My First Five Blu-ray Movies

I remember the first five DVDs I bought when I purchased my first DVD player. They were:

• The 400 Blows
• L.A. Confidential
• Hard Boiled
• The Seven Samurai
• The Wedding Singer

Yes, The Wedding Singer appears to be the odd choice, but I found the movie very funny. Anyway, now that I’ve converted to blu-ray, I wondering what my first five discs should be? I already have a head start with three, two of them coming from a deal when I bought the PS3. The discs we current have are:

• Casino Royale
• Monty Python’s Life of Brian
• Iron Man

I only bought Life of Brian because it was part of a deal. There were no other movies on the available list that I thought I would enjoy. I like Monty Python, but I enjoyed Monty Python and the Holy Grail more than Life of Brian. But anyway, I’m still trying to determine (1) what my next purchases will be, and (2) how big is my blu-ray collection going to be. I don’t want to repeat what I did with DVDs – a collection that grew close to 300 discs.

Why don’t I want to collect a bunch of blu-ray discs?

It’s not the whole ‘investing in a technology that may change’ thing that makes me hesitant. It seems to be a fact that anything you/I have a lot of – whether it be clothes, cds, mp3, or whatever – you/I only seem to really use, what, 20% of whatever you have of. Seriously. There are plenty of mp3s in my collection that I haven’t listened to since ripping. There are plenty of clothes that I’ve only worn once, if not at all. There are DVDs that I haven’t watched since buying them. They all take up space. They all took up $$.

Well, let’s see how I do. Saying and doing are two different things.

25 Films for 2009

Of the 25 films listed, I’m looking forward to “Inglorious Basterds” the most

The 25 Most Anticipated Movies of 2009 | Film School Rejects

A Review of Juno

The first movie to be reviewed on the “reloaded” web site is Juno. Farrah and I watched Juno about a week ago at the AMC Cupertino Square 16. This theater is becoming our number one place to watch movies. I suppose because it is new, clean, and doesn’t smell like feet yet.

We had only heard good things about the movie, so expectations were slightly high. The only aspect I wasn’t looking forward to was Jennifer Garner’s acting. We bought our Milk Duds and headed into the theater. We were early enough to have our choice of seats. But the place quickly filled up with eager moviegoers. It had been some time since we watched a movie in a crowded theater.

Here is the brief synopsis provided by Netflix:

Facing an unplanned pregnancy, worldly teen Juno (Ellen Page) devises a plan to locate the proverbial perfect parents to adopt her baby. But the seemingly ideal couple Juno chooses appears to still have some growing up to do. Now, everyone in Juno’s world must do a little soul-searching. Michael Cera (Superbad) co-stars while Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner play the pair of affluent yuppies anxious for a child in this offbeat coming-of-age comedy.

What I Liked

The movie is a funny and smartly written. Sharing laughter with a large crowd sure makes the movie experience more enjoyable. Juno is one of those movies that has very quotable dialog. You can find yourself quoting lines often throughout the following weeks. The acting is sharp all around, especially from Ellen Page who plays the lead. Yes, I even liked Jennifer Garner.

The film moves at a brisk pace, clocking in at a fast 92 minutes. The seemingly predictable plot points turned out to be refreshingly unpredictable, at least from my standpoint.

What I Did Not Enjoy

I can’t think of anything I didn’t enjoy about Juno. I could say it was short, but it didn’t feel too short. I was awaiting an unsatisfying ending; you know the endings where each viewer needs to determine for themselves if the characters found happiness or not? Luckily this did not come to pass.

Some may think the dialog is trying to hard to be memorable, trying hard to be cute and hip. But it works in this movie for both the characters in high school and the adults.

Final Thoughts

Strong movie. Smart script. Strong acting by likable actors. A good way to spend in few hours in a warm theater.

Rating: ***** out of 5 stars

Spider-Man 3

Spider-Man is not one of my favorite comic book characters. I’m more of a Batman guy, but I have enjoyed the Spider-Man movies. I thought the second movie in the series was better than the first. So my expectation of this third installment was very high, even after hearing of the lousy reviews.

As I always start my reviews, here is the Netflix synopsis of Spider-Man 3:

After defeating eight-armed cyborg Doctor Octopus, Spider-Man (Tobey Maguire) faces off against a new crop of villains, including the shape-shifting Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), in the third adventure of the comic book series. While Spidey’s superpowers are altered by an alien organism, his alter ego, Peter Parker, deals with nemesis Eddie Brock (Topher Grace) and gets caught up in a love triangle. Kirsten Dunst and James Franco co-star.

What I Liked

The actors and the characters they inhabit are likable. The special effects involving the Sandman were cool. Also the “Gwen Stacy rescue scene” was done with just the right amount of intensity. The last battle scene at some moments, but in the end left me unfulfilled.

What I Didn’t Enjoy

But not all the special effects worked. The first battle slash chase scene looked particularly fake and uninspiring. Subsequent battles were too long and a bit repetitious.

The whiny nice Peter Parker started to get on my nerves. The angry Venom-infected Peter wasn’t menacing to be, but over the top hilarious caricature. My guess – Toby Maguire can’t pull off this duality bit convincingly. Also, the path the Harry Osborn character takes feels a bit forced.

The film also suffers from too many characters in a movie. Let’s see, there’s the old gang (Peter/Spidey, Mary Jane, Aunt May, etc.) and the new characters (Gwen Stacy, Ed Brock Jr., Venom, The Sandman, and a few others). To me this problem caused some of the old Batman franchise films to not reach their full potential.

Final Thoughts

This trilogy hasn’t ended on a strong note. Spider-Man 3 is a watchable film. I just don’t think I’ll care to watch it again.

* 1/2 (out of 5)

Transformers

How do you make a kids movie about talking transforming robots into a live action summer blockbuster? You get Steven Speilberg to produce and Michael Bay to direct the movie, that’s how you do it.

Transformers is the second movie we watch at the AMC Theaters in Cupertino Square. Does it succeed in starting a new franchise of movies about robots from the planet Cybertron? Or does it sink like a hunk of junk?

The Netfilx synopsis:

Based on the popular toys that transform from machines into giant robots, this live-action movie from Pearl Harbor director Michael Bay finds the planet Cybertron inhabitants engaging in a secret war for control of Earth’s natural resources, which they desperately need for fuel. Able to disguise themselves as cars, airplanes, boats and more, the transformers prove a tough enemy in this film starring Shia LaBeouf, Josh Duhamel and Jon Voight.

What I Liked

The movie starts off well. The early action and battle scenes provide plenty of bang for your movie buck. The opening scenes in the desert with American troops fighting a lone Decepticon shows just how tough these robots are. The movie moves at a nice pace through the first half of the film, providing a nice mix of action and information without getting too bogged down in either.

The introduction of our hero, the girl/woman he’s destined to be with, and other characters move along at a good clip. Shia LaBeouf isn’t your next action star, but you can see he has skills playing the reluctant hero. I’m sure we’ll see him in similar parts as his career grows. As the humans and the Autobots start interacting more on a personal level, the film starts to slow a bit. It almost comes to a complete halt when the Autobots go to Shia’s home to retrieve an artifact.

What I Didn’t Enjoy
The acting is passable, with the robot voices providing as much emotion as their human counterparts. I’m not a big Jon Voight fan, so his Donald Rumsfeld-type role could have been cut out as far as I’m concerned. Anthony Anderson’s computer geek character seems to be thrown into the mix out of left field. The relationship between Shai LaBeouf and Meagan Fox’s character wasn’t believable. Plus believing Megan Fox was a high school student is a big stretch.

There is almost one too many battles in this movie. When the Decepticon and Autobots finally clash, it is difficult to follow who is the good guy and who is the bad guy. And I still didn’t understand the deal with the Allspark, as explained in the film.

Final Thoughts

This loud live action packed, cgi filled, nonsensical plotted movie proved to be slightly successful as a new action film. I guess I could see it become a franchise, though I’m not sure where it can go from here. The crowd we saw it with seemed to love it. And it did succeed in recapturing the feeling of the afternoon cartoon I enjoyed in my youth.

Transformers: ** (out of 5)