The Movie:
I was too old and, at the age of thirteen (where I thought I knew absolutely everything), far too cool for the first incarnation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so I never understood the big deal about them at the time, but like the Power Rangers, the Care Bears, and Strawberry Shortcake, the Turtles continue to delight each subsequent generation. Having stood the test of time, it is only fitting that the original cartoon series, which premiered two decades (!!) ago and ran for an impressive ten years and close to 200 episodes, is given a DVD release.

The "heroes in a half shell" fight to save the universe from the evil Shredder and his bumbling band of henchmen while at the same time celebrating with their favorite pizza dinner and managing to sound like cast members of Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure. They have human friends, like Zack, April...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Simone is a teacher at a stuffy Catholic boarding school for girls. Annabelle is a rebellious, cocky Senator's daughter. When she arrives on campus and enters Simone's class, Annabelle is instantly attracted to Simone, however Simone resists due to the power imbalance – she is after all, Annabelle's teacher – and the strict rules of the school that forbid a close relationship between teachers and students. Regardless, the two spend increasing amounts of time together as their attraction for each other builds, culminating on one rainy night that results in each woman's life changing forever.

It's difficult to know where to start with this film, as it works on so many levels. First of all, it is an absolute visual treat. Such care has been taken in filming, from the set design, to costuming, to the magnificent lighting, which helps to create a sense of hope and me...Read the entire review

The Movie:
They shoot! They score! They talk! Well, that's what the film's advertisers claim anyway. The emphasis is on talking dogs in what seems like the bazillionth installment of Disney's popular Air Bud franchise, which features a dog who is particularly talented at playing human sports. Is it possible to keep the charm of the original after just about every sport under the sun has been covered?

In Air Buddies, Air Bud, having found love with the girl dog next door (okay, across the street)is now a daddy to five adorable puppies. There is MudBud, who loves to roll around in the dirt, RoseBud, the girly-girl, B-Dawg, who has a penchant for hip-hop and basketball, Budderball, who never ate a meal he didn't like, and Bud-Dha, the Zen one of the bunch. Chaos abounds when the puppies create chaos in the home and their owners realize it may be time to find them homes, comp...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Funny Factory with Goofy Vol. 3 features some classic Disney cartoons from as early as 1937, including seven shorts with many favorite Disney characters, but obviously the main focus is on Goofy, who more than lives up to his name.

Some highlights include:

Clock Cleaners: Goofy, Donald, and Mickey frantically try to clean a large clock, with hilarious mishaps that ensue, similar to any time the three of them try to work together.

Man's Best Friend: A tongue-in-cheek examination of the trials and tribulations caused by dog ownership, featuring Goofy as a dog owner, which is curious given that most Disney fans have concluded that he is one himself!

Father's Weekend: Poor Goofy. As a husband and father, he can't get any rest on a lazy Sunday. His child pushes him out of the bed, then wakes up and practices his trumpet, his wif...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Funny Factory with Huey, Dewey & Louie Vol. 4 features some classic Disney cartoons starring Donald Duck's trio of troublemaking nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie who make all sorts of mischief for the cantankerous Donald. In all, there are eight cartoons on this disc, clocking in at just under an hour.

Some highlights include:

Donald's Nephews: Donald receives a postcard from his sister, Dumbella, informing him that his "angel" nephews are coming for a visit. They systematically proceed to turn Donald's house upside down, playing croquet in the living room on their tricycles, tossing a baseball and breaking things, until Donald tries out some advice from a childcare book, which only ups the level of hysteria.

Soup's On: Song of the South fans will enjoy the fact that this episode opens with Donald singing "Zip-a-Dee-Do-Dah." Don...Read the entire review

The Game:
This is a pretty unique idea for families looking for ways to entertain themselves on a rainy afternoon when everyone is climbing the walls – a DVD board game where everything needed is on-screen. The spinner, which determines how many places each person moves, is even on-screen and that, along with question selection, is easily activated by the DVD player's remote control.

So, here is the good stuff first, garnered from a few rounds of play with my six-year-old son. This game can be played by up to 4 members of the family, or with only one player, which is great for families with only 1 child. The game centers around four cute pups from past Disney flicks like The Fox and the Hound, 101 Dalmatians, and Lady and the Tramp. Mickey's dog, Pluto, joins the fun as well. The navigability of the game is super-easy, and there are two levels of play, an easier ...Read the entire review

The Movie:
The premise of Mystery Woman: Sing Me a Murder finds Samantha Kinsey, the owner of a small town's local bookstore, agreeing to allow a washed-up 70s folk band play a reunion concert at her store. Meanwhile, her friend and confidant, Philby, is melancholy over a friend's recent death. When The Ramblers' producer is murdered, everyone involved is a suspect, and it is up to Samantha and Philby to figure it out.

I've thought the world of Kellie Martin since her debut as Becca Thatcher on the much beloved television series Life Goes On. Even though the show was supposed to be about Becca's brother, Corky, who suffered from Down Syndrome, Martin's strong acting chops resulted in most of the later storylines focusing on her character. Since then, she has enjoyed an extensive television career on shows like ER and in countless made-for-television movies. Unfort...Read the entire review

The Movie:
When this film opens, Jean and Phillipe are lovers in 1942 Paris, which has been occupied by Germany. No one knows about their clandestine relationship, and with good reason, as homosexuality is an instant death sentence under Nazi rule. Sara, a Jew who loves Jean but does not know at first that he is gay, re-enters his life when her family is massacred, and Jean agrees to hide her despite Phillipe's reluctance. Sara works under the name "Yvonne" in Jean's family's store and lives at Phillipe's apartment. In the meantime, Jean's brother, Jacques, a professional thief, returns home from jail and continues to loot the homes of wealthy Jews who have been sent to concentration camps while at the same time harboring a grudge that Jean is the favored child in the family. A love triangle also occurs between Jacques, Sara, and Jean, as Jacques begins to fall for Sara, who only has eyes for...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Eric, a Hong Kong teenager, finds his life turned upside down when a supposedly brief visit to Toronto ends up being a ploy for his parents to uproot the family permanently. Culture shock ensues as the cracks in Eric's parents' marriage begin to show, and Eric tries to establish himself in his new school and with various love interests.

Eric also happens to be gay. Innocent is not about his discovery of that fact; it is well-established from the beginning that he is attracted to men. When he moves to Toronto, he finds himself drawn to a number of them: from his incredibly good-looking cousin, to an older man he meets in a bookstore, to his new friend in school, and to a young cook in his mother's restaurant. In other words, he is a pretty typical teenager who is overrun with sexual energy as he stands on the precipice of adulthood.

Although Eric's romantic ev...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Much like the MyScene and Bratz DVDs, PollyWorld is a video tie-in to the popular girls' toy, this one called Polly Pocket, which features tiny, plastic dolls with snap-on clothing. In this movie, Polly and her good friends, The Pockets, are getting ready to compete on their favorite reality show, "Roll Like That!" at the PollyWorld amusement park. Problems abound, however, when the girls must face down their mean, clique-ish classmates, led by insincere ringleader Beth. Polly is also ambivalent about her father's impending marriage to her soon-to-be stepmother, Lorelai.

The opening of PollyWorld is almost exactly like the MyScene movie, so if you own that, it may be difficult to tell the two apart. That said, it is far less vapid, as it addresses very real issues to girls, such as getting along with other girls and creating identities outside of cliques. There...Read the entire review

The Movie:
You have to hand it to whoever thought up the irresistible idea of Strawberry Shortcake decades ago: little scented dolls with names like Apple Dumpling, Angel Cake, Orange Blossom, and Gingersnap, who live in a candy-shaped world and have pets named Pupcake and Honey Pie Pony. Like retro favorites such as The Care Bears and My Little Pony, the franchise has experienced a resurgence in the past few years, as an entirely new generation of girls has discovered the now-updated brand.Strawberry Shortcake: Cooking Up Fun follows the adventures of Strawberry Shortcake and her friends as they try to create a cooking show for television. Apple Dumpling, who is younger than the other girls, wants to help them cook, but she succeeds in making a mess and inadvertently undermining their efforts in the kitchen. When she falls asleep after being banished from the kitchen, she dreams she i...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Please note that this review pertains to the Anchor Bay release of this film (there are other releases of this film either pending or currently in existence).

Savannah Smiles is, hands down, one of the best family films of all time, and as it tends to go out of print on a regular basis, you'd be wise to snap this one up before you're forced to pay $75 for a bad copy of it on the internet. It was one of the first films I can remember seeing over and over again on a relatively new channel called HBO, which was part of the then-new phenomenon of cable television, back when cable boxes were big and bulky and did not come with remote controls.

Filmed in 1982, Savannah Smiles is the story of a little girl who is neglected by her wealthy parents, only to run away from home and encounter two bumbling crooks, Alvie (Mark Miller) and Bootsie (Donovan Scott), who...Read the entire review

The Show:
I was a child of the 1980s, so I wasn't around to catch this series in its first run, but I do remember watching re-runs of it in syndication and loving every minute of it. One of the great benefits of DVD technology is the release of old television shows for today's enjoyment, and Family Affair is no exception.

The premise of the show, as it was with many sitcoms back in the day, is quite straightforward. Successful, wealthy bachelor Bill (Brian Keith), an engineer who finds his life permanently grounded when he takes in his two nieces and his nephew: fifteen-year-old Cissy, and six-year-old fraternal twins Buffy and Jody. English gentleman Mr. French (Sebastian Cabot), is a combination manservant, nursemaid, and housekeeper. This show was unique in that it featured an inanimate character as well: the beloved "Mrs. Beasley," Buffy's blond, bespectacled doll, who fea...Read the entire review

The Movie:
My son is six, so I approached this disc with trepidation, fearing we'd both outgrown Sesame Street. His Elmo days have long been over, ever since he discovered the Power Rangers and never looked back. Having viewed and loved A Muppet Christmas Carol for several years now each holiday season, we gave A Sesame Street Christmas Carol a try, and were we glad we did!

This 45-minute DVD is a delight from start to finish. The most important feature of this disc, which bears mentioning right up front, is that MR. HOOPER IS ON THIS ONE!!! For those of you who grew up watching the kindly, bespectacled store owner, played by the charismatic Will Lee, who died in the early 1980s, that is reason enough to invest in this disc. Sesame Street was commended for its handling of Mr. Hooper's death and the show's unavoidable transition in its aftermath, and t...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Residents of London are filled with fear when a serial rapist begins to stalk and brutalize local women. Investigator Jay Pearson balances her attempts to solve the crime with the fact that her pushy boss is harassing her by making odd comments, offering her rides after work, and repeatedly asking her out. His behavior becomes increasingly hostile as Jay rebuffs his advances. As if Jay didn't have enough to worry about, it is clear that the problems between her and her sister, Ali, run deep; Ali has a great deal of resentment toward Jay over their mother's death, and although the two sisters try their hardest to maintain a sense of closeness, they are constantly wary of one another. To add further drama to an already volatile situation, Jay begins to fancy Ali's boyfriend, Oliver, a kind, great-looking psychiatrist who just might be a suspect in the rapes.

This two-part ser...Read the entire review

The Movie:
The title of this documentary is quite appropriate, given the fact that its focus is on the often complicated middle ground that encompasses human sexuality. In recent decades, more open discussion about sexuality has paved the way for so-called "intersex" individuals – those who do not identify as one gender or another – to speak and seek acceptance.

The documentary does not just stop at a social perspective; it provides complex biological explanations as well by examining brain structures of various genders and intersex individuals. The disc begins with the absolutely tragic story of Gwen Arujo, who was born a male but later wanted to be known as female, with devastating consequences.

The producers should be commended for packing in a world of experience into the relatively short, 75-minute run time. A great deal of time is spent focusing on the bisexual, gay, ...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Jean, a housewife who lives an impossibly clean, modern, architecturally stunning house outside of Los Angeles finds herself caught in a love triangle when she embarks upon an affair with a laid-back present-day hippie, Viggo. In contrast to Jean's uptight, controlling, emotionally unavailable husband, Paul, Viggo is the complete opposite, and this holds great appeal for Jean. She falls quite easily into the affair, yet she finds herself inexplicably drawn back to Paul time and time again. As for Viggo, his own lifestyle, which borders on the seamy, creates problems for clean-cut Jean as well. When an unexpected development occurs, it brings Jean to a crossroads where she must either choose between the two men in her life or, for once, forge her own identity outside of a relationship.

The cinematography in The Affair is visually stunning. The shadows and unique, nat...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Imagine a teenage girl who can do anything she wants. She has a voluptuous figure, and she is strikingly beautiful. She drives an expensive sports car, lives in a sprawling home off Mulholland Drive, and spends her huge quantities of free time working as a high-class call girl. Her mother spends most of her time in a drunken, drugged-out stupor on the couch, and this leaves the girl largely unsupervised or disciplined. The luxuries and freedoms in her life are not enough for young Mini. She resents her mother to the point that she begins terrorizing her as a means of making her think she has lost her mind. Mini is obsessed with "first" times. She enjoys shocking people with her antics, until the stakes get raised to the point where the situation spirals out of control.

As Mini, Nikki Reed, best known for playing the unstable, vindictive best friend in the terrific film T...Read the entire review

The Show:
Baby Boomers, if you long to relive your childhood through the magic of DVD technology, look no further! The super kitschy kids' program Diver Dan is here to save the day!

Diver Dan consists of 15 episodes, but they are only about seven minutes long each, and they run in sequential order, so it is best to avoid the included chapter selections and watch the entire DVD straight through. The language is surprisingly advanced, full of long words and complex sentences; it doesn't talk down to children in any way. The plotlines, however, are fairly difficult to follow. There is always some threat that the mean Baron Barracuda and his sometimes reluctant buddy, Triggerfish, are cooking up. Usually it involves exploding something underwater, but Diver Dan is always there in time to go to the rescue.

The scene is set behind an actual fish tank. The fish character...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Don't be misled by the title into believing this is a porno flick – it's actually another coming-of-age film from Germany that centers around a young man's homosexuality and desire to be accepted.

Ecki, a goalie for a local soccer team, finds his life turned upside down when, after losing an important game, he finds himself in a compromising position with another man. His teammates walk in on the scene and immediately throw him off the team. Rather than be cowed by their homophobia, Ecki moves out of the family home and in with his sister, who helps him to scout out members for an all-gay soccer team. Ecki's plan is to play his old team.

It is impossible not to compare this film with another German offering, Summer Storm, which approaches the topic with much more sweetness and melancholy. There are many similarities, especially the protagonist of each film h...Read the entire review

The Movie:
The term "coming-of-age" in reference to films about kids in their mid to late teens has become a cliché, but one cannot deny these films' instant relatability, because all of us at one point have experienced the painful transition from adolescence to adulthood, with the realization that finally getting to be grown up isn't the experience we dreamed it would be.

Summer Storm, a German film subtitled in English, follows the angst of Tobi, who realizes that his feelings toward his closest friend, Achim, have gone past friendship and into a mixture of sexual desire and love. Achim is marginally aware of Tobi's feelings, although he does not quite understand what is going on. Achim is experiencing his own first love – with a girl – and the resulting strain on his and Tobi's friendship takes a toll as they head off to a summer camp to focus on rigorous athletic train...Read the entire review

The Show:
If you are a fan of Jon Stewart and Dave Chappelle and you don't know about Chris Rock's short-lived but critically acclaimed HBO series, then you are really missing out. Rock's show paved the way with its mix of irreverent sketches, skewering of current events, and cutting edge musical acts. Now the first two seasons are available on DVD, and they are a must-own.

Each episode loosely follows a structure that includes a record-scratching intro by DJ extraordinaire Grandmaster Flash, a bit of stand-up by Rock, mock interviews, sketches, and a musical performance. Some of the musicians, such as Usher, are still very much in business, but others, such as the woefully misplaced and eccentric band Cake, were just out of place on a show such as Rock's.

The interviews are nothing short of amazing, and don't be surprised if you end up laughing out loud at the banter between Ro...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Watching this film, all I could think is, do we really need another film adaptation of Heidi? The Internet Movie Database lists eighteen different versions of it, some going as far back as the 1920s and 1930s. Productions of this story over the years have starred the likes of Jason Robards, Jane Seymour, Shirley Temple (guess which character she played?), even legends Burl Ives and Maximilian Schell. There are Icelandic versions, Portuguese versions, animated versions…there appears to be no end to the fascination with this story. This version was released in 2005, and for those of you Heidi fans out there, never fear, because it is probably not the last.

This version stars newcomer Emma Bolger as Heidi, and the DVD packaging is quick to point out that this version is very necessary because of the fact that every generation needs a new Heidi. Okay. Although m...Read the entire review

The Movie:
I always believe in admitting my biases right up front, and I'd like to declare right here and now that I just loooooooove Rob Estes. Esai Morales is a close second. Then add in Without a Trace's absolutely delectable Enrique Murciano. They're all in this movie, which is why I just about freaked out at the prospect of watching it, just like a starved woman at a hunk buffet! Unfortunately, even with a supporting cast that includes Jason Alexander, Alison Eastwood, and Kimberly Williams, this mess of a movie is a complete waste of talent.

Business partners Stan and Artie are out on a blind date together. Stan is a slick type who has all the answers (or so he thinks) when it comes to women. Artie (Rob Estes) is a nice guy who is still reeling from the death of his beloved wife. Stan gives Artie a ton of advice, which basically amounts to recommending he lie about travel...Read the entire review

The Show:
The beloved television show Candid Camera, which many consider the first reality TV show, was a long-running series that delighted in creating strange situations and recording people's reactions to them. This disc features the greatest moments of the show, and while some of them are quite good, not all live up to the moniker.

Some of the standout segments from this collection include the talking mailbox, where a voice within a mailbox talks to passersby on a city street, and the car without a motor, where a woman coasts into a auto body shop's parking lot only to find a bewildered mechanic who cannot understand how she got there. Some of the simplest gags are the funniest. In one clip, a "Rest Room" sign is placed on a closet door, and the people are so clearly puzzled that it is hilarious; one man goes in and out of the closet several times, as though he cannot belie...Read the entire review

The Show:
All Creatures Great and Small is a BBC series based upon the much-beloved series of books by late British veterinarian James Alfred Wight, who used the pseudonym James Herriot. He died of cancer in 1995, but his stories, both the written ones and those portrayed in the television show, continue to delight fans. Over the course of the series, young James started out in the practice of Siegfried Farnon, the name Wight used for his real-life partner, J. Donald Sinclair, and endured the harsh Yorkshire winters and the fun of bachelor life before settling down with wife Joan (called Helen in the series) and into the often unpredictable life of a country vet who treated both domestic and farm animals.

Herriot's stories, although they follow the progression of time, are actually colorful anecdotes about the residents and animals he encountered while working in the little vil...Read the entire review

The Show:
Any Roseanne fans worth their salt know that the Halloween episodes were among the best this show ever did. Year after year, the creativity of the plots, the costumes, and the gags were stellar. It is a stroke of pure brilliance that this DVD features all seven Halloween episode in one collection along with audio commentary from Roseanne herself.

The episodes included on this disc are:

"Boo!": Becky is putting the kibosh on the Conner family celebration until she is inspired to get into the spirit herself with a really creative costume. The Conners welcome the neighborhood children by turning the first floor of their home into a house of horrors. This episode was nominated for an Emmy.

"Trick or Treat": A battle of the sexes lays the groundwork for this episode. Roseanne dresses as a lumberjack, and when she is taken for a man at the local bar, she learn...Read the entire review

The Show:
Popular Mechanics for Kids: Lightning and Other Forces of Nature stays true to this show's formula of investigating what it calls "the science behind all the fun." This 4-episode collection encourages its young viewers to focus on scientific explanations for natural occurrences, and adults are guaranteed to learn a thing or two as well.

The individual episodes are as follows:

Ice: Experience a Hollywood-esque snow scene created in the middle of a warm day with Vanessa. Charlie shows how to balance on ice skates. Elisha gets to build a real-life igloo, and Tyler creates an ice storm.

Water: Tyler gets to learn about environmental hazards by traveling with a response team that treats oil spills. Elisha gets to go white-water rafting. Charlie discusses surface tension and makes "monster bubbles."

Earth Power: Elisha visits an...Read the entire review

The Show:
Popular Mechanics for Kids: Firefighters and Other Life-Saving Heroes presents what it calls "the science behind all the fun." This 4-episode collection encourages its young viewers to focus on scientific explanations for emergency preparedness, prevention, and response, and adults are guaranteed to learn a thing or two as well.

The individual episodes are as follows:

Emergency: Jay visits the Ottawa International Airport to talk to firefighters who respond to airplane emergencies, and Elisha finds out how wildfires are put out. A visit to firefighter training schools are also on the agenda.

Emergency Rescues: The real Baywatch lifeguards demonstrate the serious business of saving lives. Tyler gets to interact with rescue dogs to find out how they help people who have been buried in snow. Charlie takes viewers on a survival lesson, and ho...Read the entire review

The Movie:
A Perfect Fit is a psychological drama that centers on a young man named John who has a great deal of difficulty discerning between his disturbing dreams and reality. He is haunted by dreams of being taken from his mother as a toddler, and he relays this to his psychoanalyst, Dr. Wiess. She helps John to the point where he is ready to pursue a relationship with a beautiful young woman, Sarah, who teaches ballet and is in every way the girl next door. After frequently lamenting about her love life to her friends, she is thrilled to meet a great-looking, wonderful guy like John. He comes on strong: seeing her night after night, sending her roses, taking her to the ballet, bringing her breakfast in bed. He is every girl's dream.

After this whirlwind courtship, however, the romance begins to sour as John begins to lose touch with reality once again. The first sign of tro...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Everyone knows what happens when children are left without family to take care of them; they are placed into the foster system, with varying results. Many of the children, most of whom come from abusive backgrounds to begin with, are re-victimized within the system. Some are fortunate to find loving, adoptive families. But those who do not eventually "age out" of the system; this can happen at the age of 18, but in some states the upper limit is age 21. For children who had few role models growing up, this can be a daunting transition at best. The 2004 documentary "Aging Out" chronicles this process.

As the documentary asks, "What happens when you're too old for foster care?" Seventeen-year-old David, who lives in California, is in his twentieth foster care placement and understandably has ambivalent feelings about one day having a family of his own. He has already b...Read the entire review

The Show:
Murder in Suburbia comes to us courtesy of our neighbors across the pond, via BBC America. Before we get into the details, let me just share my bias for all things British: my father is British, I had a strange fixation on Duran Duran as a child that has never quite disappeared (hence the "I Love Simon LeBon" t-shirt I wear with alarming regularity), and I grew up watching countless BBC shows as a child, including Upstairs, Downstairs and All Creatures Great and Small. Then there are the recent movies that have been oh-so-good: the touching, funny, girl-power driven Bend it Like Beckham, the absolutely wonderful ensemble dramedy Love Actually, and what quickly became one of my favorite movies of all time, About a Boy, which starred Hugh Grant as a self-absorbed bachelor who ended up being an unlikely big brother to a geeky pre-teen. So in ot...Read the entire review

The Show:
The Golden Girls on DVD is an absolute treat. No longer do fans have to wait for their favorite episodes to air on Lifetime television, only to see favorite scenes chopped out in favor of extra commercials. With the release of Season Five, there are only two seasons left to go, and it appears that each season is as eagerly anticipated by fans of the show as the last.

The premise of this show is quite unique: four women share a house in Miami. There is perennially naïve Rose, sarcastic Dorothy, promiscuous Blanche, and Dorothy's outspoken mother, Sophia, who has lost the ability to censor her often outrageous comments after suffering a stroke. The premise of The Golden Girls remains a standout because of the fact that it emphasized the fact that women over 50 could be fun, fabulous, and sexually free. The 80s were a happening time for geriatric television, when...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Having reviewed a great deal of children's videos over the years –everything from Teletubbies to Bratz and numerous Disney and Nickelodeon videos – I usually try to look at a DVD from both perspectives: the child's and the parent's. Let's face it. If you are the parent of a child under the age of about 14 or so, you are going to be faced with hours and hours of endless family and children's videos. Some are better than others. Hot Wheels AcceleRacers: Breaking Point is a conundrum.

Watching this disc with my 5-year-old son, it dawned on me that not all entertainment at children needs to be fun for the adults. He was clearly thrilled, intoxicated by the stunning graphics and sound effects and easily able to follow the plot, which had something to do with the AcceleRacers team avoiding the Racing Drones and the Silencerz, who chase them through various raci...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Twelve-year-old Amelia Muggins is a young inventor who idolizes scientists rather than rock stars. When she meets the pretentious Dr. Robert Farley, a famous scientist, she is temporarily awestruck until he decides to kidnap her and take her to Japan on a hydrogen-propelled boat. It is up to her father and Minkey, her father's former spy partner, to rescue her. The only thing is, Minkey is a high-flying chimp!

This film features the late, great, Pat Morita of Karate Kid fame, as a concerned Japanese citizen who is happy to hear that Minkey is on the case. Another terrific aspect of this movie is the fact that Amelia is a science geek who appears to be far less concerned with her appearance than with winning science awards. As Amelia, Emma Roberts is fresh-faced and precocious, turning the character into a nice role model for young girls. Parents of boys should not be ...Read the entire review