Nickelodeon: 6-Movie Collection - DVD

NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 25th ANNIVERSARY EDITION - DVD - This stop-motion animated fable was a big hit when it was released - not only at the box office, but critically. It was praised for it's stunning originality and for the excellence of it's execution. In addition, it was praised for being a completely absorbing fable that both grownups and children can enjoy, so long as the children are able to it's handle scary bits (beginning perhaps at age seven or eight). In the story, Jack Skellington (voice of Chris Sarandon) is the Pumpkin King of Halloweentown, a realm of reality where the inhabitants make it their life's work to scare humans on Halloween. He's good at his work, and is very popular around town, but it all bores him. In a funk one day, he wanders into a wood where every tree is the doorway to realms serving one or another human holiday, and falls through the doorway into Christmas. There, he sees scenes of such glee and good will that he is overwhelmed. He returns to Halloweentown with the inspiration to persuade his fellow citizens to kidnap Santa and do Christmas in their own Halloweentown way - complete with snakes and shrunken heads. Despite strong arguments against this project by Jack's otherwise loyal girlfriend, Sally (voice of Catherine O'Hara), Santa (voice of Edward Ivory) is duly captured, and the townspeople prepare a very special Christmas for everyone. Jack is excited about the new plan, and at first doesn't notice that Sally isn't around much anymore. Meanwhile, Oogie Boogie (voice of Ken Page), a sinister opponent of Jack's, has re-kidnapped Santa and has captured Sally as well. Since Sally is the true love of Jack's life and (he eventually realizes) the only one who can be relied upon to tell him the truth in every circumstance, a confrontation with Oogie Boogie becomes inevitable. In addition to being a monumental work of animation (

The Great Outdoors [DVD]

Eight-disc set includes Spider-Man (2002)A bite from a genetically altered arachnid turns timid high schooler Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) into a web-spinning wallcrawler who learns through tragedy to become a hero, in the hit screen rendition of Marvel Comics' flagship character. Kirsten Dunst is Parker's love interest Mary Jane Watson, and Willem Dafoe is scheming scientist Norman Osborne, who uses his technology to become the armored, bat-glider-riding Green Goblin. With Rosemary Harris, James Franco, J.K. Simmons; Sam Raimi directs. 121 min. C/Rtg PG-13 Spider-Man 2 (2004)Two years after receiving his spider-powers, life hasn't gotten any easier for college student/crimefighter Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire). With his grades slipping and his personal life at an all-time low, Parker hangs up his red and blue costume. But when New York is threatened by a new menace-tentacled terror Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina)-will Spidey return to save the day? Director Sam Raimi's smash hit sequel also stars Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Rosemary Harris, J.K. Simmons. 128 min. C/Rtg PG-13 Spider-Man 3 (2007)As Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) has his hands full dealing with life in the public eye and the effects of an alien symbiote that has attached itself to him in the form of a sleek new costume, he must also contend with a former friend (James Franco) who's adopted the mantle of the New Goblin, the granular goon the Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), and rival photographer Eddie Brock (Topher Grace), who joins with the alien to create the villainous Venom. Also stars Kirsten Dunst, J.K. Simmons, and Bryce Dallas Howard. 139 min. C/Rtg PG-13 The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)Well-received reboot for the Marvel Comics screen franchise casts Andrew Garfield as gifted but troubled teenager Peter Parker, imbued with a spider's abilities in the wake of a laboratory accident. Using his newfoun