The Dark Knight Rises... Rises... Rises More, then Clunks Downward Spiral - A Movie Review

Check out my movie review for The Dark Knight Rises at The Sanity Hunter.

Yadda!

A Love Story in The Amazing Spider-Man: Movie Review

The Amazing Spider-Man: Movie Review is up at The Sanity Hunter. Check it out!

Rio: Overcoming the Fear of Flight! - A Movie Review

Indeed, it has been refreshing to see a movie so unpretentious, especially in today's world where movies are all about special effects and violence. Rio has been like a blast of cold and fresh air.

The movie is about Blu, a domesticated macaw from small-town Minnesota, who, being the last of its kind, travels with Linda, his owner, to mate with his only living female counterpart. However, things go wrong the moment the two blue macaws gets abducted.

It has been a very long time that I laughed so hard during the screening in which I attended. The funny moments are intelligent, yet they are realistic in nature that anyone, kids and adults alike, really find them hilarious. This may be owing to the fact that, despite the exaggeration of speaking animals, the characters are someone we can relate to, with special mention to the main character, Blu. Throughout the movie, we share his experiences together in a very comprehensive manner. The audience feel the fear of flight just as Blu does, we fall in love with Jewel just as he does, etc. And this is what I like in a movie, the connection the main charaters to its audience.

Being a tech junkie, the animation of Rio is also commendable. The crisp and the variety of colors really fit with its characters and the setting, which is in Rio de Janeiro. How'd I love to go in there! There has been a great improvement with animation as we progress with technology. Being said, it is of great recommendation that one experience it in 3D cinemas. A little expensive, but totally worth it.

If I'd get the chance, I'll go see it again. 4 stars out of 5!

New Hobby: Reviewing Movies!

Hello!

There has been no updates and posts has been quite slow these past few days. I've been busy and I'm trying my best to make posts.

Anyways, I've develop a new hobby these past few days. As you've known, I love watching movies and I enjoy blogging, and I've been busy to do both, watch movies and think of ideas to blog!

Yesterday, I thought of something. What if, what if I decide to blog about movies! Now that'll keep be great right! So, for the past few days, I've been making reviews about the movies I caught in the cinemas. So far, I've made only three. Ready?!

• Race to Witch Mountain - the family film I loved and had a great time. Read more in My Information Technology - Race to Witch Mountain Movie Review
  
• Knowing - the movie that squeezed the creeps out of me! A must see in the cinemas! Read more in My Information Technology - Knowing Movie Review
  
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans - even though you already know what will happen, you'll still loot at this movie! Read more in My Information Technology - Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Movie Review

These are just the first three movies I've made a review. Catch more in the next few days. You may be able to catch them at the My Reviews Category from My Information Technology! Yadda!

Autobots... Decepticons... Transform!

Well well well. Everybody had experienced being a geek, right. Well, I would say that the peek of my "geekness" age would be by the time I got hooked on the animated series of the Transformers! As a kid, I was addicted to it! They were just plain awesome! So yeah, I decided to post about the group of robots we all love. Transformers!

Originally, I was planning to post a complete list of all the Transformers! Well, it was later that I realized, there is just too many to mention. Well, I then decided to create a list of the ones that were shown on the recent 2007 movie and a small description given by Wikipedia.org. And here it goes!

Autobots

• Optimus Prime. The Autobot leader who comes to Earth to destroy the All Spark in order to end the war.

• Bumblebee. Known as the guardian robot and due to a battle injury, he is rendered effectively mute, and communicates through use of selected playback of radio and television signals.

• Jazz. The lieutenant and is described as having a love of style, with a hip-hop personality.

• Ratchet. The team's medical officer.

• Ironhide. The cantankerous weapons specialist.

Decepticons

• Megatron. The Decepticon leader who crash-landed in the Arctic thousands of years ago in his quest to obtain the All Spark. When he is defrosted, he keeps his original alien jet form out of vanity.

• Starscream. Megatron's second-in-command.

• Brawl. Described as "a very pissed off Decepticon" and always looking for a fight.

• Bonecrusher. His feet are wheels, "skating" as opposed to running. His only weapon is a claw-like scoop at the end of a large telescopic arm.

• Barricade. He is a hunter/scout of the Decepticons, choosing his vehicle mode to easily hide among the humans as a symbol of authority.

• Scorpinok. His machine form is a mechanized scorpion. Scorponok is the only Decepticon in the movie that did not transform, but he is able to dive under sand or other soft landforms.

• Frenzy. A small and vicious spy who transforms into a boombox, and later into a mobile phone.

• Blackout. The first active Decepticon to be seen and is fiercely loyal to Megatron.

I wanted to include all of their pictures, but I guess I'm so limited, as to the fact that I cannot lengthen this post. But well, I'm a geek when it comes to Transformers, and that fact alone makes it possible for me to make another post.

No worries, I'll make sure to update this post if ever I do post another. For the meantime, see ya around!

Astro Boy - The Human Side of Technology

Ever wondered what was Japan's inspiration why they went this advanced in technology, even after their devastation on World War II? You got it right! (Assuming you read the title of this post)

Astro Boy first started as a manga series which was first serialized in Japan from 1951 to 1968. It was then followed by two further series on 1975 and 1980 to 81. He is created by Osamu Tezuka, often reputed as the "god of manga." It was later serialized in the United States under the Dark Horse Comics.

Thanks to the ever helpful Wikipedia, I was able to gather important information.

Astro Boy also saw alot of action in motion. It was made into a television series, and dubbed as the first anime ever made. The beginning of the series was produced by Mushi Productions, which premiered on Fuji TV on New Year's Day 1963, but was eventually moved to the NHK network. It was also the first anime to be broadcast outside Japan. It lasted for four seasons, with a total of 193 episodes. At its height it was watched by 40% of the Japanese population that had access to a TV. In 1964, there was a feature-length animated movie called Hero of Space released in Japan. It was an anthology of three episodes; The Robot Spaceship, Last Day on Earth and Earth Defense Squadron. The latter two were a special treat for Japanese fans since the theatrical versions were filmed in color.

There has been a lot of plans for a movie. In 1962, MBS released an hour and 15 minutes of black and white live action film and since there are limitation on what people can do with a film, the success of the film was out of reach. It was on 1999 that Columbia Pictures has announce the making of the Hollywood version of the comic series.


The Astro Boy feature film version is slated for 2009 from Imagi Animation Studios.

The plot of the series is simple. The story focuses mainly on Astro Boy, a robot created by Dr. Tenma, the head of the Ministry of Science in hope that he would be able to replace his son, Tobio, who died on a car accident. After the realization that the robot would never have emotions, he sold it to a cruel circus owner, Hamegg, who later gave him to Professor Ochanomizu, the new head of the Ministry of Science.

Throughout the series, Astro Boy, fights crime, injustice and evil at the same time struggles with the difficulties of his hopes to be a real boy. The series, whether on manga or on TV, explored issues on morality, responsibility, racism, prejudice, true heroism, and acceptance of loss.

While, on the storyline, our hero is built on pure metal, yet he displays great human emotion, even greater that most of the people on the series. While the story focuses on his struggles as a robot and his wants to be human, the loss, the responsibilities and his limitations, Astro Boy remains loyal and and pure, making him the real picture of the perfect technology. A technology with a touch of humanity.

Indeed, Astro Boy is an existing evidence, that in every technology we make, build or create, we always long for it to have a human side.

The Art of Wall-E

Once in a while, there are just movies that stand out. So, I decided that once in a while, I should blog about the films I loved. Ofcourse, I will also take into consideration that the films I am going to feature should stay in our theme, which is, the human side of technology.

So, my first review will be about..... drumroll please.... tada!
Disney and Pixar's Wall-E!

To be honest, it is really rare that I would get this feeling on watching a movie, the satisfying and the heart-melting feeling I mean. The last time I felt this good on a movie is with Rules of Engagement (in terms of screenplay) and Spider-Man 2 (with the special effects and the character involvement). This is by far, the best movie of the year for me, the best of all the animated films and one of the best this century. Why? Check it out.

The plot. What if mankind had to leave Earth, and somebody forgot to turn the last robot off? After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, Wall-E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that Wall-E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet's future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home). Meanwhile, Wall-E chases EVE across the galaxy and sets an adventure into motion. An adventure that not only would threaten Wall-E's love, but also the existence of the entire humanity.

The plot is very simple, nothing that deep to confuse you, yet is intelligent enough to keep its viewers focus on the movie, and make you think after you got out of the cinema. But what made me this attached to the movie is because of Wall-E's character. Pixar has succeeded in perfecting a movie for a character. You couldn't help but to understand the character, to say why he is lonely, to know what he wanted and to understand why he falls in love. It has been so long, since people, like me for instance, who get so attached with a character, mush less on the character's situation. Wall-e, if real, would be a real example of how human technology could go.

I am not going to give out any details or any spoilers, but I would highly recommend the you guys watch this movie. If you can catch it in the big screen, the better. Trust me, Wall-E is the character you'll love, and you'll never stop loving.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the image on this post. It is owned and copyrighted by Disney and Pixar.