‘Fantasy’ Archives
The Lovely Bones
This is a more personal movie from director Peter Jackson, it's more about characters than it is about big action and spectacle. That being said he's still using visual effects heavily, in this case to create the world in-between where Susie is stuck after she is murdered. I must admit I was more interested in what happens in the real world [...]
UP
I came into UP with high expectations, not only due to previous Pixar movies, but also reading the praise from all critics. This time, my expectations were just a bit too high. This is a great movie, I especially loved the first 20 minutes. Everybody's talked about the montage, chronicling the couple's whole life together. And it was a great [...]
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
I'm was a big fan of the X-Men comics, so I was happy that their movie version was so successful. That said I wasn't too excited about this spin off, since it didn't have any of the creators I enjoyed in previous movies, except for Hugh Jackman. There are a lot of elements in this movie taken from the comics, but I felt that the overall plot [...]
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Just when I thought he couldn't do better, this last movie blows away the previous two. They upped the ante even more, with even bigger battles and monsters. But that wouldn't work by itself (hear me Transformers!?!?!?), so at the heart of it all it's still the characters. I got to care about these characters even more in this movie, but again, [...]
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Two Towers really increased the epic scale of this story. Not only we get a huge battle, more monsters and "good guys", but also get the best characterizations. Now that the fellowship is divided, we get to know each character better and better. My favorite is probable Frodo/Sam and Gollum. That has to be the highlight of the movie: a completely [...]
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
I recently bought my first HDTV, so I was eager to try it out. And what better way than to re-visit some of my best DVD/movies of the past few years? Not just one movie, but the whole trilogy (plus special features). It also came at the perfect time, because my wife just finished reading The Hobbit (for her class this fall) and she actually [...]
Wonder Woman DVD
DC continues to churn out animated DVD movies adapting some of the most famous comics stories. This time it's simply the origins of Wonder Woman. It's the classic tale of the Amazon princess going to man's world. In this case to defeat Ares. Steve Trevor is part of the story, and he gives plenty of comedic lines. This is a very nice [...]
Howl’s Moving Castle
I finally managed to watch Miyazaki's latest movie available on DVD and it's just as good as I expected. I love all his movies, but I thought Spirited Away was a bit too childish for me. Luckily this movie is a little more edgy. A world of Wizards and Witches is nothing new, but it still felt refreshing to watch this movie. There are the [...]
The Fall
This is a very strange movie that blurs the lines between reality and storytelling. I actually watched this very late at night while I was sleepy, so it all appropriately felt dream-like to me. I liked Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies, and I think he has great chemistry here with the little girl Catinca Untaru. She acts so naturally that it's [...]
Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
Hellboy is an acclaimed comic and a successful independent property. I've read most of the Hellboy stories and I like them, but I am not crazy about them. It's just not exactly my cup of tea. However I liked it enough that I was excited when the first movie was released. The first movie was pretty much like the comic, I liked it but I didn't love [...]
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Raiders of the Lost Ark was one of my favorite nostalgic movies. I watched that movie many many times during my childhood, rewinding my tapes to watch certain scenes again and again. I watched it again in recent years and I still love it. Like everybody else I was really looking forward to this new movie, though I had my doubts about its [...]
Kung Fu Panda
This was a pleasant surprise for me. It looked like any other kiddy movie to me, movies that I usually don't enjoy watching. And it was definitely for kids, but it was fun for an adult as well. The story was a simple one, but the interactions between the different characters really made it fun to watch. Especially when you contrast the [...]
Mind Game
This is a very different but interesting anime movie, I am very glad I watched this. There are many different animation styles used in this movie, from sketchy to realistic to cartoony and much else. They give this story a surrealistic feel. It took me a while to get used to it, but once I got into the rhythm I was fine with it. I do prefer [...]
Millennium Actress
This is the second Satoshi Kon film I tracked down, and it's again a good one. This time there is no horror or weird scenes, instead this is a very clean emotional movie. The story is about a filmmaker who interviews a retired famous actress Chiyoko, who tells him about her life through her movies. And that's the visual trick this movie [...]
Paprika
This is the latest feature film by Satoshi Kon, who is becoming one of my favorite directors (thanks for Tim's recommendation). He always uses animation for all his projects, which enhances his stories in a way that live action couldn't capture easily. Paprika is a good example of that. The story is fairly simple, it's about a new device that [...]
Batman: Gotham Knight
Everyone will compare this DVD to Animatrix. The concept is similar, a series of short stories animated by famous Anime production companies, direct to DVD to bridge the gap between two successful movies. The difference here is that Batman is a very well known character, and there have been many stories about him. So there isn't anything new in [...]
It’s a Wonderful Life
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946): An angel helps a compassionate but despairingly frustrated businessman by showing what life would had been like if he never existed.I’ve had this movie for a long time, but I wanted to wait for the right moment to watch it. And this was it. I knew this was one of the best liked movies of all time, but I had no [...]
Stardust
Stardust (2007): In a countryside town bordering on a magical land, a young man makes a promise to his beloved that he’ll retrieve a fallen star by venturing into the magical realm. I loved this movie, I thought the plot was very interesting (thanks to Neil Gaiman), the characters interesting, the performances good. I just felt for this [...]
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Su…
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007): The Fantastic Four learn that they aren't the only super-powered beings in the universe when they square off against the powerful Silver Surfer and the planet-eating Galactus. I don't know why I keep watching these kinds of movies, I guess the comic fan in me wants to know about them. This was [...]
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007): With their warning about Lord Voldemort's return scoffed at, Harry and Dumbledore are targeted by the Wizard authorities as an authoritarian bureaucrat slowly seizes power at Hogwarts. Even though this was the longest book of the series, the movie adaptation was actually the shortest. Still, the [...]