Earth Day is here and what better way to spend it than it with Muppets?

Lionsgate Home Entertainment has two great family-friendly DVDs to check out from the Jim Henson company: The Song of the Cloud Forest and Other Earth Stories and The Animal Show with Stinky and Jake: Lions, Tigers, & Bears.

Gamer isn’t quite what you’d expect from the title. Sure, it has a fair share of gaming cliches but it tempers them with just the right mix of seriousness and humor and then wraps it all in an interestingly gritty cinematic style.

Don’t be mistaken. Little about this movie is subtle.

Title: The SpiritRelease Date: December 25, 2008Company: LionsgateRating: PG-13Pros: A couple good performances, some nice visual elements and interesting mix of genres. Definitely Frank Miller’s take on a Will Eisner creation.Cons: Too many disparate, inconsistent and conflicting elements. Several bad performances, choppy dialog, overuse of monologues and exposition visuals. Definitely Frank Miller’s take on a Will Eisner creation.Overall Score: Two thumbs sideways; 73; C; * * out of five.

Frank Miller, known for dark, gritty and uniquely visual creations can seemingly do no wrong. Sin City and 300 were visual amazements that fans loved and pretty much secured him as the man to do graphic-novel-to-film adaptations. Until The Spirit, that is.

Miller’s grit may be good but it’s not really part of the original character and results in some rather confusing and inconsistent plot elements, performances and themes…