Disney

CHICAGO – Last summer, Disney Interactive, Pixar, and Avalanche Software teamed on the ambitious-but-flawed “Toy Story 3,” a game that dared to do something more than your standard family movie tie-in. The game didn’t work 100% but it was a masterpiece compared to most games based on animated films. They’re back this summer with the tie-in for “Cars 2,” with similar results.

CHICAGO – The animated adventure “Gnomeo & Juliet,” recently released on Blu-ray and DVD, features an A-list voice cast and some beloved hits by Sir Elton John, but just getting talent in the recording booth either musically or merely vocally does not a movie make and the script for this thing is so uninspired and accompanied by lackluster visuals that it’s just dull to anyone over ten.

CHICAGO – Very few films have felt more made my a movie-making machine than the dull “I Am Number Four,” a film that hopes so desperately to feel like something that you’ve seen before and that you’ll like the familiarity that it never develops a personality of its own. With a dull lead, lackluster romance, goofy dialogue, and melodramatic storytelling, “I Am Number Four” disappoints in nearly every way that a movie can.

CHICAGO – Traveller’s Tales clearly seems 100% unconcerned about exhausting their “LEGO” brand as they have released “LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4,” “LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars,” and, now, “LEGO: Pirates of the Caribbean” in less than a year.

CHICAGO – Pixar continued their line of excellent Blu-ray releases a couple of weeks ago by adding “The Incredibles” to their line. As new Pixar flicks have come out or hit Blu-ray, the company has usually reached into the vault to offer one of their past hits as a companion. With only one Pixar film left to be released in HD (“Finding Nemo”), your collection is nearly complete.

CHICAGO – “TRON: Legacy” may be a bit too long and pretty goofy but it delivers what one should expect from it — bright colors, inventive action, and a compelling enough story to keep viewers interested. I’ll admit to having pretty low expectations for the film, but I was surprised at how well it works on Blu-ray with a stellar HD transfer and accompanying audio mix along with fascinating special features, including an HD version of the film that inspired it.

CHICAGO – Disney always likes to keep consumers on their toes. After spreading out the canonical releases hitting Blu-ray, often with many months between them, they have delivered a one-two punch to the wallets of parents around the world by unleashing “Alice in Wonderland” on February 1st, 2011, and following it just a month later with an even more beloved classic in “Bambi.” If you’ve been following HollywoodChicago.com for any amount of time, you probably know how we feel about the Disney Blu-ray releases. They’re the best reason to buy a player.

CHICAGO – Last week, Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” notched a couple of Academy Award nominations. Do me a favor. Don’t allow your children to only know Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the Mad Hatter when it comes to Lewis Carroll’s timeless tale.

CHICAGO – Disney has released two Nintendo Wii games in the hope of stealing a bit of Christmas cash this holiday season and one proves that family-oriented titles can still be creatively vibrant while the other proves the dictum that movie tie-ins usually are not.

CHICAGO – In our latest Blu-ray and DVD combo pack edition of the HollywoodChicago.com Hookup, we have 5 Blu-ray and DVD combo packs up for grabs to Disney’s “Step Up 3”!