Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

Story Overview: Swallow Falls, a tiny island hidden under the "A" in "Atlantic" on the world map that strives off the sardines industry. When people realized that this fish was 'gross' to eat, the company Baby Brent's Sardines went under and Swallow Falls suffered an economic downturn. With a large amount of sardines the town cooked the gross fish any way possible.

Flint Lockwood the young scientist grew up in Swallow Falls as a nerd working on being an inventor, but everything ended in catastrophe. One day he creates Flint Lockwood's Diatomic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator (FLDSMDFR) which turns water into food and with this he decides to end the towns bland food problems. That day he looses this new invention as it shoots off into the sky which causes food to be made in the clouds, raining down on Swallow Falls. From this point on Flint is the most popular guy in the town as he creates three meals a day and also helps out an intern news reporter, Sam Sparks, get news with the wacky food forecast worldwide. With all this has Flint put to much on his plate? You will have to watch the movie and find out.

This movie was written and directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller who both did Clone High which made me interested, but I did not let that cloud my judgement. The overall story line was pretty cheesy but it did have its parts that would hook you in to keep watching. After awhile you felt that they would drag parts out to long till you are waiting in boredom for the expected end result. This movie has been done before with the nerd/cute girl romance, unconnected father, a random pet that can talk (kinda) and a nerd guy who was hated becomes loved.

It was definitely not made for someone over the age of 10 to be interested in. I however did enjoy the idea of food falling from the sky and also the graphics. I am a sucker for digital animation and really cartoonish looking characters. The townsfolk tend to have some good one liners which would make you laugh a bit. One character I really liked was Officer Earl Devereaux, he had some great lines and you have to love the guy for how much he protected his son. This would be a great movie to own if you had children cause in the end you feel good about Flint saving the day.

Bonus: Full Screen/Theatrical Widescreen, DVD Rom Link

Rating: 4.5/10

Cast:

Flint Lockwood (Bill Hader)

Samantha Sparks (Anna Faris)

Timothy Lockwood (James Caan)

Steve The Monkey (Neil Patrick Harris)

Mayor Shelbourne (Bruce Campbell)

Brent McHale (Andy Samberg)

Officer Earl Devereaux (Mr. T)

Calvin Devereaux (Bobb'e J, Thompson)

Manny (Benjamin Bratt)

Patrick Patrickson (Al Roker)

Frances Lockwood (Lauren Graham)

Joseph Towne (Will Forte)

Buy Here:  Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (Single-Disc Edition)

Two And A Half Men: The Complete First Season

Story Overview: Charlie Harper is a well off bachelor who lives in Malibu housing by the beach and writes jingles. He lives the life men dream of; riches, women and booze. One night his brother Alan Harper shows up to Charlies home needing a place to stay since Alan's wife has just thrown him out. When the hungover bachelor wakes up, he seems his nephew Jake Harper . From this point on Charlie's life has flipped into a expected family man.

This is the first of many seasons of <em>Two And A Half Men</em> which took TV over by storm. The jokes are very sarcastic with Charlie making fun of everyone around him while he drinks himself crazy. Even though he is the main character the real funnies are found from the people around him. Alan's physical movements, Jake's cuteness/dumbness, Judish's anger, Rose and her crazy stocking ways, Berta's sharp tongue and Evelyn's bad parenting is where the real comedy is.

Everything in the show is high class and expensive so you never really connect with the characters but envy what they have. The show is very negative as everyone seems to just end up being sarcastic and make fun of one another. It is a very low sense of humour which is great for when you don't want to think, just laugh.

No. Of Episodes: 24

Bonus: Behind The Scenes With Cast And Crew, Backstage Tour With Angus T. Jones, Gag Reel/Outakes

Rating: 6/10

Cast:

Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen)

Alan Harper (Jon Cryer)

Jake Harper (Angus T. Jones)

Berta (Conchata Ferrell)

Evelyn Harper (Holland Taylor)

Judith Melnick (Marin Hinkle)

Rose (Melanie Lynskey)

Buy Here: Two and a Half Men: The Complete First Season

Air Gear: The Complete Collection

Story Overview:

15 year old Minami Itsuki (Ikki) lives in a home with the four Noyamano sisters. While causing trouble he stumbles upon the sisters AT's (roller blades with a motor) and takes them out for a spin. Through this night run he learns about riding and teams competing. From then on he creates his own team named Kogarasumaru with his best friends while under the watchful eye of Ringo Noyamano. As Ikki wins more battles, his reputation builds as which catches the attention of the kings. Watch as Ikki soars higher and higher till he becomes the Sky King

This 26 episode series has action, girls and tacky comedy... like every great anime should. You feel compelled to watch every episode as Ikki gains more experience taking his team, Kogarasumaru,

to a higher level of riding. Also, you feel a draw towards Ringo who watches over Ikki as he works at being the Sky King. But the main focus is watching the great tricks the AT riders pull in this series.

I enjoy the use of colour in this series as they use them to depict the mood of the ride and situation. It is pretty funny how they have the crow cover up any nudity to be shown from these characters. Musically the soundtrack works with the show as they help to also control the mood especially when they put on the theme song during a ride just gets you pumped waiting to see what great trick Kogarasumaru is going to pull. If anyone wants a great uplifting anime I recommend Air Gear.

No. Of Episodes: 25 +Special Trick

Bonus: Clean Opening/Closing

Rating: 8/10

Cast:
Itsuki Minami (Chris Patton)
Ringo Noyamano (Luci Christian)
Agito Wanijima (Blake Shepard)
Issha Mihotoke (Mark Laskowski)
Kazuma Mikura (Clint Bickham)
Onigiri (Gred Ayres)
Nue (Kyle Jones)
Yoshitsune (Jason Douglas)
Spitfire (Jay Hickman)
Simca (Monica Rial)

Buy Here: Air Gear: Complete Box Set

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Animation

Story Overview: Scott is new to his high-school and after 15 minutes he has already been in his first fight. Sitting in front of the Principals office he meets Lisa Miller which he befriends on the spot. The two discuss starting a band which will advance them through their popularity status in school. The duo realizes they need a drummer and spot Kim Pine who plays for the school band. On Monday Scott shows up to school only to notice Kim was taken hostage by Simon Lee in which Scott has to fight through a crowd of guys to get to the roof to defeat Simon. When Scott saves Kim they fall in love and date until Scott announces his family is moving to Toronto.

This four-minute short goes back to when the characters were 16 years old. Michael Cera and Alison Pill once again lend their voices for Scott and Kim while Mae Whitman who plays an Ex in the movie voices Lisa Miller and Jason Schwarzman voices Simon Lee.

Titmouse and Adult Swim have released a great teaser for the movie Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World giving little insight on Scott and Kim's past. Hopefully more video shorts can come about for this movie giving more insight on other characters.

Rating: 10/10

Cast:
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera)
Kim Pine (Alison Pill)
Lise Miller (Mae Whitman)
Simon Lee (Jason Schwarzman)

Shrek: Forever After: The Final Chapter

Story Overview: Shrek the Ogre lives in his swamp yet again with his family. While at the kids first birthday party he freaks out from not living an ogre life, but as a family man and wanders off alone. He meets a man named Rumpelstiltskin who offers Shrek a deal where he gets to live one day like an ogre and in return has to sign over a day from his past. Shrek agrees to this and signs his magical deal contract and right away Shrek starts living an ogre life. He soon realizes that he has lost everything that made his life great and has one day to try getting his life back (kiss from his true love) or else he will perish forever.

This is the fourth and final instalment of the Shrek series. With this they went with a BOOM releasing a great movie. Unlike the second and third Shrek, this one was full of great jokes and action like the first movie had to offer. Also you feel good as you see Shrek have to re-befriend all his fairytale group. I really love how the Ginger Bread Man fights Animal Crackers as a living. Shrek: Forever After can relate to the first one because it is all about a single ogre trying to build relationships with everyone. Even Donkey near the end tries to build a bond with his Dragon lover.

The graphics are great like always being cartoonish but they move realisticly. The music they have the characters are also great as you hear covers of some great classics that parents would enjoy. Donkey is once again as funny as he can be as he becomes friends with Shrek. This is a movie every family should watch.

Bonus: Spotlight On Shrek, Secrets Of Shrek Forever After, Deleted Scenes, Filmmakers' Commentary

Rating: 8/10

Cast:
Shrek (Mike Myers)
Donkey (Eddie Murphy)
Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz)
Puss In Boots (Antonio Banderas)
Rumpelstiltskin (Wald Dohrn)
Wolf (Aron Warner)
Three Blind Mice (Christopher Knights)
Pinocchio, Three Little Pigs (Cody Cameron)

Buy Here: Shrek Forever After (Single-Disc Edition)

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Story Overview: Scott Pilgrim is a boy living in Toronto, Ontario Canada with his gay friend. He also plays in a band called Sex Bob-omb and is dating a high school girl named Knives Chau. Life is boring as a local bass player until he dreams up Ramona Flowers roller blading through his dreams. Scott soon meets her at a house party learning more about her. After finding out she works for Amazon he orders an item which she delivers to his door. From here on Scott starts dating Ramona, dumping Knives, but to keep the relationship possible, Scott has to battle Ramona's Seven Evil Exes.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is like a mixture of Fooly Cooly meets Street Fighter and then adding Nick And Norah's Infinite Playlist to the mix. Michael Cera again plays a shy but loving guy which he always does. Their are alot of inside jokes about videogames, Arrested Development, X-men and other popculture medias. My favourite is the Arrested Development reference having Scott Pilgrim fight Roxanne "Roxy" Richter (fourth ex) since in the show AD the two actor/actress were a couple till Season 3.

The graphics were also excellent with making the movie look like a PS3 Anime kinda game. I wish I could of been in this movie so I could of seen myself look badass AND makeout with Mary Elizabeth Winstead cause she is hot, especially in her underwear * wink wink *. Over all the movie was great being fast pace and edgy. I hope another movie with this kinda originally comes around sometime soon.

Bonus: Deleted Scenes, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The Bloopers, Feature Commentaries With Cast And Crew, And More!

Rating: 8/10

Cast:
Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera)
Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead)
Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin)
Knives Chau (Ellen Wong)
Kim Pine (Alison Pill)
Stephen Stills (Mark Webber)
"Young" Neil Nordegraf (Johnny Simmons)
Matthew Patel: Ex 1 (Satya Bhabha)
Lucas Lee: Ex 2 (Chris Evans)
Todd Ingram: Ex 3 (Brandon Routh)
Roxanne “Roxy” Richter: Ex 4 (Mae Whitman)
Kyle/Ken Katayanagi: Ex 5 & 6 (Shota/Keita Saito)
Gideon Gordon Graves: Ex 7 (Jason Schwarzman)
Stacey Pilgrim (Anna Kendrick)
Natalie V. “Envy” Adams (Brie Larson)
Julie Powers (Aubrey Plaza)
Luke “Crash” Wilson (Erik Knudsen)
Lynette Guycott (Tennessee Thomas)

Buy Here: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

How To Train Your Dragon

Story Overview: On the island of Berk their is a village of Vikings. They spend their time keeping up with food and what other chores need to be done. One major job they have is to fight off dragons. Hiccup, a young skinny boy who is the son of the Viking chief, Stoick, works in the weapons hut but would rather be out with the others fighting. One night he shoots down the most ferocious dragon, Night Fury, which he discovers has been injured. Throughout the movie Hiccup helps Toothless (name of Night Fury) be able to fly again and also learns to hunt dragons in his village with the other young warriors. Now he must keep Toothless and the Vikings away from one another as he learns to become better in both worlds.

Lately DreamWorks Animation has been making lots off feel good movies such as Bee Movie, Kung Fu Panda, Madagascar and again with How To Train Your Dragon. Throughout the movie you get excited as Hiccup creates a bond with Toothless when they learn to fly together. Also watching Hiccup learn more about dragons and their likes/dislikes (grass, eels, light) puts a joyful feeling in you as he uses them to overcome obstacles in Dragon training. The one relationship you wait to see mend is the one with his father Stoick. When the movie ends you just feel good that the 2 species can live together in a village.

The graphics of this movie are ecstatic. I love how realistic the water looks as the vikings sail the seas. Also the realism of the movements of nature has never been better in a movie. The graphics team has gone a long way with making computer animation come to life. Big leap for DreamWorks Animation from their first movie Antz back in 1998. How To Train Your Dragon is one a whole family could watch and after walk away smiling.

Rating: 8/10

Cast:
Hiccup Horrendous Haddock The Third (Jay Baruchel)
Stoick the Vast (Gerard Butler)
Gobber the Belch (Craig Ferguson)
Astrid Hofferson (America Ferrera)
Fishlegs Ingerman (Christopher Mintz-Plasse)
Snotlout Jorgenson (Jonah Hill)
Tuffnut and Ruffnut Thorston (T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig)

Buy Here: How to Train Your Dragon (Single Disc Edition)