Brave Review

And the ball is rolling with another Pixar film. Brave is their latest film to come out this past weekend and on a Tuesday night it seemed like a good idea to give this one a shot. Over the years I have learned to trust Pixar because every one of their movies they have put out I have enjoyed. And I am obviously not the only one with this opinion because since 1999 with Toy Story 2, every Pixar film has topped $200M domestically. That was 9 films in a row. Now both these statements go until last year with Cars 2. That was a bad idea. It was a terrible movie that really made no sense to me and it also broke the $200M streak by falling just short of that at $191M. So that is definitely something that made me question Pixar for at least a second or two, but I just wrote that off to a slight bump in the road. No one is perfect. Sure my track record of enjoying all the Pixar films got ruined, but I had faith that things would pick back up with Brave and that Pixar would just move on and continue to make good, successful movies while pretending that the whole Cars 2 disaster never happened. And after seeing it, I am here to happily announce that it has. While not a perfect animated movie, I would definitely call Brave a success.

Now the first thing to note, and saying this isn't a criticism but rather just an observation, is that this movie feels a lot more like a Disney film than than a Pixar film. When I think of Pixar I think of Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc, etc. Not a Princess movie. Princess movie reminds me of all the classic Disney Princess movies, most recently being Tangled. The animation was also a lot like Tangled. But like I said, that is not a bad thing. I'm just curious if we can enter Merida into the ranks of the Disney Princesses, because I feel like we need to, because Disney does own Pixar, so it kinda counts. Or maybe she can be the first Pixar Princess. That has a great ring to it.

But anywho, I digress. Brave. Let's get out my one major complaint. The story line. I'm happy that Pixar went back to original movie route for this year because they have been on a sequel streak recently. Toy Story 3 worked out wonderfully two years ago, but Cars 2 was a disaster and I'm not completely confident about Monsters University next year. So original is good. But when I say original, I mean non-sequel because my complaint with Brave that it is not completely original in terms of the story. The message of the movie is the discussion on fate (that's not a spoiler - it's a tagline to the movie), which discussion is done quite frequently and thus I did not walk away feeling amazingly inspired by what it tried to tell me. Also right along with that is that if you watch the trailer, you essentially know what the movie is about. No, it's not the type of trailer that gives everything away, but when you watch it you will develop a theory about what will happen and after you finish the movie you will realize that your theory was essentially right.

With that out of the way, it really was an enjoyable movie. Despite having an unoriginal and cliche story line, it was fun. Starting off, the animation was stellar. I saw it in 2D and was impressed. Me seeing it in 2D means I didn't see it in 3D, but I was thinking that if I actually did watch it in 3D it would be rather enjoyable and well done, which is saying something for me because I am not a 3D fan.  On top of that, the characters are great in the movie and that gets you invested into the movie because you will fall in love with them. Despite the cliches, the characters show some good character progression. The music in the movie was a huge plus. I really liked the Celtic/Scottish feel in the music and felt that it set the tone for the movie quite well given it's setting. The movie was also very comedic. I found myself laughing during much of it and as a movie directed towards kids that gives it a huge plus. Although that does bring up a small issue. Is this kid appropriate? Well, my answer to that is yes. But that does come with a slight caution flag. There are a lot of sexual innuendos that are thrown into the movie that will make a lot of the adults laugh. Much of it are things that the younger kids wouldn't catch, but at the same time there are a few things put in there that I really don't think are appropriate to be showing younger kids. Also along that lines there are a couple of scenes that may be quite frightening for younger kids. Specifically when they run into the bear. It gets rather intense. So like I said, small caution flag on that, but overall I personally don't think those are serious enough to not take your kids to it. That's just my opinion, though.

Overall this is a great animated movie that while it's not perfect, it's still fun to watch and well made. I expect it to at least be in the running for animated movie of the year and would even be a bit surprised if it didn't get the award. So go see it and enjoy! I'm giving it an 8 out of 10.

2012 NBA Finals Predictions

It's here! The moment that all basketball fans have been waiting for all season long. The NBA Finals, the climax of the NBA season. And as this will be my last post about the 2011 - 2012 NBA season before it's time to look forward to the next season (and that will come quickly with the 2012 NBA draft), allow me to reflect a little before I get down to my actual predictions about what will specifically happen in the NBA finals.

It's been quite the journey this season. It's a season that will definitely be remembered in ways that are both good and bad. Bad because it was almost a lost season. Good because in the nick of time things worked out. Yes, that is the lockout we are talking about. And it was especially scary going into it at the beginning of last summer because there was the potential of no NFL or NBA. And yes, I know. I am a spoiled sports fan, but that would've been tragic. So we made it. A shortened 66 game season that was quite intense as there were often weeks where teams had 4 or 5 games in a week. Add to that a shortened offseason beforehand that makes it tricky going in to things with little to no preparation for everyone. Just like in the good old days where a group of friends get together and play a game of basketball. You don't practice. You don't prepare. You just jump in and start playing. After all is said and done some realize that they need to practice a lot more than they do and others realize that playing basketball is like riding a bike to them. So that is what it was. 30 teams just jumped in there and started playing basketball. And now after 66 regular season games and three rounds in the playoffs in the books, we are left with just two teams. The Oklahoma City Thunder and the Miami Heat.

First off, let's look at the Thunder. After this past series, Greg Popavic said it best when he said their story is like a Hollywood script. The story really started back when the Seattle Sonics franchise collapsed. Bad coaching, bad ownership, and no support from the city of Seattle caused the crash that sent the team off to Oklahoma City to start over. No expected much from the Thunder once they got to OKC but with the combined effort of great coaching, ownership, and striking gold in the draft with some great young talent quickly sent this team soaring to the top of the league at a pace that surprised everyone. After last year's trip to the western conference finals, high expectations were given to this team and they lived up to it by grabbing the number two spot in the west. Sometimes the number two seed gets quite lucky with matchups, but the road for the Thunder at that spot was a tough and impressive one. First off they had to get through the defending champion Mavericks. Next up was Kobe Bryant and the relentless Los Angeles Lakers. Finally, the last obstacle in their way of making their first finals appearance was the Spurs, a team that was enjoying one of the best winning streaks in NBA history. A Hollywood script? For sure. I don't think a better one could be written. The Spurs, Lakers, and Mavericks have been the only three teams to come out of the west since the '98 Jazz. Add to that going 12-3 through all that is quite impressive. And now the grand finale is to go up against King James, D-Wade, and Bosh in a matchup against the Miami Heat.

So now lets talk about them Heat. The team that 75% of America bitterly despise. And why? Because three good friends were all free agents at the same exact time and decided to go play for the same team? Yeah, pretty much. Sure we could start a huge debate and I'm sure millions of Americans could come to me with their argument as to why this move unclassy, ridiculous, and horrible for the NBA. But I am sorry, I find it all a bit over the top. No, I take that back. I find the level of hatred towards the Miami Heat to be way over the top. No, I am not a bandwagoner. I am a devout fan of the Utah Jazz and always will be. I am just good at pointing out the ridiculousness and stupidity of Americans sometimes and will cheer for the Heat to win in spite because I feel bad for them. Of course I want the Jazz to pummel them whenever they are faced against them, but that matchup isn't happening right now is it? This road of theirs has specifically been an interesting one. Some were ready to write them off in the first round when they were up against a hot and storied Knicks team, forgetting of course that Carmelo Anthony has never learned to play in the playoffs. Then in round two, everyone was willing to write them off when they went down 2-1 against the Pacers. Finally, the Celtics had them. Most thought they were done when the C's went up 3-2. Well, they overcame all of that to make it to the NBA finals for a second straight year.

So now the matchup. Heat vs Thunder. After that last paragraph you would all expect me to be cheering for the Heat in this one. Well, that's not quite accurate. I think Kevin Durant is one of the most classy players in the NBA and so I would love to see the Thunder win. And yes, like stated before, the Heat winning would make me happy as well so its really a win-win situation for me. And that makes it easy to analyze because I am not rooting for a specific team and so its completely unbiased. And at the same time it is hard because it is a really tough matchup to call. Either team winning wouldn't surprise me. Right now after those last two games against the Celtics, LeBron James and the Heat are really on fire and will be tough for the Thunder to knock off. Yet the Thunder have an impressive resume this post season, having just won four straight against the Spurs after the Spurs had won nearly 30 games in a row (if you don't count the two games they lost because they rested their big three) and gone up 2-0 against the Thunder. If the Thunder can do that, one would think that the Heat could be a challenge they could overcome. So it's quite even. In predicting an official outcome, I look at the 2-3-2 setup that always favors the team without home court advantage. The Heat losing one more game in the regular season could possibly be the best strike of luck that the Heat have had. The first two games will be in OKC and all the Heat have to do to gain a huge advantage is win one of those games and they will get 3 straight games in Miami. I am going to take that into account and thus say that the Miami Heat pull this off and win this series 4-2. But we'll see what happens. I will enjoy watching this series. It should be great!

Snow White and the Huntsman Review

Hollywood is rather interesting to follow because it seems to go through various phases. One of the recent phases is the fairy tale phase. Yes, turning a fairy tale into a movie has always been a popular thing to do, but this year specifically it was rejuvenated as there was originally four live action fairy tale movies planned, two Snow Whites, a Hansel and Gretel, and a Jack and the Beanstalk. As the year progressed the latter two chickened out and rescheduled to next year for various reasons leaving this year as a Snow White year. Early on I immediately predicted that the first Snow White movie, Mirror Mirror, would be the inferior Snow White film while Snow White and the Huntsman would be the superior. As you will tell as you read this review and compare it to my Mirror Mirror review (seen here), I was right. This movie is quite awesome while Mirror Mirror is extremely lame.

First and foremost I want to address my biggest concern going in. Kristen Stewart. That bothered me. Here you have this amazing looking movie that seems to combine Snow White with Lord of the Rings and you cast Kristen Stewart as the lead role? Seriously? Ummmm.. yeah! I decided that I was going to give her a second chance and I'm glad I did because she actually did a rather good job. Now she wasn't extremely spectacular and drop dead gorgeous, but for the direction the movie was trying to go with it, she fit the role quite nicely. Normally when you think of Snow White, the image of Disney's classic Snow White character will come to your mind. This extremely, almost unnaturally happy lady with a high squeaky voice. She never gets mad, worried, or angry but is very positive and friendly to everyone. Nope. That's not what you get in this. Instead we are treated to a down to earth, human Snow White. This movie does not have the tone that Disney's Snow White does as it is very dark and menacing at times. Thus with this Snow White we get a young lady that has been locked up in a tower for many years and is just getting her first shot at fresh air that she's had in quite some time and with that comes the natural emotions of fear, uncertainty, and non-trust that makes her fragile at times. But add to that she tries to be brave and positive with a few moments of relaxation and happiness as well. This version of Snow White requires someone who can act. Did you know that Kristen Stewart can act and show emotion? Yeah, neither did I, but she can. And she does have a natural beauty to her. Snow White is supposed to be the fairest of them all. I wouldn't call Kristen Stewart the prettiest girl on earth, but they didn't need to cast that to make it work. Instead of making it look like a forced beauty, it is natural and human and I think it works quite well. I am impressed.

But now for a quick second, lets jump from one beauty to the other one. Charlize Theron as the evil Queen. Oh my flippin' goodness, she is so amazing in this. Quite honestly the perfect evil queen. The evil queen is supposed to be one of the fairest in the land and Charlize Theron is quite breathtaking in that manner. But oh she is so evil. And its a convincing evil, unlike Julia Robert's embarrassing failure in Mirror Mirror. And they do a great job of making her look old when the story line requires it as she switches back and forth from being old and ugly to young and beautiful again. So yeah, as is the case in Snow White, a big focus is placed on these two women which is great. The movie does like showing off the women just so you are forewarned if that bothers you, but I honestly didn't find it distracting and I am one that is usually more sensitive to that. Yes the queen has this thing where she likes to sit naked on occasion but all we see is her bare back in a couple of scenes. Yes, there are times where they both show off cleavage, like when Snow White is running and her dress falls off her shoulders or when it does an extreme close up of her with her slightly low cut dress. Like I said, it didn't bother me, but in being objective it is there if it bothers you.

But now that I've spent all that time on our two ladies, lets talk about the actual movie for a bit. It's not a happy Disney version of Snow White. It is closer to the Grimm Brother's version. There is a lot of action and a lot of dark scenes, which I think makes it awesome. I don't need to tell you what the story of Snow White is because you already know, but worth noting is that they do a good job of making it their own. It follows the typically Snow White story to start the movie with Snow White escaping, the queen sending the Huntsman to kill her, and the Huntsman finding her but not being able to do it. Where it digresses is in this version is after that. The Huntsman not only spares Snow White, but he stays with her the whole movie, becoming her protector as well as her mentor as they of course go on the quest to dethrone the wicked queen. Also unique to this story is the major Lord of the Rings esque battles that really add to this movie's awesomeness. With that in mind, the best part of the movie is easily the visual effects. They were quite amazing. I was a big fan of the costumes in the movie, especially the Queen's outfits. Also the music was great. All this added to a very beautiful movie going along with the interesting, action packed story line and the great acting for just about everyone.

Now was this movie perfect? No, it wasn't. I had really high expectations for this movie and while I really enjoyed it, it wasn't quite as epic as I imagined it being. The script could've used some work. I also felt like we could've spent a bit more time getting to know the characters much better. It seemed like once they were introduced, the movie expected you to automatically know who they are and what their role is and just jumped right into it. It also seemed a bit rushed as they tried to do too much. It felt like they crammed 3 or 4 hours of movie into one movie. They could've used this same story line and done two or three movies from it, which is honestly what I thought was going to happen because I had heard already that this was an intended trilogy. I expected the first third portion of the Snow White story with this but instead was given the whole story in one movie, which one caught me off guard with the way they finished it and two made extremely curious as to how they plan on doing a sequel to this, but I will leave it at that because an elaboration would require me to spoil the movie and I won't do that for you. The movie also felt really long despite all this. It was only two hours and seven minutes, but it felt like I was sitting there for three hours. 

So like I said, it wasn't as great as I thought it would be. There are several imperfections, but overall I really enjoyed this movie. In deciding a number out of 10, a 7 seems a bit low while 8 may be a touch high, so I will go right in between that and give it a solid 7.5 out of 10 and strongly recommend you go see it. It is worth your money.  

Movie Preview - June 2012

The month of May has come to an end, which means its time to look forward to the variety of movies that come out in the month of June. This past month was quite the amazing month, unless you were a movie maker not involved with the Avengers trying to make money on the movie you released in May. The Avengers dominated May and has already made it past $500M domestically and in a few days from now it will pass The Dark Knight's total to get the number 3 spot on the all time domestic chart. Worldwide it is about to pass Harry Potter 7.2 for third on that chart as well with $1.3B. This all in a month. Now it is currently ahead of Avatar and Titanic's pace thus far, but that won't last much longer. With that huge success, the only other movie to perform decently well is Men in Black III this past weekend. All the other major releases - Dark Shadows, Battleship, What to Expect When Your Expecting, The Dictator, and Chernobyl Diaries - have all been disappointing.  June, on the other hand, won't be lopsided like this. It will be much different as there several movies that should all be decent hits with no surefire dominant movie. It'll be a good change of pace before we see Batman and Spiderman dominate July.

June 1st - 3rd - The first weekend of June isn't always a great spot for movies to premier because typically there will several big May movies going strong with at least one or two big hits the last weekend. Well, as mentioned above, this isn't quite the case this year. Avengers has slowed down enough and Men in Black III won't be a huge obstacle for the first potentially big movie of June, Snow White and the Huntsman. Now this is the second of two Snow White movies, but the other one, Mirror Mirror, was a joke. This one looks like the real deal as the Huntsman looks like it is combining Snow White with Lord of the Rings in an awesome action packed Snow White movie that will probably be closer to the Grimm Brother's Snow White as opposed to the nice Disney version. A star-filled cast will lead the way in this with Kristen Stewart, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlize Theron as the lead roles. Most have been worried about Kristen Stewart getting the Snow White role, but early reviews say that she redeems herself after the her awful job in Twilight as Bella. The only other new wide release this weekend is For Greater Glory. This movie is a foreign film from Mexico and while it is a wide release, it is barely a wide release and won't make a huge dent in the weekend. Starring Eva Longoria as the biggest name here in the states, it is a movie about the Cristeros War.

June 8th - 10th - The second weekend in June provides us with an interesting battle for the top spot. First up is Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. The first two Madagascar movies both had decent openings and with both of them being well liked, the third installment should be a popular choice amongst families, especially those with younger kids who adore the Madagascar characters. It is the first animated family movie of the summer and with no competition via other family movies, it should fare well at least until Brave comes out two weeks later. Fighting against Madagascar 3 for that top spot is the highly anticipated Prometheus. Prometheus has been hyped up for quite some time now and seems to be rather mysterious as it claims to be some sort of prequel to the Alien movies. It is directed by Ridley Scott and stars Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, and Charlize Theron in her second June movie in as many weeks. It recently got slapped with an R rating which shouldn't be too surprising given that the Alien movies were all rated R as well, but that fact could effect it's box office totals. It won't hit the huge blockbuster level that some people thought as only ten R rated movies have ever topped $200M with only one of those passing the $300M mark, but it should make a decent ripple in June. A win over Madagascar this weekend wouldn't be surprising and is what most people expect, but it should be a close race.

June 15th - 17th - Father's Day weekend this year brings us a few interesting choices. First up is the musical Rock of Ages. Rock of Ages is made by the same director who brought you Hairspray five years ago and is based on the Broadway show. It takes us on a nostalgic trip back to the musical world of the 80's. So those who love 80's music should enjoy this, unless of course you are not a fan of the lifestyle of 80's musicians, because it dives into that as well. It has quite the cast in it with Tom Cruize playing the lead role of fictional rocker Stacee Jaxx and along with Cruize is Malin Akerman, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Alec Baldwin, Russell Brand, and more. In the trailer it claims that it features the music of Def Leppard, Foreigner, Journey, Poison, and Twisted Sister. I imagine it will also bring more as well. Challenging Rock of Ages will be Adam Sandler with his new comedy That's My Boy. Now Sandler is generally good at attracting people to the theaters to see his movies. There will always be the typical Sandler fans that will go every time. Now he is also pretty good at avoiding the R rating with his comedies even when several of them have deserved it. This one however did not avoid it and got slapped with an R, so it will be interesting to see how much of that Sandler crowd will still go. Despite that it should be in good shape as the summer always brings a few popular R rated comedies. In this movie Sandler is back as his crazy psycho self as he plays a father who has a son in his early teens and after several years apart comes back into his life right before his son's wedding. It fits the Father's Day theme, so it might be a popular choice on Father's Day.

June 22nd - 24th - The last two weeks of June provide a plethora of movies as they all try to race and earn money before Spiderman and Batman take control of the Box Office in July. The final weekend of June provides four new releases and this fourth weekend has three. The biggest release of this weekend, which will also most likely be the top grossing movie of June, is Pixar's Brave. Now Pixar typically has a very good track record. Before last year's Cars 2, Pixar had a 9 movie streak stemming back to Toy Story 2 in 1999 where every movie they released topped $200M. Now, $191M isn't bad for a movie, but out of all Pixar's movies, the only movie that grossed less was 1998's A Bug's Life. Adjusting for inflation, Cars 2 is officially the least grossing Pixar movie and rightfully so. It was a terrible movie. But Brave should pick up where Pixar left off before the Cars 2 disaster as it looks like a fun, original movie with a tagline that reminds me a bit of Megamind. "If you had the chance to change your fate, would you?" By original, I mean a non-sequel because the change-your-fate idea in a movie isn't original, but Brave should a fun movie still and should put Pixar back on track. The second movie this weekend is a rather ridiculous one. My hope is that Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter will kill off the vampire craze that has been going on in Hollywood for the last several years. Now this movie is based off the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, who also wrote Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Yes, I hear the book is an interesting one and the movie could very well be a good, fun action movie, but the premise of the movie just makes me laugh every time I think about it and watch the trailer. The problem with that is that I know its not supposed to be a comedy. Come on, Abraham Lincoln hunting vampires? That is hilariously ridiculous. Moving on, the final movie of the weekend is Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. Hmmm... I wonder where they got the idea for that movie? This is the second R rated comedy of the month and stars Steve Carell and Keira Knightley and is what it sounds like. The world is ending and after the guy's wife leaves him, he goes and searches for his high school sweetheart.

June 29th - July 1st - This final weekend of June (yes, it does include one day of July) was supposed to be the GI Joe 2 weekend, but they wisely decided to postpone their release because coming out at this time would warrant a domestic gross of $50M - $75M max. Released next March it actually has a chance at crossing $100M. But now with it out of the way, it will be a complete grab bag for the top spot this weekend, which could very well end up being a 2nd win in a row for Brave. In competition to steal the throne from Brave will be two comedies, a drama, and a comedy/drama. Out of the four, the one that I imagine will draw the most attention is Ted. This is heavily marketed as the first motion picture from the creators of Family Guy. This is certain to unite the many Family Guy fans around the country as well as any other person who wants to watch an R rated comedy about a guy and his crazy talking teddy bear. It stars Mark Wahlberg as lead role and includes three people from Family Guy, including Seth MacFarlane himself as the voice of Ted the teddy bear. Movie number two is Magic Mike. This is the second R rated comedy of the weekend and fourth in three weeks. Not all of them will be huge, but one or two of them might break out and it will be interesting to see which ones will and which ones will flop. Magic Mike features Channing Tatum in his third major movie in the last four months. It is about Channing Tatum being a male stripper, which is totally appeasing (yes, that was sarcastic). This is also the movie that is a drama as well, so it might have more depth to it than Channing Tatum dancing around half naked in front of girls. If this kind of thing is for you, then be my guest. The movie that I think sounds most interesting this weekend is  People Like Us. Unfortunately it probably won't be the most popular movie of the month, but it could be a surprise hit, you never know. It's an interesting family drama where a man is asked to deliver $150,000 of his deceased father's fortune to his sister that he has never met. And of course some crazy plot twists happen along the way. It has an interesting cast of Chris Pine, Olivia Wilde, Elizabeth Banks, and Michelle Pfeiffer. The last movie of the weekend I think is useless. Tyler Perry Madea's Witness Protection. If you like these movies, then go ahead, but I'm not going to say any more about it other than it is being released.

John Carter Review

On a memorial day afternoon when I found myself all alone, I decided to venture out to the Dollar Theater to hopefully enjoy a movie. John Carter was my choice. Now the story behind John Carter certainly isn't a happy one. Disney invested a ton in this movie. It was almost the first animated movie ever made, but that fell through and now close to a hundred years later, it finally comes out as a live action thriller. Not only was there a time investment with this, there was a huge financial investment as well. Disney was so certain that this was going to be a hit that they spent $250M making it. They released in on the second weekend of March with very little competition. Perfect plan for success right? Uh, not so fast. Something went wrong along the way with the marketing and advertising and this movie fell flat on its face. It only barely broke even with a worldwide total of $280M, which 75% of which came from outside the US as it only earned $70M here in the states. A movie that took $250M to make should earn more than $70M here. So yes, this is an instance where the term high risk, high reward turns disaster. The worst part of this is the fact that after finally seeing it, I thought this was a good movie that was definitely deserving of the big dollars that it was supposed to but didn't get.

John Carter the movie is based on the Barsoom books written by Edgar Rice Burroughs in the early 1900's. Specifically it is based on the first book in that series titled Princess of Mars. I have not read any of the books, but the series along with other works by Burroughs have been an inspiration to many writers. Now being that I have not read the books, I am not capable of comparing the book to the movie, so I apologize if you were looking for that connection, but the story I was given in the movie I really enjoyed. Captain John Carter, a civil war veteran from Virginia finds himself mysteriously transported to the planet of Mars, or as the natives there call it, Barsoom. When he gets there he quickly learns that due to a difference in gravity amongst other factors he can leap far and consequently become really strong. This makes him a great warrior and weapon in the war that he quickly learns that he has been thrown right into. The story is one of him finding out who he truly is as he battles internally between finding a way back home, chasing after the runaway princess, and deciding if he wants to help save the planet from destruction. It is a story with heart and bravery that has a great combination of action and romance. 

What else was good about it? The special effects were brilliant. You could tell that a lot of time and effort was put into creating the Barsoom world and creatures. The CGI aliens were quite brilliant and, as the credits informed me, shooting at least a portion of this movie in the great Martian-like scenery of Moab, Utah was a great idea. I thought the acting was great in the movie, especially Taylor Kitsch and Lynn Collins as the lead roles of John Carter and Princess Dejah Thoris respectively. I thought the costume design was well done as that made it feel like we were on Mars. However, of note is that this may be disturbing to some as several of the outfits are quite revealing particularly that of the Princess of which her outfit towards the end is the worst. Lastly I would like to mention that the music was fantastic and added greatly to the movie. Michael Giacchino, best known in my books at least for his brilliant music in the TV series Lost, was a great choice for this movie.

This movie was obviously intended on being a huge blockbuster hit with multiple sequels if it was successful. I am saddened that it didn't work out as expected and sadly I have a hard time seeing another John Carter movie hitting theaters after this one was an epic failure in the Box Office. But great movie that makes me want to pick up the books and read them. I am giving this an 8 out of 10.

2012 NBA Playoff Predictions - Conference Finals

#1- San Antonio Spurs vs #2- Oklahoma City Thunder - Not too often does it happen this way, but the Conference Finals in the West gives us the match-up that we were all hoping for. The Spurs and the Thunder both blew by their competition in the first two rounds as the Spurs made the Jazz and Clippers look like jokes while the Thunder impressively snuck past the defending champ Mavs and the perennial contending Lakers. The Thunder and the Spurs have a combined one loss in the playoffs, the Spurs being the undefeated team, so this should be quite interesting series. Personally, I hope the Thunder will win this series, but right now I have a serious problem with going against the Spurs. They have now won 18 straight and 29 out of their last 31 games, only losing twice when they rested their big three. Two things that are key in the playoffs are momentum and experience and with this huge winning streak they certainly have the momentum and we all know that this Spurs team is experienced. Now the Thunder have some good momentum and are gaining more playoff experience that will help them in the future, but I really think that this is the Spurs' year. The Spurs have defeated the Thunder twice out of three times already this year and while I don't see a third straight sweep, a quick finish to the series wouldn't surprise me. I think all the games will be close and hard fought, but the Spurs will be clutch enough to wind out on top. Prediction: Spurs 4-1

#2- Miami Heat vs #4- Boston Celtics - First off I want to give a well deserved shout out to the Sixers. No one expected them to do much in these playoffs, but they certainly had a spectacular run that started by knocking off a beaten up Bulls team and ended by giving the Celtics a run for their money by taking them to seven games before finally getting outrun. Doug Collins has certainly done wonders with that team. But onto the Celtics and Heat. The Eastern Conference has been the conference that has given us the most drama and competition this season and I see that continuing in the Eastern Conference finals. The Celtics owned the Heat in the regular season going 3-1, but I see quite the dog fight happening in this series rather than a one sided battle. Miami is still beat up with Bosh being out, but James and Wade have certainly been on fire as they won three straight to knock out the Pacers in six after the whole country wrote them off when they went down 2-1. I think that momentum will carry into this series and they will start out strong. I also see the Celtics starting out strong after the clutch win against the Sixers in game seven. Some might say a brutal seven game series agains the Sixers will make them a bit worn out to start with, but I don't see that. The Celtics big three know how to win and on top of that Rajon Rondo has been a beast. So like I said, this will be a tough, hard fought series and I wouldn't be surprised to see either team wind out on top, but I will give the slight nod to the Heat in this one. Prediction: Heat 4-3

The Vow Review

Kim and Krickett Carpenter

The story of Kim and Krickett Carpenter is quite an inspiring one. They fell in love and got married on September 18th, 1993. Ten weeks later they got in a serious car accident that left Krickett with serious brain trauma that pretty much wiped out the past 18 months of her life in terms of her memory. That time included her forgetting the whole time span of her meeting, dating, and getting married to her husband Kim. He, however, was still madly in love with her and stayed with her during the months she was in a coma and the months of physical therapy that followed. Despite all the effort, she never regained her memory. This obviously frustrated him a bit and there were times when he thought the marriage wouldn't work out, but at the same time he refused to leave her in the state that she was and things ended up working out. Despite her never remembering the previous relationship with him, she fell in love with him again and in 1996 they renewed their vows and had a second marriage. Both state that what kept them together during this time period was their faith in Jesus Chist (they are devout Christians and attend a Methodist church in Farmington, NM) and their vows they made to each other and to God. They wrote a book about their story called The Vow that was published in 2000. Perfect material for a romantic chick flick, right? Some movie makers certainly thought so and turned this story into a movie that came out just this past February. New on DVD just recently, my brother and his wife rented it and I watched it with them. Awful. Just plain awful. Despite it being a bit dated, I have a few things that I want to say, so here on my blog is the perfect place.

Now first off, how do I know the Carpenter's story so well? That answer is easy. When I watch a movie that starts out by saying "Based on a true story" (or in this case I think the wording was "Inspired by true events") I get curious as to what the actual story is and so I jumped on my laptop once the movie started and looked it up as I watched. What I quickly learned was that when this movie says "inspired by true events" what they really mean is "the events that happened to this certain couple inspired us and we decided to make a movie that had the same basic premise, but our movie and the real story have very little in common." Which that isn't a terrible thing. I don't have a problem with you making a story that is only loosely based on true events allowing you to use your own creative liberties instead of just doing a documentary. But when you do that your created story better be a good one because if not I am going to criticize you for taking an awesome and making it pathetic. This movie is not about Kim and Krickett Carpenter. It's about a fictional couple named Leo and Paige. In both situations, the couple got in a car crash and the girl lost the memory of her husband. Outside that, the two stories are dramatically different. Kim and Krickett's story is awesome. Paige and Leo's isn't.

Now that I've rambled on about that for two paragraphs, lets jump into the movie. Yes, I am a guy that is reviewing a chick flick so I know that if you are a girl and are reading this, that fact alone will cause you to not trust my opinion, but hear me out please. I don't hate chick flicks. In fact I have enjoyed many of them, but there are a few things I always look for when I watch a chick flick. One, I want it to be done well. Meaning the story is intelligent and believable and the couple in the chick flick have great chemistry. The second is that I like a chick flick to throw me off a bit. We all know that the story line of a chick flick. Guy meets girl. Guy and girl fall in love. Some event happens that causes drama in the relationship and guy and girl almost break up permanently. A second event or series of events happens that brings the couple back together. There. Boom. That's the basic story line of all chick flicks. For me to enjoy a chick flick, something has to happen to cause the chick flick to be slightly unpredictable. Most girls don't care about that second aspect, they just want it to be sweet and romantic. I gotta have both. The problem with the vow is not only did it not have the second point done right, I don't even think it got the first one done right.

So yeah, the unpredictability in this movie doesn't exist. There are no curve balls at all in the story line. If you have seen the trailer, you have seen the whole movie. Ok, that's not the end of the world. It means I won't enjoy it that much, but many people still can. The huge problem is that other aspect I mentioned. Lets start at the very beginning. The crash. Unrealistic. With the way the truck hits the car in the beginning, having all the windows crack or shatter with the girl flying halfway out on the hood of the car just wouldn't happen. And why in the heck would a girl feel the need to take off her seatbelt while they were sitting there at the stoplight to lean over and make out with husband? That doesn't make sense to me. Then we move on to the story. In was a bit forced and a little weird. The girl in this loses 5 years of her memory. And apparently with this story, she forgets her whole personality. 5 years ago in the story she was a righteous good girl and then in those five years she goes rebellious. Well when she loses her memory, she forgets that whole rebellious stage and thus becomes a good girl again. Then of course we have to throw in an aspect that one of the last things she remembers is a previous engagement and so she thus falls in love with that guy again. On top of that, I didn't find any chemistry between Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. A part of that was the script they were given, but another part was that the acting wasn't very good or believable at all. The whole time Channing Tatum, or his character Leo I suppose, is a complete jerk and idiot. And certainly not romantic at all. I'm not a girl so maybe I don't know, but I really don't think he did anything that would've won her over. I expected it to be sweet and romantic like 50 first dates where when he learns that she has a memory loss issue, he is smooth and romantic by taking her on dates and treating like a new situation. Nope. That didn't happen. Instead we get dissonance, arguments, and separation the whole movie and some how by some miracle Paige finds Leo and decides to stay with him. It didn't make sense. I won't go into detail about how it ends, but it is ridiculous and completely forced. And of course because the movie makers think they are smart, they have to include a few scenes where we see full body shots of Rachel McAdams in nothing but her underwear and for the girls we see Channing Tatum completely nude from the behind. Dumb.

So now my rant is over. This movie was just not done very well. Even my sister-in-law was disappointed with it. Kim Carpenter himself said this, "We enjoyed the movie but we were a little frustrated by the artistic licence they took." Another interview mentions that they were also disappointed that the religious aspect was taken out. So if the people you base your chick flick off of weren't even all that impressed with your movie, you know you have problems. I am giving this movie a 4 out of 10. I'm being that generous because it inspired me to learn about the amazing story of Kim and Krickett Carpenter, but that's about it.