11.29.12
by

Arthur Christmas

My rating: 

Have you ever wondered how Santa Claus delivers 2 billion presents in 1 night? Well, in this movie, which is now availible on DVD and Blu-ray, you will find out how he does it. This 2011 Christmas holiday themed movie is directed by Sarah Smith and stars James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Bill Nighy, Imelda Saunton, Jim Broadbent and Ashley Jensen. It tells the story of Arthur (McAvoy), Santa’s son. In this movie, Santa (Broadbent) delivers the Christmas presents with an ultra-high-tech “sleigh” known as the S-1, which is piloted by his older son, Steve (Laurie) and Steve’s elf assistant, Peter (Marc Wooton). On Christmas night, the elves deliver all the presents to all the children across the world. Soon the mission is complete and every present is delivered, until Arthur finds out that one present, which belongs to a girl in England named Gwen Hynes (Ramona Marquez), has not been delivered. Together with an elf named Bryony (Jensen), and his grandfather, Grand-Santa (Nighy), Arthur goes on an adventure on the original old wooden sleigh, named Evie, to deliver the present to Gwen. Also, Imelda Saunton plays Margaret Claus, Santa’s wife.

I really liked this movie, its animation, and humorous, smart and heart-warming story. I would recommend this movie for kids of all ages. Maybe even adults might enjoy this hilarious film.

Also, here is the website and the trailer of the movie.

11.26.12
by

Life of Pi

My rating:

This Ang Lee film tells about Piscine Molitor “Pi” Patel (Suraj Sharma), a 16-year-old Indian boy who is the only survivor of a sinking Japanese freighter and finds himself on a small life boat with a spotted hyena, a mother orangutan who had lost her children in the shipwreck, a wounded zebra and an adult male Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. Pi must survive with the animals and survive at sea. Eventually, after furious fighting between the animals, only Richard Parker survives, and the 2 survivors form a unique friendship after lots of efforts.

Other cast members include Irrfan Khan as the adult Pi, Tabu as Pi’s mother, Adil Hussain as Pi’s father, Gerard Depardieu as a cook and Rafe Spall as a writer. Directed by Ang Lee, the film is based on Yann Martel’s 2001 novel of the same name. The producers are Ang Lee, Gil Netter and David Womark and the screenwriter is David Magee.

This movie is a story of ingenuity, adventure, courage and faith. It concludes with a message that belief in God is indeed the “better story” (according to Pi). I really enjoyed this film after I saw it with my grandmother on Thursday and I would recommend this film for adults and teenagers, but especially not kids around my age or younger because they would find it too scary or boring. Also, they might not understand the plot of the movie, but  I think adults will really like this movie.

Also, here is the website and the trailer of the movie.

11.22.12
by

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler

My rating: ratings1

From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a 1995 television film based on the novel by E.L. Konigsburg. The story is about a girl named Claudia and her brother, Jamie, who run away from home to live in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art and discover what they think is a lost treasure. The children are transfixed with the treasure and won’t leave without knowing what its secret is. Lauren Bacall stars in the title role, Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler.

The film lacks the narrative of Mrs. Frankweiler present in the book which causes it to lose much of the book’s humor and wisdom. For the majority of the film, the script stays true to the action in the book. However, Claudia’s posing as an adult and Jamie’s cold are not present in the novel.

I hated this movie a lot, especially becuase I didn’t like the actress who was casted as Claudia. I would recommend this movie for kids my age or older, but not for younger kids who might not be interested in it or not understand the plot.

Also, here is the trailer of the movie.

11.21.12
by

Captain America: The First Avenger

My rating:

Before he joined the Avengers, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was a soldier in World War 2 in 1943 and voulenteered for an experiment that transformed him from weak and short to tall and strong. He becomes Captain America fights along with Agent Peggy Carter (Haley Atwell), childhood pal Sergaent James “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) against the villanious Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving), who later reveals himself as the Red Skull. The Red Skull is the leader of an organization called Hydra. I would recommend this movie for anyone my age or older who likes Marvel movies like me. I liked the plot and the cast, and I really enjoyed this movie. This film is now availible on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D.

Also, here is the trailer of the movie.

11.09.12
by

Paperman

My rating:

This 7-minute black-and-white short film is theatrical with Wreck-It Ralph, and it is a combination of hand-drawn animation and computer animation. I really liked this technique. In this short film, a man tries to send a paper airplane to his love. The director of the short is John Kahrs and the producer is John Lasseter (director of Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Cars and Cars 2).The technique they used that blends hand-drawn animation and computer animation, called “final line advection”, gives the artists and animators a lot more influence and control over the final product as everything is done within the same department; the artists quoted, “In Paperman, we didn’t have a cloth department and we didn’t have a hair department. Here, folds in the fabric, hair silhouettes and the like come from of the commited design decision-making that comes with the 2D drawn process. Our animators can change things, actually erase away the CG underlayer if they want, and change the profile of the arm. And they can design all the fabric in that Milt Kahl kind-of way, if they want to.”

Also, here are some videos from the short.

11.09.12
by

Wreck-It Ralph

My rating:

I saw this movie on Monday with my dad and brothers. We all enjoyed the movie. It stars John C. Reily, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch and Jack McBrayer. In this film, Ralph (Reily) is the villan of an arcade game called Fix-It Felix, Jr., in which the hero of the game, Felix (McBrayer), must fix a building that Ralph destroys. Ralph has been the villan for 30 years now, and he is tired of being the bad guy. So one day, he leaves his game to prove he can be a hero and enters another arcade game, a first-person shooter called Hero’s Duty, in which the game’s leader, Sergeant Calhoun (Lynch) and her army must battle Cy-Bugs, the game’s villans, and get to the top of a building. Ralph later crash-lands in Sugar Rush, a kart-racing game set in tracks made of candy, where he meets one of the game’s characters, Vanellope von Schweetz, whose world is threatened when Ralph accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens the entire arcade.

I would recommend this movie to children all ages, and I think everyone will think it’s funny. Especially video game lovers will enjoy this movie.While those moments are great, most of the humor is much more broad-based, and the touching story will win over everyone, regardless of their ability to put a name to M. Bison’s face.From a homeless Q-Bert to Oreo guards at the candy palace, every minute of “Wreck-It Ralph” comes with a smile and a laugh. It’s worth plunking down some quarters.

Also, here is the website and the trailer of this movie.

File:Bowserwreckitralph.png

10.28.12
by

Chasing Mavericks

My rating: 

I saw Chasing Mavericks with my friend and his family, and it is based on a true story of surfing legend Jay Moriarity (1978-2001), and how he learned to surf the world’s most dangerous wave, the maverick. He was trained by surfing legend Rick “Frosty” Hesson (played by Gerard Butler). In the course of Jay’s training, the 2 surfers form a relationship.

Unfortunately, Jay died in a diving accident in the Indian Ocean, a day before his 23rd birthday. He had a wife named Kim Moriarity, who was his friend since their childhood. Jay is remembered as a “soul surfer”, winning many sportsmanship awards throughout his career. Moriarity deserved a tribute like this film, for he was a really great surfer.

I really enjoyed this movie and I would recommend it for children my age (10) or older. Adults will also really enjoy this movie. I really liked Gerard Butler’s role as Frosty Hesson, although he was hospitalized after being injured during a surfing stunt on December 19, 2011. This is my favorite movie starring Gerard Butler.

The movie was filmed in Santa Cruz and Half Moon Bay (the movie also takes place in both locations). I don”t think I’ll ever be able to surf a wave as big as a maverick!

Also, here is the website and the trailer of the movie.

10.17.12
by

Frankenweenie

My rating:

Frankenweenie is the first 3D animated black and white film, and it is directed by Tim Burton. It is a parody of the 1931 film Frankenstein, which is based on Mary Shelley’s book of the same name. It is also a remake of Tim Burton’s own 1984 short film, also titled Frankenweenie. Burton offered it to Disney, but they thought it was too strange. How ironic it is that 30 years later they asked him to make it into a feature film!

This film is about a boy named Victor Frankenstein, who’s best friend is his dog, Sparky. His parents want him to make friends with the neighbors, but Victor has no interest in making friends with the kids who live nearby, who include Nassor, a weird kid with a flat head inspired by Frankenstein’s monster, Edgar, a deformed, igor-like kid, Bob, an obese kid, Toshiaki, a Japanese classmate of Victor’s, and a weird, unnamed girl, who owns a cat named Mr. Whiskers. The only kid who really cares for Victor is Elsa, his next-door neighbor and the mayor’s niece, who owns a dog named Persephone. One day Sparky is killed by a car while pursuing a ball, and Victor is heartbroken. Persephone and Elsa are miserable, too. But one day in school Victor learns that the muscles of a dead frog still react to electricity. Victor tries this experiment on Sparky, which succeeds and Victor is really happy. But when Victor’s classmates find out, they plan to win the science fair using Victor’s creation, and they create monsters of their own, including a mummy hamster, a were-rat, a Gamera-like monster turtle, sea monkeys, and worst of all… a vampire cat!

This movie would be way too scary for kids younger than my age (10), but some parts are not as scary as others. This movie was OK, but not as good as Hotel Transylvania. I heard that Tim Burton was inspired to make this movie from his experience of losing his own dog when he was a child, and now, after watching this movie, I know how he felt when he lost his dog.

Also, here is the trailer of the movie.