New on DVD

The Princess and the Frog
Rated G
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Set in Jazz Age-era New Orleans, young Tiana dreams of opening up her own restaurant, to the point where she allows a frog prince to convince her to kiss him to make her dream come true.  But rather than getting her wish, she turns into a frog herself and the two amphibians set off on a journey to undo their curse.  Disney took a real risk with this work by going back to what made them famous to begin with: beautiful hand-drawn animation.  Now that we are in the age of computer animated films, it is so refreshing to see that this quality of filmmaking and storytelling can still be made.  This is a fun, whimsical tale that can be enjoyed by almost anyone.  The musical numbers aren’t quite up to the level of Beauty or Aladdin, but still good enough to win two Oscar nominations.  The characters are all terrifically conceived.  I especially loved the villain, who might just be one of the scariest Disney has ever created.  And while it didn’t make a monster box office, it did bring home enough to hopefully convince the boys that cut the checks at the mouse house that this art form is far from dead.  A

South Park: The Complete Thirteenth Season
Unrated
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Not quite Disney, and much more crudely animated, the boys from Colorado are back for Season 13 and the show is still as relevant as ever.  This season saw them win an Emmy with their episode Margaritaville which focused on the recession.  Also in this season the boys took on Kanye (months before he pulled his stunt at the MTV Video Awards) they took on Avatar and Glenn Beck in the same massive episode, and even did their part to expose the Japanese ala The Cove style in their whaling practices.  This season also saw a couple of really lame episodes that were nothing but toilet humor (and I mean nothing but), but overall they are still knocking it out of the park and I can’t wait for season 14 to start up this month!  A-

Paris
Unrated
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
French with English subtitles
In a style similar to Love, Actually, several intersecting storylines converge to make one coherent film about several people who live in Paris.  While not nearly the romantic film that Love, Actually was, this is an extremely interesting movie focusing mostly on the life of a social worker, played by Juliette Binoche, and her brother who has just been told by his cardiologist that he needs a heart transplant.  This and many other stories being told hold a lot of gravity and drama combined with many light and funny moments to break the tension.  While it’s not exactly a love letter to the city, like Paris, Je T’aime, which also starred Juliette Binoche, it does serve as a fair representation for those that actually call the city home.  A-

Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Unrated
Unrated Available on DVD and Blu-ray
Based on the book by David Foster Wallace, a graduate student copes with a break up by holding intimate interviews with various men.  John Krasinski (The Office) makes his directorial debut with this piece that is almost too intellectual for it’s own good.  You can tell a lot of heart and soul went into this project, but there gets to be a point when the film stops entertaining and that point came very early here.  After that I couldn’t help but find it to be anything but a verbal mess.  Almost like a Kevin Smith film without the jokes.  Krasinski is so likable that you want to ignore the fact that you don’t like it, but after it’s all said and done, you are really glad it’s over.  C-

Ninja Assassin
Rated R for strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language
Available on DVD and Blu-ray
A young ninja hiding from his estranged clan attempts to protect a woman trying to discover the clan’s secrets.  If you are going into this film wanting to see deadly ninjas violently killing everyone in sight, you have the right movie here.  This is a vile, disgusting, yet kind of thrilling movie set in the world of the ever secretive ninja.  Sure it’s silly, and it takes itself way too seriously, but if you are in the right frame of mind, and I guess I was when I watched it, it can be a pretty entertaining 90 minutes.  B-