What was the special occasion? My roomie’s birthday. He loved it!

It’s underground. Enter from Miller Alley, get your tix and go down two escalators. Once underground, you show them your ticket and either take a seat in the Salt lounge or go right in to your theater. You can order up a drink, or go for a full meal. Yup, Salt is a full restaurant and bar. The food is excellent! My roomie reported that the drink he got was outstanding.

We got there early so we ate in the lounge while we waited for our theater to empty out. Because my roomie got a drink I became the designated driver. I’m always the designated driver.

These theaters are small, only holding about 40 people. The seats are huge cushy recliners (look for the buttons on the inside-side of the chair) with huge armrests, blanks, pillows, and a storage compartment under one armrest. All seats are paired up, and there is a small cocktail table between and in front, with a green-lit button which changes to red when you push it to get their attention.

Inside the theaters you can order food or drinks or desert or whatever and they bring it to you. The service is excellent!

http://www.ipictheaters.com/

I did not take any pictures when inside. Why? 1) It’s pretty dark. I would have had to bring my regular camera with the flash built-in and I didn’t. 2) All pictures on the website are accurate. Check it out.

Teleportation is so cool. I love the idea of traveling anywhere, instantly, just with a decision.

If some people have that kind of power, then of course there would exist a group who only wants to destroy them. And of course they would have advanced technology with unlimited funding.

I loved the fast-paced teleporting fight sequences. I loved the love story. I even loved the ending!

I’ve already got this one on Blu-Ray. Highly recommended.

Finally, the big day arrives.  I get to the theater early, get tickets, get good seats, sit through the cool previews… then it begins.  Yayyy! I think to myself, I finally get to watch the most anticipated movie of the year!

Without going in to the details and spoiling the movie, here’s the summary: the fight scenes are cool, the rest sucks. Especially the ending. The ending of Sucker Punch is the worst ending I have ever seen, of any movie.

I’m so disappointed. I will not be buying this one when it comes out on BluRay.

Whatever you need to do, go and see this movie! It’s worth it!

I saw it in standard 2D, and it was wonderful. But I’m going to go and see it again in Digital 3D. Oh yeah, it’s that good. Personally, I don’t understand why it’s not doing so well in the theaters. Perhaps because it’s so costly for a family to go and see it?

I don’t know. But I do know it’s a wonderful movie, it’s awesome, it’s an excellent adventure, and I highly recommend it. Go and see it!

I saw Green Hornet and thought they did a pretty good job on it. Very entertaining. Sometimes Seth Rogen is a bit annoying (or more than a bit), but I really enjoyed the overall storyline and how they pulled it off. Jay Chou kicks ass! In all ways. I like what they did with Cameron Diaz’s character and how she ties in to the team.

The bad guy Chudnofsky (played by Christoph Waltz) was really, really funny. Very entertaining.

The effects and stunts were fantastic. They were all really well done.

Directed by Michel Gondry. Written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and George W. Trendle.

If they decide to make another one, I’ll go and see it. And I’ll buy this one when it comes out on Blu-Ray.

I just got a new Blu-Ray disc in the mail from Amazon. I pop it in to my Blu-Ray player in my computer. I bring up Cyberlink Power DVD (Blu-Ray Edition). I hit the play button. I get this error:

DVD Error
Error Code: 8876086A
Internal error.

In this window, I have two options: [Close] or [Detailed]. I click the [Detailed] button. The window expands and includes this text:

The error code is undefined.

Contact http://support.gocyberlink.com. Please tell us how this internal error occurred in a detailed manner.

Upon visiting the site above and searching for this error, I come across a page which tells me that I need to upgrade my video drivers. Why? The page does not say.

I’m now trying to update my video drivers. Now I’m past the point where I had time to watch this movie (the one I paid for).

Here’s my point: Without DRM, none of this would be necessary. Has DRM prevented movies from hitting the net? Answer: No. Has DRM prevented me from watching the movie I paid for? Answer: Yes.

I think I’ll download the .torrent file for this movie so that I can watch the movie I paid for.

The things that they can do to animate animals, the computer-generated stuff… it’s getting very difficult to tell which is which. These are some of the best animal simulations I’ve ever seen.

Written by Ron J. Friedman, Steve Bencich, John Requa, and Glenn Ficarra. Directed by Brad Peyton.

Starring Nick Nolte as Butch, James Marsden as Diggs, Christina Applegate as Catherine, Bette Midler as Kitty Galore, Roger Moore as Tab Lazenby, Neil Patrick Harris as Lou, Michael Clarke Duncan as Sam, and Chris O’Donnell as Shane.

Lots of fun. Highly recommended.

AMC Burbank 16 has a special Sat morn: $6 movies for the first showing.  This movie was worth that price.

Not recommended, though it is entertaining. I’m not going to buy it.

Scott Pilgrim must defeat his new girlfriend’s seven evil exes to win her over. That line alone would have made me go see the movie. Then I saw the preview and I was hooked. There was no way that I was going to miss that.

This movie has broken through all bounds and actually created a video game reality where you can fight supervillains for the girl and you won’t take any damage, your opponents won’t take much damage, but when you beat them up enough they turn in to quarters and your friends will stand there and cheer you on. And it’s so cool that they made this universe so cool! I’ll bet that was a tough sell. But WOW, they really pulled it off!

Visuals: outstanding! Comedy: outstanding! Story: outstanding! Acting: outstanding! Everything was outstanding!!!

I’ll definitely be getting this one when it’s available on Blu-Ray! I want to watch it over and over again. This is one of the adventures I’d have if I could. It looks like sooo much fun.

Near the end: Yes, I want to continue!!!

Written by Michael Bacall and Edgar Wright, and directed by Edgar Wright
Starring Michael Cera as Scott (Pilgrim), Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona (the girl), Ellen Wong as Knives, Anna Kendrick as Stacey Pilgrim, Mark Webber as Stephen Stills, Alison Pill as Kim, Kieran Culkin as Wallace, and many other interesting people and characters.

Sucker Punch:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi107256089/

It’s got it all! Action, adventure, ass-kicking, sword fighting, machine guns, monsters, sci-fi, robots, flying ships, flame throwers, dragons, missiles, guns, nazis, martial arts, hot chicks… oh my!

I can’t wait to see this movie!!!

The main story here is about a guy who loves being a superhero. He really just wants to help. But something bad happens and superheros are told that, basically, they are not wanted. After that, things seem to go downhill for our hero. He doesn’t seem to see that he’s got an awesome family and they’re right there in front of him.

This movie is full of comedy, action, adventure, explosions, awesome lighting effects, amazing flying craft, cool doors, all kinds of buttons, fantastic music, and a slew of superheros and fantastic characters!

Written & directed by Brad Bird. Brad Bird is one of those guys I wish I could sometimes be. He’s got one of the coolest jobs around: creative movie making. Ever sit through the credits of the TV show The Simpsons? You’ll see Brad Bird’s name. Brad is the guy behind The Iron Giant, also an excellent movie.

Starring Craig T. Nelson as Bob Parr / Mr. Incredible, Holly Hunter as Helen Parr / Elastigirl, Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best / Frozone, Jason Lee as Buddy Pine / Syndrome, Spencer Fox as Dashiell ‘Dash’ Parr, Sarah Vowell as Violet Parr, plus a bunch of others such as Wallace Shawn as Gilbert Huph (who is always a good laugh).

Highly recommended! (in case you couldn’t tell

Sam Rockwell does a fantastic job playing several of a very few characters. Kevin Spacey does a fantastic job playing the base computer known as GERTY, who helps run the base and take care of Sam.

The film may have been low on the budget, but I couldn’t tell at all. The effects were great, the sets were realistic, the moonscapes were beautiful… all good.

Written by Duncan Jones (original story) and Nathan Parker (screenplay). Directed by Duncan Jones.

There are a few other characters such as his wife played by Dominique McElligott, and Eve played by Kaya Scodelario, but mostly it’s just Sam.

I also loved the ending. The ending of any movie is important to me. Often, I can sit through a pretty good movie only to be disappointed by the ending, then come up with a better one. I loved the ending of this movie!

Highly recommended.

Written by The Wibberleys and Hoyt Yeatman & David P.I. James. Directed by Hoyt Yeatman.

Starring Bill Nighy as Saber, Sam Rockwell as Darwin, Will Arnett as Kip, Jon Favreau as Hurley, Penélope Cruz as Juarez, Tracy Morgan as Blaster, Nicolas Cage as Speckles, Zack Galifianakis as Ben, and Steve Buscemi as Bucky.

Go for it; it’s lots of fun for the whole family.

Written by Allan Knee (the play) and David Magee (the screenplay), directed by Marc Forster.

Starring Johnny Depp as Barrie, Kate Winslet as Sylvia Davies, Radha Mitchell as Mary Barrie, Dustin Hoffman as Charles Frohman, Freddie Highmore as Peter, Joe Prospero as Jack, Nick Roud as George, and Luke Spill as Michael.

The story of this one soldier and what happened to him may not be so uncommon. I thought the ending was actually pretty good… relating to one soldier. The ending of other soldiers… not so good.

The fight scenes were pretty good, but the blood was a bit much. The choreography was okay. Acting and direction was all good with an excellent cast.

Written & directed by Neil Marshall.

Starring Michael Fassbender as Centurion Quintus Dias, Andreas Wisniewski as Commander Gratus, Dave Legeno as Vortix, Axelle Carolyn as Aeron, Dominic West as General Titus Flavius Virilus, Olga Kurylenko and Etain and Imogen Poots as Arianne.

Cuba plays a regular guy who has an accident and get’s a special chip implanted in his brain. This thing is only trying to generate images (ads) to make him buy stuff. In this world, there is no more advertising space available… except in your head.

Enter the rebels. They hack Cuba’s chip and give him instructions on how to evade his captors. This information appears directly in front of him, like it’s floating in mid air.

Some adventure, some destruction, some explosions… and it’s time for the sequel. The film has the feel of a B-movie, but still they did a good job on it, and the story is solid.

This is the story of what could have happened in a serious catastrophic nuclear disaster… if we had had enough time to prepare. Humanity is tucked away in an underground city called Ember, powered by a huge generator, with enough stored food to feed a small city for a few hundred years. A special locked case is prepared and sealed for 200 years, but something goes wrong, and the due date passes without notice. The people of Ember don’t know that something has gone wrong, and their supplies are running low.

Directed by Gil Kenan, screenplay by Caroline Thompson, based on the book by Jeanne Duprau.
Staring Lara McIvor as Roner, Matt Jessup as Joss, Bill Murry as the Mayor, and Tim Robbins as Joss’ dad.

I finally watched it on a rental and I was actually impressed! There was more to it than I thought there would be. Plus, I just loved the ending! I hope more is done with that character because she is bad-ass!

Starring Megan Fox as Jennifer (obviously), Amanda Seyfried as Needy (her best friend), and Johnny Simmons as her boyfriend. Directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody.

Recommended for a rental.

Good acting all around; you really feel for the characters and really hate the bad guy. Good direction, too. This movie is set in a very fascist Spain in 1944. The story mostly centers around a girl who finds an alternate, fantastic world. She must accomplish certain things by the full moon. Very creative stuff. Very imaginative. Very strange creatures. But there are scenes of extreme violence, so it’s not for kids.

The ending was both good and bad. I don’t want to spoil it for you, so I’m not going to say any more. I thought it was okay, but I don’t really feel the need to watch it again. Worth a rental, but not highly recommended.

Voice acting done by:
Dakota Fanning – Coraline
Teri Hatcher – Mom / Other Mother / Beldam (the evil one)
Jennifer Saunders – Miss April Spink
Dawn French – Miss Miriam Forcible
Keith David – The Cat
John Hodgman – Dad

Written & Directed by Henry Selick.

All the voice acting was outstanding. The animation was outstanding. The story was outstanding. The ending was outstanding. By the way, be sure to sit all the way through the credits as there is a little surprise at the end.

I loved all of it and highly recommend it to all!