Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has an excellent mix of action and humor, while presenting enough that is familiar to fans of the franchise that they will feel at home. There are a few places where suspension of disbelief is stretched, like when Indiana Jones survives a nuclear blast by hiding in a refrigerator. Although I had a thought that maybe drinking from the Holy Grail in The Last Crusade partially protected him from such harm. Also, there were some complaints that there was a feeling of "been there, done that," although it is a tough balancing act trying to add something new while pleasing all of the old fans. The final complaint I heard was, perhaps due to Ford's age, the balance between humor and action was tilted a little more to the humor this time around. However, it is very important to note that these three complaints, even when combined, are not enough to prevent me from offering a hearty recommendation.

At the moment I only have the Two-Disc Collector's Edition, but I expect the Single-Disc Edition is simply just the first disc. If so, it is not worth picking up, as there are only two featurettes in terms of extras: The Return of a Legend and Pre-Production. The former runs just under 18 minutes and talks about the franchise and how the fourth film came into being. The latter runs just under 12 minutes and deals with pre-visualization (which is the digital version of storyboards), as well as other pre-production jobs like costumes and stunt training. They are fun to watch, but too short for the only extras on the DVD.

Disc two of the Two-Disc Collector's Edition starts with a massive production diary, and by massive I mean it is nearly as long as the movie itself. I've reviewed movies that are shorter than this and it is incredible extensive. There's a series of shorter featurettes on specific aspects on the making of the movie: Warrior Makeup (five and a half minutes), the making of The Crystal Skulls (ten minutes), Iconic Props (10 minutes), The Effects of Indy (23 minutes), and Adventures in Post-Production (13 minutes). There is also a 4-minute featurette on the team that helped make the movie, from director Steven Spielberg to the head grip. Finally, you can check out the pre-visualization sequences for three scenes, as well as trailers, gallery, etc.

I don't have the Blu-ray yet, but I will update this review when that screener arrives. However, given the relative prices, the Blu-ray is the better deal, even if there are no additional extras.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was one of the most eagerly-anticipated releases of the year, and I'm happy to report that except for a couple minor complaints, it lived up to high expectations. It is certainly worth buying, either on Two-Disc Collector's Edition or Blu-ray, and I would certainly recommend the latter over the former.

Also coming out tomorrow is the Franchise Collection, which is a good deal if you really want all four movies but don't have any of them on DVD yet. However, I don't think there's that many people out there who fall into that category.

Iron Man - Blu-ray - Buy from Amazon
This is the third time this movie has appeared on this DVD Release Report. There's no need to go over the quality of the movie or the extras that were ported over from the DVD. We just need to deal with what sets the Blu-ray apart.

The video here is just fantastic and is among the best live action High Definition transfers I've seen. It captures the grittiness of the first half of the movie, but really shines during the second half when the red and gold Iron Man comes out. Additionally, there is a BD-Live trivia quiz on the disc where you can watch clips and answer questions, and even submit your own. It's not much over the DVD, but at least it pushes the technology further.

As we learned over the weekend, Iron Man became the highest selling Blu-ray of all time, and it did it in just two days. There's a reason for this. Not only is the movie fantastic, but the transfer is amazing, and there is even an extra feature that takes advantage of the Profile 2.0 players. It is easily worth paying extra money, and it only costs $1 more on Amazon. This is a movie that is not only worth picking up on Blu-ray if you have made the leap to High Definition. It is worth making the leap to High Definition for.

Legendary Performances - Buy from Amazon: Marty Robbins and Tammy Wynette
While watching these two DVDs I was reminded of a song by The Dixie Chicks:

Now they sound tired,
but they don't sound Haggard
They've got money,
but they don't have Cash

They don't make country music like this anymore.

Legendary Performances - Marty Robbins - Buy from Amazon
This DVD contains 15 songs performed by Marty Robbins on various TV shows over the course of 22 years and includes early hits like "Knee Deep in the Blues" and "Singing the Blues", as well as latter hits like "Ribbon of Darkness" and "A White Sport Coat (And A Pink Carnation)". And of course it contains his biggest hit, "El Paso", as well as the follow-up, "El Paso City." The oldest of these performances are more than 50 years old, but the sound and audio is better than I was expecting. Additionally, there are two extras, a short clip of Mary Robbin's induction into the Country Hall of Fame, and a 40-minute interview from early in 1982.

Legendary Performances - Tammy Wynette - Buy from Amazon
This DVD collection includes 15 performances by Tammy Wynette from various TV appearances over a 14-year period. This includes four duets with George Jones, including three that were recorded after their divorce was finalized. I think we can assume the divorce was fairly amicable. The DVD also includes her biggest hit, "Stand By Your Man", which I can't take seriously after hearing Minnie Driver butcher the song in Goldeneye. (Although it is fun singing the song in a Russian accent.) Additionally, there are a couple of short interviews from the 80s, a TV news clip about her fifth, and final marriage to George Richey, and a clip of her induction into the Country Hall of Fame in 1998. Combined the extras run roughly 20 minutes.

(On a side note, I knew there was no way in Hades they would include the song, but I really wanted to hear Tammy Wynette perform "Justified and Ancient" with KLF, also known as The Justified Ancients of Mu Mu (aka The JAMs). That would have been so cool, and confused the hell out of country music fans.

For fans of Country Music, old school County Music, these two DVDs are a great value. The only real complaint is the length, as each DVD only has about 40 minutes of music, and for fans that's not enough. They are definitely worth picking up, but they will leave fans wanting more.

The show is political satire, which is a sub-genre that is incredibly hard to get right, and this show doesn't come close. Like I mentioned when I reviewed Season One, there's very little to like about this show. I thought the animation looked cheap, I thought the voice acting was weak (especially for Lil' Bush), and worst of all, the writing wasn't sharp, which is the worst sin satire can commit. George W. Bush is such an easy target, his approval and disapproval ratings are near all-time lows, not just for his presidency, but since political polling began. But instead of nailing its target with laser precision, the juvenile attempts at lowbrow humor actually makes the real 'Dubya' look good by comparison. Maybe that's the point. Maybe this is a right-wing ploy to make George W. Bush look good. In that case, good job, but why?

Extras on disc one include short web clips, a viral video, and commentary on the episode Big Pharma, none of which have any real replay value. Extras on disc two include commentary tracks on all episodes, but there's very little information or entertainment here. Too many dead spots and too little information.

Combining political satire and lowbrow humor can work, it really can. It just doesn't work with this show. Lil'Bush - Resident of the United States doesn't even show much improvement from Season One to Season Two and watching these 10 episodes feels more like a chore than entertainment. I can't even recommend renting.

Moving on to the individual episodes.

• Show and Tell - Annie, Leo, June, and Quincy are on their way to school and they are excited because it is show and tell, but Big Jet comes along and steals all of their favorite things, so the four of them, and Rocket, have to get them back before school starts.
• The Christmas Wish - Leo tells his three friends a story about a Christmas Wish Box, and just as he finishes, Santa comes and brings them each a Wish Box of their own, each of them, except for Annie. So the friends go and look for her Wish Box, which must have fallen off of Santa's sleigh. Of course, they all use up their wishes looking for Annie's Wish Box, which doesn't seem very efficient.
• The Wind-Up Toy Prince - June tells the story of the Toy Prince, which used to dance for all of the sad toys, that was till the Mouse King stole his wind-up key. And now it is up to the four friends, and Rocket, to rescue the Toy Prince and defeat the Mouse King.
• The Northern Night Light - While visiting Lapland, the Little Einsteins meet a herd of reindeer. However, one of the baby reindeer wanders off and it is up to the gang to find it before it is too late.

This is a repetitive show, and not just in the overall format, but there are a few lines that are heard in nearly every episode. "I can not believe it!" Flying super fast. "Mission Completion." Etc. At least the music is usually different each episode. Speaking of which, the music on this DVD is the best out of the few DVDs I've reviewed and all four songs are great. Although I miss "Funeral March of a Marionette." For fans of Little Einsteins - The Christmas Wish is worth picking up, but wait till after Halloween to get it. We can't reward premature Christmas celebration.

Madagascar - Blu-ray - Buy from Amazon
This is the second time this film has come out on the home market. It first debuted on DVD back in 2005, and now it is coming out in High Definition. Since I have already discussed the film's DVD release, there's little reason to go in-depth into the quality of the movie (it is solid if a little average) or the extras that appeared on the DVD (and there's a lot) but instead concentrate on the what's new.

What's new is the High Definition Transfer, which is among the best I've seen, which is not that surprising since it is coming from a digital source. Almost all of the best looking Blu-rays I've seen have been digitally animated movies, because going from a fully digital source has its advantages. Granted, this movie is not as strong as Ratatouille's, but it is still fantastic. As for the Blu-ray Exclusive extras, there is only one, a Pop-Up Trivia Track. The trivia track balances information and entertainment, and it has enough pop-ups to not feel sparse. As a Blu-ray exclusive, I can't complain. As the only Blu-ray exclusive, I'm a little disappointed. At the very least they could have include a preview for Madagascar II.

When Paramount / Dreamworks went HD DVD exclusive, Madagascar was one of the big selling points. However, it never made it to High Definition before Warner Bros. chose Blu-ray, and effectively ended the format war. It took about a year longer than I was expecting, but the Blu-ray is worth the wait and worth picking up.

I think it is nostalgia.

The Partridge Family was a sitcom from the early 1970s about a family band that toured in their wildly painted bus. However, while this was the basis of the show, for the most part it was just your typical family sitcom from the 70s that has a lot in common with its contemporaries like The Brady Bunch (including the oppressive laugh track). The 1970s was a decade that created some of the best sitcoms to ever appear on American TV, including All in the Family, Maude, and to a lesser extent, Happy Days. (Don't get me wrong, Happy Days was a great show, but it doesn't have the social impact of the other two I mentioned.)

It's not all bad, and the season starts off relatively well with This Male Chauvinist Piggy Went to Market, which is a typical battle of the sexes episode, but it is handled well. (On a side note, I agree with Keith, cooking a single dish is a hell of a lot easier than fixing a flat tire. Housework is tough not because of any one task, it's tough because of all of the tasks one has to do every day, pretty much simultaneously.) The season also ends on a high note with Me and My Shadow where the family gets into a bet with a mystery writer on whether or not they can avoid being found by him. If after 24 hours, he doesn't know where they are, he has to donate $25,000 to their favorite charity. However, most of the rest of the episodes in between feel like filler.

Also, there are no extras on the 3-disc set, nor are there any subtitles. But there are proper chapter placements and play-all buttons.

Season Three is the penultimate season of The Partridge Family, and it is still fondly remembered by many fans nearly 25 years after its run ended. I'm not entirely sure why, since it is not that memorable a show. Thoroughly average is how I would describe it, and that's if I'm trying to be generous. Additionally, this 3-disc set is almost as bare bones as you can be and it is hard to be enthusiastic recommending it, even to fans. Even for most a rental will be enough to get the hit of nostalgia they crave.