Honestly I should get my head examined, because I actually enjoyed this film. It is over the top ridiculous, and I am sure would have been better in 3D, as the effects that were obviously for 3D looked pretty lame in 2D, but it was fun, and not what I expected. I don’t know what I expected, but not this, just Nick Cage being his over the top self and kicking some ass, and Amber Heard is pretty smoking hot, so… Not sure I can really recommend this to anyone but guys, and even most guys will probably hate this, but I thought it was pretty violent over the top fun with some great car action as well. Well worth renting on Netflix.

John Milton (Nicholas Cage) driving a classic muscle car takes out another car load of guys in his quest to find Satanic Cult leader Jonah King (Billy Burke). Jonah (nice name) has killed John’s daughter, and is going to sacrifice his baby granddaughter in order to create hell on earth and live forever. Milton meets up with a beautiful waitress named Piper (Amber Heard) driving a hot muscle car, and helps fix it and gets a ride with her. When she gets to her house, her boyfriend is fucking another woman, so she gets in a fight with him, and Milton saves her, and takes her in her car (actually her boyfriends that she paid for) toward Florida where she said she wanted to go, and his business is on the way. Milton is being chased by the Accountant (WIlliam Fichtner), who seems to have supernatural powers, and kills people wantonly on his way to get MIlton, including Piper’s ex.

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Now I am a comic book fan, and have read Captain America on and off for a long time, but I have to say this film is way better than the reviews. I really enjoyed it, maybe better than Iron Man. I love the whole world war 2 setting, but also they really stayed true to the material, and made it great. I am really impressed by how good it was, and even more so by how much I enjoyed the 3D. I used to think I did not want to see 3D up converts, but if they are as good as Thor, Deathly Hallows 2 and this, then I am sold, because it looks amazing, and really does add to the film. In fact it makes me dream of having an 3D HDTV! I really think it adds so much! I have to say I was skeptical of Chris Evans as Captain America, but he is great, and the effect to make him look like a 98 pound weakling is perfect. I hear complaints of the modern tech in World War 2, but that was the story with Hydra, and I think they did it perfectly, and love how this leads right into the Avengers. Marvel is doing a great job, and I hope they keep it up, and hope they get back the films they sold the rights to, because honestly the new Spider Man looks awful, and I would rather have a more accurate X-Men, Fantastic Four and Daredevil. It is too bad they released this when they did, because being pinned between Harry Potter and Cowboys & Aliens it is not going to make as much as it should, at least domestically.

In modern times some US government agents are called into to the arctic to deal with a huge crashed something that is discovered. They go in and find a red white and blur circular shield and call their superiors. Back in 1942, the head of the Nazi science wing Hydra, Johann Schmidt, the Red Skull (the great Hugo Weaving) smash though a castle in Norway, and steal the cosmic cube, which is said to be something of Odin’s of great power. In New York city, the 98 pound weakling Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) keeps getting rejected for World War II Military service, not matter how many times he lies about where he is from. His best friend Sergeant James “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) takes his out before he is to go to duty with two girls. They got to the Modern Marvels of Tomorrow exhibit and see Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper) giving a demonstration of a flying car. Steve skips out on the date, to try and enlist again, and a scientist hears his plight, and decides he might be perfect for a secret project. This is Dr Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) from Bavaria who works fro the US Government Strategic Scientific Reserve. He has Steve enlisted, and has him brought to a camp under the command of Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and SSR Officer Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Phillips doesn’t like Steve right off, as he is the worst soldier, but he proves the most spirit, even jumping on a dummy grenade he thinks is live to save everyone else. He is perfect.

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Honestly one of the best films in the series, not as good as the third film (but none of them are), but as good as the 6th, and really an epic war film. And, it surprises me to say this, but I found the unconverted 3D version to be better than the 2D version. Sure there were moments where I felt the 3D was forced (too much depth on backgrounds), but it did make the film more dynamic, and having seen both versions it was far superior. Daniel Radcliffe hands down gives his best performance here, proving he might actually have a career after Harry Potter, and the film is really good. Of course that is not to say that I don’t think there are problems. First off Desplat’s score is mediocre at best, and should have been Williams gain, since it is all his score they are riffing off of anyway. Then some stupid changes, like why have to spell a goblin when they have Bellatrix’s wand anyway? The high points are the kiss, and of course Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) who really gets to shine. And I missed some deaths as well (though some were already in the book as not being there are felt rushed), and the final fight doesn’t really convey everything. And finally after the review I want to talk a little about some of the wholes that this film brings up in the whole series. I mean I still love the books, and greatly enjoy the films, but there are certainly some issues this final story brings up. Overall though this is an absolute must see film, and I am glad they split it into two films as more of the story got to be shown and it was better presented. I mean I actually like how they did Game of Thrones with 10 episodes being one book! This is a really great film, and go see it in 3D while you can, and after seeing it I am sure Warner will be re-releasing all the films in the theater in 3D, possible special editions in a few years, and I am sure my wife and I will be there opening day, maybe it will convince her to let me get a 3D TV! He he he!

The film starts right where the last one ended, looking at Dobby the house elve’s grave. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), and his best friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) and Hermione Granger (Emma Watson) go to talk to the Goblin Griphook (excellently played by Warwick Davis, though he was played by Verne Troyer in the first film) about the Sword of Gryffindor, which Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) thought should be in her vault at Gringot’s, along with something more important, which they figure must be one of Voldemort’s (Ralph Fiennes) Horcrux’s (each containing a part of his soul and each must be destroyed before he can be killed once and for all). Griphook agrees to help them get into the vault. They then go to talk to the wandmaker Olivander (John Hurt) who says Bellatrix lestrange’s wand is still dangerous, but that Draco Malfoy’s (Tom Felton) is now Harry’s as he disarmed him. And they talk to him about the Elder Wand, which was Dumbledore’s (Michael Gambon) but Voldemort now has, and is the most powerful wand and one of the 3 Deathly Hallows (along with Harry’s Invisibility Cloak and the Resurrection Stone). Hermione uses a hair of Bellatrix’s to change into looking like her (and Carter does as an awesome job as her) and they head to Gringots to get into Bellatrix’s vault.

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Wow, I have been excited for this film for a long time, and while it was visually stunning, the film’s story is laughable bad, as is the directed, and because of it the acting. Disney should have let someone who actually got the first film do this sequel, because great visuals do not make for a great movie. Sure the effect of making Jeff Bridges young is great, but the story veers completely away from the themes of the first film, and tries to be it’s own thing, but it’s storyline is just contrived and ridiculous, and even Olivia Wilde can’t lift the mediocrity that we see here. The first film was about computers taking over the fledgling computer networks of the world, and this movie abandons that for plans to take over the real world, huh? And while the 3D was great, I have to say the good electronic glasses they had at the Arclight were so covered in an oily film that the whole movie looked fuzzy, and my mom and I weren’t the only ones constantly trying to wipe out glasses!

in 1989 the CEO of ENCOM, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) tells a story about a fantastic new world, and then disappears that night, never to be seen again. ENCOM, though owned mostly by Flynn’s son, is run by it’s board of directors in complete opposition to Flynn’s ideas of free software, and they spend each year releasing a new upgrade to their system software (as developed by Edward Dillinger Jr [Cillian Murphy] a nod to ENCOM executive Ed Dillinger who was played by David Warner in the first film) which is really only advertising and doesn’t add anything. The only executive who fights it is Alan Bradley (Bruce Boxleitner) who stills believes in his old friend. Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) an adrenaline junky pulls his yearly prank on ENCOM and steals the new OS and releases if for free, before being arrested after base jumping from the top of the building. That night Alan goes to see Sam to tell him that he got a page from Kevin’s old arcade, though the number has been disconnected for 2o years. Sam goes to the old arcade (which strangely features a Tron game instead of the Space Paranoids that is should have, and which they had at the recreation in San Diego for Comic Con) where he finds Kevin’s secret office, and using the same laser as the first film gets digitized into a world created by his father, the computerized world of the Grid.

Sam is taken, stripped and given an identity disc, and forced to fight in the game grid. Sam proves himself to be most able, defeating everyone who goes against him, until he goes up to the raining champion Rinzler who realizes that Sam is not a program but a User. Rinzler takes Sam to see the head of the Grid, Clu (a young looking Jeff Bridges) who is a program that Kevin created to help create a perfect world, and he took over from Kevin and forced him to go into hiding. Clu decides to take on Sam himself in the grid in a light bike competition.

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I was really looking forward to this film, as it had good previews and is getting awesome reviews, but have to say it was a total let down. It had potential and good moments, but overall it just fell completely flat. Maybe it would have been better in 3D, but I doubt it, as there were certain scenes that seemed like they were the “3D” scenes, and the rest didn’t matter. To me this film falls to the folly that so many children’s films do, of just targeting children. Sure there were a few older jokes, but mostly this was for little children (and they did enjoy it) and the story nor the characters never really hit it enough to make a film that adults can enjoy. The animation is great, but unlike Pixar they just don’t get how to target a wider audience. Oh well.

The film starts with the original teaser, with a bus of US tourists in Egypt going to see the pyramids, and it turns out one has been stolen and replaced with a blow up version. We then return to america and follow the self proclaimed super-vilain Gru (Steve Carell) who we see making children cry. His assistant Dr. Nefario (Russell Brand) calls to tell Gru of the theft, and that all other villains are now seen as nothing. Gru then plans his biggest heist, to steal the moon, by first stealing a shrinking ray. He heads to the bank of Evil, but is turned down for a loan by Mr. Perkins (Will Arnett) whose son it turns out is Vector (Jason Segal) who stole the pyramid, and who Gru freezes his head, making an enemy. Gru goes and steals the shrink ray anyway, with the help of his little yellow minions, but as they escape it is stolen from them by Vector, and Gru can’t get into Vector’s base. Gru sees three orphan girls Margo Miranda Cosgrove). Edith (Dana Gaier) and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) get in while selling cookies, so he hatches a plan to adopt them to get into Vector’s base.

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I can honestly say that this is easily one of the best films of the year, easily surpassing the second film in the series, and possibly topping the first. This is a fantastic film and it even made me cry! This was not a movie that I thought would make me cry, but it did, and I am proud to say it. Such a great film with an great story, and amazing cast, and such lovable characters. This film must at least be nominated for best picture. I have nothing bad to say about this film at all. It is a must see. I did not see it in 3D though. UP in 3D did not impress me too much, as it was dimmer and not as sharp, and this is a film that benefits from that sharpness because the 3D looks absolutely amazing! Pixar is the best! I would so love to work there, it sounds like the best company in the world to work for.

Woody (Tom Hanks) and Jessie (Joan Cusack) are in a western scene going after One Eyed Bart and Betty [Mr and Mrs Potato Head (Don rickles and Estelle Harris)] and trying to save a train filled with kids, which is saved by Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). Then the Evil Dr. Pork Chop [Hamm (Cliff Claven himself, John Ratzenberger)] shows up in a space ship and drops a monkey bomb on them! We find out that this was an imagined adventure that the toys kid Andy (John Morris) had as a kid, but he is now 17 and getting ready to leave for college. Andy plans on taking Woody, and putting the rest of the toys into the attic, but their is a mix up and the rest of the toys end up being put out as trash by his mother. The toys get away from the garbage truck, but they don’t believe Woody, and decide to get into the donation box for Sunnyside daycare, Woody goes along to try to get them to go home. They arrive and meet a big pink bear with a limp, Lotso (Ned Beatty) who along with Ken (Michael Keaton) and a baby doll named Big Baby great them warmly, with Barbie (Jodi Benson) quickly falling for Ken, but things are not as they seem. Woody leaves alone, but is found by a little girl named Bonnie (Emily Hahn) and taken home with her toys. Buzz and the others are all happy until they see they are left in the Caterpillar Room, which turns out to be the toddlers room, where the toys are beaten and almost destroyed, and they realize they have been imprisoned, and must get home to Andy!

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I was looking forward to this film for some time, being a fan of Cameron’s films, but have to say was very put off by the trailer, which did not look very good at all, but I still wanted to see it, especially in 3D. We went to see it at the Cineramadome at the Arclight in Hollywood, and were quite pleasantly surprised. The film is long, but it is enjoyable, even if it the story is a bit of Dances with Wolves, crossed with Aliens with a dash of Final Fantasy the Spirits Within (the whole living Gaia thing), and the 3D is amazing (though the shaky camera of the film made Kelly very motion sick, but my mom and I loved it). In fact I would like nothing more than to go see it again, but Kelly can’t go, and isn’t going to want me to go on my own. And the computer graphics looked much better on the big screen in 3D, with the aliens looking quite lifelike, and the world looking pretty convincing. I greatly enjoyed it, with the only thing that really through me out being that lead actor Sam Worthington kept slipping in and out of his Australian Accent, which he did not do in Terminator Salvation. This is not a deep film, but it is a very enjoyable popcorn film that is very worth seeing in 3D (and the active 3D made it look better than anything I have seen in quite some time). It is also interesting that this could very well be the same world as Aliens, with the space Marines and their gear, and the evil company, which could easily have been the Weyland Yutani Coporation. Saw it a second time in IMAX Digital 3D and I have to say it looked even better. It would seem the curved screen of the Cineramadome did not help the 3D at all. This film looks amazing, and the 3D is mindblowing! I loved it, and can’t wait to own the Blu-ray and see more on how they did it! Saw it a third time at the Sherman Oaks Arclight, and it had Dolby 3D glasses, which were better than the cheap ones because you could move your head, though were a bit too reflective of light on your face, still better than the really cheap pair! Damn I really do love this movie. It is just as good or better each time I see it. Sure it has some cheesy dialogue, but Cameron usually does, and it really does not hurt the film.

It is the year 2154, and a Space Marine Corporal named Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) who suffered a spinal injury and can’t use his legs is on his way to the planet Pandora, being put under for 6 years to make the trip. He is going to replace his brother had trained for years for the mission, but was killed, and Sam could replace him because of his genetics, even without any training. The Planet Pandora is a jungle planet run by the Company, where humans want to strip mine for the mineral unobtanium (the stupidest name I have ever heard), and the planet is run by Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi), and security is headed by ex-space marine Colonel Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang). The planet Pandora is already inhabited. Along with a rich flora and fauna, there is a native race named the Na’vi, which are huge, 9 feet tall with blue skin, carbon fiber bones, and a propensity to use huge arrows and knives. They worship nature and their god lives in the trees and is named Eywa. The Company wants to move the tribe away from their huge sacred tree so they can get the large deposit of unobtanium underneath it. The Company employs a team of scientists led by Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) who run the Avatar Program, where a human/Na’vi is grown, and their minds are projected into the creature so they can go and talk to the natives, and affect a diplomatic solution. Jake’s brother was going to be part of it, so Jake now is, but he is co-opted by the Colonel to spy for them and get information to help use if the Na’vi do not agree to deal. Grace knows of this, but tolerates it, because she knows that it is the company that sponsors her science. Jake very quickly takes to his Na’vi body, loving the ability to use his legs again (his sick legs effect looks amazing). On one of their first outings into the jungle, they are flown out by Trudy Chacon (Michelle Rodriguez) and go along with Jake’s brother’s friend Norm Spellman (Joel David Moore) another Avatar driver and Grace in her Avatar form. Jake has a run in with a huge local creature, but he stands his ground, and is OK, until a more viscous predator, a Thanator attacks, forcing him to run and jump down a waterfall, and become separated. The other’s try to find him, but they according to the Colonels orders there are no night ops, so Jake is left alone in a hostile jungle to fend for himself. Jake does not do to well, and is surrounded by a pack of dog like things, and is going to be killed by a Na’vi female named Neytiri (Zoe Saldaña who played Uhura in the new Star Trek film), but when the seeds of the Na’vi’s sacred tree land on her arrow, she instead saves him. And she is going to leave him, but again the pure creatures land all over him, and so she takes them back to her clan, the Omaticaya. Jake meets the aggressive Tsu’Tey (Laz Alonso) who is betrothed to Neytiri and will become the Cheiftan of the tribe, the Chieftan, Neytiri’s father, Eytucan (Wes Studi) and the spirital leader, Neytiri’s mother Mo’at (C.C.H. Pounder). Mo’at sees something in Jake, and since he is a warrior, unlike the scientists, they decide to bring him into the tribe, and teach him all of their ways, and Neytiri is forced to be his teacher.

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Produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov, this is an expansion of Acker’s oscar nominated short, that is amazing visually with a great cast, but the story is a bit too simple, and short, and the ending kind of falls flat. Still pretty impressive to watch, and I did enjoy it. The worst part was taking my friend Keith who is in from Guam to see it at the Arclight, and having the Arclights digital projector break down! They did fix it fast, and switch to film, but it would have been great to see it digitally, as this film is all about it’s impressive 3D visuals. Still enjoyable, but it did feel stunted, like you met characters and they just die too fast, which proves it is not for kids at all, but then just wraps up too simply. Enjoyable enough, but could have benefited from some more writing, or possibly some more length to it’s 91 minutes including credits.

The creation of a scientist as small ragdoll like creature named 9 (Elijah Wood) awakens in a laboratory in a post apocalyptic world, finding a strange device, which it zips into it’s own body, and goes out exploring. Shortly 9 runs into another like itself, this one designated number 2 (Martin Landau) who is exploring. He tells 9 of others like himself, but is then captured by a mechanical beast made with the bones of a cat, which also takes the small device that 9 had found, and heads to a factory seen in the distance. 9 ends up finding an enclave of others like himself, first finding the kind 5 (John C. Reilly) who was best friends with 2, as well as the vision having 6 (Cripsin Glover) who constantly draws the device that 9 found, and the brutish 8 (Fred Tatasciore) who protects their leader 1 (Christopher Plummer), who tries to keep them from the outside world, knowing something that he does not tell the others. Against the wishes of 1, 9 convinces 5 to go with him, and heads toward the factory to try and save 2.

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Not that I am surprised, but Pixar has done it again. Maybe not their best film, but certainly incredibly enjoyable, and especially that for dog lovers (I think my dad would really like this film [and I already know my mom liked it, because she saw it before me]). My biggest complaint is that after paying extra to see this film in 3D it wasn’t all that impressive. I think I was more impressed in Journey to the Center of the Earth (a much worse film) mostly in the live action 3D which I thought looked great, but here it was 3D, but there was still the annoying edges in the fast motion, and at times I actually felt like the 3D detracted from the story. I am starting to think that 24FPS is not a high enough frame rate for 3D, and I think James Cameron is actually shooting Avatar at a higher frame rate to combat that problem. This film, like all Pixar films has an amazing heart and great characters, and this really elevates the film, because the characters come to life, and have so much heart. And for the dog lover this film really delivers, because by having dogs that can talk they really capture the true spirit of animals, so all dog lovers should certainly see this film (really everyone should, but dog lovers will have much to appreciate). This is another top notch film from Pixar, sure it isn’t THE INCREDIBLES or WALL-E, but it is close, and well worth checking out. I am excited to see it again, next time not in 3D.

This film as usual with Pixar films starts with a short film, this is called Partly Cloudy and is directed by Peter Sohn. And as usual the whole story is told without dialogue, which always works so well. This is the story of clouds in the sky who make baby’s, puppies, kittens, and other creatures for storks to deliver to expectant parents, but their is one different cloud named Gus who is a gray cloud, and all his creations are dangerous, from crocodiles, bighorn sheep and a porcupine, which his poor delivery stork Peck must deliver, getting well thrashed along the way. Peck finally flies away to another nearby white cloud. This makes Gus sad, and he cries and thunderstorms, but then peck returns, and finds that the other cloud made him shoulder pads and a football helmet for protection. Gus is elated and gives Peck an electric eel which shocks him right through the protective gear, but he flies off happily to deliver it, if a bit harried.

UP starts almost like another short film by them, with the love story of a young boy named Carl Fredrickson (Ed Asner), and the woman he will marry, Ellie (Elizabeth Docter). Carl’s hero is the famed explorer Charles Muntz (Christopher Plummer) who pilots an airship, and who discovered a strange bird in a hidden South American locale named Paradise Falls, but his discovery was claimed to be faked, so Muntz headed off to get a live bird, and was not heard from again. Carl was a huge fan, dressing like him, and as an 8 year old he met the young tom boy Ellie who also loved Muntz, and they eventually married, always promising to go on an adventure, but life got in the way, and they never had enough money, especially working at a zoo with Carl selling balloons to children. They had a lovely life together, but Ellie never got to finish her adventure, where she wanted to move her clubhouse, and abandoned house, that they later bought and fixed up to Paradise Falls, and she died giving him the boom. Carl is then all alone in his house, and the city grows around him, with a big consruction going on around him. Their is one nice worker named Tom (John Ratzenberger who is in all Pixar films), but when Ellie’s mail box is crushed, Carl gets angry and hits a worker, and the developer is able to get the city to say he must give up his house and go to a retirement home. Carl is crushed, but he has an idea, and when the men come to take him away, he goes back in, and using all of his balloons, lifts his house into the air, planning on taking it to Paradise Falls. The one problem is that he has picked up an unsupecting passenger, a Wilderness Explorer named Russell (Jordan Nagai) who wanted to help the old man to get his last badge so he could become a full Wilderness Scout. Carl had sent the boy on a snipe hunt, and the boy had returned at the wrong time. Carl does not want to let him in, but they are up in the sky, and they must. Carl decides he must try and let the boy off, but that doesn’t work so well, an they end up going through a huge storm.

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After seeing the trailers I was not too impressed with this kids film updating the original Jules Verne story, but I went to see this with my father while he was in town, and I was better than pleasantly surprised. This film is really fun, and 3D has come a really long way! From start to finish I was ogling the 3D and was very impressed. It looked great, from the normal shots, to the CG shots, the 3G was very impressive, and the new glasses were not too distracting at all. The story is of course ridiculous, but I like Bredan Frasier, and he was good, the girl was cute and the kid was good (as he was in Zathura). This is really worth checking out, especially in 3D!

Brendan Frasier plays absent minded professor Trevor Anderson working in Volcanology, but about to lose his lab to his ass of a boss Alan Kitzens (Seth Meyers). His brother and he were interested in a theory on volcanic tubes, but his brother had gone missing 10 years before, and most of his sensors were down, and no one else thought the research useful. Trevor has forgotten that he is taking his nephew for the next 2 weeks while his mother goes and sets up their new house in Canada, so the nephew Sean (John Hutcherson) shows up with Trevor unprepared. Trevor shows Sean his brother Max’s copy of Jules Vernes, Journey to the Center of the Earth, he realizes there is code in it, that corresponds with reading he has been getting at the lab, so they go to the lab. Sean notices that another sensor is online in Europe, and the two use Trevor’s quarter collection to buy tickets and head there, and try and find out what happened to Max. They look for old Colleague of Max’s, but instead find his daughter Hannah (Anita Briem) who tells them Max and her father were Vernians, obsessed with the writings of Jules Verne, but agrees to take them out to the mountain and the new Sensor. They treck out, and find the sensor, but an electrical storm forces them into a cave, and causes a cave in, so they must go into the mountain to try and find another way out. FIrst they find an old mine, and ride the mine cars, which leads them to a room which has it’s walls covered in Diamonds, but the floor is unstable and breaks, and they fall a huge distance, to a land at the center of the earth.

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