Return to the hundred acre wood in an all-new animated feature that brings back some of the most beloved animated characters from our childhood. Winnie, Tigger, Eyeore, Piglet and everyone else return. Craig Ferguson joins the cast as Owl, and John Cleese narrates the stories, with original music by Zooey Deschanel.

The film is split up into a few different stories, based on the original A.A. Milne books which provided inspiration for the interlinking plots of the movie. Pooh and friends set out to “rescue” Christopher Robin after assuming he’s been abducted by a creature in the forest, all of this while on the search for honey and Eeyore’s missing tail.

It’s refreshing to see a feature film that is, not only actual animation, but entertaining and genuinely funny.

Owl Explains \”The Backson\”

The Blu-Ray offers up a host of features, including deleted scenes and a sing-a-long function that lets you (you guessed it!) sing along with the great songs from the film! I also love the “Ballad of Nessie” short film about the Loch Ness Monster as well as the Winnie the Pooh short, “The Balloon” in which Winnie tries to fool a group of bees so he can get his honey. The best part of the film, to me, is the coda after the credits. So when you pick up the film, be sure not to miss it! It will keep you laughing.

At 68 minutes, the film is great for kids and families, or just the young at heart. It’s a great story that keeps you laughing, especially as Cleese talks to Winnie through the narration. And with October being National Honey Month, what better way to celebrate than picking up Winnie the Pooh on Blu-Ray when it released October 25?

You can also get some great honey recipes to go along with the film, just by clicking the banner below!

Winnie the Pooh comes to DVD and Blu-Ray October 25th. Pre-order yours today from Disney DVD.

Winnie the Pooh Trailer

The best installment since the original, “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” takes us away from the first trilogy and in search of the Fountain of Youth. It’s a return to the fun we first saw nearly ten years ago with Captain Jack Sparrow at the helm. This time around, Jack travels from caves to jungles encountering Mermaids and even the pirate Blackbeard himself (played by Ian McShane) and Penelope Cruz as Angelica.

The film is not lost on Blu-Ray, either. The behind the scenes look at the latest installment in the franchise gives glimpses of how everything came together during production. Great featurettes like “In Search of the Fountain” and “Under the Scene” show the work that went into Pirates 4. Careful detail went into this release during filming, and it shows through these mini-documentaries.

Disney also offers up the Second Screen on this outing, which gives users with iPads access to even more in-depth coverage on another display while the film is happening. I admit this can be distracting at times but it is a very technological treat that gives you more bang for your buck. If anything, all these features show you how much more went into this fourth film than the two previous sequels that were more shock and awe than story and fun. Packed with deleted and extended scenes, the Blu-Ray is a vast volume that once again shows that Disney goes the extra mile for its fans.

Personal favorite on the Blu-Ray is the Bloopers of the Caribbean, the Lego animated featurette of Captain Jack’s Brick Tales. Also, the director’s commentary is a great treat for learning about how the idea of the film came about and became a reality with Johnny Depp reprising his role.

It’s this week’s choosy pick, and you can get your copy of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides from Disney DVD.

On Stranger Tides Trailer

Early this morning, Warner Bros. released the first official promotional photo of Henry Cavill as
Superman in 2013′s Zack Snyder reboot, “The Man of Steel”.

This image has raised a lot of questions on the Internet today: a lot of fawning from the ladies, a lot of complaining from fanboys, and a ton of bashing from Smallville fans. But the image does give us the first insight into a new
franchise, and with that we are able to discern some things we have speculated on, and some new ideas to contemplate for the next two years.

1.) The first place you have to start with this breakdown is the suit.

Blink too quickly and you’ll think you’re seeing Aquaman’s suit with Thor’s cape. Ultimately it’s a bold
choice to go with such a dramatic suit adaptation that features one of the longest Superman capes in history, a larger \S/ on the front, and…no red undies? If they were truly going to make this look more
like DCnU then why did we go more Kryptonian Formal Wear than Battle Suit like the comics will soon suggest?

The boots and belt sure don’t line up -
nor does the material of the suit. It’s very water-tight-ish – very
water-resistant…very…

Oh. I see what you did there, Mr. Snyder. True to form, Zack Snyder’s look and feel carries over in his
films. The new Superman outfit looks very Watchmen-ish in its nature. It doesn’t hurt that the promo looks like Supes has been thrown against a wall and is getting up to retaliate in a fast to slow motion
battle royale. Ultimately, I like the suit – I think there are some odd choices but we’re seeing it in a low light setting at an odd angle. I want to see what that suit can do. Shine some yellow sun on
it and let’s see how it really looks (that cape is going to look amazing in flight, by the way.) I say again, it looks like Kryptonian formal wear – not something Martha Kent stitched together for her baby
boy. If Zod’s suit is similar in the film, that will make it all the better.

2.) A form fitting \S/?

I can tell you right now, this is going
to be a hard \S/ to sell. And this is coming from someone who loved
the Routh/Returns emblem. The S itself is VERY classic in nature:

Compare the curvatures and you will see what I’m talking about – however if you offer that up as a
standalone option on promotional materials like posters and kids toys…it’s going to look a bit wonky. I do like going back to the larger size for its proportion but when you have posters and logos that only show the shield, this one is going to look weird for one reason and one reason alone: it’s form fitted. It works based around a chest and not a stand alone flat design – so when Cavill is wearing it, it’s going to probably look awesome. When shown as a teaser poster
or on kid’s band-aids, it might fall a bit flat. But we’ll reserve judgement on that until we see some more hi-res imaging of the shield itself.

3.) One of the biggest gripes I’ve seen: the hair.

I’ll sum this one up fast. It’s a promotional image. They haven’t started filming. That is not
necessarily how Cavill will look when the cameras start rolling. It does beg the question, if that’s Kal-El’s look, what is Clark’s? I don’t need a spit-curl, but I’m also not one of the ones complaining
with the style. Right now, if I were you, I’d be far more concerned about the fact that it looks like Cavill has no eyebrows in the picture than how he’s got his hair styled. One thing is for certain,
this is going to be a very different Superman but I think Cavill has got the chops and the jawline to pull it off. I’ve never been disappointed in an actor who has played the part (I love Reeve,
Welling, and Routh as well as the older guys) so I’ve got faith in the casting that Nolan and crew have collected, as well as their choices for Lois, Martha/Jonathan, Zod, and most recently Lawrence Fishburne
as Perry White (which I think is an inspired choice) – but it leaves one glaring thought…

4.) In a world of promotional materials and press releases with cast listings…are we Lex-less?

Not a single thing has been said about Lex Luthor for this film (my number one choice still being Michael C. Hall) – no casting, no story involving him, no nothing. Is it possible we won’t have a Lex presence this go-around? Any more than maybe a LexCorp mention or a quick cameo/reference? It’s possible. Though we just got our Perry White a few days ago, and still no word on Jimmy Olsen, so we may be in for an impending treat on that front.
Ultimately the other players have been set (I was expecting an announcement that Law and Order’s Chris Meloni would be portraying Sam Lane, but it doesn’t look like that’s the case) so we’re still in detail land as far as all this goes.

These are just things to ponder that
the image has brought forth. With two years to go, so much more is
left to uncover.

It’s been mentioned on Twitter, we talked briefly about it on the Big Honkin Show, and now I feel I need to make official to everyone via the website that my time in podcasting has come to an end.  For now at least.

The way I put it on Twitter was through the words of Shawn Michaels.  The first time he left the wrestling business, he said simply that he lost his smile.

Over the past few months, I have come to understand what he meant.  I love doing Geek Out Loud, Starkville’s House of El, The Big Honkin Show, and Round 3.   I said a couple of years ago that when all this began I just wanted to do a podcast.  I wanted an outlet to talk about all the things that I enjoy that I don’t really get to talk about too much with the people around me.  I never dreamed in a million years that so much good would come out of sitting in front of a microphone and droning on about movies, tv, and comics.  I have made some great friends, I have had a great time, and I got to live a dream I’ve had for a very long time.

Unfortunately, so much of what I do when it comes to podcasting and broadcasting requires that I am as chipper and upbeat as possible.  There have been times when I’ve just felt too tired or too down to think that I can get in the mental place to “bring it” for the listening audience, but I’ve always found that I could power through and have a good time.  Over the past few months, though, it’s been harder and harder to get to that point due to some personal things that have been going on coupled with a hectic work schedule. In short, I’ve lost my smile.  Watching television, movies, and reading comics became less and less of a hobby and more and more of a job.

In an effort to get my priorities straight and to try (again stealing from Shawn Michaels) find my smile again, I am stepping away from podcasting for the time being.

Thank you all for your support.  Thank you all for the e-mails, the well wishes, the good times, and the laughs.  I’m sorry that this all seems to come out of the blue and I’m sorry for letting those of you who look forward to good times with Derek, Buck, and I down.  Ultimately, please know how appreciative I am to every single one of you for your constant support.

Now, on to the logistics of my departure.  I have officially left Starkville’s House of El, The Big Honkin’ Show will air live on the radio one last time next Saturday, Round 3 is over, and we will do two more episodes of Geek Out Loud before September is over so as to end on the milestone 50th epiversary.

I know you, as I will be tuning in to Starkville’s House of El during what promises to be an amazing final season of Smallville.  As for The Big  Honkin Show and Geek Out Loud, don’t delete those feeds because (to pull another adage from Pro Wrestling) the only thing that’s for sure is nothing is for sure.

Again, thank you all, God Bless, May the Force Be With You, and where we’re going we don’t need roads.

It’s been literally three years since I started this blog and this particular feature. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that I thought Season 7 was going to be the last.  Now, as I look forward to the tenth (and confirmed ) final season of Smallville with as much anticipation as I’ve looked forward to the release of Star Wars films I feel like the best way I can honor the show is to finish what I originally set out to do.  Work my way through the entire series with my thoughts on each episode.  If you haven’t read the Summer of Smallville entries to this point, I encourage you to go back and check out one of the first unfinished things I ever did for this little experiment I call Geek Out Online.  They’re easy to find.  Just click Smallville in the Categories column and go to older entries….you’ll see them.  For now though, let’s talk about just how much the ending of the first season sucked.

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