★★

For the last movie of 2010, we ended our movies for the year with my favorite actress, Drew Barrymore, in a movie that lacked any sense of real emotion. Maybe it was because I knew they were a "real" couple, but to me they lacked chemistry and a decent story line.

★★

Neither Elisabeth or I found this movie very good and we both agree that this movie played out more like a Saturday morning cartoon than a quality short film of 66 minutes. We decided to have an Aladdin night and since neither of us had actually seen this, we would give it a go. Elisabeth was a tad more bored with this than I was, wanting to give it a 1 star rating, while my version of a 1 star is turning it off. So, 2 it gets. - Jenny

★★★

A new watch for me, Elisabeth had seen this one before but hadn't watched in a while. While entertaining, it wasn't a masterpiece of any kind. The first part of the movie was quite boring with not a lot happening, but by the time we switched disc it was started hoping. I do have a new found appreciation for Jafar though. - Jenny

★★★★

★★★★

We both agree that this is a movie for people who love Disney animation as well as Disney history. Contains lots of interviews, lots of behind the scenes footage, and touches on how they actually made the films from 84 to 94.

★★

Wow what a cast... It had so many people in this movie, I was picking out faces I recognized right and left. Spent more time doing that than engaged into a movie that had no major storyline. I don't know that the point was.

★★★

I was expecting more of a take over of an alien kind in this movie, it was very misleading so I was disappointed in it there. The story seemed weak to me and found myself bored during much of the explanation of the planet, but it was not hideous to watch. - Jenny

RATING: 5/5
By far, so far, Fantasia is my favorite Disney movie. Yes, I know, there is not any acting. But, if you think make to when this was made, the technology that was available at the time and to think that each drawing had to be timed perfectly in sync with the music, it is truly a masterpiece. Animation is not as easy as lights, camera, action. The music was already written, so it still was not as easy as creating music for a soundtrack. Fantasia is probably one of the hardest movies to review, it is worth it based on the technically aspect and if that is not a reason to see it... well, go it high and watch it. I hear that was the rage in the 60's and 70's.

UPDATE FOR BLU-RAY

As much as I have read the reviews, both good and bad, I can see both sides of the coin over the censorship debate. I am a die hard Fantasia fan and was little disheartened to find out that they are not taking this unique opportunity to have Leonard Maltin come in and give us the a history lesson in why they added the censored scenes back in. The movie, in it's entirety has not been seen since the first year of release, but obviously is available somewhere for it to even have a bad copy on YouTube. This would have been the perfect time to step aside and show possibly both versions for those film lovers, who are not easily offended by what was common in the 40s.
As for those people who have commented about the narration track being different, you must not have read anything on this movie as you would know that it is impossible due to the audio track being unusable. Achieving and preserving was something that was not as important as it is now. There was too much lost quality on the actual tracks to be able to use and/or recreate. Yes, purists may say it ruins the integrity to add a different voice, but truly it is something that must be understood in order for us to have a movie to enjoy on technology was never even thought about in the 40s.

But when the press release came out that Fantasia was getting Blu-Ray status, I was thrilled and am looking forward to seeing how they enhanced it, the extras, and just to own this piece of art. No matter how they change it, Fantasia was and still is the stepping stone for movies today, both animation and film. Remember, this is the movie that CREATED surround sound.

As for the transfer of this movie over to Blu-Ray, after watching it last night... I was very impressed with the audio and visuals here. The seemed to keep the water colored backgrounds while cleaning the foreground and enhancing the characters and designs (that became characters on their own). I was impressed with the details of little things like snowflakes and flames that turned into demons, which did not seem to stand out in DVD, laserdiscs and VHS releases. In this version, you WILL see things you never did before, not because they were not there before but because they were not as pronounced and vivid before. Just for the merits of the movie alone, it was worth the price for the blu-ray edition.

RATING: 4/5
For this being one of my favorite all time movies, I have to give it about a 7 just because if someone is renting it on DVD, chances are they have never seen it live and are going to be disappointed by the movie itself based on the hype over the years of the movie.
The story is weak and it looks like a low budget 70's film, throw in rock music, a little goth and you have Rocky Horror. If you take away the midnight shows and the cult following of 30-50 year olds who like to reenact the film on a stage, you got a campy sci-fi musical that would fade away into the darkness. It truly is because of it's following that Rocky Horror has survived. I first watched this movie when I was in 4 or 5 grade and remember wanted to be in the school talent show using the music to "Toucha Toucha Touch Me". Yes, I a little young for the song but I was just so in awe over the West Hollywood Rocky Horror experience when I was like 10, it became a part of me that I won't go away. I love Rocky Horror and it must be watched at midnight with a cast.

UPDATE:

This weekend our Blu-Ray copy of Rocky Horror and we had to watch it and check out the quality of the transfer, which I was thoroughly impressed with. First the audio was incredible. I was able to hear layers of different sounds like horns and the chorus coming from my rear speakers, while the vocal tracks came from the center, just where it should be. The video for the most part was a good clean transfer, though there were some scenes that were grainy but were not that many. On this watch, I decided on the UK version with the alternate B&W intro. The movie was in B&W all the way up to the Time Warp where they open the door to main room and introduce the Transylvanians. Watching in black and white gave the movie a classic appeal and not the tired 70s look. It was definitely worth the blu-ray purchase.

RATING: 4.5/5
Long but not drawn out... Even though you could see what scenes were not necessary, you could tell why they were put in. I enjoyed learning about a man that I had heard of, but never knew. Ben Kingsley did a fabulous job and kept me hooked on this epic film and how India grew, yet I did not not feel like I was in History class.

RATING: 3/5
I am torn on this of weather I liked it or not. I loved the first and second ones, plus I enjoyed The Sarah Connor Chronicles, but this movie was so fast and so long that I lost myself so many times and had no time to absorb that I saw. Now that could be a bad thing and a good thing for people, but for me… that was too much action and I never thought I would ever hear those words out of my mouth.
The story jumps ahead to 2018 with a new form of Terminators are around, again. Basically, it is the same… fighting the machines for power and we were left with the story being unfinished, again… and was left open for a new character to help John Connor fight. So, for me there was nothing special about it but the special effects were awesome, visually stimulating and sound was loud.

RATING: 3/5
Straight off, I have to say that I was a tad disappointed in the movie that the previews portrayed as a thriller. This was nothing like a thriller, it was more of a mystery that is trying to be solved.
I love Leonardo DiCaprio and this movie was an excellent example of his acting abilities, but the movie itself was slow and a little too long. The plot leaves a lot to be interpreted on your own, there is no clear cut lines to finish the movie, which was a tad disappointing but good at the same time cause you can think and come to your own conclusions. I was a good movie, but I was expecting more thriller for my dollar.

RATING: 3.5/5
I am really gonna stop saying this about movies, I don’t usually pay any attention to previews or read about movies before seeing them. If the box cover looks good or someone recommends it or if there is a person I like in it… I will watch it. So again… I did not know that this movie was about prior to going in to it, if I had I probably would have skipped it because any movie that seems to have a religious undertone, I skip. My personal preference, but yes I know… I miss so many good movies and would have missed this phenomenal movie.
This post apocalyptic drama/action held my interest after knowing that he was the only person carrying a bible and that they madman in town wanted it. The three man characters were truly believable… and Mila Kunis was super hot all dirtied up. So, hottie alert. The sound was truly amazing and we felt like we were there with them, the film direction was superb. Overall awesomeness is the consensus on this movie in my house.

RATING: 3.5/5
Without seeing the original 80’s version, I did not know what to expect going into this movie except a lot of fighting. This Greek mythology flick was enjoyable up until the end of the movie where it seemed like there was so much build up to him beating Hades and his demons, where the final battle seemed to be a let down. I found the scorpions in the first fight much more enjoyable.
Watching this in full surround, I found that the audio on the blu-ray was not all that impressive either. The picture was awesome, the filming and art direction was fantabulous, but there was just this overall let down of the movie. Everyone tells me that it follows the original very close, just updated special effects and better acting. I will be the judge of that when I get the 80’s version on laserdisc one day.

RATING: 5/5
When I saw the trailer on this, I wanted to see it but I thought it was going to a lame super hero movie like Mystery Men or Watchmen (Yes, I thought Watchmen was boring), but because it was teens, I thought it might be half way decent. OMG! It was much better than I expected it to be.
The writing was fabulous, a combination of comedy and serious superhero action… the characters were amazing and everyone did a fantastic job, especially Hit Girl, who truly made the movie. Kick-Ass (the character) was perfect as a nervous nerd who thought it was cool to be a superhero and got in over his head. Together everyone took the impossible and created a story and world that become possible.
Still, no superhero movie should ever be taken seriously and this movie is no exception. Go into it as a good night of fun and you won’t be disappointed.

RATING: 4.5/5
When I was growing up and working in the video store, I would see this VHS box cover and I was literally afraid of this movie. Maybe it was baseball players with bats and painted faces, but I was. Then I forgot all about this movie until I started following a bunch of movie people on twitter, who were talking about this movie and how wonderful it was, so I decided to give it a chance. I picked it as one of my free Blu-Rays with the purchase of my blu-ray player, so I pulled it out of my collection and sat for the first time to watch it.
I am glad that I selected this movie cause I absolutely loved it. I can see where this is a hate or love movie though. The story was so very simple… A gang is on the run trying to get to their home turf when they are accused of doing something they didn’t do. The Warriors were bad ass when they needed to be, but they seemed to have morals cause they didn’t seem to be out to get anyone or destroy anything like the others. They just wanted to get home.
It was a good look at gangs and how they interact with each other, the blu-ray conversion was awesome, and it was filmed simplistically and did not need high tech special effects to be awesome. I think this movie has boosted itself up in my fave movie list.

RATING: 3.5/5
Not truly knowing what I was getting into, I watched The OH in Ohio purely based on the cast. I am a fan of Paul Rudd’s and with Parker Posey, how could I go wrong, right?
Truly, I didn’t. The movie had a interesting storyline about a woman who has never had an orgasm in her life and when she finally does, she becomes obsessed with the object of your orgasm (A vibrator… then Danny Devito). The laughs were plentiful, great script and well acted. I was surprised cause I was expecting a dud of a movie, but inside came out entertained for about 90mins or so. It was a very short movie (or felt like it).
I definitely recommend it for some lighthearted fun.

RATING: 5/5
This was a friggin awesomely awesome movie that is beyond words. I was so utterly confused, but as it went on and on I became less confused only to find myself more confused at the end. This movie is a subject of debate between my girlfriend and I cause she could read into the movie more than I could and just when I think that I just say I enjoyed this movie a lot, she comes and tries to analyze it. Which sucks. Blah. But I have to say that this, this has to be the best movie this year.

RATING: 3/5
Finally watched the original The Fog tonight and my feelings are a bit mixed on it because I enjoyed the remake, which was basically about nothing and had no major story line, whereas the original truly did. There was a clear cut defining reason that the fog and crazies existed.
When I was little, in elementary school, I had seen the commercials and ads for the movie and we would run around in the fog on the baseball field and crash our friends when it was really thick and I was a bit scared of it. Glad I didn’t actually see the movie or I would have been afraid of it like I was laying in bed thinking Jason was underneath it with a machete. But as an adult, I found the story was good but it seemed to fall short at the end when it was just over. There was this build up and they seemed to just go away with out much bloodshed or force. It was like “poof”, you’re gone.

RATING: 3.5/5
Justin Long, Christina Ricci and Liam Neeson star in this not so promoted psychological thriller about a funeral home director, who can talk to the dead and the dead dealing with their after life. Christina Ricci, plays a dead girl coming to grips with her death in time for her funeral service and burial. While her fiancé, Justin Long, is in denial and does not believe that she is dead. The movie leaves us with the question of was she really dead or was she still alive.
Since most of the movie takes place in the embalming room, Christina Ricci spent most of the movie naked, which I personally enjoyed. LOL. The movie was suspenseful at times, enjoyable and thought provoking. A good movie for an afternoon watch.