Toy Story 3 is probably the most highly anticipated Pixar movie EVER. They have a well-earned reputation for consistent excellence in animation and storytelling (and they don't sacrifice one for the other). From the trailers, it looked to be a heartwarming and hilarious final installment to one of my all-time favorite movie series.
Could they possibly live up to such high expectations? Yes, and more. This movie was flat-out fantastic. The opening scene is one of Andy's more elaborate fantasies, and for the first time we are able to see the way it looks in Andy's imagination (which would have been impossible, animation-wise, even for TS2). It looked amazing, and both that scene and the rest of the movie were full of throwbacks to the first two.
There was a lot going on in terms of plot, but it never felt overwhelming (Spider-Man 3, I'm looking at you). They introduced a lot of new characters, which meant that they were unable to do much character development for any of them, but they seemed to have real personalities right from the beginning. That right there is a mark of good writing: if it feels like you know a character that has just been introduced. The story moved along at a good pace, with all of the twists and turns I have come to expect (including expecting to be surprised). How is it that I can be so nervous about the ending of a G-rated movie? I know that everything has to come out all right. There is no way they could possibly get away with anything less. And yet, I was genuinely worried.
The end of the movie was just perfect. I will not say anything more. I could kind of see it coming, and I did not mind at all.
To top it all off, this was probably the overall funniest Pixar movie in the past few years. Don't get me wrong, they all have their moments, but I haven't laughed so hard at a movie in a long time. Four little words: Buzz Lightyear En Espanol. And the kids in the daycare center! I think I recognized a few of them...
One final note: the toys attempting to break out of the daycare was fabulous. They could give the Leverage crew a run for their money. Except for the part where...well, I won't spoil it.
Go see Toy Story 3! Now!
5/5 stars (obviously)
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label reviews. Show all posts
Monday, July 5, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
Monday website AND new TV show review!
Today's blog comes to you in two parts. Part one: your weekly time-wasting website recommendation. This week's site is called Reasonably Clever. It is run by a guy named Chris. The home page features the latest strip of Chris's webcomic, which is called "Brick House." Despite also being made of Lego creations, "Brick House" is completely different from "Irregular Webcomic!" (which was first mentioned a couple weeks ago). Anyway, "Brick House" is worth a read, but it is harder than IWC for new readers to jump into.
I am recommending "Reasonably Clever" for two main reasons. The first is the Lego Mini-Mizer, which allows you to create your own Lego people. Here is an example of some of the Lego people I've made:
We have Dracula, the wolfman, and Frankenstein's monster! There are also a ton of superhero costumes, Star Trek uniforms, and a collection of T-shirts. You can even add a background.
The other cool thing about Reasonably Clever is Chris's photo gallery of his Lego creations. He is crazy talented! Here is the main build page, which includes (among others) LIFE-SIZED Tom Servo and Crow made ENTIRELY from Legos! Also worth a look: Lego "Serenity" and a church for the "Flying Spaghetti Monster" (scaled to accommodate Lego mini-figs).
All right, part 2 is a review of ABC's new show "The Gates." It is a drama chronicling the lives of residents in a gated community cleverly named The Gates. But The Gates must be one of those places like Sunnydale that attracts weirdness. The new police chief has just moved his family into the community and has no idea about what is really going on. So far, we have a werewolf pack at the high school, witches owning shops downtown, and a couple of vampires who live next door with their adopted (human) daughter.
The first episode was pretty good. We get to know a bit about all of the characters in the ensemble, although I hope that all of the main characters have been introduced already. If the ensemble gets too large, it turns into a soap opera. The main reason I stopped watching "Heroes" is because they had too many damn characters. I would watch the show every week, and still had trouble following it!
Anyway, the acting and writing are decent, but not spectacular. So far, I am most intrigued by the vampires, Claire and Dylan (big surprise). They moved to The Gates to protect their daughter Emily from other vampires. The only problem with this plan is that Claire has trouble controlling her hunger. Dylan seems to have a handle on it, but I think he is more the exception than the rule when it comes to vampires. I would like to hear more about their daughter and why they decided to adopt.
We also have Peg and Devon, who both own shops that sell herbs and holistic junk. They haven't stated it outright yet, but it is heavily implied that they practice witchcraft. Peg is the "good" witch and Devon is the "bad" witch. Then there is the werewolf pack, which appears to be composed of about half a dozen teenage boys. Not too much has been said about them, except that there is a "code" and running around as a werewolf is not allowed inside the community. I'm guessing that they fall into the "turn into a wolf at will" category rather than the "change at the full moon" category.
Interwoven with all of this is the story of the Monohans, who have just moved in. Nick is the new police chief (from Chicago!) and is suspicious of his new neighbors, Claire and Dylan. His wife Sarah thinks Claire is a wonderful woman. Claire recommended Peg to Sarah, but Sarah ended up going to Devon's shop instead. Their son Charlie has a crush on a werewolf's girlfriend. They also have a daughter, who is just kind of there. Maybe she'll end up being friends with the vampires' daughter or something. Actually, that would be pretty interesting.
The show has potential. I will probably tune in again next week.
Leverage: Season 3 review coming soon! It is downloading as we speak.
I am recommending "Reasonably Clever" for two main reasons. The first is the Lego Mini-Mizer, which allows you to create your own Lego people. Here is an example of some of the Lego people I've made:
We have Dracula, the wolfman, and Frankenstein's monster! There are also a ton of superhero costumes, Star Trek uniforms, and a collection of T-shirts. You can even add a background.
The other cool thing about Reasonably Clever is Chris's photo gallery of his Lego creations. He is crazy talented! Here is the main build page, which includes (among others) LIFE-SIZED Tom Servo and Crow made ENTIRELY from Legos! Also worth a look: Lego "Serenity" and a church for the "Flying Spaghetti Monster" (scaled to accommodate Lego mini-figs).
All right, part 2 is a review of ABC's new show "The Gates." It is a drama chronicling the lives of residents in a gated community cleverly named The Gates. But The Gates must be one of those places like Sunnydale that attracts weirdness. The new police chief has just moved his family into the community and has no idea about what is really going on. So far, we have a werewolf pack at the high school, witches owning shops downtown, and a couple of vampires who live next door with their adopted (human) daughter.
The first episode was pretty good. We get to know a bit about all of the characters in the ensemble, although I hope that all of the main characters have been introduced already. If the ensemble gets too large, it turns into a soap opera. The main reason I stopped watching "Heroes" is because they had too many damn characters. I would watch the show every week, and still had trouble following it!
Anyway, the acting and writing are decent, but not spectacular. So far, I am most intrigued by the vampires, Claire and Dylan (big surprise). They moved to The Gates to protect their daughter Emily from other vampires. The only problem with this plan is that Claire has trouble controlling her hunger. Dylan seems to have a handle on it, but I think he is more the exception than the rule when it comes to vampires. I would like to hear more about their daughter and why they decided to adopt.
We also have Peg and Devon, who both own shops that sell herbs and holistic junk. They haven't stated it outright yet, but it is heavily implied that they practice witchcraft. Peg is the "good" witch and Devon is the "bad" witch. Then there is the werewolf pack, which appears to be composed of about half a dozen teenage boys. Not too much has been said about them, except that there is a "code" and running around as a werewolf is not allowed inside the community. I'm guessing that they fall into the "turn into a wolf at will" category rather than the "change at the full moon" category.
Interwoven with all of this is the story of the Monohans, who have just moved in. Nick is the new police chief (from Chicago!) and is suspicious of his new neighbors, Claire and Dylan. His wife Sarah thinks Claire is a wonderful woman. Claire recommended Peg to Sarah, but Sarah ended up going to Devon's shop instead. Their son Charlie has a crush on a werewolf's girlfriend. They also have a daughter, who is just kind of there. Maybe she'll end up being friends with the vampires' daughter or something. Actually, that would be pretty interesting.
The show has potential. I will probably tune in again next week.
Leverage: Season 3 review coming soon! It is downloading as we speak.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Movie review: Shrek 4
Shrek 4 begins with our title character adjusting to life as a father. He longs for the days when he was a fierce ogre and could take a mud bath in peace. After a fight with Fiona, Shrek is walking home alone when he runs into Rumplestiltskin, who offers Shrek one day as a "real" ogre in exchange for one day from his past. Shrek takes the deal, and soon discovers that the day Rumplestiltskin took was the day Shrek was born.
Which means that Shrek no longer exists.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. It is definitely better than the forgettable third, and at least as good as the second. It was interesting to see how the characters' lives are different in a world without Shrek. Puss, for example, would not look out of place on the Biggest Loser ranch (that cat could give Garfield a run for his money). The gingerbread man has taken to fighting animal crackers in the street. Rumplestiltskin rules Far Far Away and has a squad of Wicked Witches who track down ogres. The witches have pumpkin bombs, which I thought was hilarious.
The best change, though, is what happened to Fiona. After waiting for her true love, who never came, Fiona rescued herself from the Dragon's Keep. Heck yes! As if she wasn't badass enough in the first movie, now she is a true self-rescuing princess. Of course, the curse is still in effect. Fiona has embraced her ogre side. Now, instead of seeing herself as a princess who turns into an ogre, she is an ogre who hides the fact that she turns into a human during the day. By night, she leads the other ogres in The Resistance as they fight to overthrow Rumplestiltskin.
Stiltskin (as he is known to his enemies) was a decent villain. I have no idea what was up with his goose, though. Was it a robot? Or just a really big goose? I think it had gold teeth, too. It must have been the goose that lays the golden eggs, although they never explained it. That will probably turn up on the DVD as a deleted scene. I thought from the posters that maybe Lord Farquaad would be back. I was a bit disappointed that he never showed up. Incidentally, I wonder how all of the fairy tale creatures ended up in Far Far Away without Shrek and Fiona bringing them there. I suppose that Farquaad shipped them off there after he had rounded them all up.
The one thing that bugged me about this movie was the sudden appearance of the underground ogre society. Had it existed in the original timeline, without Shrek ever mentioning it? He seemed unsurprised to find a whole society of ogres. If he knew about other ogres, why had they never been mentioned before? If they somehow came into existence because of the contract, how did that happen? And why was there no shock about suddenly discovering the existence of dozens of his kind? And why were they still around after the contract was broken?
Right, spoiler alert. But (A) this movie has been out for over a month and (B) would anyone actually expect it to end with Shrek disappearing from existence? I will not spoil how it all works out, but I will say that I thought it was clever and well-plotted. The first movie had a lot of originality, so it was great to see some in this movie as well.
Overall, Shrek 4 gets 4 stars/5.
Which means that Shrek no longer exists.
I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this movie. It is definitely better than the forgettable third, and at least as good as the second. It was interesting to see how the characters' lives are different in a world without Shrek. Puss, for example, would not look out of place on the Biggest Loser ranch (that cat could give Garfield a run for his money). The gingerbread man has taken to fighting animal crackers in the street. Rumplestiltskin rules Far Far Away and has a squad of Wicked Witches who track down ogres. The witches have pumpkin bombs, which I thought was hilarious.
The best change, though, is what happened to Fiona. After waiting for her true love, who never came, Fiona rescued herself from the Dragon's Keep. Heck yes! As if she wasn't badass enough in the first movie, now she is a true self-rescuing princess. Of course, the curse is still in effect. Fiona has embraced her ogre side. Now, instead of seeing herself as a princess who turns into an ogre, she is an ogre who hides the fact that she turns into a human during the day. By night, she leads the other ogres in The Resistance as they fight to overthrow Rumplestiltskin.
Stiltskin (as he is known to his enemies) was a decent villain. I have no idea what was up with his goose, though. Was it a robot? Or just a really big goose? I think it had gold teeth, too. It must have been the goose that lays the golden eggs, although they never explained it. That will probably turn up on the DVD as a deleted scene. I thought from the posters that maybe Lord Farquaad would be back. I was a bit disappointed that he never showed up. Incidentally, I wonder how all of the fairy tale creatures ended up in Far Far Away without Shrek and Fiona bringing them there. I suppose that Farquaad shipped them off there after he had rounded them all up.
The one thing that bugged me about this movie was the sudden appearance of the underground ogre society. Had it existed in the original timeline, without Shrek ever mentioning it? He seemed unsurprised to find a whole society of ogres. If he knew about other ogres, why had they never been mentioned before? If they somehow came into existence because of the contract, how did that happen? And why was there no shock about suddenly discovering the existence of dozens of his kind? And why were they still around after the contract was broken?
Right, spoiler alert. But (A) this movie has been out for over a month and (B) would anyone actually expect it to end with Shrek disappearing from existence? I will not spoil how it all works out, but I will say that I thought it was clever and well-plotted. The first movie had a lot of originality, so it was great to see some in this movie as well.
Overall, Shrek 4 gets 4 stars/5.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Netflix Friday #1: Dawn
Today's Netflix streaming recommendation is for a movie I discovered a couple years ago, back when instant streaming was brand-new. At the time, I was looking for anything I could find with vampires. I came across this little independent gem simply by scrolling through all of their horror offerings.
"Dawn" is not your typical vampire movie. It is the story of a man and his daughter, Dawn. They are forced to forever wander from place to place to hide their secret: Dawn is a vampire. Technically, she is half-human, half-vampire. However, rather than this making her a super-speshul miracle baby, this means that she has all of a vampire's desire to kill along with all of a human's compassion for her victims. Their solution to this is to drive around until Dawn senses a human who is dying; she will only kill those who are terminally ill. However, this doesn't stop a would-be Van Helsing from setting out to avenge his mother.
If you are looking for tons of action and blood, "Dawn" is not for you. The movie is more of a character study of Dawn and her father. It's clear that they love each other very much, in spite of everything. The character development is excellent, particularly Dawn's struggle to meld her vampire and human halves. It builds to a tragic but inevitable conclusion. Despite its overall dark tone, there are a few funny scenes. My favorite is the conversation between Dawn's father and a goth chick.
There are a couple of caveats: first, the film is shot entirely in black and white. I think it was used effectively here, but it is another thing that sets it apart from other movies. Also, the acting isn't always the best. If you can overlook that, however, "Dawn" is a haunting little film that will stay with you for a long time.
"Dawn" is not your typical vampire movie. It is the story of a man and his daughter, Dawn. They are forced to forever wander from place to place to hide their secret: Dawn is a vampire. Technically, she is half-human, half-vampire. However, rather than this making her a super-speshul miracle baby, this means that she has all of a vampire's desire to kill along with all of a human's compassion for her victims. Their solution to this is to drive around until Dawn senses a human who is dying; she will only kill those who are terminally ill. However, this doesn't stop a would-be Van Helsing from setting out to avenge his mother.
If you are looking for tons of action and blood, "Dawn" is not for you. The movie is more of a character study of Dawn and her father. It's clear that they love each other very much, in spite of everything. The character development is excellent, particularly Dawn's struggle to meld her vampire and human halves. It builds to a tragic but inevitable conclusion. Despite its overall dark tone, there are a few funny scenes. My favorite is the conversation between Dawn's father and a goth chick.
There are a couple of caveats: first, the film is shot entirely in black and white. I think it was used effectively here, but it is another thing that sets it apart from other movies. Also, the acting isn't always the best. If you can overlook that, however, "Dawn" is a haunting little film that will stay with you for a long time.
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Movie review: Iron Man 2
I never saw the first Iron Man movie, so I walked into this one not knowing much about Iron Man except that he walks around in a robotic suit. Of course, I was able to get an idea of his personality from the Marvel/DC videos on YouTube: he's a millionaire playboy, possibly an alcoholic, and he may or may not have herpes.
As it turned out, that description was surprisingly accurate. Iron Man's an interesting character. Unlike Spider-Man or Superman or Batman, Iron Man wants everyone to know who he "really" is, and he is unapologetic for any of his actions. He does a pretty good job of convincing people that he really doesn't care about anything. As the movie opens, we find out that the core of his suit which is keeping him alive is also poisoning him. At the same time, he needs to defeat a Russain mobster with a grudge (and a super-suit!). Oh, and keep his company running.
It was an enjoyable movie. The acting was great, and the special effects were superb. I love all of Tony Stark's techno-gadgets--aside from his Iron Man suit, he has the coolest computer system EVER. The 3-D holograms that he can resize with his hands? Sweet. I wish technology like that existed in real life...and who knows? It very well may someday. The scenes between the Russain and Stark's rival Justin Hammer were pretty funny. I loved how Hammer was under the illusion that he was still the one in charge.
The movie was good, but it wasn't fantastic. It seemed like it was just a lot of stuff getting destroyed, with some semblance of a plot to tie it all together. And working the Avengers in. They've been hinting at an Avengers movie since 2008, and the movie isn't coming until 2012. This will probably be the first movie that has been hyped for 4 years before it's released. We'll have to see if that type of marketing is a good idea or a really stupid one. My other problem with the movie was that it was really loud, which ties in with all of the destruction. Overall, I'd say it's a good popcorn movie: entertaining, enjoyable, but without a lot of substance.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars.
And now, to kick off Video Thursday, please enjoy this Iron Man video from ItsJustSomeRandomGuy!
As it turned out, that description was surprisingly accurate. Iron Man's an interesting character. Unlike Spider-Man or Superman or Batman, Iron Man wants everyone to know who he "really" is, and he is unapologetic for any of his actions. He does a pretty good job of convincing people that he really doesn't care about anything. As the movie opens, we find out that the core of his suit which is keeping him alive is also poisoning him. At the same time, he needs to defeat a Russain mobster with a grudge (and a super-suit!). Oh, and keep his company running.
It was an enjoyable movie. The acting was great, and the special effects were superb. I love all of Tony Stark's techno-gadgets--aside from his Iron Man suit, he has the coolest computer system EVER. The 3-D holograms that he can resize with his hands? Sweet. I wish technology like that existed in real life...and who knows? It very well may someday. The scenes between the Russain and Stark's rival Justin Hammer were pretty funny. I loved how Hammer was under the illusion that he was still the one in charge.
The movie was good, but it wasn't fantastic. It seemed like it was just a lot of stuff getting destroyed, with some semblance of a plot to tie it all together. And working the Avengers in. They've been hinting at an Avengers movie since 2008, and the movie isn't coming until 2012. This will probably be the first movie that has been hyped for 4 years before it's released. We'll have to see if that type of marketing is a good idea or a really stupid one. My other problem with the movie was that it was really loud, which ties in with all of the destruction. Overall, I'd say it's a good popcorn movie: entertaining, enjoyable, but without a lot of substance.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars.
And now, to kick off Video Thursday, please enjoy this Iron Man video from ItsJustSomeRandomGuy!
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