Released just as the evenings grow darker and Halloween starts to approach this third volume of spooky children's shows from the Cartoon Network is set to send chills down the spine. Six episodes are included on this collection with various characters--including the Powerpuff Girls and Ed Edd 'n Eddy--featured.System Requirements:Run Time: 95 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: CHILDREN/FAMILY Rating: NR UPC: 053939767124 Manufacturer No: T7671Customer Review: Even More Halloween HA-HA-HAs
It's baaaaaack.... This is the third installment of Cartoon Network Halloween. Now for a bit of a rundown of what's what on the latest Halloween DVD.: Foster's: "Bloooo" - An unwell Blooregard turns white as a ghost ! (Let me tell you, that episode was WAY outta control.) Juniper Lee: "It's the Great Pumpkin, Juniper Lee" - Young monsters turn into children every Halloween night. Now June must find a way to change them back. Ed, Edd n Eddy: "Don't Rain on my Ed" - Time grows short for the Eds as they race towards the candy store for free jawbreakers. Billy and Mandy: "The Bubble with Billy" - Billy chews on, then intentionally swallows some otherworldly gum Grim gave him. Kids Next Door: "Operation J.E.W.E.L.S." - Numbuh 5 searches for the lost "Blurpleberry Supreme". Powerpuff Girls: "Candy is Dandy" - The girls are each rewarded a piece of the Mayor's candy. Now they must save the day again in order to get more. Now here's a list of episodes that didn't seem to make it to the DVD.: I Am Weasel: "I Are Ghost" - Weasel and Baboon are ghosts in the Ghost Union and must scare someone in order to keep their jobs. I Am Weasel: "I Am Franken-Weasel" - Mad dentist Dr. Franken-Weasel is itching to get back to his mad scientist roots. Johnny Bravo: "Going Batty" - To upstage her nerdy boyfriend, a vampire girl goes out with Johnny. Dexter's Lab: "Scare Tactics" - Dexter and his dad watch a scary movie and pretty soon the entire night becomes that scary movie. Cow and Chicken: "Halloween with Dead Ghost Coast to Coast" - Red Guy dressed as a familiar Adult Swim character suggests to Cow and Chicken that they dress up as humans for Halloween. Unfortunately, it didn't work. A random episode of "Courage the Cowardly Dog" - This is perhaps the BIGGEST gap in all of volume 3. Since the subtitle to this DVD is "Sweet Sweet Fear", I would suggest this episode: "Katz Kandy" - Sick and tired of being second to Muriel, the felonious Katz whips up some mutant jam to kidnap her. Now Courage must save Muriel who is caught between two things: A huge taffy machine and a hungry Eustace. Surely Volume 4 will have at least one of those episodes, AND the Eds' "Boo Haw Haw" special. Just wait 'til next year.
Customer Review: Finally! Juniper Lee!
Although the other episodes were great, it's cool to finally see Juniper Lee on DVD, even if it is one episode. I recommend this DVD because I am a Juniper Lee fan and the other episodes are great too.
As Hollywood prepares to churn out yet another movie based on the work of Philip K. Dick, the producers blithely ignore the existence of a screenplay written by Philip K. Dick, himself. If you have read the book that was published as UBIK: The Screenplay, you have not read Phil's screenplay. That book has been heavily edited, and others have added material to the screenplay that Phil wrote.
That having been said, film producers really ought to take a look at the author's own screenplay before embarking upon their journey of interpretation and misinterpretation.
UBIK is one of the major sources of "inspiration" (or perhaps plagiarism) for The Matrix. The characters and the readers never can be quite sure who is alive and who is dead, after somebody is killed in a terrorist bombing. Rather than burying the dead, they put the bodies into cryogenic storage and hook up devices that allow the living to communicate with their departed friends and relatives for a time, until all brain function ceases. The dead continue to live in a virtual reality which seems as solid as our reality. They do not know that they are dead, and when someone tells them that they are dead, they do not believe it. Of course, this is based on Plato's allegory of the Cave. If we never leave the Cave and never see the outside world, then the shadows on the wall of the Cave constitute the only reality that we know. The outside world, if we should catch a glimpse of it, would seem unreal and insane to our eyes.
UBIK has the potential to be a blockbuster at the box office. It tells the timeless story of our search for meaning. It has conflict, danger, suspense, all the elements of an engaging story, and the necessary special effects are now possible with advances in CGI and other technologies.
You might think that the first PKD film, Bladerunner, was a smashing success. Wrong. It lost money in the theatres, but coming as it did in the dawn of the age of the VCR, it made its profits from the videotape and continues to earn money for the filmmakers with the DVD. Unfortunately, Phil's contract did not even mention videotape, so his estate never saw any money beyond the advance that he got.
Some clunkers have appeared, including Total Recall, which actually made money (but the scenario had little to do with Phil's story "We Can Remember it for You, Wholesale", on which it was very loosely based). Once again, Phil's estate saw very little of that money.
Screamers and Second Variety (both based on Phil's story "Second Variety") deserved to flop. The story formed a flimsy excuse for people to run around spilling blood and guts across the screen, and the endings were transparently contrived.
Paycheck, based on Phil's story of the same title, had potential for greatness but suffered from lackluster acting by apathetic stars who were merely fulfilling the requirements of their contracts by performing in a film that they would rather pass over.
Minority Report was a success, due in large part to Tom Cruise's box office appeal. This film elaborated on Phil's short story, presenting a fascinating if dystopic view of our possible future.
A Scanner Darkly won many awards, but it suffered from lack of distribution. Even though it was number one at the box office in its opening week, Warner Independent could not find the funding to keep it in the theatres. This film continues to gain popularity on DVD.
UBIK promises to be a box office success, as well as a great film. The timeless story speaks to our hearts and our minds in an age when the once fantastic technology presented in the story seems possible and perhaps even probable. Moreover, it celebrates the heroism of ordinary people who face extraordinary circumstances.
I look forward to seeing UBIK on the big screen, and I hope that the producers realize its potential.
~~ Tessa B. Dick, September 6, 2008
Author: Tessa B. Dick
Learn more abou my husband Philip K. Dick at my blog: http://tessadick.blogspot.com/
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