Taking a Break

Hi guys recently I have been really wrapped up in the holidays so I decided to take a little break from blogging. I will be taking a break for the rest of December. But don't worry I will be back in early January. So until then, Happy Holidays and see you in the new year.

The Nightmare Before Christmas

Happy Halloween. Oh, wait that was two months ago. Oh, wait I used this joke in my review of Gremlins. Regardless Christmas is getting closer so I decided to go away from Christmas and back into Halloween. That's right I am reviewing The Nightmare Before Christmas. So I hope you're in the holiday spirit because it's time to review The Nightmare Before Christmas.

We start on Halloween where all the monsters are celebrating. The head of the celebration is lead by the king of Halloween, Jack Skellington (Chris Sarandon). But after the festivities are over Jack realizes how tired of Halloween he is and goes for a walk through the cemetery and then into the woods. The next day the Mayor of Halloween Town (Glenn Shadix) goes to Jack's house to plan next years Halloween, but he soon realizes that Jack is missing and this puts the whole town in a panic. Meanwhile Jack finds a bunch of mysterious doors in the woods with different symbols on them like a turkey, an Easter Egg, and a four leafed clover. Jack is curious and he goes through a door shaped like a Christmas tree and he ends up in another world. Jack is blown away by how happy and festive it is there and he finds out that he is in Christmas Town. Jack comes back to Halloween Town with the good news and he tells the entire town about Christmas and all the monsters decide they want celebrate Christmas.

Jack is having trouble figuring out how to celebrate Christmas if the people in Christmas Town already do. He also wants to try and figure out the scientific meaning of Christmas before he can celebrate it. So he borrows some equipment from a mad scientist named Dr. Finkelstein (William Hickey). While talking to Dr. Finkelstein about his experiments the doctor's zombie housekeeper Sally (Catherine O'Hara) overhears them talking and that night sneaks out to help Jack. She gives Jack a potion to help with the research. But on the way back to the lab Sally has a premonition about Christmas and it says that it will end in a disaster. Meanwhile Jack finally decides what to do about Christmas. All the monsters start to prepare and Jack gets three kids named Lock (Paul Reubens), Shock (also Catherine O'Hara), and Barrel (Danny Elfman) to kidnap Santa so that Jack can take his place. The first time they mess up and end up kidnapping the Easter Bunny. The second time they get it right and they decide to give Santa to the Boogie Man (Ken Page). Meanwhile Jack is getting ready to leave and give presents to all the children of the world.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

Jack gives toys to all the children of the world. The only problem is that all the toys are evil and want to destroy everything. The army decides to stop Jack and they fire a missile at Jack which causes him to crash. Jack realizes that he needs to set things right so he decides to go back to Halloween Town. Meanwhile Sally tries to free Santa from the Boogie Man but she ends up getting captured. Jack comes in just at the right time and frees Santa and Sally and defeats the Boogie Man. Santa goes to save Christmas and Jacks agrees to stick to his own holiday. The End.

***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***

I love The Nightmare Beofore Christmas. The animation is very good and detailed and the character design gives to the style of the movie. The songs are amazing and you'll be singing them for about a week. Jack is a very fun character to follow throughout the movie and it is a great movie for Christmas or Halloween. For once I actually have nothing bad to say about a movie. So yeah The Nightmare Before Christmas is definitely worth a rent this holiday season. See you next time.

The Polar Express

Well Christmas time has come around and what better way to start it than with The Polar Express. The movie is based on the book of the same name by Chris Van Allsburg. Little note about the movie it isn't computer animation it's motion capture which means it was acted out by real actors and then they were animated over. One more note about the movie almost all of the characters are not given names so I made up my own names. So get you tickets ready because it's time for my review of The Polar Express.

We meet a boy named Hugo (Tom Hanks) who has decided to stop believing in Santa even though a lot of other kids still do. He is trying to sleep when he hears a noise outside he goes outside where he sees a train that appeared out of thin air. The trains conductor Jerry (also Tom Hanks) invites Hugo to come with him to the north pole to see Santa. Hugo says no but changes his mind at the last second and gets on the train. There are other kids on the train like a girl named Jessica (Nona Gaye) and a know it all kid named Ned (Eddie Deezen). Before they go to the north pole they go to one more house that belongs to a boy named Billy (Hayden McFarland) (side note this is one of the characters with a name) Billy says he doesn't want to go but he too changes his mind but he trips and falls. Hugo uses the emergency break to stop the train and Victor gets on and goes to the very back of the train. Jerry then punches all the kids tickets and gets some waiters to serve hot chocolate. For some reason the waiters and Jerry sing a musical number. Listen you're all very good at dancing and serving hot chocolate but your song doesn't serve much of a purpose so I'm just going to fast forward this part. So after that Jessica realizes that Billy didn't get any hot chocolate so Jerry and Jessica go to give it to him.




 Hugo realizes that Jerry forgot to punch Jessica's ticket so Hugo goes to give it to her. But when crossing cars Hugo accidentally lets it go. This causes Jerry to take Jessica away. Ned thinks Jerry is going to toss Jessica off the train so Hugo runs after them he climbs on to the roof of the train. On top of the train Hugo meats a hobo named Frank (also Tom Hanks) who helps out hugo by helping him get to the front of the train. It turns out that Jessica is just taking over for the engineers Rusty and Dusty (both Michael Jeter). They have to stop the train because there are some caribou blocking the tracks. They manage to get the caribou out of the way but they are approaching a section of tracks that was frozen over and to make things worse the brakes break and they are gaining speed quickly. They make it through the icy patch and fix the brakes and Hugo gives Jessica her ticket. They go to the back of the train to see Billy and we have another musical number. Not much of a point to this song so I will skip this one too. They make it to the north pole and everyone is excited to see Santa.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED**

They make it to the north pole and are getting in line to see santa but Hugo, Jessica, and Billy get separated from the rest of the group. They end up in the inner workings of Santa's present factory. They climb through some conveyor belts and end up in Santa's sack of presents. The sack is lifted onto the Santa's sleigh and the kids get out safely. Santa (also Tom Hanks) comes out and everyone loves him and Santa must choose who to give the first gift of christmas to. He chooses Hugo and for a gift Hugo takes one of the bells from Santa's sleigh. Hugo returns home and he has the best christmas ever and Hugo still believes in the Santa even to this day. The End.

***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***

The perfect word to describe The Polar Express is "Trying". It is trying to become a christmas classic but it is trying too hard. The overly whimsical soundtrack and pointless songs seem to show just how they tried too hard. The animation is a really freaky and the songs just aren't that good. But it has a nice message and I can sort of see why people like it. So I guess that I could semi recommend this for you depending on what your taste in movies is. See you next time.

The Last Starfighter

Well I guess I will review this because hey it's the 80's and it's sci-fi and I like movies like E.T. and D.A.R.Y.L. so I guess this one should be good. I hope you know how to fly because it's time to review The Last Starfighter.












We start in a trailer park where a boy named Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) lives with is little brother Louis (Chris Hebert) and his mother Jane (Barbara Bosson). He spends most of his time helping out his neighbors instead of doing what he wants like going to the lake with his friend Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) and her friends. When he isn't helping his neighbors, he plays an arcade cabinet with a game called The Last Starfighter on it. The game is about defending another galaxy from an evil army. One night Alex is playing The Last Starfigher when someone realizes that Alex might break the high score on the game. So this causes nearly all the people who live there to go and cheer Alex on.....was there really nothing else going on that day? Alex beats the high score and goes to tell his mom who tells him that she got him a loan so that Alex can go to college. Alex goes outside to think about this when a strange man driving the DeLorean from Back to the Future talks to Alex and says that he is the creator of the game and that he wants Alex to come with him.The man introduces himself as Centuari (Robert Preston) and he also reveals that HE IS NOT HUMAN. He is an alien from another planet and his car is a spaceship. Centuari takes Alex to a space station where he tells Alex that since he beat the game he passed the test and he is being recruited as a Starfighter.



Alex talks to a lizard alien named Grig (Dan O'Herihy) who says that Centuari recruited him without permission. Before Alex has a chance to respond someone hacks into the system and sends a message to the Starfighters. The person is Xur an evil overlord who wants to take over the universe. Xur says that there is no hope in defeating him and that he will destroy them all. This scares Alex away and Centuari takes him home. But it looks like Alex left just in time because meanwhile Xur and his friend Lord Kril (Dan Mason) are planning to attack the starfighter base. Now there is a bit of a problem with the movie I would like to bring up here. Xur is not a good villian: he sort of comes off as very whiny and even a bit annoying. Anyway, Xur and Kril kill all The Starfighters. Alex returns home and Centuari gives him a gadget that he can use in case he changes his mind about becoming a Starfighter. Alex finds out that while he was in space a robot named Beta (also Lance Guest) took his place. Alex also finds out that a bunch of alien assassins are after him which means that Xur thinks he is on earth. So Alex calls Centauri and they decide to go back to space where Alex will face Xur. They make it there where it turns out that Centuari was injured and he dies. Bur Grig says that they must move fast so they get in a new prototype ship and plan to take on Xur and Lord Kril.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

They need to make it through the troops of space soldiers and to the turrets to lower their defences. They come up with the idea of hiding in a hollow asteroid and when most of the soldiers pass by, they will jump out at them. Meanwhile back on earth Beta is revealed to be a fake Alex by one of the Assassins and they go to report it to Xur and Kril. But Beta stops him and all Xur and Kril get is "The last Starfighter...." which Xur assumes meant "The last Starfighter is dead". But he isn't dead and Alex ends up using the mega death ray (that's not what it's called but it's basically what it is) to defeat most of the troops. Kril is angry at Xur for assuming Alex is dead and has Xur locked up. Alex and Grig use the weapons to knock out the engine of the enemy ship which locks Kril's ship into the gravity field of a nearby moon which causes them to crash. Alex is declared a hero, Centuari is alive...somehow...and they want Alex to help rebuild the Starfighter league. Alex lands on earth to say goodbye to his friends and family. Alex asks his friend Maggie to come with him but it looks like she isn't ready to go...ah you faked me out with Nim's Island last time but I know that she will come....any minute now....she's going to change her mind....well I guess she is really going to stay...oh wait she's coming with Alex to have many adventures with Alex. The End.

***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***

I enjoyed The Last Starfighter. It had some pretty entertaining action and some relatively interesting characters. A lot of the effects are pretty impressive for the time and some characters like Grig, Beta, and Louis are actually pretty funny. Now like I said before Xur isn't a very good villian; he comes off like he got a double scoop of ice cream instead of a triple scoop and he won't stop complaining about it. Also there are quite a few 80's cliches. But I think that if you see this movie at your local video store it's definitely worth a rent. See you next time where I celebrate Christmas with freaky animation.

AND THE GHOST OF ELIAS KINGSTON REALLY IS.....

Nims Island

Well I don't exactly have reason to review this other than I didn't have time to review the movie I wanted. I guess I don't have much else to say. Let's go to a small island in the South Pacific where I review Nim's Island.

We start with a girl named Nim (Abigail Breslin) who lives with her father Jack (Gerard Butler) on an island. Her father studies plankton agile and other single celled organisms. Nim likes to read a series of books called The Adventures of Alex Rover (Also Gerard Butler). If you want to know what these books are about think The Adventures of Tintin meets Indiana Jones. The author of these books is a cowardly germ fearing woman named Alexandra Rover (Jodie Foster). Back on the island Jack is going away to research some nano plankton and he is leaving Nim by herself for two days. Alexandra is doing research for her next novel when she comes across an article written by Nim's father. Alexandra emails Nim's father Nim gets the email and says he will be back on Thursday. There is a horrible storm and the father is lost at sea. Nim just thinks her father is late right now and continues to talk to Alexandra thinking she is the actual character Alex Rover.

Alexandra asks Nim what the inside of a volcano looks like and Nim goes up to the volcano to see what it looks like. Meanwhile Jack is lost and he since he is apparently related to MacGyver he builds a pump for draining water out of his boat out of some materials lying around. Nim injures herself while climbing and tells Alexandra asking her what to do about the cut. Nim mentions that she is Jack's daughter and this get's Alexandra worried. She gets even more worried when she hears that Nim's leg is swollen so she decides to go to Nim's island to help her. Meanwhile back on the island a cruise line is planning to set up a resort on the island. Nim starts to put together a plan for defending the island and while Alexandra trys and get to Nim. Alexandra has to get on a boat after a plane and it looks like there is another storm coming. Meanwhile back on the island, the cruise ship comes and people start enjoying activities and such. Nim needs to find a way to stop the tourists so she catapults some lizards but unfortunately this doesn't work. She then tries to trick people into thinking the volcano is erupting but she accidentally causes some real smoke and ash to come out of the volcano but no lava. This causes the tourists to leave.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

The tourists left just in time because another huge storm is on its way. Alexandra tries to ride a helicopter to the island but the storm forces the pilot to land on the cruise ship. Meanwhile Jack builds a propeller out of some more wreckage in order to try and get home. Alexandra steals a lifeboat from the cruise ship and rides it to the island. She washes up on shore and Nim realizes that she isn't who she thought was coming. Nim asks Alexandra to leave the island and runs back to the house. Alexandra wanders through the woods and finds Nim's camp and Nim decides to help her out and let her stay the night. The next day it looks like Jack died at sea....yep they aren't faking us out...he's totally dead....there is no chance of him coming back.....oh look Jack is alive. So with Jack returned and all three of them live on the island together. The End.

***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***

Nim's Island is...not as good as I remembered. When I first saw it before I started my blog I thought it was good. But looking back on it seems kind of cliched, and they try to hammer in the environmental message a bit too hard. But for what it's worth I still recommend seeing this. I don't know what it is it just seems to have some sort of charm that's keeping me from disliking it. So overall I recommend Nim's Island as a family film for when nothing else is available.