Blu-Ray disc movie review of Elf

Will Ferrel makes a rare PG comedy instead of his usual rated R college humor movies. As a comedy and holiday family film, it works. Ferrel has made a career out of making college humor movies like Old School and Step Brothers. Thismovie is aimed at holiday movie crowd looking for an easy going film without crude jokes.

The movie is about an elf named Buddy. Buddy is a human that has been raised by Santa's elves at North Pole. And, as he is not an elf, he invariablecauses some mishaps when he grows up. When Buddy was a baby, he accidentally crawled into Santa's bag when Santa was delivering toys to an orphanage. The father elf, played by Bob Newhart , raises Buddy. Buddy grows up believing that he is an elf. Buddy is told the truth about his origin and sets out to find his real father, JamesCaan, in New York City. The movie goes from there and there are some heartwarming moments and extremely funny scenes.

Will Ferrel is perfect as an overgrown elf. I don't think they could have found better elf. Maybe Vince Vaughn could have been as funny seeing as his buddy Jon Favreau directed this movie. Favreau has done well with few movies he has directed including Iron Man and Made. Zooey Deschanel offers an excellent on screen presence as a love interest for Buddy. And, there's really nothing to say about James Caan as he is one of the best actors of all time.

This is fairly sentimental and corny film. But, that's what most people want for a solid holiday film. The plot and script isn't all that original but it's hard to knock the story as it is done with humor and charisma. The stand out performance by JamesCaan as caring father was very endearing and spot on. Overall, it is a very good family film that will shown on television on every holiday season.

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Blue-Ray hd dvd movie review of Jingle All The Way

This movie has taken a lot of criticism and generally been laughed off as fairly bad movie. Any Conan O'Brien fan will recognize this movie every time Arnold "shows up" as a guest. It'sinherently absurd to picture the Terminator in a family film where he has to fight off other shoppers instead of robots. I think that's why this film has taken great many knocks. It's just hard to imagine the tough action hero in an unfamiliar setting. More so in a ridiculous setting.

Arnold plays Howie Langston, who is a father who has neglected to shop for Christmas. His home life is in peril due to the disconnect between him and his wife and son. Situation is furtherexacerbated by Ted the neighbor who has the hots for his wife. In order to redeem himself, he desperately wants to buy Turbo Man doll for his son. Of course his wife has warned him to buy it weeks ago. And, as most of us know, trying to buy the hottest toy is nearly impossible near the Christmas. He has to fight hoard of last minute shoppers as well as the villain Sinbad. Sinbad plays another dad himself who has to get the Turbo Man as well. Both of them fight for Turbo Man from one scene to next. Of course, being a holiday film, we sort of know the out come.

The acting is fairly decent considering we are talking about California's governor. He was surprisingly funny throughout the movie. I especially enjoyed the late Phil Hartman as the scheming single dad. Sinbad was Sinbad. Just there for comic relief and nothing more. Overall, there are no stand out acting or really bad acting for that matter.

There seems to be tendency to judge this film sorely based on absurdity of seeing Arnold in anything but an action film. If you ignore the Terminator playing a comedic role, I think you will enjoy this fluff film. It's decent holiday film aimed at children and family. Just don't expect too much and you will enjoy the ride.

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Blue-Ray hd movie review of Prince Caspian

The sequel to the popular first movie. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian definitely moves into darker territory. I'm not sure if that's the reason why it did not do as well as the first one in the box office. I felt that the main characters being children limited its ability to move into darker story line. While first film was fine for children and pre teens, it was not a much of draw for adults that have made the Lord or the Rings series so popular.

The story takes place many years after the first one. Prince Caspian, the nephew of Miraz, escapes murder plot after Miraz finally gets a son to take over the throne. On the run, Caspian runs into Dwarfs that help him realize his destiny. Meanwhile, the four siblings are transported back to Narnia. Narnia has changed significantly since they were there last time. The humans known as Telmarines only think of themselves and refuse to believe other Narnians exist. Miraz, with backing of Telmarines, hunts Prince Caspian who gathers other Narnians to creat peacful place for everyone. The Pevensie siblings help Caspian achieve this dream.

Director Andrew Adamson moves this franchise into more mature story line. Even, the action sequence and the resulting deaths seem to be amped up for this installment. I could not really buy into four kids truly battling a medieval army. This just didn't seem right. I know that's how the book is written. But, I just couldn't shake the feeling that it was all a bit forced. Other than that, everyonedelivers competent performance. I was never enamored with the four leads but they do adequate job. The expanded human casts adds bit more realism to what is a fantasy tale.

It's a competent sequel to a successful franchise. But, this movie lost some steam in box offices. It was not as successful as the first installment. Will this harm the chances for the third installment? I think it deserves third installment as the novels are classic fantasy that has many following.

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Blue-Ray hd movie review of Night Ath The Museum

This movie was little disappointing for me. I knew it was a family friendly movie. But, I didn't find it all that enjoyable. There were some funny moments in the movie. It had great premise but I don't quite see Ben Stiller as a family movie type of actor. Maybe I keep flashing back to those funny scenes in There's Something about Mary. Anyone expecting crude humor and jokes should look else where for their fix.

The movie is about a museum that comes to life due to a powerful spell from an Egyptian tablet. Ben Stiller plays Larry Daley, who is an lovable loser type of character perfected by Ben Stiller. He is a divorced father who is about to be evicted from an apartment. To keep his apartment and his son's respect, he accepts a security job at the museum. Obviously the museum's "condition" leads to some entertaining situations. Everything from animals to miniature human beings come alive and wreck havoc in the museum. There obligatory "bad" guys and Larry Daley's eventual triumph. It's reall predictable.

There are great stretches of film that drags on and feel incredibly slow. The second half picks up the pace with it's action sequences. The second half is great fun with all the things in the museum coming to life. However, Ben Stiller isn't the family movie type and he is fairly bland when he is not allowed to do some crude humor. It's fine for little kids and the parents that need to accompany them. Other than that, it is fairly forgettable movie.

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Blu-Ray movie review of Star Wars: The Clone Wars

George Lucas probably should have stopped making Star Wars movie after the Return of the Jedi. Granted Revenge of the Sith was fairly good movie compared to the two previous prequels. I'm not sure if this animated movie and the subsequent animated series on Cartoon Network is necessary. Star Wars: The Clone Wars is the animated movie that is launching point for the animated series. And, like other George Lucas films, most will clamor to see this film.

The story fits somewhere between the Attack of the Clones and Rvenge of the Sith. Count Dooku kidnaps son of Jaba the Hutt in order turn the Hutt criminal syndicate against the Republic. It is up to Anakin and Obi-wan to mount a rescue mission in order to avert a big fight between Hutt and Republic. The film contains no other recognizable characters from the Star Wars universe. Obviously, it wont have any characters from episodes 3 to 6. However, it would of have been nice to see some other characters from episode 1 and 2. The entire movie is primarily a set up to the animated series. We get the basic back story and some resolution at the end with the promise of continuation. The action is fairly good with above average animation and effects.

The voice work is fairly good. It is definitely above average as far as animation voice overs go. Very few actors from the episode one and two are brought in to do the voice over. Samuel L. Jackson comes back to voice the Mace Windu character. Other than that, I didn't recognize any other voices. The ever present music score from John Williams is missing. This is big loss for me as I always enjoy John Williams music.

All in all, it is Star Wars fun. But, it is lack luster effort. This feels like rushed job aimed at launching television show rather than a solid effort at a good movie. I, along with other Star Wars fans, will most likely follow the animated television show. Just because it's Star Wars. But soon or later I'm going to get tired of these lack luster efforts from Lucas.

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Blu-ray movie review of Pixar’s WALL E

Personally, I hate disaster movies such as The Day After Tomorrow. We get it. We ruined our planet. What will the penguins do? Give it a rest already. It's really tiring how Hollywood has taken this global warming and human excess to the extreme. It's trite and tiring at best. I avoid this type of movie like the plague. However, I loved Wall E. I can't help love the WALLE's determination and its display of what's best in humanity. Pixar is incapable of making a bad film it seems.

The story is about a robot assigned to clean up Earth long after humans have abandoned it due to pollution and over consumption. Combine this with global warming message and it seems like another cautionary tale. It is such tale but it is much more. It's about WALLE's struggle to find love. To find where he truely belong. One day a space ship arrives and drops of EVE. Eve's mission to search for a sign of life form on the planet. WALLE falls in love with EVE and follows her back to the main space ship. There, they struggle to convince the captain to return to Earth.

This movie cost around $180 million to make. And, there are virtually no dialogue. Imagine the cost if they had to hire bunch of actors to voice various characters. Even without dialogue, this movie works very well. WALLE and EVE convey every range of emotion. Sadness, happiness, fear, excitement, and any other emotion you can think of. They do it convincingly. I never thought movie could work with so little dialogue. Not in today's cinema. The director Andrew Stanton has done a great job. It must have been risky to pitch the idea of movie where there are so little dialogue.

As I've stated earlier, this movie does contain "save the earth" type of message. But, I think that just sets up a setting for the real story between WALLE and EVE. This is a love story. WALLE's determination to follow EVE and ultimately win her heart, or hard drive, not sure. Either way, this is a must watch movie of the year. The Blu-ray edition contain various extras including BD-LIVE content.

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Blu-ray movie review of Madagascar

This films emulates a lot of the recent animated blockbusters such as Finding Nemo, Shrek, and various other Dreamworks and Pixar animation efforts. The story is not terribly original but the people behind the works execute it very well. It targets the young audience but works equally well attracting teens to adults. So, it's movie that anyone can really enjoy and the sequel that's been just released is testament to the popularity of this original work.

This is a really fish out of water story. Bunch of zoo animals end up in the middle of Madagascar, an island near Africa. And you can imagine what follows when these "city" animals are introduced into the wild. Lots and lots of funny moments.

As with other animation works, music is pretty important and displayed prominently. Hanz Zimmer does fantastic job scoring and selecting music for this movie.

The voice actors are all fantastic. Popular Hollywood actors do fantastic job with the movie. Ben Stiller and Chris Rock voice the lion and zebra as the main characters. Jada Pinkett Smith's hippo and and David Schwimmer's giraffe are very capable secondary characters.

Even though I'm past the age where I should enjoy animation, I enjoyed this movie a lot. It was very funny money and Dreamworks animation tend to include jokes that are more targeted toward older audience ala Shrek. All in all, everyone should be able to enjoy this film.

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Blu-ray movie review of family film Eight Below

I didn't really expect too much from this movie. I figure it was another Disney flick aimed at the young crowd to turn a quick buck. To be fair, Disney does put out good animations from time to time with Pixar. However, they shovel out dreadful family flicks that are just horrendous. So, when I came across this film I figure it'd be good waste of few hours. However, this turned out to be fairly entertaining movie with a great heart. And, it is based on true story which adds to the movie.

The story is fairly simple one. The scientific team at the Antarctica must leave behind the dogs to fend for themselves until they can be rescued at later time. I think most of us that had dogs for a pet know what it feels like when something horrible happens to your pet. The dogs in the movie tugs at your heart from start to finish.

There is no slow spots in the movie. It is emotional and very entertaining from start to finish. Paul Walker and other human casts do a great job. I'm not a fan of Paul Walker. But, he did an excellent job in this movie. Perhaps the movie enhanced his performance. Not sure. The real stars of the film are the dogs. The interaction between themselves and humans are priceless.

This is a really great film. While it might not be remembered like Old Yeller, it is none the less a great film with great performances.

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Blu-ray movie review of Remeber the Titans

This is a story about the integration of a high school football team in Virginia in 1970. It's based on true story and delivered in a typical Disney fashion. Family friendly and little cliche. A lot you might cringe at another sports drama. But, this is much more than just a simple football story. It's about the football team's integration in the face of racism.

The story takes place suburb in Virginia where football is very important. T.C. Williams High School under federal mandate, integrates the school. Herman Boone played by Danzel Washington is hired as first black coach to lead the football team. Of course, there are many that oppose this hiring due to Boone's skin color. Apply standard cliche after this. The team comes together through coach's effort and team begins to win. The community lines up behind the coach and the integrated team.

Denzel's performance stands out among the cast. He is an Oscar caliber actor who delivers a solid performance. The other casts do an adequate job in their role. As with other sports movie, each actors don't get as much time on screen to show their talent. It's team effort and it works.

I recommend this movie to anyone looking for a good family friendly flick. This movie is entertaining and has a great message.

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Dreamworks Kung Fu Panda Blu-ray movie review

Dreamworks has finally made a animation that can stand up to Pixar/Disney animation films. Sure, Shrek franchise has done very well for Dreamworks. However, I always felt that Dreamworks has always lagged behind Pixar in terms of story telling and overall execution of animation works. The animation quality, story line, actors involved in this movie is all top notch.

The story like any other animation story line is not overly complicated. It's classic underdog story line that's been done to death in animation and other family friendly movies. This however, does not mean it is borign or trite. The story is about a Chinese town in the valley with a flourishing kung-fu culture is about to be attacked by an evil kung fu master. Po, who dreams to be a kung fu master some how bumbles into the role of savior.

The script is excellent and Dreamworks does a great job in animation quality. It is very funny from start to finish. I think they did great job creating the look and feel of ancient China inhabited by talking animals. The fight sequences are great and very detailed. It's pretty refreshing to actually see a monkey practicing monkey style kung fu and preying mantis practicing preying mantis style kung fu. It's also pretty funny.

Overall it is a great film enhnaced by great voice work from Jack Black and Dustin Hoffman. My only gripe is that Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, and others A list actors that had very small roles in terms of screen time. It is mostly dominated by Jack Black. These other characters could have been nore fleshed out to utilize such great casting. Otherwise, it is a must own for Blu-ray owners.

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