusive to the Blu-ray release.

COSMOS: A SPACETIME ODYSSEY is the spectacular follow-up to Carl Sagan’s award-winning series that explored the remarkable mysteries of the cosmos and our place within it. This thrilling, 13-part adventure transports viewers across the universe of space and time, bringing to life never-before-told stories of the heroic quest for knowledge and a deeper understanding of nature. With an updated Cosmic Calendar, dazzling visual effects, and the wondrous Ship of the Imagination, fans will experience an unforgettable journey to new worlds and across the universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest and smallest scale.

11 FAMOUS UNDERCOVER GEEKS

vin-diesel-fights-off-aliens-in-new-riddick-trailer-e1402005467329-1457902When it was announced that Family Guy creator Seth MacFarlane would be Executive Producer of an update the the classic Carl Sagan-hosted science documentary series Cosmos, it raised a few eyebrows. Even more people were surprised to learn that the funny man was a personal friend of new “Cosmos” host and renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson.

In honor of Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey’s release on Blu-ray and DVD June 10th, we thought we’d take a look at some of Hollywood’s other unexpected geeks.

Vin Diesel

The beefy action star doesn’t necessarily fit the stereotype of a Dungeon Master, but Diesel has proudly been a Dungeons and Dragons enthusiast for over 20 years!

Natalie Portman

natalie-portman-v-4222553The Oscar-winning beauty holds a degree in Psychology from Harvard University, and has twice had her research published in scientific journals.

Angela Bassett

Stella may have needed Taye Diggs to help her get her groove back, but Bassett never lost her academic groove. The acting powerhouse has her Bachelors in African American Studies from Yale and a M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama.

John Legend

The All of Me singer turned down Harvard in favor of a degree in English and African American Literature from UPenn. He even worked at the prestigious Boston Consulting Group before making a splash on the music scene.

Dolph Lundgren

dolph-puinisher-e1402005516628-7546354Before he was Master of the Universe, Dolph Lundgren was a master of science, having earned a Bachelor’s degree from the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, and a Master’s degree in Chemical engineering as well as a Fullbright Scholarship to MIT.

Rashida Jones

alg-rashida-jones-wallpapers-e1402005547874-3958166The Parks and Recreation actress didn’t rely on the privileges that came with her family name (she’s the daughter of music and producing mogul Quincy Jones). She worked hard and earned a degree from Harvard University. If that isn’t enough geek cred, she’s even created her own comic book series called Frenemy of the State.

Casey Affleck

Being a brother to Ben Affleck, Casey had his fair share of experience with giant stars—something that probably helped him during his programs in astronomy and physics at Columbia University.

Tatyana Ali

We all knew Ashley Banks had a good head on her shoulders. Who knew the performer who played her was so brainy too? When The Fresh Prince of Bel Air ended its run on television, the actress and singer took a break from acting to get a degree in Politics and African American Studies from Harvard University.

Emma Watson

Hermione Grainger is practically the patron saint of geeky girls everywhere, played to perfection for 10 years by the extremely talented Watson. It made us all proud to see Watson avoid the celebutante lifestyle her fame could have afforded her and choose to pursue a college degree—from Brown University, no less!

Mila Kunis

mila-kunis-book-of-eli-7922496As if being the voice of Meg Griffin on cult animated series Family Guy wasn’t enough to get fanboys drooling, she’s also a known World of Warcraft addict, often playing anonymously with strangers online. Maybe you’ll be a little nicer to that Goblin you come across the next time you play.

Christina Applegate

Applegate may have gotten her start playing ditzy Kelly Bundy on Married with Children, but in real life the actress enjoys much nerdier pursuits. She is a hardcore gamer, spending much of her downtime on her Playstation, Xbox, and Wii.

So, out of all these geeks, tell us which one you want to have an intellectual debate with and why. We must have your answer posted no later than 11:59 p.m., Monday, June 16. The decision of ComicMix‘s judges will be final. The contest is open only to readers in the United States and Canada.

REVIEW: True Detective

true-detective-e1401109208391-2215063Years ago, there was a CBS miniseries, Chiefs, based on the Stuart Woods novel and featured a murder mystery that spanned the years, embroiling three different police chiefs. In 1983, it ran for three nights and I was captivated. When HBO debuted True Detective with Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in January, I was immediately reminded of that event. Here, both men were involved in a 1995 murder and now, 17 years later, they get drawn back to the case.

The excellent serial killer serial ran eight episodes and maintained a nourish mood and style that set it apart from all the other serial killer serials that are currently running or recently ended. On the off-chance you missed it, HBO Home Entertainment is releasing a box set this week and it’s well recommended. A lot of the credit and perhaps the reason I was reminded of the earlier series may be that this too comes from a novelist, Nic Pizzolatto. Marty Hart (Harrelson) and Rust Cohle (McConaughey), members of Louisiana’s Criminal Investigation Division, are interviewed regarding the ’95 case where a woman’s body was found, the corpse artistically arranged. Since they stopped talking in 2002, the men are interviewed separately by detectives Thomas Papania (Tory Kittles) and Maynard Gilbough (Michael Potts) allowing for varying perspectives, points of view and slightly varying details.

Over the course of the episodes, directed by Cary Joji Fukunaga, another reason the series is consistently excellent, we learn about the initial investigation and the two deeply flawed men who were haunted by its gruesomeness. Hart has been cheating on his wife, Maggie (Michelle Monaghan), with court reporter Lisa Tragnetti (Alexandra Daddario), while Cohle is battling a drug dependency and is grieving over his dead daughter. Neither man is a saint and is far from perfect, so when a second body turns up, it makes them question the man they arrested nearly two decades earlier and is still in jail. Of course, stirring up the dark past is never good although it allows the actors a chance to shine time and again.

Pizzolatto and Fukunaga deftly intertwine the two timelines as we see the previous and current investigations unfold, each step rippling across the tortured psyches of the two detectives. And then comes the finale which, like so many before it, infuriated and tantalized its fan base.  We wanted Rust to find the Yellow King but found physics instead, which left many scratching their heads n confusion. There remain threads and questions for season two although some felt more should have been resolved to make the first eight episodes more satisfying.

The eps are neatly transferred to the three Blu-ray discs tucked within a nice slipcase. The show’s art direction is well replicated on the packaging giving it the same dank, creepy feel. Visually, the three discs are superb matched with excellent DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. They are accompanied by some very nice bonus features starting with commentaries on episodes four (with Pizzolatto and Burnett) and five (Pizzolatto, Burnett and Executive Producer Scott Stephens). These are interesting (I wish there was one for the finale) although the chatter is not wall to wall as we’ve come to expect these days. HBO’s patented Inside the Episode featurettes are included followed by two deleted scenes from episodes three and eight. There is also “Making True Detective“, a fifteen minute overview which emphasizes the production design; an eight-minute chat with McConaughey and Harrelson; and, a fourteen minute dialogue between Pizzolatto and Burnett. The box set comes complete with a digital copy of the season.

Win a Copy of Robocop on Blu-ray

robocop_2014_bd_oring-e1401481562990-1840284Directed by José Padilha, RoboCop stars Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman, Michael Keaton, Abbie Cornish, Jackie Earle Haley and Samuel L. Jackson.  In RoboCop, the year is 2028 and OmniCorp – the world’s leader in robot technology – sees a golden opportunity to reap billions for their company.  When Alex Murphy (Joel Kinnaman) – a loving husband, father and good cop doing his best to stem the tide of crime and corruption in Detroit – is critically injured, OmniCorp grabs their chance to build a part-man, part-robot police officer.  OmniCorp envisions a RoboCop in every city and will stop at nothing – no matter the cost to Alex – to make sure the program succeeds.  But OmniCorp never counted on one thing: there is still a man fighting inside the machine.

Who knew that a robot could be so lovable such as WALL-E from Pixar’s beloved movie, or that robots could think like Sonny from I, Robot? Coming soon to Blu-ray is another story of a famous robot, this time one where the robot is part human and part machine. In honor of RoboCop’s Blu-ray, DVD, and VOD releases, we present to you a look at how robots have been portrayed in films.

1. Human-Like Robots

stepford-7772229We have all seen a movie where a human is discovered to be, in fact, a robot. There are the creepy ones like in The Stepford Wives, the smart ones like in A.I. Artificial Intelligence, and the eccentric ones like Edward Scissorhands whose claim to robothood has been heatedly debated. These, at least to some, are the scariest robots since you never know when you might run into one. Maybe the brother you always thought was a bit strange or that co-worker who never really talks is the robot you always feared.

2. Robots that are Killing Machines

terminator2_l-e1401481915392-1367569We can all agree that the Terminator is a killing machine. He was sent to assassin every Sarah Connor he came across, almost succeeding.  The robots in I, Robot also fall under this category since they are determined to destroy anything and anyone that does not follow V.I.K.I.’s commands.

3. Robots Built to Fight

atom_in_real_steel-wide-e1401481958764-4922543With recent movies like Pacific Rim and the Transformers series, movie fans have gotten numerous doses of huge robots that are built to fight either aliens or large monsters. While watching those movies, one can’t help but wonder if the world will ever come to that.

4. Robots that are Way too Ambitious


metropolis-1777467I, Robot and The Matrix trilogy fixated on the intelligence machines/robots could gain over humans and thus control the world and all of its resources. These machines tend to be super analytical, overflowing with common sense, and, in rare cases, like I, Robot, want to take over the world in order to protect it. In these movies, humans end up realizing the huge mistake they made by creating these monsters. And lets just admit that the whole Matrix plot was super scary (in a good sci-fi way). Metropolis, one of the first robot movies ever, also celebrates this idea of a machine that is too smart for its own good.

5. Evil Robots

westworld-5613050Evil robots usually fall under other categories on this list, most often in the human-like one. This is probably because in films, robots that end up looking like people are created that way in order to do some real damage. Gunslinger from Westworld is one of these evil robots that will not stop until he has his fake showdown. As many fanatics of the Austin Powers movies remember, the Fembots are evil sexy women robots that are sent as a lethal distraction to the movies’ namesake. Also, Joshua, the robot arm/machine is a robot that doesn’t look like a human but still scared us all. Another contender in this category is the famous MCP from Tron.

6. Robots that Want to Save the World

i-robot-e1401481993924-4258423When robots want to save the world, they usually do it hand in hand with a human. When it comes to the Iron Man series, that robot is actually a suit that eventually becomes part of the human. In I, Robot, we have Sonny “who” sacrifices himself? itself? for the sake of mankind. There is also our beloved RoboCop who becomes the law itself and eventually takes out those wanting to control him/it. Through portrayals like these, audiences get to see a glimpse of robots that intentionally and unintentionally become heroes.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios (MGM) and Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment present RoboCop, arriving on Digital HD May 20 and on Blu-ray, DVD and VOD June 3.

To win the prized copy, you need to identify your favorite category of robot and top choice robot from that category. Have your answers posted no later than 11:59 p.m., Friday, June 6 and the decision of ComicMix‘s judges will be final. The contest is open to United States and Canadian readers only.

REVIEW: How to Train Your Dragon

how-to-train-your-dragon-6971307When your children grow up and leave home, one of the regrets is that until they give you grandchildren, you have little excuse to go see the fun family films that keep rolling out. As a result, I missed How to Train Your Dragon when it arrived in 2010. I was told by those still with kids that it was a charming, funny film. Thanks to Paramount Home Entertainment, I finally caught up with it now that it has been rereleased today as a Blu-ray + DVD + Digital combo pack.

The unfortunately named Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) is a young Viking growing up on the island of Berk. His father, the better named Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler), is the tribe’s chief who insists that the youngsters are taught how to fight the fearsome dragons that share the island. Hiccup is destined for greatness – at least that’s the hope; he’s actually skinny and weak and prone to accidents — when fate shakes things up as he saves an injured young beast named Toothless. They bond and Hiccup is handed a new destiny: he has to convince the tribe that their ways are wrong and that the dragons are really allies not dinner.

It’s an uphill battle complicating with the distracting affection he has Astrid (America Ferrara). She, of course, sees him as annoying, clumsy boy. Their friend Gobbler (Craig Ferguson), a blacksmith. supplies support, crazy mechanical inventions, and even more comic relief.

Directors Chris Sanders and Dean DuBlois do a fine job adapting Cressida Cowell’s young adult novel. They make it heartwarming and funny, charming and goofy without tripping over the line and getting excessive on any account.

The current high definition disc is a visual treat for young and old alike. The 1080p transfer is pristine, keeping all the color bright and vibrant. Coupled with the wonderful 7.1 Dolby TrueHD lossless soundtrack, the viewing experience at home is superb, matching the film’s entertainment value.

This edition comes with a sticker on the slipcover offering $7.50 off a movie ticket for June’s obviously named How to Train Your Dragon 2. There are a bunch of extras carried over from earlier editions of the film such as the filmmaker’s commentary, a trivia track, the PiP feature “The Animators’ Corner”, and the featurettes “The Story Behind the Story” (7:40), “The Technical Artistry of Dragon” (10:13), “Viking-Sized Cast” (11:44), and “How to Draw a Dragon” (10:52).

New additions, and welcome ones, include “Frozen” (22:41), billed as an “exclusive episode” of the TV show Dragons: Defenders of Berk; “Book of Dragons” (17:38), a short that provides additional details about the fire-breathing dragons; Ultimate Book of Dragons, an interactive feature; and, Gobber’s Training Secrets” (2:10), a series of short vignettes about dragons.

Two more extras — the short film “Legend of the BoneKnapper Dragon” (16:33), and deleted scenes (7:33) – can only be found on the DVD.

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