Cars 2-My Official Review

    
        "Cars 2" is one of those movies that I am divided on. On the one hand I see a movie that was not up to Pixar's usual high standards. However on the other hand I was thoroughly entertained as I sat there with my two kids laughing and enjoying the show. I do wish they had done more with Doc Hudson's death. They missed a chance to make a sad montage in the vein of "Up" and "Toy Story 3".

        This movie is more about Tow Mater than anything else and has a real clear message to be yourself. They go out of their way to show how a true friend doesn't try to change their friends, but loves them for who they are. As believers we should put this principle into practice. I am not saying that our friends should never change. I am saying that the thing that needs to change in all of us is our sin.

        Christ came to free us from our sin, not our personalities. As a believer I am to love my unbelieving friends even if they never choose to come to Christ. I cannot change them, only He can. It is my job to love them where they are.

Pirates 4--a (Christian?) Movie Review

 
        I went to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides at midnight on Thursday. I was not expecting much since I had not enjoyed a Pirates move since the first one. I was pleasantly surprised.
        It still contained the same amount of innuendo and drunkenness as the first three, but something was different. Blackbeard's ship contained a Christian missionary who actually lived his faith. I could tell that even though Blackbeard and Jack Sparrow disagreed with the missionary's world-view there was an amount of respect for him. Blackbeard would only tie him up rather than kill him. He was selfless and believed that anyone could be redeemed. This side story alone is worth the price of admission.

Toy Story 3--Official Review

I was not looking forward to seeing Toy Story 3 when I first heard it was coming out. I thought "Oh No! they are going to kill a great movie series". I always hate when a sequel stinks so bad that they sour the movie(s) before it.

One example was Meet the Fockers, which was so terrible that I don't really have any desire to watch Meet the Parents anymore. Before "Fockers" was released I counted Meet the Parents as one of my favorite romantic comedy movies. Did you know they are actually making a third movie? Well they are not getting any money from me.

. . . Rabbit Trail . . .

Let's get back to Toy Story 3. When I saw the trailer I thought, give me a break, Andy is in college and still has all of his toys from his toddler years (Etch, Mr. Spell, Wheezy etc.). Then I saw the movie. Boy was I wrong!

--Spoiler Alert--

Most of the toys have already been sold or thrown out. This includes Bo Peep (sniffle). The three remaining soldiers decide to parachute out of the window rather than facing the trash can. It is emotional from the get go. The toys reminisce about their glory days when Andy played with them and even try to get his attention by hiding his phone.

I almost fell apart completely at the end. I fought a lump in my throat so big that to give in I would have been audibly annoying to others around me. Meanwhile the tear faucets were on with every adult in the theater (and very few kids). The emotional subject matter is above them in much the same way as the first 5 minutes of Up.

I think that it should have received a PG rating rather than a G. --Major Spoiler Alert-- The scenes with the freaky Big Baby (who my kids loved), the incinerator that threatened their lives, and the part where Lotso is fastened to the truck are definitely not scenes for a G movie.

If Toy Story had been a newer movie and not the CGI pioneer that it was then I would say Toy Story 3 was the best of the Trilogy. It has Toy Story 2 beat by a long shot (since it never explains how Woody doesn't know about Woody's Roundup or being and "old family toy"). I especially enjoyed the Return of the Jedi like scene where Big Baby tosses Lotso into the dumpster. Ken is also a new hilarious plus to this film.

I am not a fan of the Day and Night Pixar short at the beginning. The message of diversity was okay but the focus on living it up by lusting after girls or running to Vegas was also not G content. It was by far the worst of the shorts that Pixar has made.

This movie is definitely worth seeing. We saw it in 2D and it was awesome! I think the 3D craze is overrated and over-inflates and misrepresents where a movie lands on the highest grossing film list (i.e. Avatar). See it how you want, but make sure to see it. It is the best movie so far this year.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, the Monkey RULES!

Marvel Goes Disney

WOW!  Can I just say wow!  Did I say wow?  Disney buys Marvel Comics for $4 Billion, wow that is actually not as much as I would have expected.  Personally I love Marvel and believe that Disney got it just in time.  I mean Marvel has just started making movies without the likes of Fox or Sony and they already put out blockbuster smashes like Iron Man.  I hope this doesn't mean we will see Tony Stark in a Mickey t-shirt around his mansion (maybe a rebirth of Dark Wing Duck through Marvel would work, although I wouldn't get Lucas to direct since "Howard the Duck" was such a flop).  Seeing a Marvel park at Disney World would be an amazing fruit of this new venture, can we say "Mr. Fantastic Roller Coaster", Cerebro 3D, or Punisher the Musical (ok maybe not the last one).  I guess this move was to be expected though.  Disney used to be on the forefront of imagination, now if they can't think of it they buy it (i.e. "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "Power Rangers").  I will say that Disney has it's finger on the pulse, that is why they did not even consider a D.C. Comics buyout.  Ha! Take that Aquaman!