Ice Age, Continental Drift: #4 Is Not Bad At All

Separated from the continent, our troop roam the seas in an iceberg/floating island at the mercy of strong currents

After a first notable success and two decent sequels, Blue Sky Studios managed to put together another Ice Age film worthy of your precious bucks. I can’t help but compare it with the recent and unfortunate Madagascar 3. At least little more work went into Ice Age 4. It’s not just a string a funny jokes.    Read more »

The Amazing Spider-Man: Improved

Teaching them how to make a good Spider-Man movie: Marvel takes control of their property and delivers an amazing movie (pun!)

Marvel strikes again. If their goal was to prove how much better a movie they can produce when they are in control of their property, this one is a resounding achievement. It’s so good they’re showing off. No exaggeration. They even mapped a couple of scenes from Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and improved them (Peter Parker testing his powers and so forth.)  The Amazing Spider-Man is another proof that 2012 is the year of the superhero.    Read more »

Ted: Seth McFarlane’s Style of Funny

Ted (voiced by Seth McFarlane) humping the scanning machine at work. He just met a new girl and he’s trying to break up the ice.

Could a comedy be more inappropriate? Ted turned out a surprising story of love and friendship of the R-rated kind. That means the excess of language you can imagine, plus a few more you will not expect. Co-written and directed by Seth McFarlane, the Family Guy feel is all over this movie.

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What Is It With Guns in These 2 Pixar’s Movies?

EVE and her souped-up, high-tech blaster rifle. What does an Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator need a gun for?

Let’s talk about two Pixar movies in particular: Ratatouille and Wall-E. Those 2 were released within a year of each other. Wall-E is one of Pixar’s most imaginative and emotionally complete films, after Toy Story 3. Both featured a rifle in the most bizarre setting, making you wondering why one would put it in that story.    Read more »

The Dark Knight Rises: Leaks, Rumors, Facts

The oddly masked figure of the dreadful Bane (Tom Hardy), bringer of so much pain for Gotham City

The Dark Knight Rises is arguably the most eagerly anticipated movie of the year. The previous film, The Dark Knight broke so much new ground in the genre, it earned the spot of the absolute classic in the superhero category. So much that I find myself hoping for a superhero category in the academy award within the next decade.

I compiled some of the juiciest tidbits of news, leaks rumors and facts (and my hopes) surround the release this end of July in the hope of wetting our appetite for good fantasy entertainment.    Read more »

Abraham Lincoln: Rewrite History, Vampire Style

Uniting a nation: Abraham Lincoln (Benjamin Walker) must find a way to defeat the South and their army of vampires

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter introduces a fun twist to one of America’s largest historical figure. Let’s make a superhero out of Honest Abe, and turn the slave owners of the south into blood thirsty vampires. Adapted from the book by the same author, the story stays mostly true to key events in Abraham Lincoln’s lifetime, offset with by new fictional hook. The funny part of this: it actually works.    Read more »

Brave: Pixar Delivers Another Impressive Success

Merida (Kelly Macdonald) is a teenage princess, skilled with a bow, who wants to break tradition, including be given in marriage.

All movie fans should be accustomed with Pixar’s work. The studio’s name not only means state-of-the-art computer animation, but above all, carefully crafted stories populated with realistic, original, well-defined characters. With Brave, the team stands true to their name: a new masterpiece.    Read more »

Best Exotic Marigold Hotel: A Surprising Comedy

Here they are: Muriel (Maggie Smith), Norman (Ronald Pickup), Douglas (Bill Nighy), Jean (Penelope Wilton), Madge (Celia Imrie), Evelyn (Judi Dench) and Graham (Tom Wilkinson). Flight cancelled.

“Everything will be all right in the end. So if it’s not all right, it is not yet the end.” No idea if This is an actual saying from India, but it makes for some damn good comedy situations. The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel succeeds in finding comedy out of the most difficult period in life: old age. This movie does so without ever being condescending or inappropriate. Even with the touchy subject of racism.    Read more »

Madagascar 3: Basically a Giant Train Wreck

Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer) emerging in Monte Carlo

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted brings back our favorite zoo friends and this time, they want to return home to New York City. Hunted down by Animal Control’s Captain Chantel Dubois (Frances McDormand), they find the perfect disguise: joining a touring animal circus. Through adventures and mishaps, the group undertakes an eventful journey to their beloved home.    Read more »

Prometheus: Sci-Fi’s Comeback Roooooocks!

Prometheus: What happens when you meet your maker? What if your maker wanted you dead?

Once upon a time, the Alien movie showed up what a great Sci-Fi horror story should be. Dark, claustrophobic, scary, with characters who could exist in real life. We had a lot of fun with it. The franchise was launched, and another great director continued the work with another great sequel. Other movies followed some good, some bad. Today, the master of Sci-Fi returns with a prequel to his original tour de force.

A few have given it negative reviews, but I believe I can shed a light on the real value of Prometheus. It is another masterpiece.    Read more »