Rise of the Guardians

Rise of the Guardians When I initially heard this movie featured Santa, The Easter Bunny and Tooth fairy (to name a few characters) I thought to myself, "skip". However this movie does some really fun things with these childhood fantasy figures that are original and compelling. And the entire movie is absolutely gorgeous to the eye. Muted, this movie would be worth watching simply for the beautiful animation. If this movie played on a loop in an electronics store, they would sell more big screen TVs. I'm just sayin'. We laughed, we cried, and everyone of us agreed that this was one of the most entertaining things we've seen in a while. And you'll have to take my word for it, but I know what good is. ;) - Customer Reviews

Synopsis: An epic adventure of a group of heroes with extraordinary abilities. When an evil spirit, Pitch, tries to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces to protect the hopes, beliefs and the imagination of children all over.
Starring: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin
Supporting actors: Jude Law, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman
Directed by: Peter Ramsey
Genre: Animation, Adventure, Family, Fantasy
Runtime: 1 hour 38 minutes
Captions and Subtitles: English Details
Release year: 2012
Studio: Dreamworks Animation

Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania What a fun and heartfelt film Hotel Transylvania was when I recently attended a screening whereby producer Michelle Murdocca (Open Season 2, Stuart Little) explained, "Executive producer and star, Adam Sandler did an amazing job joining this production late in its original inception. It took some 10 years to get this project in theatres," who herself was on the project from the beginning.

Russian born director Genndy Tartakovsky (Star Wars: The Clone Wars) says, "It was a fun an amazing challenge to get this going and it was a real different environment working with a larger studio." His attention to the details made this film work from page to screen.

The story centers around a place where all monsters can go to be themselves. Naturally walking around, celebrating anniversaries, eating as they do, sleeping the way they do, even swimming in pools and enjoying a night of fun and partying. The place (a really creepy castle) was built by Dracula himself (voiced amazingly well by Adam Sandler (Click, Bedtime Stories)) and because of an early accident due to the fear that monsters have toward humans, a tragic accident leaves him to be a single father. Raising and `protecting' his daughter from the outside world.

Mavis, his daughter, who is sharply voiced by Selena Gomez (The Wizards of Waverly Place, Another Cinderella Story) reaches her 118th birthday and decides she needs to see the world because of the sheltered life her father has created for her. Due to a series of mishaps and bad turn of events a `lie' goes very wrong and she soon realizes what she has been hidden from.

In steps a real human, quite by accident, Jonathan, played by Andy Samberg (SNL, That's My Boy), wanders his way into the hotel. Yet another lie, Dracula tries to cover his true human self and pass Jonathan off as a `real' monster. Another thing that Dracula didn't see coming was the moment that Mavis and Jonathan meet and their eyes connect, you guessed it, the real magic of the heart happens.

The screenplay by Peter Baynham (Borat, Bruno) and Robert Smigel (SNL, You Don't Mess With The Zohan) does something that most live-action screenplays try to achieve but never do, it mixes some great fast paced visual gags with a real heart and real believable story. This movie is about a father and daughter relationship as well as misconceptions we all carry with us based on really never checking things out for ourselves.

This film has a great line-up of really hysterical characters including; Frankenstein voiced by Kevin James (King of Queens, Hitch); Mrs. Frankenstein Wanda voiced by Molly Shannon (Superstar, Analyze This); The Wolfman Wayne voiced by Steve Buscemi (Boardwalk Empire, Grown-Ups) and his wife Eunice voiced by Fran Drescher (The Nanny, Beautician and the Beast); The Mummy Murray voiced by CeeLo Green (Kung Fu Panda, Kick Ass) and playing the hunchback Quasimodo is the voice of Jon Lovitz (Big, A League of Their Own).

Great for the Halloween theme and in full 3-D, this film was amazingly funny, and full of great classic-style sight gags that you'll probably need to see it more than once to catch them all. "I took a lot of time to make sure this film worked on all levels. From the script to the performances and even the technology in making it," says the director Genndy . And you can really see it on screen!

What makes this animated feature by Columbia Pictures so good, is that it has a very big heart and an extremely relatable story to go with it. The whole family will really enjoy this film!

Starring: Adam Sandler, Andy Samberg
Directed by: Genndy Tartakovsky
Runtime: 1 hour 32 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Despicable Me

I don't usually read other reviews of books and movies before I write one myself. But I was so impressed with Despicable Me, I had to read what others had to say about it. The thing about reviews, in my opinion, is that reviewers often over analyze movies. What is the point of dissecting an animated movie made for kids? It's okay to say that you just really liked a movie because it made you feel good.

I read that the movie copies other movies, has stereotyped characters and does too much to try to make you love it. As for me, I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED IT. I don't care what the producers borrowed from other movies, if in fact they did. And I am so glad they did too much to try to make me like it. Simply put, this movie is adorable. I smiled a lot, giggled and was charmed out of my seat.

The action-packed story is about a funny-looking, Russian-accented villain named Gru (Steve Carell), who tries to outdo another villain, named Vector (Jason Segel). Gru has flashbacks about his disapproving mother (Julie Andrews) while he plot to steal the moon. The story involves 3 cuter-than-cute little girls and a whole bunch of tiny pill-capsule-looking creatures, who work for Gru in his basement laboratory. The characters in the movie are all either odd looking or darling cute. If you are sensitive to overweight people, you may be slightly offended by some of the obese characters, many of whom are mean. But you'll have to admit they are mesmerizing to watch - especially villain loan shark Mr. Perkins (Will Arnett) with his triangular-shaped head and mushy, southern-belle-talking Miss Hattie (Christen Wiig) from the adoption agency.

The youngest of the three girls in the movie, Agnes (Elsie Fisher), is so charming, she will melt your heart. Her voice and facial expressions are darling. And the little creatures who work for Gru generate a whole lot of laughter from the audience.

In the theater, when the movie was over, everyone in the audience clapped and cheered. One boy got up and danced through the credits. That's how I know it was a great movie. And unless you have no heart or are one of those over-analyzing critics, you too will cheer when you see delightful, Despicable Me.

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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

I'm one of the guys who buys for 3d effects 1st-plot later.Every now and then a film offers the whole package,and this was one of them.Plenty of action on the island,giant insects,lizards,electric eels,birds,ect,all in real good 3d.The Rock is so good in this movie I was surprised that his acting skills and humor have really improved.Not a dull moment, this movie moves along quickly,is interesting and visual.I gave this movie 5 stars because I honestly couldn't find a reason not to.I would say this is a movie the whole family would enjoy.For 3d lovers this is a movie to add to your collection.

This movie is an adventure of imagination. The young boy bonds with his stepfather who is brilliant and fun and they go in search of a mystery island where his grandfather lives. The South Pacific is full of sights and smells that would rock anybody into a happy place. Fish that are magenta, purple pink and tropical blue are all on the dock. They hire a loopy young acting flyer and his daughter. He owns an adventure helicopter, rickety and old but it will be part of all the excitement they encounter. They find the shangrila island with big and small animals. The underwater world is breathtaking with masses of colors and plants. A mountain of gold stands out in the distance. The hiking thru the heart of the jungle holds more visual images that are full of what anybody creative would love to have. They are living out the Jules Verne book in a way but with there own special touches. There are whirlwind storms flying all around, sparkling lakes and streams filled with shiny plants and stones, green all over lush and beautiful, everything you would wish for on a secret island. There are bees that fly, the characters jump on their backs and zoom over the plankton and planet of abundance. There is a submarine they fire up with the help of an electrical eel. This movie is full of positive energy.

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