Leave it to Pixar to come up with another tear-jerker animated film. This gem is my favorite among all the Pixar movies, for it was created not entirely for kids but for all the loyal fans of Woody and his gang for the past 15 years. Geez, I never even realized that it has been so long since the first Toy Story came out. And what a way to bid it goodbye. sniff (Spoilers ahead.) Andy is now about to leave for college, so his toys spend more time in the truck rather than outside being played with. In particular, it made Jessie paranoid because she already went through this “moving on” process with her previous owner, Emily. After a series of misunderstandings, the gang found themselves out in the wild again and we are following their journey back home. But this time, they have to get past Lotso the bear, who would stop at nothing to keep them in the Sunnyside day care to suffer in the hands of unruly toddlers. Just like any Pixar movie, there were lots of funny scenes. Mr. Potato Head being turned into Mr. Tortilla head is particularly entertaining, I couldn’t stop laughing while he was fighting with the pigeon. And I just love Ken’s reaction as Barbie tears up his vintage clothes right before his eyes. (Seriously Ken, you’re gay.) I just had to say this, I was surprised with the appearance of Totoro. So the creators of Toy Story 3 are fans of Hayao Miyazaki, eh? Now I want my own Totoro plushie. Seriously.
But for me, the last scene is the one thing most people would remember for years to come. While it was quite endearing to see Andy introduce his toys one by one to young Bonnie, you can feel his hesitation when Andy found Woody inside the box. He was probably torn at that moment: he wants to keep Woody and bring it to college with him, but at the same time he didn’t want to hurt Bonnie’s feelings. He probably thought that it was useless to hold on to Woody when he realized he can no longer remember Woody’s catchphrase but Bonnie said it even before pulling Woody’s cord. (And honestly, would normal college kids bring their old toys and still play with them?) As Andy looked down on Woody, I felt that I was shedding the tears that Andy did not dare show to young Bonnie. I’m amazed that Andy’s voice didn’t crack as he said this: Now Woody, he’s been my pal for as long as I can remember. He’s brave, like a cowboy should be. And kind, and smart. But the thing that makes Woody special, is he’ll never give up on you… ever. He’ll be there for you, no matter what. As Andy played with his old toys one last time, I was crushed knowing that after this scene, Andy and Woody would go their separate ways. I even half-expected that tears would fall down from Woody’s face as Andy waves goodbye and gets inside his car. Woody and the gang were lucky to have Andy as an owner. He treated them all like good friends instead of merely toys. Even if they can’t speak in front of Andy, they are alive just the same. My friend gave her toys a big hug when she got home from watching the film. I cried myself to sleep, thinking of all the toys I mutilated when I was a kid. And I think amyowhorker of Cracked.com got it right. If movie titles were honest, then Toy Story 3 will be renamed as:

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There ought to be a law punishing people who make 3D films just because it is the “in” thing. Tickets for 3D films ain’t cheap, you know. You should at least get what you pay for. Seriously, The Last Airbender is not worth watching in the cinema. Not in 3D, not even in 2D. Just wait for a kind soul to provide a copy via torrent. And while you’re waiting for that copy, just watch the TV series. Or just watch Eclipse. shudder Even Rotten Tomatoes gave a higher rating for Eclipse compared with this mess. So how exactly did Shyamalan messed up the movie adaptation of one of the most adorable animated series ever? First, the script. I watched this film with someone who is uninitiated in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and he felt that there were lots of scenes that were disconnected and unnecessary. Imagine how I felt, having watched the animated series a few days ago. It’s as if I’m reading a badly written essay, where the writer lifted some paragraphs from several sources without bothering with the continuity of the story. I’m not even sure if Shyamalan is thinking of his target audience at all. It lacks the depth that adult viewers would appreciate, and it lacks the humor that would make the kids excited to see the film. Second, the 3D rendering. I would have been less annoyed by it if I just watched the film in 2D (because it is cheaper). James Cameron’s Avatar earned a lot from the 3D version because there are certain scenes that you would appreciate only in 3D. The only 3D scene I could recognize in The Last Airbender is the landscape of the Northern Air Temple. Most of the time, I was lifting my 3D glasses to see if there is a difference with and without the glasses. Now I miss the times when you get a warning seconds before a 3D scene telling you to wear your glasses, and you can remove the glasses after that scene. It’s a little inconvenient, but at least you know which parts of the movie are rendered in 3D. Third, the acting. Well you can’t really do much with a badly written script. I imagined Aang to be a playful kid, but we get an emo version of him instead. Sokka was supposed to be the king of sarcasm, and yet he only got slightly funny when he met the princess of the Northern Water Tribe. Katara is not motherly enough in the movie. Besides, she is already a powerful water bender in the animated series when she defended Aang from Zuko’s attack. But in the film version, Zuko defeated her easily. And speaking of Zuko, he is not angry enough. I don’t see the obsession with capturing the Avatar to regain his honor. He should be doing everything he could to prevent Aang from escaping his clutches. Fourth, the battle scenes. The Fire Nation has been waging war for a hundred years, and they are winning. How can you make me believe that a huge fleet of Fire Nation ships would simply back away because they saw a giant wave? They should have stuck to the version in the animated series, where Aang attacked the Fire Nation fleet in the avatar state and cannot control himself. Seeing the other ships destroyed would be enough motivation for the rest of the fleet to fall back. I was also not satisfied with the battle of the benders. I imagined that the movements would be quick, the elements reacting to the slightest movement of the bender. Having to watch a lengthy dance before seeing a reaction is a bit lame. It would give the non-benders an advantage in battle, because they just have to attack the bender before he finishes the movements. The decent battle scenes are already in the trailer. Most of the time it just felt awkward. To be fair to Shyamalan, I like the idea of having the fire benders not generating their own flames. Only the strong fire benders can make fire out of their own chi, like Iroh and Zuko. But didn’t Master Pakku tell the Water Tribe warriors to put out all fires before the attack of the Fire Nation? Then why were the lamps surrounding the city still lit? Zhao even used those fires to attack Iroh. Stupid of the Northern Water Tribe to miss that. So if they ever plan to do the second part of The Last Airbender, here are my suggestions. If they don’t have enough money to shoot the entire movie in 3D, prioritize the battle scenes. Look at the fifth Harry Potter movie. It was a horrible movie overall, but the fight scene between Dumbledore and Voldemort was stunning in 3D. You should make the audience evade the attacks even though it is just an illusion. There are lots of battles between benders to choose from. Take some lessons from James Cameron’s Avatar. Zuko needs to resolve his issues in the second part. He needs to figure out if he will continue to catch the avatar to satisfy his father or if he will listen to his Uncle Iroh and be on the good side. We need to see some epic acting from Zuko. Can’t we have Alfonso Cuarón direct the second part? And seriously, look for a better scriptwriter.

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I entered late in the “Avatar” phenomenon, it was only last year that I got to watch all the episodes of the animated series. And my friends were right, it was surprisingly good. And that’s the reason why I am having second thoughts with M. Night Shyamalan’s movie adaptation. First, I don’t see how they are going to squeeze in all the important details in 103 minutes. Are they just going to concentrate on Book 1? If yes, maybe it can be done (although we won’t be able to see some Earth-bending action). Otherwise, forget it. Even the seventh book of Harry Potter had to be split into 2 parts, so there’s no way that the entire series of Avatar: The Last Airbender will fit in just one movie. Now if they are just going to show the Water Tribe saga, that would be a bit boring. Let’s face it, the series only got exciting when they finally reached the Northern Water tribe and they had to defend themselves from the attack of the Fire country. Only the humor got me through the first few episodes of the series, thanks to Sokka. If they cannot do that in the movie, then I’m afraid that we won’t see the sequels. Now for the controversies on racism, frankly I don’t care. As long as they can bring justice to the character in the series, that’s fine with me. Geez, I was just praying that this won’t turn out into a Dragonball: Evolution type of movie adaptation. I was also having second thoughts when I saw their website. Don’t get me wrong, the website is really great. But then, the website of The Golden Compass was just as impressive, and we all know how it fared in the box office. I am praying that this film will not flop, because the next 2 books of Avatar are way more exciting compared with the first book. The fact that it will be shown in 3D got me interested in watching this movie. Wow, it would be interesting to see how they bend the elements in 3D. The last movie I watched in 3D was James Cameron’s Avatar, so I have a pretty high standard. They better pull it off in this film. Tomorrow is the opening day of The Last Airbender in the US, much later for the rest of the world (July 28 in Paris). I got my advanced screening tickets on July 9. I hope it’s worth the wait.

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There’s practically nothing new with the plot. As with other human-versus-alien films, a man (the lead character) is sent to immerse himself in an alien community to learn their ways and their weaknesses. He falls in love with an alien, and discovers how humans can be more savage than beasts in order to get what they want. In disgust, he betrays the human race to defend the aliens. But what sets Avatar apart from other films is the fact that it is rendered in 3D. And wow, every scene just blows me away. Believe me, you certainly would not want to go out in the middle of the film and miss all the action. Be prepared to watch it for almost 3 hours nonstop.
I can only imagine the effort they put into creating Pandora, the world of the alien race called Na’vi. You feel yourself immersed in this world just like Jake Sully (the lead character). You can feel the pain of Neytiri (Jake’s love interest) as she sees how the humans destroyed their home. You will be amazed at how the Na’vi fought using bows and arrows against the tanks, guns, and robots of the humans. I can’t help but cheer as the battle turned in favor of the aliens. At the end of the film, I wished I had my own avatar form to experience Pandora first hand. Finally I find a film that is worth watching in IMAX 3D. In terms of special effects, this puts all the other films I’ve watched to shame. And yes, that includes The Matrix and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Directors need to take lessons from James Cameron and his team to see how to shoot a film in IMAX 3D. Thanks to Jleg for convincing me to watch this film. ^_^

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This film was written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, and was released last 2007. The Japanese title is Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru (秒速5センチメートル). It is made up of three short stories in the life of Takaki Tohno, from his elementary school days up to his adult life. Basically it is the story of Takaki’s first love, and how it affected his life. It has a simple storyline, but it is coupled with the magnificent scenery and superb animation. It was a touching story, to say the least. It simply blew me away.

This film was written and directed by Makoto Shinkai, and was released last 2007. The Japanese title is Byōsoku Go Senchimētoru (秒速5センチメートル). It is made up of three short stories in the life of Takaki Tohno, from his elementary school days up to his adult life. Basically it is the story of Takaki’s first love, Akari Shinohara, and how it affected his life. It has a simple storyline, but it is coupled with the magnificent scenery and superb animation. It was a touching story, to say the least. It simply blew me away. This is not your typical love story where the lead character gets a happy ending. In fact, it portrays the reality of first love. No matter how much you love each other, you will eventually drift apart if you lose contact with the other person. “Five centimeters per second” seems to symbolize the rate at which you find yourself drifting away from a person. A slow rate, but given enough time you just might be surprised at how far you’ve drifted away. And eventually, you will realize that you cannot go back to the way things were. Such is the case in the love story of Takaki and Akari. They were very good friends in elementary school. They had to part in junior high because Akari had to move away. They keep in touch through letters, but Takaki will move even farther away from Akari starting high school, making it difficult (if not impossible) to stay in touch. Takaki and Akari meet one last time, hopefully to admit their feelings for each other. But the sudden snowstorm prevented them from doing so, and they parted with things left unsaid. Nevertheless, they had an intimate moment that night, and that is enough for Takaki to have something to hold on to in the years to come. In high school, Takaki meets Kanae Sumita. She fell in love with Takaki, and it is affecting her performance in surfing and her studies as well. She was feeling insecure because she sees in Takaki someone who is good in everything he does, while she on the other hand is being indecisive. They eventually got to know each other better, and it helped Kanae to be more confident of her abilities. Right before they graduate, Kanae was confident enough to finally admit her feelings for Takaki. But then she noticed that Takaki was thinking of someone else, so she has decided not to admit her feelings after all. They parted ways after graduating in high school. The final episode of the movie tells us of the life that Takaki led as an adult. It was surprising to see Takaki lead such a miserable life, going through the routines, hoping that one day he would meet Akari once more. But here it is revealed that Akari is already engaged. Alas for our hero! He was holding on to something that no longer exists. That scene when they almost met each other again made me cry. Takaki was so kind to Kanae, he deserved to be happy somehow! Towards the end of the film, Takaki realized how miserable his life had become. At that moment, he decided to let go of Akari’s memory and move on with his life. I felt sad when I realized that Takaki and Akari will not end up together. But then I realized that I’ve been watching too much Hollywood movies where the lead characters eventually get their happy ending. I was reminded that this is the scenario that happens most of the time in real life, people moving in and out of your life. Isn’t there a saying that when a person leaves you, it means that their part in your story is over? But despite the sad turn of events, the mood is not that gloomy in the entire film. In fact, we are treated to the beauty of everyday life, like the cherry blossoms gently falling during springtime, or the waves splashing on the shore during summertime. Somehow it reminds us to stay positive, for even in the most dramatic moments of the film, there is something to be happy about. Take for instance the final scene from episode 2. Just after Kanae has decided not to admit her feelings for Takaki, they were treated to the sight of a rocket ship being launched into space. A bittersweet moment, if you asked me. This movie just made me realize that what Alfred, Lord Tennyson said is true: I hold it true, whate’er befall; I feel it, when I sorrow most; ‘Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all.

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Sorry for the late update. I’ve watched this ages ago, but it took me a while to write a review because I was trying to decide if I liked it or not. I don’t know, somehow this movie didn’t convince me at all. I’ve received feedback on how nonexistent the plot was, while others were blown away by the special effects of the movie. For me, there was something lacking in it. Special effects are good, but not great. And geez, why is it that almost every Hollywood villain who wants to take over the world starts with destroying the Eiffel Tower? I wasn’t convinced with the car chase scenes, because they can’t drive like that in the narrow streets of Paris. And come on, am I supposed to believe that the clothing they wore in the Artic base is enough to protect them from the cold? Boo. I have to admit though, I loved the fight scene where the Joes first appeared. Also, I was impressed with the accelerator suits they used in the car chase in Paris. I enjoyed it immensely, too bad it had to be ruined by Ripcord saving Scarlett in the middle of the chase. I also loved the part where Ripcord had to blast the warheads before it hits Moscow and Washington. Impressive special effects on those scenes, I give them that. After a few days, I finally figured out what I hated about it: Too many flashbacks! Geez. They try to develop the characters by looking at what happened in the past, but to do it for half of the characters in the movie? Bleh. This might have worked for Duke, the Baroness and the Doctor, they are the main characters after all. But it was a drag for Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. Come on, of all the things that you can do after seeing your master killed by someone you know, why take an oath of silence? They wasted a lot of screentime on that, and it contributes nothing to the story except for the fact that Snake Eyes wanted to kill Storm Shadow so badly. And for those who were saying that this is at least better than Transformers 2, I totally disagree. Goodness, I’m starting to get disillusioned by the shows I loved as a kid. It’s a good thing that I have a discount when I watched the movie, I would have been totally disappointed if I paid the full price. And I guess my opinion on this film can be summarized by what my former student said in his entry: G.I. Joe – where ice sinks in water!

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Watched it in 3D today. To be honest, I didn’t see much of a difference, noticed a scene or two popped up off the screen out of the 1 hour, 30 minutes I’ve been there. But since I was wearing the goggles the entire time, I barely realized that it is already in 3D. I did see that the French subtitles were popping up, and it looked blurred the moment I took the glasses off. But since I ignore those subtitles anyway, there isn’t really much of a difference. It is still a good movie to watch, though I would be perfectly happy even if I was only watching it in 2D. Most of the time I can’t tell the difference when watching it with the glasses and without the glasses. It’s already a visual treat with the 2D version. I’d say, another plus for Pixar with this film. I mean, going to South America by using lots of balloons to lift your house! Leave it to Pixar to think of great ideas for a story. My favorite character in the film is Russell, no contest. He is just too adorable! So agile too, for a fat kid. Or maybe that’s the adrenaline working. Haha. I love the last scene where he gets the badge for helping the elderly, but looked like he just survived a dragon attack. I was laughing hard at that one. Another scene that got me entertained was the battle between Carl Fredricksen and Charles Muntz. For one moment, it’s as if you are watching a battle between a Jedi and a Sith. The next scene, they couldn’t attack because their bones were cracking as they raised their weapons. You suddenly remember that these are old people to begin with. Haha! The one thing that really made me burst out laughing is Alpha. I mean, his voice! The whole cinema was laughing with me whenever he talks. It was just too crazy! You really have to hear it for yourself. Ohohohoho! This story didn’t make me cry as much as the other Pixar films though. I don’t know, maybe the sad part was introduced a bit too early with the death of Ellie. So when the conflict of the film came up, when Russell left Carl to save the bird Kevin, it was just an ‘aww’ moment for me. Or maybe I was just too busy laughing at the antics of Dug and the rest of the dog pack. So how did it fare compared with the rest of the Pixar films? Not much, I’m afraid. It’s kind of hard to beat the previous films when you have to compete with a lot of good films in the past: Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, The Incredibles, A Bug’s Life, and so on. Maybe a fourth or a fifth place spot for me among all of the Pixar films I’ve watched. Watched it in 3D today. To be honest, I didn’t see much of a difference, noticed a scene or two popped up off the screen out of the 1 hour, 30 minutes I’ve been there. But since I was wearing the goggles the entire time, I barely realized that it is already in 3D. I did see that the French subtitles were popping up, and it looked blurred the moment I took the glasses off. But since I ignore those subtitles anyway, there isn’t really much of a difference. It is still a good movie to watch, though I would be perfectly happy even if I was only watching it in 2D. Most of the time I can’t tell the difference when watching it with the glasses and without the glasses. It’s already a visual treat with the 2D version. I’d say, another plus for Pixar with this film. I mean, going to South America by using lots of balloons to lift your house! Leave it to Pixar to think of great ideas for a story. My favorite character in the film is Russell, no contest. He is just too adorable! So agile too, for a fat kid. Or maybe that’s the adrenaline working. Haha. I love the last scene where he gets the badge for helping the elderly, but looked like he just survived a dragon attack. I was laughing hard at that one. Another scene that got me entertained was the battle between Carl Fredricksen and Charles Muntz. For one moment, it’s as if you are watching a battle between a Jedi and a Sith. The next scene, they couldn’t attack because their bones were cracking as they raised their weapons. You suddenly remember that these are old people to begin with. Haha! The one thing that really made me burst out laughing is Alpha. I mean, his voice! The whole cinema was laughing with me whenever he talks. It was just too crazy! You really have to hear it for yourself. Ohohohoho! This story didn’t make me cry as much as the other Pixar films though. I don’t know, maybe the sad part was introduced a bit too early with the death of Ellie. So when the conflict of the film came up, when Russell left Carl to save the bird Kevin, it was just an ‘aww’ moment for me. Or maybe I was just too busy laughing at the antics of Dug and the rest of the dog pack. So how did it fare compared with the rest of the Pixar films? Not much, I’m afraid. It’s kind of hard to beat the previous films when you have to compete with a lot of good films in the past: Wall-E, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., Toy Story, The Incredibles, A Bug’s Life, and so on. Maybe a fourth or a fifth place spot for me among all of the Pixar films I’ve watched.

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If you're a movie buff that just can't get enough of the trailers, teasers, and clips from upcoming movies, HD-Trailers makes it easy to get your fill. At HD-Trailers you can search and browse hundreds of movie trailers. You can download the videos in 480p/720p/1080p and even encoded for iPod and PS3. Each movie listed has at minimum a summary of the movie, cover art, and a trailer. The more popular movies have multiple trailers, teasers, and bonus clips for you to watch. There is no registration required, you can jump in, browse, and download away. For more HD movie trailer action, check out previously reviewed Trailer Freaks which has an RSS feed to keep you up to date on the most current trailers. HD-Trailers [via MakeUseOf]

Have you ever wanted to save a segment of video from your favorite DVD for watching later without fast-forwarding all the way through the movie? VLC 1.0 adds a new "Record" feature to help you. Over at the How-To Geek web site (my home away from Lifehacker), blogger Mysticgeek writes up how to enable the new recording features: just use the View -> Advanced Controls menu item, and then you can record videos by hitting the record button to start saving the video, and then pressing it again when you are done. You'll find the segment of the video in your Documents folder, saved in MPG format. This isn't quite the same as ripping a DVD, which we've covered many times before—but you could use it for that purpose if you wanted to, especially if you wanted to cut out the stuff at the beginning of a movie that isn't necessary. Readers should note that it doesn't seem to work with just any video, but we've successfully tested it with a number of DVDs and even AVI files that seemed to work without problems. Hit the link for the full walk-through, read up on how to turn your PC into a DVD-ripping monster, or check out the five best DVD ripping tools. How To Copy a DVD with VLC 1.0 [How-To Geek]

The movie wasn’t so bad as I thought. I have to hand it to David Yates, he did a good job with it. I wasn’t screaming my head off at the end of the film saying that I wasted money in watching it. He did away with all of the extra scenes in the book and stuck with the essential story: investigating Voldemort while he was still a student from Hogwarts. It was a pretty dark theme, but they countered it with the blooming love stories between Harry and Ginny, and with Ron and Hermione. I’ve read the books at least twenty times (believe me, it’s true), so I can’t say for certain if the movie can be understood without reading the book. But I think it can stand on its own. There were major deviations from the book of course, we can’t help that. But they pretty much got what is essential. At least, every detail in the movie is essential, and the scenes aren’t disconnected like previous Harry Potter films. I knew how the story ends, but I was still moved with the last few scenes. I wonder how it looks like to people who haven’t read the book. Would they be shocked with the way it ended? Would they be surprised with the revelations? Hmmm… (Spoilers ahead.) However, I am still bitter over the fact that they excluded Dumbledore’s funeral in the film. They ended it with Harry, Ron and Hermione appreciating the view from one of the towers?! Come on! They could do the whole RAB thing while attending Dumbledore’s funeral. It would have been more convincing that way, Harry promising over Dumbledore’s dead body to continue the quest to find the Horcruxes. That is also the time when Harry says goodbye to Ginny before his heroic quest. Moreover, Dumbledore’s wand was buried with his body, not lying around the Headmaster’s room. Moreover, it will be important in the last installment of the series. So I repeat, THEY SHOULD HAVE INCLUDED DUMBLEDORE’S FUNERAL. My friends were complaining about the scene between Dumbledore and the Death Eaters. And I have to agree, they made it appear that Harry was a coward because he didn’t do anything. Dumbledore’s word or not, Harry would have risked his life to save Dumbledore from the hands of the Death Eaters. Come on, that was what the previous scene in the lake was all about! And Dumbledore knows this, so they should have stuck with the book version of stunning Harry and covering him with the invisibility cloak. It would take just about the same amount of screen time compared with Dumbledore convincing Harry to hide. Characters The acting significantly improved from the previous films. I was actually surprised with Hermione (Emma Watson), she delivered herself really well. Ron (Rupert Grint) was goofy with the whole love-potion scene, it was absolutely hilarious. And the last few scenes of Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) was very convincing, I would have cried if I didn’t know how it would end. There were still a few awkward moments, like the scenes where Harry and Ron talked about girls and the scenes of Harry and Ginny. Than can be improved in the next film, right? Draco, with a significantly bigger role in this installment unlike the previous parts, unfortunately fell a bit short. The way he pops up in the scene and then suddenly runs away? It’s as if he’s telling Harry to follow him because he’s up to no good. He’s suppose to be sneaking and not be Mr. Obvious. And those several scenes where he puts objects inside the Vanishing Cabinet to test if it works? One would have been enough. Or they could have some scenes where it didn’t work, and at the end it finally worked, that would have been the way to go. Anyway, Draco was claiming that he was fixing the Vanishing Cabinet, didn’t he? But I can forgive those lapses with the way he delivered his final scene with Dumbledore. That turned out okay. Snape’s revelation that he was the Half-Blood Prince was too abrupt. He just said it, and left. What? He could have at least explained why he calls himself the Half-Blood Prince. I mean, that was the title of the movie, isn’t it? He was usually emotionless, but he was supposed to be very angry when Harry called him a coward. They could have started the explanation of the whole Half-Blood Prince thing from there. And again, that would be significant in the last installment. But no, Snape’s face was expressionless from beginning to the end. But yeah, aside from those complaints, the sixth installment was pretty good. Exceeds Expectations, as Professor McGonagall would say. (Hey wait, I had low expectations to begin with, haha.) Seriously, it was pretty good. Expectations The last part of the series is going to be crucial. Ron is going to have a big fight with Harry over the mission, he better not mess it up. It’s got to be better than their fight in the fourth movie. And they downplayed the role of Kreacher in the last movie, they would have to fix it now. And of course, I am looking forward to the battle at Hogwarts. I hope that they render it in 3D, just like the battle with Dumbledore and Voldemort in the fifth movie.

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Before I begin, I feel that a few disclaimers are in order. I knew that this movie was based on a book by Neil Gaiman, but I haven’t read the book. In fact, my only exposure to the work of Neil Gaiman is the movie Stardust that was released in 2007. Therefore, I would only base my reactions on the movie adaptation. The story revolves around Coraline, a girl longing for the attention of her parents but they were too busy with their work to give her what she wants. Her neighbors don’t even bother to listen to her and call her by her proper name. So when she discovers a door to an alternate universe, where everyone may be a doll-copy of the people in Coraline’s own world but with completely different personalities, she naturally wants to stay in that world. But of course, all of the nice things come with a catch, and here we are reminded to be careful what you wish for. (Spoilers under the cut.) Yeah, sewing buttons to replace your eyes would freak anyone out. Just imagining it happening to me gives me the creeps. But I think what Coraline was more afraid of is the realization that the “other mother” is not willing to let her go. Who knows, if Coraline was allowed one more time in the real world and experience being ignored once more, she just might consider staying in the alternate world forever. But the “other mother” got impatient, revealing her true colors and imprisoning Coraline until she changes her mind. As if that ever worked, it only made Coraline rebellious. And imprisoning her in the room where the souls of the previous victims were trapped in? A very bad idea if you are trying to convince someone to stay. To be honest, I felt quite frustrated after watching the movie. There are some questions on my mind that were not answered in the movie. First of all, how come that the dolls created by the “other mother” were so eager to help Coraline escape from that world? Second, what is so special about the cat? Why is it able to cross freely from one world to the other? Overall, this movie was so-so for me. Maybe I would have appreciated it more if I’d read the book. But then again, maybe not. The story is good, the animation is pretty impressive, but it is not something that I would go out of my way to watch it in the big screen. But the movie got me interested in reading the original book. So, anyone care to lend me a copy of Coraline? Book, ebook, whatever.

I’ve read each of the Harry Potter books more than once, and I’ve watched the first five films. And yes, you read that title right. I am not looking forward to watching the sixth installment on July 15. The only Harry Potter films I enjoyed were the third and the fourth ones. The Goblet of Fire practically screams “make a movie out of me!” so it is easy to make a movie adaptation out of it. You can’t go wrong with that, with the concept of the Triwizard tournament. On the other hand, The Prisoner of Azkaban had a nice plot twist towards the end, and the script was written in such a way that the nonreaders will understand the story. I watched it with someone who hasn’t read the book, and watching him react to the revelations was priceless. That is what made the movie so enjoyable for me. The first and the second movies suffered from lack of continuity, so I was constantly bombarded by questions from the nonreaders while watching the film. And don’t even get me started with the fifth one. I watched it in an IMAX cinema, and I felt that it was a total waste of money. The only good thing that came out of the fifth movie was the fight scene between Dumbledore and Voldemort, rendered in 3D. I am also troubled by the book itself. There are lots of narratives in this one, exploring the character of Voldemort and finding his weakness. They can’t just exclude those narratives, because they are very essential to the story. I am actually expecting a lot of dull moments in this film because of that. So my question is, how are they going to make it less boring? So will I watch The Half-Blood Prince? I don’t know. Convince me. Or not.

Related posts:Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Related posts:Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Okay, I can’t resist it. I absolutely loved the first movie, so I would just die of jealousy if I can’t watch the sequel. This turns out to be the most enjoyable experience I’ve ever had since coming here. Warning: Long entry ahead. I discussed the plot in the first page, and my reactions on the next page. The gang of Autobots, led by Optimus Prime, are out to wipe out the remaining Decepticons in cooperation with the military. Sam is about to go to college, and he’s still dating Mikaela. It seems like things are slowly going back to normal. But the Decepticons are planning on something big, and Sam is again forced to battle alongside the Autobots against the Decepticons. (Spoilers under the cut.) Turns out that the Decepticons arrived on Earth way before Megatron found his way here. The “Primes” (now we know how Optimus Prime got his name) were mining for Energons (the power supply for Transformers) on the stars. Although these Primes vowed never to destroy planets with inhabitants, one of them (aptly called “The Fallen”) turned against the others. He was defeated, and in order to stop him from executing his plan in the future, the other Primes hid the machine they used to mine Energons, and used their own bodies to hide “the Matrix”, the key to activate the mining machine. Fast forward to the present, Starscream and the rest of the Decepticons managed to pinpoint the location of a piece of the Allspark Cube from the first movie (and here I thought it was totally destroyed), and used it to revive Megatron. Turns out that the Fallen is still alive, taking refuge in Saturn. Once Megatron was reunited with the rest of the Decepticons, they set the plan to reactivate the mining machine into motion. But to to that, they must kill Optimus Prime first, because only a Prime can stop another prime. The death of Optimus Prime finally made Sam join the war against the Decepticons. With the help of Mikaela, his roommate Leo, and Agent Simmons, they sought Jetfire in order to understand the meaning of the symbols in Sam’s mind. Jetfire led them to the location of the Matrix, only to discover it crumbling before their eyes as they held it. Nevertheless, Sam holds on to it hoping that it could help revive Optimus Prime. They raced back to Optimus Prime, dodging the attacks of the Decepticons along the way. Sam was hit just before he reached Optimus, and seeing how he sacrificed his life to save Optimus Prime, the “spirits” of the other Primes brought back the old form of the Matrix. Sam was then able to revive Optimus Prime, only to be defeated by the Fallen by taking the Matrix. At this point, Jetfire sacrificed his life to give Optimus Prime the power to defeat the Fallen. Thoughts on the Movie Let me start with the complaints first. For a title character, the Fallen has little screen time. I would have expected the battle scene between Optimus Prime and the Fallen to last longer, after all it is the battle between two “Primes”. But what the heck, Sam’s mother got longer exposure than the Fallen! It is already bad enough that we had to watch Sam’s mother advertise the location of Sam’s room, but we had to watch Sam’s mother get high and tackle a college guy over a damn Frisbee. Geez. Those scenes were unnecessary, and could have been used for the fight scene between the Fallen and Optimus Prime. And yeah, I’m starting to hate Mikaela in this movie. I know that my guy friends will hate me for this, but her drama about saying “I love you” is really irritating. She redeems herself when she was able to convince the Decepticon Wheelie to help them decipher the symbols. But geez, that scene with Wheelie trying to ehem do Mikaela is really, really disturbing. Now for the fun parts. I love the twin Autobots, Mudflap and Skids. They provided the comic relief for this movie. It was really fun watching them argue to the point where Bumblebee had to intervene and throw them out. But they had their shining moment in their battle with the Devastator.

And yeah, who can forget the “blending in like a ninja” part? As if they could really blend in with their surroundings with their outrageous colors. Hehe. Bumblebee is lovable as always. He’s more entertaining when he’s using his radio to communicate with Sam, instead of talking to him directly. And I can’t get over his teary-eyed scene when Sam tells him that he can’t come with him. And he’s one excellent fighter. Just what you would expect from a guardian. Aww. I also enjoyed watching Jetfire. Sure he was a Decepticon before, but he defected to the Autobots because of all the negativity. He was screaming all the time though, a habit formed perhaps when he was still with the Decepticons. They even gave him a crutch to show that he’s very old. But he’s one mean fighter, he can kill Decepticons using his crutch. Nice. Scorponok vs Jetfire. Watch out! That crutch is deadly. Trivia: the actor playing Agent Simmons is also the vocal actor of Jetfire. Haha. And yeah, they finally included the scenes where Megatron screams at Starscream whenever he fails to do his job. Ah, just like the original series. Although I find it a bit weird that Megatron submits to the Fallen, isn’t it a bit out-of-character? Come to think of it, there might be a flaw in this part of the film. How come Megatron already knows of the plan to reactivate the mining machine, if he was destroyed in the previous movie? How come he submits to the Fallen? The Fallen may be a Prime, but I think that Megatron is stronger than him. He watched as Optimus Prime defeated the Fallen, and he might have fought back if he wasn’t stopped by Starscream by saying: Starscream: Cowards do survive… So Megatron falls back. Are we expecting a comeback for another movie? Most probably. And I will definitely watch the next installment.