Category Archives: movies

How to Train Your Dragon review

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Went to see How To Train Your Dragon in 3-D and was mediocrely surprised. It’s apparent that it wasn’t designed for 3-D and it was just added on after the success of Avatar. The 3-D was mediocre at best and the animation was passable if not decent. They made pretty much every viking look alike except for the hero and his band of merry men and women. But was it worth the money?

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Older movies you should watch – Brazil

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Brazil by Terry Gilliam has nothing to do with the country of Brazil. The title comes from the memorable repeated song “Aquarela do Brasil”. And the story behind the movie is almost as compelling as the movie itself. But it should be noted that Brazil is one of the science fiction masterpieces that had fans whispering to each other “Have you seen Brazil?”

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Swamp Thing Part 3: Post Alan Moore

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In the mid 80’s, over a series of 45 issues, Alan Moore redefined Swamp Thing as well as the comic book series. When he decided to leave the book, what would happen to the character as well as the book. Swamp Thing actually enjoyed a brief rise due to a new movie, a TV series, a short animated series as well as the continuing  comic book series. How long did it last?

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Swamp Thing Part 1: Dark Genesis

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The character of Swamp Thing has always been a personal favorite of mine. I saw the first movie, enjoyed the several of the comic book series and might even have seen a few episodes of the TV show. So today is the first of a 3 part look at Swamp Thing and his many incarnations. Today we’ll look at the beginnings of the character through the end of the Martin Pasko run on the comic books, a stretch which includes the Wes Craven movie.

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Alice in Wonderland (in 3D) review

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Tim Burton, one of my favorite directors, takes on Alice in Wonderland. But, it’s not the story you expect. It should have been called Alice Returns to Wonderland since this is a sequel (set 10 years later) rather than a new take on the original story. But the real question: Is it worth the time and money?

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Classic science fiction movies – Rollerball

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Rollerball is a wonderful science-fiction movie about the intersection of politics and sports in a futuristic society. WARNING: Do NOT watch the 2002 remake, instead stick with the 1975 original. By setting the story as a sports film in a futuristic setting, the political story is underplayed and can slip by without being noticed. This was one of the last good James Caan films until his career was revived by Misery.

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Older Movies To Watch – Hero At Large

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Hero At Large came out after the superhero movie craze from Superman: The Movie. It features a comedian (John Ritter) as a superhero years before people complained about another comedian being cast as a superhero. It’s a B-Movie at best with a thin plot, weak characters and average dialogue (at best), but it has heart and captures the idea of a superhero better than any big budget movie ever did.

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Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief movie review

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We took the kids to see Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief this weekend. Based upon Rick Riordan’s series about Percy Jackson, this is likely the first in a series of movies if it does well. Not having read the books, I can’t really judge how faithful the transition to the big screen is. But I’ve heard that the movie is only loosely based on the first book in that it omits some characters from the book and borrow somethings from the second book. Overall it’s a decent tale.

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A Clockwork Orange: Movie vs Book

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A Clockwork Orange was a literary masterpiece by Anthony Burgess before Stanley Kubrick made a award winning movie out of it. The two versions are completely different while retaining the same essential story. So whose was better, it really depends what you’re looking for.

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Older Movies to Watch – Dark City

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Dark City is a science fiction noir movie that fuses a detective story and an alien experiment. Directed by Alex Proyas (from The Crow, I, Robot and Knowing) and written by Proyas, Lem Dobbs and David Goyer it is a dark vision reminiscent of Blade Runner. The story is a psychological thriller that questions the nature of reality with a 1940 noir backdrop and an alien race orchestrating it all.

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