Saturday, September 4, 2010

Avatar: Special Edition


See it in 3D, still awesome……..9 more minutes, well worth it. 9.5/10

Dinner for Schmucks


We went and saw Dinner for Schmucks and thought it was pretty good. Steve Carell plays a misfit that latches on to the main character and is invited to a dinner where they make fun of weirdoes like him. Zac Galafanacis plays Steve Carell’s boss, and is hilarious. Jermain from Flight of the Concords plays an eccentric artist and is perfect for the role. There were a lot of funny people in this movie, and it did have a lot of funny parts, but it was also a very PG-13 comedy with a lot of raunchy humor that we could have done without. We enjoyed it, and we give it a 7/10.

Karate Kid


We went and saw Karate Kid (which should be called the Kung Fu kid because it takes place in China) in the dollar theater because neither of us wanted to pay full price for a movie that didn’t really need to be redone anyway. The original is so iconic that it’s hard to live up to. The main character is played by Jaden Smith; I just felt that it was really hard to feel sorry for the beautiful child of Will Smith. Sure he got picked on by all the Chinese kids, but he’s not nearly as pitiful and awkward as Ralf Machio. With that said, it was still entertaining because it’s basically the same as the original; so we did enjoy it, it just felt like, “what’s the point?” It was worth it just to see Jackie Chan in the role of Mr. Miagi. Though it’s impossible to top Pat Morita’s performance, Jackie Chan was definitely the best possible replacement. Although it is not as good as the original Karate Kid, it was still a good movie and we recommend seeing it once. 6/10

Despicable Me


We went and saw Despicable Me in 3D because I will give almost anything with Steve Carell a chance, and I thought it looked pretty good. Garr was a little more apprehensive, but he went with me anyway. We both enjoyed it a lot. Steve Carell voices a super-villain that takes in 3 orphan girls. It was very funny and entertaining, probably the best kids movie we have see this year so far. The humor isn’t annoying like it is in a lot of kids movies; it keeps you laughing most of the time. We highly recommend this movie. 8.5/10.

Inception

We went to see Inception in Imax, and it was worth it. Both of us had been looking forward to the movie, but we didn’t know if it was going to be pulled together very well or if we would just be confused the whole time. Well, we were confused most of the time. Garr summed it up pretty well when he said, “The whole movie I was like ‘I have no idea what is going on, but whatever it is, it’s awesome.’” The story is really well crafted, but it is definitely a movie that you won’t completely understand the first time you watch it. We definitely recommend this movie. The visuals are fantastic and the music is superb. The only problem with it is, with Christopher Nolan’s non-linear storytelling and the complexity of knowing what’s going on with being in a dream within a dream within a dream, it’s hard to be completely emotionally involved with characters and it’s hard to know which ones you should be rooting for. We give it a 9/10.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

The Last Airbender


We really like the animated series "Avatar: The Last Airbender" that this movie is based off of. And we love some of M. Night Shyamalan's other films, but unfortunately this movie was not perfect. There are a lot of things I could say about this movie...but long story short: There's a lot of things they did with this movie that I would've done differently and I don't blame anyone for not liking it, but I still enjoyed it. It really captured my imagination. If nothing else, it's a beautifully shot movie with a spectacular soundtrack. I just really hope that on DVD and Blu-Ray there is going to be an extended version released. That would be awesome because basically this movie just needs more of everything: more characters, more character development, more Appa and Momo, more flying, more bending, more action, more quiet moments, more explanation of certain plot points, etc. The only thing this movie needs less of is The Fire Lord who wasn't even seen in the 1st season. 7/10

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and in conclusion this is the longest title ever


I thought this was a pretty good kids hero movie, nothing spectacular. It's better than the crap that is Harry Potter, but not as good as the great Narnia movies. I don't think I will probably ever want to see this again, but I will probably want to see the sequels when they come out. 6.5/10

Iron Man 2


We saw Iron Man 2 in IMAX and it was pretty awesome. We thought it was really good, not quite as good as the original, but still a really fun movie. Garr liked Robin Hood better than this movie, but Sally thinks it's the best movie of the year so far (and she is always right). There were a lot of new characters in this one, but I think that they where incorporated well. The action was taken to another level, but the story might have been lacking compared to the first one. We both really enjoyed this movie and will buy it and watch it over and over. We have seen it twice already. We highly recommend it. 9/10

Toy Story 3


We went and saw Toy Sory 3 in 3D, and we really enjoyed it. We both thought that TS1 is better than TS2 and that TS2 was better than TS3. With that said, it was still a really good movie. TS3 has the best animation yet (obviously). There are a lot of the old characters and also a lot of new ones too. It is a really fun kids movie and definately worth watching. I'm sure everyone was probably planning on seeing it, but we recommend it anyway. 8.5/10

The Losers


We hadn't heard a whole lot about this movie, but we were bored on a Saturday night so we went and saw it. We saw it after the A-Team, and we were amazed at how much better this relatively unknown movie was. It is based of a DC Comic, and it is a much more of a solid action movie than the A-Team. The plot was decent, the characters were interesting, and the action was good. What more can you ask for from an action movie? It even had some good funny parts in it. We would probably give this movie the award for best underrated movie of the year so far. Definitely go see it over the A-Team. 7.5/10

The A-Team

It seemed like there was a lot of hype for this movie, and we were excited to see it. We even watched a few episodes of the old 80's tv series on Netflix to prepare. Unfortunately we didn't feel that it lived up to all of the hype. There were some decent action scenes, but it wasn't anything too impressive. What do you think of when you think of the A-Team? I think of building ridiculous weapons like turning a school bus into a tank or making a hearse with a pop out coffin that has a man in it shooting a machine gun. There was planning and building, but nothing like that. And the other thing I think of when I think the A-Team is helping other people out which they did none of. The whole time they were just helping themselves out. And the A-Team van was in the movie for like 5 minutes. You might say that this movie is a prequel to the TV show, so it’s not supposed to have all that stuff. Robin Hood was also an origin story that is very different than the original story, but it still managed to have some robbing from the rich to give to the poor. And I could forgive all of the differences from the TV show if like Robin Hood, at the end of the day, it was a great movie, but it’s not. I hated how franticly this movie was edited. There was no need to go back and forth between the plan and the mission. That was just annoying. There was no need for BA to act like he's peaceful. That was so stupid when he took his hat off. We already knew he cut his hair. And Gandhi said violence is ok so it must be. Dumb. And why did Bradley Cooper need to have his shirt off the whole movie? And why was it necessary that his character, Face, need to do the plan at the end of the movie? Liam Neeson's character, Hannibal, can't come up with a plan that actually works, but Face does. Why? Because Bradley Cooper is the hot young actor. And Liam Neeson was way too serious for this role. The only good thing about this movie is the guy who played Murdock. He was great; in fact, I thought he was better than the original. If you want to see a very similar movie that's more fun and much more well done, go see The Losers. The old 80's show was cheesy and over the top, but we still didn't think that this movie compared to the old show. We would say at the most redbox it. 5/10

The Ghost Writer


We went to see this in the Dollar Theater because it seems like Garr is willing to give almost any movie with Ewan McGregor a chance. We should have skipped this one. Nothing happens in this movie. It's like watching paint dry. There is a part in the movie where Ewan McGregor's character follows a GPS to a mysterious place. They show pretty much every turn of the GPS, like its so amazing. As if none of us have ever used a GPS before. The pace of the movie is so excruciatingly slow. You are waiting for something to happen the whole time, and it never really does. The most exciting part of the whole movie was when they showed a squirrel in the woods (for no apparent reason) and a guy in the the theater said really loud "A Squirrel!" Unfortunately that guy will probably not be with you if you watch this movie. That would be the only reason to watch it. Please do not see this movie. It is a complete waste of time. 1/10