Yay! New Roger Holland column at PopMatters

Roger Holland runs down the latest in children's DVDs for PopMatters. I wait for these columns, not because I'm so into children's DVDs, but because Holland's columns are always smart and always funny. This month Flushed Away gets an 8/10 as the highest-rated DVD and Bratz Fashion Pixiez a rare 1/10. Here's why:

• "My sister-in-law once bought my daughter a Brat (that's the singular, right?), so I ate her liver, barbecue-style with a nice six-pack of Shinerbock. If anyone offers your child Bratz Fashion Pixiez [Rating: 1], you should assume he's grooming said child and report him to the FBI. And if you ever allow your own little princess to watch this nonsense (the eighth DVD in the series!), you should be prepared to see her making homemade sex tapes and serving 45 days in jail before she reaches 25. "

Head on over and read the entire column.

Children's DVDs

Yay! Roger Holland is back with his highly-useful children's DVD review column for PopMatters. This month the topic is Christmas DVDs and features the best title ever: "Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Children?" Here's the set up:

• "As our inner Helen Lovejoy knows full well, Christmas Is For Thee Children. So what on earth can we pick up for our kids from Wal-Mart that'll fit into an SUV laden with goodies from the Pottery Barn and beyond? Well, DVDs. Obv. And why not start with the Christmas Classics?"

The winners include Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (50th Birthday Deluxe Remastered Edition) and The Snowman (which earned a rare 10 from Holland). The losers? Power Rangers Mystic Force-Dark Wish (which earned an equally rare 1), Barney-Let’s Make Music (2), and Baby Einstein-Baby’s First Moves (3).

DVDs for children

Roger Holland is back at PopMatters, recommending children's DVDs.

What comes highly recommended? TaleSpin: Volume One, from Walt Disney Home Entertainment.

What does Holland pan? Disney’s Sing-Along Songs--Happy Haunting, from Walt Disney Home Entertainment. Here's what Holland has to say about sing-along DVDs:

• I’ve long since stopped wondering just who was buying the Sing-Along Songs DVDs. The series is clearly the kid’s present equivalent of gas station flowers or CDs on the Hallmark label, and the purchasers can only be fond but uninvolved family friends and relatives. Such unthinking convenience gift givers would do far better to consider either a brand with pretensions to child development or one of the many quality reissues we see each month.