Toy Story 3 in 3D Movie Review

Well. If you don’t know it already, I love all the Toy Story movies. You can read my top ten kids movies list, here and the worst kids movies, here. But I wrote my top ten list before going to see Toy Story 3 in 3D with my daughter. To be honest, I loved this movie and thought it was a great fit with the previous two movies.

But when considering a kids movie -it doesn’t really matter if I liked- what matters is if my kids enjoyed it. And I can say that, yes, my daughter did love this movie. It was especially fun getting to go see it in a movie theater, a first for her. The movie wasn’t very scary which is important to consider when you have young kids and I felt that it was appropriate for her age (She’s four years old).

The only downside to our experience was that it was in 3D. Here’s what I don’t like about 3D. First, it seems super trendy right now, which means that movies that don’t need to be in 3D end up in it, because they have to be. I didn’t see a need for this movie to be in 3D, and would have preferred seeing it without 3D. Second, it’s more expensive. And I know that I’m a cheap person, but it adds up if you have a few people in your family seeing the movie. Lastly, my daughter wasn’t really digging wearing the glasses. She would take them off and we would try to get her to put them back on. Although that didn’t happen the whole movie, it is something to think about when taking your kid to a movie in 3D.

Overall, I didn’t like the 3D, but I loved the movie, more importantly my daughter did and we will have good memories of our time together.

Enjoy this day,
Matt

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Top Ten Movies from the 90’s

Weren’t the 90’s the best? Let’s be honest, they were way better then the 80’s. I might be a bit biased since I don’t really remember the 80’s. Anyways, I was thinking of the greatest movies from my teen years and decided to put together a list. Add your thoughts, or corrections, at the bottom of this post in the comments section. Here’s to the 90’s, thank you for helping us forget the 80’s and prepare us for Y2K. The list as follows reads like this:

10. Apollo 13 - When you write a top ten list, it seems that number’s 1 and 10 are the most difficult. I had a bunch of movies I could have put here, but settled with Apollo 13. I love a true story (even if it’s only loosely based on a true story) and the drama with this was great. Great cast as well, Tom Hanks crushed in the 90’s.

9. Jurassic Park - Every time this movie comes on I still love watching it. A really creative movie with tons of action and was totally ahead of its time. I still feel bad for Newman getting eaten by that Raptor, but really, he had it coming for trying to steal the Dinosaur DNA.

8. Forrest Gump - Man what is it about this movie that is so appealing? I guess its part of my American fabric that loves to see the underdog do well. Even though this movie is like a million hours long, I still love watching it. One of the great lines of this movie is when Forrest says “I might not be a smart man, but I know what love is”.

7. The Sixth Sense - Talk about a movie that was ahead of its time. The Sixth Sense was great for many reasons, but the twist at the end is what marks this movie as a truly unique and creative movie. Even though M. Night Shyamalan has his haters out there, I love his movies, and here’s where they started.

6. The Usual Suspects - I love twist endings and The Usual Suspects brings it with this one. How great is it when it’s revealed that Kevin Spacey is Keyser Soze? I mean, not only was it a great twist, but they did such a good job with telling it. And do you remember all the stories they told about Keyser Soze in the movie? Well, I heard that it wasn’t until after the movie was done that the writers (or maybe it was the directors) found out that they disagreed on if Keyser Soze’s history was true or not. Interesting.

5. The Matrix - I know a lot of people disliked numbers 2 and 3, but I enjoyed the entire series. However, the original Matrix is easily the best of the 3, and I doubt many people would argue that. Action movies where forever changed by this movie. With a super creative plot and incredible graphics/fight scenes, this movie was cutting edge. I love the last half hour of this movie, when Neo realizes he’s the “chosen one”, and then proceeds to crush Mr. Anderson, incredible.

4. Fight Club - I know that many people will find a lot of the things in this movie offensive, but if you can get past that and see the message, it can really open your eyes. I remember going through a phase in my teen years where I watched this movie nearly every day. The message of your identity not being in your possessions and your job really impacted me. “You are not the contents of your wallet”.

3. Braveheart - How great is it when a movie combines a love story with hardcore action/fighting. It instantly becomes the best date movie, both guys and girls win. OK, maybe this one is a little bloodier then most prefer, but the story is amazing. I would be a liar if I said I don’t tear up each time they kill William Wallace as he watches his wife walking towards him… (Excuse me, I will be back in a minute, I got something in my eye).

2. Saving Private Ryan - Remember what I said about the most difficult part of a top ten list is numbers 1 and 10? Yeah, no exception for the top of this list, because both these next two movies are absolutely incredible and could be exchanged. Honestly, I don’t know what to say about this movie, it has action, but also transitions well into deeper and more profound themes. One of my favorite parts of this movie is when all the soldiers are kinda losing it and Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) breaks them up by telling them his life story, I can’t place my finger on it, but that part sticks with me the most.

1. Shawshank Redemption - I absolutely love this movie and have probably watched it no less than 10 times, which is saying something since it’s like 3 hours long (ok, maybe it’s 2 and a half). It’s timeless, I could literally watch it most nights that I want to sit down and watch a movie. I love the deeper topics of this movie of; redemption, hope, friendship, and becoming institutionalized (which I think can be applied to life outside of jail as well). This is an all around great movie. Love it.

Honorable Mentions: Pulp Fiction, Dumb and Dumber, Fargo, Silence of the Lambs, Reservoir Dogs, Terminator 2, Good Will Hunting, The Fugitive, American History X, 12 Monkeys.

Even looking over this list I wonder if I got it right. With tons of really good movies, I’m glad that my teen years belong to the 90’s. If I were to re-do this list I would maybe exchange “The Fugitive” for Apollo 13. What are your thoughts on the 90’s movie scene?

Enjoy this day,
Matt

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Top Ten Worst Kids’ Movies

Hey there, how are you doing today? I’m constantly looking for useful information to post to our blog and today that quest has brought me to posting “Top Ten Worst Kids Movies”. To read the “Top Ten Best Kids Movies” click here. Now it’s a little difficult to put this list together, for example, I put Barney on here, because it makes me want to punch myself in the face each time it’s on, but my kids love it. For that reason I will try and explain why each movie makes this list, hope you enjoy. In no particular order, here they go:

Antz - I can tell you right away why I don’t like this one, it’s a terrible movie. It also has lots of swearing which if it influences your kids, can make trips to Target interesting. Oh, no, I think your mistaken my child would never say (fill in the blank). In the end it’s a cheap version of the mush superior “A Bug’s Life”

The Wild - Poor, poor movie. It’s not interesting and the lines are totally unimaginative. Pass on this one at all costs.

Happy Feet - Weird movie. There, I said it. I didn’t enjoy the fact that it’s like a million years long as well. It has music (which is always a winner with kids), but seriously fails to produce an interesting plot.

Barney - Again, reasons for making this list are varied. Barney makes it, because hearing Barney sing makes me look in the mirror and say “Could I get away with killing Barney?” But it’s not about me, it’s about the kids and kids love Barney and Barney does teach good things.

Barbie - Seriously, there are a million Barbie movies out there, some of them are good, and some of them are terrible. Most of the time Barbie movies are total rip-offs of other much better movies, stay clear.

The Road to El Dorado - Weird movie, not interesting and has themes that seem a bit much for kids. Whatever. Just my opinion.

Shrek 3 - I love Shrek 1 and like Shrek 2, but this one is boring and weird. It’s Hollywood trying to capitalize on a movie franchise and ends up just being a watered down kids movie.

Scooby Doo - Remember, many reasons can land a movie on this list. My wife and I don’t like our kids watching scary movies and for this reason, Scooby Doo is no good. Who wants their kids waking up in the middle of the night with nightmares?

SpongeBob Squarepants- HAHAHA, ok, truth be told, I like SpongeBob and think he’s hilarious. But it’s not about me, it’s about the children (OK sometimes it’s about me, like when I try and talk my kids into watching “Kung Fu Panda” for the millionth time… man, I love me some “Kung Fu Panda”). My wife (and I’ve heard others) oppose SpongeBob based on the fact that some of the jokes/content is more designed for adults. And some people just don’t get SpongeBob, so I guess I should put him on here. Sorry SpongeBob, it’s nothing personal.

The Polar Express - My wife gave me a hard time about adding this one, but she can write her own list if she likes. This movie was Santa worship and I just don’t get into that, nor do I want my kids too. Anyways, that’s the main reason I don’t like it. Also, the movie goes from crisis to crisis in a way that annoys me, sorry.

This was a fun list to make. I hope that it helps you in choosing (Or not choosing) your next family movie.

Enjoy this day,
Matt

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Law Abiding Citizen Movie Review

(In sharing my opinion of this movie I will reveal things about it. If you’re not interested in having the movie spoiled, don’t read this)

I really didn’t enjoy this movie. There I said it. I don’t mind violence that much, but this movie had some super graphic and gory scenes in it. If you’re not into gore you will not enjoy this movie. Another problem I had with it was that I really couldn’t “buy into” any of the characters. I spent half the movie trying to figure out who was good and who I should root for and even at the end I was left confused as to who was the good guy. That might not seem that important, but the movie’s theme is good vs. evil, which was ironic sense it didn’t do a good job of identifying who was good.

If the movie had come out and been a more traditional film of revenge I might have enjoyed it more. The fact that the guy who loses his wife and daughter also turns crazy and is pure hatred really sucked. Again, maybe the plot would have been more predictable, but I was left wanting the Dad who lost everything to be vindicated and/or restored. Like I said, he turned out to be a huge creep and destroyed himself, which sucked.

I did like the fact that the movie had a suspense angle and also had some aspects to it that made you try and figure it out on your own. In the end though, it wasn’t enough of a pull for me to say that I enjoyed the movie. It’s too bad too because I like Jamie Foxx (I love the movie Collateral), but I will only remember this movie for how much I disliked it. Better luck next time.

Enjoy this day,
Matt

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Top Ten Best Kids Movies

(I've since updated this list here.)

As a parent you get used to watching kids movies. In fact, sometimes to the point where you can quote you’re kids’ favorite movies line for line (ok maybe not that much). And you dread the times you ask your kids “What do you want to watch?” because in that moment you could be stuck watching Barney, but… on some wonderful occasions you get to hear your child ask to watch one of these movies. Here are my top ten favorite kids movies:

10. Ice Age 1 and 2 - I didn’t include 3 because I didn’t enjoy it as much. But the first two are super entertaining and provide many laughs. The scene where Sid and co. fight off the Dodo birds for the last watermelon is classic.

9. Horton Hears A Who - This one makes it because it’s funny, I mean common on, Jim Carrey and Steve Carell. Can you go wrong with that line up? I especially enjoy the line “In my world, everyone’s a pony, and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies.”

8. Madagascar 1 and 2 - Yeah, these movies are both really funny and enjoyable to watch. Great soundtrack with Madagascar 2 “I like’em big, I like’em chunky”

7. Cars - I love Owen Wilson which makes this an easy choice. Very creative movie that I still find enjoyable even after watching it close to 19,000 times (ok not that much).

6. Bug’s Life - To be honest I’m surprised to have this movie so high, but it has too many scenes in it that really make me laugh as well as some good message moments. Funniest moment of the movie is when the class of ants put on a play for the “warrior” bugs where everyone dies and then show them the mural they painted… I still laugh every time I watch that scene.

5. Wall-E - This is on here because Wall-E is a flat out loveable guy. Also, really creative movie and good message about something called “the environment” whatever that is…

4. Monsters Inc - This was a movie I never saw until I became a parent, but I love it. It’s really funny and is also really creative. When Sulley asks Mike Wazowski to make Boo laugh and he jumps in the air and lands in a… “painful” way, only to discover Boo wasn’t watching… makes me smile every time.

3. Shrek 1 and 2 - Some would argue these aren’t quite kids movies and maybe they’re right. Either way they’re really funny and I enjoy the fact that I can watch this with my kid and get some good laughs. I left 3 off because I didn’t dig it as much.

2. Toy Story 1 and 2 - This was a tough call putting this one in 2nd, but it was close. Pixar has a lot of the movies on this list, but these are the best. Tons of memorable lines like "I'm packing your angry eyes, just in case."

1. Kung Fu Panda - Wow! I really love Kung Fu Panda. So much so, that I will try and get my kids to choose this one most times when I ask them what they want to watch. My favorite moment is when Shi Fu asks Po to show him his Karate skills when he first arrives and Po tells him he can punch the punching bag thingy, to which Shi Fu responds “We use that to train kids and to prop the door open when it’s hot”. Favorite line “I love Kung Fuuuuuuu!” (Only because Sydney (my daughter) and I will mimic Po when screams this)

Honorable Mentions - Mulan, Up, Monsters vs. Aliens, Meet the Robinsons, and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

(I've since updated this list here.)

What's your top ten?

Enjoy this day,
Matt

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