Oceans

With Earth Day happening this Thursday, DisneyNature is releasing its second motion picutre, "Oceans". This film promises to be a wonderful look at the oceans that cover the vast majority of our planet. If this film is half as good as "Earth", it's worth seeing. This is why it is this week's movie pick. The film is narrated by Pierce Brosnan. Opens wide Thursday, April 22nd.




Also, if you have a chance, try to catch the film "The Perfect Game." The film is about the 1957 Monterrey Little League team that traveled to the United States and won the first international title at the Little League World Series. After about 2 years of delays over financing, the film is now with IndustryWorks Pictures and is playing in limited release in theatres. It's truly a heartwarming film for any baseball fan with a heart. The film stars Clifton Collins Jr., Cheech Marin, Jake T. Austin, Moises Arias, Ryan Ochoa, Gabriel Morales, Carlos Padilla, Jansen Panettiere, Mario Quinonez Jr., Anthony Quinonez, Alfredo Rodriguez, and Louis Gossett Jr.

Great 80's Films

With a lot of remakes of 80's films coming out this year, I figured I'd share a few of my childhood favorites to sort of revitalize this blog. The following is a series of trailers from films of the 80's that are classics in their own right, in my opinion. I hope you enjoy this blast from the past...

Readers on Facebook, click here for the trailers.



























Hope you enjoyed this list. New movies coming soon. This list was inspired by remakes of 80's films coming soon such as The Karate Kid and A Nightmare on Elm St.

Leap Year

When their four-year anniversary passes without a marriage proposal, Anna decides to take matters into her own hands. Investing in an Irish tradition that allows women to propose to men on February 29th, Anna decides to follow her boyfriend Jeremy to Dublin and get down on one knee herself. But airplanes, weather and fate leave Anna stranded on the other side of Ireland, and she must enlist the help of handsome and surly Declan to get her across the country. As Anna and Declan bicker across the Emerald Isle, they discover that the road to love can take you to very unexpected places.  Leap Year is being released by Universal Pictures on January 8th, 2010.  Starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode.  Visit the complete blog, including trailers and past entries HERE.

Films Watched This Week:

Paranormal Activity-94/A (REPEAT)
The Amityville Horror-91/A-
Drillbit Taylor-97/A+

Coming Son:

In Theatres:

2012
The Blind Side
Precious

DVD:

Grey’s Anatomy: Season 2: Disc 6
Freaks and Geeks: Disc 5
The Omen
Gran Torino
Adventureland
The Girl Next Door
Party Monster: The Shockumentary
Out of the Past
Super High Me

 

Brothers

“Brothers” is a new motion picture from director Jim Sheridan and starring Tobey Maguire, Jake Gyllenhall, and Natalie Portman.  After being captured and tortured in Afghanistan, Sam, presumed dead, returns to find his brother with his wife and daughter.  Tensions mount between Sam and his brother Tommy, and only one can dominate.  The film opens December 4th and is being released by Lionsgate Films.

 

FILMS WATCHED THIS WEEK:

Saw VI-Lionsgate-90 minutes-Regal Horton Plaza
Another gory episode in the vigilante serial killer series.  85/B

A Christmas Carol-Disney-96 minutes-Regal Mira Mesa
A nicely done, yet different adaption of the classic story.  The 3D was fantastic ( would not recommend seeing it without 3D), however, it would save you a few dollars to skip the IMAX presentation.  It’s merely a widescreen letterbox presentation in the middle of an IMAX (small IMAX, might I add) screen.  Almost half the screen will be black.  Regular auditoriums with large screens are quite adequate for this presentation.  It’s really bothersome that theatres can get away with charging 16.50 for this type of presentation.  If studios want to cash in on the IMAX format, then film it in IMAX and make it worth the ticket price.  IMDB claims there is 1.44:1 70mm films out there.  If that’s true, too bad none made it to San Diego.  All we have is giant square screens with the movie in the middle and black covering half the screen on the top and bottom.  The movie was good-not great.  What makes this film special is the 3D technology.  The snowflakes, among other things, somehow make this animated film look very real.  It’s worth the price for the 3D, but skip the IMAX.  It’s just as big across the hall on a standard digital projector.  IMAX 3D-67/D+  3D-87/B+

The Fourth Kind-Universal-98 minutes-Regal Horton Plaza
Alien encounters are behind this picture.  Taken with lots of archival footage and dramatizations combined, this film has creepy moments, yet does not give enough background on the characters involved.  For me, it was a little difficult to have much sympathy for the lead.  All we know is that her husband dies (the film’s opening) and that she is a psychologist.  The woman decides to continue her husband’s studies while weird coincidences occur to her patients and her family.  The film moves along nicely and, whether you choose to believe what happens or not, it leaves something to talk about at the end.  82/B-

The Box-Warner Brothers-116 minutes-Regal Mira Mesa
This film raises the question:  How far would you be willing to go for a million dollars?  A couple is asked whether they would push a button on a box in exchange for a million dollars, but someone they didn’t know would die as a result.  Their decision leads them through a series of events that will change their lives forever.  The film was somewhat confusing at times and is really far-fetched.  It is, however, very thought-provoking and leaves you thinking.  Nice performances by most of the cast.  For many who like non-stop action thrillers, this will not be the movie for you.  But if you like a cerebral film that leaves you thinking, you probably will like this one if you can get past the unbelievable.  84/B

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills-94/A
Veronica Mars: Season 1: Disc 3-97/A+

Coming Soon:

In theatres:

2012                            November 17th
The Horse Boy           November 15th
The Blind SIde          November 24th
Precious                     November 24th

DVD:

Grey’s Anatomy: Season 2: Disc 6
Freaks and Geeks: Disc 5
The Amityville Horror
Drillbit Taylor
The Omen
Gran Torino
Adventureland
The Girl Next Door

Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire

“Precious” is the story of a sixteen year old girl living in poverty with an abusive mother. She is pregnant with her second child and is still in junior high school. The film is presented by Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. "Precious" opens November 20th at Landmark's Hillcrest Cinemas and AMC’s Plaza Bonita 14 is being released by Lionsgate Films.

Films watched this week:

Five Minutes In Heaven-Pathe-90 Minutes-Reading Gaslamp Cinemas
The film follows the story of two men.  The first is a man who, at a young age, joined a gang and killed a Catholic dock worker in front of his 11 year-old brother.  The second man is the brother who watched his older brother shot in the head three times by a man in a mask.  As adults, the brother (Joe) wants to meet the man who killed his brother so he can murder him on live television.  The film follows the events leading up to and after the filming of the television show and what happens as a result.  It’s a great film about revenge and reconciliation from Ireland, starring Liam Neeson and James Nesbitt.  94/A

An Inconvenient Truth-Paramount Classics-100 Minutes-DVD
Al Gore’s quest to make global warming a global priority.  96/A

Freaks and Geeks: Disc 4  97/A+

Superbad-Sony-114 Minutes-Blu-Ray
A very funny story of some high school students about to graduate who get one of their dorky classmates who gets a fake ID, to get them alcohol for a party.  The evening turns out to be a romp of everything gone and involves burglary, the police, and everything else you can imagine in a Judd Apatow film.  93/A-

Films for this week:

Theatres:

Saw VI-Lionsgate-Regal Horton Plaza
A Christmas Carol-Regal Mira Mesa
The Fourth Kind-Regal Horton Plaza
The Box-Regal Mira Mesa

DVD:

Paradise Lost:  The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
Veronica Mars:  Season 1: Disc 3
Grey’s Anatomy:  Season 2: Disc 6
Freaks and Geeks: Disc 5
The Amityville Horror
Drillbit Taylor
The Omen

A Christmas Carol

Jim Carey stars in Disney’s new version of the classic story of Ebeneezer Scrooge and the three ghosts who change his life forever. The film opens November 7th everywhere in one of four formats: IMAX 3D, IMAX, 3D, or regular release.

Films from this week:

The Shining—95/A
Where the Wild Things Are—91/A-
Rabbit-Proof Fence—88/B+
Law Abiding Citizen—94/A
Cirque du Freak’s The Vampire’s Assistant—85/B
Astro Boy—91/A-
Grey’s Anatomy: Season 2: Disc 5—97/A+

Films for Next Week:

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
Taxi Driver
Ma Vie En Rose
Tea with Mussolini
Freaks and Geeks: Disc 5
Superbad
Five Minutes in Heaven
Saw VI

Amelia

Amelia is the story of Amelia Earhart, played by Hillary Swank, two-time Academy Award Winner.  The film is starting off to poor reviews from critics (3 in 10 giving a passing score in early reviews), I’m going to judge this one for myself since Hillary Swank is usually amazing and biographies of this type are generally worthwhile to me.  The film opens this weekend at several theatres in the county.

 

 

In other news, Paranormal Activity continues its expansion and surprisingly successful theatrical run.  On only 760 screens last week, it earned 20 million dollars and fell third in the box office, behind two releases of over 2000 screens. 

The Boys are Back is now running at Reading Cinemas Gaslamp and not the Landmark Hillcrest.