prometheus

what a disappointment.  this one had so much potential.  the original director returning to the alien franchise to bring us the great story of the xenomorph's origin?  my expectations and excitement was really high.  the movie looks really great- the 3D was incredible, but the story that was told was so scatterbrained and stupid that the whole thing just came up empty.  it went in too many directions, none of which were what anyone wanted.  and the characters just acted in such so stupidly!  its like the writers thought to themselves 'whats the stupidest decision that this character could make right now?' and then proceeded with whatever they came up with.  but it does look amazing, so that keeps it from a one star.

abraham lincoln: vampire hunter

this is not a great movie, but its so ludicrous and so much fun that i forgive it a lot of shortcomings.  a fight on top of wild mustangs stampeding?  yes please!  its just so dumb that is passes into genius!

the avengers

five movies in the making, this was the culmination of not just the movies before it, but of my entire childhood!  i was an avid comic book reader, so to finally see this team-up on the big screen was the fulfillment of my childhood dreams.  and it was so good that it exceeded all of those expectations?  well, not many movies can have that much expected of it and not crumble, but this one was everything i hoped and dreamed.  five years later its still one of the best comic book movies ever made.

lion king 3D

this one is amazing, of course.  who doesn't love the lion king?  its definitely one of the top three animated movies of all time (personally, i'd put the top three as 'beauty and the beast', 'prince of egypt', and 'lion king', but not necessarily in that order).  with this being such an incredible film, we eagerly took advantage of the opportunity to see it again on the big screen- in 3D no less!  and it did not disappoint.  its just as fresh as ever, and the conversion on this one was breathtaking!  i could go on and on about how marvelous this movie is, how transcendent the music is, or how perfectly formed the characters and story is, but you already know.

pirates of the caribbean: on stranger tides

ugh.  i really enjoyed the first three pirates movies, i'll even defend the 3rd one, but this?  this one is just terrible.  the story makes no sense, jumps around, and goes nowhere.  as strange as it seems, this one really suffered without keira knighly and orlando bloom.  though they weren't that great in the first three, they at least kept the movie grounded and relatable.  the villain is lame and all the stuff with the mermaids is just plain stupid.  even jack sparrow can't save this one.

captain america: first avenger

oh man, this movie was great!  when they first announced that they were making a captain america movie i was very skeptical, how could they make such a cheesy hero into something cool?  especially today, when the world is so against america in general?  but somehow they did it!  they took the superhero movie and turned it into a war film.  the thing that makes this work so well is the starry eyed optimism of steve rogers.  his unbreakable spirit is infectious as he joins the army and goes through the training.  the whole thing is done incredibly well and sets the perfect stage for him to return in modern times and lead the avengers.  still one of the best superhero movies out there!

harry potter and the deathly hallows pt 2

it finally comes to an end.  they do a good job of raising the stakes and building up the tension.  the final solution to getting rid of voldemort is not as cool as i had hoped, but its still relatively satisfying.

thor

i wasn't so sure about this one when they first started showing previews of it.  the hokey norse mythology aspect looked pretty ridiculous.  i have no connection with the comic book origins, having never read a thor comic in my life.  yet, all that aside, i really loved this movie!  chris hemsworth was an amazing discovery in this film, he perfectly embodies the god of thunder and his old english style.  all the asgard stuff was absolutely fantastic- kenneth branough was the perfect choice to direct this movie, turning it from a superhero movie into a shakespearean melodrama about gods and mythology.  the stuff that takes place on earth isn't nearly as interesting, but the grandness and scope of the asgard world more than makes up for it.  what a treat!

resident evil: afterlife

this movie is not good.  that's true of all the resident evil movies- none of them are good.  but that's kind of beside the point when it comes to these movies.  they are not good, but they are a blast to watch!  for some reason i can't explain, i really love these movies.  i missed the first one, but i have since seen all of them in the theater!  there really is no sense trying to explain the plot, these movies don't have one.  one thing that really stood out about this movie though was its amazing 3D.  this was one of the first movies to actually use the same cameras that they used in avatar, so the 3D was outstanding!  there is a fight scene in this movie that has water falling around them as they fight- when they slow-mo the action during that scene it blew my mind how incredible the 3D was!  probably the best 3D i've ever seen on any screen ever- just mind meltingly surreal!  i would go see this one in the theater in 3D in a heartbeat.

beowulf

this is an animated film that exclusively uses motion capture technology to create its visuals.  based on the old poem, its an interesting retelling of the tale with some minor updates courtesy of a screenplay written by neil gaiman.  though it doesn't look that great now, this was cutting edge at the time and blew me away!  and it was even in 3D- a good two years before 'avatar' would popularize it and make it commonplace.  i found this movie to be riveting and very well done.  the grendel was fittingly terrifying, and the stuff about the mother and the cycle that continues was an interesting twist on the source material that it justifies its existence.  the idea of taking the newest technology to one of the oldest stories is an interesting one as well!

brave

one thing i've always loved about pixar movies is that they always have some unexpected point of view, or a way of looking at something that shares some sort of deeper truth.  that particular trait is missing from this one.  the film follows a young rebellious princess as she fights against her mother's expectations.  mom demands that her daughter fulfill the role of the upcoming queen and all that that entails.  she just wants to have a bit of fun and have an adventure.  she cant play by your rules, man!  well, as she storms out of the castle after another big fight with mom, she happens upon a woman who will grant her what she desires and will get rid of her mom.  as always, things dont go exactly as planned, and the rest of the film is the princess trying to make right what she has done.  its a very straight forward fairy tale morality play.  there isnt much in here thats new, different, or clever, as one has come to expect from pixar.  granted, the movie looks amazing, the lush forests are fantastic, and i really love the scottish setting- it lends itself to some very beautiful landscapes.  the movie itself though was pretty generic, but any pixar movie, even this one, is better than most other animated movies out there, so i shouldnt complain too loudly, huh?

green lantern

i hate to say it, because i really love ryan reynolds, but this movie was kind of a dud. i grew up loving comic books, but green lantern never interested me. i guess that should have been an indication for me when i saw this one, huh? the story follows hal jordan, an ace pilot in the air force, as he is called to wear the ring and take up the helm of a green lantern. the movie, though epic in scale, feels really disjointed. we get to see the unhappy pilot who struggles with his father's death years earlier in an airplane related accident, but it never feels like a real motivation. we see the grand scope of the green lantern corps and all the strange creatures through out the galaxy that also have taken up the ring, but they never play any sort of real part of this story. we see the all encompassing evil that is the bad guy parallax, but its threat is never really conveyed. they even fail to truly explain what it is that the ring does. we know its the physical manifestation of will and hope, but what exactly does that mean? with out any explanation or attempt to justify its power, hal jordan can make a race track appear out of nowhere to save a helicopter. um, what does that have to do with hope? we never really see hal struggle with this new position except in the most shallow of ways: showing off to a roommate, trying to figure out the oath of the green lanterns, etc. there was much potential, but very little of it is realized with this film. sure, the effects looked pretty cool, but to what end? it felt like much of it was designed to distract the audience from the lack of storytelling. things just kind of happen with little rhyme or reason. how does hal suddenly have the strength to go from worthless hack to galaxy saving lantern in the course of one day? and that last scene! really? there was no reason behind it other then maybe everyone involved knew they didnt stand a chance of getting to do a second one so they wanted to go for it. what ever the case, this movie was a disappointment. a shiny disappointment, but that didnt help much.

avatar

truly an incredible film.  the 3D and effects are second to none, totally worth seeing just to be immersed into this amazing world.  granted, the story leaves a bit to be desired, its basically a mix of 'dances with wolves' and 'ferngully'.  but the reality of storytelling is that there are no new stories, its about how you tell the story.  and this one tells it with such beautiful imagery that the story's shortcomings aren't even noticed until you walk out of the theater.

g-force

this one was a turd. i knew it was going to suck going in, i mean, look at the premise: its a group of gerbils who can talk working for the government as secret agents. there really is no way for this thing to be good. at least it was in 3D, so i could at least sit back and enjoy the visuals. i got so bored during the film that i was actually focusing on the 3D element exclusively. i watched with the glasses, and also checked it out for a couple minutes without the glasses. when i did this, i made a little discovery. i figured out how they make it look like things are coming off the screen! turns out that the image itself is smaller than what is projected. that means that they are projecting black borders around the picture. this is important because when something looks like its coming off the screen, its actually breaking into the black borders that are being projected on the screen. kind of cool!
well, i guess it shows you how bad the film was if all i have to say about it is the 3D effect, huh?

coraline

the talent behind this movie alone made me excited for it: its directed by the same guy who directed 'nightmare before christmas' and its based on the book by neil gaiman, a favorite author of mine.
the story is a simple one: a curious girl finds a door in her new house that leads to another strange new world. its a play on the old 'alice in wonderland' premise. the magic here is in the animation, its done in claymation, the same process used in 'nightmare before christmas' and 'wallace and gromit'. the style is made even more amazing through the use of the new 3D technology that has been used for the past couple years.
the film itself though is amazing! as coraline goes through the door into the other world she finds her family there, but slightly skewed. she meets up with some of her neighbors which leads to some amazing sights. all of this she finds wonderful and loves being there in that different world. slowly she starts to realize things arent as good as she first thought as everything begins to change and get pretty creepy. i've got to admit- this movie is really scary! i don't mean frightening or gory, it is rated PG after all, but there are some moments of real dread where you just know 'this isn't going to turn out well!' my heart was racing! i was originally thinking maybe this could be a movie i take my little nephew to, but i realized quickly that there is no way i would take him to see this- he would have nightmares for months! heck, i had nightmares after seeing it! it's intense at parts, but the magic and wonder of the film is so enchanting that i was blown away! i eagerly await seeing it again.

journey to the center of the earth

ive seen quite a few movies in 3D, 'nightmare before christmas', 'beowulf', and 'U23D'. all of which were a lot of fun. so, going into this movie i knew it would be a good time, and i wasnt disappointed. they bill this as the first live action 3D movie, which it is, if you dont count
'U23D'.
the story line follows the book closely, in fact the characters in this movie are familiar with the book and use it to navigate during their journey, which is actually a fun way to interpret the source material. brendan frasier does his usual role as the poor mans indiana jones which he perfected in the mummy movies. he and his nephew go traveling to find if the book is true. the meet a travel guide and start their quest. all the different situations they find themselves in are fun and done well. as a whole this movie does a good job of telling the story and keeping the action going. it even stops periodically to give us a little character development, which is quite unexpected from a film like this. but, it must be admitted, the star of the show is the 3D effect. it is done well and really adds a ton to the experience. some of the best stuff includes a mine cart ride and some mysterious floating rocks.
its a fun little movie that doesnt take itself too seriously, which, given the plot is a good thing. i would have to say that it is actually worth seeing in the theater because it would loose a lot without the 3D effect. the movie deserves 3 stars, but in 3D, id give it 4.

U23D

last night i went to go see 'U23D'. its been playing here for a few weeks, and ive been interested in seeing it. i wasnt sure how much longer it will be around here, and its one that i definitely want to see on the big screen.

ive been a fan of U2 for quite a few years now. ive been told though that i am a fairly atypical U2 fan. i never really got into them during the 'joshua tree' phase, or payed much attention during the 'zooropa' or 'achtung, baby' era. im a one of those rare people who fell in love with there music from the album 'pop'. this is unusual because most U2 fans will strongly agree that 'pop' was their worst album ever. i would disagree, its the one that got me to join the U2 lovefest.

i was excited to experience the 3d effect of the concert film, and i was quite impressed! the 3d technology has improved greatly over the past several years, and i have been able to enjoy a couple of the films that have used this technology. ive seen 'the nightmare before christmas 3d' for the past two years now, and over the summer i partook in the amazing 3d 'beowulf'. ive seen the technology in action before, but this was the first time ive seen in with live footage. it was spectacular! the sight of a couple hundred thousand people all packed into a soccer stadium jumping up and down, clapping, and screaming, along with the rocking soundtrack of U2 was breathtaking! is the film rolled on i suddenly realized that i was bobbing my head, tapping my feet, smiling and singing along with out even noticing! there were only about 4 other people in the showing, so i didnt feel too embarrassed.

the 3d effect was amazing too! when they would show larry playing the drums you could see all the different drums and symbols at different depths. when the camera pans out into the crowd you can get a real sense of just how incredibly huge this stadium is. at one point we see a shot of everyone on the floor jumping up and down with the beat, and it is awesome (now, i dont mean awesome in the slang sense, i mean awesome in that it filled me with awe).

the songs were great, of course, and there was even a bit of a message about loving those who are different than you and trying to find a way to coexist with respect. my only complaint was that it was too short. it was only about 90 minutes long, they could have easily fit in a couple of songs off 'pop'...

nightmare before christmas

saturday i went with a group of people to go and see the rerelease of nightmare before christmas, this time its in 3d! ive been looking forward to this ever since i first heard that it was coming out.
i have seen the movie many many times, and have most of the music from it lodged permenantly into my memory (i have been known to periodically break into 'this is holloween' singing). i actually remember going to see this one when it first came out, back in 93. if you havent seen it yet, you really should. the story is simple, but well done. it goes like this: there are towns based on each of the holidays (easter town, thanksgiving town, etc.) and the leader of holloween town stumbles into christmas town and decides that he is going to bring christmas to holloween town. needless to say, trouble ensues. the story is well told, the visuals are amazing, but the real show here are the songs! all written and composed by danny elfman (he did the batman movie theme, and the simpsons theme).
the movie by itself looks amazing, but the 3d effect makes it even more impressive! the 3d stuff is really well done and makes the movie even more fun- when jack explores christmas town, when he is being shot at in his sleigh, and other scenes have an incredible 'wow' factor. the fact that the movie is only 76 minutes long actually works quite well in this situation- much longer and you would have a big headache from the 3d effect on your eyes. the film is only availible in limited release because its only in theaters that have 3d projectors. but if you get the chance to see it, go for it! it is a unique and amazing experience!