Once you get the itch, you better get some lotion for it...

After the Transformers debacle, I started thinking about what other DVDs I could get rid of.

You remember, I watched Transformers a couple weeks ago. Realized it's a piece of garbage. Want to sell both copies.

Well, I decided that there might be more DVDs to get rid of, especially as the SO and I move into our new apartment this week. And it seems there might be more than one DVD that could be leaving the collection.

Of course there's my two copies of Transformers:

Getting rid of these because I no longer can stand to watch that movie, let alone believe I used MY money to buy these.

There's also:

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines

Not a film I ever bought. Think it might be one that Suzy got from an ex. Too bad it's Full Screen! And if I'm going to own a Terminator movie, it'll be either the original or T2. Simple as that.

The Dark Knight: Target Special Edition

This is another one of those cases where I wanted another version but ended up with a different version. Well, I bought this special edition DVD first, but I really wanted the special edition from Circuit City... which I ended up getting a week or two after this initial purchase. And because I want this on BR, the SO will kill me if I have three copies of this film.

Duck Soup

There's nothing wrong with this film. I consider it the greatest comedy of all time, and everyone who's anyone that thinks about doing comedy either for fun or for a living will give this film all the respect it deserves. Everyone has copied the gags and one-liners from this film and put it in another production. So I love this film. It's just that I bought The Marx Brothers Silver Screen Collection, and that means that this film is a part of that set. So I have no need for two copies. See the trend?

Donald Duck in Mathmagic Land

The SO loves this feature, as it shows Donald learning the importance of math in everything that we do on a daily basis. It really is a cute film, but it also is a part of Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald Volume 4, 1951-1961. I sound like a broken record with this post, but it's not my fault. I already had the Treasures DVD and the SO wanted to get this DVD because it was an exclusive DVD for members of the Disney Movie Club.

A double feature: National Security and Win a Date with Tad Hamilton

These are the SO's, and again, I think they're from an ex. So I don't believe she'll miss these one bit. And I'll be glad to rid them from the collection. What's so great about them is they are stored together in the DVD case for Devil's Advocate.

Yeah, I cared so little for these movies that I put both of them in a case for which I don't actually own the movie.

And finally...

The original Star Wars trilogy

Now hear me out on this. I haven't truly decided if I'm going to do this or not. But here's what I'm thinking...

So I bought the original trilogy when it first came out as a set with a bonus material DVD.

Then they came out with the movies as individual DVDs that had both the original theatrical version and the special edition (i.e. Lucas' slaughtering of his own original vision for the films) in one case.

The original set I bought only had the special editions of the films. In theory, then, I would not have the need for the special edition only DVDs.

But there are two drawbacks to this. One, the artwork on the covers are different among the two sets of trilogies. And two, I never planned on opening the set with both versions of the film. It just seemed symbolic to keep those sealed until the moment in time when I would show these films to any future progeny of mine. I still have the original VHS copies, so whenever I wanted to avoid any special edition changes, I could pop those in.

Therefore, I'm still hesitant to sell those (as you can see in the first pic I left them separate from the "definitely selling" pile) but if I was desperate for money (or if the SO finally did snap and want to kill me) I would be willing to part with them and keep the other set plus the bonus material DVD. I am definitely, 100% not selling that away.

So there you have it. DVDs that I'm willing to sell or get rid of. A crazy new era has dawned, and I'm just trying to stay afloat. Later!

"Eeeee... va?"

I'm not even sure why I chose this movie to watch as the first film to watch in its entirety. But I thought it might look the best now with the HDTV. Boy, was I wrong (even if the SO didn't believe me, but she will soon enough). What movie could that be? Probably now one of the SO's favorite Pixar films, WALL-E.

The story is simple enough. Humans have been consuming way too much waste and not recycling, reusing, reducing their consumption to the point where humans had to leave the planet in order to allow Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class (or WALL-E) robots to clean up the planet. When we first see the planet, we meet the one remaining WALL-E robot who's been cleaning up for 700 years. But WALL-E seems different, in that he has a personality. And it's almost like he's reawakened the spirit of Charlie Chaplin, with his silent movie approach to comedy. The second day, WALL-E has company on the planet, as a probe ship releases an Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator (EVE) robot to look for plant life on Earth. WALL-E is smitten with love for EVE, but she's in no mood for love (kinda like the SO when I get on her bad side... which can be a lot, so I empathize with WALL-E). Luckily, he's able to demonstrate to EVE he's no enemy, and he shows her everything that he finds interesting that he's collected in his shelter, including a green, leafy plant. This stimulates EVE to send a signal to the probe ship to pick her up, and WALL-E and EVE are transported to Axiom, the flagship that has been the home of humans the last 700 years.

Not to my surprise, humans have become fat and lazy because of technolgical advances. Very 2001-esque, and by no surprise, the ship's main computer is the enemy, not allowing the humans to return to Earth because it is in autopilot mode. With the help of the captain of the ship, WALL-E and EVE are able to get the ship to return to Earth with the sacrifice of WALL-E's body. The ship zooms home, and EVE finds the necessary parts to save him but initially his personality is missing. By some miracle, WALL-E gets his personality back, and all is well with humans and nature again.

A little sappy at the end, but I love the beginning of the movie. No words, just actions and gestures that get the point across about WALL-E and his love for EVE. It's depressing how bad the planet is left, with garbage covering every inch of the planet. And I'm sure that's the underlying message for us. If we don't start changing our ways, we could end up like this. For the SO, she loves the underlying message, but I think more than anything, she likes to say WALL-E like it's said in the film (some weird Boston thing, I think).

What I noticed with the film on our HDTV is how the DVD player doesn't provide a clear picture, definitely not high definition. And it was blatantly obvious, but the SO disagreed with me. I kept telling her that it's not quite clear, but with an animated feature, it won't show up as bad as a live-action film. And that will become evident in a future post, I guarantee it.

So, the DVD is a keeper, mostly because it puts a smile on the SO's face, and getting rid of it would permanently put me in the doghouse (if we had a real doghouse, she probably would shove me in there) and I can't risk that. So I'll just avoid that confrontation. Later!

"That meat lover's pizza is NOT loving me back!"

It seems like it's been forever since I've been on a regular schedule of reviewing DVDs, so it was nice to get back to some normalcy for this weekend.  And because I felt bad that the SO didn't pick a DVD last week, I thought she could have the first crack for this weekend (So does this count as last month's SO pick or this month's SO pick?  Hmm...).

And of course, she never disappoints with her pick, meaning it's going to be a Disney selection, and what better selection to make than the most recent DVD purchase involving a film from that lovable mouse... about a dog.  But not just any dog, I'm talking about Bolt.

Yes, yes, I know.  It's pretty obvious that Disney went the old-fashioned route of selecting a topic for a movie: they copied someone else's idea, then Disneyfied it.  You know what I'm talking about.  They even stole from a company they routinely work with (Pixar) by using the same premise as with Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story.  Then they had to increase the cuteness factor of the main character the only way they know how: increase the size of the eyes and you have millions of girls lining up to want to see the film.  I know, the SO is one of them.  She didn't see it in theaters, but she didn't hide her feelings for buying the DVD once it came out.

So here's the quick synopsis: Girl buys Bolt (voiced by John Travolta) from a shelter when he's a puppy, they are part of a television show, and just like The Truman Show, Bolt doesn't know he's a character in the production.  He thinks it's all real, including his super powers (including Super Bark... ooh, sc-ary).  To boost ratings, the show has Penny (voiced by Miley Cyrus... thank God she played a minimal part, her voice alone can be quite annoying!) kidnapped, but Bolt really thinks she needs to be rescued.  He's able to escape into the real world, and along the way, he learns from his new acquaintances that he's living a fantasy world.  As much as this hurts, Bolt still searches for his human.  And in typical fashion, there's a climax and a resolution to the problem.

This movie felt like Homeward Bound: the CGI version.  Bolt has to go across America to find his human, with the help of a cat and in this case a hamster.  And it seemed like every other movie that Disney does these days and in the past.  Usually there's a new take on the theme, but there didn't seem to be that new take.  I will say that if you had never seen a Disney movie, and you were under the age of 10, you probably love this movie.  But I can't say the same, as I've seen a lot of Disney movies, and the last time I checked, I couldn't pass for a 10-year old if I tried.

I think the only reason the SO loved it was because of how cute Bolt was.  How could I tell this?  She gets this look in her eyes that says, "I want a puppy."  We can't afford a bunny, let alone a canine, so as much as she may look at me with those puppy-dog eyes of hers, we can't get one.  And why did I agree to get this DVD?  If you are in a relationship (straight or gay) you know there are certain things you have to do to keep your SO happy, and if this is one little thing that does that, I'll suffer... for now.

That's okay, I get her back with this blog, including her incredible spelling skills...

Yeah, I didn't know Indiana's capital was named for Native Americans AND the eastern European nation of Poland.  That's good to know.

Ultimately, this is how I break it down.  Typical Disney trite, but it keeps the SO happy.  So I lose on all fronts.  Except in this post...hehehe!  Later!

It's Batman!

So sorry for the huge delay in getting this review out this week.  Everything seems to be getting in my way, mostly reading reviews about Watchmen (Got my IMAX ticket!  Although I haven't heard if it needs to be seen in IMAX - Oh well...), working on a presentation I have to give next week in front of my departmental area (no pressure there!), and grading exams (which the grades were worse than a Jim Belushi biopic).  But it's no excuse.  And because of how my weekend went, I didn't get to watch any TCM movies, so the DVD is really full!  Hopefully I can squeak out a couple this upcoming weekend, on top of another DVD review.  But this week was the SO's choice...

...which meant I had to sit through another anime movie.  Good thing she doesn't have that many, so I can make it through easy enough (although she'll probably eventually select a couple Jimmy Fallon movies... ugh!).  I know she had a tough choice choosing, but it came down to watching a movie for which she had just read the book, and I could tell right away the movie was nothing like the book.  That movie would be Howl's Moving Castle.

Pretty simple, guy likes girl.  Witch likes guy, so turns girl into old lady, girl/old lady stumbles upon guy's moving castle (so the title at least makes sense!) and helps guy reclaim his heart from a fire demon (who is a friend of the guy's) without having to kill fire demon.  In the middle of all that, guy has to face former teacher and defeat her.  Did I forget to mention the guy is a wizard?

Very quickly, I picked up on the detail of the film, which was superb compared to other anime films I've had to watch with the SO.  Because I had seen this one other time, I think I appreciated this film more, or maybe I liked it because the SO every two seconds said, "That's not in the book!"  "Howl's former teacher is a guy in the book!"  "That's not why the Witch of the Waste turns Sophie into an old lady!"

I could gather from all of this that the director, Hayao Miyazaki, who the SO adores, basically took the outline of the story and incorporated his usual themes of war being bad and the environment is crucial to the survival of all species.  The book, which on all accounts was a decent story (although I haven't read), did not seem to be retold in the film.  I'm not sure if the SO likes the movie more, less, or the same, but she clearly has a new opinion about it.

As for me, I think  it seemed like the movie went quickly this time around.  Of the anime the SO has made me watch, it's probably the strongest film.  Oh, and Howl?  Voiced by Christian Bale!  Picked up on it right away, which made the SO mad because of this useless talent I have for picking up voices in animated films.  Picked up Billy Crystal as the fire demon, Calcifer.  Amazing what happens when you watch enough movies in your life.  It finally pays off...just not in the monetary sense.

Of all the anime we now own, I would keep this one.  Best story, best animation, best film.  But then I haven't watched the half-dozen or so others the SO definitely will have planned for us to watch in the next year or so.  My opinion might change, who knows?  Only Dr. Manhattan... okay, so I'm a little more than excited to see it Saturday, but while re-reading it... sorry, the post... good movie, should definitely see if you like fantasy or animated films.  Go see Howl's Moving Castle this weekend (after Watchmen!).  Later!

Here's the entire movie if you would like to watch now!

It's Luke Skywalker!

In my collection of DVDs, there's a small section reserved for the SO's movies.  And in that section, it's filled with anime.  Of all the genres that movies can be, my SO has to like anime.  I've never been a fan of it.  I actually have never bought one on DVD.  So it has to come as some surprise that I would have any in my collection, but it's all because of the SO.  And worse than just being anime, they are Disney.  Disney!!

I know, I just had a post about a Disney movie (see earlier post) and I love Disney movies, but there's just something fishy about them (and as I'm writing this, I get this sense that a certain mouse is putting my name on the "Banned from DisneyWorld/Land" list).  Don't get me wrong, my childhood is based on Disney (and Warner Bros., too) and I have a soft spot for their movies.  But I have this sense that that's how they get you.  You fall in love with Disney as a kid, then you can't let them go as an adult (and don't get me started on McDonald's...I've broken free from them for five-and-a-half years now, and it feels good).

But back to the movie.  The SO says the director of most of these movies we own now, Hayao Miyazaki, is one of the most influential people in the world because of the underlying themes of his movies.  That's true for what we watched this weekend, a movie with a strong theme about the importance of maintaining our environment for generations, the award-winning Castle in the Sky.

We're first introduced to Sheeta, a young girl in an airship who appears to be in possession of something the air pirates (who attack the ship) want badly.  Able to get away from the ship with her locket, she inexplicably lands softly into the arms of a young boy, Pazu, who catches her as she's in mid-air.  Unconscious at the time, Pazu takes her to his home so she can rest, and in the morning we find out that not only is she running from the air pirates but the government as well.  It appears her locket has some power to find Laputa (the castle in the sky).  Pazu's father was one person who actually saw Laputa, so Pazu believes her story.

As we follow Pazu and Sheeta's adventures to find Laputa and avoid pirates and evil government/army officials, we learn that Sheeta's locket is an etherium crystal, and this could only come from Laputa.  This also explains how she was able to be saved from her long fall in the sky.  Ultimately, the army captures her so she can unlock the secrets of the locket and find Laputa.  Of course, the antagonist in charge, Muska (voice by Mark Hamill) is bent on finding Laputa and harness its power (from what we learn in the movie, Laputa was responsible for some of the most important events in human history, i.e. it has very influential power!).

Once Laputa is found, it appears nature has taken over and the people have died off.  Once Muska has the power, he is bent on getting rid of all the nature on the island (the roots have covered most of the inner heart of the island - the etherium that keeps the island afloat).  Only Sheeta has the power to stop him, and Laputa's natural beauty is saved.  Sheeta and Pazu leave the island (and it's in much better shape) a little bit wiser, a little bit richer (the reason the pirates wanted her locket - Laputa's treausre!) and with new friends (of course the pirates would prove to be the best allies).  In the end, I understand the power of nature and how we have to be in balance with our environment.  Even though we may think we're invincible, the only thing we know is that our time will end someday, but Mother Nature will still be here long after we're gone.  But while we are here, what we do does have an effect on what tomorrow will be like.

The SO has been waiting to hear what I think of the movie.  So here it is: it was a nice story, with wonderful music (until the end), but because the SO has been turning me into a Greenie, I already understand the importance of keeping this planet for future generations.  Because this theme is repeated in a lot of Miyazaki's movies, I feel he should try some other important issue.  But on its own merit, I liked the movie.  Would I buy it?  That's a strong no.  But because the SO loves it, it's staying.  So next week, it's back to my selection, and I can't wait.  Later!

"Now those are square roots..."

So I figured it was time for SO's weekend to pick a movie (it was the last weekend of January, so it was bound to happen at some time...).  It's a good thing I'm writing this all down, because I'll need to remember that when it's the SO's time to pick, she's going to pick more than one movie!  That's right, she broke the rules even before we got this thing really going.  But I'll forgive her this time.  She's been having a rough week, so I figure she deserved a weekend of movies she wanted to see.

And since we watched two movies in total, I thought I'd write a post for each one.  And I'll start with the first movie.  A movie that makes math exciting (even though the SO has me figure out the tip when eating out...I know, she's crazy) and even a little trippy (I guess it was the... 1950s?  So Disney was ahead of the hippies, when it comes to the good stuff).  That's right, Disney's Donald in MathMagic Land.

So I'm all for math, Donald Duck, and cartoons.  And at 27 minutes, it did seem like it ended way too early.  But is it possible to make math exciting for children?  I must say that it was quite interesting to learn how the music scale we take for granted was discovered by Pythagoras and how simple it seems.  Besides this, we are introduced to the pentagram and the golden sections, architecture and art, the human body, nature, games, mental exercises, and the future.  

What do I gather from all this?  One, math is everywhere, but I already knew that.  It did present some things I had never thought about (and I thought I knew a lot about math).  The LSD trips that we had to go on throughout the movie made me wonder who was creating the cartoon.  I'm going to guess some pre-1960s hipsters, but I could be wrong.  But I also had to think, while watching, if I should have been doing the same drugs as the creators of this cartoon.

So what do I think of this movie?  I enjoy Disney (it's pretty apparent from the number of DVDs I have bought that are Disney) and I love Donald (again, I have all of Donald's cartoons on DVD) and I am actually surprised I never saw this cartoon before.  Maybe I did when I was young but I had since forgotten.  I would say that even if you don't like math, you'll be amazed where math can be found (it's everywhere!).  A little dated as a movie, but math will be around a lot longer than we will.  The last quote from Galileo was...is right: "Mathematics is the alphabet with which God has written the universe."

As a postscript, I just realized that I have MathMagic Land twice.  This DVD and also on the fourth volume of Walt Disney Treasure's Chronological Donald Duck.  Yeah, I blame the SO.  She wanted it so badly but never thought to check if we already had the movie.  So we have it twice.  If you see the SO, tell her I'm not the only one who likes to get more than one version of a movie.  She'll appreciate it.  Later!