Christmas is right around the corner. This year there have been a number of fabulous DVD releases for movies and television. Rather than trying to lump them all together we put our heads together and came up with a list of the top 12 hottest television sets and we did the same for movies, too.

This list is all about the family-friendly cartoons and live-action comedy shows that we know kids and families will be able to enjoy throughout the New Year. Kids should love each of these sets and many adults will enjoy them, too.

We offered a nice mix of some new, popular shows alongside a number of timeless classics that the whole family can enjoy. So, if you’re still on the hunt for some gifts and you don’t know what to buy, sit back and check out our family friendly TV guide. You might just find the perfect gift right under your nose.

1. The Flintstones - The Complete Series: The great thing about The Flintstones is that no matter how old you are you can enjoy this show. This is perfect for kids and adults and would be a fabulous family gift. This amazing set features all of the episodes of the show plus tons of special extras and perks that make it worthwhile.

Classic cartoons do not get much better than this and this new set will be sure to make any cartoon lover happy! At this point most everyone is familiar with Fred and the gang, but on the off chance your little ones are new to the show, this will be the perfect set for them, because once they see an episode they will definitely want to see more!

The Box Set for The Flintstones: The Complete Series can be purchased at Amazon for under $90!

2. Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 3 Collection: This is by far one of the best cartoons (geared towards older kids and teens) to be released in recent years. Not only is it well written, it’s always entertaining, and it comes with a message. It was a sad day when Avatar: The Last Airbender was cancelled and the final episode was aired. Still, this final Book 3 Collection would be a perfect addition to any fan’s DVD library.

This offers the closing of the show and would be a great way to revisit the series, so your kids can remain interested while waiting for the upcoming live action movie. If you know someone is a fan, but doesn’t have all of the sets you might want to seek out a bundle pack or pair this with the first and/or second season of the show.

The Avatar: The Last Airbender - Complete Book Three Collection is available for less than $45 through Amazon.

Also, feel free to check out our Avatar - The Last Airbender: The Complete Book 3 Collection DVD Review.

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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Movie Info:
Writer: Various
Director: Various
Cast: Kim Roberts, Lisa Lennox, Chad McNamara, Jonathan Wexler, John Catucci, Jackie Richardson
Rating: G
Studio: Lionsgate

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: September 9, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon

From all I have seen, parents have either a love or hate relationship with the Doodlebops. I have heard complaints that one of the characters is a homosexual in real life. I have also heard complaints that the show does not offer real educational value. However, despite these claims, which I will address in a moment, small children absolutely adore this show and with good reason!

It is true that Chad McNamara is a homosexual. However, in this instance he is not playing one on television. McNamara plays the role of Rooney Doodle and he does a good job. It should not matter that he identifies as homosexual in his personal life no more than it should matter than Anne Heche kissed Harrison Ford in a movie when she was claiming to be a lesbian. It’s acting. He acts like a character that probably has little to do with his real life. Furthermore, most kids don’t even understand what homosexuality is and even less of them can spot it in a children’s show character that is playing a part, like McNamara is here.

It’s also true that the academic value of Doodlebops is low. However, the creativity value is high. Not only that, but with all the singing and dancing kids are encouraged to get on their feet, which will be good for their health. Kids also learn some type of lesson, a la Barney that may not be educational, but is still important to learn. These lessons vary depending on the episode and range from things like sharing and being a good friend to the importance of being truthful.

I wouldn’t end up watching this all on my own, but with young children it’s an incredibly fun experience. The kids adore the show and dance and sing along with the television. The characters are harmless and good natured, not to mention amusing in many different ways. It makes for a great show for young children.

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Kassidy received her degree in Journalism in 2002. She lives in the Midwest with her husband of six years, Jason, their two little girls, Madison (6) and Emma (3), and four month old, Little J (Jason Jr.) . The couple is very excited to welcome their first son. Passions in life for Kassidy include painting, writing, being a Mommy, watching romantic comedies, and dancing.

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Movie Info:
Writer: Kristen Buckley, Bob Tzudiker, Brian Regan, Noni White
Director: Kevin Lima
Cast: Glenn Close, Ioan Gruffudd, Alice Evans, Gerard Depardieu, Tim McInnerny, Ian Richardson, Eric Idle, Ben Crompton, Carol Macready, Jim Carter, Ron Cook, David Horovitch, Timothy West
Rating: G
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment

Release Info:
Original Air Dates: November 22, 2000
DVD Release Date: September 16, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $21.99

One of my favorite Disney movies when I was growing up was 101 Dalmatians. I wasn’t sure how much I would like the live action film when it came out, but it wasn’t the worst movie I had seen. Then the second one came out. I was shocked that Disney allowed it to be made and was in disbelief about how bad it was. I don’t know if Glenn Close was going through a bad patch, because she’s definitely showing her talent off these days in her new show, Damages, but this movie definitely didn’t do much to highlight her talent any.

Generally it’s easy to find one bad thing and work from there to explain why something didn’t work. You can’t really do that with 102 Dalmatians because none of it worked. The writing was poor. The acting wasn’t particularly good. The direction was lacking in more ways than I can count. In short, this movie never had a chance.

I hate to say it, but maybe everyone took some drugs together and had a mass delusion that this movie would be good. Glenn Close normally isn’t bad, but not even her best work (this wasn’t it) could have saved this. Likewise, Kevin Lima has directed such films as A Goofy Movie and last year’s smash hit Enchanted. How do you direct good things and then assume something like this is any good? Maybe it was just a bad patch for him too. Apparently there were a lot of those going around.

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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Movie Info:
Writer: Shauna Cross
Director: Andrew Waller
Cast: Alona Tal, Daniella Monet, Christy Carlson Romano, Bart Johnson, Marcus T. Paulk, Eric Dill, Joey Zehr, Ben Romans
Rating: PG
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Release Info:
DVD Release Date: September 9, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for $21.99

I have a theory that teen and tween movies were created to annoy parents and pretty much anyone else with an iota of taste. They won’t be going anywhere though because teens and tweens absolutely love them. I still haven’t figured out why, but I suppose that just means I am getting old.

Taking 5 offers a simple storyline along the same vein as High School Musical. I am not a fan of HSM, but in fairness I will say it was better than watching this. The acting isn’t particularly bad. I suppose it’s the writing and direction that needs the most work.

If you have girls in middle school they will probably rave about how good this film is. They will like it because it’s relatable to them and their love for boy bands. Parents will want to find something better to do while this is on. While it is harmless and absolutely fine for the middle-schoolers to watch, it’s nothing that you would want to bother watching unless you like bad, mainstream movies for kids.

As bad as it was it would have been worse without Alona Tal and Daniella Monet. These two really manage to float the movie, making it a little less painful to watch than it really was. As much as I disliked it though, I do see the potential for younger people. Middle school and early high school students will like it, especially if they like the HSM type of movies. There isn’t as much music going on here, but it’s similar enough that if they like one they will like the other.

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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Movie Info:
Writer: Margaret Oberman, Tomas Romero, PJ Hogan
Director: Shawn Ku
Cast: Nina Dobrev, Rob Mayes, Autumn Reeser, Yassmin Alers, Al Sapienza, Brooke Lyons, Bresha Webb, Blythe Auffarth, Bianca Collins, Rodney To, Neil Haskell, David Baum, Wade Allain-Marcus
Rating: Unrated
Studio: MTV

Release Info:
Theatrical Release: August 11, 2008
DVD Release Date: August 12, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon: $15.99

MTV productions seem to be the kiss of death when it hits my desk these days. Gone are the days of exciting and fun programming from MTV. These days all you have are music shows that don’t show much, reality shows that make the sane person want to jump off the nearest bridge, and crappy musicals that are ripped off from other perky (yet still crappy) musicals. To the average reviewer, The American Mall is somewhat like receiving a package filled with arsenic. It’s a toxic waste of time that you know is going to be that bad the minute you open the package.

I don’t expect anything better from MTV anymore. I have lost all respect for them with their disinterest in playing music and making music enjoyable for all kinds of different people. You would think that would be what they want to do considering that is what made the network famous in the first place. Instead, when people stop watching the reality drivel the network went and teamed up with some of the producers of High School Musical to create a slightly racier version, but with the same ultimate idea as the fluffy Disney show.

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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Writer: Kevin Barry
Director: Michael Samstag, Charles Howard, Jerome Jarnigan
Cast: Molly Pesce
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Genius Products
Release Date: April 22, 2008

Animal Planet previously offered a reality style, makeover show that would help homeowners turn their backyard into a habitat for birds and other animals that were in the area. The show, Best of Backyard Habitat was a good idea, in theory, because it never hurts to offer the land back to the creatures that we have borrowed it from. However, from what I gather, the show is no longer in production. This Volume One set will certainly be a hit with nature lovers, people that love educational programming, and of course, old fans of the show.

I never had a chance to watch this on Animal Planet. In fact, I don’t think I’d even heard of the show until it arrived for review. Like Meerkat Manor my son immediately got into it, which was nice, because I found it fairly interesting, as well. It’s always nice to have something to watch that I am not worried about watching with him for fear of the content taking a more adult turn.

Best of Backyard Habitat Vol. 1 is not only something that will be suitable for the whole family, it’s something that will get children more interested in the world around them. Watching this makes you want to do what you can to make your yard friendlier for the world around your home. The great thing is that the show will really give you a lot of the tips that you need to do just that.

Release Information:
Best of Backyard Habitat Vol. 1 was released by Animal Planet and Genius Products on April 22, 2008. The show, which was original on and filmed in 2005, is no longer in production at this point.
The Best of Backyard Habitat Vol. 1 Plot takes you around the country with a host and a member of the National Wildlife Federation who helps people set their yards up to provide local animals (birds and other native species) with food, shelter, water, and space. Each show offers plenty of creative tips and ways that you can transform your backyard that you may not have considered previously. This set is a one-disc, Volume One DVD that is available through onlineretailers, including Amazon where it is available for $12.99.

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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Creator: Caroline Hawkins
Cast: Sean Astin, Flower, Mozart, Zaphod, Youssarian, Mitch, Shakespeare, Houdini
Rating: Not Rated
Studio: Genius
Release Date: April 8, 2008

When I first got this set to review, I didn’t even know what a Meerkat was. Considering the bulk of the content that I review, I don’t have a lot of time for just watching television, so I had never heard of this show before this review. Likewise, I have never really watched Animal Planet, though I don’t particularly have a good reason as to why. It likely stems from the very little time I have with the television. I wasn’t sure if I was going to fall in love with this show or if it would bore me to tears. I am glad to say that I found it incredibly engaging. From start to finish, I could not get enough of the Whiskers clan or their triumphs and tribulations.

My son had a chance to sit in on the viewing and watch it with me. He is homeschooled so he was overjoyed to learn that the first couple of episodes would be tied into his Science lesson for the day. Of course, when it came time to shut the show off he complained. He needed to know what would happen to Flower and the other Whiskers.

Were the babies going to be okay? Would Mozart get back into the family? Who would be the dominant male in the enemy, Lazuli clan? Being that these were all things I wanted to know and didn’t have the answers to, I graciously allowed him to continue watching, so that I could keep watching, as well.

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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Writer: Jon Vitti, Will McRobb, Chris Viscardi
Director: Tim Hill
Cast: Jason Lee, David Cross, Cameron Richardson, Justin Long, Jane Lynch, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney
Rating: PG
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: April 1, 2008

Growing up in the 80s, I am proud to admit I was a huge fan of the Alvin and the Chipmunks television show. When I heard they were going to make a live action version of the chipmunks I was somewhat worried. My favorite cartoon is Garfield and we all remember what happened when that went live action. Two crappy Garfield flicks later, the thought of the Chipmunks having the same fate didn’t fly well with me. When I saw the trailer, I was amused. I was going to give this movie a shot and keep an open mind.

I’m glad I did. Alvin and the Chipmunks was a funny, entertaining blast back to my childhood, with some modern touches that really helped to keep my son entertained. We watched this one as a family and if you have kids between the ages of 5 and 14 they should really enjoy this. Older teens may scoff at it, but there is still humor to be found for both them and adults. I laughed. I thought it was cute, and I didn’t find anything inappropriate. In fact, I was impressed by the message of the story. Hopefully, you will be impressed by it, as well.

Release Information:
The North American debut of Alvin and the Chipmunks happened on December 14, 2007. There were massive amounts of promotion for the movie by 20th Century Fox, leading up to the film’s release. While critics didn’t seem to like the movie, the box office numbers don’t seem to agree with them. In its first weekend, Alvin and the Chipmunks was in second place and while the film was released in over 3,000 theaters, it grossed over $44 million in this weekend alone, domestically.

Today, the film boasts a profit of well over $355 million worldwide. This value makes Alvin and the (more…)

Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Writers: John Tartaglia
Cast: John Tartaglia, Heather Asch, Leslie Carrara, Tim Lagasse, Carmen Osbahr, James J. Kroupa, Natalie Venetia Belcon
Rating: G
Studio: Walt Disney Video
Release Date: March 18, 2008

Finding a children’s show that has a human lead and either an animated CGI character or some puppets is pretty common. From Sesame Street to shows like Blue’s Clues the concept has been done before. However, when you add in music, things become somewhat trickier. Many parents swear off shows like Barney because of his tendency to be frickin annoying. Even if you let your child watch it you never really like to watch it with them. It’s more of an obligation. Sure, you know all his songs and can sing them on queue, but you never really have a good time doing it. Enter Johnny and the Sprites to change all of that.

I had no idea who John Tartaglia was when I popped this in. Nor did I have any idea how catchy this show would be. As I sit here now, writing this, I am singing the theme song because it gets in your head and it doesn’t seem to want to leave. It’s okay though, I’ve certainly had worse music stuck in there. John has this amazing presence in front of the camera, coming off as both incredibly warm and larger than life. It was what I could only describe as a Musical Theatre presence. I was so sure that I was right that I headed over to Dominick, otherwise known as Mr. Broadway in our house, for a confirmation.

I asked him to watch the episodes that I had already watched and see if he could tell me that John was one of those Musical Theatre guys. I knew he sang much too well to be just another guy, so maybe it was just that I wanted Dominick to like this show as much as I did. Either way, it took him all of six or seven minutes to exclaim “That’s John Tartaglia!” I am somewhat ashamed to admit, I wasn’t sure who that was, but then my Broadway experience is limited to every song in Rent and the basic shows that everyone else on the planet has heard.

He politely put me in my place by explaining that John had won awards for his work on ‘Avenue Q’. So, I was right. The more important point though, is that it is his presence that lights up the show and will make you want to laugh, play, and dance right along with Tartaglia and the sprites on this enjoyable and entertaining DVD.

Release Information:
Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites airs on Playhouse Disney and is one of their most inventive and entertaining shows for both parents and children. Created by John Tartaglia, a man who is no stranger to performing, Johnny and the Sprites mixes music and dynamic characters to foster creativity by using music to offer a fun and safe environment for your children. Tartaglia was the youngest person to work as a puppeteer on Sesame Street, even having a chance to be the stand-in Elmo, when needed. He has taken this experience and knowledge and put it into Johnny, as well as the smash hit ‘Avenue Q’, which also uses puppets in a way that most people would never think of on their own.

Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites is a short DVD meant to introduce the show to children and adults that have not yet had a chance to watch it on Disney. In fact, there are no full episodes on here. Instead there are five segments from five shows. There are normally two segments in each show. Instead of airing both here they have just taken one from each episode. There are also a handful of special features to create a DVD well worth purchasing. Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites was made available on March 18, 2008 by Walt Disney Home Video. You can pick this up at most major retailers that sell children’s DVDs, including Amazon where you can purchase this for just under $17.

The Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites Plot
Without John Tartaglia, Johnny and the Sprites would not be nearly as entertaining. Tartaglia is amazingly charismatic and it translates beautifully into this show. He is fun to watch and rather infectious making you want to sing and dance right alongside him. Johnny and the Sprites is addictive, causing people that love music, happiness, and puppets to embrace this piece of pop culture wholeheartedly.

In the show, Johnny plays a songwriter who moves into a house in the woods. The backyard of the house is home to some magical creatures known as the Sprites. The Sprites are creatures that can only be seen by Johnny and now you and the other viewers. The Sprites and Johnny are friends and the more time they spend together, the more they get to learn about each other’s worlds. This is the essence of the show. Each episode offers some form of conflict or innocent mishap that leads to a lesson in the end. Naturally, the Sprites are usually at the hand of the mishap and Johnny helpfully offers a solution to their problem or a bit of wisdom that, more often than not, occurs in song.

Each of the Sprites has their own personality and something about them that most children can relate to. There are four main Sprites including Ginger, Lily, Basil, and Root. The Sprites live in the woods behind Johnny’s house in a place called Grotto’s Grove. The episodes on the disc include “Ginger’s Antenna Dilemma”, “Root’s Dadoots”, “Where’s the Water, Lily?”, “Basil’s Band”, and “The Sprites and the What?!”

The music is one of the biggest focus points for anyone that has surpassed preschool. Though Tartaglia gives an amazing performance it is the music that will draw you in. One of the reasons that the music is so popular has to do with the people that composed the songs. Broadway composers Stephen Schwartz (’Wicked’, ‘Godspell’) and the team of Alder and Walker (’Alter Boyz’) contributed songs to Johnny and the Sprites.

Kids might have a great time watching it, but it’s highly likely that you will have just as much fun singing along with them, as well. Johnny and the Sprites is one of those rare shows that do not come around too often. If you have been looking for something modern and entertaining for your children to watch, you should check this out. You won’t be disappointed.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
Whenever I see an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 I expect a fairly standard release. It’s not that bad transfers always end up here. It’s just that it’s usually standard with not much excellence to report. However, this is one of the exceptions to the rule. Johnny and the Sprites: Meet the Sprites looks fabulous. Children will love the vibrant colors and the attention to detail. There is no grain or softness that is noticeable throughout the DVD. It looks fabulous from start to finish. Disney did a nice job on this.

The audio was an important part of this disc, especially with all of the musical elements going on here. The DVD was given Dolby Digital 2.0, but things sound fine. The dialogue and the music are not so grossly different that you spend all your time playing with the remote based on the segment. In fact, no volume toggling was needed, at all. Just pop in your DVD and after one possible volume adjustment according to others (though mine did not need one) you are off and running. The songs sound perfect with this audio. They are easy to understand and fun to sing along with. In addition to standard audio, English subtitles are also offered.

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
While it’s true that a lot of children’s DVDs do not come with the kind of special features that leave you clamoring for more, Johnny and the Sprites doesn’t do a bad job in this department. My favorite bonus available is “Music Time”. This gives you and your kids a chance to watch each episode with sing along lyrics during songs so that you can all sing together and learn the words, if you haven’t during the regular episodes. Even though I caught most of the words the first time around, I found this special feature quite handy and kids will love it.

Five shorts that show what the series was based on are also included. The shorts introduce us to Basil and Ginger, the two original Sprites. They are a little bit different obviously as this was the phase where things were being worked out. For example, in the shorts there is a neighbor (a man who plays a woman and does so quite amusingly) that is constantly telling Johnny to be quiet. This neighbor was cut from the show, but it’s amusing to see the differences that were once a part of the show, but eventually trimmed down. Like the original episodes you can have these shorts play with the sing along lyrics, as well.

As this is a Disney disc, FastPlay is included so it’s just a matter of popping the disc in and letting it play. No work has to come from you unless you wish to use the menu, which is accessible through the menu function of your remote. The only other feature available on this disc is previews. At last count there were about eleven of them for various Disney and Pixar films and shows.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
The only disappointing thing about this DVD is that it’s not the full season of the show. After seeing these few episode segments I am aching to get my hands on a more complete set and I am sure most children would be, as well. As a parent, this was one show that I really didn’t mind watching. In fact, I had a lot of fun. I cannot wait for a better set to come out, but until then this is definitely worth the purchase. It is one of the best options for a musical based show for young children, though older ones just might like it, too, even if they don’t want you to catch them watching it.

Overall Rating:

Technorati Tags: DVD, Review, Johnny and the Sprites, Creatures, Animated, Muppets, Puppets, Singing, Children’s Show

Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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Ashtyn lives in her home state of Michigan with her life partner, Dominick, her 14 year old son, and her baby, the Shih-Tzu, Oliver Twist. Ashtyn is in college, going for a degree in Psychology. She plans to get her Ph.D and work as a therapist in the field of human sexuality. Ashtyn is an experienced and talented chef. She also excels at writing and has worked as a professional writer for the past five years. Ashtyn enjoys spending time with her son and four year old nephew, watching movies, listening to music, and writing works of fiction.

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Writers: John Hodge (screenplay) Susan Cooper (novel)
Director: David L. Cunningham
Cast: Alexander Ludwig, Christopher Eccleston, Ian McShane, Frances Conroy, James Cosmo, Jim Piddock, Amelia Warner, John Benjamin Hickey, Wendy Crewson, Emma Lockhart
Rating: PG
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: March 18, 2008

The popular book series, The Dark Is Rising was written by Susan Cooper and John Hodge had the chance to adapt one of the books in the series into The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising. What I’ve heard of this translation is that it was so ‘bastardized’, the only thing that seems to be taken from Cooper’s series is the names of the characters. Having not read them, I cannot say whether this is true or not. I can only judge the merits of the movie on what I saw of it.

I had some hope for The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising. The trailer made the movie look pretty cool and I’ve been a fan of Ian McShayne since his Lovejoy days. I guess that gives away my age a little bit, but that is neither here nor there. I feel like Randy Jackson does, on American Idol, when he is telling most of the contestants what he thinks about their performance. If asked what I thought about The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising, I might just have to steal Randy’s catchphrase of, “I don’t know, dawg. I didn’t really get it. It was just ok for me.”

Release Information:
The Seeker: The Dark Is Rising was released in movie theaters across the United States on October 7, 2008. Playing in over 3,000 theaters, the movie did terrible in its opening weekend grossing only $3 million. It has made close to $30 million total, worldwide since its original debut.

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Written by Dominick Evans - Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.

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