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Reviews
The Polar Express (2004)
Children might like it
I am 50 yrs old, my fiancé is 48. We settled in on Christmas night to watch Polar Express. Her first words was that the animation was kind of eery and spooky. I commented that it was like watching a movie with animation that had the same look and feel of photo's from children's books. Maybe we were too used to the amazing animation from studio's such as Disney's Pixar? We loved CARS, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc etc. The bottom line was that the animation for Polar Express was just too odd to keep us interested and we turned it off after 20 minutes and switched over to watching "Cars" from Pixar. Polar Express may very well be a wonderful movie, and kids might enjoy it. But it just didn't do it for us. This was the Blu-Ray version, so perhaps my expectations were too high.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Third Time's the Charm
"Raiders" is probably the best Indiana Jones, but "Crusade" is my personal favorite. Lucas and Spielberg regrouped after the underwhelming "Temple of Doom" (a little too violent and way too kiddish for Jones) to craft this action great. Chock full with more Nazis, rousing action sequences, and sarcastic, sometimes tongue-in-cheek humor and noticeably more character development than the first two. And seriously, who better to play Indiana Jones' father than Sean Connery? He gives a hilarious, and yet, sophisticated performance that does not fail to make me laugh every time. The plot to the movie is Indiana goes on the hunt for his father, after he disappears while working on a project to recover the legendary Holy Grail, the cup of Christ, etc. Jones himself gets caught up in the intrigue, ending up helping his fathers assistant (Allison Doody) discover more clues to the grails' wherabouts. Indy eventually learns that his father was captured by Nazis, and that they are planning to make their armies immortal by using the grails' power. The movie then really picks up, with Indy and father on the run from a ruthless Nazi Colonel (Michael Byrne) on a mission to find the grail before the Nazis do. On the way, they are spectacular action sequences, including a tank chase scene through the desert, a boat chase through Venice and car chase through rural Germany. And with Spielberg behind the camera and his sharp eye for that perfect shot of Indy thrawting another Nazi, well, give me one valid reason not to watch time and again.
Home Alone (1990)
One of the best Christmas movies ever made!
this is a classic Christmas movie. the plot, cast, and the acting are all top notch. the story is about young kevin who gets left behind when his family leaves for Paris. while alone, he must fend off two bumbling burglars while his family is on a desperate race against time to return home. the acting by young mac is exceptional. his performance is one of the reasons this movie was a huge hit way back in 1990. i also love home alone 2 but i think 3 and 4 are crap. 1 and 2 are the best. the new DVD is great. it is packed with tons of special features including 15 deleted scenes/alternate takes, games, a making of featurette, how to burglar proof your home featurette and more. the deleted scenes are hilarious. one of them is an alternate take when uncle frank is passing out shrimps and buzz takes a tray full. if you're a fan of this movie you should get this DVD. it's great. since i bought this DVD i have watched it numerous times. you will not be disappointed with this DVD. i also wish they would release a new DVD of the sequel.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)
Darker than the first film...
Night 2 of my 4 night Harry Potter week! Each time I view these movies, I kick myself that I have not read the books... One of these days... The basic plot is that Harry Potter enters Hogwart's for his 2nd year, even though he is warned not to come back! The adventures start even before he gets to Hogwart's, and continues on as he and his friends try to find the "Chamber of Secrets". The movie is a bit darker than the 1st with scary spiders, students being petrified, and one large basilisk slithering around. It is interesting to see the character growth of the actor's, plus their own growth in real time. Harry and Ron a looking a bit older than their "12 years"... Malfoy is back, and even better is the introduction of his father, Lucius Malfoy, played by Jason Isaacs. One of my favorite "bad-guy" actors. Ever seen "The Patriot"! Kenneth Branagh is also new as Professor Lockhart, a pompous, self-obsessed new wizard. A different take for the usual serious dramatic actor. And Alan Rickman and Robbie Coltrane are once again great, but I wish they had more screen time. And it is very sad to see that Richard Harris will no longer be with us as Dumbledore. Such a loss of a great actor! Now rating the 2 disc widescreen DVD: Disc 1 has the movie, plus 2 trailers ( one current and one for Year One). There is also the cast/crew lineup, which once again, I wish they would go a bit more in depth. Disc 2 is great! There are 19 additional scenes. Some good like extended scenes of the "horror" shop, a scene with Lockhart, and talking about the "heir" in study hall. Some were very...huh? "Behind the Hogwarts" has an interview with JK Rowling and screenwriter Steven Kloves. Very good! Also, there is "Dumbledore's Office" which has the making of Dumbledore's office and the greenhouse scene, and a tour of the office. The making of the office was a great docu with a lot of wow moments on how they put everything together. There is also various interviews with the cast. Some good and some bad. I wish Isaac's, Rickman's and Coltrane's were longer, as they are genuine funny people. Overall, another great Harry Potter movie in the series, and a great DVD! Highly worth buying and adding to the home collection!
Brotherhood of Blood (2007)
Brotherhood of Blood is a good example of counter-cinematic art.
Counter-cinema in its simplest definition is cinema that through its own cinematic practices, questions and subverts existing cinematic codes and conventions. Counter-cinema usually lies in independent film-making and often attempts to combine genres of film that would, on the surface seem to not go together. In "Brotherhood of Blood" the directors cleverly combines the 'vampire' genre and the 'mystery thrillers' sub-genre in an art-house context. Both genres are embodied by a certain mysticism. The curious thing about "Brotherhood of Blood" is that this film is the most realistic and human vampire film that I have seen. I suspect that this is because the film focuses on both worlds; that of the hunters and that of the vampires. Both worlds seem to offer something that the other wants, though humanity (not being human) seems to be the ultimate goal. What follows in the film are continual contrasts between both worlds, the one whose people live at night, and the other whose people live during the day. But there are strong parallels drawn between both groups. We see that they have more in common than they would admit. We must remember that each one of these vampires was at one point a human being. The film seems to be implying that even in the most extreme of transitions (from human to vampire), one cannot completely leave behind the rites that you previously cherished so deeply.
Spider-Man 3 (2007)
The Poorest Of The Trilogy, But Still Fun
When I saw that the villain Venom would make his appearance in this film, I could hardly wait to see it, because I remember how I used to read the magazines with him in them to pieces as a child. The overall story is more or less just a continuation of the previous ones, Peter Parker (Spiderman) and Mary Jane (Mary Jane) are about to take their now rather close relationship to the next level, and the future looks bright. Harry (James Franco) and Peter have become alienated, and are hardly on speaking terms anymore, after the unfortunate demise of Harry's father (Green Goblin) more or less by the hands of Spider-Man. Introduce two new villains, Sandman, a "bad guy" that probably is "good" but just very unlucky, and a parasitical thing from outer space that multiplies any bad sides in its potential hosts by a hundred, and you've got yourself Spider-Man 3! The special effects are, as always in this series, simply amazing, and they have truly taken it up a notch in this one. The story is also quite entertaining and well written, but there are sadly so many negative sides to this film that it really suffers from it. First of all, all the "Go America!" stuff in this film is just so overwhelming that I'm willing to bet one of my eyes that 99 % of all non-Americans (and hopefully a high percentage of Americans as well!) just feel embarrassed and sick to the bone from all this silliness. Another thing is that they overdo the whole "Ooo look at us, we're from New York, we're so multiracial and everything is so fine here." I recognize that they take their money from certain sources to make these films, but come on, tone it down a little at least. Also, the number of cheap jokes and cheesiness is just too much, it feels artificial and at a certain bar-scene (you'll know it when you see it), I was about a second away from turning the whole thing off. Granted, I'm probably a bit older and perhaps a bit more cultivated, intelligent or whatever than the target audience, but I do enjoy a lot of the Marvel universe, so I guess that entitles me to an opinion. The film is simply too long for it's own good, not that I feel its "boring", but in all honesty there's a limit to how many times seeing Parker swing himself across a street can hold anyone's attention. They should perhaps have had one less bad guy, 3 in one movie with separate fates is a bit much, and if it was up to me, they would have had a lot more of Venom in it than the last ten minutes or so. Quite a letdown. All in all, I recommend this film for those that have enjoyed the previous ones, and it is great entertainment for the effects alone, but it seems to me that either the customers have become dumber or they have lowered the age of the ideal customer. 3,5 stars.
The Incredibles (2004)
The Incredibles...
At first I was really upset with the makers of this story, as the Characters have powers from both Marvel and DC Comics. But, when I finally saw the movie on cable, I had to admit, I actually liked it, a lot! Let me lay out their powers: Mr. Incredible: 1. Super strength (ala DC Comics Superman, Uncle Sam) Ms. Incredible: 1. Stretching ability (ala Marvel's Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four, DC's Elongated Man) Violet: 1. Ability to generate force fields and go invisible (ala Marvel's Sue Richards of the Fantastic Four and Jane Grey of the X-Men) Dash: 1. Super Speed (ala DC's Kid Flash) Jack-Jack: 1. Morphing Ability (his name escapes me, but I remember the Character "The Element Man" - I believe DC comics). After I got over my "prejudice," I found the movie very well done...they spent a buck (or two) making this feature. Edna's security system just cracks me up! Finally, Congress should be mandated to watch Mr. Syndrome's character and learn from his dialogue. Particularly the line - "When everyone's Super - no one will be..." You see we have had Nuclear Weapons advantage over the rest of the world for over fifty years. That is coming rapidly to an end, as now everyone wants in, whether we approve or not. So, to repeat: "When everyone's Super - No one will be" I hope somebody heard what they are trying to say - I did! Five stars!!
Ghostbusters (1984)
The Original Ghost Busters are Back!
Before the movie, before Dan Akroyd and Bill Murray went beyond Saturday Night, there was the live-action Saturday Morning Series called The Ghost Busters. Originally from Filmation's live-action library, The Ghost Busters starred famous F-Troop team Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch as Jake Kong and Eddie Spencer, and Tracy their gorilla. Unlike most of Filmation's live series, The Ghost Busters focused a bit more on humour than just being action with comedy relief. Basically, loosely using the 'Mission Impossible' schtick (heavily used in Saturday Morning spy shows) to obtain their assignments. Jake, Eddie and Tracy would deal with the likes of demented spirits, wacky vampires and other spectre and ghouls from haunting the mortal world. Humour was used a lot in the show, sometimes through classic visual stunts or puns. Case in point, when dealing with a vampire, Jake finds out one thing they fear is a wooden 'stake', whereas Tracy pulls out a wooden 'steak.' And when Eddie attempts to disclaim Tracy's attempt, he ends up getting a splinter from the 'steak.' However, because it was Saturday Morning TV, The Ghost Busters normally vanquished rogue spirits with a Polaroid-esquire device called the Dematerializer. As the name suggested, when fired at a ghost, the screen would appear with a blue screen effect and the ghost would 'dematerialize' out from the mortal world. Though I believe it only had one season in 1975, the series was often ran in syndication on Sunday mornings as well. Ironically, though the name was used for the film, there was no real connection between it and the series. Despite well-box office reviews, many still felt the Akroyd and Murray film did not capture the same fun as the original series. So in 1986, Filmation revived the series in animated form: Filmation's Ghostbusters. Here, however, the offspring of the original Ghost Busters and Tracy dealt with a nemesis called Prime Evil (think Terminator merged with a specter) and his ghoulish legion of ghosts. Whereas in the original series, the Ghost Busters simply obtained assignments from the mysterious Agent Zero. What really made Ghost Busters appealing for it's time, as with most Filmation Live Action, was it did have great storytelling, and really made the limited special effects work. Also for F-Troop fans, the comedy stilings of Tucker and Storch made the show enjoyable, and it was a wonder Filmation didn't consent with Hanna-Barbera for a spot on the Scooby-Doo Movies (since they aired about the same year). I'd definitely recommend this product for not only fans of the classic series, but for those who loved Forrest Tucker and Larry Storch, as well as a new generation of viewers.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003)
Great Movie
This was one of the best movie that I have ever seen! I didn't see this film at the cinema, but I really wish I had because it has instantly become one of my favorite movies of all time. I bought the DVD because I'd heard good things about the movie, and I've been to both Disneyland Paris, and Disneyland Florida and loved the Pirates ride at both of them. Having been on the ride, it's quite easy to spot many things in the movie that pay tribute to the ride, especially in the town scenes. I wasn't sure what to expect when I bought the movie, but I definitely didn't expect to laugh so much! This movie has such a wonderful combination of excellent acting, astounding special effects, and dry humor. Johnny Depp steals practically every scene he occupies, and Geoffrey Rush is excellent and sinister in his villainous turn. It's about as high-quality fun as one might demand in a summer blockbuster, and will have you singing "Yo ho, ho ho" for days and days to come. A "pirate's life" is plenty the life in "Pirates of the Caribbean", an worthy, intelligent sea-faring adventure guaranteed to leave you, at the very least, plenty satisfied.