DVD Review #5

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs


Summary: Flint Lockwood thinks he's a genius. But none of the things he invented are things that make sense or are useful. However, he has the support of his mother but when she dies, he's left alone with his father who thinks he should give it up. When the community that he lives in, is in an economic crisis because their primary source of income a sardine cannery was shut down, Flint decides to try his latest invention, a machine that can turn water into food. But something goes wrong and the machine ends up in the atmosphere. Later it starts raining food. And so the shifty mayor tries to use this as a way to help their community. But when Flint sense something's wrong with the machine, the mayor convinces him to ignore it. But as Flint predict chaos ensues. (Summary found on IMDB)


Review: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a highly entertaining movie, that will keep you laughing throughout the film. The movie is about everyone's basic nee, Food! Flint is an inventor that invents a machine to turn water molecules into food. He does this so that the town can finally stop eating their only source of food, anchovies, and start eating well anything else!


The story did seem to have an underlying meaning. Everyone in the town goes food cray and actually the mayor becomes incredibly overweight, because he ends up eating nearly everything in sight. Everyone knows that obesity is becoming the leading cause of death in our nation and I think that this movie was trying to show kids that it is not a healthy obsession.


Cloudy was a great movie in all, and I can't wait to watch it again. The animation was so much better than I ever expected, as was the story. I give this a 7/10 Stars.

Movie Review #4

Alice in Wonderland


"19-year-old Alice returns to the magical world from her childhood adventure, where she reunites with her old friends and learns of her true destiny: to end the Red Queen's reign of terror."


Everyone knows the story of Alice in Wonderland; little girl falls down the rabbit hole and fun ensues. Tim Burton's version of Alice in Wonderland is similar however it's the second time she's fallen down the rabbit hole, but she doesn't remember and thinks it was all a dream. Tim Burton fans will not be disappointed because his kooky style is style there along with his sidekick Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter. Depp's interpretation of the Mad Hatter was wonderful! It was a combination of his Pirates character and his Willy Wonka character. Helena Bonham Carter played the red queen and if you can get by her unusually large head and tiny body she played it rather well. Anne Hathaway as the white queen was great! A little overly sweet, but other than that she was great.  And I can't forget Mia Wasikowska as Alice, in my opinion she was perfectly casted. I was happy that she didn't disappoint me in this, because it would really have changed my view of the movie if I didn't like her as Alice. 


The story was good. It was different than the disney version, and I really liked that. It was almost like a sequel. I was not expecting that. I went into the movie expecting to see a darker version of the disney movie, but that's not what I got. It was very different. The set was beautifully designed I enjoyed having it pop out at me. The 3D added so much depth to the movie and I loved that. I'm not a huge fan of seeing movies in 3D, but I was happy to have seen this one. 


Alice will be loved by adults, teenagers, and children everywhere. Whether you loved the disney version, just love the story, or are a die-hard Tim Burton fan, you will enjoy this movie. I would have to give this an 8/10 Stars. 

Movie Review #3

Taking Woodstock


Taking Woodstock is about just that, the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival. Elliot is a local boy in the town of White Lake, NY and he brings the festival to this small town and disrupts the lives of everyone in it.
I had wanted to see Taking Woodstock because I thought it was interesting and the way people lived in the 60's has always interested me. I had also just seen the Broadway Play Hair so I was in that frame of mind.
The story of Taking Woodstock was interesting. It felt more like a documentary than anything. There weren't big name actors in it, the three biggest names were Paul Dano who had maybe 10 minutes of screen time, Eugene Levy who only had about 20 minutes, and Liev Schreiber  who I won't give away but he had an amazing role! The main character Elliot, was played by Demetri Martin, and he was ok but honestly nothing special, I just wasn't very impressed with him.
Something that really disappointed me was the lack of "footage" from the music festival. I was hoping to see some people in the crowd singing along or even a glimpse of the stage up  close, but for a movie about a music festival, there was a serious lack of music.
On a better note one thing that I liked about the film was some of the camera work. They incorporated a few clips (about 15 seconds long) that were shot with an old camera that helped give it a more personal feel, but because of some of the issues I had with the movie, I'm only giving it a 6/10 Stars.

Movie Review #2

UP


Up is a cute animaged film about an older man, and a younger child. The older gentleman, Carl Frederickson, has promised his late wife that they would move to a secluded area next to a waterfall, and after she dies he decides to make her dream a reality.
Mr. Frederickson is a cranky, old man, who just wants to be left alone. He decides to blow up a whole bunch of balloons and begins and adventure of a lifetime. In mid-air he hears a knock on the door, and Russell, one of the neighborhood kids is also taking the journey with him.
Up contains touching elements that could bring anyone to tears. We see Mr. Frederickson and his late wife grow up and grow old together, and we see how much they love one another, and when she dies you can tell just how much it hurts him. I can only imagine what would happen if the love of my life was ripped away from me. I would be a mess too.
The story of Up is cute, and wonderful in the sense that it was new, however it did seem to loose it's essence when they brought in the robotic dog pack. One was ok because it was interesting, but a whole bunch of them was a little odd, and made me roll my eyes.
The animation was incredible, but Pixar's animation never fails to impress me. All in all I believe taht Up will be enjoyed by people of all ages. I'm not going to say it's a perfect date movie, but it's got a little romance in it, but be warned it is a bit sad. I give this a 7/10 stars.

Movie Review #1

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

*Spoilers*

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was one of the few Harry Potter movies that I can say I enjoyed. Of course they added in a few items, and they concentrated more on the romance aspect, and they took away some scenes I would have liked seen in the movie.

One aspect that I really liked was that they finally just assumed that people knew of Harry’s past, so it didn’t take as long to explain everything like they did in the first 5 movies. They seemed to jump right into the action of it. In the first scene we see action, the Death Eaters take out a “muggle” bridge. In the wizarding world they know what is happening, but the poor muggles just think that it’s bad luck or poor construction.

They really added to the Ron and Hermione romance, by showing how painful it was for Hermione to see Ron and Lavender together, and showing how clueless Ron actually is to her feelings. Emma Watson’s acting has grown tremendously since the first movie, and her paired with Rupert Grint really can show how heartbreaking it is to see someone you love go after someone else.

Draco Malfoy plays a very key role in this movie. As everyone knows Draco is now a Death Eater and he is the key to the whole movie. Draco must find a way to let the other Death Eaters into the school, and in our eyes it seems like it is nearly killing him, which in a way it is.

One thing I was disappointed in, in this movie is that the potions book didn’t play a big role. It only had a small part in the movie, and given the fact that it is called “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” I would have thought they would have kept the book in there to play a little more prominent role.

This movie has action, romance, comedy, and thrills, which is everything I look for in a movie. However because it lacked a few aspects that were in the book, that I think should have been included in the movie, for instance when Dumbledore tells Harry why he has to go back to the Dursley’s house until he’s 18, I would give this movie a 7.5 out of 10.

DVD Review #4

Lakeview Terrace

I watched Lakeview Terrace a few months ago, when I first moved back home and was going to redbox a lot. I wasn’t expecting anything too exciting just wanted a thriller. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it.

            The movie follows a young couple that moves into a suburban neighborhood, and lives next door to a cop and his two children. The cop (played by Samuel L. Jackson) is a man who everyone sees as being a nice, kind, innocent man, little do they know he’s not. He sincerely just does not like his new neighbors and seems to do everything he can to let them know that.

            When the couple confronts him on it, he denies it because there are people around. He never actually comes out and says “I want you to move, or get out of here,” but the sentiment is there.

            Lakeview Terrace will leave you clinging to your seats. The suspense in the movie is thrilling, and the end just sucks you in. I was trying to do a few things at once and by the middle I was on the couch just enthralled in the movie. I give it a 7.5 out of 10.

DVD Review #3

The Pineapple Express

After all the hype with the movie The Pineapple Express, I just had to see how funny it actually was. I rented it from the local redbox, expecting a movie like the stoner classic Dazed and Confused. I microwaved some popcorn and sat down to what hoped to be a hilarious comedy. I was sincerely disappointed.

Pineapple Express stars Knocked Up’s Seth Rogen and Spiderman’s James Franco, so how could I have possibly gone wrong! I assumed the movie was going to be stupid yes, however I hoped it would be stupid funny like Old School, it wasn’t! It was just plain stupid. Throughout the entire movie I laughed maybe twice. I who had originally thought that Seth Rogen was the new up and coming comedic actor was sadly mistaken.

The movie is about this one guy (Seth Rogen’s character) who, while getting stoned, witnesses someone murdered. He gets scared and goes to tell his friend/dealer what he just witnessed. They are extremely nervous and run, just in time for “the bad guys” to catch up to them. I didn’t expect much violence in this movie, but for the last half hour that’s all there is. I know I know look at the cover art, but that didn’t mean it was going to reflect the movie in anyway. It did.

I found the movie to be more action than comedy. I was hoping this would live up to the expectations I had after seeing Dazed and Confused and Fast Times at Ridgemont High, two very classic stoner movies of the 80’s. I instantly realized that nothing would ever live up to those movies. Pineapple Express is basically what stoners are now. Lazy slugs that all they want to do is get high. What ever happened to the people that were high and still functioned? If you want to watch something incredibly pointless and stupid then Pineapple Express may be right for you. If you want to watch something that will remind you of the classic stoner movies, go watch Dazed and Confused. I give this movie a 2 out of 10. 

DVD Review #2

Step Brothers

When I picked up Step Brothers, I thought how could I go wrong, I mean it was Will Ferrell and John C. Reily pretending to be brothers. It wasn’t the greatest thing in the world that’s for sure, but in my opinion it was nowhere near as bad as Pineapple Express.

            Step Brothers is about just that, 2 families coming together that already have kids, the only downfall is both are full grown adults in their early 30’s. The two act just like they were 10 years old. They fight constantly until they realize they have something in common, and then they become the best of friends and want to do everything together.

            Eventually something happens that causes a riff in the parent’s marriage and by the end they split up, which is hard on the two boys because they think that they can’t be friends anymore so they split up.

            For a movie that is a comedy it lacks the most important part, the comedic part. Lately anything Will Ferrell has been very disappointing. He really needs to step up to the plate and come out with something good. Maybe he should team back up with Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn. Because it wasn’t funny, but at the same time it wasn’t incredibly stupid either I would give this movie a 4 out of 10. It had it’s moments of me giving a “ha that was a little funny” to my TV, but nothing really special. Maybe Will Ferrell’s next movie will be a hit for me.