Category Archives: Movie

The moving picture industry has had a profound effect on me.

I’m a Jim Dale Fan

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I loved Pete’s Dragon growing up, then come to find that Doc Terminus also portrayed Barnum in Cy Coleman’s musical biography of Phineas Taylor was almost too much. And then he goes and narrates Pushing Daisies (one of my favorite cancelled shows of all time)! And he’s the audio book reader for the Harry Potter books? Get out. Just get out! So when I stumbled across Scott Kurtz’ tribute to Pete’s Dragon, I couldn’t help but squeal. 🙂 Every Little Piece – PVPOnline by Scott Kurtz For further enjoyment, here’s the original song that Scott is referencing.

A Chorus Line (1985)

A Chorus Line (1985) – DVD

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IMDB entry for ‘A Chorus Line (1985)’ So last night we watched the filmed adaptation of A Chorus Line. It wasn’t horrible! 😉 That being said, it is VERY MUCH a product of it’s time. Directed by InGen founder John Hammond (aka Lord Richard Attenborough), right from the DVD menu (with so much synth, we almost started to cry) we could tell this wasn’t going to be very much like the stage production. And then the opening number started and we couldn’t help making comparisons to that Captain EO making of featurette that they play as you wait in line. I mean Mike (I Can Do That) was wearing parachute pants! In the film adaptation, Zach is portrayed by Michael Douglas and apparently either he or Attenborough felt that the movie would be MUCH better if this quintessential ensemble piece was focused very tightly on Zach and Cassie. And they … Continue reading →

Monsters University (2013)

Monsters University – Edwards Brea Stadium West 10, Brea, CA

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Really fun! First prequel that Pixar has done. Great music by Randy Newman. OH MY GOODNESS NATHAN FILLION!!!!! I knew Johnny Worthington sounded familiar, but I couldn’t really place it. Although the same thing happened with all of the voices (except for the big three who came back from the first movie), which is weird (for me anyways). Great tie-in to the existing universe (although one of my cousins pointed out that a line from the first movie presents a problem – spoiler below). In Monsters, Inc., when Mike and Sulley walked through Monstropolis to go to the company, Mike said to Sulley “You’ve been jealous of my good looks since the fourth grade”. In this film, we’re told Mike and Sulley met in college. [In the commentary, director Dan Scanlon explained that there was a lengthy scene that would have followed Mike and Sully throughout their years in elementary … Continue reading →

Man of Steel (2013)

Man Of Steel (IMAX 3-D) – Edwards 26 Long Beach Town Center, Long Beach, CA

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As good as the Avengers (2012) AND it made good on every promise that The Matrix movies (1999, 2003) made but failed to deliver on (don’t laugh, consider that this is coming from me, a hardcore fan of the Matrix movies). With the death of Zod and Kal-El’s very evident anguish over his actions, I was very much reminded of the Doctor Who episode where The Master dies without regenerating despite Tenant begging him to. That same anguish is in Cavill’s performance, with him knowing that “we’re the only two left, don’t make me do this”. In the same vein as the spoiler, looking back on the music (which was gorgeous), I find myself hearing the 4-beats-drums-of-war from The Master’s mind (Doctor Who). Very interesting commentary from one of my favorite comic book writers, Mark Waid.

Star Wars

Star Wars Network Configuration Magic!

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C:\>tracert 216.81.59.173 Tracing route to FIN [216.81.59.173] over a maximum of 30 hops: 3 6 ms 6 ms 3 ms cr83.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.122.128.246] 4 6 ms 3 ms 3 ms cr1.la2ca.ip.att.net [12.123.30.110] 5 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms la2ca02jt.ip.att.net [12.123.30.17] 6 2 ms 2 ms 2 ms xe-9-2-0.lax30.ip4.tinet.net [77.67.79.173] 7 76 ms 55 ms 55 ms xe-2-0-0.atl11.ip4.tinet.net [89.149.185.53] 8 60 ms 56 ms 57 ms epik-networks-gw.ip4.tinet.net [77.67.69.158] 9 56 ms 56 ms 56 ms po0-3.dsr2.atl.epikip.net [216.81.59.2] 10 * * * Request timed out. 11 97 ms 95 ms 95 ms episode.iv [206.214.251.1] 12 131 ms * 100 ms a.new.hope [206.214.251.6] 13 94 ms 97 ms 96 ms it.is.a.period.of.civil.war [206.214.251.9] 14 98 ms 94 ms 102 ms rebel.spaceships [206.214.251.14] 15 100 ms 106 ms 95 ms striking.from.a.hidden.base [206.214.251.17] 16 95 ms 121 ms 171 ms have.won.their.first.victory [206.214.251.22] 17 173 ms 158 ms 153 ms against.the.evil.galactic.empire [206.214.251.25] 18 127 ms 150 ms … Continue reading →

Les Misérables (2012)

Les Misérables – AMC 12 DownTown Disney, Anaheim, CA

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Absolutely brilliant! Love how the performances are so raw and imperfectly perfect, and that they were allowed to make acting choices since they were all singing live to just a piano accompaniment. And how a lot of the final shots used in the film are like complete 2-3 minute takes. And you’re in their face, feeling the emotion pour out of them. Just…gah! Brilliant. Russel Crowe was just as imperfect as the rest of them, stop whinging about it! It’s been interesting to hear opinions/reflections from others though. Most interesting to consider that the film is more of a love letter to Les Miserables than amazing cinema. I mean definitely worth seeing once, but other than that, it’s kind of unadventurous as cinema. The cameras kind of just swallow the actors. Someone from The New Yorker offers up a sarcasm laden fest regarding why Les Mis isn’t any good. And … Continue reading →

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (2012)

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey – AMC 12 DownTown Disney, Anaheim, CA

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I like Bofur, Balin, and maybe Dwalin. Possibly Ori’s face. 😉 Love, love, LOVE the Misty Mountains! Love that its the prequel trilogy theme. Also love the restrained callbacks to the original trilogy (only when it fits PERFECTLY). Add to this the fact that the songs are coming 99% directly from the text and I’m pleased as punch (that 1% is for making the song structures more palatable to human ears *wink*). Blunt the knives also makes me grin. Yay Lee Pace as Thranduril! Love seeing the Piemaker not interacting with stupid talking dogs. I also love how Peter Jackson is bringing in all these disparate pieces from Tolkien’s mythology (instead of Gandalf just going away and returning with a one sentence summary of what he did). It’s like he’s trying to construct the prequel trilogy that our generation deserves! Yay Andy Serkis as the second unit director! I mean … Continue reading →

Total Recall (2012)

Total Recall – Brea East Edwards 12, Brea, CA

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Very nice. Very nice indeed. Yay Len Wiseman (aka Mr. Kate Beckinsale). And yay Kurt Wimmer (whom I recall from Equilibrium). It was interesting to me that Jessica Biel’s character name is voiced only once in the entire film. Really want to read “ÂWe Can Remember It For You Wholesale” now and look at where things were pulled from. Very nice touches / references / homages to the first film. Thankfully it was far less campy.

ParaNorman – AMC 12 Downtown Disney, Anaheim, CA

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Fun! I mean we knew as soon as we saw the trailer that it looked like a super cute film (zombies and ghosts? TOTALLY cute), but it totally surpassed our expectations. I mean first off we’re both huge fans of stop-motion films as a rule of thumb (I blame Nightmare Before Christmas) and this is a true gem of the art form (make sure to stay to the very end of the credits for a real stop-motion treat). Secondly, the entire movie (at least in regards to Norman’s gift) isn’t about what you see in the trailer (as some films are wont to do) – the story has some delightful twists and turns that we were very pleased by. It was amusing to learn that Christopher Mintz-Plasse was the bully since he’s had so many roles where he was bullied. How the worm turns and such. I wonder why I … Continue reading →

The Dark Knight Rises – UltraLuxe GardenWalk Cinema, Anaheim, CA

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*GRIN* Well now that I’ve had time to digest it all, I still had an amazing time, but the more I think about it, the more I’m confused as to what Christopher Nolan was trying to accomplish. I mean there were so many delightful touches of characters and the Stock Market scene was just eerie to watch (with the tragedy of Aurora fresh in my mind) and the many perfect moments they got right from the Knightfall saga of the early 90s (I was audible gaping at the first Bane/Batman brawl even though I knew it all was coming). But the plot twist. Just….guh. First he (Nolan) kills off Ras Al Ghul. Then he kills off Talia with no intention of bringing either of them back using Lazarus Pits. But then he goes and makes Bane a loyal companion/pawn (well not pawn, maybe knight or bishop) to Talia’s queen just … Continue reading →