Music Video - Wilco 'Dawned On Me'

Popeye and crew return in the awesome new animated video for the single 'Dawned On Me' off Wilco's new album 'The Whole Love'. Watch as Jeff Tweedy competes with Popeye for the hand of Olive Oyl. This video collaboration with King Features presents the first hand-drawn Popeye cartoon in more than 30 years! It was directed by Darren Romanelli.

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Review - Tangled

Zachary Levi and Mandy Moore make a great animated couple in Disney's Tangled. The story centers on a revamped version of Rapunzel, pacing the familiar bed-time tale with a more comedic tone. Levi is perfectly cast as the sarcastic Flynn Ryder who quarrels with Rapunzel as she breaks free from her iconic tower. Fans of old-school Disney animation can rest assured because there's no 3D overkill. It has all the magic of the old films and the lantern scene in Tangled rivals the ballroom scene in Beauty and the Beast, it's that beautiful.

In theaters November 24th.

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Feel Good Film Fest: The Mouse That Soared

This weekend marks the 3rd Annual Feel Good Film Fest in Los Angeles. If you're in the mood for films with a heart-warming vibe look no further. The festival spotlights shorts and features, live-action and animation and includes a panel about web series. For more info visit www.fgff.org

And now onto this adorable little short by Kyle T. Bell about a mouse with big dreams.

Official Website: www.themousethatsoared.com

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Poster - Rango

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Giveaway - Neighbors From Hell

Neighbors From Hell is a new animated show starring Patton Oswalt, Will Sasso, and Molly Shannon. When Satan learns that Petromundo, a huge global conglomerate, has created a super-drill that could potentially burrow to the center of the earth and expose Hell, he sends one of demons to eliminate the problem. The demon is Balthazor, a low-level torturer who has amassed an encyclopedic knowledge of the human condition thanks to his love of classic TV sitcoms. Balathazor and his family head to earth with one mission: to blend in with the humans and figure out how to destroy the drill, thus protecting Hell. It was created by writer Pam Brady (Team America: World Police, South Park) who also did the underrated show The Loop. Check it out mondays on TBS.

We will be giving away 1 prize package which includes:

• A container of 200 Atomic Fireballs and a Devil Rubber Ducky Toy

To enter send an email with your full name, address, and the subject line 'Neighbors From Hell' to josh@reelartsy.com by June 30th. Open to US mailing address only (no PO Boxes). Prizes are supplied by TBS. Winners will be notified by email. For more info on the show go to the official site.

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Trailer - The Illusionist

Oscar-nominated French director Sylvain Chomet (The Triplets of Belleville) has completed his new animated film. The Illusionist is one of a dying breed of stage entertainers. With emerging rock stars stealing his thunder, he is forced to accept increasingly obscure assignments in fringe theatres, at garden parties and in bars and cafés. However, whilst performing in a village pub off the west coast of Scotland, he encounters Alice, an innocent young girl, who will change his life forever. It’s based on an unmade script by acclaimed director Jacques Tati, upon whom the main character is based. I love Chomet's offbeat style and this looks amazing.

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Trailer - Tangled

Disney's upcoming animated movie is a retelling of the classic Rapunzel story, directed by Byron Howard & Nathan Greno (Bolt). When the kingdom’s most wanted bandit Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi) is taken hostage by Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), a feisty teen with 70 feet of golden hair who’s looking for her ticket out of the tower where she’s been locked away for years, the unlikely duo sets off on an escapade filled with adventure, heart, and humor. It opens on November 24th.

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Trailer - Rio

Directed by Oscar-nominated Brazilian animator Carlos Saldanha (Ice Age series, Robots), and starring Anne Hathaway, Neil Patrick Harris, Rodrigo Santoro, George Lopez and Jake T. Austin, the story follows a nerdy macaw who leaves the comforts of his cage in small town Minnesota and heads to Rio de Janeiro. Also, John Powell is scoring the film with bossa nova master Sergio Mendes! I'm so glad to see Blue Sky making an original film and one set in Brazil has me even more excited. It hits theaters next April.

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Bob's Burgers

The new animated comedy, a mid-season replacement, stars the great H. Jon Benjamin (Archer, Home Movies) as Bob, who runs a struggling burger restaurant that he keeps re-opening with his wife (John Roberts) and their three unhelpful kids (comedians Eugene Mirman, Kristen Schaal, and Dan Mintz). The series was created by Loren Bouchard (Home Movies, Dr. Katz). Bouchard and Jim Dauterive (King of the Hill) serve as executive producers and writers. Gotta love that cast. Coming sundays next year on FOX.

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Poster - Despicable Me

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Notable New Releases

Sherlock Holmes
Guy Ritchie doing Arthur Conan Doyle? Surprisingly it works. Downey Jr. and Law are great together in a 'buddy cop movie' that would make Shane Black proud.

Extras include:

• Maximum Movie Mode (BD Exclusive)
• Focus Points (BD Exclusive) - access each individual short from Maximum Movie Mode
• Sherlock Holmes: Reinvented

An Education
Missed it in theaters but really want to check it out, especially for Carey Mulligan's breakout performance.

Extras include:

• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• The Making of 'An Education'
• Walking the Red Carpet

I Sell The Dead
Indie horror-comedy with Dominic Monaghan and Ron Perlman. Looks awesome, will have to see it.

Extras include:

• Commentaries
• The Making of I Sell the Dead
• Visual Effects Behind the Scenes
• Comic Book

[READ MORE...]

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The Thorn In The Heart

In addition to Seth Rogen's version of The Green Hornet, innovative director Michel Gondry has another film being released, The Thorn In The Heart (L’Epine dans le Coeur), a documentary which further propels his filmography into the realm of the unvisted with a personal look at the life of Gondry family matriarch, his aunt Suzette Gondry, and her relationship with her son, Jean—Yves. Michel examines Suzette’s years as a schoolteacher and her life in rural France. During the course of filming the documentary, new family stories are unearthed and Michel uses his camera to explore them in a subtle and sensitive way. It had its world premiere screening at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival and will be released April 2nd in select theaters.

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Notable New Releases

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Wes Anderson does Roald Dahl with excellent results. One of my favorite films of last year. It's a funny, odd, sweet, visual masterpiece. Cussin' buy it!

Extras include:

• The Look of Fantastic Mr. Fox (BD-exclusive)
• From Script to Screen
• The Puppet Makers (BD-exclusive)
• Still Life: Puppet Animation
• The Cast (BD-exclusive)
• Bill and His Badger (BD-exclusive)
• A Beginner's Guide to Whack-Bat
• Fantastic Mr. Fox: The World of Roald Dahl (BD-exclusive)

Brothers
Missed it in theaters, but heard its got some great performances so i'll have to check it out.

Extras include:

• Commentary
• Remade In The USA
• Jim Sheridan - Film and Family

Mad Men: Season Three
The return of Don Draper. One of the best shows on TV right now.

Extras include:

• Commentaries for all episodes
• 'Medgar Evers: An Unsung Hero'
• Up In Smoke - a visual depiction of the juxtaposition between the world of advertising and big tobacco
• We Shall Overcome: The March on Washington - Dr. King's speech accompanied by images detailing the historical moment when over 250,000 people came together for the March on Washington
• Mad Men Illustrated - Dyna Moe invites you to scroll through the slightly "animated" photo gallery of the Mad Men Illustrations accompanied with commentary from the illustrator extraordinaire
• Flashback 1963 - An interactive look at the events and themes that defined the year

[READ MORE...]

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Notable New Releases

The Princess and the Frog
Disney's triumphant return to traditional animation! Like most of their new releases, Disney is offering a printable $10 off coupon for the combo pack. Great deal.

Extras include:

• Commentary
• Work in Progress Track - watch the finished film alongside the animators' early pencil work, storyboards, key animations, and work-in-progress sequences
• Magic in the Bayou
• Bringing Life to Animation
• Deleted Scenes
• The Return to Hand Drawn Animation
• The Disney Legacy
• A Return to the Animated Musical
• Disney's Newest Princess
• The Princess and the Animator
• Conjuring the Villain
• Ne-Yo "Never Knew I Needed" Music Video
• Art Galleries

Ninja Assassin
Missed this one, but heard it's a pretty badass fun action flick. So grab an umbrella and get ready for...Raaain!

Extras include:

• Deleted Scenes
• The Myth and Legend of Ninjas
• The Extreme Sport of a Ninja
• Training Rain

Broken Embraces
I will see anything by Almodóvar. Can't wait to pick this up.

Extras include:

• Deleted Scenes
• The Cannibalistic Councillor short film, directed by Pedro Almodóvar and featuring a character from Broken Embraces as the central focus
• Pedro Directs Penélope
• On the Red Carpet: The New York Film Festival Closing Night
• Variety Q&A with Penelope Cruz

[READ MORE...]

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Legend Of The Guardians

Visionary director Zack Snyder follows up Watchmen with an animated movie based on a book series about owls. Yes you read that right. Much like Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox, you can still see his trademark style all over it and I can't wait to see what he does with the genre. In case you're wondering, the music used in the trailer is 30 Seconds to Mars.

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Notable New Releases

Where The Wild Things Are
After years of anticipation, Spike Jonze's vision absolutely lived to my expectations. It is a beautiful film about childhood. Jim Henson's costumes, Karen O's music, Max Record's lead performance, the surprisingly dark script, and Jonze's loose direction all come together to form a pitch-perfect portrait of the isolation and imagination of a kid. It is a film that I will continue to revisit for years to come.

Extras include:

• Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More To Life Short Film
• HBO First Look
• Maurice and Spike
• Max and Spike
• The Records Family
• Carter Burwell
• The Absurd Difficulty of Filming a Dog
• The Big Prank
• The Kids Take Over the Picture
• Vampire Attack

Ponyo
It's Miyazaki. Buy it.

Extras include:

• Meet Ponyo
• Storyboard Experience Picture-in-Picture track
• The World of Ghibli - Behind the Studio
• The World of Ghibli - Enter the Lands Interactive Tour

[READ MORE...]

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Waking Sleeping Beauty

Oscar-nominated director Don Hahn and producer Peter Schneider, key players at Walt Disney Studios Feature Animation department during the mid 80s, offer a behind-the-scenes doucmentary of the turbulent times the Animation Studio was going through and the staggering output of hits that followed over the next ten years.

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Notable New Releases

The Brothers Bloom
This underrated gem is con man classic that needs to find an audience on DVD. Rian Johnson's follow up to Brick is so funny and sweet it will absolutely win you over. Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo have great chemistry as the titular siblings and Rachel Weisz is absolutely adorable as the sheltered, naive Penelope. The catchy score by Nathan Johnson is also a highlight.

Extras include:

• Commentary
• Deleted Scenes
• In Bloom: Behind The Scenes
• 'From Sketch to Celluloid' featurette
• Image Gallery

Moon
It's smart sci-fi that's also heartbreaking drama. Sam Rockwell gives an amazing Oscar-worthy performance and the score by Clint Mansell is emotionally devastating. The subtle visual effects are superb and never get in the way of the storytelling. The less you know about the plot the better.

Extras include:

• Producer and Director Commentary
• Crew Commentary
• The Making of Moon
• Creating the Visual Effects
• Science Center Q&A with Director Duncan Jones
• Filmmaker's Q&A At the Sundance Film Festival
• 'Whistle' a short film by Duncan Jones

The Hurt Locker
Missed it in theaters, but have heard great things and can't wait to see director Kathryn Bigelow's comeback.

Extras include:

• Commentary
• The Hurt Locker: Behind the Scenes
• Image Gallery

[READ MORE...]

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Top 10 Movies of 2009 (Josh's List)

Wanted to wait until the year was over. These are in no particular order.

Where The Wild Things Are
After years of anticipation, Spike Jonze's vision absolutely lived to my expectations. It is a beautiful film about childhood. Jim Henson's costumes, Karen O's music, Max Record's lead performance, the surprisingly dark script, and Jonze's loose direction all come together to form a pitch-perfect portrait of the isolation and imagination of a kid. It is a film that I will continue to revisit for years to come.

Coraline
Henry Selick's stop-motion film is certainly a visual treat, but its Selick's treatment of Neil Gaiman's book that really makes it work so wonderfully. It is a sublime grass-is-greener tale filled with awe, terror, and sadness. The characters are all memorable and inhabit a world of such rich texture that you will be overcome with places to look. The voice work is also top-notch, led by the versatile Dakota Fanning.

The Brothers Bloom
This underrated gem is con man classic that needs to find an audience on DVD. Rian Johnson's follow up to Brick is so funny and sweet it will absolutely win you over. Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo have great chemistry as the titular siblings and Rachel Weisz is absolutely adorable as the sheltered, naive Penelope. The catchy score by Nathan Johnson is also a highlight.

[READ MORE...]

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Notable New Releases

Chuck: The Complete Second Season
I thought the first season of Chuck was good but I really enjoyed the second season. The main characters have really developed and the Buy More employees get a lot more screen time. The show does have its problems, the humor is hit or miss and it doesn't get geek culture as well as other shows (like The Big Bang Theory or The IT Crowd), but the drama is always solid and it's a fun show. Plus you can always count on 'Browncoat' favorite Adam Baldwin and a pack of geek-friendly guest stars (including Tony Hale, Chevy Chase, and Scott Bakula!) to entertain.

Extras include:

• Deleted Scenes
• Gag Reel
• Truth, Spies, and Regular Guys: Exploring the Mythology of Chuck
• Dude in Distress: Explore This Season's Best Action Sequences
• Chuck Versus the Webisodes
• Chuck: A Real-Life Captain Awesome's Tips for Being Awesome
• John Casey Presents: So You Want to be a Deadly Spy?

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
The trailers looked terrible, but it got great reviews (85% fresh) and I really wanna check it out. One of my favorite books as a kid, the film version is an original story that cleverly parodies disaster movies. It was made by the guys behind Clone High and How I Met Your Mother and has a stellar voice cast led by SNL member Bill Hader. There is no 3-D option here, so no flying food but a lot of good stuff for both adults and kids.

Extras include:

• Commentary
• Interactive 'Splat Mode!' (Blu-ray Exclusive)
• Extended Scenes
• Early Development Scenes
• A Recipe For Success: The Making of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
• Key Ingredients: The Voices of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
• Progression Reels with Introductions by Visual FX Supervisor Rob Bredow
• Make It Rain Food PSA
• Flint's Food Fight Game (Blu-ray Exclusive)
• 'Raining Sunshine' Music Video by Miranda Cosgrove
• Behind the Scenes of the Music Video

[READ MORE...]

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