John Carter (movie)

I had never heard of this film or (I'm ashamed to admit) this classic book. I saw it as a new release online and watched the trailer to see what it was. The trailer looked great so I decided to give the movie a try.

It. Was. Epic.

John Carter is the story of a man from the late 1800s that is magically transported to Mars. Once there, he quickly learns that his dense bone structure, coupled with his having grown up on a planet with a more intense gravity, allows him to essentially have super strength and near-flight capabilities on Mars. And that's just the beginning.

I won't say much because, as always, my reviews are spoiler free, but he becomes involved with the people on Mars and learns about himself in the process. The special effects are great, the story is epic and (mostly) original.

There is NOTHING not to like about this movie.

Only AFTER watching it did I learn that this movie was basically the largest flop in Disney history. My reaction: WWHHHHAAAAATTTTT!?!?!?!

How is this possible? The movie cost $250 million (money well-spent) and it only grossed $71 million domestically! This is a travesty!

I'm chalking this loss up to poor advertising. Granted, I don't watch TV and so I don't often see previews, but I certainly had never heard of it. I'm guessing it did so poorly because no one else heard it existed either. That's all I can think of. It was a masterpiece of story and cinema.

Everyone must watch this move immediately.

My Rating: 5/5
My Recommendation: See it, buy it, watch it over and over.

Speed Racer (movie)

There are NO spoilers in this review. Read with confidence.

What can I say about this film… In three letters: WOW.

A rich and vibrant color scheme and gripping fast-paced story line only start to explain what’s in store for you with this movie. It was exciting, heart-pumping, and featured strange, yet fantastic, cinematography and use of innovative CGI integration.

Watching Speed Racer excited the kid in me without making me feel like I was watching a kid movie. Most ideas portrayed here may have been brought off as cheesy in any other movie, but the Wachowski Brothers, creaters of the Matrix and this film, somehow made it all work in the world they were portraying.

This is not just a racing movie. The story runs deep at every scene, nothing shallow or one-dimensional at all. And the characters are all very well written, intricate, original and developed thoroughly. I felt like they were real people, not just someone on the page of a script. Though based in a fantastical reality with almost other-worldly dialogue and pace, it works. It seems real. It’s believable somehow, in spite of its obviously outrageous stunts.

I felt that the visual aspect of Speed Racer was far more creative than in the Wachowski Brothers previous works. It was superb to the point that I spent half the movie wondering what the next scene or perspective would look like rather than what would happen next. This film wins the Visually Creative award in my book—it simply takes CGI to the next level. There was never a dull scene in which the camera would just rest on someone talking. Instead, the camera would spin as he talked, or the background would change colors or turn into a flashback. In three words, the special effects and cinematography were FAN-TAS-TIC.

There was even some good old fashion kung fu in this movie. I love kung fu (when done well) in movies. Too many films these days try to implement crazy new fighting styles, but I love to see the straight stuff. I especially liked the fight scene done in the snow. Very cool stuff, and fun use of snowfall special FX while fighting. Well played, guys.

There was also an interesting mixture of technologies and decorative styles that left it ambiguous as to when it was taking place. The cars, buildings, and a lot of the technology seemed to be from the future but men in 50s clothing used Tommy Guns and some homes had 70s print wallpaper. But don’t get me wrong, I actually liked this about the movie. Somehow it all fit into the style of the film and helped me fall into the world they had created.

I loved the race courses. They were over-the-top and something out of an unrealistic video game. But as I’ve said before, it somehow worked in the context of the film. Usually I am a fanatic for wanting realism in my movies. I always seem to find things that make me say “yeah right.” But even though some things, like the race courses, were out of this world unrealistic, the thought never crossed my mind while watching it. On the contrary, as I saw the new courses throughout the movie, I smiled at how awesome they were.

If I had to complain about one thing it would be Spritle, the kid brother of the kid brother, that has a pet monkey. The monkey was cute, and the boy wasn’t SO terribly annoying that it ruined the movie for me (usually), but some of the boy’s lines and scenes were in fact cheesy. Leave it to a kid to take a genuinely great movie and ruin a few scenes. As a matter of fact, the only time I felt that I wanted the movie to hurry along were the times that he was on the screen.

Another fantastic and unexpected thing about this movie is that the themes were very adult. Much of the story line had to do with corporations, big business, sneaky takeovers, monopolies and stock market conspiracies. I would have expected from the previews that this was only a racing movie. Far from it. The stories went much further.

When I watch my favorite TV shows (Heroes, Lost), I find myself wishing it would never end. I felt similar watching this movie. When I was only 40 minutes into the film I was sad that so much had already passed. I wanted it to go on and on.

Ever seen someone do a jump kick, round-house 360…. with a car? It’s pretty dang cool. There was some pretty awesome Car-Kung-Fu in this movie and it was super creative and original.

Now, to be fair, I have never seen the original tv show (cartoon?) that this movie was based on. But I’m thinking that this is a good thing. I had nothing to compare the movie to, no pre-judged bias for the film. It was all fresh, new, and original for me. Having said that, I am now excited to go watch a couple episodes of the original series just to learn more about what the movie was trying to accomplish.

In the end, I can’t say enough about the visual aspect of the film. The vibrant colors and fantastically creative cinematography put this movie right at the top of my list. The Wachowski Brothers are in fact, geniuses.

This movie kept me riveted to the end. A nail-biting, heart-stopping, gripping, final climax, coupled with stunning visuals and creative scene work, completed this more-than-well-made film.

My Rating: 5/5 (or 6/5 if that’s possible)

My Recommendation: GET. THIS. MOVIE. It’s MORE than amazing. See it, watch it, rinse and repeat.

Men in Black (movie)

I pretty much like every Will Smith movie. He's good in anything he does. It came to my attention that Megan had never seen Men in Black, so we had to watch it.

It's amazing to me that this film is 12 years old. I still think of it as a reletively new-ish movie, but wow... twelve years.

You've all seen it, you don't need my review. But here's my 2 cents: It's entertaining, funny, clever and original.

Any drawbacks? A bit of cheese every here and there.

My Rating: 3.8/5 (I did not rate this as a 4 because, while entertaining and a great movie, I couldn't justify putting it up there with other great movies that I had given 4's to)

My Recommendation: See it

Get Smart (movie)

General Zod, Hiro Nakamura, Steve Carrell and the Rock... Best Cast Ever.

I LOVED Get Smart as a kid. Even though it was before my time I loved watching the old series. This movie adaption did not disappoint. It was clever, funny, creative and paid the right ammount of homage while keeping real with the times.

The types of jokes in Get Smart could have easily been over the top and silly/stupid rather than funny, but (thankfully) the director had a good eye for when too much was too much. The end result was an amazingly funny movie.

Steve Carrell is brilliant as he is in every movie. General Zod (known on some planets as Terrance Stamp) is just awesome because he is Zod. Hiro Nakamura is awesome because, well, DUH! And the Rock, Dwayne Johnson.... I've got to say this was my favorite performance of his. It was very real and believable.

I can't say that I saw the "twist" at the end coming, but then again I wasn't really looking for one.

If I had one complaint it'd be a couple of "yeah right" moments throughout the film. Like when Zod pulls out a key chain that has a little laser that cuts through concrete or titnaium or something like that: YEAH RIGHT.

All in all, I am still in shock a day later that this movie wasn't cheesier than it was. Given what they had to base a film off of, and given today's ideas about what is "funny" in a family film, it could have been a disaster. Thankfully it was far from disaster; it was a success.

My Rating: 4.5/5

My Recommendation: See it. Rent it at least. If you're the kind of person that likes to pop in a random comedy every now and then, buy it.

The Goonies (movie)

Okay, I'm sure everyone that ever reads this post will say something like "yeah, I used to love that movie when I was a kid." Well look again, you just might still love it.

During finals at school this last week we had extra long testing periods and a lot of time to do nothing when the tests were over. So I got a pile of movies from another teacher and I let my kids choose what they'd want to watch. They almost unanimously chose the Goonies. I put it on thinking I'd head into my office to get some work done. Nope. I was rivited from the first scene.

Though I had seen this movie hundreds of times as a kid, re-watching it for the first time in probably 10 years was a fantastic experience. The movie is STILL as good as it ever was, if not BETTER. It's filled with adventure, suspense, reality and fun. Who doesn't love a treasure hunt? Chases? Booby-traps?

One thing that really stood out to me is the fantastic character development. Each kid had a very distinct character and personality. I loved chunk as a kid, but WOW, that kid is SO FUNNY!

I was thinking as I watched, this movie is 24 years old. You'd think they'd do a remake of such a successful and beloved movie by now in this age of remakes. But then as I watched more and more, I realized that no remake could EVER top this movie. The filming, the acting, the script, it's all perfect in every way. Even today's generation loves this movie. I've shown a lot of movies to my kids in the past but NO movie has EVER come close to holding their attention like this one did.

In spite of how many times you may have seen this movie in the past, go watch it again. I think you'll thank me.
My Rating: 5/5
My Recommendation: DUH! Buy this movie!

Wall-E (movie)

I finally got around to seeing this. I've been wanting to ever since it came out in the theaters. It was well worth the wait. Wall-E is a fantastic movie.

I don't know how they did it, but they managed to make robots cute. And I just loved every time Eva would say "Wall-E." So cute!

The movie was extremely entertaining. The plot was thin (humans dirty and fat, they destroy planet, they feel bad and try again), and the acting... well... not only was it CGI but there were hardly any words in the movie at all so I can't really comment on acting.

If there was one downfall, it'd be the blatant Dan Quail-ism. It was like the movie was screaming at me to stop being so fat and lazy. Oh, and if you litter or don't recycle, you're the scum of the Earth.

Sounds like I'm saying only "bad" stuff, but... it's really not. Good CGI, very entertaining, continuous movement of story....

I don't know what else to say about this movie. It's good. Watch it.

My Rating: 4/5 (I give a lot of 4 out of 5's don't I? I think I want to reserve the 5's for stellar, nearly-perfect, favorite movies. A 4 is any other really great movie that I wouldn't classify as a top 10) p.s. I reserve the right to have more than 10 on my top 10 list. :P

My Recommendation: Get it, rent it, buy it, watch it, see it

The Day The Earth Stood Still (movie - 2008)

I was very excited to see this movie when I saw the preview and, while it wasn't the most epic and fantastic movie of our day, it did not dissapoint.

Keanu Reeves, interestingly enough, is probably one of the worst actors ever, but he makes great movies. I must admit that I've pretty much liked every movie I've seen him in even though he himself pretty much sucks (Bill & Teds, Speed, Matrix Trillogy, and this movie).

This modern day adaption of the 1951 movie kept to the original story line fairly well but deviated enough to keep modern day audiences interested. As a matter of fact, while interesting, I found the original movie mostly dull and boring. This one, however, I would buy and add to my collection.

All that said, I would also agree that this movie is perhaps for a more sci-fi discriminating fan. Those who are not avid (or at least moderate) sci-fi lovers might find this movie a bit odd or strange, and perhaps even slow at parts.

I found it to be a great mixture of story, special FX, acting, emotion, and culture.

There is one major flaw, however, and it involves a spoiler. So if you plan on seeing it (and you should) then stop reading here.

The Flaw (spoiler alert): At the end of the movie, Klaatu agrees with the woman and the scientist that Earth deserves a second chance because it is only in the face of annilation that a culture can change. They assure him that they can change. So Klaatu stops Earth from being destroyed. But this informtion NEVER gets out to anyone! So far as the rest of the BILLIONS of people on the plannet, some weird things happened inexplicably and then they suddenly stopped and now everything is back to normal. What's to make them change??? No one ever told them that they SHOULD change! In this respect, the original movie was much better.

Also, the Earth "standing still" played little to no part in this movie. That was dumb.

My Rating: 4/5

My Recommendation: Buy it, See it. If you're not into sci-fi, rent it, you still may enjoy it.

The Spirit (Movie)

The previews looked amazing. The cast is unbeatable. It's based on a comic book from the 1940s. Doesn't this sound like the best film ever created? Okay, well maybe I'm stretching it out a little, but the point is, this movie looked like a no-fail awesome movie.

I was sorely dissapointed. Don't get me wrong, the cast did a great job, and it was in fact very... comic-booky. But that was it. The story was shallow at best. The script was beyond HORRIBLE. It was cheesy and silly throughout. I understand that it is based on a comic book and the director was trying to keep that image. But it was a bad idea. Adults don't want to go to a movie and watch something cheesy. They don't want to see something that views like a comic book.

I don't know much what else to say. The silly b-movie style jokes made my eyes roll every 5 minutes. That said, this film could have easily been saved. If they had gotten rid of the enormously silly side kicks and ALL of the jokes, I think this film might have been okay. But for my money.... I want it back.

My Rating: 1.8/5 (for some great visual work)
My Recommendaiton: SKIP it!

The Flight Before Christmas

Worst. Kids. Christmas. Movie. Ever.

This isn't so much of a movie per se, but a one-hour kids "movie." It's cgi animated and is the story of a little raindeer whose dream it is to fly someday and join Santa's team.

But here's the thing: the reindeer asks who his daddy is and his mother tells him, in more words or less, that she had a one night stand with someone on Santa's team, and BAM he was born.

Great, so now we've glamorized adultry to kids.

The little reindeer finally makes it to the north pole and finds Santa's reindeer where he is quickly shunned and belittled because he can't fly. He's a nobody and the other reindeer leave him, sad, all alone in the snow. But then he jumps off a cliff after a friend, only to find that he CAN fly, and BAM suddenly all the other reindeer are his best friends!

So aside from adultry, this movie has now taught my daughter (who LOVED this "Bambi" movie) that you should shun people and reject people if they're not as "cool" as you and only accept them if they're as "good" as you.

*sigh*

In reality this was a cute movie on some levels. In spite of these HORRID lessons taught in a KIDS movie, it was cute. That said, however, there are many better holiday movies you can show your kids this year.

My Rating: 1/5

My Recommendation: Skip it.

James Bond: Quantum of Solace (movie)

I love Bond flicks. Who doesn't? No matter how many they make, they are always entertaining and somehow, suprisingly, they manage to drum up newer and newer ways for action scenes to be at least somewhat original.

This was the "chase" movie in my opinion. They had some pretty good chases on foot, in cars, on boats, and even one in airplanes. These writers didn't let any idea pass over thier desks without snatching it up.

Daniel Craig did a great job, of course. But I do miss the nonchelant, nothing worries me, suave smile of Pierce Brosnan. I didn't start watching Bond movies until Pierce's first movie so for me, he is my Bond in the same way that Christopher Reeve is my Superman. I love Daniel Craig, but he just seems so emotionally distraught by everything around him. It's like a new side of Bond: inner termoil.

Now for the negative stuff. The movie took place in La Paz Bolivia, where I lived for 2 years. The problem is that none of the movie was actually filmed in Bolivia, and it was very apparant to someone like me who spent so much time there. Thankfully these things would not be noticed by others. The hats the "Bolivian" women wore were so obviously peruvian. The streets in the movie were all paved (95% of Bolivian streets are stone or dirt, rarely do you find a paved road).

And one more thing: What the heck is "Quantum of Solace" and what does it have to do with this movie? It was never explained (or if it was, it was brief and not obvious). I would have rather this movie been called: "Bond Blows Up Bolivia." That would fit nicely.

My Rating: 4/5

My Recommendation: Rent it. Buy it if you're a Bond fan, Rent it if you want a good popcorn flick for a night.

The Incredible Hulk - 2008 (movie)

Well let me start out by saying that this film far surpassed its 2003 predecessor--but I expected no less from Edward Norton.

The Incredible Hulk did something AMAZING in the first 5 minutes of the movie. It did something that Superman Returns sorely lacked. This was, in fact, a sequel to the 2003 film, which I was not expecting (I thought it was going to be a reboot). But instead of just assuming that everyone knew the back story and going on (like Superman Returns did), they spent about 5 minutes flashing newspaper headlines and flashbacks to remind (or even tell) audiences what the upcoming move was based on. After seeing this superbly played out, I sincerely believe that if Superman Returns had used this same tactic, it would have been twice as successful as it actually was.

The Incredible Hulk was super entertaining, had pretty good (though not perfect) cgi, and some awesome action and fight scenes, but it was not without its flaws.

Edward Norton is pretty much great in every movie he's in, and while this was no oscar-worthy performance, he did a fine job. The movie was complete with a great King Kong scene on the cliff in the rain, a cameo by Lou Ferrigno (original Hulk from the 1978 TV series), and of course a cameo by Stan Lee, and even paraded Liv Tyler's pouty-face, slow-walking, teary-eyed poor excuse for acting.

If I had to find flaws in the movie (other than Liv Tyler), it would be, one, why on earth can't the Hulk talk when he becomes the Hulk? He suddenly becomes Frankenstein or something. Weird. And two, the plot. While a pretty awesome movie, the plot was basically: "Me am green monster, Army chase me. The End." Aside from VERY small side stories here and there, that was basically the premise of the movie. Oh well, guess you can't win them all.

My Rating: 4/5 (for poor plot and some bad cgi -- though most of it was good)

My Recommendation: See it! Great movie. Maybe rent it. I'm on the border between rent and buy. I guess it depends if you're a super hero fan or not. If you're not huge into super hero movies, then just rent it, you'll still like it. If your a hero-nerd like me, buy it.

Eagle Eye (movie)

If you know anything about me, you know I love conspiracies and shadow governments. Eagle Eye was about a computer that has access to EVERY form of media and can basically control the country by itself by hacking into cell phones, survelaince cameras, etc.

Shia LsBeouf (Transformers, Disturbia) did a good job. I like him as an actor, though I'm starting to think he plays the same character in every movie.

The plot was only somewhat original. I felt like I had seen most of it in other movies. The computer was basically a straight copy of HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey, right down to the scene in which the computer has to read lips in order to "hear" what they're saying.

The action scenes were very well done but I felt that they were too few. I expected more in a movie like this.

My Rating: 3.3/5

My Recommendation: See it. 3.3 may sound low but hear me out: this was not a top-notch movie and doesn't belong on anyone's top 10 list of all-time greats, but it was very entertaining and well worth your time. I say Red Box it.

Cocoon: The Return (movie)

I finally got around to watching this movie. This is the sequel to Cocoon, which I reviewed before. As it turns out, I had seen this movie before. I remembered things as they happened.

As was the first, this was a cute movie--though this one was a bit more cheesy than the first and the story line was not nearly as deep. Keep in mind, however, that this was in the era in which sequels were never as good as the originals. Only in our modern day do we find sequels that live up to, or even surpass, thier predecessors.

The best part about Cocoon: The Return, was that the original cast was completely in tact. I would have liked a more involved, deeper plot, and it would have been nice to see the alien planet or some more of thier powers and abilities, etc.

But it is what it is. And what it is, is cute, but perhpas not worth your time unless you're incredibly bored as I was today. Plus I'm a sucker for a sci-fi so I kind of felt obligated to see it. :P

My Rating: 1.5/5 (somewhat entertaining, only based on the fact that I sort of liked the first one)

My Recommendation: Skip it. Not skip it like it was bad or terrible, but there are so many other great movies you could fill your time with instead. Otherwise, catch it on TV... if you're really bored. :)

The Recruit (movie)

When this movie came out I really wanted to see it but never got around to it. Some friends told me it wasn't as good as it looked in the previews. I, however, like to make my own judgments as I have hated many movies that most people liked (a la Phantom of the Opera) and I've liked many movies that most people hated (a la Starship Troopers).

The Recruit was a good movie. It kept me guessing throughout. The setup of the movie is that Colin Ferrel goes through CIA training camp where he's given lots of tests. Then he's put on a real assignment but, no, it's a test. Then he's put on a REAL real assignment, but is it really a test?

The premise itself seemed to be predictable. About halfway through the movie felt I was being really clever in determining what was fake and what was real. I thought I had it all figured out. But, thankfully, the direction and writing did in fact keep me guessing. I won't venture to say that it was the most unpredictable movie ever, but it held its own.

It's tough to say too much about the movie without giving things away. But I will say that the ending was quite anti-climactic. The buildup was intense and deep. Twists and turns seemed to be the norm right up to the end. When you find out who the bad guy is and who is really behind everything it just leaves a sour taste in your mouth. It didn't live up to the expectation that they promoted, in my opinion.

Colin Ferrel and Al Pacino both gave great performances, but if you want a REALLY GOOD movie that keeps you guessing as to what is fake and what is real, I recommend: The Game. Now THAT was a fantastic movie.

My Rating: 3.9/5 (I was all ready to give this a 4/5 for it's entertainment, acting, direction, execution, etc, but that ending was anticlimactic enough to send it into the "3" realm for me)

My Recommendation: Rent it. It's worth a viewing. It's a fun movie for a night at home.

Breach (movie)

This is the true story of FBI agent and tratior-spy, Robert Hansen. The plot: internal affairs hires a secretary/clerk for Hansen who spys on him, looks through his stuff and tries to find incriminating evidence against him... umm.. what else... oh, nope, that was everything.

Here's the problem: it was based on a true story. Now, that fact alone was enough to peak my interest enough to watch the movie all the way through. As you know, something that is real or plausible tweaks my reality nerve. But it wasn't enough.

The fact that it was based on a true story, I believe, was in itself its own demise. The reason is because in real life (apparently), NOTHING HAPPENED! While interesting to some extent... it was in fact BORING.

I hate to say this, but, other than the very end (which you can probably guess easily), I've already told you the WHOLE MOVIE.

My Rating: 1/5 (I didn't hate the movie, but then again I don't hate many movies at all)
My Recommendation: Skip it. It's slow, depressing and not worth your time.

Live Free or Die Hard (Movie)

John McClane is my hero. No I didn't say John McCain. But I digress...

I just saw Live Free or Die Hard (finally) and all I have to say is WOW! This honestly has to be the best shoot 'em up blow 'em up action movie I've ever seen. I think it was better than Eraser in that category if only for the modern aspect of the visual effects.

John McClane, played by Bruce Willis, is the best action hero ever. He tops James Bond, Ethan Hunt, and Rambo, and here's why: the guy just walks around and does some seriously AWESOME stuff all in the name of nonchalant luck. Rambo and the Governator had attitude and seriously big guns and you could tell they weightlifted 23 hours a day. James Bond, Ethan Hunt and Jason Bourne are highly trained special ops spies. But John McClane is a city cop. He has no skills but always seems to come out the winner. And let me tell you: it ain't boring to watch how he does it.

This is by far (in my opinion) the best of the Die Hard films. It had funny moments in which I laughed out loud (which hardly every happens with me). There was a great scene in which the Keanu Reeves character convinced the OnStar person to start the car for him. If you've seen the film, you know what I mean. You know, the kid was a bit cliche but I have to admit that I found him funny and entertaining. Good job, kid.

There were also some amazing moments of action, too many to name, but one that comes to mind is when McClane drives an SUV into an elevator shaft and proceeds to make it out alive. And of course there's this one here (pictured) in which he drives a police car into a helecopter. Awesome.

And of course, as in every action movie, there were a few unrealistic, yeah-right moments, like when McClane drives up a crumbling freeway bridge, gets demolished by a jet and then just jumps out unharmed.

The movie was about computer hackers and in my opinion it was all done very well. It was not without flaws--even I found a few things that were inconsistant. For example they took all the power down on the whole east coast but I saw a stop-light working in the background. My brother would be able to more accurately tell you how plausible and accurate the computer hacking stuff was portrayed.

If you like action movies, if you like explosions or Bourne Identiy/James Bond style action, sweet moves and amazing feats of incredible and highly unlikely strength and skill... you will LOVE this movie.

My Rating: 5/5 (No question)
My Recommendation: SEE IT. BUY IT.

Next (movie)

Anybody that knows my taste in fiction knows that I love science fiction, and that, more specifically, I like the element of time travel.

Next is the story of a man (Nicolas Cage) that can see 2 minutes into his own future. This means he knows exactly where each punch will be thrown in a fight, he knows exactly where bullets will hit him if he walks toward someone firing at him, and he knows if he's going to win at black jack.

It's a very interesting premise and it was portrayed satisfactorily.

The direction and vision were executed well. I had a great time watching Nick Cage view all the possible outcomes of the near future. Especially toward the end they did a great job showing how this all worked.

The acting? Fairly good. The only complaint I would have about this is that Nicolas Cage is a great actor but he only plays one part. Have you ever seen him in a movie? Then you've seen him in this one too. He makes great movies but his performance gets old after the first 124 movies you've seen him in.

The only complaint I have is that the cgi needed a bit of work in the major avalanche scene. There was a lot of apparent green/blue screen work and some sub-par visual FX added in the mix. See the movie and you'll see what I mean. The avalanche looked more like a video game rendition. But if you can look past that, the rest was well done.

It was an action flick but I wouldn't say it was action packed. It was somewhat intense but not edge-of-your-chair intense. The plot was good, but not all that thick.

On another note, the major dilema in the movie was that a bunch of terrorists were going to nuke Los Angeles, but there was never a mention of their motive. WHY did they want to blow up the city? It was all just kind of overlooked.

My Rating: 3.8/5 (even though it's a 3, it's a high 3, almost a 4)
My Recommendation: Rent it (definitely see it but not worth the buy unless you're a fanatic about buying every DVD you watch)

The Andromeda Strain (Movie - 1971)

This is a classic sci-fi movie that takes itself very seriously. Based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton, this movie was very popular in its day and has also been more recently remade (review coming soon on the remake).

I found the plot interesting even if unoriginal. Then again, it very well may have been original in its day. Have you ever seen Outbreak? This is like an old 70s version of that movie.

It was interesting to see "super advanced" computers whose graphics looked like the Atari.

The acting was nothing to applaud. Every single character (and I mean every character) seemed to be angry and yelling the entire movie. Not very good direction--I'm sure the actors themselves were capable of much more.

The believability was high. Everything, even if a very serious, angry, and non-smiling, was portrayed in a very real-world way.

As I mentioned before, the plot left a bit to be desired. It was paper thin: an alien bacteria enters the atmosphere via a down satellite. It mutates, travels by air, and kills you in seconds. The main characters must figure out how to stop it. That's pretty much the whole movie. That said, I did actually find the movie quite unpredictable. It was shot in a way that you weren't sure if the good guys would actually win. It felt like an long episode of the old Outer Limits in which anything is possible.

Thin plot, not-so-great acting, poor direction, but unpredictable and believable.

My Rating: 2/5
My Recommendation: Skip it (unless you are totally into the classic sci-fi thing, in which case you might as well see it for its nostalgic factor)

TMNT (movie)

As a kid I loved the Ninja Turtles. Who didn't? I had the action figures and I would spend time in class drawing them instead of doing my English or Math assignments. I even loved the three feature movies that were made. Especially part 2. I can't remember what it was about, but I remember really liking part 2.

Naturally I was excited to see this movie when I heard about it. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed.

My biggest complaint was the graphics. They were terrible. It was cgi instead of cartoon, which, in my opinion, brings with it a certain level of expectation. Instead of Final Fantasy cgi, or even Toy Story cgi, the result was more like the opening cinamatics to a video game. You know what I mean, you pop Halo into your xBox or install Age of Empires III on your computer and when you run the program, they play a bit of the story line in cgi movie format (click here for the Age of Empires III opening cinematic example). Well TMNT was like watching a HUGE LONG opening video game cinematic sequence.

It was tough to get past that. The entire movie it was hard to concentrate on the story when all i could see was sloppy cgi work.

The story was shallow. Let me put it this way: Here's the premise: The turtles are older, and no longer a team. They've all gone off to do their own things. Bad monsters start terrorizing NYC.

There, now YOU tell me how the rest of the movie will play out. See what I mean? You can probably accurately tell me exactly what happens for the next hour and a half.

It was, however, slightly entertaining only because I loved the turtles so much as a kid. I really didn't like Raphael's new bad attidude and I felt that his sudden change of heart at the end (oops, did I give that away? Oh, no, you would have predicted it easily in the first 10 minutes of the movie) was too quick, simple, and without premise. It was unrealistic to say the least.

I didn't hate the movie. It was fun to watch in spite of it being basically terrible in every way. If I give a movie a 1/5, to me that says I hate it. So for that reason alone:

My Rating: 2/5
My Recommendation: Skip it

Across the Universe (Movie)

I grew up loving the Beatles. I practically worshiped them through high school. I not only had all their albums and memorized all of their songs, but I would go to the library, check out books on the Beatles, read them, and memorize them.

When Across the Universe came out, I had to see it.

It is one of my favorite movies of all time. You'll find it in my sidebar on the list of my favorite movies. You'll also find some of the songs from the movie soundtrack in my playlist in the sidebar (the music was so amazing I just had to get the soundtrack to this movie after I saw it -- more on this later)

The story is of the 60s. The war, drugs, the lifestyle, love, music. Coupled with this is a unique way of doing a quasi-musical movie. All the Beatles songs are sung by the main characters rather than just played as background music as in all other movies.

The voices of these actors are amazing. Megan and I watch American Idol religiously but the talent in this movie surpasses American Idol 10-fold.

Aside from the imense talent and extreme entertainment value, the movie is visually amazing. The director has an eye for original scenes and creative exposition. It starts off normal like you'd expect in any movie, but as the plot thickens, so does the visual aspect of the film. You'll just have to see it to see what I mean.

My brother claims that he didn't like it because it felt like they were cramming Beatles songs into the movie just for the sake of cramming them in and that they didn't add to the movie or even belong. While perfectly entitled to that opinion (and I'm sure there are others that will agree with him), I have now seen the movie three times and I am going to have to mostly disagree. You'll notice I said "mostly." I do admit that there is occasionally a scene in which a song is sung and it is a bit overboard and doesn't add to the movie. Still, the vocals and visual aspect is enough to make me overlook that.

This is an amazing movie all around. The acting is perfect. Very believable perforamces by every actor. If I had one complaint it's that the middle portion of the movie (the drug phase) lasts a bit too long. At first, it was very cool to watch how the director would choose to show a drugged-out world using music, colors, singing, etc. It was cool for the first song, okay for the second, over-done for the fouth, and downright annoying for the fourth. Still, a minor setback for an amazing film.

My Rating: 5/5
My Recommendation: Buy it. It's amazing.