Time Changer (2002)

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Time Changer (2002)

7/10

Starring

D. David Morin

Gavin MacLeod

Directed by Rich Christiano

Good Christian movies are hard to find, Time changer is one Sci-Fi comedy Christian film that made me take some time to think about my life and look ahead into the future saying, “for me to live is Christ and to die is gain”. It made know that the devil is trying to take the name of Christ away from all we do and leave behind the false believe that morals is all I need to live a righteous life.

Written, directed and produced by Rich Christiano and it falls mainly in the genre of a dramedy. When you decided to watch this film accept in your heart that you are sitting down to watch a Christian movie that is the only way you can really enjoy and appreciate the art. But if you are in search for a Sci-Fi movie with accurate scientific facts then maybe you should take the time to go watch Star Wars and its kind. Time Changer is about our Lord Jesus Christ and the benefits of having him in our daily lives, with the recent fear for approval and acceptance in this world we live in, many times we leave out the name of Jesus from our conversations so as to not scare off those we are talking to, something the movie condemns.

In reality the plot has holes, if that is what you want to know, but the plot is straight forward fun: Set in 1890, a Bible professor Russell Carlisle (D. David Morin) wrote a book titled The Changing Times, which promotes good morals without discussing Christ. His publishers believe the book is going to have a good sale if he (Carlisle) can get the board of the Grace Bible Seminary where he teaches to endorse the book.

At the Seminary, all but one of the board members did not support the book endorsement Dr. Norris Anderson (Gavin MacLeod) without unanimous support by the board members, his book will not be endorsed by the Seminary.

Carlisle is outraged that Norris will stand against his book publication, but Norris tells him that you can't teach morals without discussing Christ that if Carlisle pushes such out into the market it will start to destroy society as a whole.

Norris father had built a time machine (ok, now I know this sounds lame and out of place, but the movie is good), which Norris himself had used to see the future (our present) so he was able to convince Carlisle who thought Norris was raving mad talking about a time machine, but just stands (as Norris starts to operate some levers) to prove to Norris that such talk is ludicrous and time travel is not possible, but as Norris pulls the last lever Carlisle finds himself in the 21st century (our present day).

Time Changer is a good Christian film, one that Christians should take the time to watch and appreciate.

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

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The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939)

7/10

Starring

Basil Rathbone

Nigel Bruce

Richard Greene

Wendy Barrie

Directed by Sidney Lanfield

Basil Rathbone portrayal of the great detective Sherlock Holmes is one of the most popular and this adaptation of the popular The Hound of the Baskervilles is the nearest in accuracy that I have seen of the book, recurring that I have seen the modern British Sherlock series do a version of the Hound of Baskerville, which digressed a lot to the use of drugs to portray the intensity of the hound’s presence.

Many differences can be seen when watching this movie adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s, Sherlock Holmes’s The Hound of the Baskervilles, from the role of Beryl Stapleton (she is portrayed here by Wendy Barrie), to some other screenplay differences. That being said, this 1939 movie is one that is straight to the heart captivating, it starts with a high note, introducing us to the characters and the case at hand, it then goes smoothly down to the case and how Holmes was intending to solve it, adding the suspense that the book had, as we the viewers as well as Dr Watson (Nigel Bruce) has to wait till Holmes tells us what he has been able to deduce.

Sherlock Holmes (Basil Rathbone) and Dr. John Watson (Nigel Bruce) receive a visit from Dr. Mortimer (Lionel Atwill), who wishes to consult them before the arrival of Sir Henry Baskerville (Richard Greene). Sir Henry is the last of the Baskervilles and heir to the Baskerville estate in Devonshire.

But Dr. Mortimer tells Holmes of a legend, the legend of the Hound of the Baskervilles, a demonic dog that first killed Sir Hugo Baskerville hundreds of  years ago and the same dog is believed to kill all Baskervilles that stay in the Devonshire, in which Sir Henry will lodge.

The screenplay of any book adaptation is one that needs to be judged carefully, even after reading such a book, you still have to have it in the back of your mind that not all that is written can or should be adapted on screen, in such a case the screenplay has to be well glued together not making you feel like something is off. The 1939 Hound of the Baskervilles has such a screenplay that makes you not feel lost, they did their best to tie up loose ends and make you the view feel a sense of closing as the movie itself ends.

Not many of the Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes portrayal can be found in the market, but if you do search the online market hard you should be able to come across some at a good price although some are said to be on the public domain; as I to will continue the search to see if I can see all fourteen of the duo of Basil Rathbone and Niguel Bruce.

Alice in Wonderland (1951)

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Alice in Wonderland (1951)

6/10

Starring the voice of

Kathryn Beaumont

Ed Wynn

Richard Haydn

Disney’s Alice in wonderland is colorful and wonderful, introducing many characters and lots of fun, that decades after they will be remembered. The movie is an adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and the movie did borrow some additional elements and plots from Carroll's follow up to Alice's wonderland adventure, Through the Looking Glass.

Disney like many kids his age grew up reading Lewis Carroll’s books and during his desire to break into animation making, Disney did a short loosely based on Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, the short was part of a series he made called Newman’s laugh-o grams.

When the Laugh-o gram series ended, Disney sourced for distributors for his idea called Alice’s Comedies which he used the loosely based Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland short from the laugh-o gram to pitch the series (Alice’s Comedies, was a live action meet animation series), he finally did find distributors and the series was done and it ran from 1924 to 1927.

After the success of Snow White, Disney then wanted to put his Alice Comedies into work, this time having the movie based more closely to its original work, after drafts and reels of the movie were being done to no approval by Disney the idea was shelved, then after World War II it was brought up again, this time Disney was determined to get it done and he saw to it that it was.

Alice in Wonderland is Disney's 13th animated feature, but it was not well received at its time of release and it didn’t do well in the box office either. This was mostly due to the uneven pace of the movie and Alice character herself was portrayed as a rock solid girl with a heart of a lion. The story plot is about a young girl named Alice (Kathryn Beaumont who also voiced Wendy Darling in Disney's 1953 Peter Pan animation) who visited a land where things were not normal and the abnormal was normal, she soon discovered that being in such a place was lonely and dreadful.

Funny enough, it is such reasons that the movie has become well received today, after its disappointing box office time, Disney didn't re-release the movie as he did his other animations, but sometime after his death and due to the time when drug use was becoming more apparent in the world, The movie found itself in vogue with the times, which later caused Disney to do a re-release of the movie in 1974 which was successful.

As said the movie has grown to be loved and respected, many homes have the DVD of the Disney masterpiece and it does stand as a grand adventure that kids and adult alike can watch and embark on.

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Toy Story 3 (2010)

10/10

Starring the voice of

Tom Hanks

Tim Allen

Joan Cusack

Directed by Lee Unkrich

After the dual success of Toy Story (1995) and Toy Story 2 (1999), when the production of Toy Story 3 was announced many like me were not surprised, but I didn’t expect much, thinking what will be the next adventure for this crew. When the movie commenced with shots of Andy at his young age, I was smiling as it was good to see him all happy and his toys complete. Then it fades to show us Andy all grown up and ready for college, with the toys eager for some playtime with him. This new Toy Story animation had our Toys go through a stage when their owners are too old to play with them, and our toys got mistakenly donated to a Day Care, with Woody wanting them to go back to Andy’s who wants to move them to the Attic.

The new story of Toy Story 3, made me raise an eyebrow as I was eager to see what was going to happen next; it was from that point I knew this was going to be a fun ride, and a fun ride it truly was. The removal of some of the old characters and the addition of some new characters, added to the fun. Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3 had it all, then there is the climactic scene near the ending where all of Andy’s toys were at a junkyard and with all heading to a sure doom, they held hands ready to go down together. I remember the feeling I got when watching that scene; I was like, “something better happen to save these guys.”

With Disney’s acquisition of Pixar in 2006, saw John Lasseter rise to be in charge of all Disney animation production, this gave more room to the production crew unlike the tight schedule and the back and forth talk they had to face while working on Toy Story 2. John Lasseter who directed the first two Toy Stories, stepped down from directing this one, because of the production of Cars 2 was in progress at that time, and he was directing it. So Toy Story 2's co-director, Lee Unkrich was the sole director of this film, and he did a good work as this movie can stand beside the previous two, with its head held up high.

Toy Story 3 won the Oscar for Best Animated feature and another for Best Original song, it became the highest grossing animation ever, grossing over 1 billion dollars and if you have taken the time to see the previous two Toy Stories then there is no reason you shouldn’t see this one.

Toy Story 2 (1999)

Toy Story 2 (1999)

10/10

Starring the voice of

Tom Hanks

Tim Allen

Joan Cusack

Kelsey Grammer

Directed by John Lasseter

After the success of their first movie together, Disney/Pixar went ahead to make many more movies together, but soon they returned to the movie that started it all, Toy Story, but Disney’s initial plan was for Toy Story 2 to be a home video, but upon reading the script and seeing the reels they noticed the possibilities of another blockbuster lurks, so Disney pumped money into it, recalled the voice cast and Toy Story 2 was made, a wonderful additional to its 1995 original.

Toy Story 2, picks up from where the last one stopped, and it didn’t neglect to let us know that Andy himself is getting older; the puppy and the Mrs Potatoe Head toy mentioned at the end of the first film are also featured in this movie, their addition to the clan, was so well done that you will not feel like they were crowding. Then the adventure in this movie is not a Woody trying to clear himself, it is a save woody adventure. The movie’s directing is just as good as the first, the score not so great, but it is negligible and the CGI is upgraded.

The movie plot sees Woody (Tom Hanks) get stolen by a collector, the other toys noticed this theft and with Buzz (Tim Allen) hell-bent to save Woody, recruited some other toys: Rex, Mr Potatoe Head, Slinky Dog and Hamm the piggy bank on a journey to go save Woody from his captor.

The crew that went to save Woody made the movie for me; their addition took the scope away from what the first movie was all about, Woody and Buzz. This movie too is about Woody, but now some other toys too are involved in this outside rescue.

The idea for a sequel was being put together after the release of the first, but production faced a lot of hiccups on the way, mostly due to Disney’s set release date of the film costing Pixar to work at a fast pace to meet the set release date. The movie story had a lot of recycled ideas that were in the draft of the first film, which were discarded. These ideas included but not limited to, the obsessive toy collector, who here in this movie is the main antagonist (Sid Philips, Andy’s former neighbor before they moved was the first movie’santagonist).

Upon its release, Toy Story 2 cost 90 million dollars to make, and it recruited over 480 million from the box office, making it a commercial success. The high approval rating of the film puts it in the league of movies (rare movies) whose sequels are regarded to be just as good as the original, or even better.

Toy Story 2 is a fun and great movie.

Pitch Perfect (2012)

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Pitch Perfect (2012)

6/10

Starring

Anna Kendrick

Brittany Snow

Skylar Astin

Anna Camp

Directed by Jason Moore

I really don’t like chick flicks, they are all too predictable and at the very end they don’t surprise you. Pitch Perfect is not that different from any other chick flick I know, but it was fun watching, the build up to the grand ending is the same as others, but the comedy is more matured and that made it easy to receive, other than the weak dialogues and lame script writing that are common in other chick flicks. I recommend that a guy should watch this with a girl.

The thing that first turned me off in this movie was when I saw them singing, (I really don’t like chick flicks and I hate music competition films) I just sat at the cinema hall thinking yikes!!! Then things started to turn and then I actually found myself laughing, the comedy that Pitch Perfect brings is very entertaining. It makes you over look the strings and loose ends in the movie.

The funny thing about this movie again is that it is actually a non-fictional story, based on a novel of the same name by Mickey Rapkin. The movie stars Anna Kendrick (50/50 (2011)) as the lead in this college flick and it was produced by Elizabeth Banks (Man on a Ledge (2012)) who also can seen in this movie as she plays one of the commentators alongside John Michael Higgins (We Bought A Zoo (2011)).

The movie is about two a cappella groups from a university but kind of like focuses on one of them, The Bellas and all female a cappella group, who recruited new girls into their group after their previous year disappointment, which led to them losing all but their two lead members.

Beca (Anna Kendrick) joins The Bellas, and starts to shake things around a little, causing one of the lead members Aubrey (who is controlling) wanting to get Beca off the team as soon as possible, so she can regain full control of her group.

The movie is directed by first timer movie director Jason Moore who is a regular stage and TV director, who in my view needs to work on his movie direction too, because the movie directorial was kind of weak, there were incidents where things happen for no reason what so ever. The lead girl Beca (Anna Kendrick) who happens to be a DJ, but all throughout the movie her DJ skills are not in any other way influential in the movie plot as a whole. Then the cheap Apple Macbook advert, comon we the viewers are not that dumb.

Pitch Perfect made a good bunch from the box office making more than 84 million dollars compared to its 17 million production cost and it is highly rated having a 80% approval ratings from critics in the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes. Pitch Perfect is a perfect chick flick, but guys can have fun watching this too.

Back To The Future (1985)

Back To The Future (1985)

10/10

Starring

Michael J Fox

Christopher Lloyd

Lea Thompson

Directed by Robert Zemeckis

Back to the future is one movie that contains excellent visual effects, a nice story plot and the directing is just excellent. The movie has a beautiful screenplay, and the movie puts the full stop in the statement, “never a dull moment.”

Michael J Fox was the desired man cast to play the lead role Marty McFly, but he turned it down due to scheduling conflicts, so Eric Soltz was cast in his place. After filming had begun, Zemeckis and Spielberg felt Soltz was not portraying the character well enough and knew this was a casting error, so they had to re-cast and ask Fox to try and make time to be in the movie. So Fox had to re-arrange his schedule time to be able to shoot Family Ties (TV Series) and the movie at the same time, this recasting meant, an extra 3 million production cost, as all the scenes that Eric had done had to be redone and Fox was so busy, that it was said that he only got 5 hours of sleep a day at the time.

Marty McFly (Michael J Fox) is a teenager from the Eighties who befriends a slight coco scientist, Doctor Brown (Christopher Lloyd). During one of their meetings, Doctor Brown mistakenly (due to an accident) sends Marty 30 years into the past, 1955 to be exact.

Marty, while in the past, mistakenly interrupts his parent's meeting, and he must find a way to fix it or else he will no longer exist. He also has to help the Doctor Brown of 1955 get him (Marty) Back to the future.

Back to the Future was a financial success, the movie’s 100 days production cost was 19 million dollars (including the recasting cost) and it made over 380 million dollars in the box office. It was also a critical acclaim, winning an Oscar for Best Sounding Editing.

The balance in this movie is what makes it a most watch the movie’s transgression from comic to science fiction to romance/drama, is what makes it such a most watch, it takes its time to explain even the complexity of time travel, that at the end even with the slightest of details that made no sense I actually was convinced and doubted not that Doctor Brown did it.

Back to the Future is a movie hit for all to see and enjoy, it was that good that two sequels were added to it, Back to the Future II and Back to the Future III, although the release dates for the sequels were 1989 and 1990 respectively all maintained the time of 1985 when the first time travel happened. So in the end of Back to the Future III, we were back in 1985.

Top 20 Disney Animations (So Far)

This list has many of the great animations from Disney’s early years (1937 – 1988), their Renaissance era (1989 – 1999) and the years after.

Here is my top 20 so far

20. Alice in Wonderland (1951)

19. The Little Mermaid (1989)

18. One Hundred and One Dalmatians (1961)

17. Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

16. The Jungle Book (1967)

15. Tangled (2010)

14. Frozen (2013)

13. Aladdin (1992)

12. Robin Hood (1973)

11. Hercules (1997)

10. Inside Out (2015)

9. Tarzan (1999)

8. WALL-E (2008)

7. The Incredibles (2004) 

6. Monster's Inc. (2001)

5. The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh (1977)

4. Toy Story (1995)

3. The Lion King (1994)

2. Zootopia (2016)

1. Finding Nemo (2003)

The Incredibles (2004)

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The Incredibles (2004)

8/10

Starring the voice of

Craig T. Nelson

Holly Hunter

Sarah Vowell

Directed by Brad Bird

This is my bankable companion for action, The Incredibles is an action packed and comedy filled computer animation superhero film, which juggles between the superhero life and the suburban life. The movie transcend beyond the natural computer animation that Pixar was used to, it contained an all human cast, that took the winds out of the Pixar animators, due to the intensity of work that had to be done to create these characters. The Incredibles is one movie that you can adapt to with ease, finding fun on every turn.

After his disappointing movie The Iron Giant (1999) which has been said was due to marketing gone wrong, Brad Bird was down in the blues and he then focused more attention on developing a movie idea he had been working on for some time, it pitched the idea to Pixar’s John Lasseter who liked it and brought Bird on board the Pixar team to make the movie. The idea was about a superhero family, with the father going through midlife crises. Bird’s refusal to settle for less caused the movie to go through numerous delays, as the animators had to work out the kinks in creating human skin, human clothing, and hair animation in water, air, fire and smoke, to make the characters look real.

The movie does pose some dark parts, with death all well assured and the non hesitant of any of the characters to pull the trigger on the opposing sides, even the children of Mr. Incredible and ElastiGirl were no different, they were not taken unawares or felt any remorse when the opposition died in explosions, while the opposition was trying to kill them, neither were they moved or objected to their parents use of deadly force which resulted into the death of the opposing characters. That is something about the movie that I feel kids should not be exposed to too much.

The incredibles was a theatrical success, winning Two Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature and Best Sound Editing. It cleared the box office getting home over 630 million compared to its 92 million production cost. It also spawned out comics and numerous merchandises. At least till date 3 video games have been released based on the film characters and adventures.

The Incredibles is fun all the way the kind of fun you get when watching a good action flick mixed with a wonderful sitcom. It is one of a kind and a sequel to this movie is one that I have been waiting for since its release, I just hope I don’t have to wait too long.

Monster’s Inc. (2001)

Monster’s Inc. (2001)

10/10

Starring the Voice of

John Goodman (Sulley)

Billy Crystal (Mike Wazowski)

Mary Gibbs (Boo)

Directed by Pete Docter

Nothing warms me more for laughs than anytime I get to sit down and watch Monster’s Inc. This is one Pixar animation that I hold dear to heart, I loved it so much that I didn’t desire for them to make a sequel, because I felt they will wreck what is already a masterpiece. This is the best voice casting I have seen in any animation, the story of Monster’s Inc. is just warm to the heart, as we follow the adventures of a little girl in the monster world. You just can’t forget the voices of the top scarer James P. Sullivan aka Sulley (voiced by John Goodman) and his one-eyed assistant, Mike Wazowski (voiced by Billy Crystal).

The idea for the Monster's Inc. story was born during a lunch in 1994 between Pixars production team of John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton and Joe Ranft during the production of Toy Story (1995). Pete Docter thought it up, and after they were done working on Toy Story, he stepped aside to build the story, while others were working on other Disney/Pixar animations. When he was done with the first draft (which was far different from the final film) the name Monster's Inc was pitched in by longtime Disney animator Joe Grant (who worked on the 1937 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs).

The movie plot underwent numerous changes over its writing and production years between 1996 and 2000. Its final story is about how monsters scare human kids to get their screams. The screams are then stored, refined and used as power, power in the sense of electrical power and fuel power. The flip side of this is that monsters are afraid of human kids, because they are believed to be toxic and one touch from a human child can kill them. There is a company in charge of this scream collection and refinement in Monstroplolis, that company is Monster's Inc. There in Monster's Inc our lead Characters are Sulley and Mike, Sulley is the top sacrer and Mike is his assistant.

One faithful working day, the lives of both Sulley and Mike would change and the faith of the monster world also, as Sulley meet a human child (Boo) in their scare floor in the Monster's Inc factory, panic broke loose and Sulley not knowing what to do and how to contain the problem allowed it to escalate to the point that all Monstroplois is aware of the existence of a human child in the monster world and the whole monster world is in a state of panic.

Monsters, Inc. won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, and it lost the Best animated feature award to Dreamworks Shrek. It was a financial success, and it received high positive reviews, and it is a must-watch.

A sequel to this wonderful movie is set to be released 12 years after the first, in 2013, and it will be a prequel to the original plot.

The Lion King (1994)

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The Lion King (1994)

8/10

Directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff

Hakuna Matata, the catchphrase that this movie made many say for years, the movie is full of action and fun, that has made it one of the best 2D animation one could see, the movie dialogue is also intriguing and funny, the movie which seems to be in three parts, the first being Simba’s life in Pride rock, his life with Timon and Pumbaa where he loses some of his Lion instincts and the last part where he goes back to Pride rock to reclaim his throne.

The Lion King was the first Disney animated feature to be a total original story, all other animations before it have been based on an already existing work. The idea of the movie was conceived during the promotion of Oliver & Company, the idea was basic:  a story about animals that will be set in Africa.

The filmmakers, then went ahead to build the story taking ideas from the lives of Joseph and Moses (from the Bible) and William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

The movie production began during the time of the production of Pocahontas, many of the animators and directors at Disney felt that not many people will want to sit and watch a little Lion cub who is framed for murder (murder of his father) by his uncle, for that reason alone many of the animators wanted to work on Pocahontas instead, but to their surprise although both were financially successful, Lion King made more money (it has become the highest grossing 2D animation ever) and received more positive reviews.

The voice casting for Lion King, was full of stars from Matthew Broderick, Jeremy Irons, James Earl Jones, Rowan Atkinson, Whoopi Goldberg (just to mention a few) and even Disney's long time voice artist Jim Cummings was also available in this unending list of star voice actors.

The movie plot of Lion king is about a lion cub named Simba who gets framed for murdering his father (Mufasa voiced by James Earl Jones) by his uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons). Simba runs away from his right as heir to the throne and meets and befriends a meerkat, Timon (Nathan Lane) and a warthog Pumbaa (Ernie Sabella). Things were going well but the past that Simba ran from found him where he was hiding and now Simba (Matthew Broderick) has to go back to Pride Rock to face his past.

Lion King is a nice animation to own and watch again. Two home video sequels were done of the movie, The Lion King 2 (not worth watching at all) and The Lion King 1¹/₂(good enough to be seen), and a series about Timon and Pumbaa was also done, which was amusing.

Toy Story (1995)

Toy Story (1995)

10/10

Starring the voice of

Tom Hanks

Tim Allen

Directed by John Lasseter

Every child dreams of his toys coming to life and playing back, but the main idea has always been what it will be like if toys did come to life. Well, Toy Story answered that question in a more enlighten way that made you eager to see more of the adventures Andy’s toys were getting into. Toy Story has a masterpiece storyline that makes you just sit and wonder, the screenplay that blends this toy acts to human interaction is so well done, that if not that the fact that this can’t be true, this movie may make kids think this is possible.

The movie is about a group of toys who pretend to be lifeless whenever humans are present and come to life to discuss, when humans are not around. The toys' behaviour, actions and fears are all based on their need to be played with by their owner.

This group of toys belong to a boy named Andy, and the Andy's favourite toy is Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), a cowboy dull. Things were rosy when Woody was on top, but then came a new toy who took Woody's place, Buzz (Tim Allen). Now Woody who feels threatened tries to get back at Buzz, but he drags himself down with his acts, and now he may never see Andy again.

Toy Story was the first fully computer animated feature film at its time, and it came about when Disney approached Pixar to produce a computer animated feature for them after seeing their short animated film Tin Toy (1988). The production of this movie went through many ups and downs, mostly due to the fact that Disney wanted a story that was nail-biting and out of this world perfect, which caused Pixar to work on re-writes that saw the lead characters changing form till they finally settled on Woody the wise leader of the Toys in Andy's room and Buzz the new addition to Andy’s toys who is confused as to who he really is.

Then there was the talk between Pixar and Disney about songs. Disney's movies at that time were all musicals with the characters breaking into songs, to further pass their message along, but John Lasseter didn’t want that at all claiming this is a buddy film, so the two reached a compromise, that the score of the movie will be directed towards the action at hand at the point. That can be seen in the movie at one point when Buzz wanted to fly out the window to prove that he could fly and that he was not a "Toy". The song that was playing during that scene of Buzz trying to fly had such lyrics as: ...no, it can't be true, I can fly if I wanted to.

Toy Story received massive recognition during its time Review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes has the movie at a 100% approval rating from critics, and it also won Three Academy Awards (for Best Original Song, Best Original Score and Best Screenplay).

The movie was a financial success, and it gave birth to two other sequels which were bigger financial success Toy Story 2 (released in 1999 and gaining 100% approval at Rotten Tomatoes) and Toy Story 3 (released in 2010 and gaining 99% approval at Rotten Tomatoes, and it is the highest grossing animation till date making over 1 billion dollars). There was also a direct-to-video animated film titled Buzz Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins (about Buzz) and also an animated television series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command.

Toy Story is a classic true and true one DVD you should own.

The Crow (1994)

The Crow (1994)

10/10

Starring

Brandon Lee

Directed by Alex Proyas

The Crow has reached an iconic high in the movie realm, mostly because it was the last movie that Brandon Lee (Bruce Lee’s son) stared him, as he, Brandon, died on set during the production of the film; his death was due to a gunshot. The gun was supposed to be loaded with blanks, but one life ammunition bullet was lodged in the gun that was then loaded with blanks. His death on set made the movie gross more than the producers could ever imagine and turned this movie to a cult classic.

The movie is an adaptation of a comic book series of the same name, that was created by James O'Barr, and it tells the tale of the life of Eric (Brandon Lee). Eric and his fiancée were attacked at their home, Eric got shot, and he was paralysed, and could only watch as Shelly his fiancée is savagely beaten and raped. The attackers finally kill Eric.

But a year later Eric is resurrected by a crow, now he hunts the men that killed him and his fiancée, Eric is now an undead, unable to be killed or hurt (as long as he stays on course, which is revenge on those who killed him and his fiancée).

The movie boasts of fast-paced action, the movie adaption of the comic is seen by many to be near accurate. The movie’s cinematography is engaging as we mostly are moving around with Eric in the night, the camera angles or light feed never make you wish that there were gotten from another shot, or you are needing more light. Then there is the score, the dark rocky score that brings you into the melancholy mood of Eric as you watch, the movie doesn't at any time take you to a high of good things happening then brings you back to the main dark theme Alex Proyas (the director, and also director of Dark City (1998) and I, Robot) made sure that from the get go of this movie you are introduced to a sad theme, a sad scene, a sad story and it the movie keeps to that till the end.

The Crow goes places other hero movies don't want to go, no breather, just darkness.

The movie's special effects were most rewarding and the story is very engaging a fit none of the other sequels after it has been able to accomplish, as more sequels were being released the worst the ratings they were getting, making this movie stand out the more.

A remake of this said “untouchable classic” is being done, the argument is will this remake be as good as the original or is it just going to follow the way all the other sequels went. My take on this is, Hollywood filmmakers are now at the end of their rope, going back to remake movies or dragging them into trilogies just to make more money, the remake falls into this suit if you ask me (suit of not having an idea of what movie to do), because such movies like this should never be remade. That said, I will be watching the remake with high hopes, reason being times have changed, 1994 and now that is more than 18 years, enough technological advancement that could not be employed in 1994 will be used in this remake, I just hope it won’t suck.

Snow White and the seven Dwarfs (1937)

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Snow White and the seven Dwarfs (1937)

8/10

Starring the voices of

Adriana Caselotti

Lucille La Verne

Harry Stockwell

Pinto Colvig

Disney’s first full length animated feature is just masterful, the thing is, it is so good that it is very hard to believe that this is the first, the one that began the Lion King, Aladdin, Beauty and The Beast Tarzan and more. The movie boasts of a score that you will love and come to respect. Disney’s beginning was so good that you just have to dip your hat to the dream of Walt Disney himself. It features the depth of imagination from the Disney crew that has long be welcomed and has been their trademark for years, nothing beats the names of the seven dwarfs and their characters.

Before Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the Disney studio had been producing animated short subjects in the Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies series. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was to be the first full length cel animated feature in motion picture history, and to be able to keep up with the high production cost of over 1 million dollars which is considerably high for any movie at all in 1937, Disney had to mortgage his house.

The plot foundation is taken from the Grimm stories of Snow White, and Disney’s seven dwarfs twist is what stands in the memory most as the story of Snow White.

Disney’s gamble at that time was seen as foolishness, with many trying to talk him out of it, but after the movie was done and the first viewing was over, not only did Disney get a 10 minutes standing ovation, he also received a full size Oscar statuette and seven miniature ones for his work, this was presented to him by 10 year old child star actress Shirley Temple.

It has also received many other notable recognition in its time, it is listed as the 34^th greatest movie of all time in the AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) and it is listed in their AFI's 10 Top 10 animated Film, as the number 1 Animated film of all time. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs provided enough revenue for Disney to build his studio, and also provided enough for them to make another two animations, Pinocchio and Fantasia. Snow White is the first of its kind, and the great thing about it is that it is not just a celebrated mediocre of an attempt at something different, the movie is a good animation, one you will most enjoy.

Coraline (2009)

Coraline (2009)

6/10

Starring the voice of

Dakota Fanning

Teri Hatcher

Directed by Henry Selick

Coraline is a dark horror fantasy stop motion 3D animation that just sticks out in your mind as one creepy movie. It stalls you and keeps you in the dark as you try to decipher where the terror will be coming from, and when it does arrive, you find yourself wishing this is one of those films that the good guy wins, although there are numerous of them this just got to be one.

Coraline doesn’t strike me as a film for children although it does carry a message of how you should be thankful of what you have. The grass may look greener on the other side, but there may be a high price to pay to get there and stay there.

Coraline is based on a book of the same name by British author Neil Gaiman (who also wrote the novel Stardust that was also adapted to a film of the same name in 2007).

The movie plot is about a girl named Coraline Jones (voiced by Dakota Fanning) who moved with her parents to an old house that has been subdivided into flats. The other tenants were Miss Spink and Miss Forcible two elderly stage actors and Mr. Bobinski, who is training mice to form a mouse circus.

One rainy day she discovers a locked door in her room, which has been bricked up. While visiting her neighbors Mr. Bobinsky delivers a message to her telling her not to go through the door. Coraline ignores the warnings and goes through the door which leads her to a parallel universe.There she sees a different version of her house where she meets her other mother and other father, who were better and treated her better than her real mother and father. Not just her parents were in this other parallel universe, so were her neighbors. The difference here is that the people in the other world have buttons for eyes.

Soon Coraline learns that this other world is not as rosy as it appears and her life was now in danger, with her unable to find her way back to the real world which she was from.

Coraline was published in 2002 winning the 2003 Hugo Award for Best Novella, the 2003 Nebula Award for Best Novella, and the 2002 Bram Stoker Award for Best Work for Young Readers. This movie adaptation is done by Henry Selick who was also the director of the 1993 The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Coraline was well received by critics and did averagely well in the box office. Henry Selick was poised to make another Neil Gaiman book adaptation named The Graveyard Book (which is one of my favorite Gaiman books).

The movie is now in what would be a development hell in Disney as of 2013, there is nothing new about the movie's production.