Blu-Ray Review: Armored

Heist films. They go all the way back to The Godfather. And this 'un is an interesting film and an exciting one to boot.

In this film, Ty is running low on cash and needs some money to keep his younger brother Jimmy from being take to a foster home. He relunctacly agrees to go on a heist mission to steal money. However, after the murder of a homeless man, Ty has second thoughts and soon things spiral out of control.

A good heist film has to have suspense and this one has some great moments of genuine terror. There's great moments of "Who-Will-Make-It?" making it a thrilling adventure. The cinematography is astounding, really feeling like your in the armored car or running with the thieves. This is a fun and thrilling adventure.

Rating: 7.6 out of 10 or B+

SYS

Blu-Ray Review: Astro Boy

Japan. Home of the neon light, panda's and anime. Lots and lots of anime. And the biggest piece of that is Astro Boy. Born in Japan, he's the one of the bigger things that anime has brought to our shores. And this time they do a fair job bringing it to the big screen.

As a scientist's (Nicolas Cage) son dies, he creates a robotic child named..Astro Boy! However, Astro Boy falls to a now deserted Earth, inhabited by a handful of robots and humans. And when one of those robots called Zartog goes on a rampage, only Astro Boy can save the day...

It must be said the animation is unimpressive, but the film has some great emotion and actually good action. Voice acting is top notch, as the always great Nicolas Cage and Nathan Lane show off their stuff. It may be no How To Train Your Dragon, but Astro Boy is fun stuff nonetheless.

Rating: 7.3 out of 10 or B

SYS

Film Review: The Losers

I didn't know a film could be this..confusing. By that I mean this: this is both the best and worst 2010 film so far

In this ensemble film, five members of an elite US Army group are sent on a mission that ends up with them learning it's a mission designed to kill them. However, they suvive and are now out..for revenge!!!

Violence and bad acting. These are the main ingredients of which The Losers is comprised of. These Losers do get a couple of nice bits on the action side, really showing off some great things this film could be doing. On the other hand, the atrotcous acting makes you wonder where all the good things went. Add to that a story that's confusing and maddening, it's easy to see why this film isn't a loser..but it is a fumble.

Rating: 6.7 out of 10 or B-

SYS

DVD Review: Bandlsam

Summit Entertainement has recruits the top talent to be in a musical about teenagers and love. Should be a disaster, right? Somehwhat..but not quite.

Will has just moved in and is quite an outcast. However, he's assembling a band full of outsiders that just may win a giant music competition.

The cast don't act well and the characters are as cookie cutter as they come. And yet..they get the high-school MANERISMS down pat and it must be admitted the film can be charming and Lisa Kudrow does well in her thankless role. Sure, the singing can be grating but there's no denying that when this film has pep, everyone's gonna get up and dance.

Rating: 6.2 out of 10 or C

SYS

DVD Review: Kiki's Delivery Service

Avatar took 12 years to make. That's a rarity for a film to take that long to make. But what if it took a decade to release a film that was finished? That was the case with Kiki's Delivery Service, released in Japan in 1989 and released to the USA in 1999.

Kiki is 13 and a witch in training. The problem is, her only ability as a witch is to fly. So (obviously from the title) Kiko starts a delivery service. However, her powers are starting to dissapear and she may not be able to save her best friend if trouble arises...

Ghibli can always be counted on bringing films brimming with imagination and wonder. Kiki is no exception. Here he brings the life of a teen and a witch together so realistically, it boggles the mind. The animation also makes the city another character altogeher..one that seems to be safe and caring. Combine that with great animation and voice acting and you have another Myizaki winner!

Rating: 9.1 out of 10 or A+

SYS

DVD Review: Alice In Wonderland

Disney is known for his animation. But his very first works combined both animation and live-action, like Who Framed Roger Rabbit would do decades later. These live-action/animation shorts were based upon the Alice In Wonderland tales Walt had read in his childhood. And in 1951, Walt created (Arguably) the most famous adaptation of Lewis Carrol's book.

Alice is a small girl who runs down a hole in search of a white rabbit. She learns that she has stumbled into a zany world called Wonderland, where mad hatters and Cheshire Cats roam free. But how can she get home? That's the puzzler...

I am a large Disneyana fan. And, let me just say right now, we are rabid about Walt Disney movies. But for some reason, as a child (and today) I didn't get it. Not only isn't there a plot line, there really isn't an objective throughout. You get the feeling they're missing up great story opportunities that Tim Burton's adaptation did so perfectly.

The voices are great though. The immortal Sterling Halloway does wonders as that perfect Cheschire Cat. And Kathryn Beaumont does her second Disney heroine role here (she also does Wendy in Peter Pan). Still, the film, like Peter Pan, is a bit on the weaker side of Walt's classics.



Rating: 7.1 out of 10

SYS

Film Review: Letters To God

As gooey as carmel, this christian film is really just..oozey. And not in a good way.

Tyler is a small boy diagnosed with cancer. He soons starts sending letters to God himself as a way to see if his life wil lget better. The letters change a depress and alcholic mailman who soon changes the community forever...

Like Facing The Giants, the film goes for your heart and never lets go. Toruble is, like those films, you get tired of it's tugging after a while. Honestly, the film is boring and never has much tension for a film about a cnacer-stricken child. You wish some kind of conflict of any sort would hop right in..but it never does. The film just sticks in your mind for 3 seconds..before being forgotten forever.

Rating: 5.5 out of 10 or C-

SYS

Blu-Ray Review: Where The Wild Things Are

Book adaptations are as fickle as they come. Some are great (How To Train Your Dragon, Fantastic Mr. Fox) others fail miserably (The Golden Compass, The Lightning Thief). Where does The Wild Things adaptation fall? In the great category.

Max has a rough sister and is doing badly in school. One night, when his Mom's boyfriend comes over, he makes a scene and bites his Mom. After being called a wild thing, he runs off and finds a boat that takes him to a dangerous land. Full of dnagerous inhabitants.

The film impresses thanks to it's "Who Needs Kids?" approach. The film is dark, very dark. But so was the book. In fact, the film takes the books spirit and stretches it to a wonderful 100 minutes that will make you realize something: being a kid is heck. Horrible in other words. Other films would make childhood like like heaven. This says kids are given the worst in life and have to deal with more problems than adults can dream of.

The wild things home is an impressive visual experience. The animatronics/CGI approach gives realism and depth to the creaters. They seem to be exactly as a child might imagine. It's really beautiful. This film may have been snubbed in the Best Picture category, but here at Doug's Domain, it gets an A+!!

Rating: 9.1 out of 10 or A

SYS

DVD Review: The Great Mouse Detective

Easily one of the most underrated films in the vast library of Disney films, The Great Mouse Detective delivers on all ffronts: ented rtainemnt, action and animation.

Basil is a famous British detective who finds his old nemesis Dr. Ratigan kidnapping an inventor. Along with his new assiistant Dawson and the inventor's duaghter and his trusty dog Toby, he'll have to stop Ratigan...before it's too late!

Obviously, the film stars mice and the 1986 Disney artists used a lot of creativity here, making this micey world seem very real and using inventive objects to use as halls and stools. However, the main standout has to be Vincient Price as Ratigan. The master of fright delights as the nemesis, singing and giving him an edge that Glen Keane's brilliant animation complements perfectly.

It may not be the Lion King, but The Great Mouse Detective delivers as an enetertaining slice of Disney and mouse cinema.

Rating: 8.8 out of 10 or A-

SYS

Film Review: Date Night

Steve Carrel is a genuis. Tina Fey is side-splitting, gut busting funny. Combine it hem and what do you get? A mediocore slice of comedy, undone by too many cameos and action scenes.

Steve and tina play a couple who have gotten into a routine. A fairly boring routine. When their friends (played with perfect wit by Kristen Wiig and Mark Ruffalo) divorce, they fear they're heading down the same path. So they go out to a fancy restraunt. After they steal a reservation, though, they find the couple they stole that reservation from are being hunted by spies...

Obviously, all HAS to end up well here. That's not the main porlbem here. The main crack in the fixture is this: the action is badly paced and (strangely) feels out of place. When Steve and Tina are throwing jokes around, the film peaks. When Ray Liotta and many, many, many, many MANY MANY others turn up, though, it ruins what could've been classic comedic pairing.

That's not to say the film is all bad. Mark and Kristen are show-stealers and,m as I said, Steve and Tina were born to be a duo. And Mark Wahlberg's scene will have you in stitches (why else is he in the other photo in this review?) The film just suffers from being too many things...and yet still having enough to warrant a rental or (perhaps) a date night.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10 or B

SYS

Reviews to Come 6.0

The blog was in hiatus all through March..but we're gonna catch up!! Here are a ton of reviews coming soon...2 of which will be coming today!

Time for another review update.

*Up (Blu-Ray)
*Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen
*New Moon
*This Is It
*A Christmas Carol
*Star Trek (Blu-Ray)
*Gone With The Wind (Blu-Ray)
*Harry Potter 6
*Merry Madagascar
*Cars
*The Blind Side
*Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
*2012

*Planet 51
*Forest Gump: Saphire Collection Edition
*G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
*The Wizard of Oz
*Fantastic Mr. Fox
*X-Men Origins: Wolverine
*Land of the Lost
*Old Dogs
*A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
*Night at the Museum 2
*Coraline Collector's Set

*Galaxy Quest
*G-Force
*The Princess and The Frog
*Avatar
*9
*Sherlock Holmes
*Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squequel
*Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
*Leap Year
*Fame
*The Simpsons: The Complete 20th Season
*The Lovely Bones
*The Spy Next Door
*Toothy Fairy
*Extraordinary Measures
*Surrogates
*When In Rome
*Amelia
*Valentine's Day
*The Lightning Thief
*Everybody's Fine
*How To Train Your Dragon
*Clash of The Titans
*Tim Burtons Alice In Wonderland
*Date Night
*The Great Mouse Detective
*Ponyo
*Where The Wild Things Are
*Letters To God
*Alice In Wonderland
*My Neighbor Totoro
*Kiki's Delivery Service
*Castle In The Sky
*Pirate Radio
*Gentlemen Broncos
*Oceans
*Did You Hear About The Morgans?
*The Back-Up Plan
*Bandslam
*The Losers
*Astro Boy
*Armored
*Igor
*Furry Vengeance
*Lord of The Rings
*Appollo 13
*Napolean Dynamite
*Iron Man 2
*Dodgeball
*Planet of The Apes (2001)
*Armaggedon
*Poseidon (2006)
*Batman Returns
*Minority Report
*RoboCop
*The Notebook


Christmas Reviews:
*A Charlie Brown Christmas
*Classic Holiday Collection
*Miracle on 34th Street
*Jack Frost
*I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown
*Snow Buddies
*Elf
*How The Grinch Stole Christmas: Deluxe Edition
**The Year Without A Santa Clause
*Shrek The Halls
*Prep and Landing
*Mickey's Christmas Carol
*Muppets: Letters To Santa
*A Muppets Christmas Carol
*The Polar Express 3D
*The Santa Clause 3-Pack
*Deck The Halls
*It's A Wonderful Life

Obviously I have a lot of work to do. Check back for all the reviews, new and more!

SYS

Film Review: How To Train Your Dragon

Dreamworks. The company that has always had to compete with PIXAR. Most of the time, these guys get a bad cred. You can blame that on duds like Spirit, Shrek The Third and Madagascar 2. But with films like Shrek 1 & 2, Over The Hedge and Kung Fu Panda, these guys show they can do great cinema. They just need to get talented people to work on their films. This one has Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois in the director's chair. These guys worked on the classic Lilo & Stitch. So is it any wonder this is the best dreamWorks adventure yet?

Hiccup (Jay Bruchel) is a small viking on the island of Berk. While his friends are always battling dragons, he's working with Gobber (Craig Ferguson) as a blacksmith. However, he catches the rarest of all dragons: a Night Fury. But when he see's it for the first time, he just CAN'T kill the little critter he dubs Toothless. And thus, a classic film friendship is born.

Let's face it. This story has been told time after time again. But...this one just seems fresher, perhaps because this is the first pet that, y'know, kills people! Toothless, however, comes off more cute than ferocious. In fact, he has some of the best expressions that I've seen in animation in a LOOOOOOOOOONG time. He and Hiccup do make good buddies.



The voices in the film are really well, Jonah Hill and Craig Ferguson being stnad-outs. Gerard Butler also does well as Hiccup's father. Jay is alright as Hiccup, much better than I thought he would be thanks to those pesky TV commercials. Toothless, thank goodness, has no voice actor. That's probably for the best as he does perfectly fine here silent.

The animation also does well here. The background are beautiful and the dragons look really good too. This film just gets everything right, fromt pacing to action to animation. A highly reccomended ride in 3D or 2D!!



Rating: 9.0 out of 10 or A

SYS

DVD Review: Everybody's Fine

RObert De Niro is power in a body. It's a shame then to see him in a fiulm like this where he has to be in a film tailor made for those 70 year olds wanting to smile. These films aren't always bad, but they are the death-toll for an old actor's career.

Robert plays Frank Goode, a man who hasen't seen his kids in a while. One by one, he surprises each one with a visit and learns that, despite thier assurance, each of the children's lives are falling apart.

All of the cast seem to be very stiff but Robert once again gives a fine performance. The film is much deeper than the commercials make it out to be and it at least has the guts to be a little sadder than these films usually go. With Robert doing a fine job, the film just barely rises from the mediocore pile.

Rating: 6 out of 10 or C+

SYS

Film Review: The Lightning Thief

The Lightning Thief is a film that's at odd with itself. The book series it's based on is one of the funniest ever. I am one of the biggest fans of the series, owning all the books and anticipating the movie. The cast seemed to be in place..so what went wrong?

The story is that Percy Jackson has never fit in..until he learns he's the son of Poseidon. He soon goes to a camp for Half-Bloods (sons of god and humans). Along with his friends Grover and Annabeth, he has to get a precious God artifact and Percy's mom.

The trouble with the film is that the books mainly took place in Percy's mind, so humorous comparisions and descriptions would come. Percy and his pals were also younger and funnier. The film just never wnats to be what the book was: a comedic/action book. The film just wants to be an action pic.

The gigantic amount of things cut from the book is daunting. Among the most disturbing things cut are Krono's (the books main villain) and The Prophecy which would become the main thread of the books. The fact that this and important characters like Ares were cut makes me think sequels would only get worse.

Although casting was terrific, the film has bad visuals and too much cutting. I suppose it's fine for the casual film fan, for a fan of the books though it's an abomination.

Rating: 6.0 out of 10 or C
SYS

Film Review: When In Rome

Kristen Bell....tsk tsk. I guess you just can't escape crud like this fair. Then again, neither can the talented cast ranging from your future-hubby Dex Shepard to Josh Duhamel to Danny DeVitto.

Kristen Bell plays Beth Harper, a single artist who goes to Rome to find love. When she takes coins from a love fountain, she finds many suitors waiting for her. Could one of them be her future love?

I love ensemble casts and this one has a lot of good names (missed you Jon Heder!) but none of them work in a film that seems to miss obvious gags to use and instead uses idiotic slapstick's jokes throughout. The direcotr has shown his sloppiness before in the horrid Daredevil and Ghost Rider...but why should he of all people stoop this low?

Rating: 4.9 out of 10 or D+

SYS

Blu-Ray Review: The Simpsons The Complete 20th Season

The Simpsons have been on so long... well it's kind of amazing. The fact that a show of any kind, even a reality show, hits 20 years is amazing. But an animated one? It seems impossble. As an extra gift to us, The Simpsons have churned out one of he finest seasons in a long time.

At the beggining of the season, it seemed like buisness as usual, with duds like Lost Verizon and Dangerous Curves. After that, it was a bunch of classics like Eeny Teeny Maya Moe and Take My Life Please. Episode wise, this was a classic season.

Bonus Feature wise, this set is an abomination. There's a 3-Minute clip to the Simpsons Documentary, but we all already saw it. The previous Season Sets had Audio Commentaries and Deleted Scenes.

Still, it's a good season and it IS nice to see the Simpsons Blu-Ray, the format of the future. If only the bonus's were as good as the episodes.

SYS

Reviews to Come 5.0

Time for another review update.

*Up (Blu-Ray)
*Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen
*New Moon
*This Is It
*A Christmas Carol
*Star Trek (Blu-Ray)
*Gone With The Wind (Blu-Ray)
*Harry Potter 6
*Merry Madagascar
*Cars
*The Blind Side
*Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
*2012

*Planet 51
*Forest Gump: Saphire Collection Edition
*G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra
*The Wizard of Oz
*Fantastic Mr. Fox
*X-Men Origins: Wolverine
*Land of the Lost
*Old Dogs
*A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
*Night at the Museum 2
*Coraline Collector's Set

*Galaxy Quest
*G-Force
*The Princess and The Frog
*Avatar
*9
*Sherlock Holmes
*Alvin and The Chipmunks: The Squequel
*Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
*Leap Year
*Fame
*The Simpsons: The Complete 20th Season
*The Lovely Bones
*The Spy Next Door
*Toothy Fairy*Extraordinary Measures
*Surrogates
*When In Rome
*Amelia
*Dear John
*Love Happens
*Air Bud: Golden Retriever


Christmas Reviews:
*A Charlie Brown Christmas
*Classic Holiday Collection
*Miracle on 34th Street
*Jack Frost
*I Want A Dog For Christmas, Charlie Brown
*Snow Buddies
*Elf
*How The Grinch Stole Christmas: Deluxe Edition
**The Year Without A Santa Clause
*Shrek The Halls
*Prep and Landing
*Mickey's Christmas Carol
*Muppets: Letters To Santa
*A Muppets Christmas Carol
*The Polar Express 3D
*The Santa Clause 3-Pack
*Deck The Halls
*It's A Wonderful Life

FIlm Review: Leap Year

You know a film is bad when Amy Adams is cliche. This film smacks of "They hate each other...but they don't!"-isms that have been trotted out over and over again to the point where even women are ignoring these types of films. And for a guy like me it's just plain garbage.

Anna (Amy Adams) travels to Dublin, Ireland on Leap Day to propose to her boyfriend because legend says he can't refuse on that day. In Ireland, she befriends a man named Declan (Mathew Goode) who annoys here, but is also charming to her. They soon develops feelings for each other..but what about Anna's proposal?

The single thing that keeps this dreck a-float is Amy Adams. Like Anna Farris, she should be doing much juicier roles than this rom-com stuff. She is spectacular here and can be found funny and likeable. The rest of the cast, though, sleepwalk through the film and her boyfriend dosen't seem to show much emotion ever.

The film like the cast can be described as this: A little charming, but really mediocore overall.

Rating: 5.2 out of 10 or C-

SYS

Film Review: Alvin and The Chipmunks 2

The first Alvin and The Chipmunks film was harmless but stupid. The sequel was just flat out stupid, with nothing to back it up. The only thought during the whole mess was if I could get a popcorn refill now.

The Chipmunks are forced to go to school and are left in Dave's (Jason Lee) cousins (Zachary Levi) care. Whilst Dave recover's from some injuries, Alvin and the gang meet The Chipettes, who are run by their old evil manager Ian Hawke (David Cross).

It's sad to see the talent being wasted here. Amy Phoeler, Anna Farris & Christina Applegate voice the Chippetes..yet they aren't even recognisable! David Cross, a fine actor, is wasted here as well. Too many slapstick (and a reeeeeeeeeeealy bad fart joke) just add to the pain.

The only thing keeping the film dangling from an F is the music. When The Chipmunks and Chippetes bust out Flo Rida & Beyonce', they're irrestible. If this thing had been like a musical (think Glee with rodents) it could've been a really great film. Instead, it's flatter than cardboard.

The film is stupid as heck and half as funny. This film needed to remember what PIXAR films do: make laughs for kids & adults. Making jokes just for kids may be profitable, but it sure don't win you points from this critic.

Rating: 4.4 out of 10 or D

SYS

Simpsons Review: Thursdays With Abie

Thursdays With Abie is easily the weakest episodes of The Simpsons in 2 months. But that can't be avoided: the past 3 were classics. This was one was OK, but no classic.

Grandpa is left alone at a swimpark, but a journalist sits down with him. Grandpa tells him about his life story. Soon, Grandpa becomes a celebrity in everyone's eyes excpet Homers. Meanwhile, Bart and Lisa take care of a school stuffed lamb named Larry.

The fact that the journalist wanted to kill Grandpa was intriguing, but there was no real reason behind it. The Larry plotline was also time-filler, not adding anything to the overall story.

Hoever, I did like Homer arguing with himself in the mirror, Homer's first ramble (and Grandpa's expression was nice to boot), Slimo the Octopus, the bumper sitkcer with the production code, Ralph's cloud thought & Chief Wiggum's Sewer Cop story.

The episode as a whole is like the show a few years ago: funny, but nothing too exciting.

Overall: 7.4 out of 10 or B

SYS