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The world is all divided into three parts. On the first, there is the island of the flightless birds, who get around in the air through the use of giant slingshots. On the other island live the green pigs, with whom the birds are at constant prank war. Chief among the warrior birds is Red (JASON SUDEIKIS), who is revered because he protected the island from the pigs and their leader, Leonard (BILL HADER) with the help of his friends Chuck (JOSH GAD) and Bomb (DANNY McBRIDE).

But there is a third island, an island of ice, newly discovered and declaring war upon the lands of both pig and bird, launching giant iceballs through the air and reigning down not pranks but destruction. Having a common enemy, birds and pigs forge a truce to work together and stop the mad plans of Zeta (LESLIE JONES) who seeks revenge against the one who jilted her years ago -- Mighty Eagle (PETER DINKLAGE).

The idea of adapting the Nickelodeon pre-school cartoon series, DORA THE EXPLORER, into a matured teenaged jungle expert is, quite frankly, an idea that should have been money in the bank. From the trailers, we see all the classic DORA touchpoints that seem deservedly odd in a live-action film, such as young Dora breaking the fourth wall and asking the audience if they can say a word. That's a cute throwback to the cartoon series. 

When we first meet Dora, she's six years old, and living in the jungle with her parents, Elena (EVA LONGORIA) and Cole (MICHAEL PEÑA), and her cousin Diego. When Diego has to go back home to the city (Go, Diego! Go!), Dora is left with no one her own age with whom to relate.

If I'm asked to summarize CATCH-22, the HBO miniseries adapted from the Joseph Heller novel, I would say, "It's M*A*S*H, but earlier and far more tragic."

The setting is World War II, the European theater, where John Yossarian (CHRISTOPHER ABBOT) is a bombardier who goes on missions into enemy territory over northern Italy during the end of the war when the Germans are on the defensive. His goal is to fly the number of missions he's assigned so that he can fulfill his duty and go back home.

Disney is on a roll when it comes to producing "live action" versions of their animated classics, and their release of THE LION KING is no exception. Now, with Christmas on a collision course with all of us, the House of Mouse has released this CGI masterpiece to the home video market, including Blu-ray and Digital.

There have been a few moments in the Batman mythos that have been truly memorable, have truly changed the landscape for the fans. (If you ask Robert Greenberger, there are at least 100 of these, but that's a review for later this week.) 

One such moment came in 1999, when a new animated series took Batman into the near-future; where Bruce Wayne (KEVIN CONROY) is a retired octogenarian, and Terry McGinnis (WILL FRIEDLE) as the latest heir to the mantle, in a New Gotham that has a whole new set of problems.

When we are introduced to the series, Bruce is wearing the jet-black, tricked-out costume. But his age is catching up with him, and his heart isn't holding up. When he finds himself grabbing a dropped gun to defend himself against a common thug, he's horrified at what he's doing, and seals up the Batcave for good.

Has it really been twenty years since TIM ALLEN, SIGOURNEY WEAVER, ALAN RICKMAN, TONY SHALHOUB, SAM ROCKWELL and DARYL MITCHELL took off aboard the NSEA Protector to explore the farthest corners of the galaxy -- only to have their voyage cancelled on a cliffhanger? See, GALAXY QUEST was just a television show, a science fiction classic beloved by fans and made into the centerpiece of conventions, much to the chagrin of the actors of the series -- Jason Nesmith, Gwen DeMarco, Alexander Dane, Fred Kwan, Guy Fleegman, and Tommy Webber -- who found themselves typecast into their roles and condemned to make a living through special appearances and autographing photos. The only one really into it is Nesmith (ALLEN), but when he overhears two teens talking about how pathetic his life must be, it shakes his confidence.

In 1998, director Hideo Nakata (Dark Water) unleashed a chilling tale of technological terror on unsuspecting audiences, which redefined the horror genre, launched the J-horror boom in the West and introduced a generation of moviegoers to a creepy, dark-haired girl called Sadako. The film s success spawned a slew of remakes, reimaginations and imitators, but none could quite boast the power of Nakata s original masterpiece, which melded traditional Japanese folklore with contemporary anxieties about the spread of technology.

I've been at this gig of reviewing movies for a while now; enough to call it a career. And it's always good when something pops up to remind you that this industry has been going on a lot longer than your little blip on the radar, and produced things of a caliber that 3D CGI multip-part franchise stunt casting will never attain.

Case in point: MAN OF A THOUSAND FACES. This two-hour biopic presents the life of Lon Chaney, an icon of the industry known for his commitment to parts, but moreso for his ability to portray any role, no matter how foreign or grotesque.

With CHARLIE'S ANGELS preparing for yet another attempt at theatrical acclaim, it seems almost counter-productive to release CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE on Blu-ray to remind viewers of just how well things went in the past for this franchise's attempts to make it on the big screen.

Let's face it. FULL THROTTLE was purely for self-referential nostalgia, in-jokes, and gratuitous giggle-and-jiggle. The plot was thinner than Twiggy, with the Angels having to track down two metal rings that, together, decrypted into the full list of Federal Witness Protection participants. The full list. Think about that. Yes, it could fit on two rings easily enough with micro engraving and compression coding. But... every time someone new has to enter the program, you have to have both rings brought in and re-engraved. Seems to be a rather clunky way to handle security, unless you need a Macguffin to drive a plot.

HENRY CAVILL (MAN OF STEEL) is Marshall, a law officer gone terminally cynical from the job, which makes relating with his daughter particularly difficult. Concerned about protecting his daughter from anything and anyone, he finds himself suddenly embroiled in a case of a serial killer who preys on young girls. He catches a break on the case when a former judge turned vigilante, Cooper (BEN KINGSLEY) loses his literal jailbait partner, Lara (ELIANA JONES), to the killer, thinking him merely another predator for them to take off the board. Fortunately for Lara, she wears a tracking device, leading both Cooper and Marshall to her and Simon (BRENDAN FLETCHER), a mentally handicapped man holding Lara and several other girls hostage and putting them through torture.

But while Simon is in custody and being profiled, his captors are targeted for murder and extorted into effecting his escape. Begging the question: Do they have the right man, or does he have an accomplice.

I had, of course, heard of the VERONICA MARS television series. And when Rob Thomas made history with his record-setting Kickstarter to make a VERONICA MARS movie, we were all over it, and reviewed the film upon its release. But the movie is, admittedly, my only exposure to the world of VERONICA MARS and her mystery-solving entourage. So we came into what is being touted as the First Season (it's chronologically the fourth) with an unmuddied opinion, free from canon and shipping.

What we got was, we thought, a pretty entertaining mystery series featuring a quick-witted private investigator (played by KRISTEN BELL) and her equally on-the-ball father, Keith Mars (ENRICO COLANTONI). She's in love with Logan Echolls (JASON DOHRING), who returns in this first episode from some top-secret trouble spot on the globe, and in possession of a set of skills that come in handy when Veronica has to crack a case.

WONDER WOMAN: BLOODLINES is a callback to the DC Universe crossover event of several years back. It has nothing to do with that event however, so don't get excited if you were a fan. Rather, this new release from the DCAU represents the origin of Wonder Woman (ROSARIO DAWSON), with Steve Trevor (JEFFREY DONOVAN) crashing near Themyscira after attempting to shoot down an incursion of Apokoliptian parademons. This serves to tie the story in better to JUSTICE LEAGUE: WAR, to cement Diana into the mythos.

Diana sacrifices her life on Themyscira, defying her mother, Hippolyta (CREE SUMMER), and losing her life on Themyscira for good in choosing to help Trevor and defend Man's World.

Our giveaway this week is too scary for us to handle by ourselves. So we've got our friends at Cosmic Comics Belleville here to keep us company while we keep the lights on.

THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE is the critically acclaimed modern reimagining of Shirley Jackson's legendary novel about five siblings who grew up in the most famous haunted house in America. Now adults, they're reunited by the suicide of their youngest sister, which forces them to finally confront the ghosts of their past... some of which lurk in their minds... and some of which may really be lurking in the shadows of the iconic Hill House.

For the first time, experience even more thrills with three extended Director's Cut episodes featuring never-before-seen footage and go deeper inside HILL HOUSE with four exclusive commentaries from Creator and Director MIKE FLANAGAN (DOCTOR SLEEP).

During a devastating hurricane, a young woman finds herself trapped in the crawlspace of a house with two enormous alligators. Cue the terror.

Haley (MAZE RUNNER's KAYA SCODELARIO) is a professional swimmer who gets a call to check on her estranged father as a hurricane barrels down on the state. Defying evacuation orders, she drives through a roadblock to ensure her father (BARRY PEPPER) is safe.

He's not.

While making a repair in the crawlspace of the family home, he got mauled by an enormous alligator. Fearing him dead, Haley barely escapes the maw of one alligator, but her luck runs slimmer the longer she's forced to find a way out of the crawlspace as the floodwaters rise, threatening to drown them both.

Previously released in two parts, THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN and REIGN OF THE SUPERMEN have now been edited together into a seamless, single movie experience.

Superman (JERRY O'CONNELL) is struggling. As Clark Kent, his relationship with Lois Lane (REBECCA ROMIJN) is difficult to commit to as he has been keeping a huge secret from her. He becomes particularly nervous about this when his parents come to town and meet Lois for the first time. The advice of his fellow Justice League members is that he should open up to her if he wants her to be a larger part of his life.

After having endured the dark debacle that was passed off as TITANS on the DC Universe streaming service, I was once bitten, twice shy about DC Universe's other original series, DOOM PATROL, a spin-off of the TITANS series (having made a guest appearance that season).

Trepidatiously, I began watching the opening season, hitting the play button like clicking the pull/spin switch on video slot games, hoping this one was going to roll up better results than TITANS did.

Jackpot!

Back in the day when the UNCANNY X-MEN were jumping from one classic arc to the next classic arc, the House of Ideas threw a huge curveball at us when it was revealed Jean Grey had been possessed by a cosmic entity so powerful that it could -- and did -- destroy planets. And even though she was supposedly cured of this, there was still a need to balance the scales of justice. She couldn't just walk away from a genocide unscathed. The death of Jean Grey for the actions of the Phoenix Force was more than just a classic story -- it was a pivotal milestone in the history of the X-Men.

Getting an accurate retelling in a movie was a hopeless case from the beginning. To do it even the slightest justice would have required a season of a live-action X-Men series.

So what we get with X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX is pretty much a standalone film that uses some of those ideas and character names, to tell a completely different story.

When a car is forced off the road and the driver awakens with head trauma and amnesia, he arouses the curiosity of the nurse taking care of him. But this John Doe (JONATHAN RHYS MEYERS) may just be a hunted serial killer who's been leaving a trail of dead young women throughout the Midwest. The lead FBI investigator (MALIK YOBA) thinks they've got their man, but Nurse Diana (FRANCESCA EASTWOOD) sees something in the injured amnesiac that leads her to believe he's innocent -- even if he did have the latest victim trussed up in the trunk of the car he wrecked.

When Karen helps John escape the clutches of the law to prove his innocence, flashes of his lost memories begin to return, making it quite possible he really is the serial killer everyone claims him to be.

Starting out as a B-team of heroes in the CW's Arrowverse, DC's LEGENDS OF TOMORROW has evolved from being a time-traveling adventure story that didn't take itself too seriously to being a full-out sitcom of superheroes who reference the main continuity but who remain unaffected by it -- and, apparently, don't affect it all that much themselves, despite what should be some world-changing impacts -- particularly given the very public appearance of some very supernatural happenings.

Has it really been 15 years since Lindsay Lohan and Tina Fey introduced us to The Plastics and the Burn Book? Time has really flown -- but the girls have never looked better than in this 15th anniversary Blu-ray, celebrating this milestone event.

Being the fashion-conscious person you are, you naturally must own this. But you don't have to tell your friends you won it from us -- it'll be our secret. All you have to do is follow a few simple rules (and we do have rules) -- but they're, like, super easy. You can visit our Facebook page, our YouTube channel, or do some Twitter things. Any and all of them will add entries for you and increase the chances that your name will be selected at random as our winner.

So get to clicking below -- and remember: On Wednesdays we wear pink!