Raging Bull (1980) (Blu Ray) - 8/10

After getting back from the exahausting trip to Miami, I was ready to get back into the swing of things and decided to go into one of Scorcese's masterpieces, Raging Bull, on newly restored Blu Ray. The first thing you noticed is that while listening to the commentary, Marty talks about how they originally did test footage in color of DeNiro fighting, then decided against it and instead filmed in B/W to give it a more authentic look which I have to agree works well. This movie is gritty and brutal both in the realism and point of view shots of the fights but also in the aggression and anger towards women in the film. Following a very bleak time of history during the depression, we are shown what DeNiro looks like at the end then transported back in time into each of his fights as he struggles with his family and the law to an ultimately sad ending of how this all went down. I really liked the balance and banter between him and his brother, played by Joe Pesci, where we see his drive to be the best but also the limitations of his weight and time period's showbiz. The way the camera jumps around during the fight scenes while using slow motion blood spurts really was hard to watch but very effective in showing the bruises and hits to his body and ego that he takes which carry with him through the film. Once the downfall starts and the Raging Bull starts to gain weight and lose, I felt sorry for how alone he ends up and it really was b/c of DeNiro's acting that makes it so believable. In the end, the movie seems low budget but with the terrific dialogue, it transcends it's genre into a rewarding period drama of the some true stories the boxing world faced that would make you shake your head of the riots and violence compared to today's glorified greaseballs. Scorcese does an excellent job using the B/W to really make you pay attention to the details and characters instead of flashy editing and backgrounds. Hard to watch but worth the attention.

Silence of the Lambs (1991) (Blu Ray) - 9/10

It's funny that I ended up watching 2 Jonathan Demme movies in a day without even knowing it. Almost 18 years after it's release, Silence of the Lambs still holds up as one of my favorite serial killer movies of all time alongside Se7en and Zodiac. Watching this again on Blu Ray tonight was a treat as I'd never seen the movie look this good which helped the overall appreciation of every aspect of it's intensity. The movie works on multiple levels as the incredible cast of Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, haunting score by Howard Shore, and the Hitchcock type editing all create a dark procedural drama that brings you into the minds of not one but two serial killers while showing no mercy. Having the movie revolve around Jodie Foster really made me appreciate how it differed from the book as we see her interpretations of Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill's actions but don't get the thoughts inside their heads so much as we connect with her struggle and emotion to solve the crimes. It's hard to pick a favorite scene in the movie but what I think was the most effective was at the end when they show the swat team approaching the house and then when they break down the door, we cut to Clarice coming face to face with Buffalo Bill instead, an editing trick that really takes you by surprise. What's cool to think about is that they intentionally tell the audience more than the actors know, making it seem like there is more suspense than is shown on screen b/c I know it's the bad guy she stumbles across at the end. This movie is a classic in every sense, showing the intense battle of wits b/w serial killers and the cops while also making the hero a woman who is learning as she goes. There are so many films out there that deal with serial killers but this is prob the only one that won best picture and deservedly so.

Rachel Getting Married (2008) (Blu Ray) - 8/10

Sometimes it's weird to watch movies about dysfunctional families because I feel like they're so close to my own memories that they make me connect and sympathize with the characters even more. With Rachel Getting Married, Jonathon Demme pulled me in right away into this very intense, emotional home video type movie that is so realistic in the way it portrays the drama surrounding a wedding that it's hard to imagine that it was once a script. What's cool is that we're introduced to the various family members and their pasts through multiple hand-held cameras that are shooting simultaneously, giving the actors and background a theatre-like atmosphere where everyone has to be focused in the roles b/c they don't know if they're on screen. The soundtrack in the movie is interesting too as Demme explains he wanted the music to happen in the moment and recorded on set while the actors were saying their lines, making it almost another presence in itself affecting the scene. With true to life dialgoue and multi-ethnic relationships, this movie shows a different kind of realism in which we are meant to belive they are flawed, ordinary people who are celebrating a wedding but in bringing people back together, bring out the worse. I like how they were allowed to improv scenes that weren't in the script which kind of help feel like anything could happen. In the end, I ended up feeling sorry for Anne Hathaway's character but glad that their family could say what they wanted and would be better for the experience they shared. It's refreshing to see a director take a chance when they know they have a good script and cast to kind of let the magic fly on set rather than be planned out to the exact detail. With family movies like this, it's always a good reminder of how lucky I am to have a great familiy and know what's important in life.

Bolt (2008) (Blu Ray) - 10/10

I don't know if it's my love of dogs, animated movies, or self reflexive parody but man do I think this movie rocks. The first thing that comes to mind is thank god Disney is finally getting some help from Pixar so we get more of these hyper photo-realistic animation that makes me amazingly pumped for future releases. I first saw Bolt twice in 3D and even though it's not with glasses here, the Blu Ray looks so good it's as close as you're gonna get. What's so cool about this movie is that it uses Hollywood's own stereotypes as comedy, basically showing the making of a stylized TV show within the movie itself, using that as an excuse to go overboard on action and slow mow camera shots, almost mocking the CSI type shows. The secondary characters of Rhino the hampster and Mittens the cat are crucial to supporting Bolt just like any classic disney charaters should, bringing hilarious comic relief and teaching him to become a real dog in the world he knows nothing about. For some reason, I just find every character in the movie hilarious, whether it be the NY pidgeons, crazy agent, or actor cat who all bring realistic humor to the story. All in all, everything works as the pounding score, detailed animation, and enduring themes of friends all make this movie something I look forward to revisiting.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) (Blu Ray) - 8/10

Butch Cassiday and the Sundance Kid is always fun to revisit so I decided to watch the Blu Ray with the writer and director's commentary to get some history about the making of this unconventional western classic. Coming out during the Vietnam era, this tale of two bank robbers running from the law is a wonderful representation of those buddy type films where Robert Redford and Paul Newman shine as the cowboys with nothing to lose, representing the direct contrast to the growing technology of that era. Talking about the difficulties of production, the commentary goes into the tricky tasks of filming in various locations of Colorado, Bolivia, and Mexico for the epic final shootout, as well the on set pranks and fencing duels between the stars. This idea of the good guys running away from the law with a comic twist really made me connect with their enjoyment of robbing banks as even the Burt Bacharach soundtrack really makes this movie unique. The fantastic scenery is an essential backdrop to the movie's strength, pitting this love triangle between the main characters an underlying tension that helps keep their emotions centralized. I liked the stories they tell of shooting on the hillsides during action scenes where they had to use close ups of the actors to contrast the long shots of the approaching horses to show a huge depth of field. Even shooting Day-as-Night scenes to get a longer horizon of detail in the shots, the director mentions not even having a video department but just winging it on set with the cinematographer to get what they wanted. I like how this movie kinds of steps outside the western by giving us lovable outlaws who ultimately need eachother to survive, keeping the humor up while the violence is not glorified so that we are sad when the famous freeze shot ends with them going out in a blaze of glory.

Let The Right One In (2008) (Blu Ray) - 10/10

It's hard to know where to begin with Let the Right One In as I think a lot of people either won't see this because it's subtitled or don't get how emotionally complex the story is which is a shame b/c this is one of the best movies i've seen in a while and a classic for the vampire genre. The details on this Blu Ray are terrific and along with the classical score really emphasize this cold, dark atmosphere of Sweden where we are thrown into the lives of two young children who are both more than they appear. Oskar is a shy, picked on kid who kind of lives in his own world yet shows a deep ominous desire for revenge against the bullies who constantly torment him at school. His counterpart is Eli, the mysterious fragile girl that moves in next door who over the course of time we start to realize is actually an old vampire who must drink blood on a daily basis in order to keep her strength. As their relationship and curiousty towards eachother slowly grows into a loving friendship, I was constantly intrigued by their sublte desire for eachother and underlying motives where each of these characters stand to to benefit from one another. Even though Eli has an older man who we find out kills random teenagers and drains their blood, we never know if he is a past lover who has been doing this for a while or just another recent tool for Eli's survival. His akward and unsuccessful blood collecting leads to eventual capture, yet we never once question his loyalty of killing himself to protect her secret when we clearly see his fear of her. For me, it's the slow buildup of music that accompanies these very quick and intense scenes of violence where we slowly see the changes of each of the characters towards their outside world that make it so intense. It's exciting to read about these underlying themes of morality where Eli essentially molds Oskar to hit back at the bullies and accept her murderous desire to the point where we are ambiguous as to whether it's truly love that binds them or is she maniupating him to become her next killer. In the end, we're treated to a terrific and gory conclusion that is shown off screen making us visualize this terror Eli unleashes to save Oskar and their eventual future where it starts all over again. This movie is just amazing, the atmosphere and realistic relationship of dealing with a child vampire who can only connect with someone who looks like her really is a moral study of corruption hidden as a vampire love story. I can't wait to watch this movie again.

The Princess Bride (1987) (Blu Ray) - 9/10

This morning I watched The Princess Bride on Blu Ray with the director's commentary, a very cool experience that really complemented how great this new transfer looked, essentially killing two birds with one stone. I've seen this movie dozens of times yet for some reason, it never gets old and I have to give credit to Rob Reiner for really giving us a timeless fairy tale that's celebrated by multiple generations. For me, this commentary really opened up my appreciation for the film in how it hides the modest budget by using various tricks and real locations to give it this bigger than life feel. Scoring their ideal cast that perfectly embodied each character's traits while at the same time allowing for this unorthodox comedic structure, the whole movie is essentially being told as a bedtime story to a kid who just wants to skip to the good parts, bringing we as an audience into his outside interpretation of it. Some cool things I learned this time around was how they had to used a stunt double for Andre the giant with a hidden ramp to take off the weight on his back during the fight scenes, there were two midgets in the swamp rat suits, the water scenes were actually in a pool on a stage with 3 feet of water, and that most of the backgrounds were matte paintings, essentially using half stage and half picture to blend in this far off background. With awesome sword fights that the actors did themselves, great improv and a terrific score underlying the theme of love conquers all, this movie puts every stereotype together in a way that so many movies don't get to do nowadays. It's comedic themes of almost parodying these older robin hood stories while also bringing in a tale of revenge really crosses genres and will continue to be one of the most quoted and celebrated fantasies of our time. A truly excellent commentary and new picture quality make this a must-revisit classic for all ages.

Knowing (2009) (Theatrical) - 5/10

Checked out the new Nicholas Cage Sci-Fi movie Knowing on the giant screen this afternoon and was not impressed at all. Coming from Alex Proyas, the director of Dark City and The Crow, I was expecting a much darker mystery and intimate character study but once again, we get this overexaggerated CGI mess of a film that could have been so much better. The premise is actually cool, where a young girl writes a bunch of numbers on paper into a time capsule that when opened in the present, predicts all the major disasters of the last 50 years and the next couple that haven't happened yet. What I don't get is why they didn't milk this idea further, instead of showing newspaper articles of stuff that already happened, they should have had more than 2 events that they have to try and stop to bump up the suspense. Nicholas Cage seems to play the same over emotional nutcase in every film, trying to convince everyone this paranoia is real and again losing any credibility that he's bringing his career back. It seemed this movie had so many idea thrown into it's script that it didn't know what kind of genre it wanted to be, alternating the huge special FX shots with depressing overacting that by the end made me not even care what happened to these characters. There were too many ambiguous motives and details that seemed to just try and throw me off track, not to mention the ending which was so far fetched that I was just ready for it to be over. My friends and I were literally laughing during the entire movie, making me certain that you can't take this movie seriously at all which is a shame.

Happy-Go-Lucky (2008) - 6/10

Happy-Go-Lucky is a movie that I'd heard good things about, specifically for Sally Hawking's performance, but after all this wait, I was not impressed at all. For some reason, I did not care for her "Poppy" character in the slightest and that's where the problem lies I think. You either find her funny and happy or completely annoying. Maybe it was the british humor and accent that I didn't connect with but for some reason, this movie is really about nothing but a short look into the life of this elementary school teacher who has a sunny disposition towards life. Going out to concerts with her friends, curing hangovers, and trying to get her driver's license, there wasn't enough conflict or drama in this to actually worry what happens to her. The driving teacher who gets so frustrated by her over self importance finally lashes out at everyone around them which was probably what I would have done. In the end, this movie is supposed to be a quirky realistic romp into a 30 year old single teacher's life but instead was just depressing that the people weren't having any fun. That's what I look for in a movie, can I learn something or take me away to some fun far off place. This did neither.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (1994) - 9/10

For some reason I felt that I hadn't seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in a while so I decided to pop it in and listen to the commentary by director Michael Gondry and write Charlie Kaufman. First off, man is this movie and listening to these guys a mind-fuck! To say this movie is confusing is an understatement, yet there is a payoff to understanding these characters and realism to the relationships in it that make it accessable and relatable to a lot of people, including myself. What interested me listening to their discussion of the film this time around was their reason for structuring it in 2 different time periods, making me not really know which part is happening now or in a flashback. They build up the suspense using this memory erasing company who is taking away Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet's relationship as they run through his past trying to escape the memory being destroyed around them. This idea of erasing memories of a loved one is a very cool premise and I really appreciated the paranoia and suspense they build as Jim Carrey tries to hide these events with Kate Winslet in his own past, fighting back as the details literally disappear around him. Using a variety of camera tricks to show forced perpspective of his youth and a twisted view on the world seen through flashbacks, we ultimately are forced to ponder if it was a good or bad idea that they erased eachother as this slow exposure of the problems they had together made me kind of wish I could erase the heartbreak i've felt as well. Overall, this movie is surprisingly complex and yet creative in a way that not many films today are. using multiple time periods to show an alternate reality of fighting the controlled memory loss of a loved one, I was reminded by these guys how much I like this movie and the performances within. The ultimate question is, could you believe you had a serious relationship with someone if it was presented to you but you had no memory of it? This idea of fate and them meeting at the end after it all gives me hope.

Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009) (Blu Ray) - 7/10

These direct to video Futurama movies have kind of been hit or miss lately but since this was the last one they made, I thought I would check it out to get my fill of the series. What I noticed first about this Blu Ray was how good the animation looked, much much better than it looks on TV. What makes this show and movie so appealing to me is the way they pretty much throw every random idea they can come up with regarding space travel and alien creatures but have it all revolve around these characters Bender and Lila that we've come to know so that once we see them getting into these hairy situations, you know exactly how they're gonna act and this movie doesn't disappoint. From interstellar miniature golf courses to an egg planet that can replicate all the extinct species in the world, I pretty much just go along for the ride and see what pop culture references they can throw in. While there are some funny gags regarding the machoism and sexual inuendos Bender throws at the females or the way they depict evolution, the movie didn't feel like the ultimate comedy conclusion to the series I was looking for. It seems that they had so many ideas for this final movie that they just decided to put them all in at once so that everyone's creativity could get credited. In the end, I enjoyed the movie for it's feature length and better graphics but in reality, I will probably just watch the show when it's on TV and not revisit these movies.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua (2008) (Blu Ray) - 3/10

The only reason I checked out this movie today was b/c I wanted to see how bad it was and confirming my prediction, it was absolutely horrible. The thought of putting out a movie about talking Chihuahuas seems insane and yet there is a demographic of kids out there that eat this shit up. To me though, I noticed every problem and was just continually annoyed by how dumb this movie treated the audience, confirming the superficiality of Hollywood and it's Paris-Hilton-like infatuation with little dogs. This movie doesn't explain any rules of why the dogs can talk but instead just opens the movie with dogs talking to eachother and people apparently talking to the dogs as well spoiling them rotten. Trying to make it an adventure story of getting stolen and finding it's way home, the plot of this movie reinforced all the mistakes of a cheesy saturday cartoon by using poop jokes and fake CGI to fill in all the boring parts. Even though Piper Perabo is a grade A hottie, she is barely in this movie and instead just runs around not doing anything. Overall, this movie is not only laughably bad, but almost unwatchable as I couldn't get past how stupid the dogs mouths looked while talking and why people would waste their time animating a movie that depicts cruelty to animals while trying promote dog fashion. Lame!

Sunshine Cleaning (2009) (Theatrical) - 8/10

Tonight I saw a sneak preview of Sunshine Cleaning, a movie distributed by one Starz's companies Overture films, and was glad to see that we're promoting something that's actually good. Having the best limited release box office so far of 2009, Sunshine Cleaning is a movie that clearly follows in the footsteps of Little Miss Sunshine but stands on it's own nicely as a realistic melodrama about 2 women who start up their own crime scene cleanup service. One thing I noticed from the start was how much I liked the slow motion intro to each character and the steady amount of backstory we learn about their present hardships and past memories of their family history. We learn more and more as the movie goes on from great performances by Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, and the unknown kid, who I think really shines as the misunderstood "lil bastard" who just needs to let his creative freak flag fly. The realistic struggle of trying to raise a kid by yourself mirrored with these two sister's past of losing their mother really allowed each subplot they were given to breathe so that it wasn't constant drama. With the comedy balance of learning how to clean up after dead bodies while also showed flashbacks to expose the pressure on the relationship with their father, you couldn't help but care for these women and hope that everything would work out for the best. Overall, the genuine emotions and realistic relationships that are shown do not give in to Hollywood endings but rather end with no exaggerated emotion, giving way to a happy conclusion where everyone is where they need to be. This movie was a satisfying detour from the regular trash that studios throw out and instead made me be glad I have this job and not theirs.

Australia (2008) (Blu Ray) - 7/10

I'm a sucker for big budget historical epics and was truly pumped seeing the previews for Australia but after one viewing in theatres and again on Blu Ray tonight, I have to say that all the ingredients are there but there is just something missing to make this movie ownable. The first thing I have to say though is that the cinematography of this movie is amazing, the Blu Ray looks awesome and has this bright filter to most of the shots which gives a realism to the outback locations while also emphasizing the Baz style of glossy flare where green screen and stage shots are used to enhance the background with Visual FX. I'd say the movie you can most compare this to looking like is King Kong, which is one of my faves of all time. Actually, when zooming out to reflect the entire production and scope of this movie, everything works from afar as it has great characters, a sweeping score, costumes, action, special fx, and a kind of larger than life scale that fits the landscape and tone of the film. But from the beginning they make the biggest mistake I can see in the film in giving the young aboriginee kid the entire voiceover narration, which kind of took me out of the fantasy realm and instead was annoying to the point where I realized they were trying to make a statement about the hardships and slavery these Australian kids experienced following Pearl Harbor. Hugh Jackman's "Drover" character is by far the coolest and carries the entire movie on his shoulders, Nicole Kidman was fine as the fish out of water yuppie who must fall in love with the landscape/man to save her cattle ranch against the bad guys. There are certain scenes and secondary characters in the movie though that have no meaning in the overall plot, making me wish they would have almost changed the order of the action scenes instead of spacing everything out so much. Another thing that bothered me was the vagueness and shallow arc of the villians where we only see them rarely or they're mentioned as doing something but in reality it should have focused more on WWII being the bad guy instead of the stereotypical, money hungry crook. The cattle stampede and the bombing of Darwin are some highlights that made this movie enjoyable and the music really rocks during some of the overhead zooming out shots but overall I felt that they tried too hard to capture the look of Australia but didn't let us really care about the characters enough. There's a corniness and humor to this that doesn't make it a love story or action epic and instead just makes it an overblown mess of costumes, dust, and tourist ad which is sad b/c this could have been so much better.

Role Models (2008) (Blu Ray) - 7/10

Role Models is a movie that I didn't care too much for when I saw it in theatres and now watching it again on Blu Ray , I realized I'm still annoyed by it for the same reasons. The problem with this movie is that it has so much potential to be hilarious and from the beginning sets up this crude, buddy comedy about two slackers that work for an energy drink company partying like we all do. But just when I think that the dirty jokes and banter b/w them is going somewhere, it ends up as a comment on societies problems where they cop out and go hollywood by givin us this joke of them mentoring kids for this Sturdy Wings program where someone thought a young black kid saying fuck would be funny. The opposing characteristics of the two guys works the best i thought as Stiffler pretty much plays, well Stiffler, the sex fueled alcoholic who loves his minimum wage job b/c there's no responsibility and stress. Paul Rudd's character though is trying to keep his relationship going and dealing with his mid life crisis of wanting more out of life, making them almost opposites who must work together to get through this horrible community service project. There are certain scenes when they're getting lectured by the Sturdy wings leader which are funny, but everything seems cheesy and predictable by the end where we see them try to bond with their kids and ultimately end up failing but learning more about themselves to win in the end. The stupid LARP (live action role playing) games they participate in throughout the movie just comes off as gay, reminding me how much I hate the game my brother plays for taking people out of the real world. Overall, it's sad to have such a balls out Unrated comedy which sputters out when they try to give all the jokes to the kids and have these two guys who I connect with trying to be responsible. If i want a reality check, i'll go home.

Pinocchio (1940) (Blu Ray) - 10/10

I was really impressed with Disney's first Blu Ray release of Sleeping Beauty and have to say, they pulled out all the stops once again for this second release of classic animated films, Pinocchio. Even though it's pillarboxed with the original 1:33 aspect ratio, I can't remember ever seeing it look this good. This movie is a nostaligia trip down memory lane as I found myself instanstly remember the songs and music, singing along as I went on this tale of Pinocchio and Jimminy Cricket who must help him make the right decisions to become a real boy. The first thing I noticed now that I'm much older is how dark and scary this movie actually is. A freaky wooden puppet comes to life, then is pretty much kidnapped by a creepy, sinister fox character, who then sells Pinocchio to a stage performer who locks him up and beats him. For a children's movie, this sure had some very interesting ideas of the corruption of childhood through temptation as well as slavery and indulgence of illegal substance. After being sold to the evil Pleasure Island villian, Pinocchio must overcome the drugs and alcohol being given to him and escape before he turns into a donkey like the rest of the naughty boys. Even the whale scene at the end is kinda out there as they like go fishing and start a fire within the monster so that he sneezes them out, eventually taking them home and learning to tell the truth to become a real boy. I really like the songs and music in this and the cool painting look that is only found with these older animated films. All the characters and themes in this movie are iconic not only because they are geared towards kids as well as adults alike, but the brilliance of reminding everyone to tell the truth while doing what you think is right, not what other people think you should do b/c it's cool. The extras are all in HD and give some phenomenal insight into to the making including deleted scenes, first sketches, and interviews with the original animators.

Back to the Future III (1990) - 9/10

I watched Back to the Future III this afternoon with the commentary by producers/directors again and enjoyed it much more this time around because I got to learn some stuff in the process. It must have been cool that BTTF II had the trailer for this last one showing the old west time period, teasing audiences that it was coming out only 5 months later. Setting this movie back in 1885 as the western was a breath of fresh air for the series I think as keeping all the same motifs and characters made it seem like a continuation of the first two films. What I like is the way the music is tweaked to mirror famous western themes as well as have the iconic image of the delorean being pulled by horses or the shootout that takes it's camera shots directly out of the classic cowboy movies. Contrasting part 2's overusage of a technology based future, the western goes back to the roots of invention and creativity as they have to devise a way to use what they have back then to get the delorean up to 88. Some interesting things they talked about were the use of green screen shots to have two Marty's in the same shot, the flat train cars they had to have the crew on while it was moving, and the fact that they used ILMs effects to create a mixture of desert background with new technology to create a layer within the frame. With some cool references to the first 2 movies and the climax on the train, BTTF III just reinforced the coolness these movies represented for time travel, sci fi, and how comedy can be intertwined through it all.

Wonder Woman (2009) (Blu Ray) - 8/10

It's always cool being introduced to these DC characters like Wonder Woman with these sick new Blu Ray Animated movies that are slowly being released. In the wake of Batman Gotham Knight and Hulk/Thor vs. Wolverine, this is by far the best comic book direct to video movie i've seen yet. Pretty much detailing the origins of Wonder Woman through Greek mythology, this Blu Ray looked great and had some very cool fight scenes that elevated it above the regular saturday morning cartoon. Some of things that really made this work for me was the male pilot who, voiced by Nathan Fillion, pretty much hits on Wonder Woman the entire movie and brings some great comic relief amidst this battle of gods and supernatural creatures. Moving from locations in the Underworld to an invisible island and eventually ending up in Manhattan, the way that we see Wonder Woman use her powers against Aries and other criminals proves funny because she thinks all men are just pigs and basically just kicks the crap out of them all. With some great aerial battle and a huge superhero fight through the white house and DC, this movie was everything that I had hoped and more, giving me hope that the new Green Lantern movie will be even better.

Open Season 2 (2008) (Blu Ray) - 6/10

I really enjoy the first Open Season movie more and more after repeated viewings but knew that this direct to Blu Ray sequel probably wouldn't be as good even though it still had the same characters. The main thing you notice is the lower budget of the animation on this film, the characters and background animation aren't as crisp and detailed as you would find in a theatrical release though the colors and landscapes still look quite good for these animals to interact with humans in. There are some funny gags that run throughout the movie regarding a poodle and the weiner dog but I found this plot to be lacking on the action and suspense that made the first one so good. What's entertaining to me is when these animals start plotting against the humans to help their friends escape whether it be unleasing the bear to terrorize a water park and motor home or just going crazy to scare the bejesus out of them. Unfortunately the ending is so childish and hollywoodized that you can't help but be disappointed to where else it could have gone but it's always fun getting more from these characters that you like.

The Truman Show (1998) (Blu Ray) - 9/10

If The Truman Show was ever made into a series, I would watch it in a heartbeat. Our fascination with reality TV and hidden cameras is brought to the forefront of allegory in this great comedy where a man's life is completely controlled and monitored by camera for the whole world to watch. Peter Weir is a genius for casting Jim Carrey who brings his various facial expressions and overacting to full advantage when he starts to notice weird things happening that wake him up to realize this whole world revolves around him. It's fascinating to hear that they filmed in this real town in FL instead of a set on the Universal lot which really gives it a fake feel yet you have this full town he can interact with. To me, it's the slow buildup of paranoia that we go through with Truman and the cuts to the people in the real world reacting to his emotion that really make this movie great. Using over 5000 hidden camera that follow him everywhere, it almost mirrors our current culture of paparazzi chasing movie stars around where we as an audience almost know what's happening before they do. The classical music gave me an almost silent movie feel at some points where we're only seeing him through the intentional lens techniques to make it look like the camera is in a radio, map, or pencil sharpener. The concept of this movie works because the world that's created for Truman is almost a hyper reality, designed as a movie within a movie so that it's almost undetectable to know what's real and what's fake. This idea of breaking out of your mold and knowing there is something greater out there is always a theme that i've been interested in as I continually find ways to just get away and find out who I am just like Truman.

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) (Blu Ray) - 8/10

The second movie of the afternoon was the new Blu Ray release of Mrs. Doubtfire, a wonderful and hilarious movie that I remember watching as a kid which actually still holds up after all this time. Robin Williams is great as the energetic voice-actor/father who must transform himself into a house nanny in order to see his kids he lost in a divorce. The realistic portrayal of the effect a divorce has on this family as well as the enthusiasm Robin Williams shows in doing whatever it takes to be close to his kids really makes this movie more than just a regular comedy but an improv masterpiece that has one joke after another. Using a very extensive makeup job to create Mrs. Doubtfire, the filmmakers let us feel all the little details of what it's like pretending to be an old lady and how the different voice changes he uses really pull this character off. What I noticed most this time around now that I'm older are all the little jokes that are underneath it all, the sexual references and inuendoes that give it it's charm. From the Vacuum dancing scene, "help is on the way" run, the "rapter rap", and the alternate personalities when he tries on all the faces, this movie really has something for everyone. I think I find this movie better than most because not only is it a great family movie, but like my own family, it shows the positive side of moving past a divorce and parents staying close to their kids.

Back to the Future II (1989) - 9/10

Starting out the day with a fun movie always seems to make me feel better so I popped in Back to the Future II this morning and watched it with the commentary from the producer/director to gain some perspective on the making of this sci fi classic. Beginning right after the first one ends, BTTF II goes in an entire different direction by using vast amounts of ILM work to show futuristic cars, landscapes, and technology that make this adventure much more realistic and dramatic when it deals with saving their entire existence. What was cool listening to the commentary this time around was the little details they pointed out including fake posters, newspapers, stunts that went wrong, as well as when FX shots appear like when the car turns from a model to real. Explaining how they incorporated CGI into the sets to give it a blending of time periods really made this movie original, using their guesswork of the future to mirror our current technology and thoughts of how we would make things easier. From the hoverboard scene to the car chases, this sequel builds up the tension and score to bring your imagination full front in order to want these characters to get back to reality. This movie will always stand out as a must see for the way it reimagines the laws of time travel while giving you a great villian , hero, and scientist making you wish you could be there with them on this exciting journey.

Watchmen - (IMAX Experience) - 8/10

I had a lot of anticipation going into Watchmen for the first time in IMAX and I have to say, I believe it definitely helped the overall experience. This movie was huge in every sense of the word, a full on comic book epic that threw every cinematic CGI technique in the book at you but was so faithful to it's roots that it ultimately came off as an underwhelming opera of violence that took itself too seriously. I really liked parts of this movie to the point where like in 300 I was like, wow, that's awesome. But then there are scenes that are just so weird or corny that you wonder if you're watching the same film. The opening sequence of the movie really got me pumped as it's not only the most interesting, but has the best choreographed fight scene and the most effective use of news to make you believe in this fake history they create for this superhero world. Watchmen's plot gets so complicated though that I can't even explain it to you without seeing it a couple more times and reading the graphic novel, which I'm told is so much better. All I know is that I enjoyed the hell out of the action in this movie. There were some awesome slow motion fight scenes which were stylized just like 300 including gruesome bone breaking, a kid eaten by dogs and hardcore limb chopping that made me realize that this movie really packed a punch. Even though they try to flesh out the mythology that's given to this group of aging superhoes who are outlawed from wearing masks and protecting Earth as it spirals into nuclear holocaust, I thought we didn't get enough genuine character moments with Dr. Manhattan to balance out the plot of Rorsach solving the mystery of who's trying to kill them. This movie wasn't nearly as good as Speed Racer or even The Dark Knight because it almost tried too hard to make the characters read their lines right of the comic, making a weird flow of dialogue and sex scenes that just seemed out of place. Besides the big blue penis that flops around most of the time, another thing that took me out of the world this movie was taking us to was the continual use of popular songs to cover important or emotional parts. I'd rather have the sweeping score from Tyler Bates kick in during these moments and don't think using a song to represent the time period really fit into the creativity they were going for. It almost felt like they got lazy and couldn't think up a tune to accompany that part in the movie. The viewpoint this alternate reality of superheroes represented was so dense and cynical that it kind of bugged me when they made such negative views on our society and pretty much say that we will go extinct any day now. The glorification and closeup of the violence in this movie seemed to just be there to show the actors looking good in costume but actually contradicted the message of peace the Watchmen were trying to promote in the first place. Thinking back on it now, I'm much more intrigued by the parrallels this movie represents to our current civilization's fear of terrorism and the real heroes that have to step up to protect our way of life. I"m sure i'll get more understanding of this world with the new animated comapanions and extended director's cut, but after this first viewing I liked it but didn't love it.

JCVD (2008) (Blu Ray) - 8/10

Movies that have actors playing themselves are a tricky thing to pull off, sometimes it seems to me that they almost come off as too self reflexive to the point where it's trying to change my view of that person in real life, even though I know they're still just reading their lines. JCVD is better though, a bold and interesting little film that takes a look at how we as the public view Jean Claude Van Damme the actor and the struggles he has feeling trapped in the same roles his whole life. Showing the toll age has on his endurance during fight scenes and the financial crisis he has to deal with on a daily basis, the movie turns from being a documentary about people taking pictures with him into to a post office robbery gone bad where JCVD gets taken hostage and then has to convince the cops he isn't in on it. What's cool about the way the movie is structured are the disjointed time lines, showing us the end of the movie then explaining how it gets to that point only to come back to the present and finish off with an emotional breakdown that really proves he can act. I specifically liked the way the criminals idolized him within the hostage situation and how they made him do tricks from certain movies , bagging on the directors he worked with. Overall, the blending of JCVD's emotional struggle to expose his true side with a fictional robbery scenario that he has to resolve made this movie original enough to recommend, especially if you grew up on his movies. It was nice to see an actor break down and analyze their career in a negative light instead of using the medium to justify the the drugs, crimes, and arrogant accomplishments.

Sex Drive (2008) (Blu Ray) - 7/10

To get the week started, I decided to watch this new comedy called Sex Drive on Blu Ray, a movie that I had heard a lot about but needed to check out for mysef to see if it was as funny as everyone is saying. Unfortunately, this film was just another sellout teen sex comedy that favored raunchy humor and crude dialogue over actual character depth in having to deal with real life situations. Following the life of a loser who wears a donut costume in a mall, I found myself dumber for having to listen to the lies he gives an online girl who magically ends up wanting to meet him. So starts this road trip across the country with his buddy and the girl he really likes to try and sleep with this chatroom hottie in hopes that it makes him ready and more mature along the way. This plot has been done so many times before it seemed and I found myself not laughing with them but at them instead, sad and embarrassed that they would talk about women and sex as if it was going to change his life or was some holy grail. Although there were some laughs with the brother who calls him gay and the amish Seth Green who "misses" sarcasm, I thought this movie had way too many ridiculous character's and checkered one liners instead of letting us really get to see how long and crazy the road trip was to get there. It tried to throw in a twist at the end but falls flat I thought by trying to tie every loose end together all at once, never really giving me the payoff or crazyiness that I was hoping for. Overall, a letdown, though the Unrated Version is just ridiculous enough with more random nudity and CGI characters that make it tolerable.

What Just Happened (2008) - 6/10

Sometimes a movie tries so hard to show the realistic assholes of the film industry that it ends up being useless as escapism and instead is just boring compared to the titles referenced within. With a title that begs the question, What Just Happened, this flick starring Robert De Niro wasn't bad in any sense of the word but just didn't shock or move me enough to care about what happened to the characters involved. Following the true accounts published by a famous producer in Hollywood, I found it interesting how this movie painted the different jobs in Hollywood as almost mundane to the point where they're all labeled as divorced, cheating and ruthless pricks who will do anything to make money. It was funny seeing Bruce Willis and real actors playing themselves but instead of wanting to be a rich producer like we are shown, I was almost sad for Robert DeNiro's character who had to battle with his ex-wives and directors who try to screw him over every chance they got. There were certain things that I found cool though whether it be how much power a producer has in final cut and distribution to the loops they have to go through in order to please their financers and studio execs. Though given a certain type of hyper stylized glamour, it seems like this kind of job which I thought I might like would probably give me a heart attack. Doing so many things at once and showing how pushed and pulled producers are to deliver, I like thinking of myself as more of an audience member enjoying what's put on screen and getting people excited about stuff rather than spending all my time worrying about test screenings and editing for one project. Overall, there were certain funny parts about how superstitious actors are and the perks of living the high life in the biz but I never wanted to be anyone in this movie or needed to look up the guy who it's based on. The idea of following someone around who does all the dirty work to get a movie made isn't nearly as interesting as how the movie effects those around you. Either way, I'm definitely not moving out to CA now!

Philadelphia (1993) - 7/10

I managed to find time this afternoon to squeeze in Philadelphia, a film I really can't remember seeing all the way through but had always heard how great Tom Hanks' performance was that nabbed him his first oscar. The subject of AIDS in movies is always controversial and touchy but I think this movie really made you sympathize and understand the battle Tom Hanks has to go through in the movie by showing his slow deterioration and the effect it has on the people who help him bring a lawsuit against the firm who fired him for just that reason. Having the powerhouse of Denzel Washington opposite Hanks really made me respect this film for their chemistry and the way they played off eachother as almost opposite ends of the spectrum, Denzel hating homosexual's and not even wanting to touch him and Hanks trying to just seem like a normal person. What makes this movie so timeless I believe is the underlying moral issues of accepting all people as equals and allowing the law to protect those who might be stereotyped or hated the same as everyone else. With Philadelphia, Tom Hanks suceeds in a realistic portrayal of a man with AIDS with an astounding performance that really opened up my understanding of the bigotry and struggle people with this disease have. This issue is even more important today I believe as I hope we always support cures for AIDS so that as few people have to experience this as possible.

High Anxiety (1977) - 6/10

The movie I decided to check out this afternoon was Mel Brook's High Anxiety, a similar type of comedy to his previous films which follows the director surviving the parodies of various Alfred Hitchcock films while running around trying to solve a murder mystery. With direct scenes making fun of Psycho, North By Northwest, The Birds, and Vertigo, this movie really wasn't that funny to me for some reason either because it's so dated or the fact that I just don't like parodies like this when the originals are so much better. Mel Brooks himself is easy to recognize and some of the jokes like birds attacking him with poop or when a bellhop attacks him in the shower with a newspaper were somewhat enjoyable yet I found myself hating most of the secondary characters and production design. With movies like Blazing Saddles and even Robin Hood Men In Tights, there are far better movies out there from Mel Brooks that I would recommend checking out. High Anxiety just tried to hard to stick every cliche and famous scene from Hitchcock's films into one long string of set pieces with no single narrative structure to fall back on. Overall, I'm hesistant to say this is a bad movie but glad we have better comedies coming out nowadays that I didn't have to live when this came out.

Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008) (Blu Ray) - 1/10

This was one of the worst movies I've seen in a while and I've seen a lot. From the director of the Saw films comes Repo The Genetic Opera, by far the weirdest, craziest, and most messed up idea that came out of Hollywood last year. Here's a couple things this movie had going for it. One, Paris Hilton. Ya....she can act. Two, it's a musical. Three, it's about people stealing peoples organs! The design of this movie was like some trippy nightmareish music video where an all powerful company reposseses organs from people by literally tearing them open while they're alive and killing them. For some reason the producers thought it would be a good idea for characters to sing their lines but it's full of horrible actors literally talking about getting surgery and going after people's faces to wear as their own. This is something that really has to be seen to be believed, the people that actually like this movie are trying so hard to be emo and goth that they seriously need help. If anything, this movie can be considered a comedy for the way it tries to have it's own style of music and dance while being completely retarded and grotesque for the sake of being original.

A Little Princess (1995) - 7/10

The first movie of today was A Little Princess by acclaimed director Alfonson Cuaron, the same guy who brought us Children of Men and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. His name being attached to this film as well as having the same cinematographer from his future work made me want to check out this intriguing tale of a young princess who after being sent to a boarding school by her rich father, finds out that he is presumed dead and missing at war which then leads the place to take away her lavish lifestyle to live a life of servitude. The color palette of this film was very well done representing the rich greens and reds of India that made for a cool background where we see her dreaming into these far off fairy tales only to be dragged back to reality by a nasty headmistress and told she has to earn her place at the school. With the help of the girls around her, she tells stories and creates imaginary worlds for them which transport their minds out of the strict, boring school they're stuck with and into the worlds that this young girl Sarah has only been lucky enough to see. I really liked the depiction of the dark school being compared to the war and the sadness this girl overcomes as her faith is rewarded by the loyal friends she encounters who help rebel against the school to get her reunited with her father. Overall, this movie was just as it sounds, a heartwarming tale which showed the true spirit of how children are able to use imagination to break the rules and conventions around them in order to conquer evil and help everyone see the brighter world around them.

Pride and Glory (2008) - 6/10

This afternoon I checked out Pride and Glory on DVD, a movie I had seen in theatres but really wanted to like more this second time around. Unfortunately, there's just something missing from this story which revolves around Colin Farrel and Edward Norton's family legacy within the NY police department who are torn apart by corruption, drugs and murder. Both of these guys are great when they're together on screen but that doesn't happen that often as almost right from the start we see who the bad guy is and who the hero is so they're either tracking down leads on eachtother or covering their tracks. It just doesn't build enough tension that's needed to care about either one when they eventually fight at the end which actuallyturns out to be cool. The other various character's accents and interaction within the local settings of Manhattan play an integral part to establish the tone and create a realitistic criminal underworld that really is the only thing that seems to work. I guess I wanted a less formulaic cop drama and one that doesn't make the obvious mistakes of killing everyone out of convenience. It's cool to see these guys trying to so hard but I think this movie fails in the end.

The Passion of the Christ (2004) (Blu Ray) - 7/10

Even though The Passion of the Christ is an incedibly hard movie to watch, you have to give respect to Mel Gibson for putting something together that's really never been shown on screen quite like this before. Following the last hours of Jesus and his followers, this movie is a brutal and realistic experience that surely deserves it's controversy. I saw that this had been released on Blu Ray a couple weeks ago so I figured I would try to get through it again with the brand new HD transfer and listen to the director/theologian commentary to try and learn something in the process. It's interesting to hear people talk about these incidents like it's just another part of the history books and I found it fascinating in how much people know about this subject to the point where they're analyzing eye contact, body movements, and allegories to other books of the bible which kind of made it confusing but relevant to Easter nonetheless. The main thing I got out of this commentary and intellectual discussion was the fact that Mel Gibson wanted to stay so true to what the bible depicts that he ultimately makes the audience suffer like Jesus does in the film to try and make us pay respect to his sacrifice. I agree that people need to see the true side of these events but I sometimes think kids need to have it painter in a lighter picture to really want to go to church and stuff when they are young. This movie is a great part of history in the fact that we have the technology and production design to pull this off yet I find it hard to recommend or even look forward to watching this again.

LOTR - The Return of the King EE (2003) - 10/10

LOTR Return of the King has been labeled by many as the greatest cinematic achievement of all time and I find it hard to argue when you experience what Peter Jackson and his team have put on screen to finish off this epic trilogy. Watching it with the director's commentary this time around was a treat, not just because you get the in depth account of how they filmed this massive undertaking but I realized how much the project meant to everyone involved who didn't know the importance of what they were creating. From the massive battle scenes to the detailed close ups of the actors, this movie uses every cinematic technique in the book to create an emotional depth so many movies nowadays lack. The responsibilty PJ and Weta took upon themselves to outdo the previous films and give the fans what they wanted seems to have paid off as when you see everything put together, the music, the sets, and matte paintings, etc, you feel like you yourself have gone on this journey with them and are rewarded in going along for the ride. What I took most out of this commentary viewing was the passion that the filmmakers had for sticking so close to the books and the troubles they faced with filming all three movies at at once by using what actors were there that day to film scenes that might not even have happened yet. It was interesting to get a sense about the editing of the film and how the intercutting of battle scenes with character interaction really strengthened the digital shots they needed to underscore the hardships and scope of the world around them to make the audience believe it was as real as anything they could have imagined. From the huge helicopter shots to the green screen effects and mo cap work, this movie is unlike anything that has been created before it and I believe we all should be glad that something as cool as movies can give us so much. I"ll definitely be watching this again when the Hobbit comes out and hope I learn even more the next time around.