Pointless

I for some reason saw "Beowulf". Terrible decision. I told myself I wouldn't see it since it is made with "motion capture" and not animation. And since I am an animator, it's putting animators out of work, but not really, since even with mo-cap, they need animators to go in and fix things up. Making an entire movie with motion capture is very pointless to me. The purpose of animation is characterization, such as any Pixar or Dreamworks film, or using it as a stunt double for actors. Mo-cap is great in some instances, such as Golum in "Lord of the Rings" and "King Kong". But to do mo-cap just because you can is so dumb. In "Beowulf" they try to make the characters look real but you can tell they're not. Our eyes are experts in what a human face and body should move like, so we can tell when something doesn't look right. The faces and bodies are chubby and they don't move right. It's as if they only animated the eyes and mouths, and don't add all the essential subtle movements in the human face. I saw the 3D version which is kind of cool in parts but still pretty pointless, and the glasses hurt my nose. As far as story, "Beowul" is, yes, pointless. The villain keeps coming back to life and doesn't die and the story doesn't really have a resolution. I'm thouroughly offended by Robert Zemeckis and his motion capture. Animators will always be needed, get thee hence with your "hi-tech" movies and mo-cap ways. The fight Beowulf has with a dragon is entertaining, but there's no need to see this movie.

*

Enchanted

Giselle a young maiden on her way to marry her one true love, Prince Edward, is banished by his mother, the evil Queen Narissa to a far away land...Manhattan.

This is actually quite clever, the way they take all of the "Princess" stories and kind of blend them into one. Cinderella, Snow White, Little Mermaid, Sleeping Beauty...they are all there. The film does start a little slow and takes a while to set up the story, but once it does it is sweet and charming. Not as Enchanting as I expected it to be...but still fun.

*** Must See

Rated PG (for Mild innuendo)

Buzz-Zzzzzz

I saw Bee Movie over the weekend. Sorry Dreamworks, you're still not up to Pixar's level. Shrek 1, 2 and Over the Hedge were worthy efforts (unfortunately Shrek 4 & 5 are in the works.) Technically they're right there with Pixar, but in terms of story, where it really matters, Dreamworks is lagging. It was a fun movie, but kind of slow, and just didn't have the "heart" and story that every Pixar film has had. It's pretty funny throughout but there's only about 2 parts that made me "LOL" as the instant messengers say, but the humor is somewhat Seinfeld-esque which is enjoyable at times. The character design is a little weird for the lead character, Barry Bee Benson, voiced by Mr. Seinfeld himself. Maybe it was his tiny nose and hair, something weird about it. And the lead human character, voiced by the annoying Renee Zelweiger, is a little weird in the face, maybe the eyes are too close together, I couldn't quite put my finger on it. The animation is great and the look and design of the movie (sets, textures, rendering) is very well done. Better luck with your next one Dreamworks, Kung-Fu Panda, starring the voice talent of Jack Black. Judging from the trailer, which plays with Bee Movie, I think the panda will follow in the steps of the bee. Although the character design looks great. As for Bee Movie, I give it **1/2.

American Gangster

American Gangster follows the real life story of Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) and his rise to power as a crime boss. It also tells the parallel story of Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe) the police officer that is eventually asked to bring Lucas in.

Well it isn’t exactly the Godfather or Goodfellas for that matter in fact I think that it is more like a Serpico, which in my opinion makes it an interesting movie. As it is based on a true story it takes its time giving you all the bits and pieces of information, perhaps more time than necessary, and because of that you find yourself liking Lucas more than you should.

Unlike Matt I wasn’t disappointed by the movie—perhaps because after his review I went in with much lower expectations. The police story line in my opinion is much more interesting and again reminds me of Serpico. Nevertheless it is shot really well and you are sucked in right from the start. I think that Matt’s comparison of Frank Lucas to Anakin Skywalker is kind of stretch. Nothing can be that bad. But I get what he meant and agree it wasn’t poignant enough.

Extremely interesting and very well done—expect to hear Oscar buzz for both Washington and Crowe.

***

Rated R (for violence, drugs, language, nudity and sexuality)

I am ashamed...

...because, I actually paid $8.50, shame for you Californians that have to pay $15 to see a movie, to see one of the worst movies I've ever seen......"Dragon Wars" or as it is know online, "D-War". It was in theaters for probably the length of the movie, just under two hours, and I was stupid enough to see it. It's not may fault! They used words like "dragons" and, and "wars" to suck me into the theater! As some of you may know, I'm an animator and I love special fx, so the idea of a movie about a war, with dragons....seemed pretty cool........fraid not. It was made in Korea I believe and the fx are actually pretty good, but those in no way make up for the horrid, horrid story and acting. One of the stars is the guy who plays Darryl from "The Office" in the warehouse. I don't even know why I'm sharing this information with the public, so continue to laugh and check out the trailer, and then continue to laugh. And then maybe rent it or put it on your Netflix list so you can have a greater appreciation of you laughter and perhaps continue your laughter...I am shamed.

Lars and the Real Girl

Lars (Ryan Gosling) is an extreme introvert. Despite his sister-in-law, Karen's attempts to bring him out of his shell and make him feel part of the family, he continues to ostracize himself from them and would be friends. One day to the surprise of Karen and his brother, Gus, Lars announces that he has a guest, a girl from Brazil, named Bianca. His family is only too thrilled to meet his new friend only to find out that she is a life size doll. After consulting their doctor, his family, along with the entire town decide to go along with this delusion.

If you appreciate independent film you will enjoy this movie and it's over all "Sundance feel." Although slowly paced the movie is fun and humorous without being campy. The entire town seems to grow from this experience and although totally over-the-top, is remarkably sweet.

A Must See*** 1/2
Rated PG-13 (most likely because of what the doll is suppose to be used for)

Dan in Real Life

Dan in Real Life is about a widower advise columnist that goes to a family reunion with his three daughters. The girls each have reasons to be upset with their dad and he finds himself alone in a book store, where he meets the girl of his dreams only to find out that she is dating his brother.

Awesome in its awkwardness! This movie is filled with uncomfortable moments that will literally make you writhe in your seat. However unlike in Meet the Parents where the protagonist is constantly faced with over-the-top obnoxious situations, Dan is in simple everyday REAL situations that make life painful. This does however tend to make the movie a tad on the sad side, it is still cute despite the never ending awkward moments.

** Rentable
Rated PG-13 (for some innuendo)

Digital Video Disc

I have no idea if that's what DVD stands for, but that sounds about right, doesn't sound made up....I'll run with it.

Anyway, "Transformers" came out a few weeks ago on DVD and if you saw it in the theater, good work, what a fun movie, especially on the big screen. I am not ashamed to say, well maybe a little, let's say I'm not ashamed to say to people who know me, that I saw it in the theater 4 times. Hey, I'm a special fx freak and they don't come much better than they do in Transformers. And I'm an animator, so it was also research...yeah. Well, if you didn't see it in theaters, shame on you, you can still see it in IMAX theaters I believe, so you can get the theater experience. I've yet to see it on an IMAX screen, but I imagine it would be awesome, and it has added footage, not seen in the original theatrical release, however, as most never-before-seen footage, I'm sure it wasn't "seen before" for a reason. But at least rent or just buy the dvd, you won't regret it. It's action packed, ground breaking special fx, really funny, a lot of fun.....aaand it has two extremely attractive girls in it, Megan Fox and some blonde Australian chick, wow. And the voice of Optimus Prime is done by the guy that did it for the original cartoons, Peter Cullen, his voice is great.

Oh and Disney/Pixar's "Ratatouille" comes out on DVD tomorrow, definitely go pick that one up. I saw it twice in the theater, again, research, and it's a goal/dream of mine to work for Pixar. I loved it, Pixar is to date flawless with their films, Ratatouille continues that. It's a buyable dvd.

Movie Buzz...

Barry Bee Benson discovers the wonders of life outside the hive only to uncover that humans are stealing honey from the Bee's. In an effort to set things right, Barry sues the human race, upsetting the whole natural balance of the earth.

Amazing CGI, the colors alone make watching this extremely fun. If you enjoyed Seinfeld and appreciate his type of humor you will love this movie. It it clever and witty and the type of movie that you will glean something new from every time you see it. The attention to the visual details make up for the lack of plot. In my opinion, not as good as A Bugs Life, but still very cute and entertaining.

*** A Must See
Rated PG

What up Gangsta!

Well it's good to now be part of the blogging world. My sister, Mandy and I are always chatting on instant messenger about the goodness and horridness of movies so we figured we should start a blog. Now, my sister got her masters in screenwriting and I don't enjoy writing papers so don't mock my grammatical skills. I think some blogs are really fun so hopefully this one shall entertain you....enjoy:


So I saw the movie "American Gangster", starring Denzel Washington and Russel Crowe, over the weekend with my friends Morgan, Gabe and his wife Malorie.

I think the hype of this movie kind of hurt my viewing of it. Hype tends to do that with everthing, get's your hopes up and it's never as good as you think it'll be, i.e. Star Wars prequels, Godzilla (I actually really liked the '98 remake, a guilty pleasure of mine), Jurassic Park 2 & 3, Sam Bowie, etc. In fact, I think the only thing to ever be better than the hype was Lebron James. Anyway, back to the movie. It was good, but not instant gangster film classic good. The acting is great and the story is amazing, it's a true story, but the ending, particularly Denzel's character, Frank Lucas' change of heart, is kind of, oh....Anaking Skywalker's joining the darkside-ish, but turning good. It's like, "I was the worst person in the world.....but alright....I'll be good now."

I shall give it **1/2 out of ****. Rentable.

Aaaand as far as cool new previews played with it, "The Dark Knight", sequel to Batman Begins looks really cool, can't wait. And the new Will Smith movie, "I Am Legend" looks better with each new trailer. It's looks like "Last Man on Earth" mixed with any zombie movie you can think of, kind of creepy. Check them both out online. Best places to watch new trailers by the way, www.apple.com/trailers/, yahoo.com and aol.com, in their movie sections.