Synopsis:
Bolt (John Travolta) is a super-powered dog who can run faster than a train, jump higher than a helicopter, shoot laser beams from his eyes, and use a devastating bark. He is a canine with only one mission, to use his powers to protect his lovable owner, Penny (Miley Cyrus). There’s only one problem, he’s actually an ordinary dog in a tv show, he just doesn’t know it. When he accidentally gets shipped to New York, Bolt must learn that he may be ordinary, but he doesn’t need superpowers be a hero. With the help of some new friends, Mittens (Suzie Essman) and Rhino (Mark Walton), Bolt must make it across the country to find his way home.

Review:
I never actually saw this movie at the theaters, but I found a brand new blu-ray at the local used-cd store at a great price, so I bought it just because. A friend had seen the movie and said it was worth the watch, and I figured it would make a great blu-ray. I was not disappointed. This is a fun family movie and it makes a beautiful hd movie.

Plot: The story is predictable in its exposition. Most people who watch it won’t be surprised by the plot, but they will be surprised at how much they enjoy it. Its a nice mix of touching, exciting and hilarious. Though I couldn’t name an example, I feel like all of the characters have met before in another movie. A misguided and under-powered hero makes an enemy-to-become-friend and a hapless sidekick achieve success. Been there done that, but for some reason, still enjoying it.

Voices: I don’t like Miley Cyrus and John Travolta didn’t have to do much. Suzie Essman is not so memorable either. Mark Walton, on the other hand, makes the movie (at least for me.) Rhino is awesome and he really does steal the show. He’s a little hamster in a plastic ball that has a really big personality.

Media: The blu-ray is a nice presentation of the film and has some nice extras. I particularly enjoyed the Rhino short. I also got a good laugh watching John Travolta sing with Miley Cyrus. It was disturbing yet fascinating. The picture is great and this is definitely worthy of being called high definition.

Overall: The movie is fun, entertaining, and great for families. It is just funny enough to be worth it even if you don’t have kids and just enjoy animated movies (like me.) I will say one thing, the box claimed it was the best Disney movie since The Incredibles, and that’s just not true (have you heard of Wall-E?) Anyway, when it comes down to it, Bolt is definitely fuzzworthy. Its just not fuzzy enough to beat some of the more memorable Pixar films.

Review:

Unfortunately, though I watched this on DVD and this should be a DVD review, I didn’t actually check out the special features (I watched a single disc widescreen copy from Blockbuster.) As a result, this review is going to be about the movie itself and not about the DVD. If I get a chance to actually check out the disc itself sometime, I’ll post an addendum to this review with details on special features and extras.

Plot: You can’t criticize the plot much because this movie is based on a true story. It’s hard to say real life wasn’t good enough. I thought the story flowed well and it definitely portrayed a man, down on his luck, who refused to let go of his dream. Though most of the movie was sad, with one setback after another, the overall story is uplifting. Surprisingly, there is a bit of comedy in the film and I did find myself laughing a few times. I don’t want to ruin the ending, though I think you can guess what it is. You’ll feel good when you’re done watching this movie.

Acting: The acting was great. I’ve always liked Will Smith, but this was definitely one of his best performances to date. He definitely produced Oscar-worthy work in this movie. He really shows the determination, fear, frustration, and hope that (I’d like to believe) the real Chris Gardner felt. I was also impressed by Jaden Smith. His role, though critical, doesn’t require great depth. After all, Christopher Gardner was only 5 years old. How deep can he be? Still, the boy acted well and I think the existing father/son relationship showed on the screen. The rest of the cast is inconsequential, though I really did get to hating Thandie Newton’s Linda.

Overall: I think that altogether this was a good movie. The story was great and the acting definitely left an impression. I would highly recommend you watch this movie if not purchase it. It’s definitely the type of movie that motivates you and keeps you hopeful. The movie has questionable replay value, but I think that being such a good film makes it a necessary part of a true move collection.

The Pursuit of Happyness (Widescreen Edition)

Review:

Plot: This film follows the basic animals on a mission kind of scenario. Its mildly predictable, but there are a few surprises and all of the things that happen aren’t formulaic. I’ll be honest, I didn’t reallize from the trailers that the plot would be so conservation-themed. It carries a great message, I just didn’t know it was coming. A lot of people I spoke to about this before I saw it said the movie wasn’t funny. I disagree. There were plenty of laugh out load moments and when I wasn’t laughing, I was distracted by the incredibly cute penguins. It definitely appealed to the (very large) kid in me, but it isn’t as funny as classics like Toy Story.

Graphics: I thought the CGI in this film was great. All of the penguins looked real (not cartoonish) and the motion was fluid. This movie definitely has included great techniques from the previous generations of CGI films. Apparently (I heard this from a friend), the movie has been criticised for using actors as opposed to CG people in the film. I think the use of actors makes the message in the film a little more serious and relatable. CG people would just weaken the moral in my opinion.

Overall: This movie is definitely worth the watch. If you have kids, I would recommend a matinee showing. If you’re a big kid like me and just like animated movies, I would consider just waiting for the DVD. Enjoy!

Movie Review: The Goblet of Fire

This is the 411 on the DVD release of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Being the fanactic that I am, I ran out and purchased the 2-Disc Special Edition dvd. To tell the truth, I don’t think there is much special about the 2-disc edition. Its a decent set, but its not all that a special edition should be.

The big thing that bugged me about this set is the menu system. Now, typical dvds will have sections like special features, behind-the-scenes, deleted scenes, games, etc. This set, and all of the other Harry Potter 2-disc sets for that matter, have sections called Hogwarts, The Maze, or The Black Lake. Though I appreciate the novelty of this layout, it makes it impossible to find what you’re looking for. I couldn’t tell if deleted scenes would be in Hogwarts or the Maze. I guessed and got lucky.

Now, if you get beyond the menus, the bonus disc has some cool features. The deleted scenes were interesting to see, though it was clear why they were cut from the film. I was hoping that the deleted scenes would be more significant, but unfortunately, they weren’t. They were still cool to see. The unfortunate thing is that if you buy the single-disc version of the movie, you get no special features. I think that’s being a bit cheap on Warner Brother’s part, but that’s just me.

Disc-2, the one with all of the special features, is full of games. There is a xbox demo, a pc demo, and several dvd games. There’s plenty to keep you entertained for hours! I personally don’t enjoy games played on a menu system like a dvd-player, but I can imagine that they would be fairly entertaining for a kid.

The burning question: is it worth the money? Now, the average difference between the sales price of the single-disc versus the 2-disc appears to be about five dollars. My dvds get enough use to make that five bucks worth it. If you have kids that get a kick out of dvd-games, then its worth it. If you’re a fanatic like me, its a must have. If you just liked the movie but you’re not crazy, then I would only spend the cash on the single-disc. In the end I think it makes a nice, albeit flawed, addition to my dvd collection.

Synopsis:
When four young children are sent away during the bombing of London, an eccentric professor takes them in at his countryside mansion. One rainy day, a simple game of hide and seak helps a young Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) discover a mysterious wardrobe. Soon Lucy leads her siblings Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Susan (Anna Popplewell), and Peter (William Moseley) through the wardrobe and in to the magical land of Narnia. But all is not as it seems in the enchanting world. A never ending winter has fallen upon the land and the evil White Witch (Tilda Swinton) has driven everyone to live in fear. The children must struggle across Narnia to fulfill an ancient prophecy and learn what their destinies hold.

Review:
This movie was amazing! I read (or possibly listened to) this book when I was a kid. I honestly don’t remember any of it. I was thoroughly impressed by this movie. I will start this one off with my final recommendation: GO SEE THIS MOVIE! I highly recommend you go see this movie while its in the theatre. Its definitely a cinematic experience and I would go so far as to say that its worth a primetime ticket. I must impress upon you that, that is high praise (at least in my book).

Ok, now to the nitty-gritty. Unlike some recent movie series, Harry Potter & Lord of the Rings, I don’t remember the book so I had nothing invested when I went to the theater. The story was really interesting. Now, I can’t say this is all because of the writers. The author of the book, C.S. Lewis, is probably to blame for such an engaging plot and fun characters. The movie was about two and a half hours and I wasn’t bored for a single bit of it.

Now the money and effort poured in to this movie is pretty impressive. They pulled out the stops like they did for LOTR. Unfortunately, some scenes looked a just a little sloppy. Now nothing is ever perfect and I don’t think the few scenes that could have been better really hurt this movie. I liked the costumes and different creatures that populated the land of Narnia. But I do agree with a friend of mine who said that the White Witch’s minotaur general seemed a bit corny.

The actors were pretty good. I liked the kids, they were solid. Lucy and Edmund were by far the best. I was pleasantly surprised to hear Liam Neeson’s voice behind Aslan. The White Witch wasn’t bad, but here character didn’t really require that much. Acting cold and uncare is probably not the most difficult character to pull off. The Beavers (Ray Winstone & Dawn French) were great. Mr. Beaver was hilarious truly added the comedic relief for this movie.

All in all, awesome movie. Go out and see it.

Synopsis:
When four animal friends bust out the zoo for a night on the town, things get wildly out of control. Alex (Ben Stiller), Marty (Chris Rock), Melman (David Schwimmer), and Gloria (Jada Pinket Smith) quickly find themselves in crates on the way to a wildlife preserve. En route, their crates get knocked overboard and they wash up on the shores of Madagascar. Now these four pampered zoo animals must adjust to life in wild….

Review:
I must say I was a bit dissappointed with Madagascar. I had high hopes for this movie, but it seemed to fall in line with the last few mediocre animated films. It seems that Dreamworks Animation is having difficulties finding success after Shrek and Shrek 2 (which I’m watching while I write this). This movie left something to be desired. I was continuously waiting for that gut busting moment, but it never came.

First of all, the voice talent was a bit lacking. Stiller and Smith were ok, but Rock and Schwimmer were horrible. The voices just didn’t work with the characters for some reason. I can’t stand Chris Rock’s voice to begin with. Put it behind a wierd looking zebra and you have a problem. Schwimmer’s voice is, as someone else put it, a bit distracting. His vocalization of Melman, the hypochondriac giraffe, is a bit annoying. I keep seeing Ross not Melman. It just doesn’t seem to work.

The other thing is that the peripheral characters tend to be more entertaining than the main characters. I loved the squad of commando penguins. They are the true source of amusement in this movie. Their attempts to get to Antarctica are hilarious. What’s even better is what happens when they get there. The tribe of lemurs on the island are also pretty funny. Though they’re cute, they don’t compare to the penguins.

If you get the DVD, you’ll be lucky and get a bonus: A Christmas Caper featuring the penguin squad. I have to say that I loved this eleven minute short and I enjoyed it more than the whole movie. This one is definitely worth the rental, but make sure you get the bonus cartoon. It makes all the difference.

Synopsis:
In his fourth year, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) finds himself as an unwilling participant of an ancient competition between three rival schools of magic. But something else is amiss. Unexplainable events at the Quidditch World Cup herald the return of the Dark Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes), but what does he want with Harry and what will he do to get him? Can Harry survive the three dangerous tasks of the Triwizard Tournement? Will he get a date to the Yule Ball?! Things will change in year four at Hogwarts.

Review:
I’m going to start by truncating the titles to make writing this review a little easier. I’ll drop the Harry Potter and the from the titles. I’m not trying to make a big fuss over what the “true” title of the movie is here. I’m just being technical I guess. Plus I’m trying to save myself some typing. Also, most people who are considering this movie already know what happens. I’ll assume for the most part that you do to, but I’ll try my best not to ruin it for those who don’t. At any rate lets get in to it, shall we?

It is important to note that I have read all of the Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling. I’m a serious fan and I love the details. Its all in the details. I have to give credit to Rowling here for a rather engaging and complex plot she’s put together and I eagerly await the seventh and final installment. Having said all I that, I did not like Prisoner of Azkaban, but I did Goblet of Fire. These were my two favorite novels in the series so far, so I’m pretty critical of these movies.

I really think Goblet of Fire won me over visually more than anything else. Though the movie was darker than any of its predecessors, the screen wasn’t literally darker. This was one of my complaints with Prisoner of Azkaban, all the imagery was to dull/dark. The colors and effects in Goblet of Fire really brought things alive on the screen. There is a lot of action in this movie and that’s something that helps it along. The three tasks keep the audience’s attention for a big part of the movie.

One thing that I didn’t like is that the movie really does not bring across the mystery that exists in the fourth book. Rowling put together a fairly interesting plot, but we get a really watered down version in the film. They chose to show the culprit in the first scene (a difference from the novel). The audience doesn’t have much to do to solve the mystery and it isn’t much of a WOW when the culprit is revealed. Another thing the movie failed to convey is that the fourth novel ends with a lot of apprehension about what the future holds. Harry and his friends are afraid of what Voldemort will do and what it means for their lives. We also are supposed to get a hint of the politics that rule the fifth novel. The movie didn’t hit any of those points. In fact the movie ended on an overly cheery note for me.

I do have to give the writers some credit. They adapted a long and detailed novel in to a two and a half hour movie. The unfortunately cut some of my favorite scenes from the novel including Dobby the house elf, the Dursleys, and the Quidditch World Cup (kinda). They did get the important stuff in. But as was expected, I missed the little things. I also feel like they skewed things a bit. The Ron-Hermoine relationship really didn’t get the time it deserved, nor did the meddlings of Rita Skeeter. From the way they played certain scenes, it looks like Hermoine has a thing for Harry, which isn’t quite right.

The special effects in this movie surpass the previous three installments. The dragons were amazing as was lake task. I was a little dissappointed with Lord Voldemort. He didn’t look quite right. His eyes should have been visibly red (a fact they mention multiple times in the book). Fiennes also made Voldemort seem more like a floating fairy than a dark lord. I didn’t quite get the rage and evil I wanted from Voldemort (mainly because he seemed to be “dancing” around the screen).

I could go on and on about what I thought about this movie. Obviously my opinions on Harry Potter are limitless. You might be wondering why I gave this movie four out of five stars but have some many criticisms. To be honest, I am being overly critical. I did like the movie and I thought it was better than the third film. And of course, its a Harry Potter movie. How could it be bad? This movie is definitely worth watching, even at primetime ticket prices. If you haven’t seen them already, rent the first three and then head to the theater. You won’t be sorry you did.

Synopsis:
When Phil Weston (Will Farrell) gets the opportunity to coach his son’s soccer team, he’s gets the chance to prove he’s nothing like his overbearing and belittling father. Phil quickly loses himself in the stuggle to win as we see that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Review:
Everything I heard and read about this movie said that it wasn’t going to be good. It didn’t do that well at the box office and most people that saw it said it wasn’t any good. Personally, its tough to pass up a Will Farrel movie, regardless of what people say about it. I’m happy to report that everyone was wrong, at least in my opinion. I got a kick out of this movie, no pun intended.

I’ll be honest, it isn’t Farrel’s best work. I laughed more during Anchorman and Old School, but I still got a good laugh out of Kicking & Screaming. Its definitely more of a family movie than an all out comedy as the humor is a lot milder than his other movies. There are still some crude jokes, but nothing too graphic or explicit. It does play a little like The Mighty Ducks or The Little Giants, but that didn’t seem to hurt the movie too much.

The movie has a wonderful cast of characters, including Mike Ditka (as himself) and and Phil’s father, Buck Weston (Robert Duvall). The cast of kids used in the movie wasn’t that great. They were probably the weakest element. Though one kid definitely stole the show, Byong Sun (Elliot Cho). Half as tall as any of the other kids used, he is the most amusing and cute kid used. I should also mention that Ditka did a great job. His rivally with Buck is a great source of comedy for this movie.

Overall, a good movie. Despite the bad press, I think it earned three out of five stars. Its definitely worth the rental but its a questionable purchase. I don’t think I would cough up the money to buy this movie because its just not Will Farrell’s funniest.

Synopsis:
Andy got a toy for his birthday. It walks, it talks, it…..has an identity crisis?!?! Jealousy rages when a new toy becomes a young boys favorite. This is the first installment of the Toy Story franchise. It is the fillm that introduced us to Woody, an old school cowboy who’s used to being number one; Buzz, a futuristic spaceman who’s not quite sure who (or what) he is; Hamm, a pushy porker with a pension for pennies; Rex, a domesticated dino in need of therapy; and Mr. Potato Head, the opinionated hot head.

Review:
I should preface this review with a qualifier: most of my comments are about the DVD, not about the movie. The virtues of Toy Story as a film are worthy of another review. Though the fact that it is celebrating its 10th anniversary, makes such a review pointless. But I should do one, so here it is: the movie is great. That sums it up.

Now to the DVD: There are two things that make a DVD a good one, choices for watching the movie and bonus material. I was a little dissappointed with the format choices on this DVD. Despite the two discs, you only get the widescreen version of the movie. I personally prefer widescreen, but I also like having the choice. I have the Finding Nemo: Collector’s Edition and it has both the widescreen and fullscreen versions of the film. Surely the 10th anniversary is a bigger deal and warrants both versions of the film. It has the standard audio and subtitle options as well as commentary tracks. I guess it is worth mentioning that the disc does come with a 5.1 surround sound track. Sadly my sound system isn’t quite there yet.

Now the bonus features make up for what the film options lack. My favorite feature (found primarily on disc two) is the crayon sheriff’s badge. By selecting star with your remote, you get minute long sequences that were not part of the movie. They’re pretty good, especially the little green aliens. The scenes are fully rendered, but I’m not sure that all of the voice talents were used. Sometimes Buzz and Woody seem a little off. It could be my imagination, but then again maybe not.

The next fun feature is the claw game. Its a replica of the game Sid plays when he finds Buzz and Woody at Pizza Planet. Now, I’m kinda partial to claw games. For some reason, I have a knack for the claw game at the local theatre. I wasted a fair bit of time trying to find all of the outcomes for the game. A pretty good addition. The game could be a little more smooth, but then again you can’t expect much from a DVD player. Its no XBOX.

Last little bonus I wanted to mention is the deleted scenes. This is something they tend to tout when promoting DVDs. The annoying things is that for most animated features, its simply the storyboards that the writers sketched while the movie was in pre-production. I hate to say it, but they’re generally not that impressive. I was pleasently surprised when I found two rendered deleted scenes on the bonus disc. They were not fully rendered but they were better than still-frames.

Overall a decent DVD. I hesitate to suggest going out an buying it. I do own it, but I bought it second hand for less than half the retail price (currently $18-$23). Disney DVDs unfortunately are overpriced and stay overpriced, regardless of how old the movie is. If you just want the movie (like I did), get it second hand or online. If you want it for the extras, they are seriously not worth the current price tag. And in case you’re wondering, Toy Story 2 is being re-released to DVD on December 26th and Tarzan is being “released from the Disney Vault” on October 18th.