NEW MOVIES AND ELECTRONICS YOU NEED: 09/05/08

Friday, September 05, 2008

DEXTER SEASON 1 NOW AVAILABLE

DEXTER SEASON 1 NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE SHOW DEXTER FROM IMDB

During the day, Dexter Morgan is a jovial employee in the Miami Metropolitan Police Department's crime lab, but his meticulously crafted life masks his true nature. In reality Dexter is a disciplined and murderous psychopath (a self-admitted "monster"), and he slakes his blood lust at night by carefully killing the serial killers he tracks down during the day. Based on the novels (Darkly Dreaming Dexter, Dearly Devoted Dexter and Dexter in the Dark) by Jeff Lindsay. Written by Clenching Teeth Toast Guy

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE SHOW DEXTER SEASON 1 FROM DVDTALK

The Show
I got a copy of Darkly Dreaming Dexter when it came out several years ago, and though I never finished it (I'm an awful reader) I was fascinated by the concept of a serial killer working for the police; understanding how to murder someone and get away with it. That the whole thing is presented with a wickedly dark sense of humor just made it that much more attractive to me. Obviously, the announcement of a TV series based on the Dexter's books excited the awful reader in me, even if I didn't know how it would end.

Once I caught the series though, it was quickly clear to me that I would never go back to the printed page for my Dexter fill, as it's impossible to think that there could be a better interpretation of the character than the one delivered by Michael C. Hall as part of this outstanding Showtime series.

The basic story is a simple one. By day, Dexter (Hall) is a forensics expert, specializing in blood spatter analysis, for the Miami Metro police department. By night, he preys upon criminals who have slipped through justice's fingers, using his skills to kill and dispose of evil people. Why? Well that's the not-so-simple part of the tale, as Dexter's past is revealed in bits and pieces, building a more complete picture of a soulless killer who wants to funnel his urges into a positive direction. Flashbacks and small clues build to a revelation that not only explains who he is, but which ties together everything.

As Dexter slaughters his victims and works his day job, a main story emerges involving the Ice Truck Killer, whose distinct and exacting style impresses Dexter and draws him into a dance of contemporaries that involves his coworkers, his girlfriend Rita (Julie Benz) and his only remaining family member, his police-office sister Deb (Jennifer Carpenter.) Though Dexter murders people, it's easy to let a sense of vigilantism overtake you, giving you a chance to cheer for the bad guy. It's freeing to side with someone who does the wrong thing, mainly because he does it for the right reasons, but also because he's played by Hall.

As Dexter, Hall is stunning, switching from suburban everyguy to cold-blooded assassin like you would flip a switch, revealing the lack of soul inside though his face, never overplaying into a scowl, or underplaying with a goofy grin. A slight manipulation of his voice reveals a cloaked demon, where was once a concerned boyfriend. It's the kind of subtle performance that was needed to sell the series' main concept: the truth that lies beneath the surface. Hall is the prototypical homicidal maniac with a heart of gold. Just try not smiling from ear to ear as he slides a knife in a similar manner, or feel your heart break as his does. You will never once doubt that he is Dexter.

The perverse love/hate relationship between Dexter and the killer, which ties into Dexter's battles with his own reasons for being, is just one of several threads in the show's deep plot, including corrupt cops, departmental politics, family drama and sociology. Surprisingly, the drama in the police department, which, for the most part, doesn't include Dexter, is just as interesting as the serial killer story. The same goes for story of Rita, who moves from an abusive ex-husband to a serial killer boyfriend, and gives the audience someone to relate to. The series does a great job at juggling a cast of seven "main" characters, interweaving their stories and not letting one fall off for any length of time. It also has the style and production value of a feature film, following the tone set by pilot director Michael Cuesta (L.I.E.) The gorgeous look of the episode "Seeing Red" needs to be seen to understand how beautiful horror can be. This is a different look at Miami for those used to the flashy city seen in "C.S.I.: Miami."

Though each episode is basically self-contained, you'd have a tough time watching one here or there, as the overarching storyline is the most entertaining aspect of the series, with the mystery of the Ice Truck Killer unfolding over the 12 hour-long episodes, mirroring the mystery inside of Dexter. Utilizing a very witty, noir-like internal dialogue by Dexter, the show delivers a mix of detective story and primer on serial killing, as if Sam Spade was a sociopath. It's the rare serial killer story that let's you see the slayer's world unravel the way Dexter's does, as he evolves and grows, while learning about himself and why he kills. His origin story is handled gracefully and meticulously and above all organically, fitting perfectly with the progression of the story. Nothing about it feels forced or out of place.

Admittedly, the series finale is a bit by-the-book in its construction, and the villain is easy to surmise if you pay attention, but it's done so well that you won't care. You'll just want more. This is the first time in recent memory where I actually struggled to open up the cases and get each disc into the DVD player due to sheer excitement, dying to see the next chapter of the story. Partially it was the momentum of the story, but mostly it was simply an infatuation with the characters, whose personalities are fleshed out in detail, pulling you into their lives. When I realized that I cared deeply about not only the lead characters, but the 5th or 6th supporting character, I realized just how good this show is.

And amazingly, there's plenty of story left to tell when season two starts.

The DVDs
The 12 first-season episodes are spread across four DVDs oddly, with four on each of the first two discs, three on the third and one on the fourth (where the extras live as well.) The four discs are packaged in a pair of clear ThinPaks, each with a dual-sided cover with episode descriptions (if this is your first viewing, don't read them), which are themselves packed in a nicely-designed slipcase. The discs feature an animated, anamorphic widescreen menu, with 3-D computer animation that's disappointing for a quality show like this, offering a play-all option, episode selections and audio set-up. Annoyingly, the "Previously on "Dexter"..." prologues are included on each episode, so have your remote handy to skip ahead. Audio options include English Dolby Digital 5.1 and 2.0, and Spanish 1.0 tracks, but there are no subtitles, only closed captioning.

The Quality
The video quality on these anamorphic widescreen transfers is extremely high, but you don't need to even look at the show to see that. All you need to look at is the series' opening titles, which are gruesomely detailed (and incredibly smart.) The level of detail is fantastic for standard-definition DVD, while the color is spot-on, and there are no digital artifacts to be found. The video is close to flawless, without a speck of dirt or damage in the video.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks on these episodes are clear and crisp, with distortion-free dialogue and strong music presentation, with some heavy bass effects. Some atmospheric effects are present in the mix, including one on Dexter's voice that's particularly effective, but for the most part, the side and rear speakers are there simply to enhance the audio, and they do that well.

The Extras
Two audio commentaries are included, on "Return to Sender," with Carpenter, David Zayas, Lauren Velez and Erik King, and "Born Free" with producers Sara Colleton, Clyde Phillips and Daniel Cerone. Not having Hall or Cuesta involved is a bit of a downer, but the tracks are very nice, especially the producers' chat, which covers almost all aspects of the production, including discussion of how the book was altered in bringing it to TV.

A 12-minute featurette, "Witnessed in Blood - A True Murder Investigation," looks at how blood spatter analysis helped solved a real murder. Though the voiceover is a bit too peppy for the subject, and the claim that "Dexter" introduced the world to blood spatter analysis ("C.S.I." anyone?) is a bit boastful, it's an interesting piece that relates nicely to the show. The box lists another featurette, "The Academy of Blood - A Killer Course" but if it's here, I can't find it.

Instead of providing more content about Dexter, or related to the series, you get two episodes of "Brotherhood," another Showtime series. While I understand synergy, and welcome the chance to check out something new as a bonus, when that promotional material seems to come at the expense of material related to the series I intended to check out, it's nothing but a disappointment. Add in the fact that the episodes are presented in letterboxed full-frame and you have to wonder what Showtime was thinking. The series isn't anything I'd be interested in seeing more of, but it's got some buzz, so if you're into stories about thugs and organized crime, you might enjoy this. Of course, with no Emmy nominations and the similar series "The Black Donnellys" dying a quick death, you may not.

The rest of the extras are a blend of oddities, including a link to watch two episodes of "The Tudors," online, two pdf chapters of the new Dexter novel, a sweepstakes link to win a TV, four Showtime/CBS previews, a $25 rebate on Showtime subscriptions, and a "C.S.I." game demo download, along with some text bios. Wonderfully though, I couldn't access this content, as my disc wouldn't authenticate. It also won't work on a Mac. In looking at the overall package though, it seems like Showtime was more interested in selling other Showtime product than supplementing this series. Combine this with the missing extra, and this is a weak DVD package for such a great series.

The Bottom Line
A great concept is one thing. A great concept played out to chilling effect with a talented cast is another thing. Make that concept work in what is essentially an 11-hour movie, and you have something akin to pure genius. That's exactly what you get with "Dexter." A complex mystery, an arsenal of intriguing characters and true artistic style all add up to a mini-series that manages to make every episode enthralling while building an overall story that doesn't disappoint or, incredibly, drag. The DVDs match the show in terms of quality, with gorgeous visuals and solid sound, though most of the extras are more about promoting Showtime than serving "Dexter" fans. If you like shows like "C.S.I." and anti-heroes who don't follow the rules, you will love this series, and will find it hard to watch just one episode, wanting to follow Dexter along the trail of blood.

How to Watch Satellite TV on Your PC Using Windows Media Center and a TV Tuner

How to Watch Satellite TV on Your PC Using Windows Media Center and a TV Tuner BY Kevin Zalla

I used to spend 25-30 dollars for one Pay Per View for wrestling back when it was 25-30 dollars for that Pay Per View now the raised the price to 35-40 dollars for a Pay Per View that sucks so I said never again. I have Dish Network and even though I live in a condo that has windows in the patio I still receive most of the channels for free from Dish Network and here is how. I heard online about Free To Air which stands for Free To Air broadcasts which is basically channels that satellites get that are free and don't charge anything to use it but they are channels like NASA channel which barely anyone watches so I said that might be cool so I started reading up on it then I read from a website named Al7bar.TK which you can view at WWW.Al7bar.TK that you can use those receivers that are Free To Air receivers and use them on Dish Network and receiving not only the basic channels but all the channels that Dish Network has to offer including the porn channels and the Pay Per View channels.

When I read that I went where can I buy one so I searched out where to buy Free To Air receivers and found a cheap site that sells them online and bought one I bought a View sat from http://www.go satellite.net/ and it was under 100 dollars which at first I was a little resistant to buy it because 100 dollars is a lot to me but then I figured if I was paying 25-30 dollars per month just on Pay Per View alone that would mean I would be paying 360 dollars a year on Pay Per View which is already more than what this box would cost for free Pay Per View and free porn I was sold.

So I bought it and hooked it up to my satellite and was happy for 6 months then I bought from www.Best Buy.com a TV tuner card that is called the WIN-TV that I was going to use with my cable box and hooked it up but it was not worth the money I spent since I only had a few channels on digital cable and most were blocked by the cable company any ways.

So I was about to get rid of the TV tuner when I decided to try to hook the box up to the receiver and use Windows Media Center to view it and I found out that I worked so I hooked it up to the computer and then I hooked up the remote that came with the WIN-TV box and then I went and looked to see if the Pay Per View showed up and it did and so did the porn channels and all the channels that Dish Network had all showed up except for the High Definition channels because the tuner is not High Definition compatible yet.

So I hope that this helped you guys out and I hope you found this article to be a good one.

The Top 5 Ways to Watch Movies Online For Fewer Than 30 Dollars

The Top 5 Ways to Watch Movies Online For Fewer Than 30 Dollars BY Kevin Zalla.

1. The best way to watch movies online is to go to www.newz bin.com and sign up for two dollars and fifty cents. Then go to WWW.giga news.com and sign up for one of their plans. I signed up for the 24.99. I went with Giganews because they have the best retention for their newsgroups and it also has unlimited space and download limits. Next go and download a trial version of News leecher from www.news leecher.com or buy the full version. Next install newsleecher and then go sign in to newzbin and from there choose what you want from there list and download the file which is called a .nzb file it should open up newsleecher with the files and it should start to download the file. When it is done downloading you should have it in your hard drive. It will be in .rar format so open up winrar and then click on the first file you downloaded and then extract the main file that is in winrar. Then open up the file and watch the movie.

2. Another popular way to watch movies online is from Google or other sites like Youtube. To watch from you tube the video, first you need to go into your web browser and click you tube .com next where it says search you can search for anything you want to. When you have done the search and see the results you then click on the video you want to watch and it should open up and then play the file. It may take a couple minutes or longer if you have a slow connection.

3. An old but still good program to download files from is called IRC which stands for Internet Relay Chat which is fun to use and to chat on. First you need to download the program to use I use excursion. Go to excursion .cjb.net and from there click download and download the file. Once it is downloaded go and install excursion. Next you go and open Excursion when it is open go to the tools tab and click it. Next when it is open the tab for the options go to the tab on it that says server and then click on the server you want to connect too. There you should be able to connect if the server is good. I clicked on the server efnet NY so then you click on the lightning bolt and it should say connecting. When you connect go to search on excursion it is the little blue button on the top that looks like a globe it should open a channels list from there click search and type what ever you want I typed in movies and it should give you a list of channels with the name of whatever you searched for. For movies it should give you a lot of choices for channels I usually go to the channel with the most users on the channel when searching for movies and other files. When you enter a channel if it is for movies and they say they have movies then you click on the channel and on some channels they have servers which are other users who share movies and other files so to see what a server has you type in whatever the trigger is for that server. A trigger usually starts with /ctcp. When you type the trigger it shows what files you have to choose from you find the movie you want and click it, it either lets you get the file and start downloading or it puts you in queue which means you are to wait like you are waiting in a line so you have to wait till they are all done then you can download the movie from them. That's basically it. Oh yeah and you can chat with a lot of other put there too.

4. The next way is a very dangerous way to get your free movies and that is by going to the website zero paid.com and download one of the p2p programs which stands for peer2peer which is very dangerous because the police and government prosecute people who are uploading from p2p programs mostly and some cable companies will shut off your service if you are downloading too much. First you should download lime wire from http://www.zeropaid.com/programs/downprg.php?id=39 and then install that program and then you can search from lime wire for movies by clicking on the search button and searching files.

5. The last way to download off the internet movies is from bit torrents. They are like p2p programs and aren't too safe but not as unsafe as p2p programs. You can get a bit torrent program from http://www.zeropaid.com/programs/index.php?scatid=84 I would get Azureus because it is one of the better bit torrent programs for me at least. When you are done download the bit torrent file you can find what movies you want from here www.iso hunt.com and search for the files you want by putting in whatever you are looking for in the search box and click the search button and it should give you results. I put in Halloween and I got 573 files so the search I put was not narrow enough though I did find what I wanted and that was the new movie Halloween from Rob Zombie which was leeched from the studio and is now available on bit torrent or newsgroups which is what number 1 was. So I clicked on the file that is the third one down and has 573 s which means seeds which are people who have the full file and are sharing upload speed for you and it has 3398 l which means leaches which are just people who have part of the movie and are still downloading the file. Click on the file you want I wanted the file Halloween.2007.WORKPRINT_DVD-FUA_INT so when you click on the file it asks if you want to download the file click on it to download the file and then open the file and it should open in the program you downloaded for bit torrent like for me it opened in Azureus and it should then start to download but while it is downloading you need to be uploading it too so that is where you can get in to trouble because if you are getting the file then you should not get in to trouble but if you are sharing the file which with bit torrent you do then you could get into some major trouble.

I am new to the world of internet business but I learn fast and hope you guys will like my articles thanks.

THE MUMMY 3 NOW AVAILABLE

THE MUMMY 3 NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE THE MUMMY 3 FROM IMDB

The blockbuster global "Mummy" franchise takes a spellbinding turn as the action shifts to Asia for the next chapter in the adventure series, "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor." Brendan Fraser returns as explorer Rick O'Connell to combat the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the frigid Himalayas. Rick is joined in this all-new adventure by son Alex (newcomer Luke Ford), wife Evelyn (Maria Bello) and her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah). And this time, the O'Connells must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service. Doomed by a double-crossing sorceress (Michelle Yeoh) to spend eternity in suspended animation, China's ruthless Dragon Emperor and his 10,000 warriors have lain forgotten for eons, entombed in clay as a vast, silent terra cotta army. But when dashing adventurer Alex O'Connell is tricked into awakening the ruler from eternal slumber, the reckless young archaeologist must seek the help of the only people who know more than he does about taking down the undead: his parents. As the monarch roars back to life, our heroes find his quest for world domination has only intensified over the millennia. Striding the Far East with unimaginable supernatural powers, the Emperor Mummy will rouse his legion as an unstoppable, otherworldly force...unless the O'Connells can stop him first.

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE THE MUMMY 3 FROM DVDTALK

The latest "Mummy" film, coming a full and unforgiving seven years after the last "Mummy" film, is actually not much of a film at all: it's a deafening, blinding department store Blu-ray demo reel that's spun wildly out of control. It takes a herculean effort to be known as the least appetizing entry in the "Mummy" franchise, but then again, a studio isn't exactly fishing for quality when they hire Rob Cohen to direct.

Now retired from their adventuring days, Rick (Brendan Fraser) and Evelyn O'Connell (Maria Bello, replacing Rachael Weisz) watch as their son Alex (Luke Ford) continues on their reckless, globe-trotting ways. When Alex uncovers the lost tomb of Emperor Han (Jet Li) and his Terracotta Army, it reawakens the fierce ruler from the afterlife, sending him on a quest for immortality. With a new mummy on the prowl, Rick, Evelyn, Alex, nightclub owner Jonathan (John Hannah), and a spiritual warrior (Michelle Yeoh) team up to prevent Han from reaching Shangri-La and ruling the world with his infinite undead army.

Considering 2001's "Mummy Returns" grossed more than its 1999 predecessor, it boggles the mind to consider how Universal Pictures just simply sat on their hands and watched the demand for a new chapter in the O'Connell family saga wither away through a miserable spin-off (2002's "The Scorpion King") and the merciless passing of time. I mention the long absence because "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" spends an inordinate amount of expositional time reminding the viewer what once lit up the imaginations of past summer moviegoing crowds, as if completely panicked nobody will remember that once upon a time Brendan Fraser plus undead CG demons equaled box office gold.

While I was no fan of "Mummy" and downright loathed the wretched "Returns," "Tomb" takes the franchise to a stunning new low. Director Rob Cohen (you know, the visionary who made "Stealth," "Fast and the Furious," and "xXx") replaces Stephen Sommers here, and if there's one guy who could make Sommers appear as cinematically resonate as Spielberg, it's Cohen. As lead-footed a filmmaker as the factory churns out, Cohen picks up on the same beat of noise pollution that was left hanging in 2001, only he manages to craft a sequel more obnoxious and defeating than previously anticipated.

It's a rotten, stubborn directorial endeavor, and since Cohen has little appreciation for legitimate big screen magic, "Tomb" suffocates under the filmmaker's bile-slicked mandate that every single frame must contain a screaming or explosive element. "Tomb" is a hallow fireworks display (often literally), using the characters as anonymous action figures instead of trying to hammer out a decent narrative to employ their established appeal. The sense of archeology and sun-baked puzzling from the previous films is rubbed out, as are the wide open spaces, replaced in "Tomb" with tight, unconvincing sets plucked right out of a Sci-Fi Channel Original.

Perhaps Weisz made the right decision to bolt when she could, though her warmth and romantic glow is missed from the inert picture. Bello isn't a satisfying replacement; she's woefully miscast trying to match Fraser with limp quips and dreadfully-accented exhilaration, missing the doe-eyed fairy dust Weisz sprinkled before.

And speaking of replacements, how is the audience supposed to believe the pre-teen, thoroughly British Alex of "Returns" grows up to be a twentysomething American cowboy/tomb raider in the new film? Ford's dreadful attempt to swallow his native Australian accent doesn't help the transition. Neither does the fact that Fraser and Ford look like brothers, not father and son. Ah, but I'm sniffing around for logic, and that's the wrong course for a "Mummy" movie.

The "Tomb" journey sends the characters to the Himalayas, where they battle Han's goons with the help of a few towering Yeti (who apparently feed on a steady diet of American football), allowing Cohen to blow his sets up; to the streets of Shanghai, where Cohen can smash cars and blow them up; and finally the Chinese countryside, where Han's CG soldiers fight a different set of CG soldiers. And yes, Cohen blows more things up. The man loves all things that go boom. It's a repetitive cycle that pushes the actors to the background, even reducing Li and Yeoh to mere cameos (watch out, the marketing is deceptive) when those two icons should've been front and center for the entire run of the film.

The world didn't need a third "Mummy" motion picture, and it certainly didn't need one that descends further into mindless action and insipid screenwriting. "Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" is a terrible film, but even more insidious, it makes one wish for the good old days: when Stephen Sommers found time to ruin summer entertainment through his own brand of blaring, big screen misery; when the mummy was played by a doughy, hairless, spray-tanned, completely unthreatening South African actor; and when Brendan Fraser was actually considered a humorous presence by a select few.

There's the magic of Rob Cohen for you: he makes awful extraordinarily nostalgic.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE THE MUMMY 3.

THE LITTLE MERMAID 3 ARIELS BEGINNING NOW AVAILABLE

THE LITTLE MERMAID 3 ARIEL'S BEGINNING NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE

HERE IS THE SUMMARY FOR THE MOVIE THE LITTLE MERMAID 3 FROM IMDB

The plot explores the story of Athena, Ariel's mother, through the narration of Ariel.

HERE IS A REVIEW FOR THE MOVIE THE LITTLE MERMAID 3 FROM DVDTALK

"The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning" doesn't have the warm vitality of "The Little Mermaid," and the songs aren't nearly as memorable. But the animation, while obviously cheaper, is as vibrant as ever, and in the world of Disney direct-to-video sequels, one out of three ain't bad.

Actually, as the title suggests, "Ariel's Beginning" isn't a sequel to Disney's modern classic, but a prequel, revealing an early adventure of the undersea princess. (There's no telling where this fits in with the 1992 "Little Mermaid" TV series, itself a prequel, but it doesn't really matter here.) The story opens when Ariel is just a little girl, her parents happy rulers of Atlantica. But Disney can't go a year without killing off a cartoon mom, so pretty soon the queen is killed when a pirate ship crashes. (Don't worry, parents: it's delicately handled off-screen.)

Oddly, this is the last we'll see of the pirates, who offer no other importance to the story. Instead, we watch as King Triton (voiced by Jim Cummings), heartbroken over the loss of his dear wife and desperate to hide himself from the thing that will remind him most of her, decrees that music is banned from the kingdom.

Jump ahead a few years. Ariel (Jodi Benton, reprising her 1989 role) is a rebellious teen, the most problematic of the king's seven daughters. The conniving Marina Del Ray (Sally Field!) - a sort of minor league Ursula - is the princess' nanny, a job she loathes. She'd rather kick our old crustacean pal Sebastian (Samuel E. Wright) out of the kingdom and take over as Triton's attaché. At Marina's side is Benjamin (Jeff Bennett), a soft-spoken manatee who's way too friendly to be a villainess' henchman.

As for Ariel, she sneaks out one night, meets our favorite fish pal Flounder (Parker Goris), and discovers an underground nightclub where music thrives, a sort of speakeasy where tunes are the vice of choice. A hip calypso/jazz band tears up the joint, and surprise: Sebastian's the lead singer! Ariel informs her sisters, who also want to thrill to the music. Which is, for a Disney cartoon, quite subversive in its own little way, what with girls sneaking off to be seduced by illicit thrills - especially since we've seen the original movie and know Triton will eventually allow music back in the kingdom, meaning the girls are right to dare to stick it to the man.

The actual plot is quite thin: the girls get busted, Ariel and Sebastian run away, Marina gets power mad, and so on. What a movie like this needs, then, is a collection of great songs to keep pushing us through the so-so story. Unfortunately, what we get instead is a series of bland originals (for the life of me, I can't remember how a single one goes, let alone leave the movie humming); the only real keeper here is a cover version of the old school calypso favorite "Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)," which is peppy and fun, even if the movie repeats it throughout the feature, as if to dilute its kicky glory.

Screenwriter Robert Reece previously worked on "Cinderella III," while fellow scripter Evan Spiliotopoulos helped write "The Lion King 1½." For all their flaws, both those films delivered a nice amount of in-joke play, and that sense of for-the-fans fun repeats here. "Ariel's Beginning" works best when it lets loose with the winking humor, as in one giddy segment where Marina struts her stuff, allowing the filmmakers to parody an iconic shot from "The Little Mermaid." This sort of knowing silliness is much welcome, and it rewards the intelligence of kids who will thrill to the chance to spot the references. Better still, first-time director Peggy Holmes has a knack for quick-paced physical comedy, as she fills the screen with mugging characters, appealing visuals, and a nice, steady flow.

But that goofiness often gets buried too often underneath a blah story that's much too run-of-the-mill to allow the emotional oomph of the characters' plights to truly impact. Triton's misery is less about character and more about plot, which is fine enough if you just want to make a fluffy piece of video shelf filler to rake in a few bucks until the next DTV project rolls around, but not enough if you want to allow your project to rise above the flat expectations of the genre. There's enough going on in "Ariel's Beginning" that works - kids will enjoy it plenty while parents won't object too much - but there's just not enough to make it memorable.

The DVD

Video & Audio

As mentioned, the animation, while not completely matching the high quality of the original film, is still far above that of the usual Disney DTV fare. As such, the film truly sparkles in this anamorphic widescreen (1.78:1) transfer, which makes the most of bold colors and crisp detail. Simply dazzling.

The soundtrack comes in both Dolby 5.1 and DTS, both of which offer a rich, clear dynamic range, especially when the music kicks in. French and Spanish Dolby 5.1 dubs are also included, as are optional English SDH subtitles.

Extras

As with most Disney discs these days, "Ariel's Beginning" is coded with the studio's "Fast Play" option.

The bonus material kicks off with two deleted scenes ("Sebastian Follows the Girls" and "Ariel Follows Flounder"), presented in a storyboard format. Director Peggy Holmes hosts both clips and discusses why they were cut from the final film, which helps illustrate (no pun intended) the lengthy writing process of an animated movie. (5:41 total; presented in 1.78:1 flat letterbox)

Under the "Music & More" label, you'll find quick links to four of the movie's musical scenes, along with an option to play the entire film with on-screen lyrics. (Those lyrics comprise additional subtitle tracks in English, French, and Spanish, and as such, you can also bypass this menu and activate any of those tracks with your remote during regular playback.)

"Mermaid Discovery Vanity Game" isn't so much a game as a bit of clickable exploration, where you can visit the vanities of all seven princesses. Use your remote to click on various objects to learn more about them, and about the characters that own them.

"Splashdance: A Dancer's Adventures Under the Sea" offers an interesting take on the behind-the-scenes featurette. As Holmes hosts these making-of clips and cast and crew interviews, we learn that she's a dancer who's made the unlikely career jump to directing. Holmes admits she has no experience in drawing and animation; we see footage of her dancing and acting for the animation staff, which is admittedly a pretty nifty approach to the material. The rest is your typical (yet nicely presented) how-they-made-it stuff. (7:21; 1.78;1 flat letterbox)

"The Little Mermaid: Under the Sea and Behind the Scenes on Broadway" finds Sierra Boggess hosting a surprisingly detailed look at the "Little Mermaid" Broadway adaptation. Boggess (who plays Ariel on stage) offers a peppy tour of the backstage experience, with plenty of clips of the show's biggest moments and interviews with the supporting cast mixed in for good measure. (10:26; 1.78 anamorphic)

The usual batch of Disney previews rounds out the set; some previews also play as the disc loads.

Final Thoughts

Most Disney cheapie sequels are terrible, this we know. "Ariel's Beginning" falls into a second category, the sequel that's perfectly watchable yet not entirely memorable. Most grown-up fans will do fine to merely Rent It, but, keeping parents in mind, I'll add that kids will want to rewatch it enough to make a purchase worthwhile. Factoring in the solid transfer and decent extras, I'll call it Recommended.

HERE IS THE DIRECT DOWNLOAD FOR THE MOVIE THE LITTLE MERMAID 3