Wow, it was six years ago today that I posted my first review here on Rotten Tomatoes. It was for the film Kill Bill Vol. 2 and the review wasn’t a very long one, but it started my obsession with sharing my thoughts online about films. What started out as short posts full of spelling errors and grammatical mistakes evolved into longer reviews still containing spelling errors and grammatical mistakes. I’ve had a lot of fun doing this, and I will continue to do so in the years to come. But there is going to be one slight change.

I’ve been interested in creating my own website where I share my thoughts and reviews of the various films that I watch. I recently purchased a web-domain address, and am working with someone to help develop the look and style of the site. I’m thinking that with everything we have to develop and put into the site, it’s going to be some time before it is up and running. So I will continue to work on my RT journal until then.

But where does that leave this journal when my site is up and running? I’m not fully sure about that just yet. I don’t want to abandon Rotten Tomatoes completely, since it is where I developed my love of film reviewing and where I’ve met a bunch of great movie-lovers (and friends) from around the world. But it does seem tedious to be balancing two different sites that are essentially achieving the same goal for me.

It’s going to be some time before my site is ready for the world, so hopefully till then I can figure out what I’m going to do with my RT journal. Till that day comes I’ll still be working on my journal here on the same regular basis that I’ve always done. I just thought it seemed fitting that on the sixth anniversary of my first movie review I’d bring up my future plans.

As far as new releases go tomorrow, The Lovely Bones is the only one that I’m interested in seeing. I’ve heard mixed reactions to this film, but I want to see it for myself to see how it is. I rented it off of Netflix, and hopefully it will arrive tomorrow.


On the 22nd, which happens to be Earth Day, James Cameron’s super blockbuster Avatar comes to DVD and Blu-Ray. Now, this is a film that I like and I will be buying it on Blu-Ray. But it also happens to be a film that I’ve grown bitter against, much like with The Hurt Locker. While I think both are exception films, it bugged me that both Avatar and The Hurt Locker dominated the majority of the award ceremonies a couple months back. Especially since there were so many other better films more deserving.

This coming Tuesday isn’t a very exciting one as far as new releases go. There aren’t any major titles hitting DVD and/or Blu-Ray, and there isn’t anything that I’m considering buying. But here are two titles that I will get around to renting.


I like the original Bad Lieutenant film, and I’ve been interested to see how Werner Herzog handles this film. It’s my understanding that Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans is a loose update of Abel Ferrara’s original film, and I’m curious to see how this film pans out.


I wanted to see The Collector in theaters, but it wasn’t playing anywhere near where I live. And then there were all the negative reviews that came in for the film, so that de-motivated me from seeing it as well. But the premise to the film is still interesting, so I will be renting this one on Tuesday.

I really should just put an end to this DVD/Blu-Ray Picks category, since I can’t keep up with it on a regular basis lately. Anyway, here are the new releases this month that I either picked up, rented or are recommending.

March 9th:


Up in the Air and Precious were both films that landed on my Top Ten Favorite Films of 2009 list, and both are certainly worth seeing. Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story was a film that I rented. I’ve grown tired of Moore’s methods of documentary filmmaking, but was curious to see what he had to say with capitalism. My review for that film should be up in the coming days.

March 16th:


Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, Astroboy and Bandslam were all films that I just bought on a blind whim. I’ve so far watched The Princess and the Frog, and found that I enjoyed it. I’m on vacation from work this coming week, so I’ll probably get around to watching Astroboy and Bandslam during that period. The Fourth Kind I rented, and disliked it. My review for that should be up in the coming days.

March 20th:


If you’ve read my reviews you’ll know that I’m not a fan of the Twilight series. Well, today marks the DVD and Blu-ray release of the second installment of the Twilight saga, New Moon. Not as bad as the first film, but still not a good film. Purely for fans only.

March 23rd:


I loved Fantastic Mr. Fox, so much that it was on my Top Ten Favorite films of 2009 list, and was disappointed that it didn’t do well in theaters. It was one of the best animated features of 2009, and one that I will be picking up on Blu-ray next week. See it if you haven't!


The Blind Side isn’t that great of a film, but it works well because of the strong performance by Sandra Bullock, who went on to win an Academy Award for her performance in the film. Worth a rental if you haven’t seen it already.


Both of the original Toy Story films are arriving on Blu-Ray and DVD next week, and both I will be picking up on Blu-Ray. I’m eagerly looking forward to the third installment of this series, and am gearing up for it by revisiting with these two films.


The Men Who Stare at Goats was a film I enjoyed, but I don’t think I will be revisiting with it anytime soon. It’s being released next week, and I think it is worth a rental if you haven’t seen it.



I’m going to rent The African Queen, which finds its first home video release ever next week. Regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, I’m curious to see why this movie is so well loved.


Red Cliff is a film that I’ve been curious to see, but I find its DVD release to be a little confusing. There are two releases of this film coming out next week. One will be the theatrical cut, and the other will be the full version of the film that will be split on two separate DVD releases. I’d like to see the full version, but I’m going to have to find the right time to watch a movie that is over 4 hours long.


Lastly there are the newest batch of 8 Films to Die For. I usually just buy all of the films, but this year I’m going to play it safe and rent each title instead since these films tend to suck the big on.

2009 marked the year that Pixar released their tenth animated film; and the first time one of their movies was shown in 3D. Like I usually have with the first viewing of a Pixar trailer I had my doubts with Up. The story about an elderly man who lifts his home off the ground with thousands of balloons, and then goes on an adventure seemed like a bizarre step for Pixar to take. Plus the film had what appeared to be an overly annoying kid join this old guy, as well as a talking dog. Talking animals typically spell disaster with most modern animated films.

Thankfully that wasn’t the case with Up. Any and all reservations I had with Up went out the window when I saw it at the movie theater. And since then the film has gone on to get better and better with each viewing I’ve had. At the end of the year, when I did my picks for the bests of the year, not only did Up become my pick for the best animated movie of 2009, it also ranks at the very top as my favorite movie of 2009.

It was great to see that a film whose principle cast is an old man, a little boy, a talking dog and a giant bird respond so well with audiences. Up has gone on to be Pixar’s second highest grossing film, right behind Finding Nemo. And it is so satisfying to see that with the change in Oscar’s Best Picture category, going from five films to a total of ten, that a film like Up is among those ten films. Not since Disney’s 1991 film Beauty and the Beast has an animated movie been up for the top prize. I know it won’t win, but it’s nice to see it recognized as one of the year’s best. 2009 was a great year for animation, and Up stands as the shining example at how animation can be used to bring amazing stories to life that work for audiences of all ages.