2012

I did not get to see 2012 (2009) in theaters, but I feel if I had then I might have been more disappointed. Even sitting at home on a 32" TV, some of the special effects seemed like they may have not been finished. Overall, the movie looked good.

The story follows a limo driver who literally goes to the ends of the Earth to save his family during the 2012 end of the world scenario. But a movie like this really isn't about the story and even the director seems to acknowledge that. If you're going to watch a movie about the end of the world either you want to become intimately close to a character and get involved with how they survive, or you just want to see the end of the world. In this case, the bulk of the money and special effects are used to show you the end of the world as you've never seen it before. And that part is amazing. The rest of it wasn't important to begin with.

For what it set out to do, this was a great movie. As far as it's cinema value is concerned, it won't be well remembered even five years down the road. (6.9/10)

The Little Mermaid

I think The Little Mermaid (1989) is one of the monsters of Disney cinema. Before there was Pixar, Disney had a really good run of films from about 1989 to 1994. This was the beginning of that run.

The story follows Ariel who is the mermaid daughter of the king of the sea. She finds her life boring and wishes to experience what it would be like to human and walk on land for a while. To do this she asks for help from the sea witch Ursula who changes her into a human for a short time. The only catch is that if she cannot find true love during that time, she will forever become a twisted slave in Ursula's collection. The story is a simple fairytale that is well executed and brought to life in an extraordinary way on screen. My only real complaint about the movie is that it felt very rushed. Everything happens so fast as though if they made the movie longer than 80 minutes everything would fall apart.

This is a great classic Disney film that will live on even if the company decides to scrap their 2D animation studio again. (8.8/10)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

I went into Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) I didn't know what to think. The overall atmosphere seemed to be more playful in this version of the story, but I wasn't sure that anything had improved. And, in my mind, why remake a movie unless you're improving on the original?

The story is essentially the same: Charlie finds the elusive golden ticket and is whisked into Willy Wonka's dream of a candy factory. Many of the rooms in the factory are essentially the same and the movie moves at essentially the same pace from place to place. Johnny Depp makes Wonka less outwardly creepy, aiming his creep factor toward adults that wouldn't want him around their kids as opposed to kids that would enjoy his friendly awkwardness. My biggest problem with the remake are the unnecessary and overly long musical numbers all performed by the same person playing hundreds of Oompa Loompas. They are terrible to say the least.

I just can't bring myself to like this movie as much as I wanted to. It's not Tim Burton's worst, but it's far from a good film. (6.5/10)

Ghostbusters

I may be a little biased in this review because I've loved Ghostbusters (1984) ever since I was a little kid. Back then it was so cool to see all the ghosts and ghouls flying around New York City, but as I grew older I began to comprehend the storyline of the movie and it eventually became one of my all-time favorites.

I can't talk about this movie without gushing about the opening sequence. I can think of very few movies that suck you in the way Ghostbusters does. By winding through a spooky library basement only to find a terrifying floating librarian - the movie sets itself up well for both the scares and laughs to come. My only real problem with the movie (looking back in it years later) is that they decided to use claymation in some scenes that really aren't necessary and sort of lose the real-world feeling of some of the out-of-this-world special effects.

Other than that small complaint, I love the film and will always keep it near the top of my list of favorite comedies. (9.0/10)