Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen goes into that category of films that I go to see with zero expectations.  I’ve found that it just makes for a (slightly) better experience.  Watchmen was another recent addition to that category.

To set things straight, I disliked the first film.  A lot. Why would I go see the sequel even though I didn’t like the first? Because, I enjoy seeing action films such as this (crappy or not) on the big screen. Even though I can’t stand Michael Bay films, I’ll confess they are usually worth checking out (at least once) on the big screen.

I won’t waste time with fan-boy nitpicking about how this movie and the first were nothing like the show–because that isn’t the point with these films. When you’re taking a 25+ year old children’s cartoon show designed to sell toys and trying to adapt it to a mass audience film, some stuff just ain’t gonna work. Even more so when you take it from a cartoon to live action.

However, I died a little on the inside when Optimus Prime said “My bad” in the first film.

Thankfully, this film actually featured the Transformers for more than what felt like twenty minutes in the first.  My feelings about the first film are brilliantly summed up in this comic.

But, I’m still not a fan of the character design for the Transformers. Not that ILM didn’t do a great job with the animation, I just don’t like the busy/cluttered design of the robots.  I had heard that ILM’s idea was to make it look as if all the parts from the vehicles fit into their robot bodies, but I don’t like it.  I also have a hard time telling who is who–especially with the Decepticons (Megatron and Starscream are nearly identical).

I also don’t like the ‘human focus’ of the films. But, I did like the idea of humans and Autobots teaming up to hunt Decepticons, that was pretty neat (and made for a pseudo G.I. Joe/Transformers cross-over element).

I could have done with WAY less of the human stuff, it just dragged things out.  But some of the new characters were fun (Jetfire), and some where down right horrible (the Twins). I don’t need to go into details about how bad the Twins were, just read this write up on the whole thing on /Film.

One of the saving graces of this film was John Turturro, who is one of my fav actors—which was the case for the first film.  He’s so great. The other saving points were the inclusion of Soundwave and Ravage–two of my favorites from the show and voiced once again by Frank Welker. Lastly, Starscream (another favorite) finally became interesting and had some great back and forth moments with Megatron, which was a fixture of the original show.

This film defines brainless action–which, hey I have nothing against in general (Commando is one of my favorite movies), but I’m just not a fan of Michael Bay’s directing style, or the focus on the very boring human characters.

And the character of the Fallen, while cool in concept (I enjoy Transformer history as much as the next geek) didn’t really come across as that interesting.

So if you enjoy brainless action, and for some reason enjoyed the first Transformers, check this out…but maybe for a matinee.

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post. Feel free to comment here or on the original post

Review for the film Up (no spoilers).

Pixar has done it again.  I am amazed by the consistent quality of animated films that Pixar cranks out. Even Cars, perhaps their weakest film, was considerably better than I thought it was going to be and not unwatchable (they won extra bonus points for having the guys from Car Talk do voice-over work).

Up is the next installment of that fine tradition.  I didn’t think it was possible to top last summer’s WALL-E, but they did. And I loved WALL-E.

Up goes beyond being just a wacky adventure film.  It touches on life, death and what we make of each.  And it shows what happens when one forgets to follow their dreams (the case of Ellie) and when one becomes so obsessed with their dreams, that they lose their mind (the case of film’s villain).

I paid extra to see the film in 3D and honestly, I don’t think is worth it.  Sure, it looked great, but there weren’t that many times where I realized I was watching something in 3D. Coraline still holds the title of best 3D film that I’ve seen thus far.

This is easily Pixar’s most serious–and in some parts, darkest–film to date.  We see characters bleed, which unless I’m forgetting something (maybe Incredibles?), is a first.  The montage that covers Ellie and Carl’s life together towards the beginning of the film is equal parts heartwarming and heartbreaking.  Watching the characters age before your eyes is great.

As serious as Up is, it is also very funny.  The mismatched characters of elderly Carl and the young, energetic Russell make it an endearing buddy film. Add to that mix a few goof ball animal characters (namely, Dug the dog) and you have another classic film from Pixar.

Mirrored from Daniel J. Hogan. If something doesn't look right or show up, view the original blog post.

I saw CORALINE in 3D last night with friends. 

Wow.  It was an amazing feat of stop-motion animation and the story was great too, right on par with ALICE IN WONDERLAND or WIZARD OF OZ.  I haven't read the original Neil Gaiman novella yet, but I plan to at some point.  When it comes to movies based on books, if I have any interest in the film I try seeing it before reading the book.  Reading the book first tends to make the film version more disappointing.

I don't know if this was in the original story or not, but there were a lot of shout outs  to Michigan--Coraline and her family are from Pontiac originally and her dad is always clad in a Michigan State sweatshirt.  Then there is her mom's favorite snow glob, which is of the fountain at the Detroit Zoo. Very cool.

The character design of the film was amazing.  Exaggerated features and expressions all around.  And I loved how the characters moved and how they had their own body language (something you rarely see in computer animation).  The 'sets' were equally breathtaking and I adored all of minute details.

The film did drag a bit here and there, but the plot kept things moving and all of the eye candy kept me interested.  It is very much worth the extra money to see this in 3D, although there were only a few moments where the 3D really got my attention beyond the depth of field stuff (part of me wonders if my having to wear regular glasses under the 3D glasses affects this at all).  I loved the creepy and spooky stuff of the story--it gives it so much more depth.  This film is hardly just a 'kids' movie.

I don't know if I liked more than Heny Selick's previous masterpiece, NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (which he directed, not Tim Burton), but CORALINE is at least on par with NIGHTMARE in my book. The music was great too, but the film is not a musical like NIGHTMARE (although some characters do sing). 

This is certainly a film worth seeing on the big screen--and in 3D (better hurry too, it is only in 3D for a limited time).

Oscar nominations were relased today and I figured I'd weigh in on what I could (I need to catch up on most of the Best Picture nods).  I will say that it annoyed me that I had to go to at least three or so different websites to just get a LIST view of all the nominations instead of some rambling article sprinkled with the nominations here and there.

And of course now I realize I could have jus gone to the official website from the get go. D'UH.

I can't complain too much about who got nominated for Best Picture because, uh I haven't seen any of the nominated films.  How disappointing.  I need to get on that. I will say that I wish WALL-E had been at least nominated for Best Picture, as it winning Best Animated Feature over BOLT and KUNG-FU PANDA hardly seems like any kind of accomplishment.  That's like seeing a race between Hot Rod, R2-D2 and T-Bob from M.A.S.K. I am amused that WALL-E was nominated for best original screenplay considering the first 40+ minutes of the movie have little dialogue (not that dialogue is the only part of a screenplay), but I do agree with the nomination.  The plot is a good one.

Ledger got nominated and there isn't really surprising, this is kind of a case of it talk about something enough it'll come true--nothing against Ledger, he deserves the nod, but I quickly got tired of all the Oscar talk after him dying.

I am very happy to see that Downey, Jr. got nominated for his role in TROPIC THUNDER.  He made that movie.

I would like to see HELLBOY II get the award for best make-up, but I don't think it'll beat out BUTTON.

Seeing DARK KNIGHT pick up a few tech. awards would be fun.  OK, I guess I really can't weigh in too much on anything because I haven't seen most of the nominated films.  It seemed like a good idea, but at least I'm being up front about it instead of saying "WHY DIDN'T DARK KNIGHT GET EVERY AWARD?!  All the other movies suck!" without having seen any of the other films.

Heck, I'm just amazed I remembered T-Bob from M.A.S.K.

My Internet is acting up again.  Anyone who reads this blog regularly (all one of you) wll recall this is nothing new for me.  The problem again is stuff 'timing out' when trying to find a page.  I'll get Page Load Errors when going to sites I use daily, but when I refresh or try again, everything is fine--for a few minutes anyway.

I'm quick to point the blame at Comcast, but in the past the problem hasn't been the the service but rather my Belkin router.  I'll have to mess around with that tonight if I get the chance.  This has made trying to watch movies on my Netflix Player a bit of a chore.  Yesterday it took an average of three times to get anything to play, even at low quality.  This morning while watching the Lupin the 3rd movie, CASTLE OF CAGLIOSTRO (directed by Hayao Miyazaki) the movie hiccuped twice, forcing a reload each time.  I had forced it to the third highest quality, so this took 5 to 10 minutes--normally I woulnd't care, but I just wanted to watch the first 20 minutes or so before going to work.  Because of these reloads, I think I only got through maybe the first ten minutes (it was a great ten minutes though).

Hopefully I can get this sorted out...AGAIN.  I most likely have to reboot my router and modem again.  I tried just unplugging the modem for a few minutes to see if that would work (that fixed the problem last time), but I still had the same issues.

It could be Comcast this time, when visiting the parents over the weekend, they had the exact same issue.

I smited (...smoted?) my router last night and solved my Internet problem.  Reading the Trouble Shooting portion of the manual was a big help...who'd a thunk it?  All I had to do was unplug my modem for 3 minutes (with the router still on and connected) and then plug it back in.  BAM.  Internet, ahoy!  Hello again, Lolrus--I missed you.