Movie in 3D

Brave 3D film review

From the creators of Wall-E, Up and Toy Story, Brave is an animated fairy tale from Pixar distributed by Walt Disney, a family friendly 3D production (except by some scary bear scenes) containing action, humour and girl power, this is the first Pixar film featuring a female as a main character featuring no romance. The soundtrack has been released as a CD and digital download, containing two songs of Scottish singer Julie Fowlis, except “Touch the Sky” , all of the music was composed by Patrick Doyle, .

Brave 3D film

Brave in 3D has great animation with stunning colours and a good storyline where the heroine is a girl with no prince charming in the picture to save the day, the movie did not have to be necessarily on 3D, you can watch the 2D version and enjoy it too but the 3D effects are excellent and there is no blurring or wayward shapes spoiling the film, something to think about is that the seldom 3D scary scenes will be amplified in 3D and they could frighten very young children.

Additionally, a video game based on the film has been published for all the main gaming platforms (PS3, Wii, Xbox360, PC) and mobile devices (iPhone, iPad, Android).

Synopsis: Set in the Highlands of Scotland, a courageous princess determined to carve her own path in life confronts tradition and destiny unleashing chaos in the kingdom as a result, she will have to harness her skills and resources to undo a beastly course before it is too late.

Directors: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, and Steve Purcell
Writers: Mark Andrews (screenplay), Steve Purcell (screenplay), Irene Mecchi and Brenda Chapman
Starring: Kelly Macdonald (Merida), Billy Connolly (Fergus), Emma Thompson (Elinor)
Rating: PG
Runtime: 100 minutes

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The Lorax 3D

The Lorax is based on a seventies children’s book by Dr. Seuss, a Lorax is a tiny little fluffly animal with a moustache, the advocate for the forest, not only the trees, but also the creatures living in it. This movie from the makers of Despicable Me (2010) keeps intact the environmental message twisting the original history by adding modern cultural lifestyles.

The film colours are very vivid with all of the forest elements popping out of the screen, everything is nicely rendered, action scenes are thrilling and the woodland creatures cuddly and soft-hearted, this is a nicely made 3D film. I don’t know how you feel about 3D, but children are likely to have fun with the CGI cartoons popping out of the screen, and this is after all a kids movie.

The Lorax 3D movie billboard

A family friendly 3D film full of humour, music and sweetness with anti-corporate satire quietly promoting that the destruction of the environment for greed is bad for the world. The Lorax film is aimed at young audiences but parents will enjoy the humorous parts of the movie. If you would like to indoctrinate your kids with ecological messages Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax can do that from an early age, but do not forget that this is a capitalist film that has been used to sell “fuel efficient” Mazda cars, Universal Studios is not a charity and they want to make profits like everyone else.

Synopsis: A preteen 12yo boy needs something very special to gain the affection of the girl of his dreams, in order for him to find what his girl wishes most he must discover the history of the Lorax, a grumpy charming creature fighting to save this world.

Cast: Danny DeVito (The Lorax), Ed Helms (Once-Ler) , Zac Efron  (Ted), Taylor Swift (Audrey)
Director: Chris Renaud
Runtime: 1hr. 26min
Rating: PG

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Family friendly 3D film

Walt Disney classic “Beauty and the Beast” (1991) returns to the big screen following a series of Disney Digital 3D releases, based on old remakes of successful family friendly films, the original “Beauty and the Beast” is still the only animated film ever nominated for a Best Picture Award in the Oscard nominations.

This movie has been converted to 3D using the same methods “The Lion King” was last year, with “Finding Nemo 3D” coming next. The film features an exclusive 3D sequel to “Tangled” (2010), named “Tangled Ever After“, a very hilarious short animated film to entice people doubtful of paying for something they have already seen in 2D, juxtaposing both films you can clearly notice the huge technical advances in animation.

This movie is a classic, with six Academy Award nominations and winning a well deserved Oscar to the best song,  3D adds shine to what already was a great film, fans of “Cinderella” and “SnowWhite” shouldn’t miss “Beauty and the Beast“.

Beauty and the Beast 3D at the cinema

“Beauty and the Beast” 3D is full of of elegant animations and choreographed songs that will charm adults and kids alike, the 3D post conversion nicely pops out of the screen the characters without throwing out the objects in the background, the 3D effects greatly enhance the landscape and the castle with most of the film giving the impression of a huge pop-up book. Disney’s conversion of the “Beauty and the Beast” into 3D has been brilliant, ghosting is nearly unnoticeable if at all. Children will possibly love the history and marvel at the special effects, these kind of films benefit geatly from the cinema experience, with a bigger more colourful, funnier and magical screen, I believe it is money well spent.

Synopsis: An beautiful young village girl enters a castle where his father is being held prisoner by a Beast and offers herself in exchange for her dad’s freedom, during her captivity she befriends an enchanted tea pot and clock, ultimately discovering that under the skin of a horrible monster there is the hidden soul of a prince and she begins to draw him out of his isolation.

Director: Gary Trousdale, Kirk Wise
Writter: Linda Woolverton
Music:  Alan Menken, Howard Ashman
Duration: 1hr 24min
Rated: PG

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Tintin 3D film review

Tintin was a legendary popular comic book character in Europe through the seventies and eighties made by Belgian artist Georges Remi, aka Hergé, several live action Tintin films were produced in the sixties and a hugely popular animated TV series, The Adventures of Tintin come to the big screen from the hand of Steven Spielberg (director) and Peter Jackson (producer), this is the first Steven Spielberg animated film, made with GGI using motion facial capturing performances from real actors like Jamie Bell, starring Tintin, Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock and Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thomson and Thompson. The CGI method allows for the characters to look cartoonish type near photo quality, an effect impossible to accomplish with make up alone, the downside is that the facial acting skills can not be fully appreciated.

The film is full of the kind jokes that any Tintin comic reader is used too, funny and witty, sometimes subtle, The Secret of the Unicorn contains eye popping fast paced action with scenes that would be prohibitively expensive to film for real and suspense until the end, the few gun battles have raised some criticism as this is meant to be a family friendly film, but nothing too harsh is showed that should be of concern. The 3D effects are stunning, fully immersing the viewer into the film, high action 3D without fear of a head ache, gorgeous graphics, textures and landscapes of exotic locations, kids and parents will enjoy Tintin’s fun night out and if Tintin is successful at the box office, there are two proposed sequels.

The Adventures of Tintin release date: Western Europe 27th October, Middle East 03th November, Latin America January 2012 and North America (USA&Canada) 21st December.

Synopsis: A young Belgian reporter called Tintin discovers the location of a sunken ship lost at sea centuries ago, he, his dog Snowy and the ancestor of the captain’s sunken ship, Captain Haddock, race to find the treasure before the malevolent Red Rackham advances them to it.

The Adventures of Tintin 3D film

Director: Steven Spielberg
Genre: Action & Adventure, Animation, Kids & Family
Written By: Hergé, Steven Moffat, Edgar Wright, Joe Cornish
Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes

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Cars 2 3D review

A Pixar Animation Studios film distributed by Walt Disney, Cars 2 (2011) is the sequel to the successful Cars (2006) film involving much of the original cast, (out of respect for Paul Newman, who died in 2008, the Doc Hudson character does not appear in the film) this animated film is full of comedy action with lots of automotive puns, it appears geared towards young kids, Nascar fans might still like to watch it, and parents will not feel specially entertained, unlike the first part, Cars 2 fails to create complicity in between the characters and the audience, the story and script seem to have been put together in a week.

This CGI animated film seems to have been created just to pull money out of the success of Cars part 1 without placing too much effort into it, Cars 2 does not live up to the expectations it is definitely worse than the first part and one of the worst Pixar films, the 3D version of Cars 2 does not improve it excessively, besides some firewall explosions and awesome rendering of skylines and cities there isn’t much that justifies paying extra to watch this film in 3D, it sure enhances the experience but it does not produce enough WoW factors that make it a must see in 3D film, to top it up the film has a slight anti-oil and pro environment message which is not even appropriate for a car racing story and hypocritical from a company, Disney, who to be the best of my knowledge does not use recycled materials to produce Cars 2 merchandising.

It has been released too a Cars 2 soundtrack, with songs written and composed by Michael Giacchino, and a video game with the same name published by Disney Interactive Studios, the PlayStation 3 game of Cars 2 is compatible with 3D gameplay, the soundtrack is available in CD and digital download.

Synopsis: Star race Lightning McQueen and sidekick Mater leave small town Radiator Springs to compete in the World Grand Prix race leading them to travel around the world, they both get embroiled in an international espionage plot and find themselves torn in between winning the race and assisting in a top secret mission.

Director: John Lasseter & Brad Lewis
Scriptwriters: Ben Queen, John Lasseter, Brad Lewis, and Dan Fogelman
Voices: Owen Wilson (McQueen), Michael Caine (Finn McMissile), Lloyd Scherr (Fillmore)
Runtime: 113 minutes
MPAA Rating: G (General)

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Animated family friendly 3D film

This computer generated martial arts action comedy film is the sequel to DreamWorks 2008 film Kung Fu Panda, full of emotional characterization surpassing the first film, the animation is next to perfect, the scenery, buildings, cities and interiors are all very detailed and colourful. The scripting, like the first part is funny and witty, and the action brings excitement, Kung Fu Panda 2 is even better than the first part, the story is as touching and the 3D animated effects bonds you with the characters even more, a brilliant sequel that kids and adults will equally love, I could not think of a better film for an all family cinema night.

Kung Fu Panda 2 inception had 3D in mind from day one and it paid off, it is worth to pay the extra money to see the sense the depth in the cities of ancient China in 3D, the green forests and the objects leaping out from the screen in the choreographed dynamic fight sequences, this film had $150 million budget, already recovered at the box office, and growing.

Kung Fu Panda 2 voices: Jack Black (Po), Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Jackie Chan (Monkey), Dustin Hoffman (Master Sifu), Lucy Liu (Viper), Jean Claude Damme (Master Croc)

Synopsis: Now known as the Dragon Warrior Po and protector of the Valley of Peace alongside his friends, the Panda comes across a dangerous villain threatening to use a secret weapon to conquer China, the encounter with this villain provokes Po some flashbacks as an infant panda cub, in order to defeat the new enemy, Po must recall all of his past and unlock the secrets of his mysterious origins.

Director: Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Writters: Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger
Runtime: 95 minutes
Rating: PG

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Rio (2011) 3D film

Synopsis: Rio is comical crazy animated 3D comedy that starts with a rare exotic blue macaw natural from Brasil named Blu taken to Minnesota where he grows up and is domesticated by a shy bookstore owner called Linda.

Years later an ornithologist will identify the macaw as the last male of his species and convince the owner, Linda, to fly with Blu to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil so that he can mate with a wild female macaw named Jewel and ensure the survival of his kind, that is where things will start to get complicated.

Review:Rio is a film from the makers of Ice Age, highly visual and colourful with rhythmic music and dancing, most of the film settings happen in Brazil, with a very typical Brazilian scenery, loose summer clothing, beaches, traditional Brazilian songs mixed up with contemporary tunes of artists like Jamie Foxx.

The vivid soundtrack greatly enhanced the story as it moves along, if you watch Rio in 3D you will also appreciate a constant barrage of birds flying towards the audience, the kids will probably love this, not sure about the adults, Rio story plot isn’t as clever as Ice Age but it is entertaining and the visual effects are better, a predictable animated film  with brilliant animated graphics and refreshing music, it is not a must a see movie but you will not regret having paid for the cinema ticket if you do.

Rio is released on 8th April in the UK and 15th April in the USA

Director: Carlos Saldanha
Producers: John C. Donkin, Bruce Anderson and Chris Wedge
Music: John Powell
Studio: Blue Sky Studio
Film Length: 1 Hour and 36 Minutes

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A classic love tale converted in a 3D kids film

The classic Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet makes for a funny animated comedy suitable for the whole family. This time it is two garden gnomes, Gnomeo and Juliet falling madly in love and getting caught up in a neighbours feud in between blue gnomes (Gnomeo) and red gnomes (Juliet) disapproving of their relationship.

The romantic couple will try to find a happy end to their mutual infatuation and avoid tragedy in a fun filled adventure that includes plastic pink flamingos and lawnmower races. Gnomeo & Juliet includes a great voice casting  made up of mostly British actors like James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Stephen Merchant.

The soundtrack song of this film is played by Lady Gaga, Nelly Furtado and Elton John. Gnomeo & Juliet is a very funny film suitable for all ages, kids will love it more than anyone else given the childish nature of the characters, garden gnomes, but the riotous comedy gags will make everyone laugh.

Official website: http://www.gnomeoandjuliet.com/

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Two years after Coraline first appeared in high definition, Universal studios is now releasing this film teetering between fantasy and horror in 3D. ’Coraline 3D’ is a fantastic version that will make many fans and 3D enthusiasts happy with the picture quality.

Bonus features from its DVD release have been ported to the Blu-ray 3D, such as audio commentaries, the making of Coraline, voicing the character and deleted scenes.  the disc also includes BD live connection to Universal Studios Internet portal where you can view various trailers.

Synopsis: Coraline is about a young girl who walks through a secret door in her new home and discovers an alternate version of her life – a better version. But when this wondrously off-kilter, fantastical adventure turns dangerous and her “other” parents try to keep her forever, Coraline must count of her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home.

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Walt Disney has announced a Diamond Edition Blu-ray and DVD Combo Pack of Beauty and the beast, with state-of-the-art picture restoration and 7.1 Digital Surround Sound.This 3D disc will include thematically linked 3D menus, 3D previews of coming-attractions trailers and an introduction to the eye-popping world of Disney Blu-ray 3D.

Disney’s animated version of the classic tale, “Beauty and the Beast,” is enchanting and paves its way into our hearts as well as making motion picture history, it has a brilliant animation and song, as well as some terrific voice talents.

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