michael jackson’s this is it.

say what you will about michael jackson, and yes, brother did have his issues, but he could sing and dance his ass off.  the man was born to be on stage.

i’m not the biggest mj fan in the world, in fact at times i’ve been highly critical of the man and his antics.  but ya know what?  he’s gone and we are left with all the good things he has done and maybe that won’t wipe away all the crazy stuff we witnessed, but for me.  who cares.  thriller freaking rocks!

i got mj songs stuck in my head i had forgotten where mj songs.

michael jackson looks happy during the rehearsals for that big concert that never happened.  whenever you used to see him on tv or in an interview or anything else, he just looks so uncomfortable.  like he’s not really sure how he is expected to act.  but on stage, he knew how to act.  he looks happy.  looks like he belongs.  and it’s awesome.

if you like michael jackson or not, go see this thing.  it’s only got a few days left at the theater but you’d be sorry to miss it.  they were preparing to put on maybe the greatest spectacle of a concert the likes of such have never been seen.  and these are just rehearsals that are captured here, but the energy, the light, the sound is incredible.

they are not piping music in.  the band is live.  right there on stage with michael.  there ain’t no lip synching at a michael jackson show.  not even during rehearsals.  it’s awesome.  go see it.

best concert movie ever.

where the wild things are.

little boy kinda reminded myself of myself.  maybe i wasn’t that wild though.  little dude is out of control.

i really like how it limits dialog, especially in the beginning, and allows the scenery to tell the story.  which is fitting seeing as how the book from which this film is derived is more or less a picture book anyway.

it plays out really kinda sad though.  and i think that’s what keeps it from being a really great movie.  it’s just so sad.  i mean, sure, in the end it’s happy, but not like a happily ever after kinda deal.  because life is not happily ever after.  and i think that’s what this film is trying to tell us.

it’s the plight of a particularly imaginative little boy who’s kinda stuck inside his own head.  his big sister and her friends are mean to him, his parents are divorced and his mother isn’t paying him the attention he thinks he needs.  some very real, adult emotions that children are exposed to in real life everyday.

max escapes into the world where the wild things are.  and i hope i’m not spilling too many of the beans, but unless i’m wildly mistaken, the creatures are all different parts of his little fragile psyche.  and as he learns to interact with them, he learns how to act in his real life.  i found this film to be quite insightful.  that’s why it’s maybe not for little kids.  there’s not really enough action early on to grab a little one.  like kids around 8 and older i think would like this one more.

the whole thing just seemed a little sad to me.  and i guess growing up can be a little sad at times.  and maybe that’s the message.  i don’t know.  maybe i’m looking too hard for a message.  i could relate really well with this little fellas emotions that i’m sure there was a message in there somewhere.  but i suppose that’s for you to figure out for yourselves.

it takes some strange turns here and there, but you are trapped inside a wild little boy’s psyche.

go see it.  but i’m not so sure i’ll be purchasing the dvd.

ponyo.

the little mermaid in japanimation. it is pretty cool though.

better than i thought it would be. of course i try to go into things with low expectations. but this film surprised me. i was entertained though out.

there are some high profile actors doing voice overs to help american audiences get into it. names like matt damon, liam neeson, betty white, tina fey, cate blanchett and lily tomlin to name a few.

it’s a really cute story and the animation is interesting. take the kids to see it.

3 1/2 magic jellyfish out of five.

julie and julia.

this movie is quite enjoyable.  i can’t remember a movie i’ve seen in a crowd that has garnered such a positive response.  it is an absolute feel good movie.  also maybe somewhat of a chick flick, but i really enjoyed it.  and will see it again if i can coerce a lil hottie to go with me.

the tag line is “based on two true stories”.  it parallels a book by the chick that’s played by amy adams, who i am totally in love with, and julia child’s book about her time in france.  julia child is played to a tee by meryl streep.  stanley tucci plays paul child, julia’s husband and i’m not sure if he’s ever been better.

i really don’t want to say much about it other than go see it.  we had two special screenings of this film before it was released and they both sold out.  it came out up against G. I. Joe, and actually beats it in attendance during the matinee hours.  when all the morons get off work and come out, G. I. Joe nudges ahead.  G. I. Joe is a movie made for morons.  i refuse to even review it.  needless to say that’s two and a half hours of my life i could have been clipping my toe nails…

but back to julie and julia.  not only is a delightfully entertaining film, i learned a few things about cooking.  number one, you can never use too much butter.  and number two, don’t crowd the mushrooms.  i’ve been cooking mushrooms wrong my whole life.

there are several movies out this week including the time traveler’s wife, which i have not seen.  but i would recommend seeing julie and julia this weekend if you are looking for a date movie.  the time traveler’s wife might be crowded being the new film out this week.  and i find it hard to imagine it’ll be as delightful as julie and julia.  that might change once i’ve seen it though.  i hearsay the book is wonderful.

i give julie and julia four sauteed portabellas out of five.

those harry potter kids are crazy.

i just thought they would have shown up a little earlier.  they didn’t really start getting to the theater for their midnight shows until around ten.  sure, we had a few kids there around 4, but i would have thought there would be more.

don’t get me wrong.  plenty of them showed up last night.  about 2000 of them.  we sold out nine midnight shows.  nine.  if we could have played it on every screen in the theater i think we could have sold them all out.  or been close.  i’ve never seen the theater like that.  it was nuts.

there were all kinds of hogwart’s costumes.  probably a hundred kids with lightening bolts painted on their forehead.  we had entire quidditch teams.  there were about 12 or so kids all decked out like they were going to an ncaa college football game with their faces painted the different colors of their favorite quidditch team.  quidditch jersey’s, wands, robes.  these kids are crazy.

but it was also a crazy good time.  i got stuck working the podium, you know, where they tear your tickets and tell you what theater to go to.  that was actually fun for me.  i like talking  to people and giving them a hard time even better.  so when i had a big group of little girls in their hogwart’s outfits, or their “i’m sleazy for ron weasley” t-shirts, i’d tell them we had a problem and had to cancel their movie.  their reactions were priceless.

that’s just a lot of fun for me.

the whole thing really was an awesome time.  people that came for other late movies, and there were a few.  it was 5 dollar tuesday after all.  they all made comments about the harry potter kids.  i think they were just jealous they didn’t have anything halfway cool to do that night.  the harry potter kids had a freaking blast.  and i did too.

i’ve not been at the theater long, but that was far and away the biggest midnight premier of any movie with which i’ve been involved.

i did miss a golden opportunity to be lay down one of my best lines ever on one of the straight up smokin’est girl i’ve seen walk though that theater door.  there was a special screening of harry potter at 6:30 sponsored by some financial firm and this young woman was one of their 488 guest.  i spotted her in her sleek, black dress trimmed with just a little silver sequiny sash standing with an older woman.  i took the leisure to approach the two women and introduce myself.

i asked them if they were excited about seeing harry potter and the older woman said her granddaughter was, indicating this fine fox of a woman standing next to her, but that she was not really too keen on the whole harry potter thing.

i commented that in no way was this woman old enough to have a granddaughter as old as this young woman.  i actually missed a chance to get an age out of the younger woman.  i could have said something witty like, wow, you look very mature for a two year old if this young lady here is your grandma.  but it’s whatever.  i have made a good impression.  the young lady’s name is amber.

i told them i had screened the film last night and it is without a doubt the most visually stunning of all the harry potter films and that i thought they would have a good time.

and i thought all about this foxy little amber who was at least as tall as me with her heels and very slender.  and i should have prepared myself as soon as i thought about it.

but i failed to do so.

i saw her again after the movie.  i saw her through the crowded throng of people exiting the theater.  then i thought i saw her and her granny exit out the side door and i was sad i didn’t get a chance to say hello again.

but then it happened.  my golden opportunity.  she walked right in front of me.  i said hey amber, how was the movie?  she said she liked it and all that and i said good and all that.  then she left.

here’s the line i should have dropped.

“hi amber.  this is really unprofessional and i really have never done this before, but you are the most visually stunning creature i have ever seen walk through those doors and i would regret it the rest of my life if i didn’t do this.  here is my card with my number on it.  you’ll notice on the back it’s good for one free coffee.  so if you ever need a good cup of coffee i would consider it an honor if you’d take me up on it.”

but i failed.  i won’t next time.  i’m printing up cards with now.

up.

i tend to like my funny animated pictures to be a bit less heart wrenching.  this thing gets kinda serious pretty fast.  i actually paid for this movie and went to see it during the day with a theater full of kids.  which i usually like to avoid but it’s nice sometimes to get the crowd reaction to certain things.  and pixar is the master of animated kid films. 

every good screen writer knows that at about ten minutes in you need something profound to happen.  something that propels the rest of the film.  in action films it’s a huge explosion.  in this film, it’s the old man’s wife dying.  and that’s not a spoiler because you already knew this film was about a cranky old man and talkative little boy.  but at this scene not quite ten minutes in, i teared up a bit.  and every little whipper snapper in the theater went deathly quiet.

that’s a good trick.  getting at least forty little snot noses to shut up all at the same time.

it is a pixar animated film, and the animation is fantastic like it always is.  i saw it in 3D and that technology is pretty amazing.  but i don’t imagine you’ll lose anything if you watch the non 3D version.  and it is a kids movie so they’ve got lots of kid oriented things but like al pixar films, it carries some pretty heavy meaning for the older ones in the crowd.  and it really pulled at the heart strings of this middle aged, single, no child having man.  and when you watch the movie you’ll know what i’m talking about.

but the kids will enjoy it.  the little chubby boy is funny.  the first talking dog, doug, is funny.  the rest of the talking dogs are not so much.  and the villian in this one i think is slightly underdeveloped.  but most villains in kids movies are.  they are just bad and that’s good enough.

i’ve not seen take me to hell yet, but i’d venture to say this is the best film out this week.  star trek still best movie of the summer.  and i can’t say this is my favorite pixar film.  i think it is by far the most profound.  it’s the best human interest peice i think they’ve done.  meaning, i think it looks at the human condition more closely and with more direct intent than any of their previous films.  not as knee slapping funny as some of the others.  but still a great, great film.

four and a half helium filled ballons out of five.  go see it.

night at the museum: battle of the smithsonian

is pretty damn funny.  this is definatly the family movie event of the summer so far.  i found myself chuckling out loud several times.  and i’m not really that much of a ben stiller fan.  i remember thinking after the first film that adam sandler would have been better cast.  but this time around ben stiller does a pretty good job.

ben stiller’s character is no longer working at the museum as his daley devices company takes off and he’s now a successful businessman on the verge of a huge deal with wal-mart.  he still visits his friends at the museum but his visits become less and less frequent.  so infrequent in fact that as the movie opens he finds that the museum is losing the majority of it’s exhibits to federal storage.  everyone is going to be locked away under the smithsonian in washinton D.C.

only a few buddies like teddy roosevelt and ahkmenrah are staying.  ahkmenrah you may remember is the owner of the magic egyptian tablet that makes everyone come to life.  so poor jebediah and the boys will be stuck as plastic, lifeless historical representations for ever.  no more coming to life after dark.

but thankfully the mischevious little monkey steals the tablet before he’s boxed up and shipped to the smithsonian.  so as you might imagine hilarity ensues once the magic tablet brings to life the achives of the smithsonian.  kahmenrah, ahmenrah’s evil older brother, is stored there and comes to life and takes the tablet with the purpose of bringing his army of undead into this world and conquering it.  hank azaria is awsome in this part.  as  he is in various other parts.

anyway, the tiny cowboy jebediah played by owen wilson calls up larry (stiller) when they all get trapped by the evil egyptian and drops everything to infiltrate the smithsonian to rescue his friends.

the main part of the story is kahmenrah capturing jebediah and forcing larry to decipher the combination on the tablet allowing him to open his gateway to the world of the undead.  amy adams delightfully portrays the adventure seeking amelia earhart who awakened from a lifetime of sleep wants just what all girls want.  to have fun.  she is just so bouncy as she helps larry accomplish his task.

there are so many funny parts i don’t really want to get into any of them.  don’t wanna spoil the jokes.  this film is greatly entertaining.  you may not roll out of your seat with laughter at any point in the film, but i bet your little ones will.  

i give this film four bobblehead einsteins out of five.  if you are looking for something to take the kids to see this weekend.  this is it.  but if you havn’t caught star trek yet, skip work and go see it this week on whatever day your local theater has discount day.