Blu-ray & DVD Review: The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience -- Deluxe Extended Movie (2009)

Now Available to Own

New for Valentine's Day 2010

Photo Slideshow

Bookmark this on Delicious

Print Page





Perhaps a little bit of Tinkerbell’s “fairy dust” was sprinkled on the Blu-ray of Walt Disney Home Entertainment’s The Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience – Deluxe Extended Movie that arrived in my mailbox for review.

For, not too long after I removed the packaging, I found myself in a sea of coincidences as though I were playing a new pop culture game called Connect The Jonas Brothers wherein—like Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon—the basic idea is to link the celebrities to others in the fewest moves possible. Except in the case of Connect The Jonas Brothers, there were no degrees needed as a direct connection was made between the trio of heartthrobs and a majority of other items filling my mailbox shortly thereafter.



First, along with Jonas-- on 6/30, Disney also released the surprisingly delightful Princess Protection Program—one of their cable channel’s wildly popular original movies (that truth be told as a “film” was actually more engrossing from start to finish than this concert)—which started Disney cutie Demi Lovato whom the Brothers had not only met on Camp Rock but whom they also invited to perform a song with them on their "Burning Up Tour" captured in this movie.

Secondly—after watching The Jonas Brothers Movie and finally discovering who the super popular singers were as prior to the film I couldn’t name any band member or pick them out of a boy band lineup-- I found another connection in the form of the film’s showstopping guest performer Taylor Swift. Like the Brothers—I’d been completely unfamiliar with the work of Ms. Swift but as soon as she hit the stage I soon became a fan of the singer.

With an instant command of the audience, Swift’s brilliant use of banjos and fiddle players and sassy Shania Twain blend of straightforward, blunt lyrics produced an irresistible confection of pop-rock-country (or "PopRockCo" as I’m trying to call it, working harder than Lacey Chabert in Mean Girls to make my PopRockCo “happen” more than her character’s coined “Fetch”). Her catchy track “Should’ve Said No” stole the tour and the film away from the Brothers and it actually took them awhile to recover!



Realizing that Swift’s appearance and name were familiar not only because of her super fame but also because she was staring back at me in the cover story of the most recent issue of Glamour Magazine—I was stunned to read the article and learn about her former relationship with the Brothers' lead singer and Most Popular Pretty Boy-- Mr. Joe Jonas who dropped Ms. Swift in a twenty-seven second phone call. Further digging online revealed that he did so as to move onto the beautiful dark-haired actress Camilla Belle— and once again, Connect The Jonas Brothers ruled the day as Belle’s new film Push from Summit Entertainment shortly arrived thereafter for review.

And when I realized that I couldn’t turn on the television without seeing the Brothers on Larry King Live, hearing Kathy Griffin tease the host about them (and share their mutual fandom of my personal favorite—Kevin) as well. Likewise, I began to feel like I was transported to the Land of the Jonas especially when I had double vision and conducted a Film Intuition 2-Disc DVD giveaway when Disney was kind enough to send a second copy of the film.



Thus, I was given the unique opportunity to judge both the DVD and the Blu-ray—which actually was unnecessary since par for the course of Walt Disney’s superlative set packaging, the film arrived in Blu-ray form on 3 discs so that viewers could watch it in Blu-ray on Disc 1 in 2D or 3D (with the 4 free Jonas Brothers edition blue and red 3D cardboard glasses included), in 2D on DVD in Disc 2, or by downloading it onto their computer or portable device with Disc 3’s 2D Apple and PC compatible Digital File technology.



As for the film itself-- although it begins with an interesting and candid morning wake-up sequence as their security man, handler and stage MC (?) "Big Rob" awakens the three Brothers at 4:30 am for a full day schedule and director Bruce Hendricks pulls a “run from the screaming girls” sequence in an homage to the seminal rock film A Hard Day’s Night-- essentially it is as the title promises, “a concert movie” overall.

In this extended edition which offers four songs (two of which—“Can’t Have You” and “A Little Bit Longer”—that are worked directly into the movie adding 13 minutes to its running time) that were previously unavailable in the theatrical version-- fans are given a great view of the show and the opportunity to watch the concert in either 2 or 3D via the pristine Blu-ray quality we've come to expect from Disney.



I tested out both technical options as well as switching from the Blu-ray to the DVD for a comparison and I have to admit that while the 3D offered some cool gimmicks, overall it was distracting, headache inducing and unnecessary, dulling out the gorgeous colors of the superlative Disney Blu-ray quality. In fact, I felt that you lost so much of the Blu-ray presentation and its sheer capability by opting for 3D that I couldn't help wondering why the company hadn't offered the option to put 3D on the DVD as well since.



And this is especially because 3D masks what Blu is capable of which was evident right off the bat when I switched out of the mode-- took off the glasses and moved into a sequence in 2D where the color clarity and gorgeous contrast of the flesh tones, depth perception and heightened sense of the entire picture made the Blu-ray pop more than any glow-stick in the crowd would in 3D.



Happily to parents or those who either don't want to go for the budget priced value 3-pack which offers the film in every edition (so that you'll never have to buy it again if you switch to Blu-ray in the future), I can attest that the DVD of The Jonas Brothers Movie is of excellent quality as well. While there's a noticeable difference when you move from Blu directly to DVD and more so when I moved the disc from the up-convert capable player to my standard DVD player, it's still a terrific transfer and proof that Disney doesn't put their name on a lackluster product.



Although I must say that I wasn't a huge fan of the music of the trio since most of it sounded a bit too similar and I wasn't that mesmerized by the teenage Jaggar stylings of Joe Jonas (and actually more impressed by Nick's voice and Kevin's guitar skills)-- there's no denying that the three together put on one entertaining show with back-flips, pyrotechnics, a string section and more. And honestly, for the price of a disc in lieu of a concert ticket with the best view available for every single song-- super fans won't do better than this title, except when they watch it and play Connect The Jonas Brothers at the same time.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.

TV on DVD: Princess Protection Program -- Royal B.F.F. Extended Edition (2009)

Now Available on DVD



Related Title

Bookmark this on Delicious

Print Page





When there's something strange in the kingdom, crowned royalty can't exactly call the Ghostbusters nor are they able to disappear into the Witness Protection Program dubbed "Witsec" by hip U.S. Marshall Mary Shannon on USA Network's In Plain Sight.

No, instead as we learn in the most recent hit Disney Channel Original Movie (which as of its June 30 DVD release date had already garnered over 28 million unique viewers from around the globe)-- a top secret agency funded by the world's wealthiest royal families has been set up. Its mission is simple and important-- namely the major function is to move jeopardized royals like Demi Lovato's soon-to-be queen Rosalinda into "P.P.P." a.k.a. the International Princess Protection Program to keep them from harm.

Comprised of four stages including extraction, transition, transformation, and relocation-- after Rosalinda's life is threatened when a powerful adversary stages a coup and names himself the president of two small countries including her beloved Costa Luna, the young woman has no choice but to escape, disappearing into P.P.P. with Major Mason (Tom Verica).



Since he is a trusted agent and friend of her mother's, Rosalinda follows her mother's advice literally by only trusting Major Mason during her transition as the young woman leaves her identity as Princess Rosalinda behind. And shortly following her departure by helicopter, she learns she's simply #383 in the chain of threatened royalty. That is until after some modern clothes and a few contemporary layers cut into her lovely locks later with the shortened moniker of Rosie Gonzelez-- the lonely princess journeys home to Louisiana with the major under the guise that she's the Iowan cousin of his tomboy daughter Carter (Selena Gomez).



Tired of being overlooked by the subject of her roughly decade long crush on Donnie (Robert Adamson) who conveniently forgets her name every two minutes (aside from the times he uses Carter for free fishing bait sold at her father's shop)-- Carter resents the beautiful, prissy, backstabbing girls of her local high school who are currently stressing about which one will be voted to become homecoming queen.

With an eye-roll and a sigh to her father about her dislike of girls she refers to as "princesses," like Jamie Chung's Chelsea and Samantha Droke's Brooke who go to school complete with costume changes and have boys wrapped around their little fingers-- the last thing Carter wants is for a bona fide princess to live temporarily under her roof until it's safe for Rosie to return back to Costa Luna.



Impatient in dealing with Rosie's lack of social skills and proper mannerisms involving her wish to have the room to herself, her statement of "yes, you are excused," and telling Carter that she can help prepare her for bed-- obviously, it isn't long before the girl who speaks fluent French and uses a fork to cut her hamburger in the lunch room draws suspicious whispers and looks from all around.



And while I was amazed that the major failed to put his foot down while Carter set up Rosie in a cruel "chore duty" prank-- making us lose some sympathy for the likable Wizards of Waverly Place star Gomez's bratty character-- Carter's reluctance to help her phony cousin or roll out the welcome mat only increases when Rosie inevitably catches Donnie's eye.

Yet when she realizes her new roommate's willingness not to stoop to the level of the fake American "princesses" like Chelsea and Brooke who seek pleasure in torturing others including setting Rosie up for an embarrassing disaster, soon Carter realizes she has a lot to learn about what it takes to truly be a princess.



Likewise, Rosie's struggle to see life from a formerly privileged point-of-view as an ambassador in the spotlight is challenged as well when she arrives in a country where she doesn't know a soul and has a hard time just coping with the day to day stuff like finding someones to sit with at lunch or how to fit in at high school.

Of course, inevitably and in true Disney fashion, the girls become friends and learn from the experiences of one another. And while it's predictable all the way and seems to have drawn from some classic Disney tales such as The Parent Trap in the dynamic of the young women as well as once again going back to the studio's favorite female well of fairy tale princesses a la Enchanted and The Princess Diaries-- the two young charismatic leads with beaming smiles are able to draw from their tight-knit friendship (having shared the screen and been part of each other's life since appearing on TV's Barney as children) to make this yet another infectiously fun, high quality Disney Channel Original Movie.

While of course the channel does love to revisit popular hits with sequels and the slightly cheesy Mission Impossible-esque final moment of the work a la a book-end that didn't fit made me fear that a sequel was in the works (and indeed I think I may have predicted it as conveniently Carter's father and Rosalinda's mother could marry like the real Parent Trap), in this case I think that would be a misstep.

For, at its heart, director Allison Liddi-Brown's Princess Protection Program is an admittedly frothy and forgettable yet glossy, silly, and upbeat film about the power of female friendship that marks a refreshing offering for the channel in that-- of course while still turning to "fairy tale" like princesses for source material-- places the idea of girls looking out for each other well ahead of any romantic subplot.

Tying in with this theme, the Royal Extended Edition of the 2009 DVD release boasts a "B.F.F. necklace set," a tween friendly behind the scenes featurette where the real life best friends discuss their own relationship and the making of the film and a music video for their song "One and the Same."



Additionally, it offers a fascinating look at the role of contemporary princesses in society in a worthwhile extra that interviews a real-life Russian princess who breaks down the facts from the myth and above all discusses the importance in having a big heart, giving back to others, and the main job description of "being able to represent your country," in a candid discussion that goes beyond the "Disneyfied" fairy tale look of princesses living castles all waiting for their princes to come.

Text ©2009, Film Intuition, LLC; All Rights Reserved. http://www.filmintuition.com
Unauthorized Reproduction or Publication Elsewhere is Strictly Prohibited.