Let me tell you, if you see only one surfing penguin movie this year, make it this one. Surf's Up is an entertaining movie, with (as I imagined) a bit of sentimentality, but more so, it's packed with great performances by its voice actors, a soundtrack that doesn't rely on '60s surf tunes or established, overused pop hits (a few songs heard prominently are Green Day's "Holiday" and "Welcome to Paradise," and "Get What You Give," by the New Radicals), and a great mockumentary style that sets it apart from the rest of the animated "kids" movies out there.

Much-seen-lately Shia LaBeouf stars as Cody Maverick, a runt of a flightless bird who lost his father young (the filmmakers even make that funny — much different than the Disney brand of parental issues), has a bullying bigger brother and an airhead mother. Cody wants to be just like his fallen idol Big Z — in other words, he wants to be the best of the best amongst surfers. Though none of it is groundbreaking – I won't give away the story – suffice it to say that it is satisfactory (the Big Z storyline is practically straight out of The Karate Kid).

If you're not sick of seeing/hearing LaBeouf lately (Disturbia, Transformers), you're bound to enjoy him here. He brings the right attitude to Cody, being plucky and determined while remaining funny. Also on board (no pun intended) are:

Jeff Bridges in a perfect role for him, especially if you enjoyed his performance in The Big Lebowski;

Jon Heder, aka Napoleon Dynamite, who plays a stoner chicken named, uh, Chicken Joe. Heder gets to steal many of the funnier lines in the movie and never gets annoying, which is nice;

Diedrich Bader, more or less reprising his small role from Napoleon Dynamite – classic;

James Woods as a generally annoying talent agent (on purpose);

and Zooey Deschanel, every bit as forgettable as she was in Elf. (Not a knock on her as an actress, but it just feels like she could be replaced by just about anyone and you wouldn't know the difference, which I guess is in fact a knock on her as an actress. Sorry, Zooey.)

The filmmakers took full advantage of the faux documentary style. From showing "historical footage" and other documents to interviewing everyone from Cody's family to the villain to Woods' agent, no detail was left uncovered, and it is the source for many of the laughs in the movie (for example, the interviews with a trio of younger surfers). At times, the movie more or less abandons or forgets the style, but always picks it up or reminds you of it in a short time.

Granted, since I don't have a two-year-old, I haven't seen that many animated flicks lately, but I'm guessing this is one of the better ones of the last five years, after Finding Nemo and The Incredibles. God knows it looks better than Happy Feet.

Finally, I ought to add that even though we all probably take it for granted these days, the computer animation kicks ass. The ocean waves during the surfing scenes are photo-realistic. Pretty stunning stuff. My only gripe is that some characters are given the über-accurate treatment in terms of how the animal might look in nature, while others resemble comics characters (which was probably done on purpose, for comedic effect. Duh.). Anyway, that's just a minor gripe.

Fletch's Film Rating:

"Darn tootin'!"

Fletch writes (hopefully) humorous and informative movie reviews and other pop culture commentary for Blog Cabins. He is also the inventor of the highly innovative and wildly effective Fletch Film Rating Scale.

I am sure that most of you are familiar with the story of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped, very likely tortured, and finally beheaded by Al Qaeda terrorists in Pakistan. Five years after the brutal and pointless event, director Michael Winterbottom brings the story to the big screen.

It was with some trepidation that I sat down to watch this movie; the potential for a two hour festival of gore was looming large. My fears were completely unfounded. The movie is based on Mariane Pearl's (Daniel's wife) book of the same title. The sad events surrounding this inhuman and unnecessary piece of recent history are viewed through her eyes. The director has done a fine job of neither glorifying nor gorifying the story.

Angela Jolie plays a convincing and totally believable role as the distraught and frustrated Mariane. In the scene where she finally learns of her husband's brutal death, Jolie produces some of the best acting I have seen in a very long time. While this movie was in the production stage there was lots of 'grumbling' from the 'experts' about how Jolie did not have the depth to play this part. Well the 'experts' were wrong.

Daniel Pearl is played by Dan Futterman, and a fine job he does. We get to meet Danny mostly through flashbacks from happier times. We walk away knowing that he was a loving husband, and a ‘dog with a bone’ when it came to a news story. Maybe the saddest part of this whole story is that the Pearls were due to leave Pakistan the day after Danny was kidnapped, Mariane was six months pregnant and it was time to leave. A Mighty Heart also explores some concepts that we in the west may not be familiar with — the huge rift between Pakistan and India, and maybe even more interesting, a brief look into the Al Qaeda organization, and how it uses ‘compartments’ — if you break into one, you do not break into the next.

A Mighty Heart is rated R for strong language, but even with that edited out, it is not a movie for youngsters. It is very deep, and very sad. It opened on June 22, and I think it will do very well indeed.

Even though this is not a chick flick, my co-reviewer Jan (my wife) and I give this one two wet hankies!

Hercule Poirot is quite possibly the most famous fictional detective in the English-speaking world. His creator, Agatha Christie, was a prolific author and wrote more than 60 books throughout her lifetime, and some of the most celebrated books are those that feature the mustachioed Belgian detective. Along with the popularity of the books came stage, film, and television productions of the stories, all with varying degrees of faithfulness to the original source material.

Among those who have portrayed Poirot on film, David Suchet is perhaps the best. I know there are some who think that Peter Ustinov is the definitive Poirot actor, but for me, Suchet is Poirot. His role in Poirot canon began in the late '80s with the BBC televised series, and he has continued to reprise the part almost annually since then. The BBC productions vary in length, from one to two hours, depending on the needs of the story, and all of them have been released in the United States on DVD by Acorn Media.

In fact, many fans who have faithfully purchased each DVD as they have become available will not find much new about Poirot Classic Collection 2, other than the compact storage case. All nine movies in the collection have been previously released by Acorn with different packaging. The one exception is the documentary about Agatha Christie's summer home called Agatha Christie's Garden and hosted by Pam Ferris. However, that should not be a motivation for purchasing this collection, unless one is a rabid Christie fan, and/or a completist. The home and surrounding property have been handed over to the National Trust, and the documentary seems like the sort of informational/promotional film often shown in visitor's centers of such places. It also suffers from poorly edited and disjointed transitions.

In addition to being essentially the same content Acorn Media released in different packaging, the extras, with the exception of the documentary, are essentially the same: text biographical information about Suchet and Christie. It's nice, but not very useful or entertaining. Most, if not all of the content can be found in more suitable locations such as the official Agatha Christie website. Personally, I don't reference DVD text when I want to know an actor's filmography or more information about the author behind the screenplay.

The films themselves are the meat of the product, and they are just as good as one expects them to be. Poirot remains the central character throughout, and is frequently joined by his regular film companions Captain Hastings, Chief Inspector Japp, and Miss Lemon. These three characters, while present in the books, are not as prominent as they are portrayed on film. However, this serves the series well by providing the tools for character development via the relationship that Poirot has with each.

The mysteries are pure intellectual candy and satisfy that particular craving. Those included in this collection are: The ABC Murders, Death in the Clouds, Dumb Witness, Hercule Poirot's Christmas, Hickory Dickory Dock, Murder on the Links, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, One, Two, Buckle My Shoe, and Peril at End House. Each of them stays true to the perspective of the original books, and the filming style and approach treats them like serious productions and not just TV movies. The actors are as responsible for pulling off the productions as the crew and set designers. They are visibly comfortable in the roles of their 1930s and 1940s characters, and I found myself learning a bit of history and culture from the films.

One of the movies, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, is the story of how Poirot and Hastings met and of their first case together. It is also the first novel that Christie wrote. Set in 1916 after many Belgians had sought refuge in England while their country was under occupation by the Germans, the story both establishes the characters and their relationships, as well as introducing the reader/viewer to the style of detective thriller that Christie is most well known for. Within the context of the film set, it seems out of place coming so late in the collection, which is another indication that there is an expectation that viewers will already be familiar with the characters and their background. However, it is still an enjoyable production and one of the best in the collection.

On the whole, the films in Poirot Classic Collection 2 are fun and intellectually stimulating, and are worth acquiring in and of themselves — particularly if one does not own them already.

Anna Creech is a librarian and blogger who dreams of a day when she can improve the ratio of read-to-unread books in her house. Along with writing reviews, she maintains the Blogcritics Goodie Bag, a collection of daily digital treats for eyes and ears.

When I was a kid, I grew up watching The Electric Company. The PBS program was really ahead of its time — a comedy/variety show that taught basic phonetic and grammar concepts using live-action sketches, cartoons, songs, and Spider-Man episodes. The numbers were really unique, and the show featured early-career celebs like Bill Cosby, Rita Moreno, and Morgan Freeman. Pretty cool for the late ‘70s.

So I was excited to see that The Electric Company was coming out on DVD. I immediately thought of my 8-year-old, who loved The Muppet Show’s format and antics. My wife, however, disagreed, thinking that the learn-to-read aspect would be too far below a second grader’s purview. That’s probably because my wife can’t remember watching the show when she was a kid.

Well, let me just say that since The Best of the Electric Company – Volume 2 entered my house, our daughter has not stopped singing the theme song or acting out random sketches. Score one for dad.

Even after all of these years, I was so glad to see that the skits and songs still captivate young minds in this day of “short-attention-span-itis.” I think the length of each number is perfect, just enough to entertain and have them asking for more.

This DVD set is great. It’s fun and educational, and while there are other shows on the air today that do the same thing, The Electric Company was the one that started it all. Of course kids today have no idea who any of the A-list ‘70s actors who frequently made guest appearances are, but for us parents, it’s a nice blast of nostalgia.

Special features:

• A "Remember The Electric Company" featurette
• New episode intros by cast members Judy Graubart, Luis Avalos, Skip Hinnant, Jim Boyd, and Hattie Winston
• Trivia in the form of pop-ups (like the show’s original title, The Reading Program)

I know my 6-month-old is way too young for The Electric Company now, but when the time comes, this will be the perfect program to introduce her to reading in a fun way. In the meantime, she’ll love watching her sister dance around the house to the music.

Grade A+