Legend of The Guardians : The Owls of Ga Hoole

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The Pitch

Fables of legendary guardians that will vanquish evil fills fill the heads of impressionable young birds.  While some Owls believe the tales to be purely myth one young owl, in particular, allows his faith to somehow lead him to these protectors of good.

The View

 Firstly, the animation in this movie is paramount.  You will find no better use of computer animated graphics period[.]  I wish I would have saw this movie in 3D because one can only shutter to think of how more visually mesmerizing this movie could be!  Not to be a stickler but the movie seemed to be in love with itself at times with the multiple slow-motion spots. After first couple of times it started to seem coerced.
  I think kids would be intrigued but bored shortly thereafter... well, I guess depending on the kid.  I would think if your children stayed interested in the Lord of The Rings where there were some spots that ran long, those same kids should be able to appreciate this.   There weren't too many dry spots, it just seemed a bit longer than it actually was.  The story-line time didn't take long at all.  Of course you already know the movie is about a plight to see if the Guardian legend is true and instead of a journey lasting a year,  they hit their answer within a day or two. I can appreciate that.
 By the end of the movie I had long forgotten ANY of the Birds names [except for 'MetalBeak'] and the charm wore off as I walked out the dark theater into the brightly lit hallway.
Ill give this one a B- and it is Worth Watching only if your in the mood for a kid's flick. 

 

The Worth

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'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps' Trailer HD

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The Pitch

Gordon Gekko, ex-trader for Wall Street pirate is being released.  Looks as if he's been rehabilitated and using his knowledge of the old/current financial market to peddle his books and give seminars.  Meanwhile a young, enthusiastic young Wall Street trader is not only seeking Gordon's  daughter's hand in marriage but seeking a mentor... Can Gordon be trusted?  Is he really a financial anthropologist or is this just all part of 'the game?'

The View

 I understand this to be a sequel.  Although I missed the first Wall Street it didn't seem to hinder my viewer experience with this movie.  The script developed the characters quite nicely. A lot of the stock trading mumble jumbo and financial jargon missed me but I was able to comprehend most of it.  Nice job to writers for respecting a semi-intelligent audience and not assuming that we don't have a clue about this stuff and take time out the story to take us through Stock Trading 101 i.e trading Places [loved that movie though!]

Josh, Shia and, of course, Micheal Douglas shined.  The supporting cast did an excellent job as well however,

I seemed to breathe long heavy breaths while I was watching this movie.  The pace was a little slower than it needed to be and it made the movie seem long.  Ultimately, the conflict resolution was mild, to me. The conclusion of this story did not affect me at all.  I almost felt like the movie didn't entertain nor grab me... enlighten me, yes!!!  Satisfied? No.

I'm giving this film a C+ and a marginal Worth Watching.

The Worth

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The Town

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The Pitch

A band of extremely dangerous and heavily armed bandits from Boston are robbing banks very frequently. On one particular heist they pick up a hostage that they let walk.  Somehow one of the bandits reunite with her and  falls in love with her.  How can this work?  Will she ever realize who the man she fell for really is?

The View

 This movie was really good.  A friend of mine said the editing sucks [in so many words] and I agree.  Besides that I thought the movie was very compelling. The action scenes were intense and the level of intelligence on both the cops and the crooks side was scary[in a good way]. There are few things better than a 'smart' action flick with a dash of 'thrill' in the batter... very few. Climax scenes were intense to say the least while maintaining, what I like to call, the believability factor; So I gave it a B+.

Worth Watching but if you haven't seen 'Devil', go see Devil first then come back to this :) 

The Worth
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Devil - Official Trailer [HD]

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The Pitch

An elevator ride that goes wrong, how wrong? People are turning up dead and the passengers seem to have no part in the killings.. or do they?

The View

Conroy-  I love a movie that gets straight to the point. Almost as if the director knows that we were already briefed by the trailer so lets get to it!  That's what this was, an inevitable elevator ride that goes horribly wrong. Your left squinting & squirming when the lights strobe.  You're tensing up while forgetting to close your mouth when the dark hits. Finally your exhausted while second guessing yourself about who you think is doing all of this.
Didn't see Avatar: the last Air bender or Lady in the Water. Fell asleep on Signs and never finished the Village.  Loved the 6th Sense and Unbreakable, however I absolutely loathed The Happening [made my list for worst movies I've ever seen] entirely! People say that M. Night Shyamalan has fallen, with his latest tale of terror-in-tight places, it would appear that he is now balancing out his legacy of Brilliant film making... Brilliant Conroy?... yessir!
Definitely Worth Watching and I give this movie an A!
For it to be categorized as horror it deserves a high mark being that the horror genre mostly consist of stupid movies that successfully make you jump.

The Worth
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Wild Earth Africa - 3-D/4-D Theater at the Detroit Zoo

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The Pitch

                                            Saw the banner for Wild Earth Africa - 3-D/4-D Theater at the Detroit Zoo while walking through the Detroit Zoo today.

The View

Conroy- Viewing the movie was AWESOME. All the amenities and effects you would expect from a theme park 4D movie.  For those unclear of the 4D concept, it is what 3D is but also with touch and sometimes smell. lol  Sound weird? Well trust me it will be at first but when you settle in you become anxious to know what else these movies can literally 'throw' at you.

This movie was about 10 minutes.  The wait to see it was short and it added to our zoo experience in such a pleaseant way.  Plus a great message and very enlightening.

Definitely Worth Watching and I give it an A!

 

The Worth
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'The Switch' Trailer HD

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The Pitch

Two platonic friends end up in a quandary when one of them decides to have a child in an unconventional way. Meanwhile the other friend makes a mistake and places his seed in the donor cup.  How could this happen?  What are the ramifications?  Will he ever tell her of the deed?  Will she find out on her own? This is perceived to be a comedy.

The View

Conroy-  Firstly, ANY film with  Justin Bateman in it is perceived to be a comedy.  This one had the look and feel of "The Break-Up" with Vince Vaughn and Jenifer Aniston.  However, this movie [The Switch] was a little bit more funny than tragic. Jeff Goldblum was good as a supporting actor.  He can seemingly have chemistry with ANY actor or actress in Hollywood. 

Now the events of this movie are leaked [once again!] through the lengthy preview/trailer for the movie.  The movie was still very watchable and spawned many discussions afterwards... Is there really a such thing as a 'platonic friendship' between male and female?  Would you get artificial insemination? What would you do if you were the donor? Blah, blah and blah.. but my biggest question/gripe is how do you get THAT tore up [not a spoiler thanks to the trailer] that you can't remember ANYTHING that you did the night before?  I'm sure it's possible with alcohol and drugs but not just with alcohol.  There is yet another movie in which Bateman's character gets so wasted that he can't give anny account for the previous days activitys.  It is called "Extract" and it is WAYYYYY funnier and much more believable.

Anywho, as my younger sister would say, I enjoyed it.  The movie's inevitable moment of reckoning was quite invigorating, at least more than I thought it would be and I ultimately enjoyed it; So it receives a solid B from me and it is definitely... Worth Watching:)

The Worth

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'The American' Trailer HD

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The Pitch

A 'one last job' flick. Whatever his profession is he's very skilled. His past is full of terrible things and apparently not very sure that he can be redeemed. Will he be able to 'get out' of whatever it is that he is in to? 

The View

Conroy-  This film was gorgeous. Cinematography was excellent!  The only problem, well one of the problems is the pace.  The American had the tempo of "Citizen Kane"... may have been a little slower than that. This movie suffered from it's opening scene as beautiful as the landscape was it was just too unsettling to say the least.  So unsettling in fact that the chain reaction of that event effected my sympathy for the main character through-out the entire film.  The opposite of the viewing experience for 'No Country for Old Men' if you will.  
The times when the movie was suppose to be exhilarating ended up being a notch north of moderate... based on my prior movie going experience this movie didn't really show me anything new. I dunno, your experience may differ.  I give this movie a marginal C+ but I would probably never sit through this movie again. Worth Watching... at home. :)

The Worth 
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'Takers' Trailer HD

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The Pitch 
A group of stylish bank robbers draw you into a world of crime with a heightened level of sophistication and finesse, until one of the ostracized members of the group is released from prison and comes to TAKE his portion and set the group up for a major down fall. 

The View
 Conroy-   One of the things I did not know going in the show is that T.I , Chris Brown and Morris Chestnut were all executive producers of this film. Not knowing that I sat in this film amazed!  Now that I know that, I sit back and reminiscence and finally marvel at what they were able to put together!  One thing that astounded me was the successful use of the 'action cam'!!! FINALLY!!!  That technique was done properly in this film.  No sense of vertigo, and I was able to follow effortlessly. I love the reference to the movie" Italian Job" to describe a potential caper. I also like the exchange between Idris's character and his sister.   I thought I knew how that relationship would effect the plot in the story but I was wrong.  That's why I love movies; great story telling!!! If I can't figure it out then the story goes from good to great in my book!!! 
It was weird seeing Darth Vader [Haden Christensen] in this role because he was deceptively dorky, I guess it was his style.  He gets a bad rep for his acting but I don't feel as if his acting sucks.  I also don't feel T.I's acting was that bad either. T.I's strong southern accent and slow speech equates poor acting to most of the people that know him from rapping.  Looking at his performance objectively the intonation in his speaking, his mannerisms, and misplaced attempts at humor defined the mysterious intentions of the character he played.
This movie is Worth Watching and I give it a B!!!

The Worth

 $$$1/2