DVD : 1/5 Rating : Shogun Assassin

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IMHO REVIEW :
what a disappointing movie. :(

i had high hopes as this movie is based on one of my favorite comic series - lone wolf and cub. i rented it - and started watching it when to my joy the intro of the movie was familiar to me. i had heard it in Kill Bill part 2 when Uma's character and her daughter watches a movie... it's this movie.

so with gleeful content i watched, only to be utterly disappointed. first the main character choice... it was just hard for me to believe a fat-ish guy with a double chin to be a bad ass samuria, plus the movie seemed more like a compilation of fight scenes from another movie / show. the story arc was poor - if you can even find it and they butchered the characters.

they made the final villian the shogun who happened to be a wizard??!?!?! WTF?

avoid it... avoid it at all cost. read the comic series instead.

DVD : 3/5 Rating : Howl's Moving Castle

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IMHO REVIW :
watched this movie yesterday - via Netflx.

all in all a pretty good flick, but not as great as i had hoped. a part of that could be cause i'm such a huge fan of Hayao Miyazaki's previous works. works such as my neighbor totoro, nausica of the valley of the wind, spirited away and my personal favorite princess mononoke (in case you're wondering what mononoke means - ghost (angry), specter).

howl's moving castle has a similar feel - creepy creatures, magic, spirits and the like. his creativity of how the castle works is pretty amazing. his characters are super sweet - but it seemed lacking. the movie felt long, the story slow to develop and the ending seemed very abrupt. everything tied up very nicely in 5 minutes and left you wondering... really. that's all you had to do?

this would be a rent for me. if you are curious - i'd strongly suggest his other works - especially Princess Mononoke.

DVD : 0/5 Rating : The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

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IMHO REVIEW :
just saw this movie tonight - had high hopes as it seemed to have gotten decent reviews, but was super disappointed.

very very bad. did not like it at all. wonder how people whose actually read the books feel about it. felt like there was too much content which was condensed - leaving out details which (i'm guessing) is important to the overall storyline.

the movie completely lost my interest and hopes when they introduced santa - SANTA! DAH! what kind of movie expects santa to give you weapons! come on!

ho ho ho - you've been a good boy, here's a sword to kill little animals. come on!

THEATER : 3/5 Rating : Superman Returns

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IMHO REVIEW :
went to see superman 3D at the IMAX theater yesterday. it was an interesting event. because it was at the IMAX theater we had to get there super early. the showing wast at 10:15pm - but we got there at 8 to get the tickets and get in line. we waited an hour outside, then we were let inside - to wait in yet another line. and finally at 10:10pm they let us in. now about the review.

Superman Returns seemed more like a re-introduction to superman. the storyline as to why he has not been in the public eye was good, the acting was pretty good - the pacing was okay, but i was hoping for more action. the whole lex luthor's crazy scheme seemed kinda lame and seemed like an after thought. the real story was - where has superman been all this time and lois lane being engaged + with child. i won't get into the details of the plot as i'm sure you'll want to see it yourself. but be warned - it's 2 1/2 hrs long. so use the bathroom before watching.

now the 3D aspects... it was interesting. sadly the 3D looked a bit fuzzy + it made the movie look darker then it was - losing details. i would recommend you see this at a normal theather without 3D.

bottom line - the story between superman and lois lane is interesting. lex luthor's story arc... eh.

also - the actor Kal Penn (the guy who played Kumar in Harold and Kumar) was one of lex's henchman and was shown many times - but he never actually said anything through out the whole movie! come on - let Kumar speak!

DVD : 4/5 Rating : Everything is Illuminated

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Blue Dot

IMHO REVIEW :
saw this last night and enjoyed it very very much. it's your typical story of a boy who goes on a travel to find himself... well - find his past... well his grandfather's past.

the story - on the cover - is Elijah Woods, but in truth the story isn't really about him. his more of a catalist for what happens. the story is really about a grandfather and a grandson who happens to be driving Elijah's character around in the Ukraine.

storytelling is great. the first half of the movie is humorous and then there is a moment in the movie as things slowly change. the second half is a tear jerker.

this movie is about the past, about objects, about people and about how it all interwines.

RECOMMENDED

DVD : 3/5 Rating : Mirrormask

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IMHO REVIEW :
just finished watching this movie... i have somewhat of a skewed review. i love Dave McKean's work and this movie definately looks like his work.

the story is pretty typical. a gal who is growing up... goes on a fantasy journey to discovery herself and save a fantasy world... it kinda reminded me of the never ending story - except this was good.

i also watched the additional stuff on the DVD and enjoyed it very much... such as - this is the first full feature movie by Dave McKean - not bad considering it was his first flick. their budget was apparently pretty small - they didn't go into numbers but it was brought up several times how great the movie looked considering. they had 15 animators / 3D artists who all worked on a movie for the first time - McKean let each take a whole scene and work on it... unthinkable! but he thought that would get everyone excited and let them express their creativity... sweet.

the whole movie (live action) was apparently shot in something like 6 weeks - then it took the team 2 years to finish it - adding in all the various affects.

if you love visuals and creative fantasy worlds then i would suggest you watch this movie. if you know anything about Dave McKean or Neil Gaiman then you should check it out... i still say the best story i've seen / read by Neil Gaiman is the sandman series - but the visuals in this sucker and the overall fantasy elements in this movie is worth a watch.

bottom line - love visuals - check it out.

THEATER : 2/5 Rating : Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

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Blue Dot

IMHO REVIEW :
saw this movie earlier with my dad - it was what i was expecting. not bad but by no means great. it had it's moments, it had all the various special effects - it left a lot of stuff hanging... pretty much what i expected reading some of the reviews on bluedot.

noticed kids in the movie theater watching this - was wondering how they could sit through all 2 1/2 hrs of this without getting tired. was shocked the kids seemed to enjoy it - there were some movie gore, but they didn't seem to mind. go figure.

my recommendation - watch it only if you have nothing else to watch and you really wanna go watch a movie. otherwise, go grab a beer.

DVD : 0/5 Rating : The Thief Lord

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IMHO REVIEW :
just finished watching this - i'm not having very good luck with movies of late. this movie was horrible... for something called 'The Thief Lord' you'd think there'd be some stealing - but no... no one steals a thing. let me repeat - nobody steals a thing!

it's a family flick, but the summary sounded so good! it was compared with harry potter. about venice - about magic - about mystery... no such luck.

another thing that annoyed me to no end. for it being set in venice - every actor & extra all had british accents. wtf. it was just really bad.

perhaps i'm just too old for it - it got fairly decent reviews on amazon.com & on netflix.com - perhaps the kids will love it - i did not.

DVD : 3/5 Rating : The Warrior

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IMHO REVIEW :
saw this two days ago... here's my review.

i was expecting something different. when i saw the preview for this movie it made it out to be an action adventure movie - it is not an action adventure movie - it's more about a spiritual journey of a man who wants to change his life. it's a movie where the story is told mostly through imagery. the dialog is very minimal and the story would fall apart was it not for the lead actor whose presense is amazing.

the overall story is about a 'warrior' who tries to change his life - he is meet with challenges which temps him to seek revenge, to strike back but instead he chooses to find peace. it's a very spiritual movie with various mystical elements. it has sweeping landscape shots which are amazing as well as sutle close ups. it's beautifully shot - just poorly edited.

i state that it's poorly edited because the flow doesn't work with the way the story is told (i think). the story is very 'zen' like but there are moments where the cut seens are too fast which seem jarring. it kinda takes away from long peaceful shots of the beautiful landscape.

overall - good movie if you're in the mood for indie - slow - inner journey type movies. if you're looking for action and bloodshed - this isn't for you.

DVD : 5/5 Rating : Princess Mononoke

LINKS :
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Blue Dot

IMHO REVIEW :
another great anime - this is the same director as Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service and much more. pretty much everything that Hayao Miyazaki (the director) does is great stuff - but in particular i love this movie the best.

it has action, it has a great story, it has great characters, amazing folklore, just all around great stuff. i also enjoyed the fact the story promotes peace and forgiveness.

there are violent moments - so i wouldn't let the little ones watch this, but once they get older i would totally let them watch it. as for age... it got a PG-13 from the MPAA so you figure it out.

love this movie - if you're thinking of giving anime a go - i'd strongly recommend this anime movie.

DVD : 4/5 Rating : Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle

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IMHO REVIEW :
just finished watching this - and i gotta say, it's bloodie good / goofie / funnie / out of control.

it's journey tale of two stoners in search of the perfect food - white castles. it makes me so wish there was a white castle in seatle - with that stated i'm going on a road trip to NY in septemeber and needless to say... we are so gonna stop for white castle!

here's what amazon had to say bout the movie :
Two twenty-something stoner roommates -- one a Korean American investment banker; the other an Indian American medical school candidate -- go through a life changing journey, as they spend a night roaming the state of New Jersey in search of White Castle hamburgers.

DVD : 1/5 Rating : Poseidon

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Trailer (apple.com)
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IMHO REVIEW :
bad as bad can be. this movie came out to theaters - and quickly went away - after having watched this i understand why.

it sucked (imho) for the following reasons.
1. it was all special effects - no character
2. you just did not give a hoot about any of the characters - so when they died you're like 'bout time.'
3. did i mention no charcter development
4. no lay of the land. it spends no time what-so-ever explaining the lay of the land (in this case boat) so you have no clue as to the progress of the characters.

so what would i have done?
1. made the whole intro like the love boat - introduce all the characters and give sometime for character development and interaction

2. spend some time having the cap. of the boat show the boat off - that way when the shit hits the fan the viewer can have a mental image of where the characters are heading.