Film Review - How to Train Your Dragon 2

How to Train Your Dragon 2
Directed by Dean DeBlois

*This is a SPOILER-FREE post, so read away*

Summary: Picking up 5 years after "How to Train Your Dragon", Hiccup uncovers a plot of a mysterious deranged man bent on capturing all dragons to form a dragon army. In order to protect his home and their dragons, Hiccup and his pet dragon, Toothless, venture out to find this man and stop him before it comes to war.

10 Movies You Should be Looking Forward to in 2014

Really these are just movies that I'm looking forward to, but you should too.  I can almost guarantee that these will be the majority of the year's highest grossing films, as well as some of the highest rated (at least on IMdB - Rotten Tomatoes generally sucks).  Here are my picks, starting with least excited (although it's still in my top 10 movies to look forward to!)

2013 Film Awards

Recognizing the Year's Best Films... according to I AM HOLLYWOOD
Obviously the Academy and I don't quite see eye-to-eye (insert great song from "The Goofy Movie") so these picks do not reflect the decisions of the 86th Academy Awards, but what I found to be most valuable in films.  Often times people don't understand what I mean when I say "I thought it was a very artistic film and very well done, but I didn't really like it, and I would never watch it again." But it means just that. To me, the value of a film is not reflected in whether or not it is artsy, edgy, incredibly unique, brilliantly acted, or even written. The movies that I chose for best picture are based on how they affected, inspired, or connected with me. As you can see my pick for best picture was despised by critics, scored low by IMdB, and I will even admit was one of most flawed films listed in this blog, however, it spoke to me, inspired me, and had a stronger impact on me than any of the other films. And if that's not what filmmaking is about, then I don't know what the heck it is about.  And the beauty of filmmaking is that it reflects the beauty of humanity- that in spite of our incredibly flawed existence, we can still do great good and have great impact on this earth. Here are my choices for the best (and worst) films of 2013:

Sochi 2014: Winter Olympics

Opening ceremonies begin tonight (in the US)!  Check out the full schedule here.

Here's a FREE wallpaper download I made to help you get in the spirit.  Go Team USA!

Highlights of D23 2013

Being the avid Disney fan I am, and lover of entertainment, of course I headed down to Anaheim for the 2013 D23 Expo.  For those that don't know about D23, it is a purely-Disney convention that takes place across the street from Disneyland in the Anaheim Convention Center.  D23 happens once every two years, and since it started in 2009, this was only the 3rd one.  I often describe it as "Disney's version of Comic Con," although clearly not a non-profit event and much more egocentric.  Nonetheless it was a great event, and a breath of fresh air to not have to shove through hundreds of thousands of people to get anywhere, like you have to do at Comic Con.

Read about announcements and highlights after the break.

Film Review - Elysium

Elysium
Directed by Neill Blomkamp

Summary: Elysium is a tale of two worlds.  Los Angeles looks a bit different in 2154, in fact the entire earth is a diseased and overpopulated slum.  The earth's wealthiest have relocated to a large satellite orbiting earth, a paradise where there is no disease, crime, or struggle. This is Elysium.  On earth, the hardworking ex-convict Max (Matt Damon) is given five days to live after a mishap exposes him to excessive radiation.  Five days to live and nothing to lose, Max, makes it his goal to get to Elysium, the only place he can find healing.  And he is willing to get there by any means necessary.

The Work of a Critic

"In many ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little, yet enjoy a position over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so. But there are times when a critic truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The world is often unkind to new talent, new creations. The new needs friends...Not everyone can become a great artist; but a great artist can come from anywhere." - Anton Ego [Brad Bird, Ratatouille]