From the couch “April edition”

Here are the films I watched at home in April.

Stargate: The Ark of Truth

(Waste of time)

Stargate: Continuum

(Waste of time)

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Beowulf

(Waste of time)

The Darjeeling Limited

(Waste of time)

Coming in May

So, it is finally here the blockbuster movie season and it starts off with a bang thankfully after a very sad bunch of movie releases during April.

X-men Origins: Wolverine: You can’t have a summer movie experience without a comic book related film. This latest in the Marvel collection shows a Hollywood interpretation of the beginnings of one of marvels beloved sons Wolverine. With more mutants more action and more effects the common person will find this film to be amazing yet fans will need a closer look to issue a verdict on its overall presentation, but I’m excited anyway.

Star Trek: This is not my parents Star Trek in fact I may turn in my Star Wars fan-boy card and make more of a move to be a Trekkie if this movie turns out like the previews show. This high octane Sci-Fi action adventure will breath life back in to the Star Trek name for the movie public at the cost of alienating fans in the long run, but I think it is great move and looks amazing.

Angles & Demons: Tom Hanks reprises his role as Dr. Robert Langdon in this prequel to the bestselling and box office hit The Da Vinci Code. This time the church is under attack from an ancient group, the Illuminati, which fell under its harsh religiously violent boot hundreds of years before. It is up to Langdon to find the clues and use his intellect to discover the plot before it is too late for the church.

Terminator Salvation: Terminator Salvation will be the first terminator film to star Christian Bale, with no Arnold Schwarzenegger in sight, it might be my new favorite terminator movie. This Film takes moviegoers into the future where the machines have taken the world and humanity is fighting back the best they can. This film will be a divergence in the original storyline, but when the story centers so much on time travel you can’t hold it against the movie makers. This should be a rambunctious robot run rampaging ruckus of a blockbuster that is until Transformers hits later this summer.

Night at the museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian: Finally, we have one of my picks that is more of a family friendly film. I am not fan of Ben Stiller’s works nor did I see the original in theaters. Yet, with a great fantasy feel, I loved the original when I finally saw it and was very happy to here that there was a second film in the works. This will prove to be one of the best family movies of the early summer.

Up: Time for the dominant force in CG film making to make their presence felt yet again. Up is the newest film to come from Pixar and is a delightful tale about two unlikely companions who find adventure in the skies of the world, with a flying house. With many different aspects to this film, I see it as a cross between Gulliver’s Travels, The Wizard of Oz with a small splash of Around the World in Eighty Days. Pixar never makes anything that sucks and should earn an Oscar next year for this one.

On the couch in March

Unfortunately I am not anticipating the release of any films scheduled this April. I would have thought that in the current economic crunch, while movies are enjoying a minor increase due to families not traveling, there would be one good film hitting the box office this April. By good, I mean movies I cared to go see =(

Near the end of April I will post my blockbuster watch list for the upcoming blockbuster season (May-July) In the meantime here is what I watched at home during March when I had spare moments.

Tropic Thunder

(Waste of time)

Introducing the Dwight’s

(Waste of time)

Martian Child

(Time well Wasted)

February on the couch

So, now that the first week of March is over and box office blockbuster season is  right around the corner. The time has come to dispense my opinion on my rentals of February.

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Waste of time)

Eagle Eye (Time well wasted)

Nancy Drew  (Waste of time)

Coming in March

Watchmen: The most celebrated and acclaimed graphic novel (comic book) from the DC universe is hitting the big screen after many years of planning and hard work. The Watchmen are a group of superheroes who find themselves in a world that has less and less need for their services. When one of their own is killed is it part of a bigger plot or perhaps someone is just killing off ex-heroes? Only the remaining members of the Watchmen can find out.

Race to witch mountain: Here we have yet another film based on a movies series from the 60’s and 70’s. Staring Dwayne “the rock” Johnson race to witch mountain is the story of two extraterrestrial kids who come to earth and despite looking human have great powers. All these two want is to return home but the government has other plans.

Duplicity: Two former spies and rivals team up when they hatch a plan to rip off a large cooperation for millions of dollars. Staring Clive Owen and Julia Roberts this well cast and acted movie looks to be full of comedy and personality.

Monsters vs. Aliens: What happens when aliens invade earth and can’t be stopped by the government, enter the earth’s only hope monsters. In this kid friendly film is the latest feature from the DreamWorks family. Although DreamWorks films never seem to get the credit they deserve during the award season I feel that their films are at times better write and though out than the ones made by Pixar. Monsters vs. Aliens should be a good looking and enjoyable film.

Rentals in January

During the first half of this school year I was busy, doing my job, with no time for “good old” Netflix. However, during the winter break I was able to get back to my love of movies at home. Here is a list of what I saw in January and if they should be rented or perhaps go the way of the dodo. Remember these movies were rentals, so, they weren’t important enough for me to see in theaters.

Feast of Love (Waste of time)

Ducktales Vol. #1 (Time well wasted)

The Mummy:Curse of the Dragon Emperor (Time well wasted)

Wanted (Time well wasted)

The Seeker: The Dark is Rising (Waste of time)

Movies of February

Coraline: This first film to make my list for the month of February is Coraline. The nig thing about this film is that it is the most recent work by the director of the Nightmare before Christmas … and no that does not mean Tim Burton. I am a big fan of the creativity of Burton and his films, but for far to long people have thought of him as the director of the Nightmare before Christmas when that is just not the case. Burton was the writer of the film, but the story was directed by Henry Selick. This is the first film by Selick in four years and the first stop motion work for almost a decade. I love the unique work of stop motion film work and that is why Coraline made my list and maybe should be on yours.

He’s just not that into you: Just in time for “Singles awareness day” otherwise known as Valentines Day this comedy may be the must see movie of the special holiday. Based on the book this crisscrossing of stories focuses on the behavior of men and how woman at times misinterpret the signals they are getting. Often it is men who are shown getting mixed signals and making mistakes based on them, so in a flip, this movie shows the same misunderstandings from the women’s side. This interesting collection of stories with misunderstandings, miscommunication and love should be a good watch for February.

Push: In this stylized sci-fi, action adventure people with special powers live and fight among us. When I first saw the trailer for this it was like someone sat down watch the first few episodes of the TV show Heroes and said lets make a movie like that. So, the powers and the story are not going to be unique to this film, but I feel that the storytelling of this film my make it better than other things in the theater at this time of year … and if not I always love a Sci-Fi movie.

Fanboys: A term which refers to overzealous male fans of anything in the realm of “geekdom” a.k.a. Sci-fi, Lord of the Rings, Star Trek, comics, anime, collectible card games and Star Wars. It would be accurate to say that I am fanboy although not as extreme, in my dedication, as the term refers. This movie is about Star Wars fans that decide to make a trip cross country in a pilgrimage to the Star Wars holy land known as Skywalker ranch. Full of Star Wars and geek references this comedy will not suit everyone and I feel will have only a short run in theaters. However being a fanboy I felt it was my duty to inform you of this movie and its release.

2009

Here is a list of movies I think you should take note of this year. Like every year release dates are subject to change. The best movies later in the year might not be on this list because there is not enough information on them being released

As of now these two films have no specifics about there release date other than the fact that they will be in theaters this year at some point.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus: this film has two things that got it on my list first is the Writer/Director Terry Gilliam. Who brought us movies like Time Bandits, The Life of Brian, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Twelve Monkeys, The Fisher King and The Brothers Grimm. This film will also feature the final on screen role by the late Heath Ledger. The film has a complicated storyline with immortality, love and the ultimate choice of good and light or gloom and darkness.

The road: Set in the future after apocalyptic events a man and his son travel south to survive and are forced to avoid hazardous situations along the away as well as make some friends. This film has a lot of star power which is why it’s on the list. With a cast that has Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearse, and the great Robert Duvall.

Coming in January

Taken: The story of a former spy, whose daughter is kidnapped, and is forced to hunt down the people responsible in a rescue attempt, staring Liam Neeson. I love movies where the main character is good at being bad in the name of a righteous cause.

Inkheart: Based on the first book in the Ink-trilogy, Inkheart, Inkspell and Inkdeath. The story is about a man who has the power to bring stories to life and finds himself in trouble after bringing and intelligent story villain to life. Forced to use his power to save himself and others Brendan Fraser plays the main role in this family friendly adventure. This is yet another adolescent novel turned movie and will more than likely do fine in the box office because of the books fan base.

Are you ready?

Be Excited … NOW!!!

03/06/09

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Rated PG

Regular Dots “barley”

By no means do I consider myself to be in the category of professional movie critics. I am simply a person who has an opinion about films and am not afraid to share it. Watching only what I might like, my reviews are always written with a bias. One of my biggest biases is that of the Star Wars, a fan from a young age I have read books collected merchandise as well as viewed movies. All my Star Wars reviews have been Nerfed because of my love of the universe George Lucas created. However, for this piece of trash I removing the gloves and perhaps throwing out my Star Wars fan membership card.

When reading reviews of this movie by professional critics I found that a lot of my more interesting talking points mirrored or were identical to those made by the pros. One review said “Lucas has never been more in touch with his inner Ewok” and I agree. This movie clearly shows that George no longer cares about the great struggle in the galaxy he started years ago. He would rather make a Saturday morning cereal that is easily digestible by the masses then depict an incredible intergalactic war. That is to say this movie is for children … CHILDREN … young people who weren’t born during the re-release of the originals let alone lived through the original release themselves. I was not old enough to see the originals in theaters, but thanks to my parents I spent most of my early life watching Star Wars IV, V and VI on VHS and even Laser Disc. Yet this movie is not made for me nor the people that made Star Wars IV the hit of the seventies; NO … it’s for the children ten to thirteen year olds … and they love it.

This movie is nothing, but a two hour commercial I had to pay to see, for the new series coming later this year. I am glad that George wants to expand his fan base, but at what cost! The people who saw the originals and fans like me can only take so much Mr. Lucas. Between the Ewok spin-offs in the eighties and the Star Wars Holiday Special your oldest fans have had a bad taste for your work for years. Even my generation, which didn’t care about those goofs, was disgusted in Star Wars I, II, and III. It seems to me that with every young generation you bring in George the old ones get more and more upset.

A trailer for this film played before a film I was seeing and a non Star Wars fan turned and asked me “do we really need another Star Wars movie” to which I replied “Yes to make up for the last three pieces of crap that bore the name Star Wars”. However it was not to be, this movie will be the lowest grossing Star Wars film to be in theaters. It would have been better as a TV special event. The director has only children’s shows in his background and the story was written by a man whose greatest scripts are use for Saturday morning cartoons and I don’t mean the good ones. Many of the critics had a hard time with the average use of CG in the film as well as its look. Personally I find those elements only mildly bad where as the amazingly large plot holes this movie makes in story are too much to overcome. Is it too much to ask that we have a newer star wars film without any whining or annoying characters …

I could go on and on all you need to know is that this is a bad movie with a good name. The future looks quite common for the Star Wars universe if it is left to its inventor. Without any of the old Star Wars magic any new adventures are going to be a long slow death.