Edwards Design Solutions

PG13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, language, some crude and sexual material, and brief drug material. 1hr. 30min.

Don’t waste your money. Any fan of the cartoon series should be angry and ashamed of this horrible piece of celluloid garbage. If you thought the first movie was bad, then you’re gonna hate this one.

The movie starts out innocently enough, with Sam (the lead character) being assisted off to college by his loving parents. He still has a good relationship with his girlfriend and they all really just want to put the whole alien robots incident (the first movie) behind them and move on with their lives. Of course, they can’t.

Sam is pulled back into helping save the world from the Decepticons and their ultimate leader, the Fallen. If you don’t know who he is, I will simply say that he is Megatron’s boss and a once-upon-a-time Prime robot.

So far so good, right? Well that’s were the good plot ends and the blanks are filled in with the other junk. You will find that I had a lot to say on the IMDB boards here about this movie. It just seems to me that the world has become too accustomed to low-brow, stupid toilet humor. There is too much swearing, too many fart jokes and too much doggie humping for my taste.

Rated: PG-13 for Martial Arts Action/Violence and brief Sexuality. 1hr. 25min.

I had the pleasure of watching Iron Monkey for the first time last night. I have once again been reminded why I love everything the amazing Yeun Woo-ping touches (i.e. Matrix, Crouching Tiger, Forbidden Kingdom, etc). The thing I respect most of the genre, is the un-abated display of the many actors’ and actresses’ Kung-fu. A great Kung-fu movie reminds me that I want to learn at least one style before I die. That style may most probably be Krav-Maga, for its readily accessible training facility where I live and for its relevance to today’s society and usefulness.

Of the Chinese culture, besides the highly respected discipline of Martial Arts and the complexity of its heritage, one of the most amazing things is its history. One of the greatest cultures and societies in the world, China also has some of the greatest folk-lore in both imaginary legends and real heroes of the times. Iron Monkey is a Hong Kong cinematic adaption of Wong Fei-Hung, one of the most recent and greatly loved folk heroes. There have been quite a few movies on the different aspects (and ages) of Fei-Hung’s life. Some of the most notable are the Once Upon a Time in China series, the Drunken Master series, the Eight Bandits (earliest) and many others; including Iron Monkey as the early years of his life. The total count of films that include Fei-Hung number into the hundreds!

Iron Monkey is included in the particular sub-genre of Kung-fu films being designated as “wire-fu” or “CG-fu”, but the momentum of the film and storyline kept me enthralled so that it was not as noticeable to me as some movies can be. I feel that the story is very well written, the acting is perfect and the fight scenes are impeccable. The following is a brief mash-up of the movie’s story and the history of Wong Fei-Hung: Continue reading »

Rated: PG-13, sci-fi action and violence, and brief sexual content. 2hr. 6min.

I am a Trekkie from way back. The different tv series’ have always been a favorite for me. I love TOS, enjoyed much of TNG, liked the deeper stories of Voyager, appreciated elements of what Enterprise was supposed to bring (at least in the first two seasons) but the movies have always been plagued. There were things in the “Motion Picture” that I enjoyed, TWOK has always been my personal favorite and I liked parts of First Contact. Nemesis was good to bring a different feel to the extended Next-Gen series. But the offering by J.J. Abrams has caught everyone’s eye. I can honestly say that I have been skeptical up to yesterday.

Early teasers and the quite limited release of trailers made me a bit wary of what more could be done to destroy my favorite franchise of all time. I have not had the chance to catch J.J.’s Lost, but I thoroughly enjoy Fringe. Anyway, when I got to the theater, I half-expected to see no real acceptance of the film. You can usually get the impression of how a film is doing (or going to do) based on the decor. Well my wife and I were greeted with a pair of 8 foot long tables with theater help selling Trek gear and giving away swag. It was like going to a mini-con! The walls were adorned with Star Trek emblems, Saturns and various types of space craft. The movie was obviously good and being that we saw it one day after the continental release, there was time for early reactions to generate this kind of acceptance.

I became quite excited about seeing the work that J.J. had slaved over and I was glad that we were 15 minutes late to get our seats. We sat 6 rows from the screen, dead center, and had thankfully missed the commercials and only saw the upcoming film previews. The opening sequence doesn’t offer any familiar theme music, or anything else for that matter, with the exception of Star Fleet uniforms. Continue reading »

Well, game 3 was anything but stellar from the black-n-gold. Visiting the city of sibling rivalry (commonly referred to as brotherly love) has put a damper on the Pens’ thoughts of finishing this series early. Game 4 will really tell the tale of how much the loss has damaged the frosty exteriors of Crosby, Malkin and the boys.

During game 2 in the Igloo, I heard something over the loudspeaker that rekindled a fire in me. I have always loved music and my favorite genre is hairbands of the 80′s and 90′s. One of my favorite movies about the period was made by period aficionado George Clooney. I am talking of course about Rock Star! This movie gives an intimate look into the ups and downs, and ins and outs of “living like a rock star”.

I love the song, but the visuals are even better….

Stand Up

Beware, this is not a movie for kids! This movie sends a clarion call to anyone thinking of getting into the business. Be prepared to fight the temptations or possibly lose your soul in the process. What really gets to me, is to see the lead singer “Izzy”, played by Mark Wahlberg, go through these challenges. He pushes away everything familiar, including his long-time girlfriend (played by Jennifer Anniston), just to be the man everyone wants to be. But he eventually learns his error and decides to leave the band. This choice brings healing to his mental state and brings his girlfriend back into his life.

The point is, make choices but be prepared to suffer the consequences. Make good choices and you will save yourself a lot of grief. Now getting back to hockey, lets hope we see better gameplay and better choices by coach Bylsma in Game 4.

I love Pixar. They are true masters of animation and comedy. If you are having a bad day, then please watch this little short. If you’ve never seen it before, try not to laugh to loudly (especially if you are at work). This short was the theatrical opening for Wall-E, another great Pixar movie, and it is also part of the DVD.

Presto – Pixar

G – 1hr. 40min.

The kids loved this movie. I really enjoyed it too. There is a warning to parents that the theaters continue to play inappropriate previews for the age group that kids movies are intended for. This is either an oversight or possibly a planned infiltration of the innocence of today’s innocents.

After the barrage of TV commercials and previews, the movie opens with a somewhat traditional “Once Upon a Time…”. It has the feel of a Shrek-ish type of fairy tale, but the story and artwork are perfect for the period. The artwork is very reminiscent of 15th Century Early Renaissance paintings, but it’s still fun and a fresh feel as this look has not been used in digital animation before.

Without spoiling the movie for you, I will simply say that Desperaux is a mouse that doesn’t behave like other mice. He doesn’t scurry or flinch in fear. He doesn’t realize that he’s smaller than other mice. He is brave, true and chivalrous to a fault. His un-mouse-like behavior gets him into trouble. Continue reading »