Innovation, emotion and sheer hilarity are on tap with this issue's featured DVD releases, Pixar's latest triumph and the story of living comedy legends.

"Up"

(PG, Avail. 11/10)

Pixar has consistently produced not only the finest crop of animated films of the past 14 years (beginning with 1995's "Toy Story"), but some of the finest films in that time, period. With their first venture into 3D, they have made a film that is a towering achievement even by Pixar's standards.

Like so many Pixar films, "Up" is the story of dreamers. When we meet young Carl Fredricksen, he is a wide-eyed little boy with visions of exploring the world. At the top of his list is Paradise Falls in South America, considered by many to be the last true wilderness on earth.

As he walks through his neighborhood, balloon in hand, he hears a little girl playing in an old broken-down house. He goes inside and meets Ellie, a talkative and happy-go-lucky child who lives for adventure.

"You don't talk very much," she tells a dumbstruck Carl. "I like you!"

She likes Carl even more because he's promised to go with her to Paradise Falls some day.

The next several minutes of the film are more emotionally powerful than most whole movies. It's a wordless sequence in which we see Carl and Ellie grow up and grow old together. They save money for their dream adventure, but life's complications and obstacles force them to spend the money they save on house repairs and medical bills.

Sadly, Ellie passes on before they get to go to Paradise Falls. Life understandably just isn't the same for Carl (voiced by Ed Asner) anymore. Living alone, surrounded by construction crews, he's become cantankerous and connected to no one. When he's faced with a court order to move into a nursing home, the former balloon salesman knows that for Paradise Falls, it's now or never. With thousands of balloons tied to his roof, Carl's house takes to the skies for South America.

Unbeknownst to Carl, he has a hitchhiker. A boy scout named Russell (Jordan Nagai) needs only one more merit badge for assisting the elderly and he just happened to be on Carl's porch the moment the house took off. Together this unlikely pair is going for the adventure of a lifetime. All the while, Ellie's presence is palpable. We know that she's right there with them and loving every minute of it as they make new friends along the way.

Co-directed by Pete Docter and screenwriter Bob Peterson, "Up" is a film of rare beauty, artistry, and humor that has the greatest emotional impact of any Pixar film to date. At its core is the lesson that it's never too late to take that grand adventure, and maybe the kids who see this will gain a greater understanding of their grandparents, realizing that they were young once, too.

"Up" is a wonderful adventure that ranks alongside "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille" for the best of Pixar's best. 10/10.

"Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut)"

(Now Available)

Forty years ago a show premiered on the BBC that would change comedy forever. The words innovative, groundbreaking, and brilliant are used far too often and usually misused, but in the case of "Monty Python's Flying Circus" they are absolutely true. It was risky, it was intelligent, and it was unapolagetically silly. 45 episodes, three films, and four decades later, the story of the Pythons has been told in a new six-part documentary.

"Monty Python: Almost the Truth" is the tale of John Cleese, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, and the late Graham Chapman, told in their own words. This documentary series, which aired on IFC and is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray, covers much of the same ground as the wonderfully absorbing 2005 book, The Pythons Autobiography, but it is nonetheless essential for any Python fanatic (which I most certainly am!).

Beginning with their childhoods, their early influences, and their formation, "Almost the Truth" is breezy fun from the start, which is a far cry from the usual studio interview, talking-head documentary. They provide real insight into their creative processes and the inner workings of the group, unafraid to speak the truth about themselves and each other. There are many comments from famous fans--Steve Coogan, Simon Pegg and Russell Brand among them--but the focus wisely remains on the surviving Pythons themselves, all of whom remain sharp, vibrant, and funny as they approach their seventies.

As long as kids become teenagers, "Monty Python's Flying Circus" will be discovered and loved for its silly walks, argument clinics, fruit-defense classes, and fish slapping dances. Sketches that are forty years old remain ahead of their time and feel far fresher than last week's "Saturday Night Live." The Pythons did this in part by not being topical. Impersonating politicians may get you a laugh today, but silliness is timeless.

In true Python fashion I don't have a good ending for this review, so I'll just quit while I'm ahead and let Graham Chapman as the Colonel take us out.

"Now, I've noticed a tendency for this programme to get rather silly. Now I do my best to keep things moving along, but I'm not having things getting silly. Those two last sketches I did got very silly indeed, and that last one about the bed was even sillier. Now, nobody likes a good laugh more than I do... except perhaps my wife... and some of her friends... oh yes, and Captain Johnston. Come to think of it most people like a good laugh more than I do. But that's beside the point."

Also New to DVD and Blu-Ray

Now Available:
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (PG-13)
The Taking of Pelham 123 (R)
Walt Disney Treasures: "Zorro" Season 1

November 10:
The Ugly Truth (R)