Mission Impossible - Ghost Protocol

"That's it. Next time I get to seduce the rich guy."



I have not seen all of the Mission Impossible series. I have seen the first and parts of the second. I though that seeing the 4th installment would be a good way to see if it can stand on it's own or if it needed the other three. It's a heavyweight that can definitely stand on it's own.

I owe a few things to the Mission Impossible series. First that it was a basis for a great date back in High School and second that it makes me Three Degrees of Separation from Kevin Bacon. My 2nd cousin Erica Wagnberg worked on the special effects on the fist movie with tom cruise, who worked with Kevin Bacon on A Few Good Men. Bam!

Okay, back to it. This was the curtain call for Tom Cruise in the franchise and the entre act of one of my favorite actors, Jeremy Renner(The Hurt Locker and S.W.A.T.). He plays Brandt and analyst with a secret. He is such a good actor. I would watch him act the phone book. This film was more of a group movie than a single person movie. In the first film (the one I've seen) it is all about Tom Cruise's character. In this film it has a very strong ensemble cast. Another of my favorites, Simon Pegg(Shaun of The Dead), joins the team as the computer guy/comic relief. I wondered how he would do against some great actors, but he pulls it all together.

In this film the team is in the wrong place at the wrong time. The team is blamed for someone blowing up the Kremlin. The IMF id disbanded and have to go find out who is responsible, why they did it and bring them to justice. The plot thickens and there are some side stories that are great. The bad guy, played by Michael Nyqvist( the Swedish Girl with a Dragon Tattoo) is great. He is creepy and keeps up with everyone in this film. He is not over the top but plays it straight.

The shots of Dubai in the movie are fantastic. I with I would have seen it in IMAX, which enhances these shots. I think Dubai may be the next big city in films. Surrounded by a beautiful dessert and then a sprawling city. The scenes with Tom Cruise climbing the tower were great the shots from on top and far away were amazing. I was impressed to hear he did some of his own stunts in the climbing parts. Even if it was a small part I still have to give him props. That was ridiculously high.

I told my wife when she is ready to go see it I would gladly go see it again, but it had to be in IMAX. I would love to see those wide shots. I was glad I saw this one and it made me want to go check out the ones I missed. I guess you can compliment a film more than that.

8.7 out of 10

The Muppets

"Are you one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?"

"Y-yes, yes I am."



The second movie we hit on our Thanksgiving day outing was the new Muppets movie. This film had gotten a lot of good reviews so I was pretty excited to see it. The boys and I had seen the Muppets From Outer Space on TV earlier that week so they kind of knew what to expect. They had not had much exposure to the Muppets. So after a lunch at Burger King, along with a bunch of other dad's taking kids out for lunch, we headed back to the theater.

The Muppets movie is about a new Muppet, named Walter, who grew up watching the Muppets with his older brother , Gary, played by Jason Segal. So, Gary decides to surprise Walter and bring him along on the 10 yr anniversary trip with his girlfriend, Mary(Amy Adams).

They head off to California to see the sights. They stop off at the Muppet Studios to find it run down and on the verge of being sold to a business man who wants to tear down the studio. Kermit has no choice to sell unless he can com up with a lot of money to pay for the studio. They go talk to Kermit and ask him to to get the Muppet gang back together to raise money to save the studio. What follows is a bunch of OK songs and some small laughs.

I though this film was OK. I don't know if it was the fact that it was the 2nd movie we saw that day or if just did not impress me. I thought the songs were mediocre and the story pretty predictable. My 7yr old asked me when it was going to be over when we were only half way through the film. It was good to see the Muppets on the big screen and like most of the other films it was just OK. After all the praise I was hoping for another Muppet Christmas Carol or Treasure Island, but ended up being under-whelmed. Still it is a piece of history and I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

5 out of 10.

Arthur Christmas

"I'm telling you it can't be done"

"Nonsense. That's what they use to say about teaching women to read."

I love Thanksgiving time for many reasons: The food, family, friends, starting of Christmas music and the release of seasonal movies. Like many fathers I was ordered to get the kids out of the house so mom could get some things done. What better way to get the kids out than to go see a movie, or two. So that's what we did. We hit our fist movie at 10 a.m. Arthur Christmas.

What a surprise this movie was. I figured this would be a typical Hallmark movie made into a cartoon. Santa's son needs to take over the family business blah blah blah and falls in love with the lonely widow with the adorable child. Well it kind of was, minus the widow part. Arthur is a young man who adores his father who happens to be Santa Clause. He works in the Letter dept. at the North Pole. He responds to the letters that children write to Santa. He loves his job and the whole Christmas scene.

Arthur has a brother named Steve who is next in line to be Santa. He is bigger, smarter and seems to do everything right. He has developed a new way to deliver presents. I loved the first 20 minutes of the movie when we see Steve spearhead the Christmas present delivery operation. It was genius. I was grinning from ear to ear. With all the success of the mission they find that one of the children had been missed. Arthur can not stand the though that a child could wake up on Christmas morning with out a present from Santa. Steve seems to be OK with his success and this small margin of error. Santa who is getting a bit older just goes along with Steve.

Arthur decides to tell his grandfather, Grandsanta, about it and they decide to take matters into their own hands. They break out the old sleigh and enlist the help of a new generation of reindeer. They set off to deliver the missed present with the help of a stow-away elf who specializes in wrapping that is determined to make sure the present is wrapped perfectly upon delivery.

Their journey turns into a comedy of errors. Grandsanta is a bit old and crazy which makes the ride more enjoyable. I really enjoyed this film. I would have to say that it is probably the second best film I've seen this year, following behind Super 8. It was fun and emotional. I would recommend it to anyone.

9 out of 10

L'illusionniste - The Illusionist

I usually get to add a favorite quote at the beginning of my review, but in this film there is never more than one word mumbled at a time. If there is it is in French and still mumbled. so consider this my favorite line "Okay."

The Illusionist is the one of the hand drawn, simple cartoons directed by Sylvain Chomet. He has also known for The Triplets of Belleville. This film is a genius blend of silent films and cartoons. It may seem a bit slow for kids, but the art is fantastic. There is also some humor in it that adults will enjoy. Many of the characters have an odd sense of dry humor to them.

The illusionist is about a man who works from job to job as a low paid illusionist. We see him do show in many small clubs in what seems to be England and he works his way up to Scotland to work in a Pub. Here he meets a young girl named Alice, who appears to be an orphan, working in the pub. He fascinates here with some tricks and as he leaves Scotland to hear to France, she follows him. They end of in Paris working and trying for a better life. There relationship is much like a father/daughter, or a Grandfather/daughter one. He works to take care of her and buy here nice things and she takes care of him too.

Their journey helps them grow as they use each other to fill the voids. This movie was great. I did not get to share all of it with my kids, but one day I will. I think they will like it as they get older. I'm excited to check out the rest of his films, such as Triplets of Belleville and the short The Old Lady and the Pigeon. Handrawn art has been shadowed by computer animation as of late, but with films like this we know it will be around forever.

8 out of 10

Nosferatu

"Is that your wife? What a lovely neck."

I thought since it was Halloween time I would check out a classic horror film. Nosferatu was made back in 1922. It is a silent film based on Brahm Stokers book. This was one of the films made about it. It is a silent film. There are different versions of this with different soundtracks. Some better than others.

Nosferatu is about a young real estate agent named Hutter who gets a tip that a Count wants to buy some real estate in the area and he needs to go to Transylvania to meet him and sell him the property. So much to the dismay of his wife he sets off to meet Orlof. He is warned by the locals of danger, but he continues on. The count will only meet him at night and becomes distracted when he sees a picture of Hutter's wife. The count then decides to by the house across from Hutter's. The next morning he wakes up with two bite marks on his neck which he claims were from Mosquito's.

Hutter slowly learns about Nosferatu (Vampires) from a book he picked up at the local Inn. He goes to find the count one night and finds him sleeping in a coffin. He takes off and tries to make his way home. He gets sick and the journey takes a detour. The count decides to go after Hutter's wife and her beautiful neck. He stows away on a ship with five of his coffins, vampires get power from the earth they were buried in. He wreaks havoc on the ship and eventually makes it to Hutter's town. The question is who will get to the wife first and who will win.

This was one of the first silent films I've seen. It was pretty good. The version I saw had a good soundtrack with it. I also liked the way that the shots during the day were tinted red and the nigh shots were blue. I could see how it could have creeped people out back then. The character is very creepy with those long fingers and his face. His follower in jail was also creepy, in a crazy way. This was a good film to kick off the Halloween Season.

6 out of 10

Meek's Cuttoff

"I don't blame him for not knowing where we are. I blame him for saying he did."


Few words have never said so much. There is not an abundance of talking in this film. The little we do hear ofttimes is mumbled and drowned out so we can't hear them well, but the shots of the desolate land where amazing.

Meek's Cuttoff is based on a true story of a group of people crossing the planes on the Oregon Trail. A small group decides to follow a man Named Meek on a "shortcut" on the way to the coast. This is where our story begins. The opening shot will have leave your wanting a glass of water on it's own. The land is high desert and dry. We see them fording one river and that is about the extent of the water in the film. We see them lowering wagons down steep hills. Many of these things you have heard they had to do, but it was nice to be able to see someone do it. Seeing them makes you appreciate them more.

The group are making their way to the West coast through tough terrain. The area is dry and the threat of Indians is everywhere. They do come across an Indian who they try to use as a guide to find water. There is not much more to this movie that can be written. It is mostly a feast for the eyes. It is all said in what is not said.

6 out of 10

Hanna

"Hanna, what did your mom die of?"

"Three Bullets..."



I have heard a critic refer to this movie as The Bourne Identity for the Dora the Explorer generation. Perfect, but I would add to it a European twist. I enjoyed this film. I liked how this movie was able to seem so main stream and then jump to an odd European, electronic music video. With all of this it still held me. I found myself smiling at the oddity of some of the scene. Characters dancing in an abandoned theme park, a chase through a trailer bin lot and a show down on a roller coaster track.

Hanna is a girl raised by her father just south of the Arctic Circle. Her father, played by Eric Banna, is some sort of ex-secret operative. He spends his time training her to fight, learn languages and spend lots of time reading from an encyclopedia. The fight each other and you get the sense that this is all they do every day. It is not till the end of the movie that we see why. we get little bits of info as we go along. Hanna decides that it is time to come out of hiding and knows that this means she will be hunted by an ex boss of her father who is played by Cate Blanchett. I did not like her southern accent she uses on and off throughout the movie. Blanchetts character plays a very hardened person. Life has been hard and she is not willing to make it easy for others. She just does not care anymore. She's tired of trying to fit in and has just resolved herself to be different. Hanna on the other hand realizes she is different but still wants to fit in. To be a part of the world.

The is a lot of violence in this movie. Many good fight scenes some of which will make you giggle at, including her awkward first date. She is not used to anything a normal life would have to offer. She was raised in the woods. TV, Cars even lights are something new.

Saorise Ronin is definitely a girl to watch. She has been in a few recent movies including The Lovely Bones. She has an ability to play the part without over playing it. She almost seems to play it short of what it needs, but if you look at the little details, the eye movements, facial expressions or a subtle shift she is playing her part in full. I look forward to seeing her other films and see what she plans to take on next.

6.85 out of 10

Troll Hunter (Trolljegeren)

"Bears like to store their food in piles. Kind of like a squirrel."
"No they don't."
"Russian bears do."


So here it is review number 50. Marking the 1 year anniversary of our Guys Movie Night it was time to watch the much anticipated Troll Hunter. Oh, where do I begin? When my buddy John brought the trailer for this gem to my attention we began to plan a trip to see the move. Unfortunately it made it to DVD before we could find a theater showing it. So it was time for a gathering of the guys. Our own man date.

Troll Hunter is a Norwegian film. It is subtitled in English. My wife was a bit worried that we would have less of a turnout because of the subtitles, but I guess she does not understand the pull of guys to B grade movies. We had a great turnout and a lot of fun.

Here is the plot. A group of college kids are out to make a doc about the bears that are causing problems all over Norway. They go to the latest bear sighting where a grizzly bear has just been killed. Many of the locals point to a recluse who only comes out at night as the one who is killing the bears that are causing the problems. So they begin to follow him in order to interview him. He tells them to go away, but in true Michael Moore fashion they follow him without him knowing.

The students get in over their heads when they follow him into the night and are chased by an unknown creature. After one of them is injured and their car is destroyed by this creature. The hunter then agrees to let them in on the secret. He is the only hunter of a special group whose job is to track, manage or hunt these...Trolls.

They learn that there is unrest in the troll community so they follow Hans, the hunter, as he tries to figure out why and as he hunts trolls. They find there is a lot more to it than expected. Tracking, hunting and Govt. cover ups.

This movie was like mixing The Blair Witch Project with Cloverfield. It was a great movie to watch with a group of guys. Yes it was subtitled, but it did not take a lot of effort which left plenty of time to make joke about it. It was funny in a dry sense(over sized syringes and an excess of troll snot.) In the words of John, "this was the best Norwegian film I've ever seen." It has to be cause I've seen soooo many (Insert sarcasm).

9.8 out of 10 (if viewed in a group)
7.9 out of 10 (if viewed on your own)

The Help

"You is kind. You is smart. You is Important."


My wife signed up for Audible so she could listen to books for her book club. She put on the Hunger Games series and for Mother's Day I got The Help for her. My commute is about 2-3 hours each day so I listen to them too. I finished listening to the Help a few months ago. It was a fantastic book. I was very excited to see the movie. I know movies are never as good as the book. You can never fit the detail of a 12 hour book into a 2 hour movie. So, keeping that in mind Heather and I went with our friends, the Ainsworths, on a double date.

The Help is a story about a Lady name Skeeter who lives in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's. Jackson was one of the strongest enforcers of the Jim Crow laws. Skeeter wants to be a writer and she end up talking to a Mrs. Stein about making a book about being a black woman in Jackson in the 60's. She wants to write this book from the view of the help. This was a bi no-no at the time. Anyone who spoke out for anything close to equal rights was shunned or much worse.

The characters are fantastic. Skeeter is played by Emma Stone. I expect we'll see her in a dozen movies in the next two years. The ladies are played by Olivia Davis and Octavia Spencer. The both are fantastic. It has the usual race film points that make you angry, but also has the parts that make you laugh pretty hard.

As usual the books are more informative and detailed, but this film gets the point across. It is a great starting point before you jump into the book.

7.3 out of 10

Midnight in Paris

"You can fool me, but you cannot fool Ernest Hemingway!"



Woody Allen seems to put out a movie every six months. I never see them not because I don't want to, but more because of their ratings and the fact that they are never played in local theater. When I hear about this one, I knew I would have to see it.

Midnight in Paris is about a screenwriter from LA who goes with his Fiance and her parents to Paris to shop and plan for their wedding. Late one night Owen Wilson goes for a walk and gets lost. He sits down on a step and at midnight a car pulls up and whisks him away to Paris in 1920's. He meets famous writers and painters and a beautiful Marion Cotillard. He begins to question his own life and his relationship to his fiance.

Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams and Marion Cotillard. There is also a great supporting cast in Cathy Bates plays the great Gertrude Stein, Adrian Brody is an amusing Salvador Dali. My favorite had to be Corey Stoll who played Ernest Hemingway. He was so serious all the time and when he would talk it was like he was reading a paragraph from a novel. I had to laugh.

I thought this was a great date movie. It had all the elements that my wife would like and also enough humor for a guy to like. This was just another good movie to add on to the ever growing list of good movies of 2011.

7 out of 10

Soul Surfer

"I don't need easy. I just need possible."




I wanted this movie to be good. I really did. It did have it's good moments. I liked the surfing. I liked the settings. It was even full of great actors like Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt and starred AnnaSophia Robb. A movie about a shark attack survivor and her struggle to get back into surfing. If I could change one thing to make this film a much, much better film it would have to cast Mandy Moore in place of Carrie Underwood, or better yet just leave her character out of the movie altogether.

The movie is a true story about Betheny Hamilton a teenage girl who lives and surfs in Hawaii. One day as she is surfing with friend she is attacked by a shark. She loses her left arm. This may seem like a gruesome scene to show in a family film, but they don't show much. The attack lasts all of two seconds. Her recovery process was pretty good. I'm sure that hearing about it from the real Betheny would be better, This movie became a bit too Born-again for me. I'm glad they had a deep faith and that it helped them through it, but most scenes that had her church group were pretty annoying. The story was good enough on its own.

It is a good story overall. I like the tender moments and the scary moments. Unfortunately I liked the idea of this movie more than the actual movie. It is a good family film though. The morals it teaches are great. The support of a family, friends, and a whole community. It teaches kids that all things are possible with determination, support and a little faith. Betheny went on to be a National champion surfer with only one arm. She is an inspiration to many and continues to serve others.

5 out of 10

Cowboys & Aliens

"Here Jake, don't ferget yer gun. I always liked you best."



The day I saw the trailer for Cowboys and Aliens I thought..Yes!!!
I was not disappointed. Many critics said that this did not work for them. I don't see how. I sat in the theater with my friends John, Jon and Jonathan (I could find any more people named John)and all seemed to enjoy it. How could you not there was something for everyone. For girls there was Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford. For the kids there was the kid who played the Avatar in The Last Airbender (still rubbish by the way, but a little better.) and for the guys there were cowboys, aliens and... Olivia Wilde.

The story is about a cowboy named Jake(good name by the way) who wakes up in the desert. He doesn't now how he got there or what his name is. I wondered where his boots were. He has a metal bracelet on him that he can't get off. We have to wait all but two minutes before he beats the junk out of three bandits and there is action from there until the end. Jake heads into a nearby town to get some clothes and clean up a bit. Like all westerns he ends up in a bar. A beautiful Olivia Wilde walks up to him and looks at him as if she knows him better than he does. Then the usual western bar scene fight. Jake gets cross ways with the rich kid in town played fantastically by Paul Dano. He is amazing at playing a creepy, dirt bag. When his father finds out that his son is in jail he comes to get him out and then the action really starts.

The aliens show in in theirs ships and start to blow the town up. People get roped and hauled away. Jake's bracelet comes to life and he is able to shoot down a ship releasing one of the aliens. The rest of the movie is them chasing after the aliens as they try to get their loved ones back.

The area that the film was shot in New Mexico were beautiful. Some of the shots through the canyons were some of the best I've seen. The aliens looked a lot like the one from super eight. These things were fast and violent. There was humor in the film also. I mean... come on it is a movie about cowboys and aliens. There has to be a little humor involved.

I was not disappointed with this movie. I was enjoyable, a few scares and some thrills too. No a bad way to spend two hours.

8 out of 10

Winnie the Pooh

"Silly old bear"

I was watching a movie at home with my boys when a trailer for the new Winnie the Pooh movie came on. I immediately thought it was a trailer for a direct to DVD release of the old series of films, but I was very surprised and happy when I realised it was for a new movie that was going to be put in theatres. Disney was going to make a new movies based on the old series. The trailer is great set to the song by Keane. It was going to be a hand drawn not computer animated. I must say it looked great. The colors were bright but not so different as to distract from the original.

The story is a typical Pooh film. This one has two stories. in the first Eeyore has lost his tail and they hold a contest to find him a new one. It is funny to watch what ideas the come up with; a clock, an anchor or a balloon. The second is that they misread a note from Christopher Robin and assume he has been kidnapped by the Backsun (should have been read Back Soon.) The group the develops a plan to get him back. What follows is a series of mistakes and cute lines. It was fun and full of nostalgia. It remained true to the originals and the voices were great.

It was very short at just over 1 hour. I was surprised that it was so short, but think it was very appropriate that they were that short. Most kids have a hard time watching a movie much over that. I was glad to be able to share this with my kids

7.85 out of 10

Cars 2

"Do not try the free pistachio ice cream! It done turn!"

Pixar Studios has put out one amazing film after another. They can do no wrong in many people eyes. I am one of those people. I have been waiting for Cars 2, like many, for the past year. Many people said it was very different from the first because Mater seems to be he main character not Lightning McQueen. I did not think that it was as distracting as some made it out to be. I felt that McQueen was in it enough.

In this second instalment We find the Cars gang shipped across the world to Europe to help McQueen race in the World Grand Prix. It is a series of Three race spread out in Tokyo, Italy and London. Little to any ones knowledge there is a foul plot afoot. Someone is trying to sabotage the race in order to further their own agenda. Mater the tow truck is mistaken by British Intelligence agents named Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell. Both are voiced fantastically by Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer. Mater is thrown in as an unexpected target for the evil Lemons. As usual it takes half the movie for each party to realize that they are/have the wrong person. Lessons are learned as McQueen is embarasses to have the backwoods Mater making a fool of himself in front of all the cameras and must learn to appreciate him.

The jokes are pretty good as long as you have a basic knowledge of the James Bond series. My 7 yr old kept asking why we were laughing at so many parts. He did not understand why we laughed at the name Shiftwell and why the wasabi scene was so funny. I had to tell him that most of the jokes were based off of other movies he had not seen and he was a bit frustrated.

It was fun to see the gang in new places and the new cast of friends and villains were enjoyable. I loved the fact the the bad guys, known as the lemons, were a group of pacers and gremlins. Perfect. I enjoyed the race scenes with the new cars also. McQueens new rival, Francesco Bernoulli was a hoot. Each time he was on the screen he would taunt McQueen many times making a fool of himself in the process. You could never hate him, but actually loved him.

I was happy with the movie. I don't think it was as good as the first, but still good. I had heard so many people saying that it was not good that I was surprised by how much I liked it. I am a car guy so maybe I'm a bit biased. I think Pixar steak is still flawless. It was still one of the best movies of the year.

8 out of 10.

Super 8

"Production value!"


When I heard that Super 8 was a homage, of sorts, to Steven Spielberg's earlier movies like Goonies, Close Encounters and E.T. I was instantly ready to see it. When I hear all of the good reviews I was even more excited. So I talked my wife into seeing it with me instead of watching her swoon over Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern (which I'm sure will happen soon.) I got pretty excited to see the Amblin stamp at the front of the film. It seemed to set the stage.

The movie itself was great. It had a early eighties feel to it (I know it was set in 1979, but close enough.) One of the first thing I noticed was that J.J. Abrams use lighting as if it were from one of those earlier movies. I noticed the glare from lights across the screen, even in the underground scenes which was odd.

The kids in the movie were great. Much like E.T. the leads were played by new comers. Well, all except Elle Fanning who has been in plenty of movies. The lead boy, Joe was played by Joel Courtney. He was really good. Kind of gave me the same feeling as watching Elliot from E.T. The scenes with the kids are great. A typical 70'80's feel to them. The foul mouthed fat kid, the girl, the small kid with attitude, the tall awkward kid scared of everything. Made me think of Goonies.

The story is about a bunch of kids who are making a zombie movie using a Super 8 camera, hence the name Super 8. While filming the movie late one night a train wrecks and they are witness to all of it.The kids realize over the next few days that the Air Force was not moving plane parts like they claim, but something else. Something is causing strange things to happen across the town. They decide to keep filming their movie using the current situation to add "production value." They use the army vehicles littered around the town as backdrops for their movie.

It is a fun film. It is smart and although you have seen the basic premise of this film many times it never gets old. The story of the kids and how their families are connected to the past we'll keep you enthralled throughout the film. It has been one of the best movie I have seen so far this year. It is going to be a great summer. Well done 2011 way to step up to the plate.

9.5 out of 10

Kung Fu Panda 2

Thanks for carrying me up those last flights of stairs. I threw up on the third floor. You may want to have some one mop that up... an evil janitor maybe.

I was looking forward to seeing the sequel to the first film. I do like Jack Black and am a fan of his movies. My boys were also very excited to see this. We brought "Uncle" John along with us so he would enjoy a theater full of crazy kids along with us. I think I liked this one as well, if not more than the first. There is more action in this and more one-liner jokes. I have heard that it is better and worse than the first, so I guess it is a matter of opinion.

I thought this film was great. It is one film that I would be happy to go see for a second time in the theatre. I was very impressed with the difference between the first film and this. The first film was based mainly in the village and the second was in the village and the city. There were some scenes, Long shots, of the city where the "bad guy" was that were magnificent. I caught myself actually saying
"wow" and "what a great shot" even though I guess it is technically not a shot.

I think that this summer is shaping up o be a good one. Much better than last year. This will be the summer of sequels and if they are all as good as this one we'll be set.

8.9 out of 10

Tangled

"Frying pans who knew, right?"


For the first time since Hercules have I felt that Disney has made me feel like a kid watching the latest Disney animated film. Don't Get me wrong Pixar was one of the greatest things to ever happen to Disney, (or movies for that matter) but call me nostalgic I like having my characters sing to me. Since Toy Story you do not get that. Now, I have yet to see this Princess and the Frog thing, but I doubt it will be as good as this movie was.

Tangled has one of the greatest scenes of all time. The lantern scene was absolutely breathtaking. It made me think of all the other great Disney love scenes like Aladdin's Carpet ride, Belle and the Beast's Ballroom Dance. The shot of the lanterns being released and the expression on Rapunzel's face when she sees the lanterns. How is it possible for a cartoons eye to express so much. You could see the wonder, amazement and the start of the bigger question, who is she really.



Tangled is the "Disney" story of Rapunzel. A girl who is locked away in a tower since an infant and her desire to get out and see the world. Her mother warns her that she should not leave, for the world is a cruel place who would take advantage of a sweet, innocent girl like Rapunzel. One day a stranger happens upon her tower and her plans to leave the tower are put into place. She convinces the young man, Flynn Rider, to take her to see the glowing lanterns that appear each year on her birthday. Then the adventure begins. Her mother comes after her and so does Flynn's past.

The humor is great classic Disney with a little pixar twist. The comic relief between Rider and the horse is fantastic. The coloring is spectacular, the best Disney has ever done. The Blu Ray looks fantastic and even the DVD as well. I'm not a big Mandy Moore fan but she does have a great voice. She does a good job as Rapunzel's voice. Rider is voiced by Zachary Levi of Chuck fame. Many great actors gave their voices for this film even Richard Kiel, the huge giant guy with a nail in his head from Happy Gilmore give a voice to one of the goons.

I could not have been more happy with this movie. Disney animation is now, in my opinion, back.

10 out of 10

The King's Speech

"How do you feel?"
"Full of hot air."
"Isn't that what public speaking is all about?"

It is official. My wife and Mother-in-Law have been saying it for years and it is true. Collin Firth is amazing. I have always like him, but he always does period pieces and since I'm a man I have a hard time admitting they are good. I thought Collin Firth gave a performance of his life. I think Geoffrey Rush was also magnificent. No wonder it was up for so many awards.

OK now, after all my praise let me tell you about this film. It is based on the True life of King George the VI, who took the throne after his brother abdicated to marry his love. George had a stuttering problem that he had been trying to overcome since childhood. A difficult predicament when you are the King of England. After getting frustrated with poor results from the leading professionals the wife Elizabeth, played by the amazing Helena Bonham Carter, goes and seeks the help of a commoner named Lionel Logue, played by Geoffrey Rush. His methods are different and his ways a bit more questionable.

I kept catching myself grinning at how great Collin Firth played this tormented man. You could see in his eyes how scared he was to even speak to his wife for fear that stuttering would prohibit him to speak as he desired. He played this part so perfectly that I was glad they had an amazing cast to keep up with him. I know this was rated R, but was a very easy edit and you can also catch it in the dubbed PG-13 version. I was very happy to see this film and recommend it to anyone who wants to see and amazing cast and learn about a bit of history. King George VI lead England into and through WWII. In the extras you can hear two of the speeches he gave. One is featured at the end of the film the other at the end of WWII.

I hope you enjoy the movie as much as I did. It was sure worth all the praise.

9.8 out of 10

Source Code

"Promise me you'll help him. And when you do, do me a favor: tell him everything is gonna be okay."


I have been a fan of Jake Gyllenhal since my friend sat me down to watch Donnie Darko. He has always been good at playing the one note character. In the past while he has taken on roles that showed his depth as an actor. That's right I'm talking about Bubble Boy.

On a more serious note this was a fantastic film. I had heard good things about the movie. When critics like it most people will not which left me a bit hesitant. The movie was less than two hours which is a treat in and of it's self. It was also nice that there was little to no down time in the action of this film. The opening scene starts with explosions and you get then throughout the whole movie. No I'm not talking about the Michael Bay slow motion Transformers explosions, but good ones.

Source code is about Captain Colter Stevens who is placed in the body of a stranger named Sean who was on a Chicago bound train that explodes. He is sent back to the same 8 minute time frame to find where the bomb is and who it was that placed it there. if he fails he starts over. It was a lot of the same scenario with very different outcomes. It did not get old at all like Vantage Point does, but rather you look forward to each trip to see what he will find out. This movie was over quick, but did not lack anything. There was not much fluff in the story just him taking care of business and trying to find out who he really is and why he is not flying a helicopter in Afghanistan.

He is helped/hindered on the train by a lady friend played by Michelle Monaghan (Eagle Eye/Maid of Honor.)She plays a friend, Christine, who rides the train with Sean each day. Vera Farmiga plays Goodwin, a military officer who is guiding our here on his lofty quest. She plays her part very well. You can she her emotion for this project through here eyes. It is amazing how much Jake's and Vera's characters can say just by the look in their eyes and lack of expression.

I think the director, Duncan Jones, has a thing for the lead character learning that they are not what/who they think they are (see 2009's Moon.) This was probably the best movie I've seen thus far this year. The message is a great one. The question placed by Captain Stevens to Christine sums up the message they were trying to get across:

"What would you do if you knew you only had one minute to live?"
"I would make every second count."

8.75 out of 10

Get Low

"I wonder if she would have white hair?"

Let me just start out by putting it out there. Robert Duvall is amazing. I was excited to hear about this movie based on the true story of a man, Felix Bush, who in 1938 decided to have his funeral party while he was still alive. He wanted all to come who had a story to tell about him. He hires a local Funeral Director, Frank Quinn, played by Bill Murray, to help with this undertaking (pun not intended, but well placed.)The story is told and kind of guided in a way by Buddy played by Lucas Black of Fast and Furious:Tokyo Drift fame. He is not that great in the beginning, but get batter throughout. Bill Murray does great in this movie, I would not classify this as a dark movie they way some say it is, but maybe a shadowed comedy/drama.

The story begins when Felix learns that someone he knows passes away and he realizes he could be next. There are different motives for everyone that come out through the film. Sissy Spacek play and ex-love who helps Felix with his real motives and issues. The film is set in 1938 and was filmed in the hills of Georgia giving it a Midwest feel. I don't know what it is about films that are filmed in areas like this with barren trees and vacant land, films like this Blair Witch Project, True Grit, Winter's Bone and other backwoods films, but I love the filming locations.

The story takes some turns and does not get to the real purpose of the desired funeral party until the end. I never felt like this movie was slow. There was enough humor to keep me interested in each scene. Robert Duvall's character was a bitter crotchety old man so his comments are funny, and Bill Murray is, well, Bill Murray. He could just stare at the camera and make people laugh.

This film was a gem. A good find. There was not too much publicity about this film, but I liked it a lot. It was also nice that it was just over an hour and a half long. Maybe that's why it was not nominated for any awards it was not over two hours or rated R. It is worth checking it out of you need a good film that won't take up your whole night. You will still have time to make your own bucket list after the credits.

7.35 out of 10

Gnomeo and Juliet

"I'm not illiterate! My parents were married!"


The story you about to see has been told before. A lot. This was the opening line by a Red Good Gnome. After the movie I had to explain to my oldest son about Romeo and Juliet. I had to give him the cliff notes version of the play. His response: "Oh, this movie was way better than that one."

I had to watch this one in 3D, unfortunately, since it was the earliest showing. It was not to impressive in 3d. There were a few surprises in this film that I was not expecting. I knew that Sir Elton John did the music, but was thrilled to see that many of his songs were in the film. I was also surprised to hear the voice of Ozzy as a lawn reindeer.

The story was very close to the original play. **Spoiler Alert** It was obvious that they could not have to two kill themselves at the end so they make it close.**

My favorite part had to be the advertisement of the lawnmower called the "Terrafirminator" a 400hp lawnmower/tractor/wrecking machine. I laughed so hard thing about that. A lawnmower with the same power as a suped-up Mustang GT with a supercharger. I was laughing so hard though I think I was the only one in the theatre laughing.

I liked the idea that they were able to bring the story to the younger audiences, but as the opening line said, this story has been told many, many times before. There was something for the adults with the good music, innuendos and humor; but I think it did fall short. It just did not have that "it" factor that other animated films, like How to Train Your Dragon and any Pixar film, has.
This was a pretty good film. It is good for kids to be able to get a bit of Shakespere knowledge. This was a pretty good way to do it.

True Grit

"You must pay for everything in this world, one way and another. There is nothing free except the grace of God."

There is a reason this film was up for so many awards. It is fantastic for starters.
I had never seen the original True Grit starring John Wayne, but after some coaxing from a friend , and the release of this I felt it was time. The original was good. I don't think I have really ever sat through a full Wayne film. It took a while to watch this one, what with two loud boys and all. I must admit I was kind of annoyed with the original Mattie character, but the new Mattie, played by Hailee Steinfeld, was just the right balance. I thought that Matt Damon, and Josh Brolin did great in their roles. Josh brolin was great as Tom Cheney. His voice was great. I was excited to see the part of Lucky Ned Pepper played by Barry Pepper. He was also Jackson the Sharp-shooter from Saving Private Ryan.

Some people say that the original scenery was better, but I like the plain scenery of the new one. I laughed a lot in this film. The dialogue was witty. I was not surprised at the violent scenes in the new film it is a Coen Bros. film after all.
The Coen brothers said they followed the book more than the original movie, but I felt they were both very close to each other. I never thought that Jeff Bridges was playing the role of John Wayne. Jeff Bridges was playing Jeff Bridges. He is one of those actors that can play himself and the role will fit to him. I can't wait to see this film again.

9 out of 10

Eclipse

"Let's face it I'm hotter than you."

I will be the first to tell you that Twilight was pretty much one of the worst movies ever made. I thought the book was terrible too. I finally watched the second movie in the saga, New Moon, last week. It was better than the first, but still not that good. My wife kept telling me that the third was the best of all. I was sure of that. How could it have been any worse? Well she was right it was much better. I'm not sure if it was the great fight scenes or the character development of the rest of the crew, but it was much more endurable.

I enjoyed the scenery of this film as I did the other two. I like the Seattle outskirts. Even though this (like almost every other film)was filmed in BC Canada. I really like the fight scene between the new borns and the Cullens and wolves. I am confused about then shattering though. Maybe they explain that in the book. I really enjoyed how they finally explained the character of the cullen family. Now I can hate them less now that I know why they are the way they are. The story of Jasper being a civil war Colonel was very interesting.

Over all this was a much more entertaining movie and I would even venture watching it a second time.

Oh, and for the females keeping score I was team Jacob, just for name sake, but after the fighting scenes, sorry, I'm switching teams.

6.85 out of 10

My Favorites of 2010

Nice work 2010! Way to step up to the plate.

It is time for me to rank the movies of 2010....well at least the ones I've seen thus far. My ranking of the bottom five are not in set order, so my number six could be my number 10 on any given day. but my top five should be able to whip the last five.


#10 Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Tade and I watch this movie a lot this year. It was much funnier than we expected and we really liked it. Now my youngest boy runs around saying "Tade. You've got the cheese touch." This was a fun family film and had a good message about being a good person and not caring about what others think.





#9 Charlie St. Cloud
I was expecting this movie to be pretty bad considering how much it was panned by critics. I did not doubt that Zack Efron could pull it off though. It was much better than expected. The story was good, a bit predictable, but still good.





#8 Ramona and Beezus
The little girl who played Ramona is probably the cutest thing ever. My wife really like this movie as did I. It was a great family movie about overcoming difficulties and the importance of each member of the family, and she says "Guts" really loud.





#7 The Karate Kid
Being a product of the 80's, and a boy, I grew up loving Ralph Machio in the original Karate Kid. I was a bid timid about the remake, but was excited to Jackie Chan in the Mr. Miagi role. I took Tade to this and we both loved it. There were many parts that connected to the original and a few new parts that made this film really stand on it's own.





#6 Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
My number six favorite of this year was the documentary about the rock band Rush. I have been playing drums since middle school and have followed, in awe, the career of Neil Peart, the drummer for Rush. I saw this documentary on TV and had to get a copy on Blu Ray. It was a great doc. about the formation of the band up to where they are today.





#5 Inception
I think this is on everybody's best of 2010 list. I unfortunately saw this over a 6 hour period split up here and there so I think some of it might have been lost in translation. I still did really like this film. The dream building scenes were great. It made me thing of Hayao Miyazaki's movies. Not the movie itself , but the way you watch them. Some movies are like a dream. They only make sense in that setting; like a Miyazaki film. I really need to watch it gain and I might find that it moves up higher on my list.





#4 Letters to Juliet
I love this movie. I don't know if it is the fact that I had three sister growing up or that Amanda Seyfried is gorgeous, but I really did like this movie. I saw it on vacation and told my wife that she needed to go get it for me. She agreed. I loved the scenery in this movie. I have always like movies from Italy. The best part is the comic relief between the the grandmother and her grandson. Highly recommended.





#3 Toy Story 3
What else do I need to say besides it's Pixar. All of their movies will be making a top ten list of some sort. This final instalment of the trilogy put a great ending on it and sealed it's spot as one of the greatest trilogies of all time. How many other trilogies have had all three movies be equally great. Andy summed it up best at the end of the film, "Thanks guys."




#2 The Sorcerer's Apprentice
I'm not the biggest fan of Nicholas Cage, but I don't hate him as much as others do.
I don't think he is to credit or blame for this film. I would say the credit goes to Jay Bruchel. His scenes were so much fun. I was really torn between my #2. It could have easily been Toy Story 3, but Jay's humor tilted the scales for me. You might as well keep him in mind because he is also a part of my #1 film...




#1 How to Train Your Dragon

If you have seen this movie, then I don't need to say any more. This was my favorite film of 2010. The humour, the characters, the ideas and the final product. This was a great family film. It teaches us not to take people, or anything, at face value, but rather that we should take time to really understand something. We get so caught up in what is pre-labeled for us by media that we may miss a real opportunity. It killed me that I had to wait for aver half a year to get my own copy of this movie. he second that the movie was over my oldest son turned to me and said "Dad, when this comes on DVD can we get it?" I said Absolutely!


Well, I guess that's about it. There are a few films that I did not get a chance to see this year that I am positive would have made my top five. (The Social Network, True Grit.) Unfortunately rules are rules and I did not see them in 2010. So look for them to be reviewed soon.

Charlie St. Cloud

"Nobody ever gets to see what could have been."

My wife has been waiting for Charlie St. Cloud to come on dvd. When she said she wanted to see the new Zach Efron movie, I tuned her out. Later, when I saw a trailer for it and realized it was about a guy who plays catch with his dead brother every night I was a bit intrigued.

The location for this film was Vancouver, BC. The scenery was beautiful. I though most of it was a painting or CGI. The scenes with the sailboats where great. The landscape shot were great.

Charlie St. Cloud, played by Zach Efron, loses his younger brother in a car accident and gets a second chance at life. His dead brother keep the promise made in life to show up each night at sunset to practice baseball. He later meets (re meets) a girl named Tess, and Charlie is faced with the decision to continue to live in the past or to move on.

This movie was much better than imagined. Probably because it got panned by every critic, which usually means it was not that bad. I like the storyline. It is a very short and probably very obvious story, but it was good. I liked that fact that it was only 90 mins. long. I found the roles enjoyable. I liked the small role of the British friend. The younger brother was pretty good. He had his good moments. I found the love interest, Tess played by Amanda Crew, was very easy to watch. Very easy on the eyes. The acting by here was okay. A little forced, but I will overlook that.


You can tell this was adapted from a book because some of the lines were a bit too good. There would be a normal conversation then some great line would pop up. The best line was said by charlie's brother at the end of the film.
"I'm okay Charlie. I'd give anything for you to see me. What I've become, but no one could forget what it could have been."

7 out of 10