Last night was Homeward Bound. Michael J Fox ftw, plus absolutely adorable golden retriever.

Tonight was Last Action Hero. I'd never noticed Sir Ian McKellen playing Death before. Great fun, the Governor and Charles Dance seemed to be having a whale of a time and there was an uncredited Danny DeVito, too.

DW

On Saturday I saw Surrogates. Great sci-fi action and the "young" Bruce Willis robot, as well as all the other robots, looked AMAZING! The plot was really good too. I love plots that make you think "what a sec, what's going on?" only to pay off at the end when it all makes sence. With regard to the ending, while intense in some regards, it also managed to be a tad mundane. It's hard to explain but if you see it you'll know what I mean. Another downside is that some of Bruce's delivery is a little hammy in parts - enough to notice, but luckily not so much that it ruins the movie.
The fun part of the movie is the whole idea that they present that you never know who's behind the robot, and getting to see the real human face is really enjoyable. In fact, I think its that idea and theme which makes it an excellent sci-fi. All the best science fiction is a metaphor for the present, only set in the future or on another world. In other words, the surrogate robots in this movie is an excellent metaphor for people who get addicted to technology where you have no idea whos on the otherside of the monitor - whether it be on forums like this, or on MMORPGs like World of Warcraft or Second Life, where all you get is an random name and a avitar of your design and chosing. It's all really interesting stuff, and I highly recommend it.

This has pretty much been a film review anyway, so I might as well end in a film review style:

Overview: Excellent sci-fi action, nice perfomances and a engaging and fulfulling plot with more twists than a Ray Charles ditty. - 4 Stars

4 Wet Latina's on the Spice Channel best movie ever. But I switched over to Rocky IV, 80's, Reganite propaganda!

Having dreamt last night that I was being chased by orcs, I decided my sub-conscious must be telling me it was time to watch Lord of the Rings. So today was Fellowship of the Ring (extended edition).

If the Hobbit movie doesn't at least have Ian Holm narrating, if nothing else, I shall weep.

DW

I saw "Invasion of the Bodysnatchers" a couple days ago. Jeez, the movie seems so much more trippy, now that I understand what was going on. Though, Honestly, the aliens didn't seem all to bright (though I guess this can be attributed to the fact that they were freaking alien seed pods) Ah well, still one of the better movies I've ever seen.

i watched zombieland last night, my god was it hilarious. there were even a few parts that made me jump haha (actually the girlfriend jumped and i thought there was legitimitely something wrong lol)

Zombieland: what happens when the protagonist in a zombie flick becomes genre savvy in a universe run by the Rule of Cool and Rule of Funny.

In short: the Gurren Lagann of zombie movies. Watch it. NOW.

As Ultra said: Watch Zombieland.

That is all you need to know.

Return of the King - an excellent way to spend a Saturday night on the sofa Let's hear it for a certain Lancaster University alumnus!

DW

Saw Toy Story 1 & 2 today... The 3D looked really good, as expected. The only surprise I had today was seeing Joss Whedon's name appear in #1's opening credits... I nearly did a spit-take Not only does he have Firefly/Serenity and Dr Horrible to his credit, he also co wrote Toy Story

I just got back from seeing Astro Boy about a few hours ago. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and honestly thought it did justice to the original Japanese version of the Astro Boy franchise, despite being different to the original Astro Boy in various ways. First of all, in this movie, Dr. Tenma is more directly responsible for the tragic death of his son Toby. Furthermore, Astro Boy doesn't know he's a robot replica of Tenma's son from the get-go like in the original Japanese version. Also, Astro Boy has Toby's memories. Although Astro Boy is primarily a fun and light-hearted movie, it raises profound questions about the nature of humanity and what exactly it is that supposedly makes us 'real' as human beings. This movie also has some subtle political commentary in it (e.g. the 'blue core' and the 'red core') and, most importantly, it contains messages of tolerance and acceptance without being preachy about it. Oh, and Zog is badass. Overall, Astro Boy is an enjoyable movie which respects the original Japanese version of Astro Boy and contains an excellent combination of action, humour and even philosophy. Astro Boy is a genuinely awesome movie!

Went to see "Up", now that it's finally opened in the UK. An interesting film and one I mostly enjoyed (especially Dug - and I have definitely had mornings like that one!), but it's not going to join my DVD collection. I think the last Disney movie I bought on DVD was either Lilo & Stitch, Atlantis or Monsters Inc (whichever came later). I spent most of the movie trying to remember where I'd heard Carl's voice before - turns out it was in Freakazoid, as Ed Asner plays Cosgrove.

DW

I've been watching a lot of the DC animated movies... All in all, they are actually pretty decent.

I saw Superman Doomsday first. Hearing Jayne from Firefly voice Sups was odd, but it worked well enough. I'm not a huge superman fan, but the story was interesting enough to get me to watch the whole thing.

Next, I saw Superman Batman: Public Enemies. I thought it was pretty awesome they managed to get the original voices of Bats and Sups back. Definitely awesome to hear their voices once again. The story was once again pretty interesting, although the hodgepodge of DC heroes and villains threw me off a little. Aside from the Batman and Superman animated shows, I'm not too knowledgeable on the DC Universe, so I was a little confused with Power Girl.

Lastly, I watched the Wonder Woman film. There was only one reason why I watched it... I was checking out the trailers on Public Enemies, and there was a short feature about the making of Wonder Woman...... When I saw Nathan Fillion was providing one of the voices, I had to watch it. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the movie anywhere near as much as I did if it weren't for him.

Ha...Jayne as a VA. Awesome! Anywho...

I recently saw 12 Wednesday night. It's a Russian film about 12 jurors on a murder case. Don't won't to spoil anything...but man...was it awesome. Quite lengthy[or so it seemed to me...maybe because there was so much reading lol] and well worth every single second of it.

I watched "Ghost Rider". Nice effects, weird plot. But I can forgive a lot from the guy who exec produced The Dresden Files.

On a tangential note, catching up with Flashforward. Zoe from Firefly is apparently in this one. I suspect Wash isn't going to turn up, alas.

DW

I watched "Ghost Rider". Nice effects, weird plot. But I can forgive a lot from the guy who exec produced The Dresden Files.

On a tangential note, catching up with Flashforward. Zoe from Firefly is apparently in this one. I suspect Wash isn't going to turn up, alas.

DW

Oh wow she is? Hmmm...I need to watch this show then. Support the Firefly cast and all. =P

Oh wow she is? Hmmm...I need to watch this show then. Support the Firefly cast and all. =P

I don't know whether it was a one-shot appearance or she'll turn up later.

DW

Oh wow she is? Hmmm...I need to watch this show then. Support the Firefly cast and all. =P

I don't know whether it was a one-shot appearance or she'll turn up later.

DW

Ahh ok, I see. I know for sure i'm watching V in two weeks...Morena Baccarin.

I just got back from seeing Michael Jackson's This Is It several hours ago. I genuinely enjoyed this documentary movie, especially on the cinema screen that I saw it on. I've ALWAYS been a HUGE Michael Jackson fan, I STILL am a HUGE Michael Jackson fan and I'll continue to ALWAYS be a HUGE Michael Jackson fan! At first, I had my doubts about whether I should see this movie or not, since I thought that this movie was most likely exploiting Michael Jackson's death for cash. However, once I finished watching this movie, I felt that Kenny Ortega at least intended for this movie to be a loving tribute towards Michael Jackson which has been dedicated to ALL of Michael Jackson's MANY fans (including myself). This movie is supposed to be out in cinemas only for a couple of weeks, but I'm sure that particular length of time can (and most likely will) be extended if there's enough demand. I'm almost COMPLETELY certain that demand WILL be there. ALL of my favourite Michael Jackson songs were performed in this movie, including Black Or White (my MOST favourite Michael Jackson song), Smooth Criminal, Thriller, Jam, Man In The Mirror, They Don't Care About Us, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', Earth Song, Heal The World etc. Also, the song This Is It is an awesome song and was actually first recorded about 26 years ago. Furthermore, the black and white scenes during Smooth Criminal, the 3D military scenes during They Don't Care About Us and the zombie scenes during Thriller were F*****G AWESOME! I have no doubt whatsoever that the This Is It concerts would've been the GREATEST comeback concerts OF ALL TIME and the most poignant thing about all of this is that those comeback concerts can NEVER happen. EVER. But at least there's this movie which shows us rehearsals for these concerts. Michael Jackson was truly a perfectionist and the passion he ALWAYS radiated when singing and dancing is something rarely seen among musicians today. However, throughout most of this movie, Michael Jackson is clearly not giving everything he's got to give in his performances (by his own admission) because he's trying to conserve his energy for the actual concerts themselves. I think that he'd probably feel uncomfortable having his fans view him not performing to the best of his ability, as he never intended for this footage to be released to the general public. Yet this footage shows a beautifully human side to an already beautiful human being - Michael Jackson. I also feel that Michael Jackson's fans being able to enjoy this rehearsal footage of the This Is It concert series which tragically can never happen means that Michael Jackson ultimately wouldn't mind this footage being shown to his fans - because it has made many (if not most) of Michael Jackson's fans very happy (including myself, of course). I grew up with Michael Jackson's music since I was a little boy in the early 90s and I've been a proud Michael Jackson fan since I first heard about him and his music back then. So many of his other fans grew up with his music back when they were children too. Michael Jackson was/is truly an avatar of childhood. He is legendary. Michael Jackson was (and I have no doubt STILL IS and ALWAYS WILL BE) a DEEPLY spiritual man and I COMPLETELY agree with his message that we are all ONE. This is something I have ALWAYS intuitively felt to be true and ALWAYS will intuitively feel to be true. I think this movie is worth watching for Michael Jackson fans. I LOVE MICHAEL JACKSON WITH ALL OF MY BODY, ALL OF MY HEART, ALL OF MY WILL, ALL OF MY MIND AND ALL OF MY SOUL FOREVER!!!!!

I saw Astro Boy yesterday, it was very good despite Nicholas Cage and his robot acting.

Dark Water last night in a token celebration of Hallowe'en. Would have been El Orfanato, had I been able to figure out what I did with the DVD.

Is it me, or does no one live in that apartment building except Yoshimi, Ikuko and the caretaker?

DW

I just finished watching 2012 several hours ago. It was an AWESOME movie. Actually, in my opinion I'd even say that it's the greatest disaster movie OF ALL TIME (and I've watched plenty of disaster movies, particularly ones from Roland Emmerich). This movie delivered EXACTLY what it promised it would deliver - LOTS of action and INCREDIBLE special effects. If you're looking for intellectual stimulation and rousing dialogue, you won't necessarily find it here. However, that's not automatically a bad thing - 2012 is pure escapism. It's my favourite movie I've seen so far this year and certainly my most favourite Roland Emmerich movie. The scenes of a tsunami smashing into the Himalayan mountains were breathtaking. The movie 2012 actually starts out in 2009 but quickly skips forward in time to 2012, which initially appears to be much the same as 2009 until Earth obviously gets screwed up. Anyway, the whole '2012' phenomenon has become a very popular internet meme within the last few years and though there are many conspiracy theories and predictions about what will transpire during that fateful year (and what will transpire on December 21 2012, in particular), ultimately I believe that most likely NO-ONE knows what will EXACTLY happen in 2012/on December 21 2012 - perhaps not even the ancient Mayans themselves. There could be a global cataclysm, there could be some kind of a spiritual awakening triggering complete peace on Earth or it could just be another regular day. We will wait and see. Yes, the ancient Mayan calendar appears to end abruptly on December 21 2012 (some people actually say December 23 2012, but this is a relatively minor discrepancy). But according to the ancient Mayans themselves, this abrupt end to their calendar is not necessarily to signify the end of our world but instead to signify the end of our current age. The Mayan conception of time/history is cyclical, just like the conceptions of time/history embraced by many other ancient cultures separated from each other by wide gaps of both space and time. December 21/23 2012 coincides with the end of our current age, the age of the 'fourth sun'. Once this age has ended, the next age will begin - the age of the 'fifth sun'. Anyway, if our world DOES get f****d over on December 21/23 2012, I'll yell out "ROLAND EMMERICH WAS RIGHT!!!!!! HE WAS RIGHT, DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!"
Check out 2012, it's an enjoyable movie!

I was pondering seeing that, think I will in that case.

I watched "Let the Right One In" earlier this week. It was... interesting. I liked the storyline, but having seen it, I don't think it's one I would watch again and again.

It also showed me (again) what a geek I am. At one point, a teacher is reading to the class. The subtitles come up with a translation of the 3 or so lines in the scene and I'm thinking "huh, that sounds like the Hobbit". Turns out that's exactly what it was. I don't know whether the subtitles went back to the book or whether it was a translation into English of the translation from English to Swedish, but I should not have been able to recognise it from 3 random lines

DW

Hitchcock's "Rear Window". I tell you what, the man could craft a movie. Also, Jimmy Stewart is awesome and Grace Kelly is (was?) hot.

Holy crap, did people just stop going to the movies?

I watched the Prestige again last night... Probably one of my favorite movies of all time =D. David FREAKING Bowie as Nikola FREAKING Tesla =D. This is either the 5th or 6th time I've seen the film, and I'm still noticing new things.

Also went to see Avatar tonight at the IMAX in 3D... Glad I didn't pay for it. It was beautiful... really pretty picture, but that was it. An extremely predictable plot, horrible acting/ writing made this movie unbearable for me. Adding the fact that 3 hours was waaaaaay too long definitely didn't help. The other problem is the movie blatantly rips off Fern Gully... All in all a huge waste of my time, 3 hrs that I will never be able to reclaim =(

Just finished watching "The Muppet Christmas Carol" - although watching is a strong word, actually it was on in the background while me & my friends chatted about my recent house move and caught up on life, the universe & everything.

Given that 2 out of 3 of us could probably mouth the dialogue in time with the film, this wasn't a problem

DW

I was watching the original version of 'Miracle on 34th Street' last night. I've nothing against Sir Richard Attenborough, but the "Mom, God and apple pie" revised ending of the remake means that I very much stick to the original.

As a James Stewart fan, I'll probably be watching 'It's a Wonderful Life' again in due course.

And I give you '5 Reasons Die Hard Is The Best Christmas Movie Ever Made':

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-reasons-die-hard-is-the-best-christmas-movie-ever-made/

Damn Hiro...you thought it was that bad? I'm sorry. I loved Avatar. I didn't see it in IMAX, but I thought it was beautful most def. And while the plot was fairly predictable, didn't really take anything away from the movie for me. To say it was a total waste of 3 hours almost makes me hurt, though. *tear*

I saw Avatar too. I agree that the plot was nothing we haven't seen before and the acting wasn't anything special, but the visuals were incredible. You need to see it in 3D.

Yes indeed...3D is a must. Was I the only one that sometimes forgot Jake even had a "human world"? But oh my gosh...what's so not great about the plot? I fail to understand. o.o

For something that is being touted as a 'masterpiece', it sure takes a lot of its plot points from other movies (Ferngully, Dances With Wolves). IMO it offered nothing new, nothing that those other two movies didn't do. The visuals were nice, but that does not make a movie great...

I watched Terminator Salvation again last night. I definitely think it deserves a better score than the critics gave it. I had only 2 main gripes with the film. First, that the trailer gave away what should have been a big reveal (OMG HE IS A ROBOT!)... and that Christian Bale is not John Connor. He's a great actor, I love all of his other films... but he just didn't fit in this one.

Oh, I also caught Family Guy: Blue Harvest... Excited for Something Something Something Dark Side, along with District 9, on Tuesday

Watched Hotel Rwanda today in my History class, it was pretty gripping to say the least. Really enjoyed it, Don Cheadle gave one hell of a performance in the movie.

I was watching the original version of 'Miracle on 34th Street' last night. I've nothing against Sir Richard Attenborough, but the "Mom, God and apple pie" revised ending of the remake means that I very much stick to the original.

As a James Stewart fan, I'll probably be watching 'It's a Wonderful Life' again in due course.

I caught part of the remake on Channel 4 on Sunday evening. Very briefly. I sure miss my digital signals

I only saw "It's a Wonderful Life" for the first time about 3 or 4 years ago. Suddenly so many Christmas specials made more sense! I love James Stewart's voice, could listen to it for hours. A friend of mine lent me "Harvey" earlier this year - great stuff!

DW

I dunno if I told you guys or not, but in high school I did a play of "It's a Wonderful Life". It wasn't a traditional play; it was a mock radio play. I.E., The set looked like a 40's radio studio, and each of the cast stood in front of fake microphones, playing multiple characters. IIRC, I was the narrator, Potter, the (one in the play) angel instructing Clarence, the cabbie, and the "'Scuse Me!" kid. It was a lot of fun. I think I have some if it on a DVD: I may YouTube it at some point.

I watched Avatar and War Games in the same night, good times

For something that is being touted as a 'masterpiece', it sure takes a lot of its plot points from other movies (Ferngully, Dances With Wolves). IMO it offered nothing new, nothing that those other two movies didn't do. The visuals were nice, but that does not make a movie great...

I watched Terminator Salvation again last night. I definitely think it deserves a better score than the critics gave it. I had only 2 main gripes with the film. First, that the trailer gave away what should have been a big reveal (OMG HE IS A ROBOT!)... and that Christian Bale is not John Connor. He's a great actor, I love all of his other films... but he just didn't fit in this one.

Oh, I also caught Family Guy: Blue Harvest... Excited for Something Something Something Dark Side, along with District 9, on Tuesday

Alright...I see now. Yea...in that regard I agre with you. But let's say it's not being hyped like it's a masterpiece...as just a movie, I felt it was quite great. Anywho...

Saw Princess and the Frog yesterday. It was so good. I wasn't expecting...well anything, kinda went in blind and glad I did. Disney classic. They've still got it. Hope they can do that with the Rapunzel movie they're planning too.

Hmmm, forgot about Princess & the Frog... I need to go see that in the next week

Just finished watching Something Something Something Dark Side... IMO not as good as Blue Harvest, but still entertaining. I'll wait till used prices drop to pick it up, but still pretty entertaining. I wonder if they will do the prequel trilogy after they are done with the original

So I just watched Paranormal Activity. Alone in my room the middle of the night.

Yeah. ^^ I'm not getting any sleep tonigh

Yesterday Afternoon

3:41pm

Sherlock Holmes

**@$#! YEAH!**

If you heard good things about this movie, then they are lying, because that movie was GREAT! Best way to end the (crappy) year is to watch Robert Downey, Jude Law & Rachel McAdams doing what they do best.

Being AWWWWWWWWESOME!

Saw the Clone Wars movie again. Still mediocre at best.

I last watched "Enchanted" and "The Tower of Terror". The latter isn't quite in Pirates' league, but does star a young Kirsten Dunst and a Steve Guttenberg who may have been wondering what happened to his career...

The former was for the first time - love the song & dance in Central Park. I had no idea it was Susan Sarandon underneath all that make up and the Prince kept reminding me of the Dread Pirate Westley. The chipmunk was interesting, given that Jeff Bennett played exactly the same voice for an annoying animal (woodchuck?) called Charlton in Animaniacs. Nice that Jodi Benson (Ariel) was in it, too. All in all, quite an enjoyable hour and a half.

DW

I watched Enchanted, Up, The Rescuers Down Under, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Kara no Kyoukai 7 - Murder Speculation Part 2

A night of movies

<3 @ Rescuers 2

Just saw Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay. Again.

Went to the cinema for Sherlock Holmes yesterday. I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite having been rather concerned by the trailers. I went in the same frame of mind as I went to see Inspector Gadget - forget everything I know about the characters and start from scratch. In that vein, it's a fun film, visually spectacular. I'm not a fan of Jude Law (or Robert Downey Jr for that matter), but I thought they had good characterisations. Nice to see Watson do stuff - much though I love the Basil Rathbone adaptations, Nigel Bruce's Watson was dumbed down compared to the original.

There were also good touches, such as original dialogue on the subject of the possible deductions from a pocket watch and Holmes' patriotic "VR" picked out in bullet holes over the fireplace. I don't recall seeing any cocaine, though!

Lord Blackwood looked uncannily like the archetypical Holmes, mind you - something of the Rathbone / Brett about him. I'm also told by those who remember the Jeremy Brett series better that the opening scene was amazingly like the opening credits to that series.

DW

I saw Flight of the Navigator yesterday. Best movie I've ever seen in a long time.

I saw Flight of the Navigator yesterday. Best movie I've ever seen in a long time.

QFT. I love that film. "I didn't mean straight up! I meant along the ground!" "Oh." Fantastic soundtrack, too. If I didn't have a pile of DVDs that I haven't watched yet, I'd go back to this one One can also watch Sarah Jessica Parker in more innocent days.

DW

Flight of the Navigator? Hmmm...Disney space/sci-fi movie from the 80s, yes? Wasn't there one called just "The Navigator". *shrugs* Anywho...i've seen lots of movies in the past month. Most recent was Sherlock Holmes. Movie was great.

Most recent movie I watched...I think it's The Muppet's Christmas Carole.

Before that I watched Batman Mask of the Phantasm a couple of times, AVP Requiem once, and Turtles Forever.

Beerfest. I've sat through this thing about three times now, and I hate it. Just don't find it funny.