The Little Engine That Could (2011) [HD]

A Nice Book into a Scary Movie...
This is my 3.5 year old's favorite book in the whole world. He has even memorized portions of it. When I saw there was a new movie coming out, I grabbed it as soon as I could. He was ecstatic. At first he was curious about the story and the personified engines and water-tower. It was all going well until the scary "bad dream" engine came along. Before I knew it, my son was completely in tears and was so afraid of what was going to happen to the sweet little blue engine and the little boy. I get the fact that if you're going to create a full-length movie from a fairly brief children's story that it has to have some plot to it. My problem with this movie is that this book is favored by YOUNG children who are oftentimes easily scared and while most of this movie is fairly sweet and innocent, just that one part with the big, scary, mean train was enough to poison my son's whole experience. If you have an older child who likes trains or a younger child who is not quite so...

Enjoyable for young and old - love the voices!
My 2.5 yr old son who is addicted to trains loves this movie. There is a scary bad guy that I think is bothering him, but overall it's a good movie for kids that are into trains. My favorite character is the caboose voiced by the guy from "Rules of Engagement". He's hilarious!! Jamie Lee Curtis was a good fit for the clown and Whoopi is good as the tower too. I don't know the younger voices, but it appears they are all rather famous too. Would have been better if some of the trains has names instead of just being called "Freight Train" etc. Like Rusty had a name...but oh well. Nice to see some of the proceeds go to a good cause. And of course, it's a great message for kids. Gotta wonder about the "mushroom forest" though, what was going on when the writers put that in hmmm?? Anyway, overall a good family flick!!

My son is still asking to watch this months after he first saw it
LIKES

- Wonderful animation, great textures
- Beautiful colorful landscapes
- A kinetic and interesting dream world
- A sweet and slightly cheesy children's story for the first 3/4 of the movie
- Interesting and exciting action sequences
- Good vs bad, good wins
- Bully vs victim, victim fights back (verbally) and wins
- Interesting characters and good voice acting

DISLIKES

- They overdid it when making the nightmare train. He's freaky and scary. My 3 year old watches the movie and at first was a little anxious but seems fine now. He has a creepy scary appearance, voice, and actions.

I'd love it if the bad guy was bad rather than creepy and evil, but I can't really say it's a problem because my son loves this movie.

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Funerals and Felonies

Terrific movie, not enough JEFF
Great movie, there were some seriously funny lines. There wasn't enough of Jeff's character in the movie. I'd like to see more of Jeff in another movie.





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The Skulls [HD]

Mediocre cinematically but entertaining anyway...
The Skulls finds us at Yale University, which you'll have to assume on your own like I did since they never actually say Yale. We meet Luke, who is a self-confessed former menace to society, working the cafeteria line and studying hard to make something of himself and hopefully go on to Harvard Law School. The only thing standing in the way of that goal for this young man is the fact that Harvard Law is a teensy weensy bit expensive.

Luke, along with best friend Will (Hill Harper) and girlfriend Chloe (Leslie Bibb) speculate on his chances to be chosen to join the Skulls, a secret society on campus which is rumored to pay for such things as law school bills.

It is the secrecy of the society that becomes a rift between Luke and his pals. His buddy Will speculates, "It's secret and it's elite - it can't be good." Insert ominous music here. By the stroke of midnight on that same eve, Luke finds himself in the midst of the Skulls initiation ceremony.

The rules that govern...

Fraternity vs. Secret society
I recommend this movie to anyone considering joining a frat and/or is between the ages of 18-27. Rob Cohen does an excellent job in attempting to portray what goes on inside the walls of the "Skulls" secret society. The Skulls - a highly powerful secret society - provide third year college students with expensive cars, girls, and powerful ties...an enormous key to future political power. The lucky members chosen each year at midnight (approx. 15 ?) must go through intense hazing and rituals dating back to the early 1800's. Each prospective member unites with another to become soul mates. Each pair of soul mates tell each other their darkest secrets to become closer and to ensure loyalty in the most defying situation.

In the movie, Luke (Joshua Jackson) demonstrates how joining the Skulls has placed tension on his friendship with Chloe (Leslie Bibb) and his roommate (Hill Harper). Sworn to keep the happenings of the Skulls a secret, the line between friendship and...

Noteworthy Thriller
The Skulls is a well-paced and well-acted thriller. Joshua Jackson is Luke McNamara. An Ivy League college student who isn't doing to well with paying his tuition. To certify his place in completing college and have a successful future, he wants in with the Skulls. An intermediate group of young men who are guaranteed anything they want in life. After getting in, Luke's life begins to fall apart as his best friend is murdered and his girlfriend is on the run. Should Luke trust the secret society and his new friend Caleb, or try to get out of the society alive?

The Skulls, for some reason, gives me an at-home feeling. I kind of relate to each character in a way, and that shows that each actor gave a pretty good performance. Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker, and Leslie Bibb shine as the leads. Craig T. Nelson also gives a nice performance. The plot and pacing of The Skulls is excellent. The scenes meant to be intense are just that, and scenes meant to be heartfelt and fun are just that...

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Funny People (Unrated) [HD]

The Marketing was Wrong, but the Film is so RIGHT
This film was really a drama, so, if you go in with the mindset that you are watching a drama, this film will blow you away.

However, if you go into this film thinking it will be like 40-yr old Virgin or Hangover, then you will be disappointed (which is where all the low rated reviews come from).

This film does a great job of showing us the life of a Comedian/Actor who is dying from an illness.

The film has a whole lot of levels going on which is over the head of most of the people who rated the film low.

It is a comedic form of the movie Inception. You have actors playing comedians who have dual lives where they alternate from being "on" and "off"....

The problem is most people have a misconception of how comedians live their real lives.

Anyways, great movie. Go in with the mindset that you are watching a drama and this movie will blow you away.

enjoy

amnightus

Flawed and Meandering Yet Still a Worthwhile Look Inside a Stand-Up Comic's Mind
The psyche of the stand-up comedian is the subject of Judd Apatow's third and most ambitious directorial effort, but the elliptical, rather skewed characters that inhabit this serious-minded 2009 comedy obscure the personal revelations that he ironically attempts to mine. In certain ways, it's a dramatically audacious film, yet in others, Apatow comes back to the comfortably off-kilter humor of his previous ensemble efforts, The 40-Year-Old Virgin and Knocked Up. Sometimes the balance feels very off here, primarily because the protagonist is so hard to read from the outside. It was inevitable that the director cast his former roommate Adam Sandler as George Simmons, a comic who has become a major movie star based on the type of juvenilia he constantly ridicules. Sandler accurately captures both the demented comedy mind and the innate cruelty...

Jake LaMotta would've made a hell of a comedian
Judd Apatow's Funny People is going to divide audiences (it certainly has divided critics). Those going in expecting a comedy along the lines of The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up or any other of the films in the Apatow-verse will enjoy it but not love it. But that reaction may be more a product of the misdirection in the marketing of the film than anything else. Funny People is going for something more emotionally complex, and it succeeds on that count.

Without dwelling on plot, the film focuses, by and large, on the professional and personal lives of a group of comics and comic actors at various rungs of the show business ladder, from Adam Sandler's George Simmons, a hugely successful film comedy star who came out of the stand-up comedy world, to Seth Rogan's Ira Wright, a novice comic who is drawn into George's world, to Ira's friends, who are his roommates, who are his competitors.

The common thread running through these characters is anger and aggression,...

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Nancy Steele is Missing

Apparently inspired by the Lindbergh Baby Kidnapping
Victor McLaglen plays a nice guy anarchist kidnapper who ultimately become a trusted friend and employee of the baby's father. Nuts at the time of production but probably politically correct today in the Julian Assange--Wikileaks sense. We feel for the hysterical betrayer. What a joke. A brutal hero who casually commits mayhem and is supposed to get love for it. Did I say, Joke. The DVD transfer is just so-so.

Further Thought: Walter Connolly gives what must be one of his most likable performance and Peter Lorre one of his most chilling.





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Biloxi Blues [HD]

In my top ten . . .
Despite my best instincts to the contrary, this movie remains among my top ten favorite (notice, not BEST - there's a difference) movie of all time.

There is something about this movie that simply appeals to me. Being in the military and working as the Executive Officer of a Basic Training Battery, I definitely recognize the witt and toughness of Drill Sergeant Merwyn J. Toomey (actually, I kind of wish we were allowed to be more like him today - it would produce better soldiers). But the appeal of this film goes far beyond recognition of the brilliance of Christopher Walken's performance as the DS.

Above all the dialog in the movie is crisp and funny, without an element of raunch or being to sarcastic. There are feelings of genuine nostalgia and sweetness about the picture which are hard to describe, but definitely noticeable. They are in the scene in which Broderick's character meets Daisy for the first time, they permeates the scene in which Eugene loses his...

A truly natural comic treat
If there has to be a message to this movie, and I don't really believe there's supposed to be, it's that a sense of humor will indeed get you through the worst of situations.

Matthew Broderick and Christopher Walken carry this comedy. There is an unassuming quality here. It's funny without trying to be funny, or at least that's the feeling I get from it. There's not much of a chance that this is on anybody's top ten list, not even a top ten comedy list. There's no obvious contrivance here. The whole story just happens, flowing smoothly along without effort. And so it's exceedingly pleasing, immensely enjoyable, quite lifelike.

And as another reviewer points out, for all the innocent quality of the movie, there are "blue" scenes here, but nothing graphic.

Unique.
I found this movie to be simple and cute. I watched it once,and then i wanted to watch it again because i enjoyed it so much. The whole story revolves mainly around Eugene Jerome (Matthew Broderick) and how much trouble he has at the army with a sergeant,the people he mainly talks to,and the life he is having there. His fantasy was to lose his virginity and fall in love,both of which he did,in the same day! Eventually he made amends with his friends,after all the things they went through. I really enjoyed this movie,i was surprised about that too. All together the movie was good. This is one i would want to buy and add to my collection.

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The Bourne Ultimatum [HD]

Rewriting the genre
A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy? That would be like crediting "The Matrix" with a satisfying level of originality.

Everything the makers, cast and crew have learned about what makes the Bourne formula tick, and click, is revved to supercharged perfection in this pinnacle of a movie.

More is not always better (Matrix 2?), but with careful attention to detail and a plot that works like a Rolex, Ultimatum's unrelenting pace never feels overblown. Matt Damon's impenetrable oasis of razor focus and quiet, seething menace, now seeming to melt glass, finds a new level of counterpoint in this movie. Damon has become so riveting in this role, it's almost possible to overlook the stellar cast around him, matching step for step in a multi-threaded, multi-tiered, multi-national locomotive of twists and action played out with the orchestration of a Beethoven score.

There's something just plain admirable about a movie franchise which insists on digging...

Where in the World is Jason Bourne?
(4 1/2 *'s) `The Bourne Ultimatum' is a non-stop thriller ride that easily propels itself to the top of 2007's three-peat super summer. The third in the series, Jason Bourne (played superbly by a tough and tormented Matt Damon) still suffers his same identity crisis, this time criss-crossing his way across the globe with breakneck speed. Suspenseful for more than the thrill of the chase, we are given a gripping sense of drama as CIA director, Noah Vosen (played with tough officiousness by David Strathairn in another great performance) and his sparring co-leader, Pamela Landy (Joan Allen in an admirably complex role) come to grips with Bourne and his alleged treason against their assassination operation. Hooking up with a fellow operative Nicky Parsons (a sleight-of-hand Julia Stiles), Bourne and associates provide enough development to keep us guessing throughout.

Besides all of the identity intrigue, the action is relentless without being predictable. All the scenes of...

The Bourne Ultimatum
Jason Bourne (Damon) is still searching for his true identity, and is once again becoming a thorn in the side of the CIA. Noah Vosen (Strathairn), head of black ops targets him for elimination, and soon he is on the run again. This time around agents Pamela Landy (Allen) and Nicky Parsons (Stiles) are on his side, offering their assistance to stop the darker aspects of the CIA as well as help him find himself.

"The Bourne Ultimatum" is an excellent action movie, and a fitting end(?) to the Bourne trilogy. The best of the three and the best threequel of the summer, "Bourne" is nonstop action with a smart story. Matt Damon falls back into Bourne's shoes easily, and the supporting cast is once again top notch. The "Bourne" series has delivered top notch stories and action from the beginning, and it would be a shame if it didn't continue beyond this point. This is one of the best action trilogies ever made. I highly recommend this film.

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