Back from the Dead

Woah. It’s been crazy under the rock that has been my home for the last month or so. Between work and volunteering with the American Cancer Society, things have been nuts. I have done a lot of things and seen a lot of movies and I want to write about all of them! So in the next coming days, my goal is to catch up on everything from California Adventure opening this coming Friday and all the new merchandise they have to offer to every movie I’ve seen in the last few weeks: Avengers, Dark Shadows, Men in Black 3, and Snow White and The Huntsman. It’s going to crazy so hang on.

I have seen more movies in the last few weeks than I have seen in the last year. I used to go to the movies all the time, but then things got busy and I just didn’t have time to go anymore. Plus, there were very few movies that I really really wanted to see. This movie season has definitely proven worthy. Everyone knows that Avengers was awesome so I feel like I would just be wasting a blog if all I did was rant about something everyone already knows so I think I’m going to skip that one and go right into the most disappointing movie of the year, Dark Shadows. Johnny Depp and Tim Burton. What could go wrong? Apparently, no matter how good you are at making a movie, you have to have a good script. You can have every great actor and the best director, but if your script sucks, you’re screwed and that’s exactly what happened with Dark Shadows. I never watched the TV show so I was going in blind expecting greatness. But as I mentioned, the script was boring and I didn’t give a shit. Of course Johnny was awesome and the movie was pretty to look at, but that’s where it ended. Johnny’s character is cursed by a witch when he falls in love with someone other than her. She turns him into a vampire and locks him in a coffin until he’s found by construction workers decades later. Naturally, the witch is still alive and has taken over his family business. He tries to get it back from her and blah blah blah. I’m bored already. All comedic timing was lost and I was left asking “WTF?” Very disappointing, especially because all the people who watched the TV show were pretty much boycotting the movie. The least Tim Burton could have done was made this movie freaking awesome so people would have no choice but to see it. Maybe next time, Tim. Long story short, don’t see this movie. Don’t even waste the $1 at Red Box. Don’t even download it illegally.

Weekend Movie - Pirates of the Caribbean on Strangers Tides at Disneyland

I hope everyone had an awesome weekend! I had the good fortune of getting to attend the world premiere of Pirates of the Caribbean on Stranger Tides at Disneyland. It was kind of amazing. I got to walk the black carpet in front of all the paparazzi, which was very intimidating. I don't know how people do it. All the rides in Frontier Land and New Orleans Square were open so we got to ride those over and over. All the food at the kiosks was free. There was a full buffet for dinner as well. So that part was awesome all in itself. I've never walked on to so many rides in my life.

Then, the best part comes. Disneyland set up movie theatre seats stadium style in the Tom Sawyer lagoon, which was very impressive. The movie screen was on an island that they built right in front of Tom Sawyer Island. We got free pop corn and drinks, but wait for it: Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz were there too along with the rest of the cast. This I was not expecting. I just thought that we were going to see the movie and go home. The producer, Jerry Bruckheimer walked out on stage and I was very excited and then when the rest of the cast came out I was speechless. It was definitely a pleasure to see them.

The movie was pretty good too. I feel like the last 3 were a little confusing for some reason, but this one seemed straight forward. I also don't feel like it needed the other 3 movies to exist. This one kind of stands on its own. I think the mermaids were my favorite. They were sweet and cute and then they turned evil and I kind of liked that about them. People always think of Ariel when they hear someone talking about mermaids so this was a nice change of pace. Their fins were super cool too. The CG was really well done. Definitely see this movie when it comes out.

Weekend Movie - Rango

I finally saw Rango this weekend. I have been wanting to see it since it first came out, but Sunday morning was my first opportunity. I thought the movie was uber political. This lizard is riding in the back of the family car when an armadillo walks out in front of the car. The driver swerves causing the lizard and his cage to go flying out the back window and then the story begins. The lizard talks to the armadillo who tells him to find the town in the distance. The lizard walks forever in the desert, but eventually finds this town. He takes on the name Rango, becomes the sheriff and tries to help the town out of a drought.

Through all of this, there were political messages popping up everywhere. I felt like Rango was Obama; the new leader people needed to look up to to make a change in the town. I thought the drought was commentary on the economic state we're in now. The water in the town was kept in the bank so it was pretty obvious in my mind. Obviously, anyone can look at the movie differently and see Rango as Jesus, but I think it was more a commentary on the US. Plus, Hollywood is liberal and I'm not sure they would make Rango Jesus.

The movie is definitely not for kids. The animation was amazing and therefore some of the characters were very hard to look at. They were very creepy looking. All of that aside, I do feel that Johnny Depp did an amazing job as Rango. The way he can alter his voice is just awe inspiring. He is one of few actors who allows you to see the character in the movie and not think about the actor doing the voice over. I completely forgot it was Johnny Depp.

I'm not sure if I recommend this movie or not. Towards the end, there were some really bad one liners. Like I said, the animation was amazing and so was Johnny Depp so if you can put the other stuff aside, than this movie might be for you.

Off With Their Heads

I saw Alice in Wonderland this past weekend and I have to say that all the hype surrounding it lead to disappointment. Of course, when you see a million trailers for a movie it’s more than likely going to be bad, but no one expects a bad movie from Tim Burton. I was very sad to see that he in fact didn’t make a great movie. Yeah the movie had a huge opening and made a billion dollars, but the movie was kind of blah. I was waiting and waiting for something super exciting to happen and it never did. I was really hoping for an awesome, insane movie. All I got was the insane. Johnny Depp did his thing, but he wasn’t as great as he has been. At one point he sounded like Jack Sparrow and that’s never like him to cause people to think of another character he’s played. He always makes each role super unique.

The CG and visual effects were amazing, but that wasn’t enough for me. I wanted a good story too. Maybe we forget that the original story by Lewis Carol was kind of boring and Tim Burton did what he could with it? I don’t know. All I know is that I was disappointed.

I saw the movie in 3D even though I’m usually very against that, but I figured why not. I have to say that the 3D didn’t really make a difference. It didn’t even seem like the movie was in 3D. I heard the movie was filmed in 2D and adapted to 3D and that never makes for good 3D effects. It was a sad day for me in Wonderland.