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Rated PG-13 for fantasy action violence, some frightening images
and brief sensuality. 1hr. 46min.

My wife and I took my brother to see this for his birthday. I find it a little depressing when critics and review sites slam a good movie. Sure the original flick is campy and some would rather say it has a fair amount of cheese in it. The new Clash of the Titans has some humor, some romance and a good amount of action.

I think what helped sell the movie for me was watching it in hopes of seeing some things and fears of seeing other things. I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the CGI for the Pegasi (plural for Pegasus) and glad that the robot owl that I found irritating in the original only had a brief cameo and that got a good laugh out of the audience! (I wasn’t the only person there that had seen the original)

I can honestly say that I think not seeing it in 3D was good for me. I have been consistently having blazing headaches when coming out of a 3D movie and that always taints my perspective on retrospect. Most review sites were saying to forget it anyway, since the 3D was more an afterthought for this film and really does more to detract from the picture quality and doesn’t really add anything in the WOW factor. Continue reading »

Rated PG for some mild rude humor and peril, 1hr. 34min.

The family and I just got back from seeing this movie in 3-D. Blue Sky just keeps getting it right with the Ice Age franchise! When other filming houses are pumping out toilet humor and swearing-lite flicks, it is a joy to see a movie that may have a wee bit of subtle innuendo (for the adults) and nothing more. If it weren’t for the subtleties and the copious amounts of peril, this film would easily be granted a G rating.

This movie revisits our friendly herd of misfits, Diego, Manny, Ellie, Sid and the ‘possum brothers. All original actor voices have been retained and it is nice to see (or is that hear). Without giving too much away of the movie, I can tell you that it has a strong theme of relationships. Primarily family, with a focus on parenting. The peril I mentioned before, is that Sid and the gang are “hunted” by a meat eating dinosaur that is larger than (and feared by) a Tyrannosaurus Rex! The herd has a few new members added, even if only temporarily, and Scrat even gains a love interest that becomes a full-scale love triangle with an acorn! Just be prepared to laugh……a lot!

Our first venture into the digital 3-D world, was with Bolt. Now Ice Age has really solidified (in my mind) that this is a new version of an old idea, that is here to stay. What a very beautiful and cool way to watch the movie. The bummer is, that the theater charges $3 more for the 3-D; but it is well worth it.

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 »

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 »