Wow, am I behind in my reviews. It seems like I saw this an eternity ago, or at least while summer was still fresh, and after all the other summer films have come and gone, this remains my favorite film not about Batman. Pixar knocked one out of the park with Wall•E. The film is absolutely gorgeous, the animation is luscious, their attention to detail is second to none. Wall•E's rust alone, the photo-realism of it, makes me want to cream in my pants in digital bliss.

Besides the obvious superior animation skills of Pixar, they plain understand how to tell a story. Wall•E is at once, the most romantic movie and the best sci-fi film of the year. For the first 30 minutes of the film there are no human character, and no talking, but the love that grows between Wall•E and EVE is a beautiful thing. These two robots, brought to life by, Star Wars sound designer, Ben Burt's beeps and boops, have more humanity in them and present more well rounded characters than 99% of the films coming out of Hollywood.

It's easy to say that I fell in love with the character of Wall•E, he's an amazing little guy. After the world is long destroyed by the humans, and all his robot brothers have decayed into nothingness, Wall•E continues his mission of cleaning up the planet, one tiny, crushed cube at a time. After many millennium, Wall•E has developed a personality; possibly from processing all our leftover junk, he's relentlessly curious about what's been left behind. The moment he reveals his collection is geek heaven. When EVE arrives on Earth for her important mission, Wall•E is lovestruck by her beauty, fascinated by her advanced robotics, and down-right infatuated, simply because he has no one else to connect with. When he follows her off Earth, he discovers what has become of the human race.

Honestly when I saw the first previews for this film, I thought I’d skip it all together. It didn’t look good, didn’t seem fresh in any way. But my son hadn’t seen a movie in theaters in a few months, so we we’re dying to take him to anything. Maybe it was my low expectations, but I found myself truly enjoying Kung Fu Panda from beginning to end and actually came away thinking the film was a minor animation classic. It’s as good as, or better than some of the lesser Pixar films, and way better made than the Shrek or Ice Age films.

The film quickly brings you into this completely unique world, where all animal species live together in relative harmony. Where a duck raises a panda and that panda, named Po, dreams of becoming a kung-fu master. The animal kingdom lends itself well to the kung-fu styles, making the tiger, crane, snake, praying-mantis and monkey characters masters of each style named after them. Together they are the Furious Five. It is them that Po looks up and has dreams of one day joining. His father’s profession as a noodle maker, has no appeal. During a ceremony naming who will become the Dragon Master, Po stumbles his way into the path of the master Tortoise Oogway and is named the one who will unite the group, even though his kung-fu skills are extremely limited. It’s up to their leader Shifu to train Po to become a kung-fu master. Making things even more precarious, is a ferocious Panther, Tai Lung, who has just escaped the ultimate prison and is on his way to claim the title Dragon Master.

The scene where Tai Lung escapes the prison makes the film worth seeing on its own, he is such an incredible bad-ass that he has a prison all to himself, buried miles under the ground, surrounded by thousands of armed rhinos. His fight to get out, is some of the most impressive kung-fu ever brought to screen. The film is chalk full of wonderful fight scenes, that will impress the most die-hard of kung-fu fans, yet are gentle enough for little ones to enjoy. Although they may come away punching and kicking the air. The world the filmmakers have built is extremely gorgeous, modeled after ancient China. The most satisfying thing about the film, is that it's completely its own world, there are no pop-culture references to bring you out of the story, it’s a story that will remain timeless.

The one thing that may be a deal breaker for some people is Jack Black, he voices Po, who is in 95% of the film, with his character and humor being very much Jack Black. I for one enjoy his comedy stylings, so I really liked the character, but others might not. The voice work of the other characters is very well done, I especially like Dustin Hoffman as Master Shifu and Ian McShane as Tai Lung. The rest of the Furious Five are recognizable voices, including Angelina Jolie as Tigress, but none are distracting, falling easily into character. Kung Fu Panda is an extremely well put together film, for an animated family film or not, it’s got elements for everyone and at the same time doesn’t stoop to making tasteless jokes that only adults will get. The film has a nice message about finding and believing in yourself, while also kicking some serious butt. – Grade: A- (Seen on 6/21/08)

I'm always impressed by film-making of this caliber. The sheer amount of effort that went into making this film is breathtaking. The locations, the time frame, the costumes, the set pieces, and the pure length of the film is astounding. That said, the film doesn't hold a true rewatchability factor, at least for me. It's so well made that I'll probably check out scenes when it pops up on cable, but the length of the film, nearly 3 hours, will keep me from ever sitting down and watching the whole thing again. Maybe, when I'm old and retired and have the time, but definitely not in the near future.

Denzel Washington, as real life mobster Frank Lucas, gives an amazing performance; from tough to tender, he hits it all. You're actually rooting for this guy, because of where he came from, what he's trying to achieve, the ingenuity and strength that it takes to accomplish it, even though it's all completely illegal. Russell Crowe gives another outstanding performance as the cop, Richie Roberts, who's seemingly the only straight cop in New York City. Everyone on the force, knows him as the cop who turned in a million unmarked dollars for evidence, even his partner hates him for it. But he has a mission in life and the dedication to do it.

The film is about two men coming into their own, heading for a collision that for much of the film they're unaware of. Richie's building a case towards a man hiding at the top of a drug empire. Lucas believes that he's built his protection so well, that nobody will ever touch him. It's interesting how the film contrasts them in their home lives. Lucas is all about family, taking care of his mother, his wife and his brothers; Richie is too dedicated to his job to even realize that he's missing out on his life, his wife's leaving him, with his son, and it's completely secondary. It's very intriguing to watch as it all comes to a head, and what happens when Lucas is finally taken down; I was very surprised by how it all turns out. Though I'm interested in how much of this story is actually true.

Director Ridley Scott has built an epic crime saga; that doesn't work in black and whites, there are a lot of shades of gray here. Just because a man is breaking the law doesn't necessarily mean he's a bad person, and those upholding the laws, are often not in the right. The film is so perfectly made, from top to bottom, that not once was I taken out of the story. The performances by Washington and Crowe are impeccable, along with the rest of the cast. I especially dug Josh Brolin as the dirty detective, Trupo. (This and No Country For Old Men, two amazing performances in 2007, from the big brother in The Goonies.) Writing about how perfectly made this film is makes me want to see it again. My only real complaint is the length, and it mostly deserves it, 10-15 minutes could be cut, but I can't complain. Maybe I'll watch it again sooner than I thought. If you haven't seen it, make sure and do so. - Grade: A

The Sandlot is one of those rare films where every scene builds perfectly on top of the last one, which is extremely rare in moviedom. The movie itself isn't perfect, some of the scenes fall a little flat, but each keeps building the story, and nothing feels wasted. So by the end of the film, you're totally immersed into this world they've built, and you'll buy whatever they're selling.

I first saw the film, my senior year in high school. At that time, I was already beginning to feel nostalgic about my youth, and the film placed me into that quickly fading era, when anything seemed possible. When playing ball with your friends was the greatest thing in the world. When dropping a fly ball, was about the most embarrassing, painful thing you could possibly go through. I felt much like Scott Smalls, the hero of film, slightly out of place, but desperate to be part of the group, not the most athletic kid, but a total love of the game.

The entire team is given big personalities and fun names; "Yeah-Yeah", Kenny, Bertram and Tommy and Timmy Timmons, aren't quite as well rounded, but they're each memorable in their own small way. Smalls mom, played by the great Karen Allen, is one of the best all time movie mom's. She has very little screen time, but I love how she advises her son to go out and get into some trouble, live it up. Those few summers while you're young, before the realities of the world come crashing down upon you, are a very magical time, and she wants him to experience that. Denis Leary, in one of his first straight roles, is very good as the step-dad who's trying to figure out how he fits into his new son's life.

The coming-of-age story about a boy finding himself on the ball-field, with a great group of friends, is nicely told and it all feels natural. The subplot about the giant dog, who steals all the baseballs hit over the fence, is also a lot of fun. They get a couple of great scenes out of telling the story of the dog, then when Smalls hits his first home run, which happens with his step-father's signed Babe Ruth ball, they're attempts to retrieve it.

The film-making is also done impeccably, with a personality of it's own, with a lot of great touches. But it's all done in service of the film. The narration by writer/director David M. Evans is spot-on, I couldn't imagine the film without it. This film is right at the top of my favorite coming-to-age stories. I still prefer Stand By Me, which this film obviously cribs from, but it's almost as well made as that film.

It's incredible how far technology has come, I'm old enough to remember a time before VHS, when you had to watch whatever the few channels were playing. For this film, I laid in bed with my laptop and played it online via Netflix. Now there are sites like Hulu.com, where you can watch hundreds of movies and TV shows for free, instantly. The overwhelming amount of choices can drive me nuts sometimes, that's why I still prefer to watch movies "the old fashion way" on DVD on my TV. But knowing those choices are there, make me happy. This has absolutely nothing to do with The Orphanage, it was the first time I'd watched an entire film online, I wanted to see the film badly, my queue said "very long wait", they had it available online, so there I was. On to the review...

Over the last decade I've really started to appreciate foreign horror films, I think many countries filmmakers have a better grasp on how to actually scare you, than most American filmmakers. Japanese films in particular get to me. I remember the first time I saw Ringu aka The Ring, when that girl crawled out of the TV, my body nearly crawled out of my skin. The Spanish also seem to have a good idea of how to scare people, so when Guillermo del Toro presents, a highly praised ghost film, I'm there. Rare is the film that can actually scare me these days, and for some twisted reason I relish those movies. It brings me back to the sleepless nights of my youth, imagining all kinds of horrific things crawling through the dark to get me. It's a safe way to experience a taste of death.

The Orphanage, has some wonderfully creepy moments. For the average viewer, I think it'll work wonders. It gave me a couple of chills, but I was hoping for more. In all honesty, I wouldn't necessarily call this a horror film. It certainly has the right elements, and in a lesser filmmaker's hands that's all it would be, but the film is so beautifully crafted, that it comes across as more of a tragedy-drama.

Laura, played perfectly by actress Belén Rueda, is a young mother, who has ambitions to open a home for children with special needs. Along with her husband, they buy a large house near the sea, where she once lived as an orphan. On the day they open the house to the children and their families, her young son Simón goes missing. Before this happens, Simón had been talking too what his parents considered his imaginary friends.

After Simón disappears, the imaginary friends start to prove themselves real. They begin to reach out to Laura, asking her for help, and trying to show her the way back to her son. There's one particularly creepy kid, who wears a bag over his head, painted up to look like a face. He gets most of the chills in the film. But ultimately the ghost kids aren't that scary to Laura, her pain of losing Simón is far worse than anything they can dish out, and eventually she begins to understand what they're telling her.

The moment Laura stops being scared, it loses a lot of effect for the audience, if the characters aren't scared, then why should we be? That's not a detriment to the film. The Orphanage still has a few moments of terror, but it's Laura's soul-crushing pain that drives the film. There's a mystery surrounding the orphanage and what happened to the orphans, that she believes will lead her to her son, she doesn't care what poltergeists stand in her way.

It's an incredibly powerful film, beautifully crafted in every way; great performances, wonderful photography, and perfectly directed. Director Juan Antonio Bayona, proves to be an incredible talent. No matter the genre, I can't wait to see what he does next. - Grade: A

Every spring, about the time baseball is going to start, I watch a baseball movie. Usually it's Major League, the perfect cliche' comedy-sports film, but it had been a few years since I'd seen Field of Dreams.

Writer/Director Phil Alden Robinson caught lightning in a bottle with Field of Dreams. Never again did he create a film nearly as good or popular. (Although I've always had a soft spot for Sneakers.) It's one of those amazing films that is inexplicably good, the acting is solid, the story doesn't blow you away, it sneaks up on you instead, the film-making is typical Hollywood style, with nothing that particularly stand out, but the overall effect is wonderful. No matter how many times you've seen it, it leaves you with a better perspective on life. It's a beautiful film for men or women, anybody with a heart is touched by it's magic.

Kevin Costner is at his charismatic every-man best. James Earl Jones gets a chance to use that wonderful voice of his, in his best scene, he gets to talk about the beauty of baseball. I love every single shot of the baseball field in the middle of all that corn, it's Americana at it's most perfect. The story of Shoeless Joe Jackson getting another chance to play the thing he loves most is heartwarming. Each scene builds perfectly on the one before it, and when you've seen as many film's as I have, you begin to realize, just how tough that really is. At it's heart, the film is about redemption, showing those you love who you really are, and how far you'll go for them. So by the time Ray gets to "have a catch" with his estranged father, it starts to get a bit dusty in the room.

The last thing the Internet needs is another fanboy fawning over the greatness that is 300, so I'll keep this short. I originally saw it in the theater and instantly fell in love with it. I don't rewatch a lot of movies these days, so it's saying something when I revisited it on DVD; and I'm sure once my son is old enough to watch it, I'll see it many more times, as it'll be something I'll be excited to show him.

Director Zach Snyder has created something fully unique, that I expect will be copied to death in the coming years. It's an absolutely gorgeous film, with a true artists eye; each frame flips by with near perfection, the entire film looks like it's been painted by a master artist. The over-stylized violence is beautifully realized; strong camera angles, beautiful sepia-tone photography shocked with bright red splashes of blood, edited in very tight and fun fashion. It's about as close to watching a comic book as you can get. I don't need to go on, and honestly I'm having a hard time expressing my feelings about this almost perfect film. It might have lost some of it's power, through all the mocking it's received in the last year; but it'll be remembered long after those jokes die.

I'm really looking forward to Snyder's next film Watchmen, it's one of the few graphic novels I've read in my life and I believe that Snyder is the perfect filmmaker to capture this already greatly realized world. I had no idea who he was before his first film, the remake Dawn of the Dead, which I originally thought it was a bad idea; but after seeing Snyder's re-imagining of this zombie classic, it quickly became my 2nd favorite zombie film (after Return of the Living Dead), and made me realize I had another director to watch for. With 300, he more than proved that worth, and I greatly hope that he can keep it up with Watchmen and beyond. - Grade: A

I've seen this film so many times, in three different variations now, that I'm not sure where to start. At the beginning I guess. My dad showed me this film when I was around 13, I wasn't quite sure what had happened, but I knew I liked it. But I don't think I watched it again for another five years, when I was in art school. One of my friends insisted on watching it over and over, which I had no problem with. Blade Runner is one of those rare movies, that no matter how many times I see it, it always seems fresh. There's so much to look at, so many details, that you're always noticing new things about the film. We were watching the original cut, the one with the narration, I've seen it so many times, that I still hear it when watching the versions without.

In 1997 I bought my first DVD player, and Blade Runner: The Director's Cut was the very first DVD I bought to go along with it. I watched it quite a few more times in that form, grew used to the new changes. Around the same time I saw it for the first time on the big screen, when they did a revival show, at the best theater in Seattle, the Cinerama. I bought and read the book Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner, a must read for any Blade Runner fanatic. I've read the original novel Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep? by Phillip K. Dick, a wonderful book, that truly only shares the dystopian view of the future and a cop chasing down rogue androids; if you want to expand the Blade Runner universe, again, a must read.

So yeah, I'm a fan. I easily place it among my top five films; if it weren't for The Matrix, I'd call it my all-time-favorite sci-fi film. I believe it's a masterpiece in every sense of the word. Beautifully crafted from top to bottom; from the set and costume design, to the gorgeous, dark photography; superbly written, great naturalistic dialogue, great acting, and top notch direction by Ridley Scott. At a time when everyone was trying to remake Star Wars, Scott and team set out on a completely different sci-fi idea, creating a new view of the future, and influencing a whole new set of filmmakers.

I was ecstatic when the long rumored Final Cut made it's way to DVD. And after watching it, I must say it's the best version of the film yet. It's not drastically different than the Directors Cut, there are only a few different cuts here and there, mostly in reference to Deckard's being an android himself; they extended Deckard's dream of the unicorn, which pays off by Gaff leaving him an origami unicorn at the end; saying that he knows his dreams and what he really is. The other big editing change, is when Zhora is killed by Deckard and she goes crashing through the glass store front; in previous versions it was obviously a stunt-man in a wig, now, it looks like actress Joanna Cassidy all the way through. The most noticeable change about the film is the way it looks.

It looks brand new, no more dirty prints, it is clean and gorgeous like it was shot yesterday, instead of 25 years ago. Some of the effects are slightly improved, not in a "look at me" kind of way like the new Star Wars films, but subtle, keeping with the original look of the film. My only problem with this new version of the film, is that it does pretty much spell out that Deckard is an android himself. I always liked that the original cut left the idea vague, leaving the decision up to the viewer. Scott has taken that decision away. He does that through the unicorn dream and the fact that at one point in the film, you see every androids eyes glow red, which Deckard's do when he's in his apartment with Rachel. Something that may have happened in the original cut, but I always missed, and is now pretty blatant.

One problem I've always had, is that if Deckard is a android, why is he so weak? He is constantly getting beat up by all the Nexus-6's he's tracking down. If the cops went to the trouble of getting an android to do their hunting, wouldn't they want him to keep the advantage of strength and quickness. It's a small quibble, and it gives me something to discuss with the other die-hard Blade Runner fans. All in all, I'm very happy with the Final Cut and the DVD set. It's something I will treasure for a long time, and hope will introduce the film to a whole new generation of fans. - Grade: A+

You might think that a film about man who suffers a stroke and is forced to live out his life, unable to move, even unable to speak, would be depressing. That's what I figured going in to The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. I knew what it was about, but wanted to see it because it had been getting rave reviews and my wife, a lover of everything French, and I needed a night out together. The film begins with sadness, but after it's over you feel full of life, ready to face the world in a whole new light.

Right from the start, the film puts you into Jean-Dominique Bauby's head, the first scene is filmed completely from his perspective. You wake up in a hospital, you don't quite know what's going on. Your eyes won't focus, doctors and nurses stream in and out of the room, and when you talk to them, they don't hear you. They tell you that you've suffered a stroke, that they're not quite certain of the damage yet. But it is soon quite apparent that it is catastrophic; you have what they call "locked-in syndrome". Information comes in through your senses, but you are unable to communicate with the outside world.

Your eye is going septic, you watch as they sow it shut; an incredible scene. The only thing you can think about is dying. Because what good is life, if you can not travel through it, are only able to see it through one pathetic eye, and unable to tell anyone what you are feeling. What good could possibly come of it? The film does an impeccable job of putting you into Bauby's state-of-mind, gives you a slight feeling for what he must have gone through. You're left feeling hopeless as he is; but then it all begins to lighten up. Bauby meets a beautiful nurse who teaches him how to speak by blinking his eye. It's an incredibly torturous way to communicate, but when it's your only choice, you must make do.

That's the power of The Diving Bell and The Butterfly. That it makes you appreciate life, even from the perspective of someone who is almost completely unable to do so. He makes new friends, connects with his family and father in a way that he couldn't before, and learns more about who he is than anyone could probably imagine. If you're stuck in your head 24/7, than you fill your life with memories, good and bad; relive your childhood, correct mistakes, and become a better person. He has so much wanting to get out, that he decides to write an auto-biography, which he must do one slow letter at a time.

Director Julian Schnabel has crafted a true masterpiece out of real-life; gorgeously photographed, full of wonderful sights and sounds, and completely heart-warming, without ever being preachy or schmaltzy. I haven't seen a lot of them, but I imagine this will remain my favorite foreign film of 2007. It was a crime, that it was denied a slot in the Academy Awards Best Foreign Language; in all honesty it should have been up for Best Picture over the cutesy Juno. (But they needed at least one popular film in there.) Do yourself a favor and see this film when it's released on DVD, you'll be glad you did. - Grade: A