Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004) (V) 3.5/5

Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004) (V)

This was a real surprise. I can't remember why we recorded this for our son, but he liked it and after a few times of him watching it, I had seen the whole thing too. The best part of this movie was that it surprised me so well. It's really funny!

It has a good combination of silly, funny stuff w/ just a bit of more advanced (I don't want to say mature or adult) humor.

There's one part where the 3 'bad guys' (I love how they keep calling them 'bad guys' - today's shows have lost that) are going to dropped into 'the pit.' The door in the ground opens, they fall down, the obligatory fading yell is heard... then one of them pops up his head from the 3 foot deep 'pit.'

That's pretty funny, but then later we see them again and they're still in there wasting away the time... like they're really trapped and can't get out. Not so funny when written out here, but funny in the show.

Another great part is when a 'bad guy' is sword fighting w/ Mickey on top of the moving coach. The 'bad guy's sword cuts away Mickey's Musketeer uniform and his has his trademark Mickey shorts on and he immediate strikes the 'Mickey pose.' It just feels like their poking fun at themselves a bit.

Don't get me wrong: this is no "Cars" or anything, but it's a clever, cute, funny little show that really surprised me.

Great stuff for our son!


Haiku Summary
Mickey, Goofy and
Donald want to be in the
Muskateers... and are!



NEXT: "300 (2006)"

Rescue Dawn (2006) - 3.5/5

Rescue Dawn (2006)

I liked this movie, but I was a bit disappointed given how great Werner Herzog is. I felt the movie didn't have as dark of a feel as I expected. I didn't feel the dread of the captors and the situation as I'm sure it was.

It was certainly harsh, don't get me wrong, but I didn't feel it as I have w/ other Herzog movies.

So I think it's a really good movie, but my expectations were really high.

Haiku Summary
Little Dieter needs
to fly. Navy, Vietnam.
Captured, but escapes.

NEXT: "Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (2004)"

Factory Girl (2006) 1.5/5

Factory Girl (2006)

Nothing really good to say about this movie except that it didn't glorify drug use.

A disappointment for Guy Pearce.

Haiku Summary
Poor little rich girl
meets Andy Warhol. Does drugs,
wastes life and dies.

NEXT: "Rescue Dawn"

3:10 to Yuma (2007) - 4/5

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Great western w/ lots of classic aspects and some new flavors. Russel Crowe is great in this and Christian Bale is his usual dedicated self in his role. Top notch performances.

There's a lot to be said for the redemption of the two main characters in this movie. Both failures in some way and to themselves... but I'll let someone else say it (better than me).

Haiku Summary
Failure at home, Dan
takes Ben to train for money.
Connects with Ben. Dies.

NEXT: "Factory Girl"

BlockBuster Online: 1 year (2007), 86 movies

My one year with BlockBuster Online (it's in reverse order and poorly formated, but who's really going to read it?)...

Title Ship Date Return Date
-----------------------------
The Good Shepherd 12/19/2007 01/04/2008
Babette's Feast 12/11/2007 12/28/2007
The Squid and the Whale 12/07/2007 12/21/2007
Stone Reader 12/04/2007 12/11/2007
Kung Fu Hustle 12/03/2007 12/21/2007
The Constant Gardener 11/28/2007 12/07/2007
The Pursuit of Happyness 11/26/2007 12/04/2007
House of Sand and Fog 11/20/2007 11/28/2007
Akira 11/19/2007 12/03/2007
Glengarry Glen Ross 11/14/2007 11/20/2007
Children of Men 11/01/2007 11/14/2007
Fast Food Nation 10/31/2007 11/20/2007
Casino Royale 10/31/2007 11/26/2007
Blood Diamond 10/23/2007 11/05/2007
Chalk 10/22/2007 10/31/2007
The Right Stuff 10/16/2007 10/31/2007
A Scanner Darkly 10/15/2007 10/23/2007
Open Your Eyes 10/12/2007 10/22/2007
Fargo 10/08/2007 10/16/2007
Barton Fink 10/08/2007 10/16/2007
Delicatessen 10/02/2007 10/12/2007
Pi 09/25/2007 10/02/2007
Once Upon a Time in America 09/21/2007 10/08/2007
Munich 09/21/2007 10/11/2007
Far from Heaven 09/19/2007 09/25/2007
Pi 09/18/2007 09/25/2007
SCTV [TV Series] 09/13/2007 09/19/2007
North Country 09/11/2007 09/25/2007
21 Grams 09/06/2007 09/18/2007
For Your Consideration 09/05/2007 09/11/2007
Cold Mountain 09/04/2007 09/13/2007
Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny 08/28/2007 09/06/2007
Babel 08/28/2007 09/06/2007
Borat 08/27/2007 09/04/2007
Letters from Iwo Jima 08/23/2007 08/29/2007
Kingdom of Heaven 08/20/2007 08/25/2007
The Butterfly Effect 08/14/2007 08/29/2007
Flags of Our Fathers 08/13/2007 08/24/2007
Mystic River 08/09/2007 08/21/2007
Gangs of New York 08/01/2007 08/09/2007
Gosford Park 08/01/2007 08/13/2007
The Cider House Rules 07/26/2007 08/01/2007
The Thin Red Line 07/16/2007 08/15/2007
Out of Africa 07/05/2007 07/26/2007
Il Postino 06/28/2007 08/01/2007
The Verdict 06/21/2007 07/18/2007
A Man Escaped 06/15/2007 06/28/2007
Fay Grim 06/15/2007 07/05/2007
The Departed 06/08/2007 06/21/2007
Howards End 06/04/2007 06/15/2007
Hope and Glory 05/29/2007 06/15/2007
Chuck Jones: Extremes and Inbetweens - A Life in Animation 05/29/2007 06/08/2007
Chariots of Fire 05/16/2007 05/28/2007
Akeelah and the Bee 05/16/2007 06/01/2007
Wordplay 05/16/2007 06/01/2007
Reds 05/07/2007 05/18/2007
Reds 05/03/2007 05/18/2007
The Illusionist 05/02/2007 05/12/2007
The Best Years of Our Lives 04/30/2007 05/10/2007
City Lights 04/26/2007 05/02/2007
Raging Bull 04/24/2007 05/03/2007
One Night With the King 04/23/2007 04/30/2007
Beyond the Gates of Splendor 04/11/2007 04/25/2007
Dave Chappelle's Block Party 04/10/2007 04/27/2007
End of the Spear 04/06/2007 04/11/2007
Extras: Season 01 03/26/2007 04/10/2007
Factotum 03/26/2007 04/09/2007
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 01 03/21/2007 03/28/2007
Crank 03/19/2007 06/29/2007
Extras: Season 01 03/16/2007 03/21/2007
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 01 03/14/2007 03/28/2007
The Butterfly Effect 03/13/2007 03/15/2007
Curb Your Enthusiasm: Season 01 03/12/2007 03/13/2007
Munich 03/08/2007 03/13/2007
Igby Goes Down 03/07/2007 03/19/2007
Shopgirl 02/21/2007 03/14/2007
What the #$*! Do We Know?! 02/19/2007 03/07/2007
Lucky Number Slevin 02/19/2007 03/08/2007
Just Like Heaven 02/13/2007 02/21/2007
The Station Agent 02/08/2007 02/14/2007
March of the Penguins 02/05/2007 03/07/2007
Jesus of Montreal 02/03/2007 02/15/2007
The Aviator 01/30/2007 02/08/2007
Crash 01/26/2007 02/03/2007
Derailed 01/26/2007 01/30/2007
Elizabethtown 01/26/2007 02/17/2007

Air Guitar Nation (2006) - 3.5/5

Air Guitar Nation (2006)

Pretty interesting, but they didn't into the people enough... or they made the most of what they had to work with.

It's fun to watch the performances and they do a good job of keeping it from getting old. They get into each topic enough, but nothing to the point to make it a great documentary.

The "underdog" isn't as likable which hurts that aspect, but everyone is a character and fairly fun. From serious to ridiculous, it's all pretty good.

There are certainly some great parts and overall it's pretty fun.

WARNING: Male nudity.

Haiku Summary
What's this? Air guitar
contests? No Americans?
I say we go. Win!

NEXT: "3:10 To Ymua"

The Secret of NIMH (1982) - 2.5/5

The Secret of NIMH (1982)

Original, but not very compelling. It's a children's book adaptation, but I'm not familiar w/ the book.

That characters and animation are good, but I wasn't really drawn into to care about what was happening (and to a degree, I wasn't really sure what was happening).

SPOILERS

The idea that an experiment by NIMH (National Institute of Mental Health) made the mice/rats "smart" seemed out of left field in the reality of the story. It also gave it a too realistic and dark feel IMO.

Haiku Summary
The plow is coming.
The boy mouse is sick, can't move.
Rats are smart, some bad.

NEXT: "Air Guitar Nation"

The King of Kong (2007) - 5/5

The King of Kong (2007)

If I had waited for my top movies from 2007 (released in 2007, not watched), this wd be up there near the top.

Awesome! I have to give some credit to the documentary makers here, but I think the material they had to work w/ was gold.

Billy Mitchell is Darth Vader's equivalent in this reality. So great. Editing does a lot, but anyone saying the things he says... wow.

And Steve Weibe - you just can't help but pull for this lovable loser.

Be sure to watch some of the extra material if you get this for more updates about what happened after the filming.... they're still going!

Next: "The Secret of NIMH"

Haiku Summary
Steve beats high score on
tape. Not good enough for Bill.
Bill evades. So great!

Treasure Planet (2002) - 3.5/5

Treasure Planet (2002)

This is a very interesting animated movie in several areas: mix of 2D and 3D, the characters, the scope, etc.

The story is solid and the characters are fully developed. The action is good too.

It's more serious than funny (like Pocahontas and Tarzan) though the robot is pretty comical.

I think the production quality is way up on this one so the animation, effects, details, characters, etc. are really good. It's a Ron Clements and John Musker movie which says a lot.

There's some great behind the scenes/making of stuff on the DVD too.

Haiku Summary
Boy finds treasure map.
Goes w/ pirates. Dad figure
turns, boy saves them all.

NEXT: "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters"

Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? (2006) - 2.5/5

Who the #$&% Is Jackson Pollock? (2006)

An interesting look at the differences btwn the "art world" and the real world more than anything.

A woman trucker buys a painting for $5 at a thrift store for a friend. She winds up trying to sell it in a garage sale and someone says they think it might be a Jackson Pollock painting.

She tries to find out if it is and prove the art world wrong. Ultimately, it becomes a matter of principle to her and, imo, she's way too stubborn about it.

SPOILERS

I can kinda see turning down the $2 million from the anonymous offerer. I guess you cd think that anyone offering to pay that much must think it's worth something and if it's worth anything (b/c it's a Pollock) then it's worth a lot more than that.

However, she cd have secured her family's future w/ that so I think she probably sd have taken it. Again, we learn at the end that she has since turned down an offer of $9 million. Now I think she's been crazy, stubborn and selfish.

Wanting to prove the art world wrong and make them admit it is just as bad as them being that way, imo.

Haiku Summary
Woman finds cheap art.
May be Pollock. Finger print
matches. Take $9 mill!

Tarzan (1999) - 3.5/5

Tarzan (1999)

Great animation and really good characters. Also, the story was more compelling w/ the deeper characters and expressiveness of them.

I felt this movie had a fuller feel to it w/ humor, action, animation, character development, etc.

Haiku Summary
Ape takes babe as own.
Raises him, others come. Love,
songs, white man stays there!

Pocahontas (1995) - 3/5

Pocahontas (1995)

Good animation but it just didn't keep my attention too well. I think the characters and story were a little thin or something. Nothing big, but I just wasn't drawn in.

However, again, the animation was good. The wind effects and water and such were fun to watch.

Haiku Summary
Indians happy.
White man comes for gold. Love, songs,
guns. White man goes home.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007) - 1/5

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

I liked the first one and I think it's b/c I had very low expectations. I had a bit higher expectations from this one b/c people were telling me they liked it. But my expectations were still pretty low... not low enough.

I thought the dialogue was poorly written ("As a father, how do you expect me to take this?") and poorly acted. It was like 5 teenagers found a camera and said "Hey, let's make a movie real quick."

I give it a 1 mainly b/c there was some creativity in making U.S. history mysterious. That's about the most I can do for it.

The puzzles weren't engaging and before you cd even think about them, Cage has solved them. They might as well not even of had them.

I assume there isn't a book, but it felt like a thrown together movie version where they didn't have time to flesh this and that out and so they instantly solved puzzles, found clues, traveled the world, etc.

SPOILERS

The challenges were too far fetched too: hack into Buckingham Palace (and basically do whatever you want w/ the whole place instantly), get into the Oval Office, kidnap the president, etc.

The premise was weak too: a random person makes big claims, ruins the Gates name and threatens people w/ violence and attempted murder. Why? B/c he wants to discover the city of gold and get his name in the history books (which, by the way, it worked - take note kids - that's how you can be famous forever!).

He cd have easily gone to these guys who wd have wanted to do this anyway.

Also, I felt the tie into finding the city and clearing the Gates name to be thin. Just b/c the city exists, doesn't mean that's what Thomas Gates was protecting, etc.

Haiku Summary
Bad guy ruins name.
Let's do the impossible
fast and bad acting.

My Top Five 2007 Movies

These are not the top movies I SAW in 2007, but my top movies released in 2007 (granted I'll still see more released in 2007 going forward, but I thought I'd make this list now)...

Here's the 2007 movies I've seen. There are a ton of 2007 I didn't see so. In fact below is IMDB's top 100 based on votes (7000 vote minimum per film) - I saw 7 of the top 20.

I started the list and when I got thru the best ones, it turned out I had 5 so a nice prime number...

1. Meet the Robinsons - 5/5

2. No Country for Old Men - 5/5

3. Bourne Ultimatum - 4.5/5

4. Juno - 4/5

5. Hot Fuzz - 4/5

Rank Title
1---There Will Be Blood (2007)
2---No Country for Old Men (2007)
3---Man from Earth, The (2007)
---Sicko (2007)
---Juno (2007)
6---Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)
---Ratatouille (2007)
---Bourne Ultimatum, The (2007)
9---American Gangster (2007)
10---Into the Wild (2007)
---Hot Fuzz (2007)
---Stardust (2007)
---Atonement (2007)
---3:10 to Yuma (2007)
---Grindhouse (2007)
16---Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The (2007)
---Superbad (2007)
---Gone Baby Gone (2007)
---Darjeeling Limited, The (2007)
20---Eastern Promises (2007)
---Reign Over Me (2007)
---Enchanted (2007)
---Zodiac (2007/I)

The Rescuers Down Under (1990) - 2/5

The Rescuers Down Under (1990)

I think these earlier Disney movies just aren't holding my attention and such. The stories and characters aren't that compelling.

The artwork was good and the backgrounds (first CGI backgrounds for Disney) were good. The opening sequence w/ the eagle was fun too.

Like many older movies (and probably some newer ones too???), there's a real "bad guy" as opposed to just opposition or just a situation (see "Cars"). He's a poacher.

I didn't see the prequel so that didn't help, but I doubt I will.

Haiku Summary
Boy helps eagle and
poacher traps boy to get the
location. Mice help.

Juno (2007) - 4/5

Juno (2007)

Lots of hype about this movie and I was really interested in seeing it. I think my expectations were a bit high though tempered by some things I heard/read.

Probably my main/only "problem" w/ the movie is Juno's speech: everything she says is a alt-worded, cool, slang, cliche-mock, sarcastic, crafted line. It's overdone, IMO.

I believe it shows her immaturity and defensiveness well in the beginning of the movie, but then it keeps going and going.

The nice surprise to me was Jennifer Garner's character and her sincere interactions w/ the baby. I don't know if it was so great b/c it was unexpected or what.

Jason Bateman phoned it in a bit though his character wasn't really much anyway. Michael Cera is great and under-used here.

SPOILERS

When Vanessa talks to the baby in Juno's belly, it just rocked me. It really came through and was powerful.

Haiku Summary
Girl gets preg, will place
for adoption with "perfect"
couple. Love right person.

The Official How It Should Have Ended Website

The Official How It Should Have Ended Website

Some pretty funny takes on movies. I watched a few a couple years ago and thought they had some clever ideas. I think their art is better now too.

The Little Mermaid (1989) - 3.5/5

The Little Mermaid (1989)

Good animation, great songs and story. The characters and their expressions really come to life.

I think, to me, this was the beginning of the 'new Disney' in animation.

Haiku Summary
Mermaid wants to be
a person. Falls in love and
needs his kiss to stay.

The Black Cauldron (1985) - 2.5/5

The Black Cauldron (1985)

Interesting b/c of it's position and place in Disney history. Also, the animation was good and interesting techniques at times.

But I think the Disney animation department was a bit scattered and schismed at the time and it shows. The story is a bit spotty at times and the characters, to me, aren't very sympathetic.

There's some witches and a magic sword and several references the Horned King's war and army and such, but none of them are really explained.

It has some influences from Lord of the Rings, I think.

Haiku Summary
Cauldron holds power.
Horned king wants it, boy must stop.
Witches, fights. We win!

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008) - 4/5

The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie (2008)

Incredible animation. Wow.

The action is pretty good and I like the humor (witty, but not too 'adult'), but I felt the story was a bit slow at times.

Also, the 'scope' of the story was narrow: they just focus on the main characters. It feels kinda small. Rarely do they cut away to another story line or anything.

I thought maybe that's b/c it's a kids' movie, but lots of other kids' movies do that.

Anyway, it's fun, funny, entertaining and "safe" for kids which all add up to a lot.

Haiku Summary
Prince is taken. Sis
seeks help. Cabin boys go there.
King's help always near.