New DVDs: 7/1/08
by Katrina Hayday Wester
Building beaches, reuniting parents, and "suite" living make our list of DVD must-haves this week.
The Suite Life of Zack & Cody: Lip Synchin' in the Rain , Walt Disney Video, Not Rated, $14.99
Twins Cole and Dylan Sprouse are up to their old antics as Zack and Cody at the Tipton Hotel. Four episodes feature the brothers, their single, lounge-singer mother (Kim Rhodes), hotel employee Maddie Fitzpatrick (Ashley Tisdale), and the rich and spoiled hotel heriess, London (Brenda Song). The first is “Lip Synchin' in the Rain," a self-referencing Disney story for super-fans, where Maddie loses out for the role of Sharpay in a stage production of High School Musical (a role the actress Tisdale plays in the screen version of HSM). There is “Arwin That Came To Dinner” where the hotel's engineer experiences separation anxiety once he is forced to move out of the apartment he's shared with his mother his entire life. In “Orchestra,” Zack decides to join the high school band only to have a Russian violin prodigy outshine him. We meet Zack and Cody's father, Kurt (Robert Torti) in “A Tale of Two Houses,” when he moves into the boys' town of Boston to work in a play. The boys are a little older now and each has a girlfriend, but their usual penchant for hijinks and adventures hasn't changed. The extra feature “Twin-Tastic” is a fun look at life as identical twins.
Bob the Builder: Let's Build the Beach , Lyons/Hit Entertainment, Not Rated, $8.99
Bob the Builder is back just in time for summer and this is a perfect DVD to use up an hour or two in the car with your preschool grandchildren. This DVD, features five episodes, including "Lofty's Comet." Lofty climbs a mountain to get a better look at a comet, and Bob has to come and rescue him eventually. In "Spud and the Hotel" the new hotel's first guests arrive, but the new manager has not. Spud tries to help by pretending to be the manager and performing a few other jobs—and chaos ensues. "Tumbler's Perfect Promenade" tells the story of a happy accident where some critters decide to leave footprints in Tumbler’s wet cement, and it later becomes the Bobland Walk of Fame.
Definitely, Maybe (Widescreen) , Universal Studios, Rated PG-13, $19.99
Although rated PG-13, this movie may be boring for tweens, but teens and their parents will definitely find the movie entertaining. Slightly inappropriate for the younger set because of some passionate kissing scenes, but with very little foul language, the subject of divorce is probably the most mature content in the movie. Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) starts the process of dissolving his marriage, and his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) hoping it will cause them to reconcile, wants to know the story of how her parents met. Her father tells the story, which details two other loves, but changes the names so she won’t figure out which one is her mom. Flashing back to 1992, Will talks about his relationship with college sweetheart Emily (Elizabeth Banks) and then Clinton volunteer April (Isla Fisher) and finally, a writer, Summer (Rachel Weisz). The story keeps both Maya and viewers guessing as to which one he ended up marrying. It’s like a cute and modern version of the Parent Trap, with a satisfying twist.
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