Inception

Let me start off by saying that Inception is a solid 10.

About a year ago when Inception was first announced I was uber excited. Very few others shared my enthusiasm for the movie, but now I think many of those people have changed their tune. The movie's high praise is well-deserved.

The problem I typically see in movies is pacing. This movie had none of those problems. Information was revealed with perfect timing and execution and the amount of information revealed at any given moment was not overkill. In short, the movie allowed for the viewer to figure things out for themselves without getting frustrated that they can't.

Casting was great, specifically Ellen Page and Joshua Gordon-Levitt.

My one and only complaint is two-fold: the casting of Michael Caine as the grandfather and the flatness of that character. He wasn't terrible or anything. I just think that an actor of his caliber deserves more than five minutes of flat acting. He simply served as a distraction. Also, though the grandfather is hardly in the movie, his responses seemed automated, lacking depth and character, and overall did not fit with the rest of the film.

Inception is a must see. I will definitely be buying it when it is released.

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 was my second 10 for the year so far. It brought back all my childhood memories, was true to the character of the toys from the first two movies, and created a story so dramatic and engaging that I think it might even be better than the first one.

Every scene was hilarious and the way things fell in to place was perfect. Even though Andy is all grown up, he is still a lovable character.

I must admit, I got a little teary at the end but you will just have to see it for yourself to know why.

I would recommend this movie to anyone. This is the first year I have ever given a 10 to a cartoon movie.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

I was actually pleasantly impressed with this movie. I was expecting it to be good, and it didn't let me down. It was definitely the best one so far.

I have officially decided that Kristin Stewart is a babe and the best possible Bella choice. She was perfect in this movie.

Even though I hate Robert Pattinson he actually had some decent moments in this movie.

Taylor Lautner was also good.

I have two favorite scenes from the movie. The first is when Edward and Victoria confront each other. All the players in this scene did fantastic including Seth, Riley, and Bella. The other scene is the tent scene with Jacob and Edward while Bella is sleeping. My only criticism of that scene is that I think it was too long and Edward should not have smiled. I liked that they bonded a little because that is my favorite part of book 4 but I think it was too buddy buddy too fast.

Jane was still perfect but unfortunately they ruined Alec. I always saw him more as a neutral kid who just did what Jane told him but wasn't evil. Eh, oh well. The new Victoria was okay I suppose.

Seth was perfect, I really hope they don't ruin him in the next movie. I didn't like the look of Leah but she acted her character well.

Excited for the next one, I will definitely watch this movie again.

Avatar: The Last Airbender Movie Review

For those of you who don’t want to read the entire review, it was beyond an epic fail. Terrible movie.

Transfer from tv show to movie:
Obviously trying to stuff 10 hours of content into a not even 2 hour movie has its struggles. I expected them to change some storyline in order to make that transfer. The only problem is that the dialogue was so terrible and choppy and the transitions were abrupt and rough. It jumped around too much and too fast. It would have been pretty difficult for a non-fan to follow I think.

Dialogue:
No character is exempt from the terrible dialogue in this show. I understand that they had to speed through the story, but much of the dialogue from the show could have been salvaged and used in the movie in many scenes.

Character Development:
None of the characters were developed enough and some barely at all. Zuko and Iroh probably had the most development in the movie. Sokka, of the main characters, probably had the least.

Bending:
The bending was not very quick. In the time it took Aang to airbend or Zuko to firebend I could have run up and punched them in the face. The bending looked okay except for the airbending, which I felt was very plain and not impressive.

Anti-climaxes:
I’m not sure there was really even a climax in the movie but there were definitely several anti-climactic moments. The largest one that I can think of right now is when Aang bends the ocean around the North Pole to scare off the Fire Nation ships. He doesn’t throw the water at them though, they just turn around and he lets the water go.

The Firelord and his family:
The Firelord should not have had a presence in the movie because he wasn’t really in the first season. He did not come across as an ultimate scary bad guy, just another soldier. Luckily M. Night only had about five minutes to ruin Azula so I can’t really be mad about that yet, but I don’t like the casting. Zuko was fine most of the time but I think the scar should have been more extensive. Iroh should have been fat. That wasn’t such a big deal but I missed it. He was really channeling the Iroh characters in a few scenes but most of the time he didn’t really seem like he was playing the fatherly, knowledgeable, badass Iroh we all know and love.

Mispronunciation:
The thing that pissed me off more than anything was the mispronunciation, especially because the tv show lays out a template for pronunciation. My only conclusion is that M. Night purposely wanted the actors to mispronounce the word Avatar, Sokka, and Aang.

Katara and Aang:
I hated the casting of Katara from the trailers but having seen the movie, she was one of the best. I was more pleased with her more than any other character. The same thing happened with Aang. I hated him before the movie but now I think he did a great job.

This movie was so bad that I have decided to put it on my list of movies I never want to see again. Now I have four: Transformers 2, Eragon, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Johnny Depp version), and Avatar: The Last Airbender.