The So-So Voyage of The Dawn Treader

So, yesterday Alisa and I went to see the The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. In spite of the lackluster reviews this movie was getting from the critics I went in with high hopes. Dawn Treader is my favorite of the books so I really wanted it to be awesome. I'm sad to say that it was not all I hoped it would be. Well, it was pretty good but it wasn't great. They made some pretty major changes from the book which I didn't really care for and that seemed a bit unnecessary. Now, I didn't hate it or anything but it certainly wasn't as good as the first two movies. However, on the positive side I must acknowledge that the kid who played Eustace Scrubb just did it wonderfully. He is just the way I would have expected Eustace to be. There are also some comments that Aslan makes at the end of the book that give insight into his true identity but that I was worried might be left out because they are too blatantly Christian for most secular movie makers. To my surprise those comments were included. Overall, this was a fairly enjoyable movie. But, as I watched it there was just that nagging thought in the back of mind telling me that it could have been so much better.

2012 - Explosions, Fires, Floods, COOL

So, I also went and saw 2012 this past weekend. I don't know that I have a whole lot to say about this one. Ultimately, it was just a really fun movie. The premise was a bit ridiculous and the crazy scenes where cars (or RVs) jump huge chasms are totally unrealistic but the fact of the matter was it didn't make much difference because this type of movie would never work if there were to much realism. This was a fun action/disaster movie that also had some heart to it. So, I would definitely recommend it to anybody who just wants to watch an exciting movie.

A Christmas Carol

This past weekend I went and saw the new computer animated Christmas Carol movie from Disney. Now, the last time I had seen a movie in 3D in a theatre it was when I saw Captain EO at Disneyland so I was pretty excited to go see this. Since it had been so long since I had experienced the whole "3D thing" I decided I needed to find the biggest movie screen I could. Therefore, I went and saw the movie at the IMAX Theatre at Jordan Commons. I did think the 3D was pretty cool even though it did give me a bit of a headache at times. I also noticed that if I tipped my head to the side that the picture became all blurry. It was especially cool on those shots were something appeared to actually come out of the screen. I also enjoyed the parts where you were flying through the city.
As for the movie itself; it was your pretty standard Christmas Carol adaptation and wasn't really much different from the dozens of other movie versions of Charles Dickens' classic tale. Most of the lines were directly from the book with no significant changes. The only thing that really made this one unique was the fun computer and 3D effects. Now, for those who might be considering bringing their young kids to this show, I would recommend that you don't. There is one somewhat disturbing and scary part associated with the Ghost of Christmas Present and the two little children "Ignorance and Want" that might be a little too much for younger kids. The Ghost of Christmas Past is also a little creepy. Anyway, if you're looking for a kind of fun Christmas movie (Yes, I said Christmas not Holiday. Take that Politically Correct establishment!!) than this is a pretty good one to go see.

The Box - Well, at least I went and saw it

So, I went and saw The Box this past weekend. Unfortunately, I seem to be one of the only people who did. The movie opened up at number 6 for it's first weekend bringing in a measly $7.85 million. Needless to say that was a real flop considering that's not even enough money to cover Cameron Diaz's salary.

In spite of its lackluster box office performance I genuinely enjoyed the movie. It really had the feel of an episode of The Twilight Zone in that you kind of felt like you were getting a little glimpse of a story taking place in an alternate reality where the rules that apply in our world don't exist. In fact, the movie was based off of a short story by Richard Matheson called "Button, Button" that was made in to a Twilight Zone Episode back in 1986. And, like a Twilight Zone episode The Box ended with that kind of feeling of foreboding caused by the knowledge that the strange and disturbing phenomenon you just finished watching is just going to keep on happening in that kooky little world. As the movie was coming to an end I half expected the screen to go to black and white and to see Rod Serling standing there with a cigarette to tell us all the moral of the story.

I liked this because it really was a "thinking" movie. The movie explored a number of issues regarding human nature such as whether people are inherently good or bad as well as whether people are really free or are simply destined to follow a particular road. So, even though I may be one of the only ones to do so, I would recommend this movie for sure.

Harry Potter 6 comes to the big screen

So, a few weeks ago my wife and I went and saw Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I have to say I was very impressed with the movie, much more so than I have been with the last few Harry Potter film adaptations. I felt like they did a good job of keeping the important stuff in the show while keeping the superfluous added nonsense (like the third movie’s shrunken heads) to a minimum. I really liked the girl who played Lavender Brown. I thought she was very cute and did a great job in the role.

Being that I am such a big fan of these books I have had a hard time coming to grips with the fact that so many of my favorite scenes (like the scene in St. Mungo’s in book 5) and many of my favorite characters (like Peeves, Bill and Charley Weasley, Ludo Bagman and Rufus Scrimgeour) never make it into the movies. In addition to the obvious fact that it is simply not possible to preserve everything when translating a book to the screen I have concluded that the producers likely recognize the fact that most people who watch these movies have probably read the books and can therefore fill in the blanks for themselves without having to have everything shown on screen. Another thing that has often bugged me with these movies is the fact that you seem to see them in class so rarely that you tend to lose track of the fact that they are indeed going to school. OK, now time for Ryan to get on his soapbox and have a little rant. There seems to be an ongoing joke related to these movies that I find really annoying. I find it so irksome because not only it is so ridiculously inaccurate but the people who propagate the joke, for the most part, ought to know how ridiculous it is. The joke is about how the actors who play Harry, Ron and Hermione are getting too old to be playing high-school aged kids. In the really stupid film Epic Movie which spoofed a number of films there is a scene where the main characters end up at Hogwarts and meet parodies of Harry, Ron and Hermione played by fat, middle-aged actors. They continually rant about how it makes no sense that these three are still at this school while the balding Ron, the pregnant, smoking Hermione and crazy Harry insist that they are really teenagers. In the previews for the new Adam Sandler movie Funny People a character makes a crack about how these characters are so old that they must be going for a PhD in Wizardry and asks “how long are they gonna be at that high school.” Now, some of you who are not as big movie buffs as I am may ask yourself, “What’s the big deal? Aren’t they too old to play teenagers?” The answer is no!
The simple fact of the matter is this: In TV and movies high-school aged characters are almost never played by high-school aged actors. Let me give you a few examples to illustrate my point. In the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Alan Ruck was about 30 when he played the part of Cameron Frye. Rachel McAdams was about 26 when she played Regina George in Mean Girls. Turning to TV, in the new FOX show Glee high school football star Finn Hudson is played by 27 year-old Cory Monteith and high school sophomore Rachel Berry is played by 23 year-old Lea Michele. I could give more examples but let’s face it; this post is long enough already. Anyway, how does this compare with our three Harry Potter stars? Well, Daniel Radcliffe who plays Harry Potter just turned 20 last month. Emma Watson who plays Hermione Granger is 19 (a whopping 2 years older than her character) and Rupert Grint who plays Ron Weasley is just about to reach the ripe old age of 21. So, the truth is, by normal Hollywood standards, these parts were actually cast a bit young. End of rant.

Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen – Falls Flat

I am a huge fan of Transformers. I loved the first movie and I really, really, REALLY wanted Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen to be as awesome as the original. Unfortunately, it just didn’t deliver. The first movie was a little heavy on the adolescent, potty-humor but this one just took it to such an extreme that it became ridiculous and got old very fast. There also seemed to be a great deal more swearing in this one and not much of a plot.

Now, I don’t want to make it sound as though I didn’t like anything about it. The special effects were incredible and the first about 20 minutes of the movie was awesomely action packed. I liked how they expanded the mythos behind the Transformers and explained more about the interactions they had had with Earth before and the way that sheds some light on the whole Beast Wars Transformer line. Also, I thought it was nice how they showed that Transformers have the free will to choose which side they are on. Unfortunately, all this wasn’t enough to save the movie. I hope that they do better with the next one.

TERMINATOR SALVATION

So, I just got back from watching the new Terminator movie. I really enjoyed it. There were lots of the things that guys love to see in movies. Lots of explosions, really cool machines and a naked, computer generated, version of a young Arnold Schwarzenegger. OK, so maybe not so much on that last one. Though, that was a pretty incredible piece of special effects.

All in all this was a really good movie. I enjoyed the fact that they made an effort to have all the classic Terminator lines like: “Come with me if you want to live” and “I’ll be back.” I thought that Christian Bale and Sam Worthington did really well. I’m especially glad that Christian Bale didn’t use that annoying, so-called menacing voice he puts on when he plays Batman.I have a hard time deciding whether I should refer to this as a sequel or a prequel. This is the first of the Terminator movies (as far as I know; I never saw Terminator 3) that actually takes place in the future. However, this movie shows events that form the back-story of the original movie. This shows us a young Kyle Reese before John Connor sends him back in time to stop the terminator from killing his mother Sarah Connor. So, in a sense this is prequel that takes place years after the original. Is that clear as mud? Good!

STAR TREK – Awesomeness . . . in Space!

This review contains spoilers. Just wanted to let you know ahead of time just in case you have not seen this movie yet.I went to see this movie this morning and I have to tell you, after I watched it I was sorely tempted to head over to the box office and by another ticket to see it again. I decided not to because I figured my wife and baby would maybe like to see me some time today. I was absolutely blown away by this movie. Oh yeah; it was that good! I think that the way this movie was set up was ingenious. The whole story was based around this idea of an alternate reality. The great thing about this way of approaching a new Star Trek film is that it allowed director J.J. Abrams and writers Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman to create an alternate version of the Star Trek reality without throwing out the history established in the original show, subsequent series and movies. With the inclusion of the future Spock we have the ability for both the original timeline and history to have been real as well and the version that transpires in this movie. So this was not truly a remake as much as a rather plausible and believable alternate version of the Star Trek universe.Since this was only meant to be a slightly modified, alternate version of the original story it was important that the various characters be essentially the same. I think they did this incredibly well. They managed to give a look to the film that made you feel that though you were seeing at a slightly updated version of the Star Trek world it still clearly reminded the viewer of the original show. As a lifelong Star Trek fan there were a lot of subtle little things from the old show that I was glad to see were included in this film. Scotty yelling: “I’m givin’ it all she’s got Captain.” Dr. McCoy telling Spock: “I’m a doctor not a physicist.” Sulu being trained in fencing. Chekov’s inability to pronounce the letter “v” (“We are looking for the nuclear wessels”). Uhura’s earpiece. The fact that Captain Pike ended up in a wheelchair. The communicators that looked like flip phones. Kirk's liking for green women.Of course, one of the biggest nods to fans was also one of the film’s most subtle. One of the little oddities in the original Star Trek series had to do with red uniforms. When Captain Kirk would lead an away team down to a planet if you saw a guy in that group who you had never seen before, had no idea who he was and he was wearing a red shirt, you could be fairly certain that the team was going to be attacked or there would be an accident and the unnamed, red shirted crewmember was going to die. This became so predictable during the show’s run that once when I was watching a TV special about Star Trek back when I was in high school James Doohan (who played Scotty) actually made a joke about it. Well, in this film Kirk, Sulu and some random crewmember in a red shirt all parachute down onto this giant drill that is cutting into the planet Vulcan. One of them died; I guess you can figure out which one. Did J.J. Abrams do that on purpose? I like to think so.Now, as much as I loved this movie there were a few little things that kinda made me scratch my head. The whole romance between Spock and Uhura was a little weird. I also thought that it was a bit far fetched that in a matter of about a day Kirk would go from being a Starfleet cadet to becoming the captain of the Federation’s new flagship. Of course, I got over those things pretty quickly. All things considered this was a great movie and I really hope that they make another one in the not too distant future.