the things you choose to be

Carey and I went to see Star Trek this week.  I’m not a Trekkie by any stretch, though I have seen all of the movies.  So I write from a position of familiarity rather than authority.

I loved the movie and felt like it was the best I’ve seen this year.  I thought the acting was superb (not always the case with Star Trek) and the chemistry between the main characters was excellent.  The storyline was interesting and I think it was ingenious to send these very familiar characters into a different future.  That way you don’t know what’s coming and there is a very real sense of danger that you don’t normally get from prequels.

I loved the ways in which they payed homage to the original actors.  Incredible job by the casting director.  It was a joy to revisit the characters when they were young and full of energy rather than when they are old and overweight.

For me, this was everything I hoped the Star Wars prequels would have been.  This movie breathed life back into the franchise and made me look forward to more.  Even for someone who wasn’t familiar with the franchise, like my wife, this was an enjoyable story.

Looking forward to seeing it again sometime.

Last Thursday night I went to Redbox to get a movie for Carey and I to watch.  The only thing I saw that looked halfway interesting was “Allan Quartermain and the Temple of Skulls”.  Here’s the Redbox description of the movie “Sean Cameron Michael stars as explorer Allan Quatermain in this adventure yarn, released just in time to whet the appetites of fans awaiting the fourth Indiana Jones film.”

I like Indiana Jones, so I thought, “why not”.  I approached it with very low expectations, but was open to being surprised.  I was definitely surprised.  There’s so much to tell you about it – I don’t even know where to begin.  The cover clearly shows airplanes, a lion, and Quartermain brandishing a whip -none of those elements were in the movie.  The movie title is “Temple of Skulls” I don’t recall that ever coming up during the course of the film.

I don’t know what I enjoyed more, the incredibly awkard dialogue, the plot and execution that didn’t even come close to working, the acting – there are no words.  If you gave me 2 weeks and $500 I could write, direct, and produce a movie much more watchable than this one.  My favorite moment (it’s hard to choose because there were so many) was the car chasing the train scene.  They are obviously going 5 mph but acting like it’s 60 mph.

I strongly recommend renting this movie from Redbox and watching it with friends.  The lack of everything needed to make a viewable movie is so appalling that it’s worth seeing.  My words to those involved in making this movie ”Bravo for getting out there and giving it a shot.  Early returns say that you probably need to consider a different career path.”

Ghost Town is one of the most enjoyable movies I’ve seen this year.  After seeing the preview I was cautiously optimistic that it would be worth viewing.  What I wasn’t prepared for were the moments of uncontrollable laughter.  And it wasn’t just me – the theater had 20-30 people in it and there were moments when collectively we could not stop laughing.

The chemistry between Kinnear and Gervais was brilliant.  The dialogue entertaining.  The humor was of “The Office” variety - awkward conversations, uncomfortable pauses - well done.  Gervais’s character was believable and hilarious.

It is a feel good movie – so if you’re looking for something unresolved and unsettling this isn’t your film – but really who wants a steady diet of that anyway.  Life is unresolved and unsettling enough – it’s nice to see things get wrapped up neatly on occasion.  The rating is PG-13 so don’t take your kids to see it.  This movie is definitely worth the price of admission.

Why do I mostly review kid’s movies?  Because I have 4 kids and that’s mostly what I see.

This was actually my second viewing of Kung Fu Panda.  Emma and I went 2 months ago.  Then we waited for it to hit the dollar movie so we could take everybody.

We loved the movie.  It held the attention of all 6 Carters through it’s entirety.  Well, except for Payton who kept getting up to do Kung Fu moves throughout.  Fun storyline, great character voices, and top notch animation.

The best part was that Dreamworks’ animators captured the essence of Jack Black in the body of a panda.  This panda was steeped in Jack Blackness.  Facial expressions and non verbals were spot on to support Jack’s voice acting.

This will be a movie that the Carter’s will own and will enjoy watching together over and over and over and over and over.  There were several great one-liners that I’m sure will work themselves into my repertoire.  Here’s my favorite which might become my new quote on facebook.

“There is no charge for awesomeness . . . or attractiveness.”

Payton and I hit the movie theater tonight while the girls were out of town.  Our show of choice, Star Wars, The Clone Wars - the new animated movie.

If you like Star Wars and you have a 4 year old son who loves it – this movie will be a lot of fun for you.  Payton was intensely into the movie, jumping at the surprises, hanging on to me when the good guys were in trouble, cheering and clapping when they took out the bad guys.  He was thrilled before, during, and after.

That said, if you’re not taking someone under the age of 10 and looking for your entertainment in watching their reactions, you’ll probably want to skip this one unless you are a hard core fan.  Awkward dialogue (which unfortunately has become a trademark of Star Wars movies made in the last 10 years), not much of a storyline, and overall not that engaging.  (Seriously, who cares about a baby Hutt that’s been kidnapped – apparently no one but the leaders of the Republic.)  The animation was unique.  Some of it was downright stunning.  Not the humans though – they had a weird, wooden, puppet-like appearance that you never really get used to.

So thank you George Lucas for dissappointing me once again.  If you want my advice (which you probably don’t with the billions of dollars you’ve made off of this and the $15 you got out of me tonight), hire some good story tellers and go from there.  That’s why I fell in love with the original trilogy.  That’s what you’ve lost – you’ve gotten so wrapped up in the technology and marketing that you’ve ignored the most important thing.  And all of us, except the 4 year olds, are worse off for it.

If you haven’t seen the movie Wall-E, don’t.  Watch the trailer below and you’ve seen most of the movie.  We took the kids to go see it because it was a new Pixar film and Pixar usually puts out an excellent and very enjoyable product.  Not this time.

The animation was out of this world, as usual – very stunning, very believable.  The major problems with the movie were 2 fold.

1) They took a minimalistic approach to the dialogue and it didn’t work.  There was less dialogue than the movie Castaway.  Not a good idea if your primary audience is children.  The kids did not enjoy it and Madi (who had already seen it) didn’t want to go again (which isn’t like her).

2) The environmental agenda was so overt it was almost painful.  I’m all about being a good steward of the resources of our planet, but I didn’t need to drop $35 just to have someone preach at me.

Took Carey to see “The Dark Knight” last night.  We caught the 10:10 showing.  Note to self – you’re too old to catch movies that late.

Everyone has been raving about this movie and rightfully so.  It was the best movie I’ve seen in a long time.  The storyline and screenplay were excellent.  I loved how real and fallible they made the good guys.

The main topic of conversation surrounding this movie has been Heath Ledger’s performance.  He did well with the part, and made the character believable.  It was top notch, but not transcending.  Carey (who has a bit of drama background – and quite the actress herself) was more impressed with his performance.  She spent the movie analyzing how well Heath wrapped himself up in the character and his delivery.

For me the strength of the movie lay in the ensemble.  I didn’t think anyone’s performance stood head and shoulders above the others.  They were all operating at a very high level.  I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a movie where the overall ensemble was so strong.  I thought Aaron Eckhart’s performance complimented so well the noble of Bale’s and the evil of Ledger’s.

Some great themes to consider.  I’m always moved by self-sacrifice for the good of another, and there were several of those moments.  Heath had a couple of great monologues that I’d like to hear again.

Looking forward to seeing it again.