The Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

This film is adapted from the book of the same name written by children's author Ronald Dahl. He is also the author of another famous book, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory".

This animated film (stop motion) begins as Mr. Fox (voiced by George Clooney), a newspaper columnist, has decided that he is going to start chasing chickens again. He had promised his wife (voiced by Meryl Streep) a long time ago that he would not do that any more. The three farmers that he steals from decide to band together and get rid of him once and for all. They try to kill him, but only succeed in shooting his tail off. They then decide to dig him out which forces his family to dig further into the ground.

After a few days of no food, he decides to tunnel into one of the farmers homes and steals more chickens among other things. Mr. Fox runs into other animals that are suffering from starvation because of the farmers digging. Mr. Fox feels bad and they decide to make a city underground where they will be safe.

Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Willem Dafoe also voice characters in this movie.
While the movie is mostly aimed at adults, kids would like it also.

87 Minutes. Rated PG. I GIVE THIS FILM THREE AND ONE HALF STARS.

Toy Story 3 (2010)

The toys are back. Woody, Buzz, Jessie, Mr. and Mrs. Potato head, Barbie and Rex are joined by their friends for some new adventures.

Andy is getting ready to leave for college and the toys are afraid of what will happen to them. Afraid that they may be thrown away, they sneak into a box of toys that Andy's Mom is taking to the Sunnyside Day Car Center for donation. The toys are excited because they are looking forward to being played with again.

When the toys get to Sunnyside, they are welcomed by the toys that live at the Center. The existing toys are led by a pink bear named "Lots-O-Huggin Bear". Other prominent toys include the fashionable Ken doll who refuses to acknowledge that he is a girl's toy and a very creepy doll called "Big Baby". The new toys are sent to the "Caterpillar" room where they are abused by the very young children. The toys can see through the window that the "Butterfly" room toys are treated much better by the older children and send Buzz to the other room to request a transfer.

Buzz is captured and turned into his old serious ranger self by the Sunnyside toys and turns against his friends. Woody decides that he has to escape and hides in a little girl's (Bonnie) backpack and goes home with her. He finds out from her other toys the real story about the Sunnyside toys, especially Lotso.

Woody goes back to the day care center to try and help his friends leave, but find that Lotso basically runs a prison like atmosphere and that leaving will be tough as they have a really scary cymbal monkey that watches their every move on camera. The toys manage to corral Buzz and try to turn him back to his old self and instead push his language button which makes him speak Spanish. The toys almost get out of the center when they are caught by Lotso. Lotso and Woody end up in a dumpster and the toys must follow them to save Woody. All works out in the end.

The toys find their way back to Andy's house and Woody writes a note to Andy suggesting that he give his toys to Bonnie.

The voices of the characters are still the same, including Tom Hanks as Woody, Tim Allen as Buzz, Joan Cusack as Jessie, Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head and John Ratzenberger as Hammy. Michael Keaton is also in this installment as Ken.

This movie was great! I even paid full price to see it which I never do. I would definitely recommend this movie to everyone, even Brian liked it. Pixar also included one of their movie shorts just before the start of the movie. Beware, I got choked up in a couple of parts, but not in a bad way.

109 Minutes. Rated G. I give this movie FOUR AND ONE HALF STARS.

Avatar (2009)

This movie is set in 2154 and centers around the mining of a precious mineral called Unobtanium that is located on a moon, called Pandora, of a planet called Polyphemus located in another star system. Pandora is inhabited by a people called Na'vi who are 10 feet tall, blue skinned and worship a goddess called Eywa. Humans must wear oxygen masks as they can't breathe on Pandora.

Scientists have created a way to pair a humans mental awareness with an Avatar (sort of a hybrid body) that they have created. The human lies down into a pod and their mind is transferred by mental link into the Avatar body. This way they can interact with the Na'vi.

Parker Selfridge (Giovanni Ribisi) leads the mining operation for the mineral assisted by a security company headed by Colonel Quaritich (Stephen Lang) whose sole purpose seems to be getting the Na'vi off the land so they can mine their mineral.

Jack Sully (Sam Worthington) is a paraplegic former Marine whose twin brother is killed unexpectedly and they need him because as he has the same DNA as his brother, he can use the same Avatar. Scientist Dr. Grace Augustine (Sigourney Weaver) helps him with this. On his first trip on Pandora with another scientist to collect samples in the forest, Jake and the scientist are separated when an animal attacks. He is rescued by a Na'vi from the Omaticaya tribe or clan named Neytiri (Zoe Saldana). Neytiri takes Jake back to her village and her father tells her to teach him their ways.

Colonel Quaritich sees this as an excellent opportunity to get intel on the Na'vi and promises Jake that he will fix his legs in return for information that may help them get rid of the Omaticaya's. Jake begins bringing in information and Grace does not like this. She takes Jake and another scientist to a remote station away from the security team. Jake continues his instruction from Neytiri and becomes very close to the tribe. After a few months, he becomes one of their tribe and accepts Neytiri as his mate.

When Jake tells Selfridge that the Omaticaya will never move from their spot on Pandora, Selfridge orders that the area be destroyed. He tells Jake that they have one hour to move. When Jake tells the Omaticaya of the plans, he is accused of betrayal and his and Grace's Avatars are taken captive. The security forces destroy their village and the area killing many including Neytiri's father.

Soon afterward Jake and Grace are imprisoned for defying the security forces, but escape with the help of a security member (Michelle Rodriguez) that doesn't like the security teams methods. While escaping, Grace is shot and Jake begs the remaining Omaticaya, who have gathered at the "Tree of souls" to heal Grace. Unfortunately, Grace dies before she is able to be transferred into her unconscious Avatar.

Jake and Neytiri unite warriors from the other tribes to fight the humans. The security forces attack and many Na'vi are killed, but they prevail in the end. The security forces and mining people are expelled from Pandora, but the scientists are allowed to remain.

We saw this movie in 3D at an IMAX theater. I highly recommend seeing this in at least 3D. The 3D effects were amazing. I have seen t.v articles on how this movie was made and it is incredible. The movie itself was o.k., but the effects made this a must see, so do yourself a favor and see it in a theater.

This film was directed by James Cameron who has also directed "Titanic", "The Abyss", "Aliens", "True Lies" and "Terminator I and II" to name a few. His efforts have generated 5.7 billion dollars worldwide. He was also married to director Kathryn Bigelow that recently won the Oscar for her movie "The Hurt Locker".

Rated PG-13. I give this movie FOUR AND A QUARTER STARS.

The Polar Express (2004)

This Oscar nominated film is based on the children's book "The Polar Express" written by Chris Van Allsburg.

On Christmas Eve, a boy is thinking that there is no Santa Claus after seeing articles about striking department store Santa Clauses. He hears the loud sounds of a train stopping in front of his house and a conductor (Tom Hanks) gets out and asks him if he is going to board the train that is on it's way to the North Pole. The train is filled with children in their pajamas. The children all have tickets that are punched by the conductor with a couple of letters that don't have any meaning. There are several adventures aboard the train and some songs before the train pulls into the North Pole where what seems like thousands of elves are heading to the town square. The boy is picked by Santa to be the child to receive the first gift of the Season. When he is asked what gift he would like, he tells Santa that he wants a bell that he had seen fall from Santa's sleigh. This bell can only be heard by those who believe in Santa. The child puts the bell in his pocket and re-boards the train to go home. All of the childrens' tickets are punched for the round trip. this time, the rest of the letters spell a word that has personal meaning for each child. While on the train, he discovers that his bell has fallen through a hole in his pocket. When he gets home, he opens a box on Christmas morning and finds the bell along with a note from Santa. He mentions that over the next years, that everyone but him stops being able to hear the bell, meaning that they have lost their belief in Santa Claus.

This film initially did not do well in theaters. Tom Hanks voices six characters during the movie and the animated likenesses of him were so real looking it was kind of strange.

This was the first time that I had seen this movie. I thought that it was pretty good especially for smaller children.

100 Minutes. Rated G. I give this movie THREE STARS.

A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965)

While on his way to meet friends to go ice skating on a local pond, Charlie Brown talks to his buddy Linus about Christmas. He feels that even though Christmas is approaching and everyone is buying gifts and decorating, that he is feeling down about the commercial aspect of Christmas.

He visits Lucy in her psychiatric booth and she seems to agree with him about Christmas saying that she always gets "stupid toys" instead of the real estate that she desires. She suggest that he get involved in a school play about the Nativity.

While walking to the auditorium, he runs into Sally who wants him to write a letter to Santa for her asking Santa to "send money". He also finds Snoopy decorating his doghouse for a neighborhood display contest. At rehearsals for the play, Charlie Brown gets frustrated because the players want to update the play with modern music while Charlie Brown wants the play to be traditional, not commercial. Charlie Brown thinks that they need a Christmas tree so that maybe the mood will be right. Lucy suggests that they get a pink aluminum tree. Charlie Brown and Linus set off on one of Charlie Brown's famous "quests" to find a tree. He finds a small "needlebare" tree (the kind that to this day we all refer to as a "Charlie Brown Tree") and take it back to the auditorium where everyone makes fun of it.

Charlie Brown speaks aloud about the fact that maybe he really doesn't know what Christmas is about. Linus walks to the center of the stage and begins to quote scripture pertaining to the birth of the Christ Child. When he is done, Charlie Brown picks up his tree when he realizes that he doesn't have to let the commercialism ruin HIS Christmas. He walks past Snoopy's house, that now has a winning ribbon attached to it, and puts an ornament on his tree. The tree droops under the weight of the ornament. The gang follows and gathers round to decorate Charlie Brown's tree with the decorations from Snoopy's doghouse. They sing Christmas Carols and the movie ends with a boisterous "Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!".

Good, Clean, Retro fun! Takes me back for sure!

30 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie THREE STARS.

Santa Claus is Comin' to Town (1970)

Fred Astaire is the narrator of this stop motion animated film made for television. Burgermeister Meisterburger is the mean, grouchy, mayor/type dictator of the town of Sombertown. A baby arrives on his doorstep with a tag that says "Claus". The Burgermeister tells his assistant to take the baby to the orphanage. Along the way there is a huge gust of wind that blows the baby away and he lands in the snow where some animals hide him so that the Winter Warlock won't see him. They take him to a family of elves named "Kringle" ruled by Tante Kringle and they name him "Kris". As he gets older he tells his family that he will one day restore them to their rightful place as the "Toymakers to the King".

When Kris grows up he decides that he will deliver toys to the kids of Sombertown where toys are not allowed and the Burgermeister says that anyone found with toys will be arrested and thrown into the dungeon. On his way Kris meets up with the Winter Warlock who warns him to stay away from his land. When Kris gets to Sombertown he meets Miss Jessica, the schoolteacher, and gets a crush on her. When the Burgermeister sees the toys, he wants to arrest the children but Kris gives him a yoyo. He loves the yoyo, but his assistant reminds him of his own rules and he chases Kris out of town. Kris meets up with the Warlock again and things get ugly until he gives the Warlock a toy train which melts the frozen heart of the Warlock. Kris continues to get toys to the children and when the Burgermeister finds the toys, he conducts a house to house search until he finds and burns all of the toys. Kris and party are arrested, but escape when the Warlock gives Jessica "magic feed corn" to give the reindeer so that they can fly everyone to safety.

Kris goes back into the hills as an outlaw and grows a beard to disguise himself and changes him name to "Claus", the name that the was born with. Jessica and Kris get married and move to the North Pole where they build their workshop. The Burgermeisters eventually die off and Santa decides that he can only deliver toys once a year due to demand. History is made!

One of my favorites! Who can hear Burgermeister Meisterburger and not go back to when they were 7?

48 Minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie THREE AND A HALF STARS.

The Year Without A Santa Claus (1974)

I realize that this is not a theatrical movie, but I felt that since it has been around since I was a kid, that I had to include it. This movie is made in Stop Motion Animation.

Santa Claus(the voice of Mickey Rooney)wakes up with a bad cold and is told by his doctor that he can't do his regular trip. It then falls to a couple of elves, Jingle and Jangle, to find people that still believe in Christmas. While they are doing this, their reindeer Vixen is mistaken for a dog and is thrown into the pound. The Mayor of the town, Southton, agrees to let Vixen go if they can make it snow in this hot area on Christmas.

Mrs. Claus then goes to the famous stepbrothers, Heat Miser and Snow Miser, who control the weather in the world, to help them out. Neither one wants to compromise and Mrs. Claus has to tattle on them to their mother who happens to be Mother Nature. It works out and they end up finding some generous people to help Santa out. Spurred on by this outpouring of good cheer, Santa decides to make the Christmas Eve deliveries.

The pictures above are of Brian and Steve as the Heat Miser and Snow Miser last Halloween. Thanks for the pictures Mykel!

48 minutes. Not Rated. I give this movie TWO AND THREE QUARTER STARS.

Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer (1964)

Our hero Rudolph is born and his father is embarrassed because he has such a shiny nose. When he begins his reindeer training, his father covers up his nose because he doesn't want Santa to see his "defect". He befriends a young doe named Clarice who thinks that he is 'cuuuuuuuuuute". During his training his nose is discovered and he is ostracized. He meets a misfit elf named Hermey who wants to be a dentist. They decide to run away and on their journeys meet Yukon the prospector who is searching for peppermint, some misfit toys, and an abominable snowman called a Bumble. Rudolph's mother and Clarice decide to look for him and end up getting cornered by the Bumble. Rudolph tries to protect them, but gets knocked out. Hermey and Yukon end up removing the Bumble's teeth and Yukon pushes the Bumble into a hole and falls in after him. He ends up showing up later as "Bumbles bounce!" and he was able to get out of the hole. Everyone finds their way home and Rudolph becomes the hero as Santa needs his "nose that shines so bright" to light the way for his sleigh to make his Christmas Eve deliveries. The good news continues as Hermey gets his dentist shop and the Misfit Toys get rescued and become gifts for girls and boys.

Rudolph was first created in 1939 by an employee of Montgomery Ward. The song from the story was first recorded in 1948, but it did not become popular until 1949 when Gene Autry recorded it for commercial distribution. This stop motion animation special is the longest running special today and it has great memories for me!

Not Rated. 60 Minutes. I give this movie THREE AND ONE HALF STARS.