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Posts Tagged ‘Inception’

I Intend To Write A Strongly Worded Letter To The White Star Line About All Of This

Posted in General Comments, Movie Review, Movies, Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on May 16, 2026| Leave a Comment »

“Titanic” (1997) — movie review
Today’s review is for the epic romantic disaster film “Titanic”, directed by James Cameron and starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, a penniless artist who wins a ticket aboard the RMS Titanic and falls in love with a woman far above his station;  Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater, the young aristocratic passenger trapped by family expectations in an unwanted engagement;  Billy Zane as Cal Hockley, Rose’s wealthy, controlling and violent fiancé whose pride and entitlement escalate as the voyage progresses;  Kathy Bates as “The Unsinkable” Molly Brown, the outspoken and newly rich American who befriends Jack and Rose;  Frances Fisher as Ruth DeWitt Bukater, Rose’s mother whose financial anxieties drive much of the pressure on her daughter;  Gloria Stuart as the older Rose, whose recollections frame the entire story for the modern‑day salvage crew led by Bill Paxton’s Brock Lovett;  Bernard Hill as Captain Edward James Smith, the dignified but ultimately doomed master of the ship;  David Warner as Spicer Lovejoy, Cal’s cold and watchful bodyguard and enforcer;  Victor Garber as Thomas Andrews, the ship’s designer whose growing realization of the disaster adds a quiet tragedy;  and Jonathan Hyde as J. Bruce Ismay, the White Star Line executive whose impatience and vanity help speed the ship toward catastrophe.
Background:  I never saw “Titanic” in theaters during its original release, even when it became obvious it was going to be a cultural event rather than “just” a movie.  I first saw this film while working in Saudi Arabia on a TV and since then a couple of times on progressively larger home TVs.  (Back then, Saudi Arabia did not show kissing or sexual content on TV, so this viewing was a “sanitized” / abbreviated version.)  This latest viewing was on a 48″ LCD screen from a little more than arms length.  I do regret never having seen it on a true theater screen, but I’ve gotten over it…  LoL.  The film went on to win 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and tying the all‑time record at the time.  The film was also notable for its massive budget, groundbreaking visual effects, and the sheer scale of its production, which included a near full‑size reconstruction of the ship.  It had the highest gross attendance of any film in 1997 and it remains one of the highest‑grossing films ever made and a defining work of 1990s cinema.
Plot:  The film begins in the present day (well, 1997-ish), with a salvage crew searching the wreck of the Titanic for a valuable diamond known as the “Heart of the Ocean”.  When they discover a drawing of a young woman wearing the necklace, the now‑elderly Rose contacts them and recounts her experience aboard the ship in 1912.  As a young woman, Rose feels suffocated by her engagement to Cal and the rigid expectations of high society.  She meets Jack, who saves her from a desperate moment (she is attempting suicide), and the two form a bond that quickly deepens into love.  Their relationship unfolds against the backdrop of the ship’s opulence and class divisions, culminating in the Titanic’s collision with an iceberg and the ensuing chaos as passengers struggle to survive.  The film follows Jack and Rose through the sinking, the lifeboat crisis, and the final tragedy that leaves Rose adrift in the freezing Atlantic.  Her survival and later life form the emotional coda to the story.
So, is this movie any good?  How’s the acting?  The filming / FX?  Any problems?  And, did I enjoy the film?  Short answers:  yes, (I enjoyed this viewing);  the acting is strong and sincere;  the filming and effects are exceptional;  the problems are minor and mostly tied to melodrama;  and yes, I enjoyed the film.
Any good?  “Titanic” is a sweeping, old‑fashioned epic that blends romance, historical drama, and large‑scale spectacle.  Cameron’s script is straightforward and occasionally sentimental, but the emotional beats land, and the pacing holds together remarkably well for a three‑hour film.  The movie succeeds because it commits fully to its story, its characters, and its sense of tragedy.
Acting:  DiCaprio and Winslet carry the film with youthful energy and occasional genuine chemistry.  Winslet, in particular, gives Rose a depth that keeps the character from becoming a simple damsel‑in‑distress.  Zane leans into the villainy of Cal, sometimes broadly, but he (more or less) fits the heightened tone of the film.  As an aside, I’ve can’t say I’ve ever liked Zane in any role and I’m not sure how or why he continues to find roles.  But that’s probably just me…  Bates is a welcome presence, grounding her scenes with humor and warmth – and I wish she’d been in more of the film.  Gloria Stuart’s performance as the older Rose adds a layer of poignancy that frames the entire narrative.
Filming / FX:  The technical work remains astonishing for its day, but much of the film’s scale is achieved through rather crude computer animation (“crude” by today’s standards) in which both the ship and the people visible are clearly not real.  The combination of practical sets, miniatures, and early digital effects creates a sense of scale that still holds up.  The sinking sequence is meticulously staged, with clear geography and escalating tension.  Cameron’s attention to historical detail is evident in everything from the ship’s architecture to the costuming.  The cinematography balances grandeur with intimacy, and James Horner’s score reinforces the emotional arc without overwhelming it.
Problems:  The romantic scenes lean into melodrama (as does the heroics).  Cal’s villainy is mostly cartoonish, and the class commentary, while sincere, is not particularly nuanced.  The framing device with the salvage crew, though functional, feels slightly disconnected from the main story.  Still, these issues do not significantly detract from the film’s overall impact.
Did I enjoy the film?  Yes.  Despite its length and its sometimes broad emotional strokes, “Titanic” remains engaging, visually impressive, and emotionally resonant.  The final act, in particular, is gripping and tragic, and the film’s closing moments with the older Rose provide a satisfying sense of closure.
Final Recommendation:  Very highly recommended.  “Titanic” is a landmark film that combines technical mastery with a moderately compelling love story.  Whether viewed as a historical drama, a romance, or a large‑scale disaster epic, it delivers on all fronts and remains one of the defining cinematic experiences from its era.  Full disclosure:  It is really only since “Inception” that I’ve come to like DeCaprio and I still don’t really care for Winslet (but I haven’t seen her in many roles), so the film really starts out with two “almost” strikes (the leads) against it.  As mentioned, I’ve now seen this film several times and I can honestly say this is the first time I “really” enjoyed it.  I’m not entirely sure why this time was different than my earlier viewings, but it was.  Maybe the film just needed time to sink in…  (pun intended).
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Click here (16 May) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Nanites, Nonsense And Bad Memories

Posted in General Comments, Movie Review, Movies, Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on August 31, 2025| Leave a Comment »

“Bloodshot” (2020) – movie review
Today’s review is for the modern-day, comic-book adaptation / sci-fi action flick:  “Bloodshot”  (2020), starring Vin Diesel as Ray Garrison (a soldier turned nanotech-enhanced superweapon), Guy Pearce as Dr. Emil Harting (corporate scientist with a god complex), Eiza González as KT (fellow enhanced operative with a conscience), Lamorne Morris as Wilfred Wigans (British hacker with comic delivery timing), and Toby Kebbell as Martin Axe (initial villain who’s not quite what he seems).
Background:  I knew nothing about this film until it popped up on my “$5 this week promotion / sale” sometime back.  I didn’t know it was based on a comic book, and I couldn’t have told you which publisher sold it (Marvel or DC – it was neither).  I bought it based on the strength of the “Diesel / Riddick” series from days gone bye and was just hoping for a quick fix for my “action / Sci-Fi / FX” genre sweet-tooth.
Plot Summary:  Ray Garrison (Diesel) is a soldier killed in action and resurrected by the RST Corporation, who is now enhanced with nanotechnology that grants him superhuman strength and (X-man) Wolverine-ish regenerative abilities.  But the real plot twist isn’t his body — it’s his mind.  The company controls his memories, repeatedly wiping and re-feeding him false narratives to weaponize the grief of his wife being murdered.  As Ray begins to unravel the truth, he finds himself caught between corporate puppeteers, fellow enhanced operatives, and the question of who (what) he really is.  So, basically, he wakes up in a lab run by RST, a tech company that’s rebuilt him using nanites — tiny machines that give him superhuman strength and healing.  He’s told he’s the company’s first successful prototype.  But here’s the twist:  his memories are fake, implanted to manipulate him into assassinating targets for RST.  Each time he completes a mission, his mind is wiped and a new revenge scenario is uploaded.  I’m sure you can guess the ending from here…  Enhanced soldier finds out truth, havoc ensues (at a corporate level).
So, is this movie any good?  How’s the acting?  How about the filming / FX?  Are there any problems?  And, did I like the film?  Short answers:  No, barely serviceable;  decent;  heavy on FX and it’s pretty good / interesting, aside from being boring?  Not really…
Is this movie any good?  It’s a movie with a “potential” concept which it just didn’t reach – so, not really.
Acting:  Diesel is Diesel — gravel-voiced, emotionally restrained, physically imposing and hostile glaring.  Morris steals scenes with his snarky tech banter.  For me, he was the singular bright spot in this film.
Filming / FX:  The film wants to lure you in with with ideas of identity, autonomy, and the ethics of technological resurrection — but it doesn’t try too hard and it ultimately fails.  This film is all about FX:  slow-motion shootouts, gravity-defying stunts, and nanobot-fueled regeneration sequences that border on video game logic.  The photography itself is pretty good for the most part – well lit and you can see / follow the action.  The FX are visually VERY good, but conceptually not much different from any of the X-man movies with a bit of “Inception” thrown in.
Problems:  Realism – none.  This is as close to video game realism as we’ve seen in film over the last 15 years.
Did I enjoy the film?  This is a reasonably good shoot-em-up / blow-em-up action movie as long as you disengage your brain when you buy your popcorn.  Visually, this is a good movie.  The problem is it’s a bit like sitting down for a chocolate sundae with chocolate ice cream, chocolate fudge syrup, and chocolate nuggets on top…  You love the first scoop, you like the second scoop, but after the third scoop you ask yourself why you ate the whole thing.
Final Recommendation:  Moderate.  “Bloodshot” is not a film that requires deep analysis — but it visually interesting / entertaining.  It’s a movie that knows its audience and genre and it stays in its lane getting you to the end.  It’s not a waste of time, but you will really have to enjoy fights, shooting and explosions to “really” like this film.  Because of my own personal interest in Sci-Fi and FX / animation, I enjoyed lots of moments in this film and I can forgive there not being enough of those moments and that there was not enough “ties-that-bind” in the script to make this a better overall film.
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Click here (31 August) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Faiths And Sorcery

Posted in 2012 Book Review, Book Review, Faith Family and Friends, Movie Review, Movies, Reading, Reviews, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 11, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Today a book review and a movie re-review.  The book is titled:  “The Faiths Of Our Fathers” and the movie:  “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice“.
“The Faiths Of Our Fathers” is written by Alf J. Mapp, Jr. (2003©).  Mapp is a colonial historian and this book is somewhat interesting in providing context about the differences in beliefs across the colonies.  Other than that, my own belief is that the author is biased towards “Christian” beliefs and caries this bias across in his writing.  The book attempts to offer a Catholic (Charles Carroll of Carrollton) and a Jew (Haym Solomon) as secondary evidence that one (an American of historical significance) can be deeply religious without being Protestant.  In fact, many of the most prominent founders – Washington, Jefferson and Franklin (for example) were Deists – they believed in a supreme being – but did not hold that being MUST be Christian (let alone a trinity).
While it is certainly true that most of the founding fathers were raised in a Christian faith, it is NOT accurate to portray them as devout Christians – which is definitely the feeling I was left with after reading this book.  For example:  Washington did not partake of Communion.  When confronted about this and advised that others in the church found his actions “confusing”, Washington stopped attending services altogether.  Jefferson rewrote the Bible removing all references to miracles, because he considered them fantasy.  And, Franklin was a deist who questioned the divinity of Jesus Christ in his autobiography and in letters to friends.
As stated, the book is somewhat interesting as it describes the faiths during the time of the founding of the United States and it is a short book.  Other than those two observations, it is difficult to give this book more than a passing recommendation.
“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is a movie I saw with my kids on first release back in July of 2010  (my initial review is here).  I enjoyed the movie initially, and I thought even more highly of it after seeing it this second time.  I watched it on one of the cable movie channels, so there were no commercial interruptions.  While Nicolas Cage and Alfred Molina are the two “stars” of the movie (and Molina is pretty good in his bad-guy role;  Cage less so as the good-guy), the real stars are the apprentice – Dave – and his lifelong (lost and rediscovered) girlfriend – Becky (played by Jay Baruchel and Teresa Palmer, respectively).  I don’t recall seeing either of them in any other roles, before or since, so I don’t have much to compare them with beyond this role.  In any case, Jay makes for a believable Nerd and Teresa holds her own as a beautiful girl who falls for a nerd (right, that’s gonna happen!)
The movie has good to great special effects and is a pleasant family movie with a minimum of blood, killings and swearing.  It was refreshing to watch a movie that was pleasant, entertaining and contained pretty good action scenes.  The “Fantasia” mop scene is pretty well re-created in the movie, which I felt added a little bit of movie geekiness to the movie.  As I tend to be a movie-geek, this was a plus for me.
One final note, as I did not see this back-to-back with another very good movie this time (last time I saw it the day after “Inception“), the movie came across even better than after the first viewing.  I highly recommend this movie.  Particularly now that you can watch it on cable.
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Click here (11 February) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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One Great, One Enjoyable, One Terrible…

Posted in Faith Family and Friends, Movies, Work, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on April 24, 2011| 1 Comment »

First off, Happy Easter to all.  Christ is risen!!
I’ve been off work a few days this week with a viral infection in my throat which has made it very difficult to swallow (and sometimes breathe).  The result is that I’ve had some time (between sleeping) to watch a few movies.  Normally when I’m off work, I like to read, but I’ve found when I’m ill I can’t really concentrate enough to make reading enjoyable.  Anyway, the three movies I’ve watched are: “2012” (a disaster epic from 2010), “The Departed” (an undercover cop movie from 2006), and “Star Knight” (a science fiction / history – “They’ve visited us” – movie from 1985).
The first movie, “2012” was a very enjoyable disaster epic with fairly spectacular special effects (and some banal ones as well).  The acting is so-so, but the effects make the movie.  The best acting in the movie is done by Woody Harrelson – who I normally don’t care for mainly for his choice of roles.  In this movie, he is the predictor of the disaster, comes across as believably paranoid / crazy and is genuinely great in the role.  I guess I like him as crazy but not dark.  This was the third time I’ve seen this movie.  The first was at the theater, where the big screen made the SFX look fantastic (particularly Los Angeles sliding into the Pacific and the destruction of Yellowstone).  The second time I watched it was after the DVD came out and I watched it on my TV at home.  To be honest, the movie did not carry over well from the big screen to the home viewing.  I have a 48 inch hi-def screen, but a lot of the smaller SFX details did not come across when viewed from 8 to 10 feet away.  In contrast, this third viewing was on my 32 inch flat-panel connected to my PC and viewed from about 2 to 3 feet away, and it was terrific.  It didn’t make the movie better, but it made the viewing better.  I’ve noticed a similar viewing effect when I’ve watched some other films – most notably, “Avatar“.  So my recommendation is this is a very entertaining SFX disaster movie, but see it on as big a screen as you can and sit as close as you can.  Recommended.
The second movie, “The Departed” is a police / mob undercover movie with a number of major young(-ish) movie stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg and some oldie but goodies Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen and Alec Baldwin.  The movie is set in Boston and the main conflict is between good mole (DiCaprio) in the mob and bad mole (Damon) in the police.  The movie is very well done as characters, plot and pace go.  I had some minor problems with the poor use of technology, but all in all it was a terrific movie.  I can’t honestly say it’s appropriate for everyone to view as there is a considerable amount of foul language, so there are age and sensitivity issues for the viewing audience.  Other than that, highly recommended!  Oh, and a shout out to my daughter Rebecca for recommending this to me.
The third movie, “Star Knight” is an alien visits earth in the middle-ages movie.  It was done in the mid 1980’s so there has to be some allowance for the SFX – which for that period are actually pretty good.  The movie, however is terrible!!  The best thing about this movie is it is only 91 minutes long, so you’re not wasting 92 minutes of your life.  There are a few movies I will see just because the actors in the films are known quantities and are predictors of quality.  The movie they are in may not be great, but almost without exception, their role is outstanding.  Among these are actors like:  Bogie, Hepburn, Tracy (from the oldies) and Nicholson, Streep and (my personal favorite) Duvall.  There are some younger actors emerging though who I think will one day be in a similar category.  I like Damon, Wahlberg and DiCaprio.  Of these three, I must admit, Wahlberg seems to have the most limited range of characters.  DiCaprio is the most recent addition to my list.  I have seen very little of his work and did not enjoy him or the movies I saw him in early:  “Titanic” and “The Quick and the Dead“.  Anyway, last year I thoroughly enjoyed him in “Inception” and I think he was also exceptional in the movie just above (“The Departed“).  Well, (that’s a long way to get to here), one of my other all-time favorite actors has been Harvey Keitel.  Again, I have not always liked the movies he was in, but I always liked him.  This movie is definitely the exception.  He is bad and the movie is terrible.  In fairness to Harvey, the movie, a Spanish film originally called:  “El caballero del dragon (The Knight of the Dragon)“, was on sale for $4 and it had a pretty good DVD jacket and blurb on the back, but I bought it on the strength of his name.  As stated previously, this was both a waste of time and money.  I am hoping Keitel did this as bad camp, because it is almost – but not quite – so bad it is funny.  There is a vague nod to “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (I hope that is what it is) in one scene, but even as camp, the movie fails.  I guess even the best actors will take any role just to stay active.  Sorry Harvey…  This is among the worst movies I have EVER seen.  Frankly, I don’t even have another movie to compare it to because I’ve blotted them out of my memory, too.
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Click here (24 April) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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The King Is Oscar

Posted in Faith Family and Friends, General Comments, Movies, Places, Walking, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on February 27, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Well, if there was much doubt about my review the other day about “The King’s Speech“, it was laid to rest tonight when the movie won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Screenplay at the 83rd Academy Awards.  Bravo Colin Firth!  Well done, lad!
I must admit, “Inception” did not do as well as I thought it was going to when I first saw it.  I felt it was a brilliant movie and would have a long term impact on the industry and society – much like “Matrix” did.  But it (“Inception“) never has.  It also won several awards tonight, but they were technical awards mostly about sound.
Friday night, I re-watched “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen“.  I must admit it was much better on the smaller screen and I was able to follow the fight action much better with the limited view of having everything directly in front of me instead of having to shift my eyes or head as I would have to do at a theater.   I’m going to watch T:I and T:II again before T:III comes out later this year.  I think, so far, the first was better than the sequel because the first had more (and better) humor, but T:II had some pretty good moments too.  I particularly like the action shot of the carrier being destroyed by the Transformer bad-guy “meteors”.  That was a very well done action sequence.
Last night (Saturday), I re-watched “The Guardian” with Kevin Cosner and Ashton Kutcher.  It’s a cross between “An Officer And A Gentleman” and “The Karate Kid“, but it really works for me.  They both worked individually (for me) so there is no reason to think a combo wouldn’t.  The movie is about the US Coast Guard elite jump-swimmers (they jump from helicopters) who save lives at sea.  Of the two, I’d rate Guardian over T:II if only because it was less comic bookish.  All in all, a good weekend for watching movies and relaxing.
Non-Movie Notes:
Friday I got a permanent crown put in.  I got the temp a couple of weeks ago.
Yesterday, Hil and I went out for another meal with Donnie (my son’s god father).  He’s going away on vacation for a couple of months, so it was kind of a farewell dinner.
Hil and I went for an afternoon walk around Lafayette Reservoir this afternoon, after church.  It was beautiful – sunny but with a nice cool breeze.  It felt good to spend some time out with Hil – just walking and enjoying the air, view and each other’s company.
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Click here (27 February) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Speed Spoils

Posted in Faith Family and Friends, General Comments, Walking, tagged , , , , , , , , , on January 19, 2011| 2 Comments »

Well, another day gone.  Another day closer to retirement!
I didn’t sleep well last night.  I’m not sure why, perhaps it was the late night cuppa-tea, but I had one of those “Inception” nights where you have a dream which seems absolutely real (virtual reality real), but you know it’s a dream.  I can rarely remember the whole thing when this happens, and this dream was no exception.  Anyway, I was in some kind of CSI / serial killer tracking police squad and we were trying to track some deranged wacko.  I can remember very few details:  I wasn’t a cop, I was only working with them.  The crimes were gruesome.  We never caught the “perp”.  I remember thinking, “This is not me doing this, so I must be dreaming.”  At that point, I stopped being a player in the drama and became an observer of the drama and myself as a performer in the drama.  That sense of duality there was pretty weird, too.  I woke once, just after mid-night and when I went back to sleep, I went right back into the dream.
As I said, I don’t remember much more about the details of the dream.  I do remember feeling close to consciousness several times and thinking, “Just relax and go back to the dream.  We might still catch him.”  Anyway, and like I said before, the more I thought about the awareness of dreaming, being in the dream, the more I thought about the movie “Inception“.  Hil woke me at the usual time (4:30 AM) and I was still in the dream.  I’ve always thought dreams were fairly short lived affairs.  The dream itself might have a duration of some length, but the actual time dreaming was seconds or minutes.  This dream really seemed to take all night and (as I said) I woke up feeling like I hadn’t slept at all.
Other musings:
Hil and I went out for another trip around the neighborhood.  This was a little over an hour, but much slower.  I reckon we walked about 2.5 miles.  My BP was more or less normal and my pulse was in the high 80’s and regular.  That’s two days now with no “known” irregular pulse.  Woo-hoo!!
On my daughter’s (Rebecca) recommendation, I’m having a little play with scheduling the release of my quote posts.  I’ve set two up to go off tomorrow and the next day.  I’m not really comfortable with the concept of timing posts this way as it seems deceptive somehow.  If something strikes my fancy today and I create the post today, is it misleading to publish it later?  Doesn’t that give the impression I had that thought later?  Fortunately, almost no one reads my little disturbances (ripples) in the time-space continuum, so my ethical itches will remain unscratched (or at least uncommented on).
And finally, I’m reading about computer greats and one of them said something I’ve believed for years but never really knew how to express (I paraphrase):  If you’re developing software that has lives dependent on it, it has to be perfect.  If you’re not, then you need to get it (the software product) out to the users as quickly as possible so they can tell you what’s wrong with it (what needs improving, not that it doesn’t work).  If you get a reputation for faster results, the market (your customer) is more forgiving.  But they still end up being more demanding in the end.  Speed spoils.
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Click here (19 January) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Inception Redux

Posted in Movies, tagged , , , on December 10, 2010| 2 Comments »

Yesterday, I picked up my copy of “Inception” on DVD and watched it when I got home.  It’s a terrific movie!  On second viewing, the love story (the main character and his dead wife) actually makes the movie for me.  Yes, there is the Sci-Fi, and yes, there is the action and convoluted plot, but to me, the power of the movie comes from his enduring love.
I still feel the movie (as stated above) is terrific, but in all honesty, it does NOT translate to the small screen as much as I had hoped.  It’s a bit like the movie “2012” in that regard.  The special effects are so grand, they lose detail when compressed on to a TV (I have a 48-inch HD TV).  The scale is particularly lost in the mirror and folding city scenes.  Still, I know it’s a movie I’ll watch again and again over time, so it’s nice to have the convenience of owning the DVD.
I’m still undecided about the ending…
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Click here (10 December) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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Beating the Heat…

Posted in Faith Family and Friends, Movies, tagged , , , , , , , , on July 19, 2010| Leave a Comment »

It’s another hot day here in Concord, CA.  Sooooo,…  I went to the movies again!
This time I went with my oldest daughter (Rebecca) and my son (James).  We went to see “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice“.  It’s a Disney flick, so it’s kids appropriate (both of mine are in their 20’s), but we still really enjoyed it.  If you’ve ever seen the classic Disney film, “Fantasia“, you already have a good idea what the film is about.  As a matter of fact, one main scene is lifted right from Fantasia.  But in the end, who cares?!  It’s a light, summer, good-time movie.  It’s got decent special effects, a decent plot (it’s a kids summer movie – don’t think about it too hard!), the acting is ok, I found myself rooting for the new apprentice, it has a formulaic happy ending (again, so what – it’s Disney!), and it IS entertaining.
The ONLY bad thing about the movie was seeing it the day after viewing “adult-fare” “Inception“, “Apprentice” doesn’t compare well with “Inception” at any level except the special effects.   Still, I would definitely recommend both for the big screen and I will be buying both when they come out on DVD.
Hil and I went out for a very nice Thai dinner after I dropped the kids off.  All in all, a pretty good weekend!
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Click here (19 July) to see the posts of prior years.  I started this blog in late 2009.  Daily posting began in late January 2011.  Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts.

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