20110731:
This was a fun movie to watch. The jokes were consistently funny and abundant. The story is full of surprises.
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.
The movie had many great scenes; practically the entire movie! Picking out the best of the best without any spoilers, I'd name the following: the locker room scene, the pizza scene, the "Dirty Dancing" scene, and the backyard scene.
Trailers: Warrior | Our Idiot Brother [20110805: J.K. pointed out this wasn't a trailer, but rather part of the cinema preview.] | What's Your Number | Contagion | New Years Eve | The Ides of March
[20110801][20110802][20190202 Edit] Instant Comments: Credits:
1: The credits appear a screen at a time instead of scrolling.
1=20110731 20111216:
What a great movie! JK and I saw it already, but SH had not.
Once in a while I would preemptively laugh at an upcoming joke, as it often happens with jokes in movies I've seen before. I do my best to wait for the punch line.
[20111219] Released 20110729.
Watched 20110731 Theatre. Garden Grove [CRAZY] 10:00PM $5.00
Watched 20111216 (Blu-ray) Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011) Glenn Ficarra, John Requa. 118 min
20110728:
I paid attention to most of the movie, but not complete attention. I was only half watching Oceans (2009) earlier, so I have no idea what possessed me to go and start a French film which requires full attention to understand. In hindsight, I should have waited until another day to watch this movie. But what's done is done, and what I did watch I enjoyed.
The movie is slow and often feels like you're watching a documentary, only without the narration. You wait and watch how the characters deal with specific situations, usually in a simple and only slightly climatic sort of way. There is little to no action in this movie. In the end, it's nice to see a movie that is more grounded and realistic every once in a while.
20110728:
I sort of let this one play and watched it in the background. It's beautiful and definitely worth watching. 20220624:
Today I began watching this documentary - not having remembered seeing it before. As mentioned in the comment section, I thought the documentary had great visuals, but lacked an interesting narrative.
[20220701]
Instant Comments:
2: The beginning is slow for my son
1: Oh wow, I never knew such a creature as the marine iguana existed; 2: That's amazing... a marine iquana. Doesnt really look like a water animal if i had spotted it on land.
1: "Adapting and evolving"
2: Why does a horshoe crab have a long tail.
2: Wow upside down... interesting. Is there a reason?
1: Wow, the dolphins, birds, sharks, and whale massacred that school of sardines. But then the outcome basically says, there's gonna be more than enough for life to go on. I find it interesting that seldom do people think of human death in this manner. It's interesting how the personal and impersonal affects our thought.
1: Whoa the blanket octopus is beautiful...
1: The school of fish clumping up from tornado to a ball was awesome.
1: Holy crap... mantis shrimp versus the crab. That's crazy.
2: The images in this documentary are beautiful and often novel but very boring due to lack of information and narrative. The opening is about a boy asking about what is the ocean and this documentary does nothing to really answer the question. As an example, there's this segment where its just some do this some do that and it drags on too long before finally randomly observing the mantis shrimp.
2: Paused at 33min mark. May never finish
1: Interesting to hear those two creatures returning to the sea. _ and the sea turtle.
1: I wonder what stimuli the baby sea turtles use to find their way to the ocean.
1: Wow 1 in a 1000.
1: I like that, "Down here, it seems nature has given every thing a try."
1: Haha, "As tempting as it might be its never a good idea to swallow your dental hygenist."
1: That's a lot of ribbon... (Ribbon eel)
1: I love all the sound effects and music. Pierce Brosnan's narration is cool.
1: That fact about the leafy sea dragon is intense. "Try to move him, and he'll die."
1: Otters rule.
1=20110728,2=20220624
Watched 20110728 (Netflix, Instant) (English subtitles)
Watched first 33 minutes 20220624 (Disney+) Oceans (2009) Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud. 84 min.
20110726:
I enjoyed this movie, but it wasn't up there in my list of Ghibli films. I might have to watch it again. Maybe my expectations for the movie were too high, everybody loves Totoro.
The movie was definitely magical, and the music was wonderful. I loved Totoro and the Catbus.
While I might not like it that much, it is a great movie that is almost as great as Pan's Labyrinth (2006) on an imaginative and emotional level or Grave of the Fireflies (1988) on the emotional level.
In the end, I feel what I enjoy about the other Ghibli films is the action. And without the action, I was hoping for more magic. My final conclusion is to say the movie was above average, and that I'll definitely watch it again.
[20110805] Instant Comments:
lol the tub scene
intro prior to totoro is long....
lol totoro and the umbrella. interesting
i like the music in the background
i'm sleepy and nodding on and off to sleep.
acorns... magical. love the music playing during this.
their crying and screaming was a little annoying Watched 20110726 (Japanese audio, English subtitles) My Neighbor Totoro (1988) Hayao Miyazaki. 86 min.
20110724:
This movie was between average and above average. There were moments I liked and there were moments I disliked. Certain scenes were over the top. I didn't like the way the movie was cut, but I tend to think in terms of excitement and suspense. With that being said, I eventually enjoyed the delivery of the storyh as a whole
Captain America (Chris Evans)
In the end, I was glad to have watched it in theaters, since action movies benefit from being seen on the big screen - especially for $5, instead of whatever the normal ticket pricing is.
In terms of characters, I felt neutral towards the protagonist Captain America. There were times where some of his actions (especially during the training session) were commendable. In fact, I actually enjoyed Hugo Weaving's role as Red Skull and Stanley Tucci's role as Dr. Abraham Erkskine more than Chris Evans as Captain America.
Red Skull (Hugo Weaving)
The relative neutral feeling with Captain America also comes in contrast to likable superheroes, e.g., Spider-Man (2002, 2004, 2007) and Iron Man (2008, 2010). The romance in this movie also comes up short compared to romances in Spider-Man, Iron Man, and Batman movies. Of course, I understand Captain America's personality is distinct from that of Spider-Man and Iron Man, except the movie could have portrayed Captain America in a way that shows how cool he is or why I should root for him. There were several moments that came close.
On a different note, I liked X-Men: First Class (2011) more than Captain America: The First Avenger.
[20110805][20190306 Edit] 20130211:
Like with my previous impression of the movie, I liked some of the scenes, but the movie as a whole was lackluster. That's somewhat of an insult as I consider myself easily entertained. With that being said, I recommend you watch this movie for the sake of it's tie-in to The Avengers (2012) and/or because Hugo Weaving makes for an awesome Red Skull.
Dr. Abraham Erkskine (Stanley Tucci)
Instant Comments:
2: The grenade scene is one of my favorites. The flag scene is good too.
2: Haha. Hahaha. "No I don't have procedure. I don't drink it after, I drink it now."
2: "No! Don't! I can do this!"
2: Vita-Ray %
2: Ha. "Go get him, I can swim."
Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell)
2: Hahaha. Explosion -> "Write that down."
2: "I can't get drunk."
2: What I don't understand is why they didn't keep any of the technology while raiding these facilities.
2: What a tragic love story.
2: Ha. "I'm not kissing ya."
Credits:
1: There's various art in the background.
1: After the credits roll, we see a trailer for The Avengers (2012).
Released 20110722.
Watched 20110724 Theatre. Garden Grove [CAPTAIN 3D] 4:00PM $8.50
Watched 20130211 (Netflix, Instant) Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) Joe Johnston. 124 min
20110723:
Great movie. It's funny, it's got great music, great dialogue. I like how it's fast-paced and interesting. The fast-paced dialogue reminds me of the dialogue in Gilmore Girls.
After finishing the movie, my friend asked which movie I thought was the best of 2010. I thought of The King's Speech (2010) and decided that was the better of the two. He likes The Social Network better. With that being said, I had forgotten about Inception (2010), which would have be a strong contender for best of 2010. The character interaction in The Social Network was fun, Inception as a whole was mind-blowing, and King's Speech emotionally drew me into its characters. Instant Comments:
lol that first scene is interesting.
Hopkins! Breezeway, Upper Quad
lol who are they gonna send it to? so evil an expression
22000 hits in an hour...
lol "there's two of me"
lol the Bill Gates conversation is funny
did I adequately answer your condescending questions?
I like the scene between Sean Parker and the girl, Amy.
Lol, you entered an agreement with the university not with each other. Lol the conversation between the brothers and president is funny.
lol "glottal stop" linguistic
lol drop the "the" just "facebook"
lol "Hold on" checking the math
that's interesting. you're not an asshole Mark. you're just trying so hard to be.
Blu-ray Menu:
Menu goes through various scenes throughout the movie. I like how it's long and subtle. Watched 20110723 (Blu-ray) (English subtitles) The Social Network (2010) David Fincher. 120 min
Relevant Links: The Social Network (IMDb.com) The Social Network (Wikipedia.org) HISHE (How It Should Have Ended):
This HISHE (How It Should Have Ended) episode is more of a quick summary of the movie, with a few funny jokes added here and there. The ending is just slightly tweaked.
20110719:
This movie was great. However, it wasn't as exciting as Ip Man (2008), because Ip Man was such a bad-ass in the first movie that I couldn't imagine how he could possibly lose any fight in his life. In addition, the emotions in this movie weren't as powerful as those in Ip Man.
It was fun to see Sammo Hung.
With that being said, I tend to enjoy more action-oriented movies, so I'm biased to enjoy a movie like Ip Man 2 more than a movie like The Fighter (2010). Instant Comments:
One student.
His three friends.
Haha. School fees first.
Leung versus student from another school.
Ip Man to entire group of students.
Ip Man versus masters.
Whoa, that's interesting the boxer uses gloves. IS that an advantage or disadavantage? Well he also has a mouthguard.
Oh my god... such passion to be a martyr... And the movie clearly wishes to portray the boxer as ruthless.
The sequel delivers as great a final battle as the last movie! Such powerful words after the match.
Haha "I wanna beat up people I don't like." + Nose brush. Watched 20110719 (Netflix, Instant) Ip Man 2 (2010) Wilson Yip. 108 min [based on a true story]
a.k.a. Yip Man 2 (original title)
20110719:
This was a good movie. I particularly liked some of the shots.
I loved various individual performances, especially those by Christian Bale, Mark Wahlberg, and Amy Adams. On the other hand, I was displeased with the character interaction.
This movie is good enough that I would watch it again with people who haven't seen it, but I wouldn't watch it again by myself.
[20110719 Assumed Post Date][20190112 Edit] 20190112 Comment:
I was transferring movies from my main blog to movie blog and I came across this one. My first thought was "Oh what!?!" because I had absolutely no memory of watching this movie. Instant Comments:
LOLOLOL, his mom comes and he jumps out the window, but his mom is wise on him this time and goes to check as he jumps out the window.
Oh snaps: I heard a lot about you too. What does that mean? Same thing you meant.
Haha: What is that blue shit on your arm? It's icing.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA: Dicky flicks the competitor off during the press conference.
Round 1 was tense.
Credits:
A short clip plays at the beginning of the credits. It shows the real Micky and Dicky. Watched 20110719 (Netflix, Instant) The Fighter (2010) David O. Russell. 116 min [based on a true story]
20110719:
The action sequences were better than in Iron Man (2008). I especially liked Scarlett Johansson's sequences. However, the sequel lacked the same spark that the first one had. Some sequences were just plain or weird. Instant Comments:
Audio plays prior to footage of film...
Lol. "I want one."
I knew Rhodes would put on a suit when he walked into the party.
I suggested looking at the map when he was watching the footage Nick Fury gave him.
Lol: the Captain America shield
Why didn't the laser cut the wires?
Lol. "I was gonna make you an omelet and tell you."
Lol. "It's called being a bad ass."
Credits: Thor (2011) Watched 20110719 (Netflix, Instant) Iron Man 2 (2010) Jon Favreau. 124 min.
Relevant Links: Iron Man 2 (IMDb.com) Tntroduction of Iron Man 2 recapping the ending of Iron Man made me think about he following Iron Man HISHE (How It Should Have Ended) video:
Overall, the movie concept was good, but the movie was lacking in various areas. In particular, it lacked coherence. The movie introduces characters and emotions too quickly. Though as I said above, I enjoyed the characters' movie making fun. Especially Rush Hour 2 (2001) and The Lion King (1994).
[20110719][20190112 Edit] Watched 20110716 (DVD) Be Kind Rewind (2008) Michael Gondry. 102 min.
20110715: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 might just be my favorite Harry Potter movie. It has all the action I wanted out of the other movies. Unfortunately, the movie was short, and it was fast-paced, so it felt even shorter. Thus, while I enjoyed the pace of the movie, I was sad because this was the last movie and suddenly it was over before I knew it.
A friend asked about whether the epilogue came before or after the credits. It came before, but I thought about it, and would have liked it to come after. Some of the dialogue exchanged during this ending seemed forced and/or unnatural, but it wasn't a big deal.
On a different note, I was most curious about how the part one and part two would come together, if at all. Another friend suggested it might not come together, and provided the example of Kill Bill: Volume 2 was shot right after Volume 1, but they are told much differently. Similarly, parts 1 and 2 of the Deathly Hallows are told much differently, and perhaps, like Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and Kill Bill: Vol. 2, should just remain that way. However, I'm wondering if one could make cuts and edits to part 1, and then add on part 2 for a three-hour-long movie, not including the credits and epilogue. This would basically amount to getting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (2010) down to one hour.
I was luckily able to get two seats in the center and in the second row from the bottom of the regular section.
My sister and I.
Possibly Favorite Scene:
Molly versus Bellatrix
Other Great Moments:
McGonagall takes action
Gringotts
Luna Lovegood gets Harry's attention
Neville on the bridge
Distracting:
Daniel Radcliffe's lazy eye (I almost thought I was imagining it, but a friend confirmed and elaborated on the topic)
Trailers Attached:Happy Feet Two (Teaser), Arthur Christmas (Trailer 2), Cowboys & Aliens, The Dark Knight Rises, Sherlock Holmes 2
[20110716][20190505 Edit] 20111213:
This is a great movie. I wish there was more dueling. My two favorite scenes consists of duels: McGonagall vs. Snape and Mrs. Weasley vs. Bellatrix. Some of the changes from the book can be annoying, but if I hadn't read the books, then there wouldn't be anything noticeably wrong with the movie. Actually, perhaps it would have been nice to have Harry and Ginny's kiss be about as half as passionate as Hermione and Ron's kiss.
Watching the movie today made me wonder about the wand lore. A little reading gave me the following information. A wand will change its allegiance if its owner is defeated. That is, if person A defeats person B, then all of person B's wands change their allegiance to person A. What counts as a defeat might be subjective to the wand. In addition, simply being disarmed doesn't imply defeat. Applying the above, practice duels in class will not result in a wand changing allegiance, because the wand understands the intent of the wizards in the duel.
Some special features started playing after the movie ended and the menu screen was sitting there for some time. I'm not sure which special features were playing.
Instant Comments:
C: Harry casts the Imperius Curse on the elf.
C: You can see his hesitation to fight McGonagall. Personally, I took a positive opinion of Snape after the end of the sixth book (after having finished the sixth book, prior to reading the seventh book and the release of the movies)
B: Two people, to the left and right of Snape, die as Snape deflects McGonagall's attacks.
C: "I've always wanted to use that spell."
B: Nifty poem by Ravenclaw.
C: Ron's Parseltongue.
B: Hermione and Ron's kiss in basilisk chamber
B, C: Aberforth's expecto patronum scene
B: Snape's death is such a brutal death
C: "Look at me, you have your mother's eyes."
C, D: Of course it's happening inside your head. Why shouldn't that mean it isn't real?
Harry Potter is dead.
Voldemort does an awkward laughter.
From my point of view, the movie portrays Draco as being hesitant to cross, but his parents call him over so...
C, D: Lol awkward hug.
D: Two scenes with Neville in focus, look green screened.
C: "Not my daughter, you bitch."
C: Finished movie around 6:15 pm.
C=20111213, D=20171126
Released 20110715.
Watched 20110715 Theatre. Long Beach [POTTER] $12.00 12:01AM (Opening Night)
Watched 20111213 Blu-ray
Watched 20171126 Blu-ray Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) David Yates. 130 min. [botn Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (2007) by J.K. Rowling]
