It’s a new season, Patrollers! The DVD Patrol is just finishing up Thanksgiving and now it’s time to gear up for the rush of the shopping season. The Head Shopper, the Toddster, is getting some stuff together for the next month and trust me there is a lot on the way including the team up coming soon. I’ve also decided to do something a little different this week. Read on and all will be explained.

New on DVD

The Expendables - All heroes manage to get together some time. Sylvester Stallone assembles the ultimate team to take down the bad guys. Stallone plays Barney Ross. Barney leads a rag team of mercenaries called “The Expendables.” They’ll get the job done no matter what and the odds are never a problem either. Working with Barney are Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Kung Fu Expert Yin (Jet Li), Weapons Specialist Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), and Explosives Consultant Toll Road (Randy Couture). Ross and the guys get hired to take a South American General (David Zayas). When Barney and Lee go down to check things out, the situation is a little more dangerous than they were led to believe. They escape but they know they have to go back not only take out the General but now they have to stop a rogue CIA Agent (Eric Roberts) and his bodyguard who have taken the country hostage. Will Barney and the team be able to stop them? My sources tell me that Stallone is already putting plans for the sequel for bringing even more movie heroes together. Stay tuned!

Eat Pray Love - People often do things in life where they realize there just might be some things they have been missing. Based on the best selling book, Liz Gilbert (Julia Roberts) had everything going for her including a great life and marriage that a lot of people would always want. Something happens and her life changes overnight. She ends up getting a divorce and starts traveling to find what she has been missing to help fill the hole in her life. Liz goes to Europe to figure it all out. Will Liz’s travels be able to help her fill in the missing pieces? Some of the Toddster’s favorites on DVD include “Sleeping with the Enemy,” “The Pelican Brief,” and “Pretty Woman” all available on DVD in stores now.

Looking at Other Things
At this point, we usually feature more movies but with it being our 5 Year Anniversary, I thought it might be a fun story to tell on how we got this thing started. I can’t believe it’s been five years and over 250 columns later. My mom always encouraged me to write, but coming up through high school and going to college, I never really liked writing. Then, I tried writing stories and I’ve even spent time trying to get them published, which is a story for another time.
I had always heard in my travels that if you want to write, write about something you know. Movies and television I have always loved. I had heard that reporter Jude Seymour was the movie critic for The Evening Sun and he was leaving the paper. I contacted Editor Jeff Genung and he suggested I write a sample and he loved it. I remember he said, “And I thought I knew a lot about pop culture!” As they say, “And the rest is history.” If you have followed my column regularly, my life has always been a series of falls.
Everything I have ever done, I’ve just fallen into. It’s served me pretty well so far.  It’s been a blast being able to write this column and we’re going to be around for a lot more to do. One fun thing is the team ups I get to do every month with the great bunch of writers here at the paper. I enjoy working with Jeff, Melissa, Tyler, Brian and the rest of the gang. 
Finally, I want to dedicate this one for my Dad. It is 20 years later and I miss the guy. He was never an emotional guy to tell you how he felt but you knew he was always there for you. I hope everyone that read this little gem of mine likes it. Until next time, The Toddster will be right here.