Well with another year behind us, we move forward into a new decade. And sadly only three more years until the world ends for some bizzare and poorly explained reason. So anyway, to everyone, a happy 2010 and a happy three years on DA for me!!

So for my first journal of 2010, I decided to give my impressions on upcoming movies for the new year. I would take one movie I'm looking foward to and one I think looks like crap and give my opinion based on the trailers. I may do another Trailer Impressions journal as the year continues. And feel free to leave a comment on what movies you're looking forward to/not looking forward to. Well today I'll give my opinions on the Toy Story 3 trailer and the How to Train Your Dragon trailer. These are going to be pretty long so you may want to grab a bite to eat or something.

TOY STORY 3 [link]

So as you can guess from the trailer, Andy is going off to college and gives his toys away(Pretty strange that he's had them in his room for this long) and from the looks of it, they're sent to a day care center where the kids aren't exactly careful with them(One kid sticking Mr. Potato Head's eye up his nose, another about to slobber all over Buzz Lightyear) so deciding they had enough, Woody, Buzz and all the others try to escape.

What I liked about the trailer was pretty much the nostalgia it brought with it. I grew up with the Toy Story movies. I had toys of Buzz, Woody and some of the others. So as you can guess I'm really looking forward to this. The story intrigues me because I wonder where Pixar is going to go with it since Andy's a teenager in this movie. And since he's a teen, I really wonder if this in fact the last Toy Story movie. Maybe if, in the end, the toys find a new little kid who wants to play with them or they go back to Andy.

I was pretty surprised when I found myself actualy laughing at the Buzz Lightyear speaking Spanish scene. I normally don't find kids movies that funny if at all funny but that was actually pretty clever and humorous. Maybe because I never thought that would happen but either way it was pretty funny. I give the trailer an 8/10.



HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON

[link]


As much as I would like to hope that this will be good, the trailer seems to suggest that this movie will be weighed down too much with the generic Dreamworks Formula: Poo-poo jokes, possible pop culture references, physical humor. ALL in a movie that could possibly become a classic if Dreamworks just for once TRIES!!

The story is about a teenage viking who has been taught to believe that "dragons are our enemy so they need to be killed"(Gee, haven't heard THAT plot point before...). One night as dragons are raiding his town he captures one and sets out to kill it, only to save it and become friends with it. From there he learns that dragons aren't all that evil(Leaning close to being like Avatar here...) and sets out with his new friend to better the relations between the races(Phew! That was close).

So from the synopsis I had given, you're probably thinking "Well that sounds pretty damn good!". And hey, normally I would agree. I like these kinds of movies where two completely different types of people(Or creature in this case) become friends and discover that they're not all like they were taught to believe they are(Worded poorly I know). This could actually make for a really serious, really memorable movie but Dreamworks, as always, would rather make the same tired movie over and over again instead of trying something new. In fact, I'm actually expecting the viking and the dragon to probably start dancing to Britney Spears or some lame ass pop song somewhere in the movie. You see this is why I despise Dreamworks so much. Most of their movies aren't good, aren't funny, and are really poorly animated. They don't aim to make a good story and just want to go for the same tired gag.

Anyway, this is starting to turn into a rant so getting back on topic, the animation looks very amaturish. Aside from some nice looking scenery, the character designs are in no way appealing. Hiccup, the main human character, looks less like a viking, and more like a kid going to a Halloween party. The dragon looks and acts nothing like a dragon. In fact it actually looks more like a cat than it does a dragon. Also...if the dragon's name is Toothless, then why DOES HE HAVE TEETH?! With a name like Toothless, you would assume that he does NOT have teeth but right at 0:31, you see that he does, in fact, have teeth. And what is with the dragon at 1:17? Why are its fangs popping up from its snout? And why are its eyes growing from its horns? No creature, living or mythical, has its eyes on its horns! That would defeat the purpose of having a FACE!

The voice acting sounds very wooden. Everytime I heard Hiccup's lines, I kept getting the impression that his voice actor was really bored and probably didn't want to be there. Him shouting "YEAH!!" wasn't even convincing. Didn't even seem like the character was all that excited about riding a dragon. The love intrest just sounds...very creepy. ("You're crazy, I like that!" Yeah well you're scaring me and I don't like that). This trailer gets a 0/10 from me. It's just that bad. I strongly advise against seeing this movie. I love dragons and even I don't think this will be good.

So those are my Trailer Impressions. Hopefully the trailer for How to Train Your Dragon will end up being misleading and the movie will end up being a gem. But knowing Dreamworks, the chances of that happening are about slim to none. I want to like HtTYD, I do. But the trailer looks awful! Oh, well. At least Toy Story 3 looks promising.

Just wanting to wish everyone a merry Christmas! I myself will be going to my grandmother's in a few hours to spend Christmas Eve with her. Well I'll see you guys later with some brand spankin' new stuff. So until then, enjoy what I have currently posted and I'll see you soon!

Well guys. I saw it. I finally saw it. Avatar...IN 3-D!!! So what is there to say about it? Honestly, I don't even know. It was really damn good. For a movie that was almost entirely CG, it sure felt real. From the world, to the Na'vi, it just all felt so real.

The story focuses on Jake Sully, a wheelchair bound marine who is dispatched to the planet Pandora. There he is given an Avatar(which was to be used by his deceased twin brother) and is given the mission of gathering intel from the Na'vi, the race which inhabits Pandora. As he spends time with them, he learns the truth about why they (The marines) are there and sets out to help the Na'vi defend their world.

Yeah, I really don't know how to say about it. You have to see it for yourself. It's hard to describe so I'll just end this by saying that it's really epic.

Well I had a much better birthday than last year. First I'd like to thank everyone over at GangofFive for wishing me a happy birthday. I'd also like to thank *ben300 for the early B-Day/Christmas present. Thanks much, man! You've done so many pics/stories for me yet I've hardly done any for you...

So as for how my birthday went, my parents were nice enough to allow me to stay home to celebrate. We pretty much kicked off the festivities with my mom driving me to Best Buy where I got Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which I'd like to say is an awesome game even though the cops suck ass(Must have gotten busted about five times already although I am getting the hang of it). I also got Wrong Turn 1 and 3. Haven't watched those yet but I'm really looking forward to them. Also got Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass which I haven't played yet since I've been hooked on San Andreas.

Then we went to Borders where I picked up The Wild Things by Dave Eggers(Who was also one of the writers for the Wild Things movie), Nora: The Last Chronicle of Devildom volumes 7 and 8, and 20th Century Boys volume 6. All in all, I got alot XD. But what really made it great was getting to go see The Blind side. That was a really great movie. And this is coming from someone who despises sports movies with a passion. I didn't exactly cry my eyes out like I did when I saw Where the Wild Things Are but coming from a guy, I was moved. The acting was superb, especially from Sandra Bullock and the guy who played Michael Oher (I forget the actor's name). The movie was funny, touching, heartwarming, and just wonderful. I would definatley reccomend it.

Well it's that time of year again(No I don't mean Christmas): My birthday!! In just five days I will be turning 19. And what better way to celebrate my birthday than by taking a break from school to go see The Blind Side with my folks? And then possible going to see Avatar with my friends next Friday.

The only problem with my birthday though is that it's so close to Christmas which makes it difficult for me to decide what I want for Christmas. I guess the only thing I want for Christmas right now are the first five volumes from the One Piece speed up. Unfortunately for me however, those come out January 5th.