More bikes, more trains, more video games, it's the biggest toy store there is! But gee whiz, it looks as if I've grown up to put Toys R Us on my "Do Not Shop" list.

Today, I went to the Toys R Us store in Whitehall, Pennsylvania. It was two months ago that this store had the new Bratz Desert Jewelz collection in stock. I don't really consider Toys R Us the best retailer to visit when it comes to my Bratz shopping adventures. In fact, the only reason why I shop at Toys R Us is for Bratz merchandise — although there have been a few occasions where I've purchased other items from Toys R Us, such as candy and party supplies. And there are those instances when Toys R Us was the first retailer to stock any new Bratz products and collections before others such as Wal-Mart, Target, K-Mart, and KB Toys. For example, I remember in March 2006, Toys R Us was the first (and ONLY) retailer that sold those elusive Bratz Princess Wicked Twiins Ciara and Diona, despite that this Bratz product was in stock for approximately one month before Toys R Us pulled it off store shelves.

Well, less than six weeks after it was in stock, the Toys R Us store in Whitehall, Pennsylvania removed the Bratz Desert Jewelz collection and sent it back to the distribution warehouse where the store obtained the collection from. In fact, this same store removed a number of other Bratz products and collections from its shelves and sent them back (and once Bratz is sent back to the warehouse, there is no possible way to retrieve it again). Whatever Bratz products and collections were in stock at this Toys R Us store, they did not amount to much: Four Bratz Cowgirlz Sasha dolls, three Bratz Passion 4 Fashion Fall 2008 Yasmin dolls, two Bratz World Yasmin/Cloe bedroom playsets, and a partridge in a pear tree. Oh, and there was also one Bratz Limited Edition Collector's Series Porcelain Daphne doll.

Leftovers, all of them dumped in a clearance aisle with a bunch of other forgotten toy lines that consumers did not want to spend their money on.

Many of the Toys R Us stores I visited during my Bratz shopping adventures these past few months used to have Bratz Dance Crewz, Bratz Magic Hair Cut N' Grow, Bratz Cowgirlz, Bratz Pampered Petz, and a few other Bratz products and collections from Spring 2009. They also had some Bratz products and collections from Fall 2008 such as Bratz Girlz Really Rock and Bratz Designed By Fashion & Fragrance.

Now? All those Bratz products and collections are gone, gone, and all gone.

The Bratz sections at these Toys R Us stores were removed and replaced with other fashion doll lines developed and manufactured by other toy companies. At the Toys R Us store in Whitehall, Pennsylvania, the Bratz section moved out and a new tenant moved in: Disney Fairies. Okay, so it's not a fashion doll line like LIV or Moxie Girlz, but I can see how a toy line featuring Tinker Bell and her friends in the magical land of Pixie Hollow is immensely popular with children. Obviously, I do not represent the target audience for Disney Fairies, so that's all I will say about this doll line.

Toys R Us is as fully aware as I was of the ongoing litigation between MGA Entertainment and Mattel over the rights and ownership of the Bratz franchise. This retailer makes buying decisions every quarter, but its buying decisions for Bratz in 2009 seem to have been more influenced by the litigation and not so much on Bratz sales not performing up to expectations. However, after carefully evaluating the litigation, it appears at this point that Toys R Us has decided not to continue ordering any Bratz products and collections for the remainder of 2009, through the Christmas holidays. Of course, this is very subject to change at any time, and stock levels will vary widely at all stores, but whatever Bratz products and collections that are in stock at Toys R Us now will remain in stock for the next few months until it's all depleted and gone.

Yes, that does include the largest Toys R Us store in the world, Toys R Us in Times Square, New York City. Just like the other 600+ Toys R Us stores in the United States, it also is affected by the buying decisions made at the Toys R Us Corporate Headquarters in Wayne, New Jersey.

There may be a million toys at Toys R Us that I can play with, but Bratz will not be one of them after January 21, 2010. If I plan to do any shopping for Bratz, I know that I can count on one less retailer to visit on my shopping adventures.

As for the Bratz Desert Jewelz collection....yes, I do have this collection, and only because my Mom found all the dolls from the collection at a Target store in South Plainfield, New Jersey and shipped them to me via Federal Express — proof that the Bratz products and collections for Fall 2009 were, as I had predicted in late June, hard to find. That was a little more than two months ago, around the same time that Toys R Us was selling Bratz Desert Jewelz. The Target store in South Plainfield has not restocked this collection since, and it has also not restocked any other Bratz products and collections for Fall 2009, much less Spring 2009.

At least I'll continue to shop at Target, but not for Bratz or Moxie Girlz. Some DVD and Blu-Ray movies would be nice. Come to think of it....when will the "Lord Of The Rings" movie trilogy be released on Blu-Ray?

Before I started this crazy and insane universe called Bratz Heaven, I used to write movie reviews for an old website I did. The following is a review I wrote for the movie "Chicago."

This movie review is being presented as is, with no editing changes.

Date of "Chicago" movie review: September 12, 2003

Click here for print version

Chicago / ***½ (PG-13)

By: Robyn Barnette

CAST:
Velma Kelly: Catherine Zeta-Jones
Roxie Hart: Renée Zellweger
Billy Flynn: Richard Gere
Amos Hart: John C. Reilly
Fred Casely: Dominic West
Matron "Mama" Morton: Queen Latifah
Mary Sunshine: Christine Baranski
The Bandleader: Taye Diggs

Miramax Films presents a film directed by Rob Marshall. Written by Bill Condon. Based on the musical by Fred Ebb, John Kander and Bob Fosse. Running time: 113 minutes. Rated PG-13 (for sexual content and dialogue, violence and thematic elements).

They don't make 'em like this anymore. With his cinematic adaptation of Bob Fosse's musical stage show "Chicago," director Rob Marshall has crafted an immensely entertaining and visually superb movie that will certainly delight movie audiences. Marshall is not determined to revolutionize a new standard for translating musicals on film with "Chicago," and it is not my intention to know how faithful he is to Fosse's original work. However, Marshall brings a high-powered energy to "Chicago" that is unlike anything I have ever seen and one that makes watching movie musicals fun again. Watching the DVD of "Chicago" on my IBM ThinkPad was like being at a Broadway theater watching the musical unfold before me, and not since "Grease" have I had so much fun watching a movie musical such as "Chicago."

"Chicago" recaptures the glitz and glamour of the roaring 1920s — an era when ragtime and jazz dominated the music scene and where the American justice system revealed its imperfections through shady and arrogant lawyers; an era where crimes of passion became celebrity headlines. Jealousy, murder, greed, and corruption blended in with metaphors regarding the high price that one was willing to pay for fame and publicity. And the media's fascination and obsession for such sensational stories were just as rampant as more recent stories such as the murder trial of O.J. Simpson or the scandal on ice when Tonya Harding was the ringleader in the clubbing incident of her rival Nancy Kerrigan. Yes, this was all encapsulated within the entire experience that was Chicago, and just like the musical that inspired it, "Chicago" chronicles the events of a true story that happened in....well, Chicago.

In "Chicago," actress Catherine Zeta-Jones portrays the role of Velma Kelly, who is the biggest star on the Vaudeville stage. She once shared the stage with her sister Veronica, and both she and her sister had an act that couldn't flop and were headed straight for the top....that is, until Velma was sent to prison at the Cook County Jail for murdering both her sister and her husband after she found them together in bed. Meanwhile, Roxie Hart (Renée Zellweger) is a simple housewife who learns that her lover Fred Casely (Dominic West) cheated her out of her opportunity to make it to Vaudeville, all because he wanted to have sex with her. Roxie shoots her lover dead and is sent to the same prison as Velma, sharing the same space as Velma on Chicago's famed Murderess Row.

Zeta-Jones is the major standout of "Chicago," and you can tell how she puts her theater experience to good use in her portrayal of Velma Kelly. With her powerful vocals and elegant dance movements, Zeta-Jones demonstrates a performance that is nothing short of outstanding. And she doesn't just demonstrate it — she absolutely delivers it. She's sassy, she's sexy, and she's just irresistibly nasty. Similarly, Zellweger performs her scenes very well in her portrayal of Roxie Hart, since they don't demand too much in the way of singing or dancing. Her dancing is not as elegant as that from Zeta-Jones, but it is also not as complex and demanding. And Zellweger doesn't command the type of vocal power that Zeta-Jones has, but her vocals are reminiscent of a lightweight Marilyn Monroe: Sweet, tender, and innocently seductive. Zellweger even resembles Marilyn Monroe....okay, maybe not exactly, but she does come close.

The musical numbers are the heart of "Chicago," since they are interpreted within the scope of Roxie's imagination. And the beginning of the movie establishes the purpose that Marshall is setting out to accomplish in "Chicago." During the movie's signature musical number "All That Jazz," Roxie watches Velma perform on stage and for a brief moment imagines herself on stage performing the same musical number. Marshall portrays Roxie as this wannabe performer who has dreams of stardom and who looks up to Velma as an inspiration. All Roxie wants is her fifteen minutes of fame, and she earns it when she learns from prison guard Matron "Mama" Morton (Queen Latifah) about Billy Flynn (Richard Gere), an unscrupulous and flamboyant attorney who currently defends Velma and supposedly has never lost a case. He agrees to defend Roxie at her trial — that is, if she could come up with $5,000. Of course, Roxie doesn't have that kind of money, so her "scummy, crummy, dummy" of a husband, Amos Hart (John C. Reilly), puts in a down payment of $2,000. Yet, Billy agrees to take Roxie's case and tells Amos, "Your devotion to your wife is really very, very touching."

Roxie is a beautiful and ambitious woman whose story had made her an instant celebrity, and she takes advantage of her newfound celebrity status by capturing the fame and publicity that Velma once had. Fans everywhere send Roxie flowers and cards to her prison cell, and even Mama Morton dyes her hair blonde in support of Roxie, remarking to Velma, "All you read about today is that Hart kid....she's hot." In an act of desperation, Velma sucks up to "that dumb tomato" by asking her to perform an act together with her on stage, and she interprets this through the musical number "I Can't Do It Alone." Now that Roxie has stolen the spotlight from Velma, Roxie rubs it into Velma's face: "You think you're fooling me? You're all washed up, and it's me they want now, and I'm a big star." That's not enough: "You were in the paper today, too, in the back, with the obituaries? 'Velma Kelly's trial has been postponed indefinitely'....seven words. Wow." Wow, indeed, but I thought that the scene went a little too far when Roxie gave Velma a piece of advice about laying off the caramels. That was just added insult to injury.

Still, can immortality last long for Roxie? Billy Flynn is the only person who can make that judgment, since he is the primary reason why Roxie has earned more fame and publicity than Velma. He sings the number "Give 'Em The Old Razzle Dazzle," encouraging Roxie to earn the sympathy of the media and convince the jury that she is an innocent woman who shot her lover in self-defense. Billy is an intriguing character who has more razzle dazzle up his sleeve than a three-ring circus, and he understands the importance of the media in allowing Roxie to crave the attention she wants. He is the type of character that you either want to love or hate, and Gere exudes charm and smugness in his role as Billy Flynn. And even though he is not trying to be the next Fred Astaire, Gere pulls off a marvelous performance when he does his own tap dancing in the musical number simply titled "A Tap Dance." Who knew that he could tap dance so well? On the other hand, Gere's singing could use some improvement, but he does the best he can with his limited vocal range.

Marshall's extensive background in musical theater attests to his ability as a filmmaker in adapting the material in "Chicago" from the stage to the silver screen. And the manner in which he adapts the material is intelligent. The diverse array of musical numbers in "Chicago" take place at a jazz nightclub and accentuate the plot, and what Marshall does is distinguish between reality and fantasy in Roxie's world, creating images that effectively compliment each other. The musical numbers are brilliantly choreographed and executed with flawless ease, and the plot basically strings together these musical numbers so the movie can flow effortlessly from one number to the next while maintaining the audience's interest throughout the entire movie. A couple of engaging musical numbers include "Cell Block Tango," where the women of Murderess Row tell us that their victims "had it comin'" because each victim, "only had himself to blame"; and "We Both Reached For The Gun," an elaborate ventriloquism routine that features Roxie dressed up as a wooden doll and Billy making puppets out of members of the media. However, the one musical number that really gives "Chicago" that feel of a Broadway musical is John C. Reilly's performance of "Mister Cellophane." It's a sad number that illustrates the lonely and unhappy husband Amos has become because of Roxie's fame, and it resonates the type of humanity that the other characters in "Chicago" seem to lack. He sings one of the most poignant lines in the number: "You can look right through me, walk right by me, and never know I'm there."

I really enjoyed "Chicago," but the question I had in mind while watching this movie is perhaps the most obvious question that anyone would ask: Is "Chicago" really the best picture of the year as many movie critics and movie audiences have praised it to be? Furthermore, did the Oscar community give "Chicago" much more recognition than it deserved when the movie won six Academy Awards, including Best Picture? Well, "Chicago" does not look like the type of movie that would win six Academy Awards, let alone earn thirteen Academy Award nominations. The movie does not transcend anything in the world of filmmaking — it's just another musical translated to film, featuring an interesting storyline and wonderful performances from a great cast of actors and actresses. However, I will say that "Chicago" is a fun movie to watch, even if you totally despise movie musicals or have never seen a Broadway musical at any time in your life. And when it comes down to it, that's all "Chicago" really is — a fun movie to watch. You can't ask for anything more than that, and you'll find it difficult to come across a movie that's as entertaining as "Chicago."

Copyright © 2003 Robyn B. OnLiNE. All Rights Reserved

Photo of the World Trade Center and New York City skyline, October 1986:

Direct link to photo:
http://cannellefraiche.bratzheaven.com/photos/robyn-WTCOctober1986.jpg

I was browsing through some old photos from a school field trip, where I went to visit the Statue Of Liberty in New York City. And I found this photo. I was in seventh grade when I captured this photo (there were no digital cameras at that time, hence the quality of the photo). Of course, I was too young to realize then what special significance this photo would have today. But looking at this photo 23 years later, I'm very grateful to have captured it at the right place and at the right time!

Yeah, that's him....the President and CEO of MGA Entertainment, Inc., that crazy Iranian guy known as Isaac Larian. And, he's telling it like it is!

I will say that I wish I owned that Bratz Funk N' Glow Jade doll he's proudly displaying! See what a photo of a Bratz doll can do to you?

Nice tie, BTW. :-)

Direct link to photo: http://cannellefraiche.bratzheaven.com/photos/MGAIsaacLarian.jpg