by Glen A.

It’s a bad habit forming, no doubt, but the movies on Blu-ray and DVD have stacked up once again, and so as I did in April, I’m going to give my quick takes on 27 of these cinematic offerings.

This time around, I’d like to present them in some kind of ranking system, from Don’t Bother to My Favorites and whatever might fit in between. Hopefully, that way, you can tell at a glance where I’m at on these movies, and it will help you to decide whether or not it’s worth the $20, give or take, that acquiring these movies will cost (although some of them were discounted a while back).

DON’T BOTHER

The Day the Earth Stood Still (DVD)

I like Keanu Reeves, ever since the Bill & Ted days, so this is has nothing to do with him, okay? This is one of those remakes of an older movie that you scratch your head and wonder why did they bother.

In this case, it was little more than the fact that special effects have improved tremendously since the original (1951) came out. So, if you’re looking at it completely from that standpoint, there may be some merits to buying this movie. Otherwise, you might be more interested in the black and white original, which is also included in the DVD version on a separate disc.

While based on the earlier film, the stories are different despite similar elements. A human-looking being from another world comes to Earth, a giant robot protects him and his spacecraft, a manhunt ensues, military tries to blow up robot and spaceship, and so forth. However, the 2008 version just seems a little more into the environment and how we’re treating the planet, as opposed to the 1951 take, which seemed to be much more centered on whether or not mankind was capable of making correct moral or ethical decisions.

Also, Klaatu, the extraterrestrial, has some kind of otherworldly powers that the original one did not seem to have. I will admit that the latest is much more suspenseful and larger in its scope, but the original just seemed more interesting, despite it’s older production values and style.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Blu-ray)

You can read my review of the movie when we saw it theaters. I’m afraid my mind hasn’t changed that much. I wouldn’t have bought it, either, if it hadn’t been for the fact that Evan liked the film.

I still think it goes over too much territory already explored in the X-Men 2, and since that series was way too much about Wolverine, it just didn’t seem necessary to go over territory that had already been tread.

I think the idea was to try to unleash Wolverine more, and I’m sorry, but from the comic book to the movies, more is not better. The most intriguing thing about Wolverine was not him just giving in to his berserker rage, it was Logan trying to find the humanity within, and using and channeling his powers and enhancements for good.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (Blu-ray)

This is a movie that we actually did watch in theaters that I never got around to reviewing.

I guess when the movie grossed over $800 million worldwide, with over $400 million coming domestically, I decided I was going to be swimming against the tide on this one. Then, Angela pretty much guilted me into buying this on Blu-ray, and we sat down and watched it again.

As you can see, it’s taken me this long to recover enough to even want to try to say anything.

I liked the first movie, though I thought it had flaws. In the original, Sam’s mother gets just a little too over the top, and the whole bit with the dog and some of the other potty humor was just dumb. I also had a hard time trying to keep the Transformers straight in the original. However, the stuff I didn’t like was outweighed by the stuff I did like.

In Revenge of the Fallen, though, the stuff I didn’t like is amplified, added upon and basically put out front and center. I’m going to assume that you’ve seen the movie or know something about it as I describe things here. Sam’s mother is even more over-the-top than she was in the first movie, despite having less screen time, and the dogs grinding each other translates to a smaller Decepticon doing the same thing to the leg of Mikaela and then there’s the twins, two new Autobots who are sometimes hard to understand, which might be a good thing since what you can understand is vulgar. All of it is done for laughs, but with younger kids undoubtedly in the audience, it just wasn’t appropriate. It was juvenile humor at best, stuff that only teenagers should be laughing at, and it wasn’t necessary to just play to their sensibilities.

The story line itself is less intriguing then the first. The whole notion of an original line of Primes having helped out on the Earth thousands of years ago is getting to be a well-worn vehicle, and the Fallen being the last survivor of the original Primes is just a little too much to take.

I’m not one who has a problem suspending reality, but I guess when I’m irritated with other things that just weren’t necessary, I’m a little less forgiving when it comes to the rest.

I doubt seriously I can convince you it’s not worth buying on either kind of disc, particularly since I went ahead and bought it, so I won’t try. My only satisfaction here is, it’s sitting in my Don’t Bother section.

SO-SO

The Spirit (DVD)

This is one of those movies where all the elements for a good movie are there–good characters, great-stylized graphics and cinematography, good actors, a decent director–but for some reason, the final effort is less than the sum of its parts.

It may have been mainly due to the fact I felt that Samuel L. Jackson in the role of The Spirit’s arch nemesis, the Octopus, was terribly miscast (and I do like Mr. Jackson in certain movies). It also had something to do with the reveal about how both the Spirit and the Octopus coming to be took forever and then just didn’t seem all that satisfying once you knew what was up.

I’ve never seen Sin City (and I never will), but I get the idea that these characters in The Spirit are kind of lighter characters than those in Sin City. Meaning, you can get away with a PG-13 rating as opposed to an R. However, the same kind of murky lines of right and wrong exist, with the only differences seeming to be that the hero only kills bad guys in the name of justice while the bad guys are equal opportunity killers, and do so mainly for fun or out of irritation.

I think there’s enough here (and it goes without saying if your a Frank Miller fan) to warrant buying it on DVD from the discount bin. Otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend paying more than $10 for it.

Enchanted (DVD)

This movie came close to making the Better The Expected category, but in my thinking about it, I decided it just didn’t really deserve it. The movie came into theaters in 2007, but I just got it this year on DVD.

A Disney movie, Enchanted kind of pokes fun at its roots, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and other fairy tale staples, and forces it into modern day. Some of it is funny, some of it is just plain hokey, and some of it is just plain dumb.

I was not familiar with Amy Adams, but I did know about Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, Timothy Spall and Susan Sarandon, and I’ve more or less liked them in other roles they’ve played (though Marsden disappoints me more than he doesn’t).

Adams is good in this. She’s got a great voice (if this is truly her singing), and she pulls off the whole optimistic innocence very well. You do believe she believes every word she says. I was actually pleasantly surprised with Dempsey, who I’ve only seen in other movies and shows when he was much younger, and wasn’t that particularly impressed. Here, though, he seems to show a range of emotions and talents, including singing.

Marsden has a good voice, too (which I guess would explain why he was in Hairspray), and he plays the role of a narcissistic prince extremely well. After his turn as Cyclops in X-Men, I wondered if it was possible for him to play a strong leading man. Apparently, it is, which makes me hate what they did to Scott Summers even more.

Spall and Sarandon kind of play characters you you’re used to seeing them play, so there’s not that much too talk about there.

The CGI effects are not as good as they should have been, particularly with Queen Narissa’s dragon at the end. Making these characters all amalgamations of previous Disney characters doesn’t help, and it is kind of jolting when they transverse the gulf between cartoon and real life.

It does make for sad commentary on the state of society when things like marriage and living happily ever after are thought as impossibilities, if not flat out looked down upon. Still, as in all Disney movies, things have a way of working out in the end. Good wins out, despite the building uncertainty.

I’m not entirely sure what this movie is missing. I like musicals, I like good vs. evil when it’s clearly defined, and I don’t mind the doubting characters, either. Maybe it was the attempt to create a whole new character based on several old characters and bring that into the modern day while still having ties to the fairy tale, if that makes any sense.

Dragonball Evolution (DVD)

When Trevor and Evan were into the Dragonball Z cartoons, I used to get irritated watching them because it always seemed like there would be this tremendous build up to any kind of action, like some kind of world-destroying punch, but then they would drag out that moment over the course of an entire episode, if not multiple-episodes, through commentary of other characters witnessing the event, flashbacks or just plain going elsewhere.

The boys always thought I was exaggerating, but I can’t think of a single time when I sat down to watch the show that I actually got to see the result of the punch because I couldn’t sit through the rest of it.

That said, why in the world would I buy a movie with Dragonball in the title?

Well, good question. I almost didn’t. I think I picked it up at least once, maybe twice, before I actually took it home. As it is, I probably could have still left it behind, but it did turn out to be so-so, which is better than I expected. In fact, like Enchanted, Dragonball Evolution just barely missed falling into the category. In this case, it was because my expectations were so low, that even it wasn’t going to meet them.

Chow Yun Fat plays a different kind of martial arts character than you normally see him playing. He’s a little more rough around the edges, and not quite as adept at his abilities as he may have once been. That makes his character a little more comedic in nature.

If you saw the Forbidden Kingdom, the story is similar in that you have an American looking youth who is on a quest to discover himself through some mystical martial arts journey. That pretty much describes Goku’s character, even though he must be part Chinese because of his grandfather, Gohan. It’s just not easy to see in Justin Chatwin, who hails from British Columbia.

The battle scenes are fine, and the villain–Lord Piccolo–is good.

I’d say if your a Dragonball fan, go ahead and get it, knowing you’ll probably be disappointed, but heck, it’s Dragonball!

The rest of you, it’s probably not going to be worth your while.

SHOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

G.I. Joe (Blu-ray)

Since a lot of cartoons or comic books are getting live action movie treatments, why not G.I. Joe?

Sounds like a good idea, until you get it into development, and then decide to go in directions the previous media never went. First off, how can you call something G.I. Joe, when the people on the team are more international in flavor? I know were in a more P.C. world, but 30 or so years ago when the comics and cartoons were more fashionable, the Joes were American, with the rest of the world populating the bad guys.

That in and of itself was stereotypical, and perhaps not the best of things to turn into Saturday morning fare. Personally, I don’t mind the Joes being American and they being portrayed as good. Certainly there would be enough super secret military outfits around the world that could hook up with the Joes, just as there would be plenty of villains, including Americans.

How about a title like G.I. International, or something?

I think I would have preferred someone other than a Wayans brother as sidekick to the main character. It seemed like most of the other actors were playing their characters fairly straight, while Marlon Wayans was trying to be funny and serious, and not really pulling off either.

Yes, there are good elements to the film. The CGI for the most part is good, and so is the action. Even the little plot twists are fine, as you find out that the main bad guy really isn’t the main bad guy, after all. There’s enough convolution that things never seem to gel exactly the way they should.

I don’t know that you ever care that much about any of the good guys, or ever feel like any of their lives are in peril. I wasn’t a big enough fan of G.I. Joe growing up to really know any of the characters, either.

I do have to say, though, given the recent run of James Bond movies, it’s nice to have villains who are actually more evil and world domineering than they are more or less greedy corporate types.

Coraline DVD

First off, let me tell you that I don’t know what the big push is for 3-D in any medium, but less when it comes to movies. The technology has been around forever, and yet, it’s never been a big seller. Avatar will probably prove me wrong, but I’m hoping that sales there will be driven by other things in addition to its 3-D.

That said, we started watching Coraline in 3-D and had to stop only a few minutes in because you couldn’t really see anything. It gives me a headache, and my eyes don’t seem to focus that well on the 3-D part, anyway.

Watching it in 2-D was much better, and pretty enjoyable, but this movie is kind of disturbing, particularly since all it got was a PG rating.

It’s in the vain of The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride. It’s done in the same kind of sharp CGI, and the characters in the movie are all very odd.

The story revolves around a young girl named Coraline who finds herself wishing for something more. Both her parents seem wrapped up in their jobs or their pastimes more than they seem to pay attention to her. That makes her long for someone that will. In the meantime, she meets a young boy who seems to be rather strange, talking about how the previous occupants of where they live did some strange things.

As the story unfolds, Coraline discovers a door in the living room wall that has a key and a lock to it. No one knows what it goes to, but Coraline is forbidden to investigate. She decides to do so, anyway, and finds herself in some kind of parallel plane, where there are people just like in her own world, but they all have buttons where there eyes should be, and there appears to be something odd, or sinister to each of them. Coraline doesn’t notice it at first because everyone is so kind–she has parents that gush over her and cook her her favorite meals and play with her.

She does go back home after awhile, when she’s had enough of what’s going on, mostly it seems to make sure her real parents are still there and to try to get a sense about what’s going on. She doesn’t really want to mention things to her parents, so she tries to find out what their eccentric neighbors know about things, but without much success. They’re all wrapped up in their own pasts that it’s hard to really get anything out of them.

The cast of characters include a former highwire or trapeze artist and two sisters who used to be on stage, along with the strange lonely boy and his grandmother you never see.

There is also a cat which talks on the dream side, and he seems to be the only character, other than Coraline, who doesn’t have button eyes.

Her mother in the fantasy world tries to get her to exchange her eyes for the buttons, telling her she will be much better that way. Coraline says no each time, and each time, her other mother becomes more and more insistent. This continues until Coraline finally realizes that the fantasy world is all an allusion, designed to make her give up her eyes.

I won’t go into the rest. I’ll just say it’s an interesting premise, and that it was enjoyable for the most part, though it seemed less suspenseful or scary than it seemed weird and odd. There is some CGI nudity involved, I guess is the best way to put it, and even that is kind of creepy, because it involves the two old ladies, one of which is obese.

If you’re a fan of the Tim Burton-style (Henry Selick directed Nightmare Before Christmas), then you’ll probably like Coraline. For the rest of you, it’ll probably be a little confusing, and a little too weird. In any event, I would avoid the 3-D version.

BETTER THAN EXPECTED

This category has the largest list of movies in it, and it’s based on a lowered expectation, but where the movie was still fairly good.

Race to Witch Mountain (Blu-ray)

I couldn’t interest anyone in the family in going to see this in the theaters, so I ended up getting it on Blu-ray when it came out (I wasn’t able to locate a DVD version at the time, or I probably would have bought that instead).

I was thinking it was a remake of an earlier Witch Mountain title, but see that the previous names were Escape to and Return from instead of Race to. At any rate, I had Eddie Albert stuck in my head, which is fine for Green Acres and the like, but not something I was hoping to see repeated in 2009.

Mr. Albert passed away in 2005, so he wasn’t in it. However, at least the child stars, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann were, playing different roles of course.

Race to Witch Mountain revolves around a Las Vegas cabbie named Jack Bruno (played by Dwayne Johnson) who is in trouble with the mob. He finds himself shepherding a couple of youths who he mistakes as runaways, only to find out later that they are actually from another planet. And while they are running, it’s not from there parents, but to save their world from destruction. At first Bruno doesn’t believe, but after he sees what they can do, including stopping an SUV after it runs into the brother, Bruno decides he’d better help out however he can.

The special effects in this movie is pretty good, and interplanetary bad guy, Siphon, is pretty deadly. The trio escape only through some mixing of luck, timing and of course to further the story along. Johnson is his typical big lug, tough guy self, but it works in this movie, and it’s not like he’s always needing to save the kids because they’re fully capable of defending themselves.

The extraterrestrial sister is played by AnnaSophia Robb, who has been in such films as Samantha: An American Girl Holiday, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Bridge To Terabithia, while her brother is played by Alexander Ludwig (now there’s a throwback name), who really hasn’t been in anything most people will have seen. Both do a good job of playing young alien teens.

Definitely something to check out, though Blu-ray probably isn’t a must in this case.

Monsters vs. Aliens (DVD)

This is one of those movies where I was intrigued by the trailer, but not enough to go watch it in theaters.

It seemed to be another CGI movie, and while I’m sure that was the market, there was some more adult themes festering in it that actually made it more entertaining for their parents.

A meteorite lands on earth and transforms a woman into a giant on her wedding day. Her self-absorbed fiance realizes he doesn’t want to marry a 50 ft. woman, and Susan Murphy is whisked off to a top secret military base where other oddities are kept. Among them are B.O.B, a gelatinous blob with no brain (and for the most part, he acts like it), a super intelligent bug named Dr. Cockroach Ph. D., and The Missing Link. Each have their expertise and usefulness.

The movie is pretty funny throughout, as Susan adapts to her newfound powers and growing self-esteem. She ends up finding herself in a situation where she must save the earth from the extraterrestrials bent on retrieving the meteorite, and removing the effects of the meteorite on her.

I probably should have realized from the voice cast that Monsters vs. Aliens would be a decent enough movie. Reese Witherspoon plays Susan, while Seth Rogen is B.O.B, Hugh Laurie Dr. Cockroach and Will Arnett, The Missing Link. Rainn Wilson plays the main antagonist, Gallaxhar, and Stephen Colbert is the President.

Keifer Sutherland, Jeffery Tambor, Paul Rudd, Amy Poehler and Renee Zellweger all have lesser parts. While a lot of these folks are better known for their work on television, that’s still a lot of star power, and it seemed to aid the movie quite well.

This may be a movie you’ll want to have kids around to watch with, but I guarantee you’ll enjoy it as much, if not more than them.

Aliens in the Attic (DVD)

Given these last three movies, I guess you can see I’m interested in all kinds of science fiction, even if it’s geared toward the younger generation and more silly than it is science fiction.

Aliens in the Attic is about a couple of brothers who rent a vacation home during the summer, bringing along their families and their mother. The kids don’t really want to be there, and while they’re cousins, they don’t necessarily get along, or for that matter, neither do the siblings.

Not long after arriving at the summer house, they are joined by the boyfriend of the daughter of one of the brothers. He’s a jerk, but he’s managed to convince girlfriend and her parents that he’s a sweet guy. After pulling out a part from his vehicle, he fakes car trouble so he can spend some time at the summer home with his girlfriend.

Shortly after that, diminutive aliens land on the roof of the summer home on a scouting mission. They’re too determine whether or not Earth can be safely invaded or not. After the noise of their landing and some other strange happenings draw the cousins to the attic, a battle ensues which more or less traps the aliens in the attic (thus the name of the movie).

The rest of the movie is spent trying to figure out what the aliens want and to stop them, all without their parents finding out. That’s a pretty tall order, since they’re supposed to be doing family things at the same time a they’re trying to stop the aliens, and in the process, both the boyfriend and the grandmother have been taken over by some kind of remote control device that first the aliens, and then the kids, control.

Some of the most hilarious moments I’ve ever seen on film ensue through the remote control. Robert Hoffman, who plays the boyfriend named Ricky Dillman, just plain steals the show. His martial arts fight with the grandmother (played by Doris Roberts of Everybody Loves Raymond fame), is funny and pretty incredible, considering Roberts just turned 79.

There’s plenty of teen angst, self-absorption, low esteem and coming of age in the movie, along with some alien buddy moments, but the story continues to move, the special effects are generally pretty good and there’s enough fun stuff that the entire family will find something to entertain themselves with.

The parents are played by Kevin Nealon of SNL fame, Gillian Vigman, who are husband and wife, and Andy Richter, who is pretty humorous anytime he’s on screen, but fairly wasted given what he can do. For that matter, Nealon and Vigman don’t get much to work with, either.

Again, another kids kind of movie, one that’s probably more geared to the kids then some of the others I’ve talked about so far, but still something you’ll enjoy seeing.

Bedtime Stories (DVD)

I’m not an Adam Sandler fan. Some people find him to be really funny. I just find him to be obnoxious for the most part. He does have some signature, iconic characters in his stable of works, but mostly, he’s his goofy self, with vulgar and crassness mixed in.

For that reason alone, I wasn’t going to watch Bedtime Stories. However, since it was rated PG, Sandler wasn’t going to get away with much, and the idea of bedtimes stories coming to life did have some appeal.

Sandler actually isn’t bad when he’s somewhat constrained. He does have some humanity in him, and it isn’t all about being the lovable bum who gets a miraculous break, though that’s more or less what he is throughout the movie.

There’s at least two actors in this movie that you probably wouldn’t expect to see. One is Guy Pearce, who has a decidedly comedic turn as the heir apparent to the hotel chain where Sandler’s character works (after his father founded it), and Lucy Lawless, better known as Xena. It took me a while to figure out who she was, since her character isn’t anything like Xena, and I had not seen her in anything since.

This is fun fare, a bedtime story, Adam Sandler style, and while I wouldn’t ever expect to recommend an Adam Sandler movie, much less watch one, here I am saying I liked it and it was worth watching.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (DVD)

Here’s a case where the trailer didn’t do the movie justice. Generally, trailers try to put the best of the movie out there, so you’ll think, wow, this must be really good. When that happens, more times than not, it’s a disappointment. Very rarely does the trailer make you not want to see something that is actually pretty good.

That’s what happened to me with the sequel to Night at the Museum.

Like Adam Sandler, I’m not a big Ben Stiller fan, but he’s done enough stuff that I could watch him in (Mystery Men, the original Night at the Museum), that he’s grown on me. I like Owen Wilson, though, as well as Robin Williams, Ricky Gervais, Steve Coogan, Christopher Guest and Hank Azaria, so I should have known, after seeing the first Night at the Museum that there would be something worth watching here.

In some ways, it’s actually better than the first. The movie doesn’t waste much time getting to the action, although Larry Daley is no longer a night watchman at the museum. He’s followed his dream of being an inventor, and is actually doing quite well for himself. Still running a growing corporation and making his pitches on television doesn’t seem to be nearly as exciting as he thought it would be, even if it is far more lucrative.

As the story unfolds, we see that his heart really is set on museum and the pieces of history that come to life at night.

The museum, do to a lack of interest and a desire for modernity, is more or less being closed down. Several of the pieces, including his main friends, are being packed up and shipped off to where they’re going to be stored away. Larry gets a call from Jedediah about Kahmunrah, Ahkmenrah’s older brother, who wants to take the golden tablet that brings the museum to life, and open a portal to another dimension where bird warriors will help him to take over the world.

In the meantime, Kahmunrah has enlisted the services of Ivan the Terrible, Al Capone and Napoleon.

If you liked the first one, you’ll enjoy the sequel. If you’re a fan of any of the aforementioned actors, then you should see this one.

Eagle Eye (DVD)

I probably can’t consider myself a fan of Shia LaBeouf. Still, I tend to see the movies he is in (Transformers, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and Eagle Eye just happened to be one more. It’s not that I dislike him. He just seems to be the same in every movie–the underdog kid with an attitude.

So, Eagle Eye wasn’t the first thing that jumped onto my list of movies to watch. Evan, though, wanted to see it (he’s a LeBouf admirer) and there were some elements of the movie I was interested in (some all-knowing, all-seeing organization that had control of virtually every electronic device known to man directing LeBouf in his every move).

I ended up liking the movie quite a bit, even though the story took a twist down a well-worn path and didn’t end up being the story I thought it was going to be. The special effects were good, the acting decent, the story engaging–you do start to care for the characters and hope they make it out of their rather extreme circumstances alive, since many of their counterparts do not.

LeBouf plays a young man who’s life is really going nowhere. He’s estranged from his parents and his twin brother, who has died under suspicious circumstances. The brother was military working on some kind of top secret project, and of course, that leads to questions about his allegiance and just what it was he was involved with.

After that, LeBouf winds up with lots of money in his checking account, weapons that belong to a terrorist group wind up in his apartment, and he starts to receive phone calls directing to do different things. At first, he doesn’t listen, but after what is predicted comes true, he starts doing as he’s told, until he finally decides he should stop and put an end to the madness.

It does not take very long to get into the action, with LeBouf running for his life from one disaster in the making to the other. He is chased down by Billy Bob Thornton, who plays an agent named Thomas Morgan. The two clash off and on throughout the movie until Thornton finally realizes that LeBouf has been set up.

Meanwhile, there are others who have been receiving phone calls and directions, including Rachel Holloman, played by Michelle Monaghan. Rachel has a young son who will playing in a concert band that will play at the State of the Union address in Washington D.C., so a lot of what is done to manipulate her involves the safety of her son, who she’s allowed to go on this field trip with the other children and the band instructor.

That’s probably all I should say about the movie itself. Stunts are good, special effects are decent and as I said, you do end up caring for the characters before the movie is over.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (DVD)

I guess I’ve gotten used to the third movie in a series being a let down, if the second doesn’t do it before it. What’s been surprising about these movies is the foreign box office it does. While an Ice Age movie has yet to garner $200 million domestically (the last two came close at $195 million and $196 million, respectively), the foreign take has propelled the Ice Age movies among some of the top grossers of all time. Dawn of the Dinosaurs made over $884 million altogether, placing it 16th on the all time list. That’s not bad for a movie that’s found at No. 104 at home.

I do have to say there’s something infectious about John Leguizamo’s Sid the Sloth, and Ray Romano’s dry wit as Manny the Mammoth. With the story line turned towards Ellie having a baby and Sid trying to adopt baby Tyrannosauruses, things do get very funny, not to mention the newfound love interest for Scrat. While having little to do with the rest of the movie, Scratte’s adventures within the main adventure have always been fun, if not show stealing.

However, the main crew does a good job of stealing back the show in this one, and it makes for a winning movie all the way around. With the introduction of a new main character named Crash, there is sufficient new to go with the old. Dawn of the Dinosaurs is another one of those CGI-animated films that has appeal across the entire family spectrum, and not just the kids.

The Tale of Despereaux (DVD)

I’ve never been sure how Matthew Broderick winds up headlining in movies. He just doesn’t seem to have enough different facial expressions to run through the entire gambit of emotions actors must have, and that voice–I’m sorry, it’s just not the voice of a leading man.

Enter The Tale of Despereaux. Not having to watch Broderick on screen, even though there’s still his voice, actually works out pretty good. Kind of the same way it worked for Jack Black in Kung Fu Panda. Despereaux is an overachiever anyway, and he’s not supposed to be the hero, so that all works as far as Broderick’s involvement is concerned.

The main thing that surprised me, though, this movie has a fairly dark edge to it. Dustin Hoffman plays a rat named Roscuro who is rather conflicted. He wants to be good, but he has been blamed for the death of the Queen, and finds himself in an underworld where cruelty is rather commonplace. He doesn’t want to at first, but after a time he wearies of his ideals and wavers. Despeareaux’s unwavering honor and character eventually makes him come around in time to help save the day. Before that, there is a definite amount of room for doubt as to what the outcome will be.

While rated G, I’m not sure I would let the younger kids, definitely the ones five and younger, watch this yet, and I might even wait until they’re more like eight. Despereaux is cute, but the rats are not–they are almost batlike in their appearances and they ooze evil. As I said, this is a fairly dark film for a movie aimed at kids. I guess that was something I was not expecting, though a lot of the movie is fairly formulaic.

For me, having that bit of surprise was good.

GOOD

Push (Blu-ray)

In the same vein as Jumper, only better, I think, Push is a movie about people who have different kinds of mental powers, which includes the telekinetic mover power that is easy to mistake for the titular power of the push. The push is actually more of a telepathic power, where possessors are able to “push” people to do things they wouldn’t normally do, like kill themselves or others.

There are those who can see the future too, or variations of the future, since each decision can possibly play out different scenarios, thus potentially leading to different endings. These folks are called Watchers, as they more or less watch the possibilities as events unfold.

A good portion of Push is devoted to trying to effect future events by trying to do something in the present to avoid or stop them. Since things don’t end well for the protagonists, it behooves them to try to do something that might keep them alive. The tricky thing about this watching, though, is that things aren’t always as they seem, though. What might look like death, might not actually be.

Push pairs Chris Evans (Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four movies) with Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds) as the former is being hunted by people he owes money to. His mover powers are kind of fritzy, and Fanning’s watcher power is deemed immature, due to her age. She’s no more than 14 in this movie, and looks younger than that, especially when her clothing resembles that of a street walker. She’s trying to grow up on the outside while her powers has made her pretty serious and aware of her own mortality. Not a good combination for young person.

She convinces him that they need to steal a brief case that has some kind of valuable content inside so he can pay off his gambling debt. She doesn’t immediately tell him, though, that she’s interested in the contents of the brief case for her mother, who has been locked away in an infirmary because of her own watcher abilities. In their attempt to get to the brief case and then beyond that, they become hunted by government ops who have the more fully developed powers, along with an asian gang who wants the contents of whatever it is they’re after.

Pinned between the two, Evans decides the only way through is to become unpredictable, which means no one must know what they’re going to do until they do it. Since Evans is the mastermind behind this idea, he must have his mind wiped by yet another telepath so that he forgets the plan until after it is performed.

I was skeptical about the plot device when it was introduced, but the execution of it isn’t bad, and since there’s more than one twist involved along those lines, it actually does work out fairly well. I’m not going to say it’s the perfect of all resolutions, but it sure beats the alternative rather messy endings for all the good guys.

I bought ours on Blu-ray, and I think the special effects and the different visuals warrant it. You might want to wait for prices to come down, which I believe has already happened, since this first came out on DVD/Blu-ray back in July.

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (DVD)

I’m going to be bucking against the critics here, but I enjoyed Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium. While I can’t say that I agreed with all of the philosophy behind it, the idea of losing imagination or wonder either as an individual or as a society, or giving up on a dream and serving reality is something I relate to a lot.

Dustin Hoffman is one of my favorite actors and Natalie Portman tends to well when given something to work with.

Evan found the relationship between Mr. Magorium (Hoffman) and Molly to be a bit odd, given that they are not related. He uses a lot of pet names with her which could suggest some kind of affection beyond father daughter or grandfather granddaughter, and it creeped Evan out.

Personally, I didn’t have that problem.

Magorium is old, he’s worn out, he’s tired, and it’s time to leave mortality for the life beyond it. He doesn’t do a whole lot of abiding by conventional wisdom, which accounts for his nicknames for Molly, too. He’s like a child, and yet he’s extremely wise, something you might expect from a 243-year-old.

When he announces he will be “retiring,” he asks Molly to take over for him. Her dream of becoming a famous composer would be in jeopardy if she were to stay, and she declines, feeling she doesn’t have the proper magic to keep the store running on her own. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium is known by all the kids as a place where toys come to life.

Even the shop itself feels abandoned with Magorium’s announcement, and things start going wrong with the building itself, as well as the toys. That, along with an accountant that’s been brought in to oversee the finances brings matters to a crisis that Magorium more or less leaves to Molly to sort out. His time is up, and he’s decided he’s going to just up and walk away from it all.

Magorium’s vocabulary and phrasing is delivered skillfully and with a certain glee by Hoffman, and Portman plays off it well, though she isn’t quite as good at pulling off the eccentricity as Hoffman is. It’s probably because she’s just too young to do it. How can you be eccentric when you’re 20-something?

However, there’s enough playful banter and affection there that you do feel for their characters, along with the supporting cast who almost must pick up their lives without Mr. Magorium. I don’t know that I liked the ending that much, but then I’m kind of sticky on endings. Just say that it could have ended better, but that the rest of the movie is definitely worth watching, particularly for any dreamers and those still using their imaginations out there.

Valkyrie (DVD)

Yes, this a Tom Cruise movie, and yes it’s more about him than it is about Hitler, but that doesn’t mean it’s not good. This is a good thriller, particularly since it doesn’t sell out with a happy ending. Whether or not it’s historically true to the letter, I don’t know, but it definitely leaves you worn out after you’re through.

Cruise plays Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, a Nazi officer, who along with several other military and other prominent Germans determines that the only way to save the motherland is to assassinate Hitler before the Allies can overwhelm them.

It is possible to get lost in the fact that the Germans either have American accents or they have English accents. I’m not sure exactly why they didn’t pick something and stick to it, but I found it to be a minor distraction. I also thought that actors that I don’t normally care for that much, like Tom Wilkinson (he was in Batman Begins as Carmine Falcone) do very well in this movie. I guess that would also go for Cruise, since I tend to watch his movies for the action, rather than for him.

No doubt there’s some poetic license in the movie as far as the assassination plot is concerned and just how much Stauffenberg is able to get away with, but plot devices help to make the story go along. When you need to boil down actual events, which span days, weeks or longer, to under two hours, you have to include somethings and others you can’t. So, I don’t mind some alterations for dramatic effect. Otherwise, it would be a documentary, not a movie.

Angels & Demons (Blu-ray)

I thought about putting this in the Could Have Been Better category, but then thought that wouldn’t be doing the movie justice. Production value is quite good on this, and the movie, in and of itself, is good. I guess I liked the book better, and I’ve vowed not to judge the movie on the book.

That said, you’ll be disappointed if you read the book. The movie does hold true to the main ideas in the book–there’s a killer on the loose killing Cardinals during a time where the Vatican is choosing a new Pope–but some of the finer elements of the book are totally written out of the script. I’m not entirely sure why, other than it allowed for the cast to be a little trimmer than it might have been otherwise.

As it is, some are played up more than others, too, so who’s to say why some things were left in and others went. The main disappointment came with the ending, where Dan Brown’s Professor Robert Langdon is much more of a daredevil than in this one.

The following of clues is true to the book, and the principal characters of Langdon, Vittoria Vetra and Carmelengo Patrick McKenna are pretty well rounded. Just as in the first movie, The DaVinci Code, the real villain is a mystery until the very end, but the henchman is not nearly as fanatical or easy to dislike as he was in the first movie. That’s not to say a paid assassin, when the target is clergy, is very sympathetic, but he seems to be more ambiguous about his morals, and he isn’t a wanton killer at that. Towards the end of the movie, he spares Langdon’s and Vetra’s lives, even though it might not be his best interest.

I did like The DaVinci Code better, but that’s because it seemed to be truer to the book. As I said, though, I’m trying not to base my interpretations of movies based on whether or not they were true to every detail in the book. Still, I think that a few more minutes here and there might have been worth it, as things seemed rushed throughout.

I think it’s good, and if you’re a fan of the books or the first movie, you should see it.

Jet Li’s: Fearless (Blu-ray)

This is supposedly the last Martial Arts epic of Jet Li’s career. I’m not entirely sure what that means he will do with the rest of his life, but it appears that he is still doing movies.

This Fearless is about a fighter who vows to become the best in his province. As a young man, he is bullied, and that leads to his desire to be the best. As time goes by, he becomes the best, but it comes at a great price. After defeating, and killing, the one man who was considered the best, his daughter and mother are also murdered in a revenge killing.

Li’s character than wanders out into the country side, where he is brought to live with a village of farmers who live a simple life revolving around the rice harvest. At first, Li’s inherent competitive spirit does not allow him to see the beauty in the simplicity around him, but gradually, with the help of a young blind woman, he is able to comprehend that his old life must be left behind if he is to find true happiness.

After arriving at this conclusion, he determines he must leave this idyllic life and return to make amends. He visits the wife of the slain martial arts master and pays his respects. He finds China inundated with foreigners who want to use her or change her. He realizes that the West does not respect China or her ways, but instead, are using various means, including western fighters, to ridicule her and make the people feel they are inferior.

Li decides that he must do something greater than himself in order to save China. He decides that he will return to the ring to fight again, but this time with selfless purposes. He battles against a giant American boxer who has previously defeated all challengers, and is not only able to go several rounds with him, eventually defeats him.

The fame of defeating the boxer allows him to open up a martial arts school, where the philosophy of the technique, and the life that can be led, is taught. He asks his old friend, the restauranteur and businessman to help, but he is at first denied because Li has returned to fighting and apparently has not mended his ways. When the friend realizes he has become more than just a petty fighter, the friend sells his restaurant and invests it in the school.

To prove the honor of old China, though, Li must battle against four different opponents all in the same day. One of them, a Japanese Samurai, speaks with him before the battle to determine whether or not he is a good man. He finds him to be honorable. After defeating his first three opponents, Li comes up against the Japanese fighter last. To ensure victory, the promoter of the Samurai has Li’s tea drugged, which causes him to weaken before dying.

However, the Japanese warrior determines that Li has one the round, thus giving Li and all of China the victory.

I liked this movie. The martial arts are good, and so is the story line, though I wouldn’t say it was as good as an earlier epic Li starred in called Hero. However, this is more than just a martial arts movie, with history and social commentary mixed in.

Terminator Salvation (Blu-ray)

I have watched all of the Terminator movies, and while this fourth installment is not as good as the second movie, it is definitely better than No. 3, and probably rivals No. 1.

You can see my review of the movie here, since we saw it in the theater.

The Blu-ray disc includes a Director’s Cut, which is three minutes longer than the theatrical release, but apparently it’s enough to change the PG-13 rating to R. It also includes behind the scenes of the movie, some of which is hosted by Director McG.

We Are Marshall (DVD)

As you’ll probably be able to tell, based on the fact that three of the last four movies I will review in this post are of the same genre, I enjoy sports dramas. We Are Marshall with Matthew McConaughey as Coach Jack Lengyel, chronicles the devastation of a town and a college football team after most of the team is lost in an airplane crash.

Those that are left behind are scarred either for who they lost or through the guilt for having not been on the flight. The survivors must band together to overcome and move forward, but instead they are divided among the loyalties that they share to the dead and the best way to honor them.

For a time, those who believe that Marshall should carry on and produce another football team prevail, which is where Lengyel comes in. No one wants the daunting, if not impossible task of rebuilding a football program in it’s virtual entirety, but Lengyel is just crazy or eccentric or naive enough to not only take it on, but pull it off.

It’s hard to tell for a good portion of the movie whether or not Lengyel will prove to be more of a con man than a coach, but eventually he does put together a coaching staff and is able to recruit players from different sports to help field a team. Lengyel convinces Marshall’s President Dedmon to plead with the NCAA to allow freshman to play varsity ball, apparently something at the time considered against the rules. After some months of letter writing, Dedmon makes the trip in person and meets with an official who eventually rules in their favor.

Things are complicated as the team does not win immediately and some of the players get hurt. Lengyel has to find some kind of offense that will work, and then there’s some infighting among the players. Eventually, a prominent community member, who lost his son in the plane crash, exercises his authority as a regent to get the football program shut down. However, after the entire student body holds a demonstration during a hearing whether or not to proceed with the football program, football is once again played at Marshall, and the team actually wins some games.

Since this is an older film (2006), it is definitely discounted now and well worth the $10 or $12 you will pay. While there are football scenes, the movie is much more about Lengyel and the people left in the aftermath of the terrible tragedy whose lives must go on.

The Express (DVD)

The Express chronicles the life of Ernie Davis, the first African American Heisman trophy winner. Like other films such as Remember the Titans, The Express revives the racial conflicts of the times, but more than that, deals with the determination of Davis to be the best he can be.

Davis manages to avoid the pitfalls of the black power struggle, though it is definitely all around him. He isn’t as much an activist as he is a very good football player who happens to be black. For the most part, he tries to stay on that side of the line, avoiding the violence that surrounds black power and yet never really giving up his heritage or turning his back on his race.

It is a much more personal story because it is able to focus in on one person as opposed to an entire team. It also becomes personal because of Davis’ illness, one that eventually claims his life. The battle to live, period, exceeds the war on racism, and actually makes the film better because of it. While racism is deplorable in any age and in any case, showing the human side rather than the purely irrationality of racism is more important this case. It is more important to celebrate the man, than it is to celebrate the race, because both are honored in the process.

MY FAVORITES

Forever Strong (DVD)

Not very well known, this movie didn’t make it into many theaters and then didn’t last very long while there. It has actually revived since going to DVD, and with good reason.

It’s another sports story, but it’s good, because it’s not so much about the sport as it is the philosophy behind the coaching.

The movie follows the life of a young man who plays rugby. After an accident puts his girlfriend in the hospital, Rick is sent to a juvenile detention center where he is supposed to rehabilitate. While there, the director of the facility suggests he play rugby for the school that has been his most bitter rival, Highland. After a period of time where he refuses, Rick finally decides to give Highland a try, so that he can spy on the team and give the secrets of its success to his former teammates.

Rick finds himself getting to know the coaches and players of the team, and realizing that it’s more than the plays and the practicing that makes Highland Rugby the best. It’s their dedication to each other, to their heritage, and to who they are as young men that brings out the best in the players and in the team. It’s not just a sport, it’s a way of life.

Rick must then choose between whether to continue down this newfound path to freedom and higher ground, or turn his back on an opportunity to achieve greatness–not just in the sport of rugby, but in life. Moreover, he must choose it against the will of his father, who is the coach of the team he first played for.

It’s a true story, and it’s one which is inspirational, and very much worth watching. Anyone who feels like there’s something more to live will be uplifted by this movie, and anyone looking for ways to reel in the wayward child will find hope.

The movie stars Sean Faris as Rick and also stars Sean Astin from the Lord of the Rings and Gary Cole.

Star Trek (Blu-ray)

I have been a Star Trek for a long time. I didn’t feel that they fully hit their stride, though, until the Next Generation hit it’s third season or so. I know that’s pushing aside a lot of Star Trek lore, not to mention the original series. I also felt that Enterprise should have been allowed to continue longer than it did, and enjoyed the direction it was going in.

However, the last few Star Trek movies, had been doing progressively worse at the box office, despite having the New Generation crew, and so if this franchise were to survive into the future, it needed a reboot.

And what a reboot. Since we saw this when it first came out, you can take a look at my review here.

I think this movie is worthy of watching on Blu-ray, if you have a player, and certainly falls into the category of best movie of the summer, if not of the year (Avatar, nothwithstanding). I think J.J. Abrahams and company did an awesome job with this film, and it’s well worth the extra money to see it in high definition.

The Blu-ray version comes with three discs, which include a digital copy of the movie for watching on a Mac or PC, along with the film and special features.

SENTIMENTAL FAVORITE

Stingray (DVD)

Do remember the television show about the guy who ran around helping people and only asking they do him a favor in return? The mystery man, known as Ray, drove a black 1965 Stingray Corvette.

I remember watching the pilot episode when it came out in 1985, but I didn’t see any of the shows that aired after that. It only lasted two years, or 24 episodes, but now the entire run can be found on five DVDs.

I must admit, the show has not aged well, and it’s not nearly as cool as I remember it (of course, I was around 19 at the time), but it was fun to take a walk down memory lane and catch up on what I had missed, even if the production value wasn’t as good as I remembered it, and the story lines fairly hokey.

Ray, though, was cool throughout, and there just wasn’t enough of the Stingray in the show after the pilot. It appeared mostly at the beginning and end of the episode, and very rarely was involved in any kind of a chase. A lot of the scenes that it did appear in was shot at night, which meant it was hard to fully appreciate a black car in the dark.

Still, if you like corvettes, or like the premise of an ex-special forces kind of guy doing favors for anyone who will respond to a want ad, kind of like a one man A-Team, than you’ll like Stingray, even with obvious fake fighting.

Ray was a master of disguise. Hats off to Nick Mancuso for pulling off a different character each week, and for driving one of the best looking body style of any corvette ever made.