You know stockings and holly and toys and bows, wreathes and candy and tinsel and mistletoe, but do you recall the most famous Christmas specials of all? Holiday TV programming is as festive as it goes and whenever you get to see it you can even say it glows. But now, for the first time the Elves are having a chance to rank the top Christmas TV specials based on festivity, soul and being not naughty but nice. We’ll leave the 10^th up to you. No one wants an arguable runner-up on this list. We’ve gone into the TV Guides, settled down on the floor to avoid couch potatoes and replaced commercials with Christmas tunes; caroling them all to bring you the top 9 on the countdown. Cue the sleigh: our countdown starts at #9 after the jump.

As the high-definition format of Blu-ray looks forward to the franchise of Star Wars: The Complete Saga (Episodes I-VI) hitting its catalogue, it’s time for fans to look back at the historical saga of Star Wars. With the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s, the dawn of the 21^st century and now the teens of it, Star Wars has existed in five decades and counting, but how pure was that first one. How glorious was that second, how rejuvenating was that third, how sweet that fourth and the fifth has just started. Before Star Wars is in high-definition, this is Star Wars in retrospect. You’ll need a home theater seat by September 16, but you don’t need a theater seat to experience this now. No, this is your seat on the Millennium Falcon and hyperspeed is after the jump.

If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong, but Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers seemed to do everything right about everything going wrong. They hit a familiar chord with family-oriented audiences with good ol’ values. And they were dirty about it. Both were hits in theaters and on home video, and now they’ve been erected in high-definition. It’s time once again to meet the parents and the Fockers. Welcome home. My full review is after the jump.

You’re not supposed to know that fairies are in charge of the seasons changing and the designs on the wings of butterflies, but sometimes a lucky soul may just get the chance to know. Tinker Bell And The Great Fairy Rescue is the latest addition to the Disney Fairy franchise and this, humans are invited to know. Do you hear the sound of a tinkling bell? Well, I guess the fairies are personally inviting you. My full review is after the jump.

The original toy line hit shelves in the early 1960′s, intended to be for boys what the Barbie doll was for girls. And now, G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA has come out, based on a true toy line. It’s fascinating to see how times have changed so much that source material, toys, can inspire a movie, which itself spawns new merchandising like more toys. Is this for men what G.I. Joe is for boys? My full review is after the jump.

The fairytale of a princess with a wicked stepmother jealous of her beauty, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs was Walt Disney’s first full-length feature and the world’s first animated feature-length film. Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs hasn’t been available since 2001 and this version won’t last long before it goes back into the Disney Vault. My full review is after the jump.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are once again lean, green and available for your small screen. They’ve fought back for a new 25^th anniversary edition which includes all four films. As Blu-ray has begun to rise this year and will undoubtedly dominate by the time the next live-action TMNT movie is released in 2011, it may be a good idea to get your hands on this cheaper collection. That is of course unless you prefer it on Blu-ray now at double the cost. But, to each their own shells! My full review is after the jump.

And now the conclusion (here’s part one)… As if it wasn’t all enough to impress, Julia appealed to my filmmaker soul and invited me back into the building that held the production offices but now into the warehouse part of it. There they were in the midst of filming and mist of a fog machine as my eyes adjusted to the darkness of coming from the beaming sunlight. They were filming one of the last scenes with Sturla Gunnarsoon (Rare Birds, Beowulf & Grendel) directing. It was the set of Major Tom’s (the name being a nod to a famous song): a bar where some of the flashbacks will apparently go to. You may think of this as minor but flashbacks will play an important part for this series as they run parallel to the present timeframe of the story. A lot of the crew of the Antares/main cast of the show was there. It took them the entire day to film from various angles what will probably be a minute of footage on television when it airs. I just loved it all. Read my report after the jump:

Their run is over. Four years later… May 15… They all meet to visit a friend… Michael J. Scofield… Husband, Father, Brother, Uncle, Friend… remembered with the words, “Be the change you want to see in the world,” on his grave. His death is now revealed. A solemn mood dominates… A tear to the eye… There is no twist… There is no turn… Until now! They’re back for The Final Break! My full review is after the jump.

In late May I was put in touch with a representative to setup a visit to the set of a new show called “Defying Gravity”. The date kept shifting between two days due to production changes, but a week before either, I got sick and it nearly kept me from going. But by June 10, the last day of principal photography aside from re-shoots; I defied the odds and visited the set. But rather than offer you a boring set report filled with just the facts, I wrote my report like a journal entry. So if you’re curious what going to the set of a new high concept TV show was like, after the jump is part one of my report. Hope you enjoy it: