Summer Review

We had an excellent summer full of movies. I would like to give you a quick review on the movies that I had the chance to see this summer.

-The Dark Knight – The best Batman movie I have seen, and for sure the best movie to come out this summer. The main attraction for the movie is the Joker, Heath Ledger’s performance is incredible, every time he is on the screen you are just drawn to him. There are other things that made The Dark Knight a hit, lots of action, a very well written story, lots of twists, excellent performances, and how about the Batpod. Well-done Christopher Nolan.

-Wall-E – Disney/Pixar’s recent creation, and probably one of their best. It is different than the other films released by Pixar, but it truly stands out. If anyone ever had concerns on giving a robot emotions in a movie should see this. I was really impressed by it. How can you not watch the movie and fall in love with the robot Wall-E I am close to saying that out of the Pixar films, that this one has become my new favorite.

-Iron Man – Probably the biggest surprise of the summer. I was not expecting much when I first saw it. Robert Downey Jr. was great, and the story was good as well. Congratulations on developing a movie that exceeded expectations.

-Kung Fu Panda – I really like kung fu movies like Hero, and this was an excellent offering by DreamWorks Animation. It is filled with humor, action, and a good story. And the animation is cool to look at as well.

-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull – The new Indy movie proved to be a fun ride for me, and yes some of the elements in the movie were less impressive, but the opportunity to see Indiana Jones in action on the big screen was good enough for me. Also the return of Karen Allen made it more fun, being the one Indy girl I like the most.

-Get Smart – A really funny slapstick comedy. Looking for something to just sit back and laugh till it hurts, this is a movie for you. Steve Carrell is really funny in this.

-Traitor – The one summer movie that probably isn’t getting that much attention, but I highly recommend it. There were a lot of great performances by Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce. As well as many twists and turns in the movie.

-Hancock – Will Smith plays a superhero that you would not want as your kid’s role model, well, at least for the first part of the movie. I do think this was another great performance by Will Smith. It was fun to watch the movie, different than what I expected and there were some really interesting twists to the movie.

-Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian – The sequel to The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe back in 2005. This was a good film. Lots of neat special effects, and of course a lot of neat Christian references.

-Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D – This movie wasn’t really on my to see list, but I decided to take a look into it, besides at my job I get to see movies for free. I found this movie to be rather entertaining, very enjoyable. My only complaint was the 3D glasses got annoying, but the movie was still a fun ride.

-The Incredible Hulk – A rather surprising movie, after Ang Lee’s less than impressive interpretation back in 2003, they decided to redo the franchise, 5 years is pretty quick. I really enjoyed this new one. Edward Norton was a good Bruce Banner, I also enjoyed Tim Roth as the villain.

-Speed Racer – Probably one of the most expensive flops ever, but a very visually interesting movie. I thought it was good, and yes it is very different and will not appealing to many, but was still fun to watch.

-Hellboy 2: The Golden Army – It has been four years since I saw the first one, wasn’t really a fan of the first one. I did enjoy this new one, it is visually different than what I have seen in a long time. After seeing it, I want to check out the first one again.

-Star Wars: The Clone Wars – George Lucas’s recent entry in the Star Wars series, just not what you would expect. It is a computer-animated version that is to help jumpstart the new TV show that will air this fall. Very cheesy but has a few entertaining moments. Not recommended to anyone that isn’t a hardcore fan of the Star Wars series. I wouldn’t even be surprised if it shows up on TV soon.

-The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor – Probably one of the most disappointing sequels I have seen in a while. The sad part was they took a lot of the elements that made The Mummy franchise so appealing, And with the changes made, it could have had potential to be a great summer movie, but it just fell flat on the floor. Still had some fun moments though.

I am curious with many of you out there, what was your favorite movie this summer? Feel free to respond in the comment section.

Traitor review

I got out of Traitor not too long ago, and I really liked it, it was very well done. Performances by Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce were excellent. Some good action and lots of suspense. I give it a high recommend. An excellent movie to finish off a wonderful summer.

Some good DVD releases

Well this week we have a few good releases on DVD. First of all, The Nightmare Before Christmas is again available on DVD two months before Halloween, this time as a collector's edition. I watched the DVD and the video and audio presentation is awesome, I haven't checked out the special features yet, but there seems to be a good amount to explore. Also released this week is What Happens in Vegas, Heroes Season 2, Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, and others, there should be a little something for everyone. Also, some rumor dates for DVDs coming out soon, Get Smart should be arriving on DVD on December 2, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars on November 11.

This week in theaters we see the release of Babylon AD and Disaster Movie, and today we have the release of Traitor. I will be checking out that movie tomorrow.

Oh yeah, a little update, I no longer work at the movie theater since I have to go back to school, so I won't be seeing these movies ahead of time. But I will continue to post my reviews on the movies that I do see.

DVD release schedule

After a weekend full of new releases, Tropic Thunder remains on top with about $16 million, The House Bunny does well in second place with about $15 million, Death Race is in third with about $12 million, The Longshots open in eighth place with about $4 million, and The Rocker gains about $2 million this weekend putting it in about 12th place, making it a huge flop. The Dark Knight gained another $10 million and it now stands at about $489 million, and should cross $500 million in a week.

With a summer full of big movie releases, it means that we have a winter full of big DVD releases. I decided to put together a little schedule together of a few of the DVDs that should be coming out within the next four months. Keep in mind that this was made to give you a rough idea on what is coming to DVD in the near future, and some of the dates are just rumored at the moment (I will let you know which ones are for sure rumors).

September 2, 2008

-Transformers (Blu-Ray)
-The Office Season 4

September 9, 2008-Forbidden Kingdom
-Baby Mama

September 16, 2008

-Speed Racer
-Beetlejuice: Deluxe Edition (DVD)
-Made of Honor
-The Love Guru

September 23, 2008

-Leatherheads
-Run, Fatboy, Run

September 30, 2008
-Iron Man

October 7, 2008
-Sleeping Beauty 50th Anniversary
-You Don’t Mess with the Zohan!
-Rear Window: Special Edition
-Vertigo: Special Edition
-The Happening

October 14, 2008-Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

October 21, 2008

-The Incredible Hulk (rumored)
-Casino Royale (Collector’s Edition)

October 28, 2008

-TinkerBell

November 4, 2008

-A Christmas Story (DVD & Blu-Ray release)
-Batman: The Animated Series (Complete Colletcion)

November 11, 2008

-??

November 18, 2008

-Wall-E
-Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (rumored)
-Kung Fu Panda (rumored)

November 25, 2008

-Fred Clause

December 2, 2008

-Hancock (rumored)
-Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

December 9, 2008

-The Dark Knight (rumored)
-Horton Hears a Who!

I will let you know which release dates change when they are announced.

Summer winding down

Only two more weekends till the summer is over. This has been a really good summer for movies. This weekend we see the release of The House Bunny, The Longshots, and also today we saw the release of the movie The Rocker. I haven't heard too much on The Rocker, but should be pretty funny, with Dwight from The Office in it. We will have to see what performs well this weekend.


Next weekend, we see the release of Traitor, Babylon A.D., and Disaster Movie. Out of all of them, I am looking forward to Traitor the most. Don Cheadle, Jeff Daniels, and Guy Pearce star in it. The next I want to see is Babylon A.D., looks like it has potential, stars Vin Diesel.
I am not looking forward to Disaster Movie though, looks like a disaster.


As well, expect a good number of DVD releases this fall and winter. Iron Man comes out on DVD September 30, Indiana Jones comes out October 14. Sleeping Beauty on DVD again October 7. Also, we are expecting soon details on the DVD release of Wall-E, which should be November 18, and rumors of The Dark Knight coming out on DVD early December. I will be posting shortly a list of all the major DVD releases coming out the next 4 months, whether they are confirmed or rumored.


Speaking of DVDs, I recently checked out the straight to DVD release of the movie "Get Smart: Bruce and Lloyd Out of Control", in case no one knows what it is, it is a spin off movie from this summer's movie "Get Smart", it shows the adventures of the two tech geeks that would work on the gadgets like the fly robot at the beginning, they are also friends of Max. Anyway, this movie follows their own adventure in trying to get one of their experiments out of the wrong hands, I have to admit it was pretty funny, definitely nowhere as funny as the movie "Get Smart". Don't see this movie till you have seen the movie "Get Smart" first. Recommended for anyone that wouldn't mind checking it out, and for anyone that liked Bruce and Lloyd.

Besides the little DVD schedule I will give, I will also give a recap on the movies that I saw this summer, and what I thought of them. Check back soon.

Bad news Harry Potter fans

This is news that came out on the weekend, but didn't report it, so I will report it now for any of you who haven't heard it yet. The latest Harry Potter movie installment "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" will not be released this November like originally anticipated, instead it will be released on July 17, 2008, eight months later. This has obviously made Harry Potter fans upset, but I have heart nothing on the last two movies based on the last book (that's right, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is split into two movies) so that will mean a shorter wait between this movie and the last two movies.

But there is good news for Twilight fans, how about a Thanksgiving gift. Twilight will be coming out on November 21, three weeks earlier than the original release date, December 12.

There are a few DVD releases this week. There is a direct to DVD sequel to the movie The Scorpion King, actually it is a prequel. There is also Prom Night, as well as a bunch of other releases to appeal to any taste out there.

Tropic Thunder knocks Dark Knight off top spot

It happened, The Dark Knight has finally been beaten. Tropic Thunder was number one with $26 million. But The Dark Knight is in the number two spot with about $16 million. Dark Knight also stands at the number two blockbuster of all time behind Titanic, amazing. Star Wars - The Clone Wars was number three with $15 million.

This weekend, we have the release of The Rocker. Then next weekend we have Babylon AD with Vin Diesel, having seen a trailer for it a while ago, it seems like it may be a pretty good movie, we will have to see though. Also that weekend, they are releasing another spoof movie, Disaster Movie. I have to admit that when they were releasing spoof movies years ago, like Scary Movie 3, they seemed funny and a good way to get a laugh, now they seem like garbage. If you have seen the trailer for the movie Disaster Movie may understand why I say garbage. Doesn't seem funny at all.

Star Wars - The Clone Wars review

I had the opportunity to view Star Wars - The Clone Wars last night. I didn't have any real expectations for this one. After viewing it, I didn't think it was that bad. But I will say this, I don't think it is something you necessarily need to rush to see in the theaters. It was kind of weird watching this because it felt like a TV movie. This movie was made to help bring in the new computer animated TV show coming this Fall, hence why the characters are all computer animated in this one. It was still fun to watch, but I would only recommend this one to the hardcore Star Wars fan.


I also got to watch the movie Journey to the Center of the Earth in 3D. It has been out for a month, finally decided to see it. I actually found it entertaining. A lot of neat special effects. Having 3D glasses kind of bugged me, but was still fun. I do recommend it, especially for families.

Well, the summer is winding down, only three more weekends. On the last weekend, I will give a quick review of the summer and all the movies I watched over the course of the summer.

As well, I don't know of any new DVD releases that seem to excite everyone this week. But just to let any of you know if you are interested, The Nightmare Before Christmas will be re-released on DVD on August 26.

Speaking of DVDs, I just watched Toy Story last night, and it has been a while since I last watched it. It was interesting to watch the animation and remembering how amazing it was when it first came out in 1995. But even more interesting is to see how much computer animation has really advanced. It is so amazing what technology can do.

Dark Knight on top spot again

Want some big news, besides the fact that the Olympics have started on Friday, how about the fact that The Dark Knight has topped the box office for it's fourth weekend. That's right, The Dark Knight took in another $26 million this weekend beating out the new movies Pineapple Express and Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2. Right now, The Dark Knight stands around $440 million at third place of the all time box office. It's funny it has taken four weekends to get to the third place of the all time box office. It should hit number 2 in that chart in another week beating out Star Wars and right behind Titanic. That is just amazing. Yeah, Titanic was number one on box office weekends for 15 weekends, but during those times there weren't really anything coming out to confront it. This summer, there have been a lot of great movies that have confronted it, so in that sense, The Dark Knight is a true phenomenon this summer.

Sad News, Bernie Mac just passed away

I just found out this morning on the news that Bernie Mac passed away at the age of 50 due to complications of pneumonia. This is really sad news, I have been hearing rumors early this week that he had severe pneumonia and that he might not survive, but there were others that he was responding to the treatment well. He was in the Ocean Eleven movies, which were very good, I found him to be very funny. some other movies that he has been in are Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, Guess Who, and Transformers. It is a real loss to the movie industry.

Dark Knight, this year's phenomenon

Well, The Dark Knight just crossed $400 million, and it did it within 18 days of it's release, phenomenon is the best word I can use to describe all the records this movie has broken. I have to say it's fun keeping track at how well this movie is doing. When I first saw the trailer in December, I knew the movie was going to be big, I just didn't know how big the movie would be. How far will it go, we will still have to see. I could see The Dark Knight staying on the top spot for a couple of more weekends. This weekend, we see the release of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 and The Pineapple Express, I don't see either really topping Dark Knight.

I got the opportunity to see Wall-E again today. I realize what an amazing summer we have had for movies. We have had great movies like Iron Man, Indiana Jones, Kung Fu Panda, Get Smart, Wall-E, and The Dark Knight. I will give my recap on the movies when we hit the end of the summer.

Also, no spetacular new releases on DVD this week, but go to Best Buy and check out all of the DVDs on sale, there are some pretty good ones on sale. I just got Independence Day for $3.99, awesome deal. There are a bunch for $3.99 like the X-Men movies, and others, there are other movies on sale for $6.99 and some Disney movies for $5.99. Best Buy is the one place I go to pick up my movies on DVD, and to just look around. It is amazing how cheap a lot of the DVDs are getting, some of them are even cheaper than going to the actual theater. And with home theaters actually as good as the actual theater experience, then you can have a great deal.

Third weekend on top

Another weekend has gone by and The Dark Knight has remained on top, just barely beating The Mummy 3. It stands around $395 million, after Monday it will be past $400 million, and that will be another big record broken, the fastest to get to $400 million, which was last held by Shrek 2, which took 43 days to get past it.



I had the chance to see The Mummy 3 Thursday night, and I was actually disappointed. It had good special effects, but felt really different compared to the other Mummy movies, which were really fun to watch. Rachel Weisz was replaced in the movie, and her and Brandon Fraser worked really well in the first two, it didn't really work between the new actress and Brandon Fraser, it was weird. It was a different director, Rob Cohen, when I first saw his name attached to the movie, I thought he would do a good job, but maybe not the best choice. I thought having Jet Li would be awesome, but he didn't have enough screen time to be very impressed with him. It was a very disappointing movie this summer, I was hoping for better.