Digital Chumps

When the world gets you down it can keep you down. The question is, what does it take to smile again?

The Princess and The Frog, in my book, gracefully takes its place among the classic Disney fairytales. It truly is among the best Ive ever seen. I absolutely could not be more pleased with this animation. It is positively charming. I continue to fall more in love with it every time I watched it.

AMC's original hit series, Breaking Bad, is about to start it's third season. To help launch the event, the DVD and Blu-ray release of season two is out tomorrow. Easily one of the most intense and dramatic shows I've seen, Breaking Bad's second season plays out a bit like The Empire Strikes Back. We're familiar with the cast, the main point of the story, and things generally went well in the first season for Walt and Jesse. Now, in season two, their worlds come crashing down as relationships crack and crumble under the weight of the numerous lies and violence.

The premise: A divorcing couple accidentally finds themselves in witness protection after watching a murder in progress. The couple hates each other, but are forced to live with each other in the wild country of Wyoming; they are from New York City.

City Slickers meets Goodfellas meets War of the Roses.

The Saints are back, and so is the rope!

Miyazaki makes some really magical movies. Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro were subtle films that captured some spectacular imaginary characters and very human moments.

Castle in the Sky is a different formula, though.

Disney and Studio Ghibli brought together some great stories from Japan. One of the more popular stories was about a witch named Kiki in Kiki's Delivery Service.

Childhood was never so much fun on DVD.

The history of the Warner Brothers is both interesting, reliant and tragic. Cass Warner, granddaughter of Harry Warner, put together a definitive documentary on the birth of the brothers, the birth of an empire and the tragic tales that go with it.

The Damned United looks at British footballer Brian Clough’s 44 days as manager of the Leeds United football club.  So, yes, it’s about soccer, that sport the rest of the world is obsessed with (particularly in this, a World Cup year).  But, this is a soccer movie with very little actual soccer in it.  It’s much more about a proud, arrogant man who provides his own undoing.

I have a bad feeling about this.

It's a spoof to be certain, but of what?  War films?  The ails of the movie industry?  Or both?

Hard action meets stoner comedy. That is how my friend described “Pineapple Express” as we were walking out of the theater, and he could not have put it more perfectly.

Seth Rogen plays Dale Denton, a process server on the run from a drug lord and the police after witnessing a murder. James Franco plays Saul Silver, Dale’s weed dealer, who also has to run because he is the only one who sells the type of marijuana Dale left at the crime scene. What is so great about this pairing is that Seth Rogen actually plays (I use this term pretty loosely, though) the straight man. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still very funny, but James Franco completely steals the show. Both main characters are high throughout the whole movie, which makes for most of it being very repeatable one-liners.

One of the best things about this movie is the action. Most people would not expect good fight scenes from a movie this hilarious, but I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of them. The action was both funny and brutal, kind of like “First Blood” meets “Half Baked.”

I’ll leave you with the fact that I am basically a hermit and do not ever go to a movie theater unless I’m reviewing a film. I usually wait for things to come out on DVD, but I will probably go see this at least one more time in the theater because I can’t wait that long to memorize some more lines. That is how good this movie is!

Ann Brashares’ book series returns to the big screen in a romantic comedy about four girls carving their individual paths through their college years. Carmen, Bridget, Tibby, and Lena have been friends since childhood, and ever since finding a curious pair of jeans that just happened to fit all of them, they’ve been kept united by their pact—to wear them through their everyday activities, and then to ship them off to the next person in the rotation along with a note describing what benefit they brought them while worn.

First off, I have to say that this is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen! I literally laughed from beginning to end of this film!

Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly star as Brennan Huff and Dale Doback, two 40-year-old men brought together by the marriage of Brennan’s mom and Dale’s dad. Since both still live at home (and act like 10-year-olds), they do not adapt well to their new living arrangements. Forced to share a room, they immediately begin pulling pranks and trying to make the other’s life as miserable as possible.

When Dale meets Brennan’s obnoxiously smug brother, Derek, they find a common enemy to rally against and become best friends, doing everything together from going on job interviews to planning their own production company. After certain events cause them to grow up and act like adults, the movie ends in a blaze of operatic glory. Make sure to stay a while after the credits start to see the epic battle scene!

Reilly and Ferrell, as well as the supporting cast, have amazing comedic energy and timing, which leaves no room for dull moments or lulls in laughter. So many of the scenes are wrong in all the right ways, even when completely grossing the audience out. I guarantee that this will become one of the most quoted movies of the year, as everyone leaving the theater was already repeating the lines they found funniest. And that is the mark of a truly great comedy.