At The Movies

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN - This is the sequel to the Transformers movie that came out a few years ago, and it has to be the loudest movie I've ever watched. Even sitting on the couch in my living room I kept thinking the movie was too loud. In fact I was joking with Jenny the next day that I was probably waking up the whole house just watching this movie. The day after I watched it I looked up an old review and read the following line: "If you want to know what this movie is like...give your 6 year old a bunch of pots and pans and let him bang them together for 2 hours."
The plot here is so ridiculous I swear it was written by a 6th grader, so I won't even attempt at explaining it here. And sure the special effects are impressive, but overall these movies are souless - lots of eye candy but no substance. But what bugs me most about these movies is when the robots are fighting each other. You never can tell where one ends and the other begins. When they battle each other it's just a jumbled mess of gears, wires, and metal and it just gives me a headache. I grew up on the original Transformers cartoon, and I'm sure someday I'll watch these movies with Ben when he's much older. But until then I'll stay away from the pots and pans.

THE WIRE: SEASON 5 - Jenny and I finally finished watching this series with the conclusion of Season 5. Overall, this last season wasn't as good as some of the others (Season 3 was my favorite.) But a less-than-stellar season for this series is still first class compared to most of what's out there. I would have to say though that this show had one of the best "series finale" I've ever seen. You really felt satisfied when the whole thing was over for the last time. Anyway...another great season for a great show. Once again, I highly recommend this series.

CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM: SEASON 3 - This is a series that Jenny and I enjoy very much...but we're not passionate about it. We certainly enjoy watching it, but we can also walk away and take a break from it. The show pretty much follows the same formula over and over again. Larry gets into somekind of mess or misunderstanding, and crazy antics ensue. But if you're a fan of the classic "Seinfeld" series then you'll enjoy the routine formula. This season is just as good as the first two, and we'll definitely watch more in the future.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL - I should preface this review by pointing out I really don't like THE POLAR EXPRESS and BEOWULF, both directed by Robert Zemeckis...who also directed this movie. And like those two other movies...with A CHRISTMAS CAROL, Zemeckis once again uses "motion-capture" technology to create an animated movie using real actors. With POLAR EXPRESS and BEOWULF the finished product just looked weird. The imagery was stunning and impressive, but the characters all looked odd and even strangely cross-eyed at times. Also...Zemeckis took those classic stories and cluttered them up with cheap plot developments, chases, and goofy antics. So I had very low expectations going into CHRISTMAS CAROL. But to be honest...I was very impressed. The story here is pretty authentic to the original story, which most of you know is pretty dark at times. And the imagery is both impressive and almost beautiful at times. We watched this in 3D and it was also the first 3D movie I've seen that actually looked crisp and clear. Sure there were some Zemecis-inspired plot devices here that are just plain ridiculous, but overall we were very surprised at how much we liked this movie. Ben keeps saying he wants to see this movie because the commercials have all convinced him it's a "fun and zany" movie. We keep telling him it's not like that at all, and that it's kind of scary. He's definitely not going to see it until he's older (and until he's read the book.)

AWAY WE GO - This is a "dramedy" directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty) and starring Maya Rudolph from "Saturday Night Live" and John Krasinski from "The Office." It's a rather simple story of a couple who wants to find the perfect place to live and raise their baby who their expecting in a few months. This is technically a romantic comedy, but there's enough edginess and quirkiness here to make it stand out from the norm. We really enjoyed it. A great rental.

ASTRO BOY - Ben kept bugging me about seeing this movie because of the toys he was getting at McDonald's, and a lot of his friends had seen it and were telling him about it. At first I kept telling him no, but the more he persisted (and the more his friends were telling him about it)...well...we finally saw it. I would say if Ben was about 3 years older this would probably be his all-time favorite movie. But sitting there I could tell he was kind of overwhelmed with the story and fast-paced animation. He liked it overall, but I don't think he'll be rushing back to see it on DVD anytime soon.