True Story
Director: Rupert Goold
Cast: Jonah Hill, James Franco, Felicity Jones
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
Release Date: August 4, 2015
Retail: $27.97
ASIN: B00YTSKF9U
Running Time: 99 minutes
Rating: R
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Now available to own on Blu-ray is real-life crime story True Story. Directed by Rupert Goold, the film stars Jonah Hill, James Franco and Felicity Jones. Special Features include an alternate ending, deleted scenes, The Truth Behind True Story, The Making of True Story, Who Is Christian Longo?, Mike Finkel Featurette, Director's Audio Commentary and a gallery.

Based on true events, True Story centers on journalist Michael Finkel (played by Jonah Hill), who was recently fired from The New York Times for embellishing a story. After feeling like a failure, he returns home to Montana where his wife Jill (played by Felicity Jones) lives. He attempts to bounce back into journalism, but no newspaper or magazine wants to hire him.

Out of nowhere, he learns that the recently imprisoned murderer Christian Longo was claiming to be Michael when he was caught. Thinking that it would make a great story and possibly save his career, Michael begins to visit Longon in prison. On murder charges for killing his wife and kids, Longo claims that he is innocent and asks Michael to help him tell his story to the world.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Monster Musical
Director: Donovan Cook
Voice Cast: Bret Iwan, Russi Taylor, Bill Farmer, Tony Anselmo and Tress MacNeille
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
Release Date: September 8, 2015
Retail: $19.99
ASIN: B00ZCOFBEE
Running Time: 115 minutes
Rating: TV-Y
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Now available to own on DVD from Walt Disney Home Entertainment is Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Monster Musical. Directed by Donovan Cook (Return to Never Land), it features the voice-cast of  Bret Iwan, Russi Taylor, Bill Farmer, Tony Anselmo and Tress MacNeill. The single-disc also features the episodes - Mickey's Pirate Adventure and Mickey's Farm Fun-Fair. It also features Minnie's Bow-Toons: Tricky Treats. As an added bonus the DVD comes with a Trick-or-Treat Reusable Mini Tote!

Mickey's Monster Musical is a double-length episode that centers on Mickey Mouse taking Minnie along with Pluto on a picnic in the country, but their plans change when it begins to rain and the car's tire's blow out. They end taking shelter at a castle owned by Count Mickula, who is more than happy to fix the flat tires.

Count Mickula has been hearing strange noises within the castle and he believes that it's haunted. Mickey, Minnie and Pluto agree to help him figure out who or what is behind the noise with the help of the Monster Mouseketools.


Mickey's Pirate Adventure is another double-length episode. While the Mickey and gang are having a fun day at the beach, Peg Leg Pete delivers a tuba for Goofy. The tuba had been found at seas and has a message from Goofy's grandpappy Captain Goof-Beard (voiced by Dick Van Dyke) stating that he had found a treasure.

Mickey, Donald, Daisy, Minnie, Pluto and Pet Leg Pete agree to help Goofy travel to Harmony-Chord Island and locate the treasure before the island sinks.

The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible For Little Ones
by Jan & Mike Berenstain
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Pub. Date: August 4, 2015
ISBN: 978-0310749417
Pages: 30
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

If you don't know already know by now, I've been a fan of The Berenstain Bears since I was a little kid, which is one of the reasons why I've reviewed several of the recent titles from the series. Since 2008 and prior to death of Jan Berenstain, the new books were published by Zondervan, with one little change - all the stories now have a Christian theme. Back in 2013, The Berenstain Bears Storybook Bible was released. Now a smaller version for younger readers has been released, titled The Berenstain Bears' Storybook Bible For Little Ones.

While Papa, Brother, Sister and Honey Bear are featured on the cover, they don't have anything to do with the book. Instead the authors retold the biblical stories of The Creation (Genesis 1), David Meets Goliath (1 Samuel 17), Daniel in the Lion's Den (Daniel 6), The Birth of Jesus (Luke 1), The Good Neighbor (Luke 10), Jesus in Jerusalem (Matthew 20) and He is Risen! (Matthew 28) with words and illustrations in the style of The Berenstain Bears' world.

The Berenstain Bears' Harvest Festival
by Mike Bernestain
Publisher: Zonderkidz
Pub. Date: August 4, 2015
ISBN: 978-0310748656
Pages: 24
Buy Link: Amazon

Review:

Wow! I recall having a huge collection of The Berenstain Bears' books when I was a kid that is until I let some cousins borrow them and I never saw the books again. Over the years, I have picked up some of the old titles at thrift stores, so I can restart my collection.

After the deaths of the original authors Stan & Jan Berenstain, their son Mike has taken over the franchise. The newest entries have been written with Christian themes. The newest installment The Berenstain Bears' Harvest Festival was released last month.

The story starts out with the Papa and Mama Bear and their cubs (Brother, Sister and Honey) raking leaves from the yeard and picking late flowers from the garden. This is when Papa and Mama decide to attend the Harvest Festival that their neighbor Farmer Ben is hosting. On their way to the event, the cubs learn that harvest time is more than just eating pumpkin pies and hayrides. They learn that they should appreciate harvest as it is a gift from God.

We sometimes hear that we live in an age of obsession with celebrity, but the truth is people have been interested in the lives of prominent people for as long as there have been people who were prominent. Even in the Middle Ages, gossip about the activities of the nobility and their court was of widespread interest. However, our modern age has made it easier to enjoy celebrity watching and here's why:





For most of history, following celebrities was mostly a verbal activity in which people in a position to know would share their celebrity news by word of mouth. Now, many more mediums exist for covering celebrities such as newspapers, magazines and video. No longer is celebrity news limited to a grapevine of insiders, today everyone can be a regular consumer of celebrity news through a wide variety of news outlets.


Once a news outlet has provided something newsworthy about a celebrity, the means now exists for spreading that news faster and further than ever before. The main engine of this news distribution is social media, which allows people to post a celebrity based story before all their social media contacts. The result is a celebrity news echo chamber that brings celebrity news directly to people

I know the first day of Fall won't start until September 23rd, but I just wish the weather will start cooling down. In my opinion, it's a bit to hot for this time of year. It's typically not this hot on my birthday (which was yesterday)! And normally I can smell the fall weather in the air by now (Yes, the Fall has a scent!)

As you can see, Fall is my favorite season. I don't know if it has something to do with the fall weather or the fact that Halloween is just around the corner. Note: Halloween is my favorite holiday.

Speaking of Allhalloween, I'll be putting up my post later today about this year's Halloween event on here called "Halloween Madness."