DVD Reviews! -

Journey & Kit!

by Lynn Barker

We have checked out two new DVDs for your home viewing pleasure. These two movies couldn't be more different so there's something in this double feature for everybody!

For you adventurous types who love things to just pop out of the screen and grab you, check out Journey to the Center of the Earth... in 3-D! If you like warm, heartfelt stories with strong female heroines, you'll get into Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Here are the fun details:

DVD Cover - JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH Journey To The Center Of The Earth 3D

From Warner Home Entertainment

This adventure tale, based upon a Jules Verne Sci-Fi classic story, stars hunky Brendan Fraser as Trevor Anderson, a wacky college professor/volcanologist who is about to lose his lab and classes due to lack of interest. He hopes to one day prove the work of his late bro Max who was into a hollow earth theory. Suddenly teen-sitting his 13-year-old nephew Sean (Josh Hutcherson), Trevor realizes, with Sean's help, that certain seismic disturbances all over the earth mirror the exact conditions ten years before when Max disappeared. It's off to Iceland to check out the disturbances at an isolated station where hot mountain guide Hannah (Anita Briem) offers to lead the guys to the last of Max's seismic sensors...waaaay up the mountain. Of course the trio falls down a volcanic tube and discovers.....uh, the center of the earth!! Now, how do they get home?

Video/Audio: You get one DVD disc to flip over. One side has the 2-D "regular" movie and the other the 3-D version with four 3-D glasses for you and your buds included. The 2-D picture is really clean and clear, great details and colors. The 3D is fun as well although I prefer the 3D version you get in theaters with gray polarized lenses instead of the standard TV requirement; glasses with one blue and one red lens. Stuff pops out at you well and backgrounds stay pretty clear. Audio is Dolby Digital and will attack all of your speakers; nice bass sounds with things blowing up, growling, gurgling etc. coming through great.

Special Features: You get a "Commentary" with Brendan and director Eric Brevig and it's funny and cool; two pals sittin' around chatting about the fun they had. Well worth a listen. Really educational but fun rather than boring and dorky is the featurette "A World Within a World" that goes into various historical "hollow earth" theories. Seems that scientists and "thinkers" and a few wackos thought all sorts of things were contained inside our planet!

In "Being Josh" Josh Hutcherson takes you along for a typical day on set; at his trailer, playing with his dog, balancing on rocks that hang from the ceiling.. etc. Cool if Josh is your thing. "How to Make Dinosaur Drool" is actually a lot of fun as you see how the prop guys mixed up various compounds to get just the right giant blob of dino drool that would fall directly on Josh's face! Funny and with just the right ewwww factor. If you are into easy but kinda fun games, try out the "Adventure at the Center of the Earth Challenge". You get "Ride the Mine Car" and "Bat the Fish" which you play with the directional arrows on your controller. More fun that it should be.

Wrapping Up: This film could have had a little more "depth" in story, more really dangerous challenges etc. but it's okay for you and the little bro or sis and the 3-D is really a lot of fun. Brendan Fraser is just goofy-cool enough to hold your interest and Josh is pretty cute for the younger tween/teens in your house. Well worth at least a rental.

DVD Cover - KIT KITTREDGE - AN AMERICAN GIRL Kit Kittredge: An American Girl

During the Great Depression of the 1930's, a once middle-class family hits the skids when dad's (Chris O'Donnell) struggling car sales business is taken by the bank and young, adventurous would-be journalist Kit (Abigail Breslin) and her pretty mom Julia Ormond have to rent rooms in their house to keep their home and survive while dad searches for work in another town. Various boarders, some honest, some not, make life interesting and even dangerous for the brave mom and daughter. When a box containing all of mom's cash is stolen, Kit's new pal Will (Max Thieriot), a hobo, is suspected. Kit and pals must prove him innocent, find the real crooks and Kit is determined to write the story for the local paper.

Video/Audio: The 1930's "look" of the film comes through very well with crisp images and color. Sound, dialogue and music all balance nicely. Good job.

Special Features: You have to put your DVD into your computer to access the extras. You can also download a digital copy of the film to PC, iPod etc.

"Becoming an American Girl: Casting", a long-ish featurette focusing on the four unknown girls hired to play Kit's friends. You follow them from first learning about a country-wide casting call to their auditions to being cast to read-throughs to first day on set and filming their scenes. Director, Producer and Costume/Hair people comment. An interesting look at how the process works. In the "Making of Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" on HBO, you watch the actors both on set and talking about their characters and the story; the usual press-kit kind of info but again, informative. The "Additional Scenes" are all related. Kit and rich, BFF Ruthie argue and split up then make up. Nice acting but not really all that important to move the story forward.

Wrapping Up: In our currently stressed financial world, you and your friends might be able to identify with Kit's plight. It's sad that these times have basically come 'round again with families losing their houses to foreclosure, having to cut corners etc. but you'll enjoy Kit's story, the mystery element and the colorful, diverse characters played by some very good actors. Well worth a rental and a buy if you are a fan of Abigail Breslin or the American Girl dolls were a big part of your youth.

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