Trinity’s World

I love Harry Potter. I’m a big fan of the books, and I really love the story that unfolds in a very well constructed fantasy universe. As such, I have not really been satisfied with any of the movie releases when I first see them. Over time I warm up to the fact that the moves really do stand as their own story, and I can judge them from the stand point of what they are meant to be as opposed to what I had hope they would be.

First and foremost, this movie is an ADAPTATION. So a lot was left out in order to fit it on the screen. However, I understand most of what was cut was do so in order to make the film come in under budget. If I have one criticism of the film, and this continues to happen as more movies are released, it is that there are minor characters that just are not be utilized to their full potential. I find myself looking at Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, and other amazing actors, THE BEST OF THE BEST from England, and their parts are becoming bit parts. Mind you most of these rolls are supporting characters, but when you assemble this much talent in one place, it bothers me when what little screen time they get is sometimes not play true the characters from the book, or has been turned into something else entirely.

What did I like about this movie: This was the best looking Harry Potter to date. From set design, to costumes, to the greens department, and the cinematography, this movie looked awesome. You really felt like you were in a real place. And there was not a single visual effect that did not either further the story, or give a quick and concise detail about a person’s character. You could tell that a lot of attention was not just spent on detail, but on detail that would matter for the final view experience. The Plot was very fast paced, and did not really give you a time to rest. By the end of the film you almost feel as tired as Harry does.

So that’s that. Don’t take the little kids to this one, it is the darkest one yet. But if you are reading along in the books you would know that before you went to the film, and they are only going to get more dark as they go on.

BTW: Friday the last book is released!!!!!!

Posted Sunday, May 28, 2006, 05:50 PM

The DreamWorks machine put out a new animated movie this year, and I really like DreamWorks films. Ever since they released “The Prince of Egypt,” I’ve had a high respect for both the technical and story telling ability of the people at DreamWorks. Over the Hedge did not disappoint.

The basic idea is that there is a raccoon named RJ, who likes human food. His addiction to this food gets him into trouble with a bear named Vince. Needless to say, he has to get Vince a lot of food by the end of the week or forfeit his life.

Enter an odd pack of foragers who have just awoke from hibernation to find that a housing development has been erected around them. The only remains of their forest home has been left as a nature walk for the suburban sprawl that has been erected over the winter. RJ shows them that Humans are not a thing to be feared, but are a bless in disguise.

This whole movie is just good, old fashion, slap stick, and witty comedy. The cast is a great collection of talent ranging from William Shatner to Eugene Leavy. My wife and I could not stop laughing out loud, many times.

This is a must see movie for anyone with kids, and is also written so that adults will laugh. For once, good clean family fun, and an really great sound track to boot by Been Folds Five.

Over the Hedge
Rated PG

Posted Monday, November 14, 2005, 04:21 PM

Any time I see a remake of an idea, or a sequel to a good movie, I have a certain set of expectations that just can not be put aside. If I’ve spent a whole movie getting to know a character, they had better still be the same person for the next movie, or have a really good reason not to be. The story of Zorro has taken so many shapes over the years, it is like trying to make a movie of any of the Marvel Comic characters. So many people have such different interpretations that have set a president, and now you have to combine them all into one real character for a movie. This one was very well done.

On the heels of The Mask of Zorro, we get another story about the secret life of Don Della Vega. If you remember at the end of the last film, he got the girl and lived happily ever after. Well…we find out that it was not so happy after all. Something about Daddy running off all the time to save the people from danger, but never being home for his own son or his wife. This movie explores the reality of being a secret super hero, and a father, and a husband, and still being able to remember who you are.

The only problem I had with the movie was that it’s based on a few misconceptions about California before it become accepted into the US as a state. It also makes a few interesting leaps when it comes to the portrayal of the Civil War (but I have issues with what most history books say about that anyway, and will never win that battle). But they do a good job of developing a very good story, with very well developed characters across the board. And the boy cast as the son of Zorro was such a find, he stole almost every scene he was in. He was awesome.

All in all, a great film. I like the feel of a Indiana Jones film: fun, light hearted, but not afraid to talk about something that is very hard and controversial. This movie was a lot of fun.

The Legend of Zorro
Rated: R
Released Oct 2005

Posted Thursday, March 16, 2006, 11:21 AM

In college I discovered the wonderful experience of the theater. No, I was not an actor, I was an audience member. You have to understand that I was not raised in what you might call a “cultural center,” and as such did not have things like live stage productions at my disposal that were beyond the high school dram productions. So theater, and especially musical theater, have found a very special place in my heart.

Having said that, my wife begged me to buy her “Into the Woods” on DVD. Being the wonderful husband I am, and wanting to fulfill my own desire to spoil my wife, I obliged and ordered it off of Amazon for only $12 with free shipping. What better way to make my wife happy than to give her Bernadette Peters?

I Loved it. I’ve seen other productions, for instance the one with Vanessa Williams at the Dorothy Chandler in LA, but this was really well done. Seriously, this is a very good story about people having to learn to make decisions for the first time, and living with the consequences of their actions. There is an amazing scene where everyone is trying to blame each other for what is going on, and the Witch basically has this really great song about how it’s always about who is to blame (because it’s never your fault).

On a musical note, this pay was insane. The music is almost chaos, but so precise and clear that you are forced to pay attention to what is going on. Any anyone who has any experience trying to sing will here the bizarre intervals and that the performers have to hit, and gawk with awe. And the words go by so fast that there are hardly any places to breathe.

The Plot? Well, think about some to the most famous fairy tale stories, bundle them all together, and them imagine each person in the story being introduced to how things work in the real world. Which is one of the main points of the story, the world is a bad place and if you are not willing to face it then bad things will happen to you when reality comes knocking at your door.

The movie was funny, a bit long, but worth every moment. I really like this movie and would recommend it to anyone.

Posted Tuesday, January 31, 2006, 04:20 PM

I don’t find myself getting out to see movies as much as I used to these days. But I finally saw one that was surprisingly more funny than I thought it was going to be. I really wanted to see Underworld: Evolution, but my wife was not in the mood for an action movie. So, being the whipped (but happy) man that I am, we went and saw Hoodwinked.

While much better than I thought it was going to be, this movie was very uneven. There were moments where we were laughing so hard I thought that I was going to burst, and other moments where I was bored because the plot was so predictable. And the Soundtrack sucks gas! The Animation was not what I had expected, and seemed a little primitive for today’s computer animated features. And finally, I wanted to see an action film when I went so my opinion is a little biased.

These things aside, let me tell you what was awesome about this film. The voice talent really nailed the characters. Andy Dick did a wonderful bunny rabbit, Ann Hathaway was awesome as Little Red, and the Wolf was perfectly sarcastic and dry. The comedy of this film is along the lines of a “He said/She said” situation. Kind of a Colombo meats the Brother’s Grim. To get down the bottom of the menace going on in the forest, a frog detective must get each character’s version of the events that happened that day. Full of one liners and just plain funny twists as each person says what really happened, I found myself thinking of Clue the movie about half way through.

It was really nice to see a movie that my kids at school can watch, that still have a lot of very smart comedy in it. A lot of the jokes will go over kids heads, but the material is not “Adult” in any way. Finally I can encourage my kids to go see a really funny movie that their parents will enjoy too.

I give this movie a B in terms of grade. I liked it, but in a day and age when you have to compete with houses like Pixar and Dreamworks, this movie falls a little short of my expectations for an animated film.

Hoodwinked
Rated PG
Weinstein Company
Released 2006

Posted Monday, November 14, 2005, 04:23 PM

This movie surprised me. I try to go to a movie with no preconceived notions of what it should be like, but there are certain things that I’ve come to expect as normal for an animated film, especially when it is of the Disney variety. This movie was much more than I thought it would be. Probably because I only saw billboards for it, and a teaser trailer for it at another movie I had seen a while back. Talk about a fun time had by all.

Ok, so we all know the moral behind the story of chicken little. Something falls out of the sky, hits him on the head, and he freaks out. I tell this story to my kids in my office sometimes when they are the kinds of kids that over react. But this movie twists the whole idea around and asks the question, “What if a piece of the sky did fall and hit him on the head.” Chicken Little walks through the aftermath of a very embarrassing incident that has haunted Chicken Little most of his life. But, with the help of his jr. high school friends, thing turn out to be more than the appear to be. Couple that Chicken Little’s desire to make his Dad proud, and a slight miss understanding about what a map means, and this movie goes from funny to hilarious by the time it is over.

My wife and I laughed at so many one liners, we sometimes lost track of the story. If you are into psychology, or know anything about conflict management or interpersonal skills, this movie will be funny to you. If you work with kids, and have had long term exposure to the school like of jr. highers, you will find this movie really funny. If youre both, then you will not stop laughing.

Great Movie to see.

Chicken Little
Raged PG
Released Nov 2005

Posted Monday, November 14, 2005, 04:21 PM

Any time I see a remake of an idea, or a sequel to a good movie, I have a certain set of expectations that just can not be put aside. If I’ve spent a whole movie getting to know a character, they had better still be the same person for the next movie, or have a really good reason not to be. The story of Zorro has taken so many shapes over the years, it is like trying to make a movie of any of the Marvel Comic characters. So many people have such different interpretations that have set a president, and now you have to combine them all into one real character for a movie. This one was very well done.

On the heels of The Mask of Zorro, we get another story about the secret life of Don Della Vega. If you remember at the end of the last film, he got the girl and lived happily ever after. Well…we find out that it was not so happy after all. Something about Daddy running off all the time to save the people from danger, but never being home for his own son or his wife. This movie explores the reality of being a secret super hero, and a father, and a husband, and still being able to remember who you are.

The only problem I had with the movie was that it’s based on a few misconceptions about California before it become accepted into the US as a state. It also makes a few interesting leaps when it comes to the portrayal of the Civil War (but I have issues with what most history books say about that anyway, and will never win that battle). But they do a good job of developing a very good story, with very well developed characters across the board. And the boy cast as the son of Zorro was such a find, he stole almost every scene he was in. He was awesome.

All in all, a great film. I like the feel of a Indiana Jones film: fun, light hearted, but not afraid to talk about something that is very hard and controversial. This movie was a lot of fun.

The Legend of Zorro
Rated: R
Released Oct 2005

Posted Friday, August 5, 2005, 04:43 PM

I love Tim Burton. I think he has one of the quirkiest, bizarre, funny senses of humor out there. And when I say, “out there,” I don’t mean left field. If the movie Men in Black is anywhere close to true, then Tim Burton is defiantly from another planet, just like Michael Jackson. And his partner in crime from the planet of “I’m to Sexy for My Own Good,” is Johny Depp.

I loved the Original Movie, with crazy man Gean Wilder staring as Willy Wonka. This movie did not disappoint. The old movie focused a lot on the going on of the Chocolate Factory, and gave a really good picture of what kind of roll parents have in the kinds of people their children will become. This new picture does the same thing with a new twist. The movie has been updated to fit not just today’s technology, but also to address things that kids these days actually do.

The new movie offers some great insight into who Willy Wonka is, and how he became the man he is in the movie. Also, we get to see Charlie interact with his family a lot more and get a better understanding of who Charlie is and why he is the person that makes the right decisions when others do not. With out giving away the ending, I will just say that the end of this one is different in substance but not in results from the older movie. Charlie is forced to make a very big decision at the end, that he did not have to make in the Gean Wilder version of this story. But in the end, I think this movie does a good credit to it’s predisessor.

Warning, If you see this movie, beware of the Umpa Luma dance sequences. They were the only part I did not like, as I have a thing against midgets.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Rated PG
Released 2005