The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)

20040118:
The best of the three movies. I have yet to read Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.

[20110110]

---

20110628:
In preparation for this viewing of The Return of the King, I read up on what part Bret McKenzie plays.

On a different note, I didn't remember any of the extended scenes, so I believe this was my first time watching the extended version of the movie.

I definitely enjoyed watching the scenes with Shelob on the big screen. Many other action packed scenes were also good. With that being said, I actually didn't enjoy some of the scenes; maybe I was influenced by some of my friend Josh's opinion of the extended version. His opinion is that the original movies get better with each movie, while the extended movies get worse.

The remainder of this day's entry (20110628) is a mild rant of the excessive clapping that took place during the movie.

During this viewing we sat right behind a row of people who clapped during many of the scenes throughout the movie. This was more annoying than the group of viewers who clapped during the entire credits of the second movie, which was only somewhat disappointing because I enjoy listening to the music. Returning to this viewing, the group in front of us literally clapped for every scene that was clap-worthy - mildly annoying. They also clapped at some scenes which weren't clap-worthy - extremely annoying. In fact, I could hear one particular person from their group, perhaps the leader of the clappers, give these single weak claps to try and get his group clapping; what a jerk. In fact, I got so riled up, I was preparing to throw popcorn at him or shout out "That scene isn't even worth clapping for!" I resisted.

During the credits, only the leader clapped. The woman to my right, who occasionally joined in on some of the claps during the movie, had a change of heart and told the leader to stop clapping. He tried to defend himself and retorted that was his way of showing he enjoyed the movie. She was quick to tell him she doubted his clapping had such intentions.

I don't mind if a scene is worth clapping for, but the clapping during this viewing was excessive and I was annoyed by it. I would be more inclined to openly voice my opinion in the future. A friend of mine mentioned such moments are more likely to occur during a reshowing.

On an unrelated note, I had a great soda combination (Coca-Cola Freestyle): about 90% Coca-Cola Lime and 10% Peach Fanta. It was excellent.

[20110711][20170530 Edit][20190204 Edit]

---

Released 20031217.
Watched 20040118 Theater. Metro Pointe [LOTR 3] 11:45am $7.00
Watched many other times on DVD.
Watched 20110628 Theater. Irvine 21 [LOTR: RETURN] 7:00PM $12.50 (Extended)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) Peter Jackson. 201 min. [botnotsn (1955) by J. R. R. Tolkien]

Relevant Links:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (IMDb.com)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Wikipedia.org)

---

This is one of my favorite HISHE (How It Should Have Ended) videos.

"Could you imagined what'd it be like if we walked all the way?" Hahahahaha.

[20111021]

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)

20110626:
I'm so glad I watched this movie! It was funny. I loved the action. There was a lot more emotion floating around in this film. I didn't expect that to happen, but I certainly welcomed it. In this sense, Kung Fu Panda 2 was to Kung Fu Panda (2008) as Toy Story 3 (2010) was to Toy Story. Namely, the first movie in a series spends a lot of time building the relationship between various characters. Both movies have a character (Po and Buzz) which is introduced to a particular group (Furious Five and Andy's toys). By the end of the movie we understand the characters and everybody is friends. Thus, the mentioned follow-ups do well, because they take the established relationships and capitalize on emotion. There's a middle point in both movies which are particularly strong emotionally and the ending of both movies is also strong emotionally. To clarify, I don't mean the very ending of Kung Fu Panda 2, but the main ending.

Speaking of which, the very ending of Kung Fu Panda 2 does seem a little tacked on. It also makes, as my friend points out, part of the plot extra confusing. I say extra confusing, because this part of the plot, my friend also points out, slightly conflicts with the first movie. I don't mind.

I liked the 2D animation dispersed throughout the movie. Beautifully done. I recall its usage was solely for Po's flashbacks and the ending credits. The credits remain colorful throughout, with credits appearing in bulk instead of scrolling. In the first movie, I only remember the 2D animation being used for the ending credits (Everybody was kung fu fighting... Ha).

I had gone to the beach and there was a slight hold up which caused me to get to the theatres with my friends a little late. By the time we got in the theatre, I saw a glimpse of something and the title "Kung Fu Panda 2" appeared. Then I must have missed part of Po's interaction with the Furious Five while looking for seats, because I only remember him spitting out what looked liked eggs. It reminded me of Cool Hand Luke (1967) . Which is interesting, because Toy Story 3 definitely referenced Cool Hand Luke. We also had to settle with second row from the front, because we were a group of four. The last time I sat so close to the front was when I watched Inception (2010). Though I happily watched the credits up higher.

[20110627]

---

Released 20110526
Watched 20110626 Theatre. Garden Grove [KUNG FU] 2:10PM $5.00
Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) Jennifer Yuh. 91 min.

Relevant Links:
Kung Fu Panda 2 (IMDb.com)

The Frighteners (1996)

20110623:
I thought this movie was good. For those who dislike the horror genre, I would happily inform you that The Frighteners is much less of a horror film and much more of a comedy.

Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) and Dr. Lucy Lynskey (Trini Alvarado)

In any case, it had good pacing and good characters, but I didn't like various inconsistencies within the story.

Overall, I enjoyed it more than Troll 2 (1990), which my friends and I watched earlier today.

[20110624][20151019 Edit]

---

Instant Comments:
Crazy intro, but the movie proceeds rather regularly. Nothing crazy.
Things are funny, not scary.
Lol, gnomes.

Lucy, Ray (Peter Dobson), and Frank

Peter Jackson.
Milton behaves, looks, and speaks a little like one of Jim Carrey's characters.
"I like it when they lie still like that."
"You're trying to do it right now aren't you?"

The Judge (John Astin)

Lol, kick to the side and the gun pops up.

---

Watched 20110623 (DVD)
The Frighteners (1996) Peter Jackson. 110 min.

Cyrus (Chi McBride)

Relevant Links:
The Frighteners (IMDb.com)
The Frighteners (RottenTomatoes.com)
The Frighteners (Wikipedia.org)

Troll 2 (1990)

20110623:
I was tired, and I fell asleep. Though I didn't mind, because the movie didn't provide me with much entertainment. I didn't mind so much that I didn't mind not watching the credits to the movie. Troll 2 wasn't as bad as The Room (2003). Compared to The Room, the lines in this film were delivered satisfactorily, and the characters were more likable. While the pacing was better than the pacing in The Room, it certainly didn't meet my expectations of the amount of laughs I would get from a movie that's so-bad-it's-funny.

The Room has the advantage of memorable lines. I don't remember any lines worth quoting from Troll 2. There were some funny scenes here and there.

Good scenes:
Skateboard and peeking through the hole in the ceiling.
The corn on a cob scene.
Grandpa Seth with an axe.
You have thirty seconds to figure out how to stop them from eating.
I'm going to tighten my belt.

[20110624]

---

Watched 20110623 (DVD) (Didn't watch credits)
Troll 2 (1990) Claudio Fragasso. 95 min.

Relevant Links:
Troll 2 (IMDb.com)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

20110621:
This movie does a lot of things well. Great atmosphere, mostly great lines (I feel some jokes aren't that funny), great emotions, and great soundtrack. The entire trilogy is just plain awesome, and I don't have much to say.

The seats in the theatre filled a little faster today than last week. We guessed this might have been by people who came last week and didn't get nice seats, came earlier today. My friends and I certainly came earlier to get slightly better seats (eyes look straight at the center of the screen). I didn't know this, but I guess if straight on wasn't possible, then better looking up at the screen than looking down at the screen.

Possibly my favorite scene:

Gimli: Oh, come on! We can take 'em!
Aragorn: It's a long way.
Gimli: [reluctantly] Toss me.
Aragorn: What?
Gimli: I cannot jump the distance, you'll have to toss me! [Aragorn nods] Ah! ...Don't tell the Elf.
Aragorn: Not a word.

Other scenes I like a lot:
Aragorn's tracking skills
Last March of the Ents.
Legolas sliding down on a shield.

Favorite Effect:
King Theoden's transition

Favorite Extra Scene:
He was twitching...

Runner Ups:
Drinking the water...
Eating/drinking the soup...

[20110622]

---

Instant Comments:
Introduction:
This time Peter Jackson talks about how it's easy to film the beginning and the end, but the middle has to have something special. And so they tried to figure out how to do that. He also talks about how he always wanted to direct a big battle scene, and with this movie he got to do that with the Battle of Helm's Deep. Then he talked about the introduction of Andy Serkis and how they ended up using motion capture and creating a new Gollum. Finally, the last big point I recall him mentioning was the addition of the scene where we explicitly see Gollum's split personality. The story leads to the joke that what many view as the best scene in the movie was one that wasn't directed by him.

Credits:
Ended up watching the fan thing all the way through.
We weren't sure if it was different or not.
It was about 20 minutes again.
But we're pretty sure it was different.
This one group of movie goers were clapping throughout the entire credits, from beginning... through the fan list... and even as they walked in the lobby.

---

Released 20021218.
Watched at least twice before, once regular and once extended.
Watched 20110621 Theatre. Irvine 21 [LOTR: TOWERS] 7:00PM $12.50. (Extended Edition)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) Peter Jackson. 179 min, 223 min [botnotsn (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien]

Relevant Links:
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (IMDb.com)
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (Wikipedia.org)

Super 8 (2011)

Partial Plot Summary:
Several kids are making a Super 8 mm movie and witness the crashing of a train. The train belongs to the army and they come in to clean up the mess. Over the course of the next several days, the kids continue making their movie. While there are many things that happen here and there to move the story along, the movie gets rolling when people start to go missing. At some point, this causes Joe Lamb, one of the kids in the movie group, to go to their school where Dr. Woodward, their biology teacher, once taught. They had encountered Dr. Woodward at the site of the train crash and had reason to believe they would find their answer at the school. Sure enough, they uncover the information they need, but are then found and taken by the army.

In a bus, the kids and several soldiers are attacked and the kids manage to escape. From here, they make their next plan of action.

20110619:
This is a great movie, though I like Star Trek (2009) better. Unfortunately, I was tired and nodded off for a moment during the movie. It was definitely not the movie's fault. I remember doing the same for Shutter Island (2010). I managed to keep my eyes open starting with the scene where the kids are filming at the train station. I remember the one kid seeing the train about to come and he tells everybody to get started, so they're all scrambling to get things set up.

I liked the general atmosphere of the movie. The big events are fun to watch. Fun like the ending of The A-Team (2010).

There was one part of the movie that gave me a shock. Not only did it have entertainment value, but it helped me stay awake.

There's probably lots more to say about the movie, but I'll just finish by saying I like it almost as much as Star Trek (2009).

[20110624]

---

20130703:
I'm glad I finally got around to watching this movie again, this time wide awake and able to take in all the details. Unfortunately, while I feel like I enjoyed it more than the last time I watched it, I could say that I still wasn't amazed by the movie. On the one hand, I enjoyed the acting as it felt raw and natural. The story, however, had a strange flow to it, never building the sort of suspense I thought it would bring near the beginning of the movie. From this point of view, the movie was more like Signs (2002). At times it looks to become scary, but in the end it contains at best one or two good moments. In any case, I would return and finish this entry by saying I enjoyed the dialogue and interaction between the kids. I truly thought that part of the movie was well done.

As a side note, the last movie I watched was also directed by J. J. Abrams: Mission: Impossible III (2006).

---

Instant Comments:
2: Elle Fanning is Dakota Fanning's younger sister. She's born in 1998.
2: That crash at the 18 minute mark of the movie is epic.
2: White Rubik's Cube.
2: Ha. "The focus ring just fell off."
2: She makes for a very convincing zombie.
2: I totally didn't remember the scene where they were doing research on the subject.
2: I think actor Kyle Chandler slightly resembles a younger Alec Baldwin.
2: WTF kind of asshole military takes a kid's necklace.
2: When Donny comes back, I get a good look and he looks familiar. Apparently he's actor David Gallagher, from hit television series 7th Heaven.
2: "He's too stoned!" "Drugs are so bad."
2: I love their reactions: "There's a hole in the wall!" and "I haven't done it yet!"

Credits:
1: Their completed movie plays during the credits.
1=20110609, 2=20130703

---

Released 20110610
Watched 20110619 Theatre. Garden Grove [SUPER 8] 10:05PM $5.
Watched 20130703 (Netflix, Instant)
Super 8 (2011) J.J. Abrams. 112 min.

Relevant Links:
Super 8 (IMDb.com)
Super 8 (RottenTomatoes.com)
Super 8 (film) (Wikipedia.org)
Super 8 film (Wikipedia.org)

The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)

20110619:
I missed part of the middle, but I've seen the movie before, so I didn't particularly mind.

The Silent Monk (praying mantis)

Favorite Scenes:
Jet Li versus Jackie Chan
Jet Li and Jackie Chan, two tigers on one mountain

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Lu Yan (tiger)

20160508:
While not the best martial arts movie I've seen, The Forbidden Kingdom has its moments and watching Jackie Chan and Jet Li in the same movie is also quite a joy.

Overall, I'd be reserved on recommending this movie because it's probably not that great. However, I have seen it three times now and so there's certainly something about it which I find likable.

Jade Warlord (Collin Chou)

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Instant Comments:
Haha. "Ah. He who speaks does not know. He who knows does not speak. Surely, you're masterful."
Lol. Complain and you get your restaurant trashed.

The Monkey King (Jet Li)

Speaks in metaphors. Finishes with "empty your cup." And the kid takes it literally.
"Horse stance." "Very good. For taking a dump."
"...What if I freeze?" "Don't forget to breathe."
Why not just kill him on the spot?

Lu Yan (drunken fist)

"Not if I kill you first, orphan bitch!" Holy.
Wait, why would they just skip him altogether?
"I guess that's what being immortal truly means." Oh!
"Of course I'll live. I'm immortal."

Golden Sparrow (Yifei Liu)

Credits:
Jackie Chan and Jet Li are listed in two places in the credits for their different roles.

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Old Hop (Jackie Chan)

Released 20080418.
Watched 20080606 Theaters. Regency Charter Centre [FORBIDDEN KI] 7:50p $3.00
Watched 20110619 (DVD) (Widescreen)
Watched 20160508 (Netflix, Instant)
The Forbidden Kingdom (2008) Rob Minkoff. 104 min.

Ni Chang (Li Bing Bing)

Relevant Links:
The Forbidden Kingdom (IMDb.com)
The Forbidden Kingdom (Wikipedia.org)
The Forbidden Kingdom (RottenTomatoes.com)

The Room (2003)

20110617:
I'm sorry, but this was a bad movie and the terrible parts that were funny were too dispersed to be worth watching.

The only thing worth deriving from the movie is some ridiculous quotes. Without the ridiculous lines, the movie seemed like a poor attempt at being a porn movie; it is a failed attempt at a serious drama. To clarify, not knowing the film's intention, the first lines of dialogue made me think I was watching a pornographic film. There were various scenes throughout the film that resonated the pornography vibe, except with a big FAIL.

This type of bad movie isn't my cup of tea. I'd rather watch Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009).

[20110617][20110618 Edit][20190204 Edit]

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20110619 Comment:
To be clear, what I meant by "the only thing worth deriving" is "this is what I found memorable about the movie." Part of what makes the quotes great is the way they were delivered by the actors and actresses. When sharing quotes from the movie, it's fun to imitate the accents and expressions.

In any case, I'd love to hear your thoughts on my opinions and what you thought of the movie!

---

Quotes:
Johnny: You are lying! I never hit you! You are tearing me apart, Lisa!

Claudette: If you think I'm tired today, wait until you see me tomorrow.

Johnny: Hi, doggy!

Mark: How was work today?
Johnny: Oh pretty good. We got a new client... at the bank. We make a lot of money.
Mark: What client?
Johnny: I can not tell you, it's confidential.
Mark: Oh come on. Why not?
Johnny: No I can't. Anyway, how is your sex life?

Claudette: I got the results of the test back - I definitely have breast cancer.

Johnny: Don't touch me mother fucker.

Johnny: I kill you, you bastard!
Mark: You couldn't kill me if you tried.
Johnny: You betrayed me... you that good... you, you're just a chicken, chirp-chirp-chirp-chirp, cheep, cheep.

---

Hilarious Scenes:
J: You're tearing me apart, Lisa!

J: Hi, babe. These are for you.
L: Thanks honey. They're beautiful.
Did you get your promotion?
J: Nah.
L: You didn't get it did you?
J: That son of a bitch said I would get it within three months...
[...]
L: I still love you
J: You're the only one who does.
L: At least you have friends. I didn't get any calls today. You're right the computer business is too competitive. Do you want me to order a pizza?
J: Whatever I don't care.
L: I already ordered a pizza.
J: Haha. You think about everything. Hahaha.

---

Watched 20110617 (DVD)
The Room (2003) Tommy Wiseau. 99 min.

Relevant Links:
The Room (IMDb.com)
The Room (Wikipedia.org)

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

20110617:
This movie does a great job at hitting the emotions. I loved the music. I find the message expressed in the movie to be an important one as well. I was definitely hesitant to start the film, because I was afraid it'd be, as a war movie, hard to follow, or that I just wouldn't be in the mood. However, I'm glad I was in the mood and was able to follow the movie fairly well. At some points I got some characters mixed up and didn't recognize other characters, but a quick look through the plot summary on the Wikipedia.org article clears it all up.

Note: Most of the movie is in Japanese, so there would be subtitles anyways. But I had subtitles on, and so there were English subtitles for the English parts.

I'd say great movie. I suggest you'd be in the mood to handle some strong emotions.

Instant Comments:
I don't remember what the most emotional part was, there definitely was one. The scene with the soldier, his wife, and their baby was definitely emotional, but I don't remember if it was the most emotional.
I had seen scenes at around 1h20 (the reason the one soldier was discharged). I recall that and the banquet scene that follows for sure. I believe then I watched the remainder of the movie.
The soldier Saigo's youthful face makes his hopes and words strong. 2h02
Omg, that scene followed by the song over the loud speakers.
2h11 "Is this still Japan?"

---

Apparently I've seen half of the movie once before.
Watched 20110617 (DVD) (English subtitles)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) Clint Eastwood. 141 min

Relevant Links:
Letters from Iwo Jima (Wikipedia.org)
Letters from Iwo Jima (IMDb.com)

Pretty in Pink (1986)

20110617:
This movie IS high school. I felt the movie was all over the place, unlike Breakfast Club (1985) which is relatively coherent. My sister mentioned how this had its way of telling the story. To some extent this is true, but for me it was too much.

I'd have to say that the couple's first kiss was really passionate.

Overall a fun movie, unless perhaps you had a really bad high school experience yourself. If you liked Breakfast Club or any work written or directed by John Hughes, then you should definitely consider watching this movie. My sister mentioned Sixteen Candles (1984), though I haven't seen it, don't know what it's about, and so don't have anything to say regarding it's relation to Pretty in Pink or Breakfast Club.

Instant Comments:
LOLOLOL Yo man next time I kick your ass.
Lol, oh shit so this is what it looks like... this instant
His lip syncing is great.
The dialogue around 40 minutes is pretty emotional and sort of actually makes the movie make sense. At that point we sort of think about all three main characters and wonder what their intentions are and where everything will end up.
"He's a charmer!"
That's a pretty wild kiss.
The dad's so understanding in this movie, perhaps too perfect?
My hips went up in flames. He must practice on melons or something.
The emotions at 1 hr 15 minutes didn't seem genuine to me. Also at this point I feel like the movie is all over the place.
"Just say it!" scene is the right amount of intense.
Duckie's glance to the audience is a great out-of-character moment.
The final closing scene next to the blue and pink car...
Not smooth, choppy.
While sister says they want you to think about.

Watched Special Feature:
Prom Queen: All About Molly

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Watched 20110617 (DVD)
Pretty in Pink (1986) Howard Deutch. 96 min.

Relevant Links:
Pretty in Pink (IMDb.com)

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)

20020104:
I remember going out to watch this movie with my family (parents and sister). None of us knew it was part of a trilogy and as such, the ending was something to talk about.

Having seen it a few times, it's such a great movie. Not as great as Return of the King, but it's up there in the list of great movies. I don't remember whether or not it's better than The Two Towers.

[20110110]

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20110614:
Prior to the start of the movie, there's a recorded introduction by director Peter Jackson. This showing would be among the first showings for the remastered version of The Fellowship of the Ring.

At the end of the movie, past the credits, there's the fan club credits. Because I wanted to watch it all, my friends stayed and we watched the credits. We commented on various names. We looked for certain last names, in particular our own. Christopher Lee and Elijah Wood were among the names. We guessed what the last name's first two letters would be. We figured it would be a Zy name, like Zygmund. It wasn't.

Afterwards we discussed some of our favorite scenes (see "Instant Comments" section below).

Of course some of the scenes that depend on surprise aren't as satisfying after seeing them the first time.

I'm fairly tired from everything that's happened in the last week and a half, and so I nodded off every now and then during the movie. It certainly doesn't help that the extended version is 208 minutes long (according to Wikipedia.org). Note: The fan club credits add an additional 20 minutes and 228 minutes = 3.8 hours.

If you didn't know, the Lord of the Rings soundtrack is amazing.

---

As of 20180216, Netflix determined the movie for me as a 98% match. I gave the movie a thumbs up.

---

Instant Comments:
C: I recently read that many years had passed between (A) Bilbo leaving and Frodo inheriting his possessions (including the ring) and (B) Gandalf returning and telling Bilbo he must flee. I told my sister this and she said that makes sense. Since by the time Frodo meets Bilbo again, Bilbo has completed his book.
C: Strider.
C: Oh, she got cut on the cheek by a tree.
B: One of my favorite scenes: (6) Arwen races to Rivendell.
C: I'm imagining this instead: "Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. ."
C: My sister said that technically Elrond shares some fault. That is, he could have fought to cast the ring into Mt. Doom.
C: "I will take it. I will take it. I will take the ring to Mordor."
B: One of my favorite scenes: (4) Frodo volunteers to take the ring.
B: [20110622: I forgot to mention the scene where Bilbo bares his teeth in Rivendell. I love that one.]
C: "My cousin Balin..."
D: "I wish the ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened." "So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us. There are other forces at work in this world Frodo, besides the will of evil. Bilbo was meant to find the Ring. In which case, you were also meant to have it. And that is an encouraging thought." C: My eyes fall shut in one or two scenes.
D: I'm curious how rare mithril is
C: That broken staircase scene is awesome.
C: Speaking of which, how do such thin passage ways get carved.
D: I'd be so afraid to pass that bridge. It's wide enough, but it's so high above nothingness.
D: "You cannot pass!"
C, D: "You shall not pass."
D: "Fly, you fools!"
D: "The dwarf breathes so loud we could have shot him in the dark."
C: Sam contributes a verse about Gandalf's fireworks
B: One of two confusing scense: Galadriel's dialogue during her mini-craze; C: Frodo offers her the ring, she explains that she would have great power with it, but refuses and thus remains herself. She also self-proclaims that she passes the test.
D: Saruman says the orcs came from the elves. I'm not sure that makes sense. There'd have to be like generations of selective breeding to create orcs from elves.
B: One of two confusing scense: Conversation between Boromir and Frodo; C: Boromir wants the ring for himself. Frodo identifies that Boromir is not himself.
D: Ah. Aragorn phrases it as "I would have gone with you to the end." As such, he appears to have deduced that Frodo wanted to destroy the ring on his own.
D: Hmm. Consider that these Uruks are supposed to be specially bred warriors... for so many of them to be taken down by Aragorn... well I guess Aragorn along with Gimli and Legolas are just that legendary in comparison. Alternatively, they might be too brawn and not enough brain.
B: One of my favorite scenes: (5) During the final battle there's a scene where the camera pans and goes from a straight shot to an overhead shot. That really caught my eye during the movie.
B: One of my favorite scenes: (1) The three arrows.
B: One of my favorite scenes: (3) Sam jumps in the water.
D: Hehe. Ben thinks Legolas is a girl because he has long hair (in Ben's world, people are either boys or girls; he unfamiliar with the terms "men" and "women")
B: One of my favorite scenes: (2) The very end.
B=20110614 (Post-Movie Comments), C=20171128

---

Released 20011219.
Watched 20020104 Theatre. Metro Pointe [LORD OF THE] 12:00pm $6.00
Watched many other times on DVD.
Watched 20110614 Theatre. Irvine 21[LOTR: RING] 7:00PM $12.50. (Extended Edition)
Watched 20171128 DVD.
Watched 20230324 (Netflix)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) Peter Jackson. 178 min. [botnotsn (1954) by J. R. R. Tolkien]

Relevant Links:
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (IMDb.com)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (Wikipedia.org)

X-Men: First Class (2011)

20110603:
This movie is great; I loved the story and special effects.

With that being said, I would have liked the struggle between Charles and Erik to have been more interesting. I am, however, content with the way it played out in the movie. On that note, the pace of the very ending was slow compared to the pace of the rest of the movie.

How does the movie compare to the first three X-Men movies? While I vaguely remember the first three movies, my intuition tells me this movie surpassed those movies.

The parts that amused me most were scenes when I learned who is who (e.g., which character is Professor X, which is Magneto, etc.) and when some sort of reference to the comic story line occurs (e.g., when they all give themselves code names).

Overall, if you loved any of the previous X-Men movies, then you should watch this one. One thing to keep in mind is a comic character's story changes from time to time, whether it's in the comics or the movies. As a result, it's best to be open-minded about new plots. (For a while I was close-minded about the drastic changes between Smallville and the "standard" Superman plot, but I eventually learned to accept the differences, and it makes the viewing experience much more enjoyable.)

Cast Comments:
I loved the two cameo appearances. One much more than the other.
I was wondering where I recognized the actor who played Darwin and realized that he played a character on House M.D. The actor's name is Edi Gathegi.
The actress who plays Angel is Zoe Kravitz. I saw her in It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010). While her character in First Class helped move the plot along, I found she was a little boring.

---

Released 20110603.
Watched 20110606 Theatre. Cinemark Egyptian 24 [X-MEN: FIRST CLASS] 2:10P XD $13.00
X-Men: First Class (2010) Matthew Vaughn. 132 min.

Relevant Links:
X-Men: First Class (IMDb.com)
X-Men: First Class (RottenTomatoes.com)
X-Men: First Class (Wikipedia.org)

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HISHEdotcom:

Whip It (2009)

20110604:
This is a super coming-of-age movie. Someone I know said succinctly, "I love that movie!!!!! Ellen Page is awesome!!!!!!!" It wasn't easy counting all the exclamation marks.

The movie has a couple slumps here and there. In particular, Jimmy Fallon's performance was weak. His best part was probably during the end credits. The movie does a great job of building up the right relationships such that key moments in the film just hit it home. I made a similar comment in the "Instant Comments" section of my post on Marley & Me (2008): "while all the parts in the movie on their own were kind of here and there, it really all added up to feeling so much emotion at the end." Only this film has two big moments, and two or three smaller moments. The movie also benefits from the plot giving the audience something to focus on: the Hurl Scouts getting into the championships.

It's hard to say how satisfied I am in terms of how the movie explained the rules of the sport. At some point it became clear that certain bumps are legal and some are illegal. But what are the penalties? I certainly don't make the same questions watching a basketball movie, since I'm fairly clear on most of the rules in basketball. Similarly with football. In the end, I would say the movie did a good job, and that I should invest some time to learn the official rules on my own, but that I thought it was good to bring it up for possible discussion.

I don't know much about directing, but after watching enough movie specials and reading enough Wikipedia articles over the past one or two years, I'd say a director has a heavy influence in how a movie turns out. Under this naive layperson's assumption, I applaud Drew Barrymore's directorial debut.

As I mentioned, the movie isn't perfect, but it's a great movie which will probably leave you with a good feeling in your heart.

Side Remark: The clip that plays during the movie menu is nice and long. It's not exactly obvious when it repeats either. I have a pet peeve for dvd menu audio or video that repeats too often.

Watched Special Features:
Deleted Scenes (I watched them all)
Razor Quits (Long Version)
: Lol the music that's playing when Razor leaves is funny.
Bliss Aks Razor to Come Back (Raw Cut)
: This is an awesome scene.

Instant Comments:
There was a funny line somewhere around 14 minutes, when she first watches the derby or something.
"I can grow the balls."
The movie cover at 58 minutes.
Huh, she didn't use a 555 number.
Lol, Drew Barrymore, "Yeah you could be our mascot."
At 1 hr 25 min, when the Dad speaks those lines for his daughter, its just surprisingly powerful.
The coach sounds like Owen Wilson. [Lol, that's cause he's Owen Wilson's brother, Andrew Wilson]

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Watched 20110604 (McNaughton Plan from the Eisenhower Library) (English subtitles)
Whip It (2009) Drew Barrymore. 111 min [botn Derby Girl (2007) by Shauna Cross]

Relevant Links:
Whip It (IMDb.com)
Whip It (film) (Wikipedia.org)
Derby Girl (Wikipedia.org)

Titan A.E. (2000)

Watched once before.
Watched 20110601 (Netflix, Instant)
Watched 20130830 (Netflix, Instant) (Streaming until 20130901)
Titan A.E. (2000) Don Bluth, Gary Goldman. 94 min.

Cale Tucker (Matt Damon) is captured by Akima's beauty.

Relevant Links:
Titan A.E. (IMDb.com)
Titan A.E. (Wikipedia.org)
Titan A.E. (RottenTomatoes.com)

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20110601:
This movie was alright, but the CGI often felt out of place. Speaking of which, I also thought the first song was out of place, but most of the movie's other songs were either alright or good.

Akima (Drew Barrymore)

On a different note, there wasn't much development of the romance between the characters Cale and Akima. In general, the movie isn't well polished.

In comparison, after I made the above comments, I learned the consensus on Rotten Tomatoes was "Great visuals, but the story feels like a cut-and-paste job of other sci-fi movies."

I saw this movie before, but prior to watching it today, I had absolutely no memory of the plot. There's nothing memorable about the movie. I once saw Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), and though I only have a vague memory of it, I'd say this movie has a similar overall quality and movie tropes.

Captain Joseph Korso (Bill Pullman)

I'd sooner recommend watching other movies before watching Titan A.E.. For science-fiction there's Star Trek (2009), District 9 (2009), and Avatar (2009). For 2D animation there's The Secret of NIMH (1982) and The Iron Giant (1999). With that being said, Titan A.E. is a good movie.

On a different note, I was curious about where this movie stands in terms of using CGI and managed to find a Wikipedia page titled Timeline of computer animation in film and television. Toy Story (1995) was the first CGI feature-length animation.

Cale getting lunch from the cafeteria.

Credits:
End credits start with the lead roles and little biographies of the characters.

The remaining credits roll over a still backdrop of stars in space.

At first I referred to some objects in the movie (in my instant comments) as "icebergs" but then changed it to "ice crystals." Apparently, this is what the movie makers call them in the credits! The credits read:

3D ANIMATION

ICE CRYSTALS AND WAKE ANGELS SEQUENCES BY

PERSISTENCE OF VISION DIGITAL ENTERTAINMENT

&

REALITY CHECK STUDIOS

Left to right: Captain Korso, Cale, Gune, and Preed.

There's also:

3D ANIMATION

CREATION OF THE NEW WORLD BY

BLUE SKY STUDIOS, INC.

I recall Blue Sky Studios is the company that handled Rio (2011). The Wikipedia page for Blue Sky Studios says they did Ice Age (2002), Robots (2005), Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006), Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! (2008), Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009), and Rio (2011).

3D ANIMATION

ADDITIONAL CGI ANIMATION AND EFFECTS BY

RHONDA GRAPHICS

The Gaoul help Cale use the map in his ring.

[20110601][20130830 Edited]

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Instant Comments:
Those first 6 minutes get across a lot. The sound for this movie is awesome (I'm listening through headphones).
The semi-3Dish appearance of the movie is both interesting and confusing.
At 16 minutes, those alien or robot looking things look pretty cool.
I didn't really like the first song, but the second song was appropriate.
Lol I put a button on it, but I'm not sure what it would do.
Cale's quite good with devices. We see him fix the ship and the hologram.

Gune

The music that plays during the visit to the Ghuls is more what of what I'd rather hear. I guess it's more traditional. The previous rock music was okay, because at least that was instrumental. Reminds me of the rock music that plays in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the game.
Lol, "An intelligent guard, didn't see that one coming."
Matt Damon has the most distinguishable voice. I can sort of detect Drew Barrymore's voice.
I enjoyed the short montage of them fixing/rebuilding the ship.
This part o the movie, with all the ice crystals is where the "3D" animation works really well.
"Who's your daddy? Goon's your daddy!"
It's ironic, the aliens met their demise by seeking to avoid it.

Cale comes in to talk to Akima.
Her room is full of objects from Earth's past.

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20130830:
While I was writing some other blog posts with this movie in the background, I watched enough of the movie to retract my previous statement about the CGI graphics: "the CGI often felt out of place."

However, I still believe that while the visuals are great, the story is loose and lacking.

Captain Korso talking with a Drej.

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Instant Comments:
I never realized you should exhale if you were in the situation of being in space without a spacesuit. Apparently you'll only have between 10 and 15 seconds to return to a pressurized and oxygenated environment, but the alternative is to die by having your lungs explode.
"An intelligent guard. Didn't see that one coming." Ha! That's a good point. Usually guards are so dumb. Apparently this is how a smart guard would react.
Interestingly, it seemed more like Cale was trying to chase the creatures than the creatures were chasing the ship. But perhaps they have quick reaction times and the movement is like a futuristic version of dolphins swimming along a naval ship.

Akima aboard the Titan.