Up is among my favorite Pixar movies. That musical montage showing Carl and Ellie growing up and old together packs more emotional punch in just a couple minutes than some entire movies do.

Last evening was "Marvel movie night" with Ryadian and other friends. First we watched Thor, which mixed some Norse mythology (including a description of the Nine Realms and Yggdrasil) with lots of things getting blown up.

Someone in our group joked that it was

Then we watched the 2008 version of The Incredible Hulk with Edward Norton in the title role and Liv Tyler as Betty Ross. Lots more things getting shot at and blown up.

Gazer, wait till' you see Captain America. The whole movie is about things getting shot and blown up. While I found the Incredible Hulk to be mediocre I'm rather looking forward to seeing the whole cast together in The Avengers. Oh Gazer, did you spot the cameo by none other than Lou Ferigno? He was the security guard Bruce Banner gives the pizza to to get into the research building.

On the whole, our group also found this version of Hulk to be pretty mediocre, but acceptable enough late at night.

We did indeed spot Mr. Ferigno - as well as the TV clip featuring Bill Bixby (who played Bruce Banner in the television series).

Also, Stan Lee has cameos in both films...the one in Hulk is really brief.

Friends who've seen Captain America have been raving about it...and they're eagerly anticipating that Avengers movie too.

Wifester and I both watched Soul Surfer earlier this afternoon. I know that this film was heavily promoted by a number of churches when it first came out and so I was understandably nervous when watching it because that's usually the kiss of death in relation to the enjoyability of any movie .

After watching the movie I have to say that I felt a little ambivalent about the experience. Surfing interests me about as much as painting my house with a Q-tip followed by an afternoon getting a pedicure and eyebrow waxing, so that sort of hung with me throughout. You can sort of catch a glimpse into the mindset and lives of surfers and I'm sure that the sport has a lot of fans. But as I said, I'd really rather be doing other things at the beach. Bethany Hamilton, the main character, is a youngin' who has taken a shine to surfing and has a natural aptitude for it. She's generally happy and seems to be considerate and a good kid. She's so good she wins a tournament along with her friend Alana to go to the Championships. But tragedy strikes when one morning with Alana and the latter's dad and brother a shark decides to pay a visit and ends up taking one of her arms. The rest of the movie focuses on Bethany's inevitable depression and her battle to get back into the sport she loves so much. She ultimately (with lots of assistance from her family) manages to compete in the Championship and does very well for herself. Also Carrie Underwood is in the movie.

There are a few problems though. For a movie that wants so desperately to tout its Christian elements, at times it looked like MTV's Spring Break special. There was lots of bikini going on and this is going to really bother some folks. It is, however, Hawaii and folks are going to dress like that when they're at the beach, so I can see both sides of the equation. There was some hokey moments that I am sure were meant to tug the ol' heart strings, but ended up being a tad bit cheesy. Frankly for a Christian themed movie I was surprised to see the cast that it had, with no less than Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt, Craig T. Nelson, and even Kevin Sorbo pays a visit. Not a bad movie, but as Wifester pointed out, "not one I'm inclined to buy". Gonna give it 3 stars.

I recently saw X-Men: First Class and Soul Surfer... Both were pretty good. As one who's never seen any of the X-Men movies I'll admit I'd be interested in seeing a few now. McAvoy was spectacular by the way (No! Not biased at all!) I'd rate it about 9/10

Soul Surfer was equally great. The bikini's might be a bit much for some, but it is Hawaii. Not too much blood, though not fully bloodless. (Loves how SL forgot the spoiler boxes XD) anyways it seemed to match the actual event pretty well to my knowledge. I'm gonna rate it 8.5/10. (The credits with the real Bethany Hamilton were really cool by the way.) The hard thing with Factual based film is having to compare it with reality, and keep in mind some of the cool stuff may not have happened and some of the cheesy stuff may be true. So far I haven't read about anything that's inaccurate.

And in case any are interested I found this little tid-bit http://bethanyhamilton.com/about/bio/

Up is among my favorite Pixar movies. That musical montage showing Carl and Ellie growing up and old together packs more emotional punch in just a couple minutes than some entire movies do.

So true - I cry so much in that movie, in just the first 10 minutes!!! What a wonderful beginning. Now I need to watch it again.
I enjoyed reading Shadowlanders, and Wolfy's reviews of Soul Surfer - I really loved that movie, though I did see why parts of it were cheesy.

*muses (and giggles) over how Rugrats and other cartoons from the television have invaded the movies thread*

We also re-watched Star Trek (2009) I really, really like that movie. Having no knowledge of Star Trek before I saw the movie a few years ago, I really like how they introduced you to each character.

*eyes bug out, and jaw drops to floor* *gets a hold of self*

Ok, here's the thing. I agree that it introduced each character well. And I did/do love it. But, I have to be honest... I can only watch it every once in awhile. It's just... it's too weird to see what happens with certain things

It totally screws up canon (yeah, yeah... alternate reality, I know!). And it was hard for me continuity-wise... to see that 2009 look, on a ship that was supposed to be the same one as the one we watch in the episodes from the 1960's? Get real, people!

Okay, now that I've been picky, I'll say this: Bones McCoy WAS Bones McCoy!! It was eerie how spot on he was... I was jumping for joy. I think I liked this Kirk better than Shatner (yeah, I know... weird, right?). And I liked seeing all the nods to fans, that were included.

I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I'm glad it got you interested in the franchise. But as a lifelong fan of all things Trek (yes, EVERY incarnation), I can't sit back and not point things out. Does that make sense? I'm not trying to hurt your feelings, or anyone else's. I'm just being honest. Hey, if you ever watch any of the shows, feel free to talk with me about them!

mm1991, don't worry... I haven't seen Up OR Tangled yet. Or Princess and the Frog... or Toy Story 3. If anyone's behind the times, it's me! For cryin' out loud, I only saw Enchanted within the last year... on tv! Glad you enjoyed Up!

*sees gazer and SL's convo*
Oh, gracious! I need to see Thor and Captain America still! I forgot! And what almost makes it worse? My sister saw Thor, and she wasn't even interested... she went with friends! *headdesk*

Shadowlander, I get what you're saying, but I actually really liked Soul Surfer! I think the fact that it's based on a true story adds something (and interest) to it for me. (true stories tend to pull at me) But also, I saw it with the teenagers from my church... and seeing their reactions was half the fun, I must admit. I'm not sure yet if I'll buy it or not, but I'd like to see it again.

I recently saw X-Men: First Class and Soul Surfer... Both were pretty good. As one who's never seen any of the X-Men movies I'll admit I'd be interested in seeing a few now.

Are you and 7 trying to kill me?
Why did you start with the newest X-Men film? There are four previous!! (yes, yes... prequel, I get it!) Call me crazy, but I like seeing things in order. Which, by the way, brings me too...

The other day I finally saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine!!! So, I can now in good conscience watch the new one... I've seen all the previous ones!

Wolverine isn't my favourite of the team, but the movie was interesting as a backstory. Seeing Gambit outside of X-Men (the cartoon) was really cool! And it was well acted by all involved. Now I just have to add them all to my ever-growing movie collection... *plots birthday/christmas list*

...And it was hard for me continuity-wise... to see that 2009 look, on a ship that was supposed to be the same one as the one we watch in the episodes from the 1960's? Get real, people!

I can certainly understand this perspective, especially from a continuity standpoint. But still, technology has advanced so quickly from the days when the original aired that the look of the ship and the show - intended at the time to be futuristic - already looks pretty dated. Cell phones and computers are already smaller than their 23rd century counterparts as envisioned back then.

So on that basis, I can accept the appearance of the Enterprise in the latest movie...even if I must surrender my 'Trek fan' membership card. But I can't help wondering how dated that will appear in a few decades?

My pet peeve with the Abrams take on Trek is all the lens flares. I didn't notice them too much the first time I saw the movie; I was so caught up in the action. But on repeated viewings - and especially after the commentary pointed out that more flares were actually added - they became bothersome to me.

On that note, has anyone watched the "How It Should Have Ended" clip for this movie?

Turn off the lens flare generator!

We can do that?

So on that basis, I can accept the appearance of the Enterprise in the latest movie...even if I must surrender my 'Trek fan' membership card. But I can't help wondering how dated that will appear in a few decades?

Hey, you don't have to surrender your 'Trek fan' membership card!

I know it is a pretty silly thing for me to be picky about. And I realise how quickly things get outdated. I guess I just figured they could have tried a little harder to make it look more like the ship in TOS, while still including the things we've learned technology-wise since then. Maybe I'm just too much of a dreamer.

Turn off the lens flare generator!

We can do that?

Now I almost want to watch it again, just to see the lens flares. I don't remember if I noticed them before or not.

I recently saw X-Men: First Class and Soul Surfer... Both were pretty good. As one who's never seen any of the X-Men movies I'll admit I'd be interested in seeing a few now.

Are you and 7 trying to kill me?
Why did you start with the newest X-Men film? There are four previous!! (yes, yes... prequel, I get it!) Call me crazy, but I like seeing things in order. Which, by the way, brings me too...

Understandable, but it was my roommate's choice not mine (basically she asked me if I wanted to watch it and I said sure, not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised. So yeah I have an excuse! But it all honesty going out of order never really bothered me (I read SC before VDT the first time I read them... so yeah...) In fact I believe I actually watched The Lost World (1998ish) before Jurassic Park (Don't do that though... bad idea XD ) But I still enjoyed it, though I wouldn't recommend it

wolfy, dear:
1) That makes a lot more sense! You're forgiven. Now tell her you wanna watch the other ones! Get yourself caught up.
2) You went out of order on Narnia?!
3) Don't worry... I don't intend on seeing ANY Jurassic Park film ever again. So, the order doesn't matter. (sorry. and I'm glad you enjoy them! but there is no hope of me doing so... I was scarred for life against them at age six )

Every. single. thing. J.J. Abrams is even tangentially involved in has too many lens flairs in it to a really annoying degree. I'm tempted to rewatch LOST just so I can see how often they used lens flairs in it.

wolfy, dear:
1) That makes a lot more sense! You're forgiven. Now tell her you wanna watch the other ones! Get yourself caught up.

Thanks and I'm sure I'll be watching them eventually

2) You went out of order on Narnia?!

Yep hence why I really have no view in chronological vs publishing.... but that's been elaborated on elsewhere.

3) Don't worry... I don't intend on seeing ANY Jurassic Park film ever again. So, the order doesn't matter. (sorry. and I'm glad you enjoy them! but there is no hope of me doing so... I was scarred for life against them at age six )

Hah! I first watched them at age eight no problemo... Of course put me in front of a movie like Alien (sorry Cor) or certain versions of War of the Worlds and I'm scarred for life. I loved the book Mothman Prophesies but it freaked me out so much I refuse to watch the film. Granted I'm better now than I was, but I definitely prefer rampaging dinos over invading UFO's...

I watched VDT for the 3d time last night, so now I'm going to write a really long, boring post. I think.
WARNING: Spoilers galore.
I really liked it. I'm not sure if I liked it better than the last two times (quite awhile ago), but because I've heard everyone on here bashing it for so long, I thought it was actually an awful movie. And I was very pleasantly surprised.
I didn't find any cheesy lines. And I'm serious. All of Lucy's were delivered excellently, and I liked all of Coriakins. I will admit that the entire scene with Lilliandil, my sister and I were looking at each other and groaning - lines, and everything were incredibly cheesy and stupid. And I didn't like Drinians line "Pure Evil", though I liked the two before that. And I finally caught Reepicheeps "Extraordinary things happen to extraordinary people" and I loved it!! So there were a few, after all.
A lot of the filming seemed really jerky, and distracted me. That was annoying.
I LOVED all of Lucy's character, how she felt about Susan and beauty and stuff - that fit so well. And shall I say it, and be mobbed by you all? I was wishing the entire time that Suspian hadn't happened, Lilliandil had never been invented, and Lucy and Caspian had something together. But for all you book purists, there was absolutely nothing between them, natural as it seemed to me.
I didn't have a big deal about Edmunds character - I think he did feel a little bit like that, just they over played it too much. The whole movie felt quite a bit more mature then the book - none of the innocence.
But I loved it. From the very beginning, I savored every moment (except for Lilliandil. Where was my beloved Ramandu's Daughter?!!!). Quite a few things wrong with it, but an amazing movie.

Elanor, you don't like Susaspian? Somehow I thought you did.
How come you wanted Lucy and Caspian together? *is curious*
... but then you say "Where was my beloved Ramandu's Daughter?" so I'm wondering.... did you like Liliandil?
(I did not like Liliandil in the way that the name and the character were very contrary to what I imagined in the book, but I love Ramandu's Daughter/Caspian in the books. )