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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Tangled

Finally, a fantastic kids movie this year that appealed as much to adults as the kids. This past springs How to Train your Dragon was good.. But was more a kids movie than anything else. This one seemed to have the depth for both.

And I will give all the credit to Lasseter and his Pixar touch for this turning out so well.

And as a side note regarding 3D.. I finally got see a 3D movie, and the effects worked out very well. I'll be interested to see of Tron Legacy is as nice, or if being an animated fearture added any strength to the effect.

Verdict

Go see it now..

4 out of 5 stars.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Fringe

Well, looks like Fox is giving the show the kiss of death. That's too bad. Moving to Friday nights, doesn't seem to have worked for any show since the X - Files what 18 years ago.. And when it moved to Sunday nights, everyone followed.

But, with PVRs and stuff now, I just don't see audiences following a show, and changing their schedules like it happened back then.

And to try and claim that pairing it up with Kitchen Nightmares or whatever Kitchen show and claiming moving to Friday night isn't a death knell is just foolish..

Here hoping they can wrap up major plots before it's over.

The Walking Dead

Been watching this since it came on. Been reading the comics, but I am behind so far. And this show is just fantastic. So far, it's all going great.

The changes they are making has been good, and apparently done so readers will have a fresh show to watch. And that the writers of the series made some mistakes a long the way they would like to have changed. So far, it's coming off as a great companion piece to the books.

It's wrapping up it's first season soon. Go watch it.

4 out of 5 stars

Already renewed for a second season..

HP And the Deathly Hallows Part 1

Seen this on opening night. And will say up front that after the last few years I don't remember the book in any great detail.

But with the films, this one strikes me as the best one since Columbus left the franchise. So since around movie 2.

Everything just seemed to flow good for me, and the two hours plus just flowed on by. Which is a good sign, when your not looking at your watch every 5 mins.

Now, I saw a review today on a show that should remain nameless. Where one of the hosts bitched about how he was lost.. Well, you know what. Go read the books, or watch the movies from the start. Like Star Wars and Star Trek, you can't remake the first of every installment from the beginning for the people who know they are going to movie number 7 and yet expect the whole back story explained out to them. Maybe they should just go watch 1 to 6 first, or find another movie.

So, your going to a 'franchise' movie cold and complain you don't know what's going on. Well, guess what. Maybe it's not for you.

4 stars out of 5

Due Date

I was looking forward to seeing this one. A comedy road trip in the vain of the old classic Planes, Trains and Automobiles. Not too mention Midnight Run.

The movie was decent, not nearly as funny as the commercials would lead you to believe (Surprise, I'm sure) but had a few laughs. Mostly to do with Robert Downeys facial expressions. And the one awesome scene where he's left to babysit the kids, while Zack is scoring his medicine. Best scene in the whole movie.

Probably best left for a rental.. Not worth the $12 just for one scene..

3 out of 5 stars.

RED

Retired Extremely Dangerous

I will have to lump this movie in with the not bad.. I will agree with the reviews, in that it was probably the best Action / Comedy of the year. But, I liked The A - Team almost as much.

The performance to watch in this one, of course was John Malkovich. Maybe if I had of seen this movie when it first came out, I would be a little more excited about it. But, I had to wait a month. And by then, the clever Hollywood machine marketing had worn off on me. So, maybe this is more of an honest opinion after all.

If you can still catch it in theatres, go see it. If you can't or don't have any burning desire then wait for the DVD / Bluray release.

Solid 3 out of 5 stars.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Paranormal Activity 2

Seen this one on opening weekend. Wasn't quite sure what to expect from it. Being a sequel and as I have learned, a prequel I guess I did expect more of the same.

But what it seems I got, was exactly the same, just with different names and a new house. By the time the movie was over I was glad to be leaving the theatre.

The movie was pretty much the same as the first one. Although they did do an interesting job of tying them both together. And the other problem, is for some reason the lead actress looks very familiar but I can't seem to find out from where. I would have greatly preferred an entire cast of unknowns. Which, it mostly was to me but for her.

Seeing as this was a clone of the first movie, the plot was of no great surprise. And neither was any of the bumps or moving doors or anything of that nature. Sticking so close to the original pretty much destroyed any suspense or surprise that this movie may have contained. There wasn't even any mystery to be had. At least the first one had some mystery, and a general tone of horror, like a blanket settling over the people in the house. That something was very wrong.

It's never a good sign for a horror movie when the audience is laughing and snickering more than jumping or just silent. And the verdict was in before the movie was even half over.

Disappointing, but not totally bad.

3 stars out of 5 (Probably should wait for DVD)

Monday, November 1, 2010

The Fall

Finished reading book two in the new Modern Vampire trilogy by Del Torro and Hogan. Was a great book, and once again will be a long wait for the final chapter.

The book made me a little nervous when they started with the ancient group of master vampires. I was more interested in their being a lone ancient who was going to corrupt the earth. But, I had nothing to be concerned with. Since the rogue master eliminated them rather quickly. And the Earth is collapsing into some kind of post apocalyptic future.

Rumors were that there will be a movie in the works. Hopefully he gets to do it himself, which I presume is the plan. But stranger things have happened in Hollywood.

But, this really kicks the snot out of everything vampire related I've seen or read recently. This series would be my #1 followed by True Blood and then Twilight. I will admit that could arguably be three different genres catering to three different audiences. But from the vampire aspects this is my order. And I did enjoy them all for different reasons.

4 out of 5 stars. Read it immediately.