Up!

Up!

Who's in it: Edward Asner, Jordan Nagai, Christopher Plummer

What's it about: Carl(Asner) has been very lonesome since his wife died. Everything around him is becoming skyscrapers, but he refuses to allow his plot to go with the flow. When he finally plans to take the house to his wife's dream vacation spot, he blows up thousands of balloons and lets them fly, lifting his house from the ground. Little did he know that a local wilderness explorer, Russell(Nagai) was on his porch when he lifted off. With his new pal, they travel to South America in attempt of dropping the house where it should be. In South America, they run into Carl's childhood hero, Charles Muntz(Plummer), who is now a desperate hunter. They must help hide the endangered bird, while keeping themselves safe.

What I Think: Pixar never ceases to amaze me. I love them to death! The animation was perfect and I didn't see anything wrong with the movie at all. The previews were to make the movie look like a comedy, but it was actually quite dramatic! There was a time or two in where I almost cried. It was a very entertaining and even educational movie. The setting of South America was interesting and I thought that the incorporation of the bird in the movie was unique. The detail was exquisite and I loved the fine details of Carl and Russell.

Monsters vs. Aliens

Monsters vs. Aliens

Who's in it: Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson

What's it about: Susan(Witherspoon) was so close to being married, but after she got hit by a meteor, she grew 50 stories tall. The government has now put her in with the group they call monsters. The Missing Link(Arnett), B.O.B.(Rogen), Dr. Cockroach(Laurie), and Insectosaurus try to help Susan feel more at home, but can never seem to make her feel better. After an alien invasion by Gallaxhar(Wilson) pursues Earth, the monsters are called to save the USA. Gallaxhar wants Susan because of the material the meteor contained so that he can clone an entire alien race.

What I Think: This movie was so hilarious. I don't think that it would've been the same without Rogen. Laurie was amazing. I love him on House because of his completely fake American accent. Here, he could use a little bit of his accent. Witherspoon made for a wonderful Susan! The animation was awesome! The storyline was great and slightly unpredictable. I loved all of the actors and actresses that lended their voices to this movie. They truely made it a great movie. I was very impressed by the accuracy in the animation for this movie.

Coraline

Coraline

Who's in it: Dakota Fanning, Teri Hatcher, John Hodgman, Robert Bailey Jr., Keith David

What's it about: A new house means a new life to Coraline Jones(Fanning). Her mother(Hatcher) and father(Hodgman) are working on a plant information guide and are never wanting to do anything with Coraline. She walks around and meets her neighbor, Wybie(Bailey). Wybie gives her a doll that he found that looks exactly like Coraline. When she finds a small door that leads her to another world with a fmaily the exact opposite of hers, she begins to become happy. The only problem is they have buttons for eyes. The cat(David) that she meets tells her of the awful side of her new world and now it's up to her to save her family from the evil on the other side of the door.

What I Think: This is based on the novella by Neil Gaiman. I love the claymation of this movie. I saw the trailer for this one and couldn't help but want to see the rest of it. My boyfriend and I saw it for Valentine's Day. I was very excited to see something that was very different and rarely made anymore. The storyline was perfect and the twists were great. I was completely shocked at times at the movie because the trailer didn't really give anything away except that it was going to be a great movie. I love the voiceovers and the different actors and actresses were perfect for each role.

The Tale of Despereaux

The Tale of Despereaux

Who's in it: Matthew Broderick, Emma Watson, Dustin Hoffman

What's it about: In the beginning, Roscuro(Hoffman) was a respected rat. He loved to stay with the cook of ships and make friends. When he came to a new world where soup was famed and almost worshiped, he ruined the bond between humans and rats. Rats were banned from the city forever as was soup. Despereaux(Broderick) was born and always seen as a small troublemaker. He never acted the way a real mouse should and always was curious about he world around him. He meets Princess Pea(Watson) and forms a relationship that will heal the bond that was broken by Roscuro and bring the pleasure of soup back to the city.

What I Think: Matthew Broderick amazes me. He is old, yet his voice is that of a young child. It stuns me how he can be a bumbling adult or an inspired child. Emma Watson has come a long way from being Hermione. I was impressed by her flexibility. I love Hoffman's voice most of all. It's so distinct and you can always relate to his character alot. I love that he always gets the best character and that was one of the best performances. I think that this was all in all a good movie and great for the entire family. Haven't read the book that it was based on by Kate DiCamillo, but I hear that it's good as well.

Horton Hears a Who

Horton Hear A Who

Who's in it: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell

What's it about: When Horton(Carrey), an elephant, hears a small voice upon a speck, he decides that he needs to help the owner of that voice. The voice belongs to the Mayor of Whoville(Carell) who finds it hard to believe that his huge town could possibly be a speck of another world. The jungle that Horton lives in thinks that he's crazy, as well as the world of the Mayor. Both are on a quest to save Whoville and it's all in Horton's hands to keep the speck out of danger from all of the dangers of his world. The non-believers are on the road to capture the crazy elephant that Horton is and get rid of the speck once and for all.

What I Think: I love both Carrey and Carell and I found it great that the both of them combined their talent in one movie, not to mention a family picture! The animation was great and I loved all of the detail that was put into this one movie. The comedic routine was very different and, like other movies that I love, it had the serious plot in with all of the comedy. My sister, Cassidy, enjoyed the fact that JoJo in the movie was played by her favourite singer, Jesse McCartney. JoJo only had a few small lines but she went back and played them all over and over again. Also, I thought that it was great that Seth Rogen squeezed his way into the movie.

Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda

Who's in it: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, David Cross, Ian McShane, Randall Duk Kim

What's it about: Po(Black) is a panda working in a noodle shop. His dream is to be the greatest Kung Fu master in all of China. After he is chosen to be the Dragon Warrior by Oogway(Kim), he is to work with Shifu(Hoffman). Shifu has trained the Furious Five, which includes Tigress(Jolie), Mantis(Rogen), Viper(Liu), Monkey(Chan), and Crane(Cross). When Tai Lung(McShane) escapes from prison, the village is in deep peril. Po must learn the way of Kung Fu quickly before Tai Lung arrives. The only problem is that not only Po, but Shifu also, doesn't believe that Po can live up to the title he'd been given.

What I Think: I first saw this movie in theatres. I loved it then and I love it even more now. There were so many things that I missed the first time around and then I got the DVD and was able to really inspect some of the things. I listened to some of the commentary and it was amazing how many things I didn't catch on to! Anyways, Jack Black is always awesome and I loved him doing a big, fat panda. His humor and way of distorting his voice made everything really fit. You felt as if he were really the panda. Hoffman I didn't even notice wasin the movie until the credits. I knew that I recognized the voice and then it hit me when I saw the name.

Wall-E

Wall-E

Who's in it: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin

What's it about: The world has been left for ruin and robots are being used to clean it up. The human race blasted off to space in hopes of the world returning to it's natural state. Wall-E(Burtt) is the last of the cleaning robots and has created a world of his own. When EVE(Knight) arrives from the mothership, he falls in love with her. She is only interested in finding sign of life on Earth. Wall-E gives her the plant that he found and she is picked back up and taken to the mothership. Wall-E holds onto the ship and finds himself among humans again. The captain(Garlin) is going to go back to Earth and start life over but AUTO, the autopilot on the ship, will not allow it. In hopes of returning to Earth, the captain puts all of his hope into the hands of Wall-E and EVE.

What I Think: This movie jumped straight to the top of my favourites. There was not alot of dialogue in this movie and it didn't really need any. The message that this movie is sending to people is crucial and we all need to begin to realize that this is exactly what the world is heading for. Epic disaster is in store for us. The animation was superb. I know that they worked very hard on every bit of detail that the designers could and it really paid off. This is one of the best movies I've ever seen and I will never get tired of it!

The Frighteners

The Frighteners

Who's in it: Michael J. Fox, Trini Alvarado, Jake Busey, Dee Wallace

What's it about: After Johnny Bartlett(Busey) and Patricia Bradley(Wallace) murdered 12 people in an asylum, Johnny was electrified and Patricia was given back to her mother for a life-time of house arrest. The ghost of Bartlett helped to kill Frank's(Fox) wife. Now he and Patricia are on a killing spree and only Frank can see the numbers on their heads to see who goes next. After several people die, Lucy(Alvarado) has a number appear upon her forehead.

What I Think: One of the first movies to have special effects and animation, this one was actually very good. I usually look down upon works with awful animation, but given the circumstances I praise this movie. Yes, the effects weren't so great, but you could tell that they really tried. I had the 'Director's Cut' edition and therefore got to see some of the process that they went through. As for acting, it was alright. I liked the graveyard scenes. Good storyline.