For sure not as good as the first film, this film doesn’t have the same heart as the first one, and the story gets a bit muddled, but it is still an enjoyable popcorn action film. I think I am just too much of a fan of Iron Man comics, so the story confusion really gets to me. The story seems to be part original iron man, part extremis iron man, and mostly Ultimate Iron man with the whole Avengers Initiative run by Nick Fury, and other elements, and even the relationship with Pepper Potts seems a bit muddled here. Great effects and action, and I guess enjoyable enough, just missing something that made me not like it as well.

In Russia we see the completely tattooed Ivan Vanko (Michey Rourke with the oh so strange finger nails) watches his father die as Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) announces he is Iron Man. The father says it should have been Ivan standing there, and as he dies says he can only give him his knowledge. Ivan goes to his father’s stuff and finds the original Howard Stark plans for the Arc Reactor which powers Iron Man, which have Starks and his father’s name on it, and goes and start to build himself his own Arc Reactor. 6 months later, Stark has re-instituted the Stark Expo to continue his father’s legacy, while the US government, and especially Senator Stern (Garry Shandling). The Senator calls Stark before congress and demands the Iron Man tech be given to the US government, but Stark refuses, arrogantly saying no other nation can get this tech within 10 years, especially the US who is using his former competitor Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) as their primary defense supplier. Stark meanwhile is dying, and hasn’t even told his assistant and closest confidant Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). The Arc Reactor in his chest that powers Iron Man, and that keeps the shrapnel from killing him is giving him palladium poisoning, and he has not been able to find a suitable element to replace it. So he makes Pepper the CEO of Stark Industries, and gets the lawyer who watches the signing the papers, the lovely Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson) to become his new secretary as they all head off to Monaco.

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A cute enough coming of age tale, with an enjoyable cast, and well directed by Barrymore (in her directorial debut). Nothing too deep here, except a message about doing what you love, and never giving up and just doing what other people want of you. Ellen Page is perfect, though basically playing the same roll she always does. I wouldn’t rush to see it, but it is cute, and worth checking out. And Jimmy Fallon as the announcer is hysterical. Interesting that it does not go into the lesbianism that is mostly associated with roller derby, but it does make it seem fun to watch.

Bliss Cavendar (Ellen Page) lives with her parents, Brooke (Marcia Gay Harden) and Earl (Daniel Stern) and little sister in Bodeen, Texas. She goes to high school with her best friend Pash (Ali Shawkat) and they both work at a local barbecue place. Both want out of town, but Pash is going to an Ivy League school, and Bliss just wants out any way she can. He mom is always entering her in beauty pageants, though it is the last thing she wants to do, and when she dies her hair blue, it ruins all her chances. When on a shopping trip to Austin she picks up a flier for a roller derby and she and Pash go on the pretense of going to a football game. Bliss loves it, and loves the ever losing Hurl Scouts, and goes to introduce herself to Maggie Mayhem (Kristen Wiig) who tells her about auditions, and Bliss decides this is what she wants to do.

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I have been looking forward to this since I first heard about it. Not only do I like Matthew Vaughn (Stardust was such an an underrated fantastic film), but the fact that it is based on a comic that was drawn by my favorite artist John Romita Jr. made me even more excited. And I loved the film. It is hysterical and right up my alley, though of course not up to the caliber of the comic. The comic itself is a deconstruction of the super hero genre, showing what would happen to these people who dress up as heroes, and this film starts that way, but then turns into a geeks wet dream, with an amazing action ending. The film is fun and hysterical, but the comic is dark much more realistic, and overall the better story. Still the film is a must see, not only for the hysterical performance by Nicholas Cage, where as the super hero Big Daddy he sounds just like Adam West as Batman, and the very enjoyable performance by Aaron Johnson, but really the main reason is Chloë Grace Moretz, who at 11 years old is the worlds greatest action star! This little girl steals the whole movie and is just amazing. She is a must see, and will go far, but may not ever be funnier or more bad ass than this! WOW! I actually want a t-shirt with her, that says HIT-GIRL IS MY HERO!

Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) is a normal high schooler. Average. Not a jock, or a geek, though he does love comic books, and wonders why there are no real comic book character. Why no one has tried it. And after getting mugged a final time, he decides to do it. He orders a wet suit from online, and dresses up and goes out to fight crime. He goes to stop some guys breaking into a car, and gets beat almost to death, and then stabbed and then hit by a car. He manages to convinces the medics to take off his costume before he gets to the hospital, but then is said to have been found naked. Dave lives, but has half his body filled with metal, and has damaged nerve ends that so he no longer feels pain like he used to. At first he plans to give up his crime fighting, but can’t stop feeling the allure, and goes out again, this time saving a man from three attackers, while many people film with cell phones. One of the bystanders comes up to him and asks who he is, and Dave replies that he is Kick Ass, and the video becomes a YouTube phenomenon, and Dave sets up his own MySpace account. At school he even sees that his longtime love Katie (Lyndsy Fonseca) is now interested him, but is dismayed to learn it is because the rumor is that he is gay (which is why he was found naked) and she wants a gay friend. Dave swallows his pride, and plays gay, just so he can be with his love.

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I am a fan of Kristen Stewart, and I of course know the music of Joan Jett, so I was interested in seeing this movie from when it came out, and we went and saw it opening weekend, and enjoyed it quite a bit. It is well made and enjoyable, with some great performances, but it is when you delve more into the story and see where it is shy that the film comes off as good, but not great. Mainly it’s fault lie int he fact that it is adapted from Cherie Currie’s book, so it only cursorily deals with Joan Jett (who I honestly had no idea that she was also 15) and really ignores the other members of the band all together. And while it does show much of the horror of Cherrie Curry’s experience, it does skip her rape and ignore the fact that her sister was not fraternal and was in fact a twin. Still there is much to enjoy. The film is well directed, with some very well done drug sequences, and Dokota Fanning, Kristen Stewart and Michael Shannon are all great in the film, and the film is worth watching. It just does not have the depth it could have had.

Young girl Joan Jett (Kristen Stewart) plays guitar and wants to rock in a girls band in the 1970′s, but no one thinks a girl can rock. Cherie Currie (Dakota Fanning) is going to clubs, and lip syncing to David Bowie at her school, and getting into trouble. While out at a club Joan runs into the band manager and producer Kim Fowley (Michael Shannon who rocks the socks off this film) and convinces him she wants to make a girl band that rocks, and it hits something in his head. So he gives her his number, and introduces her to Sandy West (Stella Maeve) a drummer, and the two hit it off and start making some songs. Cherrie meanwhile is not too happy at home with her mother Marie Harmon (Tatum O’Neal) who is getting married and leaving the country, and her father is a drunk. She and her sister Marie (Riley Keough) end up having to move in with their grandmother and drunken father. At a club, while dressed in David Bowie attire, Fowley finds Cherie and asks her if she wants to be in a band, and she agrees, and comes to his broken down trailer to meet him, Joan, Sandy and Lita Ford (Scout Taylor-Compton) as well as bass player Robin (Alia SHawkat playing a fictional character because of rights issues). Cherie does not seem right at first, but Fowley and Joan make the song Cherie bomb on the spot, and Fowley teachers her to sing it like a viken, and the band is off and running.

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Normally I am not a fan of remakes, and most of the time think they should not be made (like the possible OLD BOY and HARVEY remakes that are in the works), but this one I was actually impressed with. First off it it is the Pang’s themselves who are remaking their own film, now as a Hollywood action film, with a lot more money, and big name star (Nicholas Cage and Charlie Yeung, even if she is playing deaf and mute, but that does solve her not speaking Thai). And since the original was their first film, it was made on a shoestring budget, and here, not only does it look better, but it has some much bigger action set pieces. Not only that, but they were able to improve on the story a bit, making the whole thing more a tale of the Assassin’s redemption. Here he is not mute, the pharmacy girl is, and he wants to move on from his life, and starts to make connections with the world, of course he must still pay for his actions, but the film has more heart here, even if the Pharmacy story does get a bit sidelined, but overall the more streamlined story serves the film better. I also like the addition of some of his skills being taught, like always using reflections to look behind you. Very Cool! I greatly enjoyed the film, and think it is well worth checking out.

Nicholas Cage is a hitman named Joe, who lives by 3 rules, which keeps him out of contact of not only anyone alive, but his clients, and keeps him a rich man, and at the top of his game. In Europe he makes a kill, and has decided to take a 4 part job in Bangkok, and then retire. He overdoses his local fixer with heroin, severing any ties with him, and disappears to Bangkok, where he is going to work for the local ganglord Surat (Nirattisai Kajareuk), but he works to keep his identity always secret. Quickly he spots a local pickpocket named Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm), who decides to make his local fixer, the one who will pick up his assignments and keep a layer between him and Surat. Kong goes to get Sarat’s assignments from a beautiful hostess named Aom (Panward Hemmanee) who works at an upscale club. He takes a liking to her right away, and wants to prove himself, buying her jewelry and the like.

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I had heard of Werner before I worked on his Blu-Ray disc of RESCUE DAWN, but did not know too much about the man, but after seeing RESCUE DAWN I was fascinated by this strange and possibly insane documentary and narrative director. This is the story of his journey to Antarctica to see the people living there, and to get footage from under the glaciers in the ocean, of the incredible creatures unlike anything else on Earth. Even though Werner is not in it, he is still a character, asking questions and narrating the film with his off the wall views of the world (the best are the lines about the blight of there being a yoga studio at the base in Antarctica!). And the people up there all seem a little bit insane in their own way, all poets and artists, and yet doing things they never trained for, lawyers working in greenhouses and the like. These people really seem like Werner’s kind of people, and that is why the documentary works so well. Not only do we see the amazing creatures, but we see these strange and quirky people and the world they live in.

Werner travels with his cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger to Antarctica, starting with McMurdo Station, the biggest settlement on the continent. Here they learn about the changing ice, and see the encampment that Werner seems to hate. They then take field training to be able to go out on the ice, and head to a seal camp. (more…)

I would call myself a Woody Allen fan. I love most of the films he made in at least the first half of his career, and I thought Match Point was a return to form, but his films since then have been mostly misses, and this is another one. Of course I am also not much of a Larry David fan, so that does not help, but it is the script that really does not work for me. This was a script Allen had written in the 1970′s for actor Zero Mostel, but had shelved it when he died in 1977. Allen updated it for modern times when there was an upcoming Screen Actor’s Guild strike looking, so he could get a film made. And maybe this film would have worked in the 1970′s, but now it just seems stale and not all shocking, mostly just bland, without even much in the way of laughs. This is one to skip.

Boris Ylnikoff (Larry David) who loves to break the 4th wall and talk to the audience is a crotchety old man, formerly a married professor, but now a man who teaches chess for a living and lives to rant and rave about politics. And he has a permanent limp from when he woke up a few years back with a panic attack and jumped out the window and survived. He then divorced his wife (Carolyn McCormick) and left his job, and lives the life of a shut in, complaining that everyone else is not as smart as him. One night when he comes home there is a young girl sleeping on his door step. He reluctantly lets Melody (the girl played by Evan Rachel Wood) in for a meal. In short steps he has heard her story about running away from her heavily Christian family in Mississippi and not knowing anyone, and amazingly is letter her stay there, first for a night, and then for longer. His friends (Adam Brooks, Michael McKean and Lyle Kanouse) are all blown away, and wonder when he will get rid of her. Boris and Melodie travel the city together with him imparting his wisdom, or cynicism to her, and Melodie begins to love Boris, and starts to adopt some of his views. She starts working walking dogs and makes a date with a boy, but after so much time with Boris, she finds him boring and stupid. She admits to Boris that she loves him, and they get married!

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I was really looking forward to this caper film because of it’s incredible cast, and impressive looking trailer, but after seeing it, can honestly say I was pretty let down by the film. Especially the ending, which I found pretty weak. The lead up seemed decent enough, but the film needed a real kicker of an ending to pull it off, and it did not at all. It just peters out. Not the caper film it should have been at all, which is too bad, because it almost had it. Quite a letdown actually.

The Brothers Bloom are orphan children, we have the older Stephen (Max Records, who grows up to be Mark Ruffalo) and his brother Bloom (Zachary Gordon who grows up to be Adrien Brody). The kids go through life pulling stunts on their peers, and trying to con all the money they can, which gets them kicked out of one foster home after another. They run a scam about a cave with a magical creature in it. They collect money and go and Stephen tricks them with lights, and Bloom gets caught up in the magic as well, until he sees his brother and the magic is broken. The children love it, but their parents don’t and they are forced to give the money back, but then we see the real con, which was taking a cut of the business from the local cleaner! And we see Bloom, have young love, but get pulled from it by his love for his brother, and then pulling into his self. 25 years later the brothers finish another Con, and Bloom wonders off, disheartened by his life’s lack of any real meaning, or any reality, as he is always playing someone else. He has no life of his own, and his brother chooses what he does, so he decides to finally makes good on all his threats to quit, and moves to Montenegro. 3 months later Stephen finds him and convinces him to come along with their other partner, the explosive loving Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi in the best role in the film) to play a huge last con. This con will be on a wealthy heiress from New Jersey named Penelope Stamp (Rachel Weisz). Penelope is totally socially isolated, having been told as a child she had life threatening allergies, which she in fact did not have. So she spent most of her life alone, and has read every book, and taught herself to do almost everything, but just has no social graces. Bloom agrees, and they head to New Jersey.

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The more depressing sequel, again Shot with a red, but with spherical lenses, continues the life of Che Guevera, from where the last film left off, having won the Cuban revolution and going on to his death fighting in Bolivia on October 9th, 1967. This really shows his struggles, and what he wanted to do for the rest of South America, but this was harder, as he and his men did not win the hearts and minds of the Bolivians, and this cost them dearly. This film is much more straighfoward than the last, telling the story linearly from Che’s point of view, and is a sadder film, as we know this is his end. Another amazing film, and a must see!

In 1965 Ernesto “Che” Guevera (Benicio del Toro) says he is going to check on Sugar growing, and he leaves Cuba, leaving a letter which Fidel Castro (Demian Bichir) reads on the TV to the Cuban people. In it Che gives up his Cuban citizenship, to go foment revolution elsewhere, leaving his family behind. He first went to the Congo, but this film focuses on him in 1966 when he goes to Bolivia, disguised as a middle aged Uraguayan businessman. He heads out into the woods to foment revolition, having trouble at first because he is an Argentine and not a Bolivian, but he has fought through that before. He wants the overthrow of American backed President René Barrientos (Joaquim de Almeida), but has problems right from the get go.

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I am a huge Benicio del Toro fan, and have been wanting to see this since it came out, but it does not even come out on DVD until next year, but with the new Criterion streaming deal with Netflix I was finally able to watch this first of 2 films in HD and was absolutely blown away. Not only is this well directed, with an engaging, and true story with a fantastic performance by Benicio del Toro, but this film looks amazing, and it was one of the first films shot on RED cameras, and this part was even shot anamorphic with RED, and looked fantastic! In fact for all the complaining I hear about RED, it is films like this and District 9 that really show me just how good it is, and make me wish the damn Scarlet would come out, so people in a smaller budget can get their hands on it! This is the up film of the pair, this covering the Cuban Revolution, and it really does recreate the mood of the time, and a look into this world, and what happened. This is an absolute must see, and I am sure Criterion will be do an exemplary blu-ray of this film, and I look forward to the special features.

The film is intercut between 1964 and starting in 1955 at a gathering in Mexico City where the Cuban Revolution really began, and Ernesto “Che” Guevara (Benicio del Toro) first met Fidel Castro (Demian Bichir). In 1964 we have Che being interviewed by Lisa Howard (Julia Ormond), which is intercut through the film, as well as Che’s speech to the United Nations General Assembly about the Imperialism of the United States in South and Central America. In 1955 Che, Castro and around 80 others head to Cuba via boat, and start the armed revolution in Cuba. It is not easy for Che, who has asthma. At first he is not trusted by many because he is an Argentine, and not Cuban, and even Castro ends up demoting from him division, and putting him in charge of the wounded, but it is there that he learns to truly be a soldier.

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This Sherlock Holmes reboot was a strange choice for a Christmas Day release, because it is nothing more than a summer blockbuster. A pretty fun one, but not amazing, and certainly not worthy of it’s Oscar release date. Still having Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes as perfect, and Jude Law as Watson is also spectacular, though some of the other casting, like Rachel MacAdams could certainly have been better. I was impressed by Guy Ritchie though, as it seems he has grown up. Now I love his stylish previous films, but did not think it would fit here, and it seems neither did he, because this is a well done film without his signature style, and it does work, but it is the writing and a big coincidence in the end that just should not have happened in a film about a character so obsessed with logic that serves to bring this down to a lot less than this could have been. It is fun, but nothing you will ever think about going to see a second time.

London, 1891, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) on his last mission with his friend and associate Watson (Jude Law) run into a ritual for a human sacrifice, where Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) is about to kill a young girl. The pair manage to stop the ceremony, and arrest Blackwood, though someone does escape. Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan) comes in and takes possession of Blackwood, and he is set to be hung in 3 months time. In that time Holmes becomes a hermit in his room, never leaving or doing much useful, while Watson prepares to move out to his new place, where he plans on living with Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly) whom he intends to wed. Blackwood requests that Holmes comes before his execution. Holmes finds everyone scared of Blackwood, who has supposedly made a guard sick, and has covered his cell with occult symbols. Blackwood promises there will be 3 more deaths after his execution, and that it will change the world, and outfox Holmes. Watson is there at the hanging and declares Blackwood dead. Holmes has a visitor in the form of Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) the one person who has managed to outwit him, and the love of his life, though she is a thief. She wants him to find a red haired midget for her. Holmes follows her, disguising himself as a beggar, and seeing a man hidden in her coach with a gun in his sleeve. A few days after Blackwood’s execution, Holmes gets a call from Lestrade that Blackwood has rissen from the grave, and broken out from the inside. Holmes takes Watson, as it his reputation as a doctor on the line, and they go to investigate. The game is afoot.

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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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Easily one of the best films of the year, this one is hard to describe. I guess it is a drama, though it has elements of both comedy and romantic comedy, but it certainly is not either of those. Jason Reitman has really knocked it out of the park here with amazing performances all the way around, and a really good screenplay adapted from the novel by Walter Kirn (now I really need to read the book) We really get into the world he has created, of a lonely man, who likes his solitary life, until he realizes that he wants more, and is not going to be able to get it if he keeps living the way he does, apart from people, and even his family. A really powerful and moving film. This is really one of the must see films of the year.

Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) is a man without a home. He has an apartment in Omaha, Nebraska, where his company is based, but it is not his home. His home is in the air and in the hotels around the country where he does his work, and he is constantly on the move. In fact he dreams of being the 16th person to ever get 10 million air miles on American Airlines, and getting the super special platinum card, actually made out of. Ryan’s job is travel around the country and fire people, and he is the absolute best at what he does. He also gives motivational speeches on having the simplest life with the least connections to other people, literally being able to live out of a backpack, much as he lives out of his carry on suitcase. Ryan ends up meeting another frequent flying named Alex (Vera Farmiga) who is impressed by his frequent flyer status, and they start a casual relationship, but then Ryan is called back to the main office, because something is afoot that may permanently change his life.

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I have to admit to never liking any McG films, so even with Christian Bale in the lead, I ended up staying away from this in the theaters and watching it on Blu-ray via netflix. And I can honestly say at least I did not see it on DVD, because this is pretty visually impressive. Sure it is a popcorn action movie, but is better than I thought it would be, and not about what I thought, especially since Christian Bale isn’t the lead here, Sam Worthington who would go on to do AVATAR is really the lead, and does a very good job here. This is an enjoyable science fiction film, and I would love to see another of these made, but with all the troubles with the rights, somehow I doubt another will be made. It is actually a shame because this is an enjoyable film, with some killer special effects. Well worth checking out.

In 2003, just before Judgment Day, cancer stricken Doctor Seran Kogan (Helena Bonham Carter) who works for Cyberdine Systems get convicted death row inmate Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington) to give up his body for science after his execution. A year later Skynet is activated, and most of the Earth is laid to waste, and the machines take over.  Then in the year 2018 resistance fighter John Conner (Christian Bale) leads an attack on an important Skynet base and discovers data about a new type of partially organic terminator. The machines attack again, and the base is mostly destroyed, with John crashing in a helicopter, and his men being destroyed by a huge explosion. The only survivor is Marcus, who does not know how he got there, but walks he toward Los Angeles. Meanwhile John heads to the Resistance headquarters, and old Nuclear Submarine to talk tell General Ashdown (Michael Ironside) about what he found, and what happened. Ashdown does not seem to like John too well, probably because he is revered, and thought of as the true leader of the resistance because of his radio broadcasts to survivors. The Resistance has discovered a radio frequency that they think will shut down Skynet machines at close range, and they plan on using it in a big attack, to stave off an attack on the Resistant command staff they have discovered the plans for. John is also on the list, as well as Kyle Reese (Anton Yelchin who went on to play Chekov in the new Star Trek) who John knows to be his father. John returns to his base to test the signal.

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Of late I have enjoyed the films that Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been in, so I was interested in seeing this, but never got around to it until now, and am sorry I waited so long, because this is a great film, really the perfect version of what would be called a romantic comedy, because it is not a comedy, and it’s non-linear style really lends itself to this story, and makes you love these characters and get you into it, while getting you to really pay attention. A very well done film, and one of the best films of the year.

The film is totally non-linear telling of the breakup and relationship between Tom Hansen (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and Summer Finn (Zooey Deschanel). Tom is a trained architect, but makes his living as a writer at a greeting card company. Summer is the assistant to his boss Vance (Clark Gregg). Tom immediately starts liking Summer, but is too scared to tell her, only confiding in his friend McKenzie (Geoggrey Arend) and his young sister Rachel (Chloé Moretz). A drunken McKenzie out at a work karaoke tells Summer that Tom likes her, and she ends up kissing him in the copy room, and their relationship starts from their, but she does not want it to be serious, or even admit to a relationship, while Tom immediately does.

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Now I am a Twilight Fan, possibly even a Twi-Hard, having read all the books, twice in fact, and having enjoyed the first film, TWILIGHT quite a bit, even owning the Blu-ray, so I was quite excited about seeing New Moon. And solely as a sequel to TWILIGHT I did enjoy this film, because, well, it is more TWILIGHT, but it could have been oh so much better without Chris Weitz’s shoddy at best directing. Sure I enjoyed ABOUT A BOY, but this is the guy who did ruined the adaption of the THE GOLDEN COMPASS, ripping out the most important aspects of the book (like it’s comments on religion) and making it devoid of any emotion, and who on the day of TWILIGHT’s release twittered about how he would rather be shot in the head than to go see TWILIGHT, and he was allowed to direct. And he, unlike Catherine Hardwick does not seem to actually get the book at all, making arbitrary changes that do not add to the story (the first Motorcycle scene, and the death of Harry Clearwater do not add and in fact only detract from the film), not eliciting good performances, and relying on exposition and camera to tell the story, editing that could have easily been tighter, and having so many gratuitous fan service shots (shots of Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattison shirtless) that is starts bringing the movie towards parody, and why did Alice’s vision have to look like some cheesy Jay Crew commercial? Weitz’s direction is so staged. Look at how bad Bella’s birthday is staged, there is no life to it, as there is not for much of the film. Sure some things are good, like the casting of Michael Sheen as the Volturi Aro, as he is amazing. And the effect showing the movement of the vampires has been improved a great deal, though the digital on the werewolves looks awful, as do the water and ocean effects, which look so incredibly cheap. And I am glad the film did so well, making the 3rd largest opening of all time (incredible for a $50 million dollar film) because it means they will greenlight BREAKING DAWN, but I hope it does help to shine on Weitz, and it sure has not for reviews, and it’s 29% on Rotten tomatoes. Another minus for the film is that it really requires you to have seen TWILIGHT or read the books, there is no way you could just jump in, and since it requires so much knowledge, if you don’t get it, why not at least just adapt the book, and not make arbitrary changes that do not nothing but detract from the story. An fun note is that if you can see it with the rabid young fans it adds to the enjoyment, especially all the gasps and giggles, though the texting through the movie was driving me crazy, and the girls filming scenes with their phones, need to be taught just how illegal that is. There are rumors that they are waiting to fully green light the final film in the series until Chris Weitz steps aboard, PLEASE LET THIS BE FALSE! It was not Weitz who made this so big, but just the fact that it is a TWILIGHT FILM!!

Back in Fork’s Washington (now shot in Canada) just after the events of the last film, Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) has a strange dream, first she runs though a strange city she does not know, then she comes across her Grandmother in a clearing in the woods, and her boyfriend, the Vampire Edward Cullen (Robert Pattison) comes out into the sunlight, sparkling, which she is nervous about because her grandmother, but when she looks back, she realizes it is her in the mirror, having grown old with Edward, since he refuses to make her into a vampire, and she is getting older every day. Her best friend the young Quilute Indian Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) comes to see her at school, and then Bella goes over to the Cullens for her Birthday, though she swears she wants nothing, but Edward’s sister Alice (Ashley Greene) always gets her way. There are the rest of the Cullens, Alice’s boyfriend Jasper Hale (Jackson Rathbone), Rosalie (Nikki Reed) and her boyfriend Emmett (Kellan Lutz) and their parents Carlisle (Peter Facinelli) and Esme (Elizabeth Reaser). Bella gets a paper cut, and Jasper, the youngest to stop drinking human blood goes nuts. Edward hits Bella back into the wall, making her get cut more, but holds off Jasper. Bella is OK, but Edward is crushed and he goes to her, tells her he and all the Cullens are leaving, and she will never see them again, and since she never believed she was good enough for him, she believes he no longer loves her, and accepts it. Bella is completely crushed, and becomes lost in the woods, with the whole town out looking for her. She is found by Quileute Sam Uley (Chaske Spencer. She is safe, but becomes a zombie, barely skating through her life for months on end.

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As a child I grew up loving the slightly disturbing children’s books of the great Maurice Sendak, my favorite being IN THE NIGHT KITCHEN followed by WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. And I love the insane films of Spike Jones, so I was really excited for this, and even more so after seeing the amazing trailers with the Arcade Fire soundtracks and the fact that the wild things were done by Jim Henson studios (at least for the bodies, with digital faces). I was so excited to go into the World of the Wild things, the world of Wild Little Children, and I did enjoy the film, but I must say it is a bit too melancholy for my tastes. I loved it, but came out a tad depressed. Now I think it has a great message, but I think the melancholy may make this film too much for most children, and bring down the childhood memory a bit. Now I like the fact that it is at times scary, but the sadness brings it down, and while it does make the message that much more powerful, I felt there should have been a bit more of the childlike wonder and less of the sadness brought by anger and lashing out at ones family without thinking. Still I did greatly enjoy the film, and the Wild Things were fantastic, which makes me want to see ti again, and again soon. The other complaint is the child seems a little old to be dressing up like he did, but he did do a great job in his role, so I can forgive that. One complaint is the constant handheld shaky cam, which Spike Jones seems to favor, made my wife sick. Sure it made the computer harder to do, and made it more chaotic, but I do wish that more filmmakers would invest in a few steadicams, as I find gently moving images much more enjoyable. Overall this is an enjoyable, though slightly sad film, which is too much for most children, and a bit melancholy for the remembrance of the fans who loved the fun of the book, and did not find it so sad as a child. This could have been perfect, but instead is a worthy try, that is quite enjoyable, but still slightly missing something.

Max (Max Records) is a child living with his older sister Claire (Pepita Emmerichs) and his single mom Connie (Catherine Keener). Max has some anger issues, some stemming from his father being gone (it is never explained why), and he lives in his own little world. He plays outside in the snow, making his own snow fort in a pile of snow left by a snow plow, and tries to get Claire to come and see, but she ignores him. When her friends come to pick her up, he starts a snowball fight, but it gets out of hand and Claire’s friends gang up on him, and jump on and crumble his snow fort with him in. Max starts crying, and Claire ignores him, and goes with her friends, so he freaks out and goes into her room, trampling the whole room in snow, and smashing everything he ever gave her, then realizing he has done wrong, going and cowering in bed. When Connie returns, he shows her what she did, and they clean up the room, using towels to sop up the soaking wet carpet. That night Connie has her boyfriend (Mark Ruffalo) over for dinner, and Max dresses in his animal outfit, and because he is not getting attention, freaks out, screaming at the top of his lungs, and ends up biting Connie, when she yells at him, saying, “what is wrong with you?” Max freaks out and runs out of the house, evading his mom, and finding an abandoned sail boat which he gets into, and sails out to sea, much like he played with a little boat in his blue sheeted bed. Max realizes he can no longer see the shore. Eventually he sees an island, and in the darkening sky he sees some lights and heads for it, barely making it to the rocky shore, and dragging the boat in with him. Max climbs perilous rocks, and goes into the woods towards the light, and gets his first glimpse of the giant wild things.

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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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After the horrible Order of the Pheonix, I was really not expecting much out of this movie, though seeing Yates excellent British show State of Play did give me some hope, but then the awfulness of getting out of the theater (car fire at Hollywood and Highland, and then traffic from the Hollywood Bowl made it way too long of a wait), but even with all that I enjoyed it. Certainly it is not as good as Azkaban, but it is a very well done, directed, and especially shot movie (having Amelié’s cinematographer Bruno Belbonnel made a huge huge difference, and gave the film a very unique look, though I would love to see his initial look which Warner turned down), though that is not to say it does not have it’s problems. I would have put this film right up there with Azkaban if it had not been for some arbitrary changes from the book that I felt hurt the film. The first is the addition of a mid movie battle, which other than some cool chase visuals serves no purpose except to destroy a location that was not destroyed in the book. The second is the removal of the epic battle at the end of Pheonix, where Harry’s friend’s like Neville and Ginny really get to shine and we get to see Aurors battle with Deatheaters. The Producers claim it was removed to avoid repetition with the next film (which makes no sense since the next film, also to be directed by Yates has been split into 2, and the final battle will be 2 films away) and makes the end seem to fall pretty flat, I really did not mind the ramping up of Hermione’s feelings for Ron which was so well played that it worked, nor the loss of Dumbledore’s funeral, which would have been an incredibly sad way to end the film, and have to wait at least a year for the start of a resolution. Most of the film is really enjoyable, especially all the snogging and relationships going on, and the effects look great. Quidich looks amazing, and now they have effects for a purpose, say a reveal of the brooding Draco Malfoy, and I love that people seem to be able to block spells now. And the acting improved all the way around. Michael Gambon after Prisoner of Azkaban had become too over the top, and here he is much more sedate, in his fatherly relationship with Harry, and his performance is so much the better for it, making it his second best performance in these films. I also loved subtle things in the movie that they added. Since they did not show much in the classroom they did not show the students learning how to cast spells without speaking, but if you watch Malfory, he starts having to say spells, and by the end can do the same spell without speaking, a subtle, but wonderful nod to the stuff left out from the book. Other than the changes my only real complaints are that I felt the film was too short, I could easily have stood another half hour, and as with the previous films I think they should have recast Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) because she is way too over the top here, just annoyingly so. Overall this film is a must see for any Harry Potter Fan, and I do look forward to seeing it again in the near future and see anything I missed.

Went and saw the film a second time, this time in it’s IMAX 3D release. I was skeptical of the 3D because I had not been too impressed with the sharpness of the film UP in 3D, but right from the opening Warner Brothers Logo and Harry Potter logo the 3D was fantastic. In fact it blew me away that it was not shot in 3D, but a process that was done in Post, because it looked amazing. Sure there were some problems, like the fact that the screen was so big that you sometimes had to turn your head to see characters on either side of the frame, and that would throw the 3D off, but that is not the worst of it. The worst part is it is only for the opening 10 minutes of the film, and then it ends, and is never seen again. And this open was not the part that should have been 3D! I mean what about 3D quidich? That would have been amazing. Or the final big scene going for the horcrux? That would have been cool, but it just being the open did not justify the $17 per ticket price tag, nor did seeing a film shot in 35 MM digitally projected on an IMAX screen, because unlike other digitally projected films I have seen of late, I could see anti-aliasing and if I quickly moved my head some strange color patterns which were distracting. Sure the blow up looked pretty damn good, but not $17 per ticket good. And really the 3D was a gimmick used to draw people in, but it ends so soon that it is really a rip off!

This film starts just as the last film ends, with Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) being led away from the ministry of magic by Headmaster Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) as newsmen take photographs, and Harry looks stunned. We then see Death Eaters fly through london, causing havoc, and knocking down the MIllenium Bridge (which would not have been built when this movie take place) and going into Diagon Alley, kidnapping Mr. Ollivander and destroying his wand shop. Professor Severus Snape (Alan Rickman) is then compelled to make an unbreakable vow with Narcissa Malfoy (Helen McCrory) to help her son Draco (Tom Felton) and carry out the task the dark lord gave him if he does not. Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter) performs the magic. We catch up with Harry as he rides subways at night, reading his magic newspaper, and getting hit on by a beautiful waitress when Dumbledore comes to take him someplace. They go to find former potions professor Horace Slughorn (Jim Broadbent). Dumbledore wants a memory that Slughorn has of Tom Riddle, who became Voldemort. He knows that Slughorn likes to “collect” students in clubs, and he uses Harry as bait to get Slughorn to agree to come back. Dumbledore then sends Harry to the house of the Weasleys, where he sees his best friends Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint), and Hermoine Granger (Emma Watson) as well as Ron’s younger sister Ginny (Bonnie Wright) who has started to notice . They all go to Ron’s brother’s Fred and George (James and Oliver Phelps) joke shop, the only thing still open in Diagon Alley, and end up following Draco and his mother to Borgin and Burkes an antique shop in the bad section, where Harry believes Draco has been brought into the Deatheaters. On the train Harry ends up sneaking into Draco’s cabin, and spying, but Draco notices, and ends up freezing him, and beating him, only being found by Harry’s strange friend Luna Lovegood (Evanna Lynch who is just amazing in this role). Harry is convinced that Draco is planning something bad, and no one can change his mind.

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This film had such a long and arduous process coming out, and sounds like it suffered greatly from being picked up by the Weinstein’s (having a new director added, and the main motivating factor cut out, only to eventually be put back in, but with the director only given 36 hours to fix his film) and totally bombed on it’s release, but after watching it in HD on XBOX live, I found I love the film. In fact it was made for me, by people like me, way too big Star Wars fans! And for any Star Wars Uber fan, this is a film for you. It is funny, witty, and well done, and very enjoyable, with a great cast, and just a plain good film. And I love all the Star Wars and other cameos! I mean come one, Billy Dee Williams, Carie Fisher, Seth Rogen, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, Danny McBride, Ray Park, Ethan Suplee, Will Forte, Danny Trejo, and the Man, William Shatner all make appearances here! Too cool! I really do wonder what the direct could have done with total control over his own film? Honestly more proof of just how evil the Weinstein’s really are. Honestly I laughed very hard at this film, and I loved it’s heartfelt basis. Sure it it silly and ridiculous, but who cares, it is fun as can be!

At a Halloween party in 1998 Eric Bottler (Sam Huntington) who works for his dad at a car dealership sees the friends he has ignored since leaving high school. First he runs into the the cute, yet geeky Zoe (Kristen Bell, looking much better here with black here, than she did as a blond on Heroes), then his 3 oldest friends who own and run a comic book shop (where Zoe also works) show up dressed as storm troopers and Darth Vader. These are Linus (Christopher Marquette), Hutch (Dan Fogler) and Windows (Jay Baruchel being done up to look exactly like a young George Lucas, nice!). Botler doesn’t get along too well with his friends, as he basically abandoned them, so he could “grow up” when he got out of high school. The group has always had a plan to infiltrate George Lucas’s Skywalker Ranch, and when Hutch and Windows tell Botler that Linus has terminal cancer, he decides it is time to put their plan into action, and steal a rough cut of Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace, so Linus can see it before he dies.

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The most anticipated and biggest Star Trek fan film, filled with a cast of Star Trek luminaries is quite impressive for a fan film, though I still wish they had tried to push it a little bit to make it look a bit better. Sure the sets are amazing and the actors as well, and it has an enjoyable story even if it has some continuity issues with old Star Trek (Guardian of Forever problems), but it is the shoddy, handheld camera work and lack of serious post processing of the live action footage that brings this film down from the truly amazing film this could have been. I mean it does have pretty impressive computer effects, and the cast is mindblowing! I mean, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, Alan Ruck, Garret Wang, William Wellman Jr., J.G. Hertzler, Gary Graham, Daamen J. Krall, Chase Masterson, Ciroc Lofton, Grace Lee Whitney and Tim Russ, wow, who would have thought you could get all these people involved. This is well worth checking out, and is a very impressive fan film. You can’t actually buy it, but if you buy something else from them, you get it as a free gift, and this is an impressive fan film.

12 years since the Death of Captain James T. Kirk at the Enterprise B maiden voyage, Starfleet Captains Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) and John Harriman (Alan Ruck Captain of the Enterprise B from Star Trek Generations) arrive at the about to be christened Museum class replica NCC-1701-M, an exact replica of the original Consitution Class starship. Of course a distress call comes in, and they are the only ship within range, so they must rush to planet M-622, the home of the Guardian of Forever. Charlie Evans (William Wllman) has returned from Thasian space to exact revenge on Kirk, and since he is already dead, he heads back in time to change history forever, sending the three captains into an alternate dark reality where Captain Kirk never lived, and the universe is a much darker and more dangerous place!

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Considered one of the worst Star Trek films this film is still gorgeous to watch, especially on this blu-ray release, especially with the original Douglas Trumbull Special Effects. The film is very much a love story to the new Enterprise, but it does suffer from a slow pace, and an enemy that is too inhuman to really be a foil to the crew, still it is an enjoyable straight science fiction story, even if it does not have the fun of later Star Trek. It is obvious that the films quick conversion from a new television series Star Trek: Phase II, and the transformation from the pilot script “In Thy Image” into the script for the film did not completely work as expected, as the film is a bit slow and dry. The film was rushed, and the script never finished, and the budget tripled, and the film was considered a failure, though it did easily make back it’s money, getting the studio to greenlight a sequel, and one without Star Trek creator Gene Rodenberry who they blamed for this films failures. It is great to see the crew back together, and Nimoy was not set to return until this was turned into a film, though the one in the film with the best lines is McCoy, and because of that DeForest Kelly does really steal the show (helps only having special effects as the enemy). I still do enjoy this film, and it is much better than the dismal failure of Star Trek 5, but it is one of the weaker trek films.

The film starts with an overture featuring the amazing score by Jerry Goldsmith, which later because the opening theme to Star Trek the Next Generation. Then we see a vast energy cloud which 3 Klingon Vessels go in to attack (this is the first time Klingon’s have had the skull ridges which so define them later), and are quickly completely destroyed by powerful energy beams. And it turns out the cloud is on a direct intercept path to Earth. Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) has a meeting with Star Fleet command, and is given command of the Starship Enterprise, which has been being refit under the command of Captain Willard Decker (Stephen Collins) for the past 18 months, and is basically a new ship. Kirk is taken over in a shuttle pod by Engineer Montgomery Scott (James Doohan) where he learns the ship is not quite ready, and needs a shakedown cruise as many things are not in order, but they need to launch in 12 hours to intercept the Energy cloud. Kirk informs the angry Deckard that he has been demoted to first officer, and Kirk is taking command. The new Vulcan science officer is killed in a transporter accident while beaming over to the ship. Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy (DeFirst Kelley) is drafted, and brought back into service thanks to Kirk, and McCoy isn’t too happy about it, or the refit of the medical bay. Kirk orders the ship into Warp speed, and they are dropped into a wormhole along with an asteroid. Kirk orders phasers to fire it, but Deckard belays that order, and has Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) now weapons officer (having been replaced as Navigator by Ilia (Persis Khambatta) a Deltan with a former relationship with Deckard who had to take an oath of celibacy to join Starfleet) to fire a photon torpedo, which destroys the asteroid and they safely make it out of the wormhole. Kirk confronts Deckard for countermanding his order, and Deckard informs him he doesn’t know enough about the refit enterprise, and the phasers are now routed through the warp drive, and were cut off. Meanwhile Spock (Leonard Nimoy) on Vulcan was attempting to gain total logic, but his mind felt the presence of the mind of the cloud entity, and does not attain total logic, so he takes a warp shuttle and goes to join the Enterprise, lending his expertise to help with the Warp Engine troubles.

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I love science fiction, so when I saw this trailer I was immediately interested, it looked like a cross being 2001 and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2 movies I love, so there was no chance I was missing this. And I wanted to see it even more when I learned that Duncan Jones is in fact David Bowie’s son. Then even more than that when I learned that this incredible looking film only cost $5 million, which is nothing for something that looks this good, I mean most romantic comedies cost more than this nowdays. And then of course their is Sam Rockwell, who can be amazing, so I was hooked. I went and saw this opening weekend, and I am glad I did. This is a great straight science fiction film, only ignoring moon gravity (too expensive to fake), but well worth checking out. A really good film. And gladly Duncan Jones won Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer at the BAFTA’s, though it did not get any nominations for the Oscars.

Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell) is an employee working on the moon base Sarang on a 3 year contract extracting Earth’s new clean power, helium 3. He is the only one there, and is nearing the end of his 3 years, happy to be going home to his wife Tess (dominique McElligott) and young daughter he has never met Eve (Kaya Scodelario). His only companion is the robot Gerty (Kevin Spacey), and Sam is going a little loopy, starting to see a teenaged girl. There are harvesters that mine the helium-3, and when they are full, Sam goes out and picks up the extraction and sends it back to Earth. Currently one of the harvesters is broken, but the other 3 work. Unfortunately the lunar satellites are down, so Sam has no realtime communication with Earth, so his communications are slowly routed through Jupiter. When Sam is out on an extraction, he sees the girl again, and crashed into the harvester. Sam awakens to Gerty, explaining their has been an accident, and Gerty tells him he can’t go out. Gerty tests Sam to see how his skills are, and Sam sneaks out of bed and swears he sees Gerty talking realtime to Earth. Sam decides something is wrong, and fakes an accident with the station to get Gerty to let him out, and he takes a rover to the newly broken extractor and finds the crashed version of himself, in bad shape, but still alive, who he brings back to the station. Now there are 2 Sams, one younger and surlier, and one older and scruffier, both on the base.

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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.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

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Now I have to admit that I came into this film really thinking I would hate it, as I am a huge Star Trek fan, and especially a fan of TOS (the original Series) which I grew up watching, and a reboot just sounded like an absolutely awful idea all the way around. And J. J. Abrams did not give me confidence. Now I have not watched LOST, but his Mission Impossible was impossibly bad, and while I do currently really enjoy Fringe, I have heard he was much busier doing Star Trek than working on it. Anyway, After all that I have to say I was quite wrong and did enjoy the film immensely. In fact I saw it twice, taking my wife Kelly to go see it because I wanted to see it again, and have even read the prequel comic. That is not to say that I don’t think it has issues, but it did do very very well in re-igniting the excitement of old Trek, and making the best Trek film they have made in a long time. First the good, the casting. The casting was in fact fantastic and they did mostly really capture the characters (well Chekov may have been a little over the top), but overall the characters were amazing, and who knew that formerly typcast action hero Carl Urban could do a perfect DeForest Kelly imitation, in fact almost a possession. Chris Pine made a very good Kirk (even if they did push his bad boy thing a little too much) and Zachary Quinto even looks like Spock. And the time travel storyline does allow them to create an alternate timeline, so it doesn’t ruin the original, but creates a new one they can play with (personally I would love to see a trilogy of films which start a new TV series, but I doubt that will happen). Of course I do have some issues. While most the sets are great (I love the new bridge), the engineering looks like a bunch of pipes (and was filmed in the nearby Budweiser plant). And while the main uniforms look like the old ones, many are not too impressive, and I hate the look of the new silver phasers, the original series ones had much more style. Then there are continuity issues. Like the fact that in TOS each ship had it’s own symbol on the uniform and it wasn’t till the movies that Starfleet starting using the well known Enterprise symbol as the star fleet symbol. We know they did not build the Enterprise on Earth, but in space, and it was not the flagship (which was the original of it’s class the Constitution NCC-1700). And we know for sure this was not the original crew of the Enterprise. yes Pike was the Captain, but he had a female first officer, Number One, and Spock was the science officer. We had a different doctor, and even when Kirk joined it was with a different Doctor on the Enterprise and Lt. Kelso in engineering, and Chekov didn’t join till the second season (which of course means he should not have met Khan in the old films either). Then there is the tech stuff which always have to not think too hard about with Star Trek, but in this why do you need to make a hole to the planet core to destroy a planet with a black hole? Why not just drop it on the surface? And then the score was perfectly unmemorable and really did not have the Star Trek theme until the end credits. Still as I said I did really love the film, and certainly want it on Blu-Ray. This is a must see, even if I am really sick of films shot in hand held, and didn’t realize lens were broken in the future (must be why there are so many damn lens flares).

In 2283, the USS Kelvin, a starship in the united Federation of planets runs into a strange electrical storm in space, and reports it to Star Fleet. Out of the storm comes a strange, and huge Romulan ship, the Narada, which is from 154 years in the future, and easily defeats the Kelvin and demands that Captain Robau (Faran Tahir) comes over in a shuttle craft. Robau agrees, and turns command of the Kelvin over to George Kirk (Chris Hemsworth), telling him to run if he can, and to abandon the ship to save the crew. Robua is brought over to the Narada where he is question about a strange starfleet vessel and Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and when he tells the stardate, the Captain of the Nirada, Nero (Eric Bana) kills him. Kirk orders the crew to abandon ship, including his wife Winona (Jennifer Morrison from House) who is in labor, and he plans to set the ship on auto pilot, but when the auto pilot does not function, he stays on the ship and pilots it into the Narada, telling his wife he loves her and helping to name their son James Tiberius Kirk, as he badly damages the Alien ship.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS…

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