Looper

I totally saw this movie.
And then didn't write a post about it.

I suppose I should though since everyone was going off the deep end about it. They were practically frothing at the mouth from excitement.

Spoilers under the cut.

The Dark Knight Rises Indeed

I am going to make an incendiary statement. The Dark Knight Rises was a better movie than The Dark Knight. #unpopularopinion


Spoilers and reasons after the jump..

The Secret World of Arrietty Review

I wish they had kept it secret...

I kinda don't even know where to start with this one.

I went with my grandma one day when we had nothing to do. I wanted to see the new Hiayo Miyazaki movie but I was disappointed.

I absolutely loved Totoro, Kiki's Delivery Service and Howl's Moving Castle and it wasn't all Studio Ghibli's fault for why I was let down.

The Breakdown:

The Good:

+Scenery and Setting: Beautiful as always. The animation was flawless. I loved the attention to detail in the settings, especially because they were Borrowers, it was interesting to see how items would be used differently by people who were way smaller than us. The dollhouse was amazing. And the little added touches like when they poured liquid it was only a few drops because to them a drop was like the whole bowl.

+Will Arnett as the Father: He was very subdued and it's kind of weird for me because I've always seen Will Arnett play crazy characters.

+Amy Poehler as the Mother: She toned down the whine in her voice and I hardly even knew it was her. Her voice really embodied the character to the point where I forgot that this was Amy Poehler voicing this mother character.

+Carol Burnett as Hara: I love Carol Burnett as the villain. It reminds me of when I saw her in Annie and her voice seamed so perfectly with the character design.

That was about it....

The Bad:

-The story was weak: It's about Borrowers and how this young Borrower girl befriends this sickly boy. It's supposed to be all uplifting because he's not afraid to die after he befriends her but I thought it was weak compared to his other stories. Totoro is about a girl who's mother is ill, Kiki's Delivery Service about a girl who has to go off on her own and loses faith in herself then regains it, Howl's Moving Castle's about a girl who needs to become old to find out who she truly is and each one of these stories had a dark element to it, something that frightened children or made them think. This one was fairly mild in any subject matter that would be considered "heavy" and the villain was really no villain at all. She was just a doddering old lady who just wanted to prove the existence of the Borrowers. The dialogue was also very weak, unimaginative and fairly cheesy. No one in their right mind would speak like that today. Frankly, it was just very embarrassing to watch the characters speak in such unrealistic ways.

-The voice actors for Arietty and Shawn: The great thing about Howl's Moving Castle was the dub was spot-on. The English words they had chosen fit the mouth movements, and the actors they hired were all top rate. Billy Crystal, Emily Mortimer, Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall, even the kid--Josh Hutcherson was a top notch actor and they all had talent coming out of the wazoo. But it seems to me that nowadways Disney puts too much stock into their "Disney Channel" actors so for this project they "auditioned" but really just picked Bridget Mendler and David Henrie. The former from the show "Good Luck, Charlie" and the other from that...ugh God-awful "Wizards of Waverly Place". I have to say Bridget Mendler was alright, her character isn't very over the top in any way, just friendly and cheerful. But David Henrie, the character is supposed to be young first of all and second of all he's supposed to be sickly. By having this full grown actor play this boy with no modicum of talent for sounding sickly and young...it just broke down the movie. It wasn't believable for one second.

-The pacing was extremely slow: to the point where it was very awkward. The music was minimal and for very long stretches of scenes all there would be is the character in a beautiful setting with no music and minimal sound (just "nature" sounds). Now some people might say I have a short attention span but these are little kids trying to watch this movie here, they have even less of an attention span than I do, and you could tell that the kids and the parents were getting antsy at these long scenes that were milking the art for all it was worth. I love art as much as the next person but not when I paid to see a movie, with you know, MOVING pictures? I caught myself yawning more than once and feeling that uncomfortable prickle on the back of my neck as everyone was just feeling very awkward at the stillness and silence on screen. You could just feel it in the audience.

All in all, I don't know if I would recommend this movie for anyone. If you're gonna watch it, I would probably recommend the NON-dubbed version and brace yourself for one of the most boring movies you've ever watched.

Haywire

I know I said I was going to post another movie review of another superhero movie but I saw Haywire recently and so I guess this one is going to take precedence.

Haywire--I consider it a Jason Bourne type story with a female instead of a male and with a weaker storyline. It was alright.


The Breakdown (Spoilers)

Captain America: Movie and DVD Review

I went to Best Buy recently with my dad because he wanted to buy a wireless router and while there bought four DVDs so expect four "older" movies getting reviews as I go through them.

I saw Captain America last night with my dad and grandpa although my dad fell asleep halfway through...so I'm not sure if he counts as well as not being sure what that says about the movie.

But I liked Captain America. It is a solid addition to the Superhero collection and is not, by far, the worst superhero movie made. I think that honor goes to Spiderman 3 or Superman Returns...actually no, Catwoman was the worst.

Anyway.

Spoilers after the jump. Although if you haven't seen the movie by now...then I'm assuming you just don't want to see it and don't care if I spoil it. But for the sake of how long this review is probably going to be, jump cut it is.

Sherlock Holmes 2: A Game of One-Liners

So. I watched Sherlock Holmes 2 last night with my parents...at 10:20...and didn't get out til 12:30 and then I had to go to work today so...tired feelings all around! But I'm glad I got to see it. I had been wanting to see it for the longest time and had no one to go with for the longest time.

Spoilers ahoy! After the jump.

War Horse...oh God.

So I saw War Horse over the New Year's weekend...and can I just say...most depressing movie ever...?

That doesn't seem to make much sense, I know and it's supposed to be this heartwarming tale about a horse and his boy but seriously...it was the most depressing movie I've seen in a while. I think it's because I don't usually watch "drama" type movies, preferring to stay with action/adventure/superhero/comedy (any fluff whatsoever). I'm not a big fan of the drama genre because I don't like watching stories about other people's messed up lives. We know life is messed up...why must I spend 10+ dollars and 2 hours of my time to just see it confirmed in cinematic form? If I see a movie, I want to escape reality...that's the point. Not see it thrown back in my face...

The trailer was really misleading...seriously.

Anyway, spoiler alert.

So it started out and it was all nice and peachy, and I was like "hey this is pretty good." It was all very coming of age and bonding between this horse and the boy and a lot of uplifting triumphs and all that and then...

The boy's family's farm's radish crop failed...and it was all downhill from there.

World War I broke out.

Then, the horse was sold to this captain played by Tom Hiddleston (I was very excited about him being in the movie. I think he's a great actor.) And then ten minutes later he DIES. So I was sort of heartbroken by the first 30 minutes of the movie. He was such a nice character and he was very kind to the boy and to the horse.

And then the horse gets captured and put in the care of these two really young German soldiers who are brothers, one of which is only 14 years old. The younger brother gets called to the front line while the older is ordered to stay behind and care for the horses. The older brother made a promise to their mother to take care of the younger sibling so he steals two horses, one of which is THE horse, and they desert the army in France, hiding out in a windmill. They get found and SHOT for deserting...so they die.

Then the horses get found by this French girl who's not very healthy and living with her grandpa. She's an orphan and when she finds the horses she keeps them because she wants to learn how to ride. The German army comes through and takes everything of value/foodstuffs from the grandpa's farm. So he lets her take her mother's saddle and ride up the hill...but on the other side there's the German army again who take the horses.

Now the horses are used to pull huge artillery to wherever they need to be. They're extremely heavy and look like modernized cannons which they are. They need a team of 8 horses to pull it up the mountain and the horses don't last very long at this job because it's very difficult to constantly haul these things, so a lot just fall down dead from overwork. The black horse gets injured and DIES...again...with the dying.

And the other horse, THE horse, runs away from the German army into no man's land and gets caught up in the wire.

You find out that the boy had joined the army by this time and is fighting in the general area. He goes with a friend from his village and the friend gets engulfed by gas and DIES.

And there's a heart warming scene about the British and German army putting aside their differences to free THE horse and the horse gets taken back to the camp and the boy proves that it's his horse by describing it even though he's blind at the time from the gas.

But he has to buy the horse back because it's getting put up for auction. But the french grandfather pays the highest bid because his granddaughter DIED during the war...

And that's the last death in the movie. But seriously.

I mean by that time, I didn't even care that the horse and the boy were together again and they were going to live happily ever after because seriously EVERYONE DIED. Except the horse. And the boy.

I know it's based in World War I and WWI was an especially difficult war, what with the trenchfoot and shellshock and high death tolls and all that. It is a war after all, but seriously...does everyone have to die? If I didn't know any better, I would say the horse is cursed.

And the ending scene where the horse and boy are riding home is shot very oddly. The color is oversaturated with reds and oranges because it's the sunset and you really only see the silhouettes of the people. It almost looks like that one scene in Gone with the Wind where Scarlet O'Hara is telling the sky, "I'll never go hungry again". It jarred me out of the movie because none of the other parts were filmed that way. Was it supposed to be like a nostalgic thing? Like a throwback to Gone with the Wind? Or was he trying to say something about how the audience doesn't get to see this homecoming because it's too personal so he's shutting us out? Or what...?

So I do not really recommend the movie unless you want to be depressed when you get out of the theater.

The whole rest of the night, I just kept announcing, "I'm so depressed!" like Marvin from Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy...because I was!

No bueno.

Mission Impossible 4: Not as bad as I thought it would be...

As River Song says, "Spoilers [below]." 

Just let me get this out right now...I don't like Tom Cruise. I never liked Tom Cruise, I don't think I ever will like Tom Cruise. There's just something kind of creepy about him. I never watched any of his movies except for the Mission Impossible series and he kinda just scares me.

So I saw this movie because I love love love action movies and not for Tom Cruise.

The good:

+The main cast (other than Tom Cruise)--a STELLAR cast. I mean any cast with Simon Pegg is automatically a stellar cast but still, amazing amazing.

       =Simon Pegg as Benji: Oh dear Lord, I love this man. He can do no wrong in my book. Ever since I saw him in Hot Fuzz it's like he just keeps getting more and more amazing. There's something so innately funny about him. I love all his lines, when he's Russian and babbling and when he goes "You'll regret this, Private Egorov, pshh." He brought some great comedic timing to this action movie and I love comedy-action. Every piece of dialogue he says is an automatic great one-liner. And when he gets all serious I love him even more! When he shoots Winstrom from down the corridor, the look on his face is bad-ass.

      =Paula Patton as Jane Carter: I actually really really really liked her. She wasn't annoying and she could kick some serious ass! And she looks right for the part too. She looks muscular and strong, like she could beat up grown men. And has that amazing fight scene with Lea Seydoux as the assassin where she literally launches herself across the hallway, like a lion or something. Kristen Kreuk and Lauren German were rumored to be considered for the role...(there's Lauren German again...geez can I not escape from her?) and omg it would have been kinda horrible if they had been picked. With their little stick arms?? I can hardly imagine them being able to fire a gun let alone incapacitate two grown men. I can only imagine Kristen Kreuk running around wide-eyed hardly able to do anything and Lauren German trying to act but only succeeding in looking wooden and hardly believable when it comes to more "emotional" scenes. And Paula Patton is so pretty! Not the conventional stick thin. I was rooting for her the whole time and she could definitely hold her own. I like how even though they had that cliche of a woman agent having to seduce the old rich guy, she was actually feeling really insecure about herself. Yeah. I hope she gets her own spin off or is included in more MI movies. I liked her backstory as well with that Agent Hannway, it was a smart move on the writers part because it automatically made her a likable character.

     =Jeremy Renner as William Brandt: Can I just say Jeremy Renner is freaking awesome? I've been a fan of his since The Unusuals and then The Hurt Locker and he can really do not wrong. I saw Thor so I could see the cameo of Hawkeye....is that taking my fan-ing to an extreme level? Oh well. He's smart, funny, and is seriously great at the fighting parts. He is also more comedic than I originally thought he was going to be. He's obviously the "straight" man to everyone's slightly more funny selves but then as the movie goes on, he gets more and more hilarious. When he does the lunges before he jumps into the tunnel. ("Next time, I get to seduce the rich guy.") Hilarious. And he was actually sort of sweet in this film...he kinda plays douche-y characters a lot of times. In The Town, in The Unusuals, S.W.A.T., in Dahmer (...well he played a serial killer in that one...so...haha) even in The Hurt Locker, so it was nice to see him actually being a nice, caring person...for once. I liked his backstory, and I liked that I felt sort of sorry for him in the middle of the movie and then happy for him by the end. And I liked his banter with Benji ("I think we've glossed over a big part of the plan. I-I jump and then..." "And I catch you..." "It's a 25 foot drop! They're MAGNETS." "What part of I catch you don't you understand?"). I think his character is gonna stick around for the next one? I heard his character is supposed to take over when Tom Cruise decides to step down. Also, next year is gonna be the year of Jeremy Renner. Like how 2011 was the year of Ryan Gosling (who I don't really like). He's gonna be in The Avengers and then in The Bourne Legacy, both action movies so I'm excited to see him beat some people up. I think he does action movies really well. (His hands kinda bother me because they remind me of this guy's hands that I know...and I don't really like the guy...so I automatically associate those types of hands with that guy I don't like...it's a weird thing...I know.)

   =Tom Cruise as Ethan Hunt: Alright, so I don't like Tom Cruise but luckily he wasn't really focused on that much in this movie. In the third one it was all about Tom Cruise and...the third one was boringggg...In this one, he didn't speak too much so that was good...and a lot of his acting was all about subtle acting in his face which I thought was smart. When he talks too much I get annoyed. It was good acting when he says through gritted teeth, "I am. taking. that. briefcase." And his little snarky comments to everyone. He was an interesting and likable character but I'm still not a fan of Tom Cruise. At least he didn't smile in this one, I liked that he was a lot more broody. His smile reminds me of The Joker from Batman (not exactly a comforting expression on his face, more...uncomfortable...).

+The Director: Brad Bird. Oh Brad Bird. I love you. I loved The Incredibles and I loved Ratatouille and I loved The Iron Giant. You can do almost no wrong in my book. I love his comedic timing. That's the one thing I really really admired about this movie. It was action-packed but it was still funny. The moment where Ethan is trying to get back into the room but his line is too short and Brandt goes, "The rope isn't long enough!" and Ethan replies, "NO SHIT!" Or when he tries to catapult himself back into the room and you think he's gonna make it because it's a movie and that's how all the heroes are (they're perfect), he instead stops his fall with his face, runs into the top of the window and almost falls to his death. There are plenty of moments where you're like "OH (ouch ouch ouch that's gotta hurt)." Bird also does suspense really well and fight scenes. There was one scene which was almost exactly like the The Incredibles though...and I wish I could remember what it was but I can't...

+The fight scenes and action: Pretty great. Stuff I had never seen before. The technology was good. That car was kinda freaking amazing. And that blow up crash bag that you can throw and then it blows up before you fall and smash every bone in your body was pretty cool. I wonder if that can actually work...I mean isn't it like trying to land on an air mattress? Does it really cushion your fall? But I digress. The screen with the camera thing was also pretty cool. And the fighting between Brandt and Cruise and the fighting between Brandt, Cruise and those bodyguards...and just fighting in general. Although, I would wonder about when Brandt is fighting Winstrom, how come he couldn't get his way out of that one? I mean we had just seen him break a guy's leg with his arms...he can't get out of Winstrom's hold? Maybe it was to show that Benji can shoot a gun... Hunt's fight with the bad guy was pretty great. Just because it was a bunch of older guys duke-ing it out and basically injuring themselves a whole bunch. That whole time I was just wincing because they...are just so...not young. And when he goes into the car and drives it off the elevator...I was wincing with him. But how come the old bad guy can match Tom Cruise in a fight? That is sort of...reaching a bit. I mean seriously? He breaks Cruise's leg with a kick...unless it's a mighty Kung Fu kick...I don't see that happening. Who taught him to fight anyway? A martial arts master? Are they frequent in Germany or Belgium or wherever he came from? On top of being just naturally crazy and planning nuclear world war, does he go to the dojo and bang out some karate? That was asking the audience a bit too much in the suspending disbelief department.

+The comedy: The comedy was so great. I loved the countdown that Brandt does and that rich Indian guy who is only on for like five minutes and yet almost steals the show. He makes Agent Carter find him in his party and then he does that little dance to get out of his shoes and then she wrestles him into a hold. It's hilarious. Or when Brandt has to convince himself to jump into that wind tunnel. Or the Russians. Bogdan and his "SERGEI!"

+The music: was actually very good. I liked the classic MI theme coming in at pivotal moments and the placement of those recognizable notes was extremely smart. And the score around the theme was very good at building suspense. I only noticed it the second time I saw it but I realized it was a pretty good score.


The eh:

+The editing: The beginning was kind of slow. It could have been cut a little better so that it would flow a little better. Just a little shave here and there, time-wise and it would have been a better cut, tighter movie. It isn't really until after the Secretary tells Hunt about the IMF being disavowed does it start to flow better and become more suspenseful. I think he focused a little too much on the comedy in the beginning part. I liked the comedy, don't get me wrong, but I think it just slowed down the pace of the movie too much. The ending fighting scenes could have been better cut as well, I think. The fight scenes in the middle where it's quick and brutal had more of an impact for me than the ones that drag on and on. I mean, again, I can't really believe that that crazy Professor "Cobalt" could really match Ethan Hunt in fighting techniques and yet Hunt and Brandt can dispatch the assassin's bodyguards in one fell swoop, can you? Maybe if they had made it more into a gun fight it would be a little more believable. Or if he had a bad wound or something. And again with Brandt vs. Winstrom.

+The plot (kinda): WELL, I can give this a little more slack. I liked how they kept getting foiled until the last minute. It made for a really high suspense situation. I mean obviously it couldn't happen because it's a Mission Impossible movie and they never fail but the whole time you were thinking but what if the director throws us for a loop and they do fail? It's like he was playing chicken with the audience. But I was interested in the plot holes. Like when Hunt's impersonating the Russian general and they're bringing all that equipment into the suitcases and it goes through the metal detector and X-ray machine. I mean wouldn't the security of the Kremlin ask questions? Or is it because he's supposedly a high-ranking general that they don't give the bloody screen, camera and ipad a second look? Or how did Cobalt know they were gonna be in the Kremlin at that time? How did the Russians know that Hunt was in Dubai? And why Dubai? Didn't anyone see a little figure hanging off the hotel and ask questions? I mean he did crash through the window with that wooden spool thing, wouldn't they have looked up if they felt glass raining on them? And is the window really that weak that a wooden spool could break it? If that's the case, I am never going to that hotel. ever. And why did the technology keep failing? It's like Spy Kids and how the Machete brand never works. How realistic is this plot anyway? Why would some dude just be walking about with Russian nuclear launch codes? Even though I'm pointing them out and making fun of them, I still like this movie. It's just interesting to look at the holes.

+Sort of cheesy dialogue: When Ethan is making that speech about needing them all..."We've all got to do this together," all I could think about was High School Musical, "We're all in this together" which made me laugh. No one can say that anymore without me thinking that. The writers should have picked a better line. The dialogue wasn't the best all the time...but then again who's paying attention to the dialogue with all the fighting and explosions going on?

+Lea Seydoux: She's extremely beautiful but I didn't really believe she could be an assassin that would be able to beat up people. Maybe with a gun she would reign supreme but hand-to-hand fighting? Not so much. She did play it well though. I didn't like her at all which is how it should be. And when she was kicked out the window...I was actually kind of happy. Again, which is how the audience should react.

Blast from the Past: Star Trek Review

If you don't want to know what happens in the Star Trek Movie stop reading NOW. Because this thing is gonna be filled with Spoilers. Actually...I might not have that much to say other than it's AWESOME and everyone should watch it.

Chris Pine as Kirk is FANTASTIC...he has the cockiness and the bravado and the gut instinct that is totally Kirk. He's less womanizing than Shatner's Kirk I think mostly because there weren't really any women in the movie other than Uhura. He also brings a sort of vulnerability, an intelligence, a sense of nobility and a sweetness that Shatner didn't really have. I think it's his sweetness that is really different. He has this young sense of being cocky but not annoyingly so. He's not annoying...which is odd. Not one time in the film did I think he was annoying as a womanizing jerk or as a cocky cadet or anything. I was on his side for the whole time, rooting him on, feeling his pain. He was very likable, that's the word. And boy does he feel pain in this film. He's always beaten up, the only reason he's still alive is because he can take it more than everyone else can. I mean he gets beaten up...like 5 times in one day, I should count next time.

Zachary Quinto as Spock was...OMFG NINJATASTIC....that's not even a word, well we'll make it word now. Seriously...seriously...he held his OWN in scenes with Leonard Nemoy playing Spock. And like the sexiness factor!! It should be impossible to make a Vulcan sexy but he managed it! I mean even with the bowl haircut and the pointy ears...he is DAMN sexy. And I love his fight for control...and being the good guy this time. We only ever see Zachary Quinto as the bad guy in Heroes and now he gets to play the good one. And when he was standing up to that Vulcan Council!! Omgggg he was just so perfectly subtly insulting...and when he said "Live long and prosper," giving just the hint of inflection on the words, it made me have shivers. And when he fights for control...it was heartbreaking. Gah...

Simon Pegg as Scotty only came in the second half of the movie but he was still GREAT! He had greattt linessssssss omgggg and he was so perfectly enthusiastic about everything. And I liked his Scottish accent even though it wasn't perfect, it wasn't like...a BAD Scottish accent.

John Cho as Sulu finally got to be MANLY...GOOO FOR MANLY ASIAN GUYS FINALLY, he pulled out this collapsable sword which sounds kinda hokey and it was kinda cuz it was like he just pulled it out of nowhere but he could FIGHT with it like NOBODY'S BUSINESS. And how cute he was when he couldn't get the Starship to move. Haha...He also got to be more serious...instead of the more college humor comedies he was making.

Karl Urban as Bones...WAS....OMG SO DIFFERENT BUT STILL GOOD. I mean he played Eomer in Lord of the Rings and then he played a lot of like darker action roles but this time he got to be FUNNY and he was funny!!! I mean the sequence where he gets Kirk on the ship by injecting him with this like almost toxic vaccine is one of the FUNNIEST SEQUENCES IN THE WHOLE MOVIE...HAHAHAHAHA. Omggg..I laughed so hard. And I like how he has this sort of dead panned humor.

Anton Yelchin as Chekov is sooooo cute!! His little Russian Accent and not being able to say V...he always says it as a W. So Vulcan is Wulcan and invisible is inwisible. Awww he's so cute. And everytime he said something I burst out laughing because he was SOO cute!! I don't know why they put him on Com though...hardly anyone can understand him. Haha.

Uhura kicks ASS. Omg she's so STRONG...and she can totally take care of herself. When she finds out she's not on USS Enterprise and tells Spock with this attitude and TELLS him that she's on the Enterprise he's like...Ooohhh well lookie here...must have gotten it wrong somehow...heh...yes, you're on the Enterprise and she's like "I thought so, bitch." haha...well okay not so much like that...but LIKE THAT....and yeah.

Things that surprised me or I didn't like: The skirts on the uniforms of the girl cadets in Star Fleet...like...SHORT MUCH?? Seriously?? Even in the military today the skirts are WAYY longer...they're like MINISKIRTS on the girls...and anyone who's a girl would know, we can't run in miniskirts!! How in the HECK are we supposed to do jobs in miniskirts?? At least make it longer...or let us freaking wear pants!...Class A's for women in the military have skirts wayy longer, I mean it's not about looking at the legs of the female it's about uniformity...geez Louise. Another thing that threw me for a loop was Spock and Uhura's relationship...it kinda all of a sudden was there. And I didn't see it coming...and I thought it was awkward at first but it kinda grew on me. I mean when she comforts him in the Elevator...that was a good sequence but...I don't know...all of a sudden it was there but before it wasn't...sooo it was weird. Maybe we'll see it evolve more. I kinda thought Uhura was gonna be with Kirk though. I felt like Spock and Uhura didn't really match that much...at all, personality wise...maybe that's why I thought it was weird. Uhura's feisty, I thought she would be with Kirk. Spock is kinda androgynous that way...haha...it's hard to imagine him with anyone even though he's sexy in this movie. Another HUGE plot point was the longggg thin line that holds the drill up...seriously...the Romulans couldn't think of a better way to secure it?? I mean didn't they think someone could just cut the line with some lasers and then bye bye drill?? I mean that's what Spock did and that was it!! It was kinda anti-climactic. I mean they should have known that someone would do that...and it was only ONE line. I mean they could have secured it with more or something.

Moments that made me laugh: Nearly the whole movie but to narrow it down, Scotty saying "I'm giving it all she's got Captain," and "She canna take anymore!" [I may have made that last line up...because I thought it was in the movie and it might not be...haha] And when Bones goes, "I'm a doctor, not a physicist." And any line by Chekov...that boy is so cute, "I CAN DO IT, I CAN DO IT..." haha Any line by Scotty actually. I love Simon Pegg as Scotty.

I loved the whole first sequence, it was so good.

AND THERE IS GONNA BE A SEQUEL...I KNEW IT. Because of the way they made this movie, they don't have to follow canon at all because it's an alternate universe, so of COURSE there's gonna be a sequel because now the writers can do whatever they want, and make up whatever they want and no one can be like OH NO THAT'S NOT CANON because it doesn't have to be now.

JJ ABRAMS...I want to take off my hat to you. You have made a Star Trek that Trekkies can be proud of. Seriously, this is what the Star Trek franchise has culminated in. I mean I saw the potential it had to be REALLY good, to be Star Wars level good, to surpass Star Wars, in effects, acting, set design, script and story, and overall feel but everyone had kept making Star Trek that hokey, corny, never-want-to-be-seen-with second cousin of the more polished Star Wars. The premise was there, it had everything but it just needed that push to be EPIC. Now Trekkies everywhere can take pride in the fact that their beloved story/premise/world has been taken care of and one upped Star Wars. Seriously...the sleek lines, the epic feel all are attributed to you JJ Abrams. It is truly an epic piece of SciFi. Thank you, man, thank you.

I love how old SciFi shows are getting an upgrade to something sleeker, or more grittier, or more realistic. I LOVE THAT...Battlestar Galactica, now Star Trek, and old shows as well. Batman, Transformers, Bond. GAH! Makes me soo happy.

Blast from the Past: Harry Potter 6 Review

Saw Harry Potter 6.

It was okay. I mean better than some other of the Harry Potter films and stuck pretty close to the book but it wasn't THAT great. It was like every other Harry Potter, mediocre. Just the story making it something more than just ordinary.

On the good side:

Tom Felton as Draco Malfoy was pretty good. I mean he brought a sort of humanity to the character I guess. Although there were some shots where he was very good looking...and I liked his suit....but other shots where he wasn't good looking at all.

Oliver and James Phelps as the Weasley Twins were GREAT! I know have a thing for the Weasley Twins. I mean seriously. It's kinda like that for every Harry Potter fan who likes boys. First they like Harry and then move on to Secondary characters and then maybe back to Harry and then back to a secondary character again. I liked their shop. It was like a dream....for all mischief makers.

Alan Rickman as Snape was wonderful as usual. I like his sort of low-key approach to Snape. Not the sort of seething, frothing at the mouth madman that other people seem to think of him as.

Dumblerdore's death was done with great clarity and emotion. When Snape all of a sudden said Avada Kedavra I nearly cried right then and there. The look in his eyes was perfect. I almost did cry when Dumbledore died. I wish they would have put in Dumbledore's funeral though with the white tomb.

The fumbles at love were really funny and rightly so. But I feel as if they didn't really expand on it. Like Ginny and Harry. He was supposed to kiss her after a Quidditch match in front of everyone and he didn't. I feel as if they cheated us out of a moment. Blegh.

Cormac McClaggen was perfect. Whoever he was.

Hermione's hair in the potions scene...it should be that fluffy all the time!

LUNA'S LION HEADDRESS THING IS GENIUS.

Kinda fishy about Snape and Draco....especially when he pushes him against the wall. I foresee many slash fics popping up in the future.

And Harry being kinda....loopy after drinking the Felix Felicis....

Bad things:

There was one moment when Harry looked like Michael Jackson. NO JOKE. I mean his face was really really pale and he looked like he had eyeliner on and his lips were really red.

Bonnie Wright as Ginny was eh...it was like Ginny had no personality. Everything was said as a monotone. And the director seemed to put her in at the most randomest of times.

They didn't really expand on the Half Blood Prince even though that's what the movie is named. They could have just named it Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Quest for all I cared and that would have been a more truthful title.

They didn't put much of the meat of the book in it....other than Dumbledore's Quest.

Harry mouthbreathed wayyy too much. I don't know...do I even like Daniel Radcliffe anymore?? The world might never know.

Bellatrix's kiss on Draco's neck...bleghhh....incest.

All in all it was an okay movie. I still love Harry Potter and I love the fact that the stories were put in visual form but the books are still better.

As usual.