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Final Fantasy : The Spirits Within, a review by KinkyCyborg

Final Fantasy : The Spirits Within



Title:Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Year: 2001
Director: Hironobu Sakaguchi, Moto Sakakibara
Rating: PG-13
Length: 106 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Commentary

Stars:
Ming-Na
Alec Baldwin
Ving Rhames
Steve Buscemi
Peri Gilpin

Plot:
The year is 2065 AD. The Earth is infested with alien spirits, and mankind faces total extinction. Led by a strange dream and guided by her mentor, Dr. Sid, scientist Aki Ross struggles to collect the eight spirits in the hope of creating a force powerful enough to destroy the alien presence and pure enough to protect the planet. With the aid of the Deep Eyes Squadron, Aki must save the Earth from its darkest hate and unleash the spirits within. FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN is the groundbreaking new CGI film from the creators of the Final Fantasy Video Game Franchise.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Feature Trailers
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Gallery
Production Notes
Multi-angle
Music Videos
Storyboard Comparisons
DVD-ROM Content
Closed Captioned
Scene Editing Workshop


Film adaptation of the immensely popular gaming series, I did not see much of a resemblance between the two either in characters or story. It is however cutting edge CGI animation and it is stunning to behold.

I've never been a fan of the anime genre. Actually I shouldn't say that... I've never really given it a chance. If all anime were like this, life like in appearance with characters that look like real people I would likely watch more of it. I have no interest in watching the anime where all the 'toons' have big saucer moon eyes and triangular heads.    Just not my thing.

I found the story of this confusing, even when it was being explained to me near the end I still wasn't entirely sure what was happening. Something to do with indigenous earth Spirits clashing with alien 'phantom' Spirits with the solution being to collect 8 roaming spirits and channel them through the lead female in order to dissolve the alien 'ghosts'. Again very confusing but the spectacular imagery more than makes up for it.

I always have fun trying to identify the voice talent in animated movies. I was able to pick out Alec Baldwin, Ving Rhames, Steve Buscemi, Donald Sutherland, James Woods and Keith David. It was bugging me who was doing the voice of Aki Ross and was surprised that it was Ming-Na and not a more recognizable actress.

Had they stuck with a less complicated plot I think they could have hit a home run with this but if you leave the viewer puzzled it can detract from planned sequels (Advent Children).

I still haven't watched Titan A.E. and I'm curious to see how it stacks up to this.

KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on December 10th, 2010)

Gnomeo & Juliet, a review by addicted2dvd

Gnomeo & Juliet (2011/United States, United Kingdom) Trailer |IMDb |Wikipedia | Touchstone Home Entertainment, Buena Vista Home Entertainment Director: Kelly Asbury Writing: Rob Sprackling (Story By), John Smith (Story By), Andy Riley (Story By), Kevin Cecil (Story By), Kelly Asbury (Story By), Steve Hamilton Shaw (Story By), Andy Riley (Screenwriter), Kevin Cecil (Screenwriter), Mark Burton (Screenwriter), Emily Cook (Screenwriter), Kathy Greenberg (Screenwriter), Steve Hamilton Shaw (Screenwriter), Kelly Asbury (Screenwriter), Rob Sprackling (Original Material By), John Smith (Original Material By) Length: 84 min. Rating: G Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1 Subtitles: English, Spanish

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Stars:
James McAvoy as Gnomeo
Emily Blunt as Juliet
Ashley Jensen as Nanette
Michael Caine as Lord Redbrick
Matt Lucas as Benny
Jim Cummings as Featherstone

Plot:Extras:

• Scene Access
• Bonus Trailers
• Featurettes
• Music Videos
• Closed Captioned

While watching this one there was a few chuckles... but for the most part there is nothing special here. Matter of fact I had a hard time keeping my attention on it. Found my mind wandering to other things while watching. This one does seem to be geared more towards a younger crowd though.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched Discs on August 11th, 2013)

Pete's Pilots, a review by addicted2dvd

Everybody Loves Raymond
Standup comedian Ray Romano stars as Ray Barone, a successful sportswriter and devoted husband to Debra (Patricia Heaton, Beethoven) who must deal with his brother and parents, who happen to live across the street. Frank (Peter Boyle, While You Were Sleeping) and Marie(Doris Roberts, Remington Steele) love to meddle in his life, while older brother Robert (Brad Garrett, Suicide Kings) sometimes resents his success. Nevertheless, Ray manages to keep a bight outlook and a sense of humor as he balances his family and work lives.

Pilot
Debra is sick and tired of having Raymond's parents and his brother show up unannounced. With her birthday coming up they try not to let Ray's parents and Robert to come over, so they can have a nice peaceful birthday party.

My Thoughts:
This is a sitcom I always enjoyed. Sure I have seen better... but this one is well worth collecting. It was fun watching the pilot episode again after all these years. The kids really grew int his show. Not to mention you can see quite a bit of difference in Patricia Heaton compared to her new show "The Middle."

My Rating:

(From Pete's Pilots on January 25th, 2010)