Zac: Wreck-It Ralph is a beautiful and loving homage to arcade games that I wish was more than just that for the majority of its runtime. [Read more...]
A Delayed Response – Nine; The Young Victoria; Avatar: The Last Airbender (TV Series); Party Down
06/30/2010 by Leave a Comment
Hey guys! Lauren here with the news that I am going to be changing things up a bit on my end. The majority of the time I try to write a review for any movie that I am watching for the first time, but as I have been going on that has been getting a little taxing. I love movies, so the reviews keep piling up, and then there are so many that I can’t watch any new things for fear that I will forget what I had to say about one of the previous.
So here is the plan: From now on I will continue writing about the stuff that is most relevant. “What does that mean?” the voice in my head asks. “Well I will tell you voice” I respond. From now on I am going to write the usual length reviews for the films that are still in theatres, the films that have recently come out on DVD/bluray (within the last month). “But Lauren! I still want to know what you think about every other movie you watch for the first time!” Well, fear not voice, I will still be writing a little blurb for those, and they will be compiled into one post at the end of the week. Like this post here (“It’s the middle of the week!” “Shut up, voice!”). Oh! And I will still be continuing my posts for comics, books (yes, someday I will start doing those), video games, etc. I figured since I spend so much more time getting through one of the latter as opposed to sitting through a 2 hour film, they might just deserve a little more of a break down. But we will see when the time comes.
Here goes nothing! [Read more...]
Review: Shrek Forever After
05/27/2010 by Leave a Comment
The latest Shrek film greatly improves upon the abysmal third film and while it feels a tad to greatest hits and unoriginal it is solid fun and works when it isn’t trying to use pop songs for humor.
Shrek is a bit tired of family life and the routine and while he loves his family he needs a bit of a break. Enter Rumpelstiltskin, after a failed attempt to swindle Far, Far, Away from Fiona’s parents around the time Shrek saved her from her tower. Stiltskin just so happens to roll up on an angry Shrek and offers him a day in the life of the good ole days in return from one day in Shrek’s childhood. Shrek is whisked away through space and time and ends up in a world where he never existed and Stiltskin is in charge of Far, Far, Away; as Shrek wasn’t born and in turn could never save Fiona.
Wednesday in TV – SYTYCD and Glee Premieres
09/11/2009 by Leave a Comment
Every year there is a day that seems more beautiful than most, a day that has been done the great injustice by not being named a holiday. What is this holy moment of divinity? The start of the fall season of television.
So You Think You Can Dance
Though I am more than pleased that SYTYCD has returned within weeks of the last summer season, I was a little unenthused about what we must go through before the real magic begins. Not only that, but a lot of the faces showing up for this season already had a lot of face time with the cameras only a few months ago. That, and I must be a little tired of watching auditions because I am starting to grow indifferent to the performances the judges rave about, including the great tap dancing uprising. Three whole tap dancers with talent? Golly G. The problem with them is that out of the three, Evan’s brother (for lack of remembering his name) was the best, but because of that freak of nature event known as Evan being in the top three last time, I don’t think I can deal with keeping the show in the family. However, tap dancing is always fun, so I will mock giddiness for them, but what I will not do is pretend to understand what they saw in the girl mixing hip hop moves (or what was supposed to be hip hop moves) into her salsa routine. It looked a little inconsistence and awkward to me. But what do I know?
Lucky for me, that was only the first half of the night.
Review: Julie & Julia
08/07/2009 by Leave a Comment
Nora Ephron’s adaptation of two books connected to the life and teachings of the chef Julia Child is an often hilarious yet a bit overly long tale that overall is quite the success in the end and carries one of the finest performances of the year.
Julie Powell is a wannabe writer. Having written half a novel and never got around to finishing it, she is now living a life in a cubicle and at home in a nine hundred square foot studio apartment in Queens with her husband. While the couple is happy, Julie dreams of more and hopes to follow through on something once in her life. Enter Julia Child’s book Mastering the Art of French Cooking and a goal of preparing every recipe in the book over the course of the year while blogging about her experiences online. Julie’s story is intercut with Julia Child’s first adventures into cooking and her success along the way both professionally and personally as her relationship with her husband Paul takes center stage. We follow the two as they move through their lives and their paralleling of sorts works us towards Julie’s deadline to finish all the recipes in the book. [Read more...]
Review: Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
06/29/2009 by Leave a Comment
The third film in the trilogy is superior to the awful second, but doesn’t have the heart and all around quality of the first film in the series; and it utilizes the use of 3-D fairly well in a couple of key action scenes.
Diego, Manny, and Sid are all living together in there own unique little herd among some of the other animals in the valley that are still hanging around after the last films inconsequential flood. Manny and Ellie, his mastodon companion, are now expecting and Diego is beginning to feel a little out of place with Manny settling down and the feeling that he is loosing his edge as a saber toothed tiger. Sid in the meanwhile discovers a set of eggs in a cave under an ice sheet the he accidentally broke throw. Sid’s desire to be a parent after seeing Manny’s happiness encourages him to hatch the eggs and it turns out that he has himself a set of three dinosaurs. Diego decides to head off on his own and leave the pack just before Sid’s newest children’s real mother shows up in the valley to take back her babies and in the process takes Sid back as well from where she came from. Manny, Ellie, Diego and company all decide to head after him into the cave and discover that there is a dinosaur jungle underneath the ice and valley they have been living on for years. Their adventure leads them into the path of Buck, a rouge weasel, and he promises to lead them along the path and help them avoid the threats that are inherent to the land. [Read more...]
Review: Role Models
11/07/2008 by Leave a Comment
David Wain’s latest is a vast improvement from the hit or miss The Ten, but also doesn’t come close to the awesome amazingness of Wet Hot American Summer; though remains a solid comedy entry in its own right.
Danny (Paul Rudd) and Wheeler (Seann William Scott) are co-workers who go around everyday giving presentations to students about staying off drugs, and to drink their Minotaur energy drink instead. Danny is down and out in his life, becoming a miserable dick to the world around him, while Wheeler spends his time chasing tale and enjoying every minute he works in the minotaur costume he dawns. Well one day Danny loses it as his life falls apart, and upon an impending towing of the Minotaur Mobile, his actions to halt it get himself and Wheeler a 150 hours of community service in 30 days [Read more...]
