Classic animated tale tops live-action film: Both ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ movies worth a view

I was raised on Dr. Seuss books, so naturally, I make time every holiday season to sit down and watch the cartoon and the live movie version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”.  With over-the-top costumes and a loveable bad guy, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is very entertaining. These films also remind viewers what the Christmas season is all about.

In the town of Whoville, Christmas is the most important time of the year, and when it rolls around, everyone goes crazy with Christmas cheer.  Well, everyone except for the Grinch, a hairy green Who that lives on Mt. Crumpet with his dog, Max. Cindy Lou Who, a young Who that isn’t quite feeling the Christmas spirit, does some investigation and discovers that the Grinch was humiliated as a child, which spurred his hatred of Christmas and the Whos. Cindy Lou befriends the Grinch and soon nominates him for Christmas Cheer Meister, which reunites the Grinch with many of his childhood friends and enemies.  As a final attempt to show his hatred for Christmas, the Grinch decides to steal all of the presents in Whoville and ruin everyone’s Christmas.

Jim Carry does a very good job portraying the sarcastic and misunderstood Grinch, while adding comedic relief through the side comments from the Grinch. A very young Taylor Momsen, who plays Cindy Lou Who, captures the innocence and childhood charm that Dr. Seuss intended for the character. The other cast members, including Jeffrey Tambor, who plays Mayor Maywho, and Christine Baranski, who plays Marth May Whovie, did a good job bringing the town of Whoville to life with enthusiasm and excitement.

 The costume design and set design of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is impressive.  While the costumes are very ostentatious, they portray the cartoon essence from the original book. The set design, complete with a giant Christmas tree and lots of fake snow, creates a sort of Winter Wonderland that is full of holiday spirit. The storyline is very easy to follow, and the viewer doesn’t have to think about multiple plot lines going on at the same time. 

If given the choice, I would choose the animated version over the live version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”. While the amount of holiday spirit can be overwhelming at times, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is a must see every holiday season. With a heartwarming ending and an amusing plot, this movie keeps the viewers attention.  This movie is perfect for young children and people who want to reminisce over a childhood favorite.

The live action “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” is rated PG for crude humor.

‘The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe’ makes perfect family film for holiday season

“The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe,” the first movie of “The Chronicles of Narnia” series based upon the novels by C.S. Lewis, is the perfect movie to enjoy during the holiday season.

When the four Pevensie children are forced to leave their home country due to airplane bombings in London, they are unsure of what is to come.  However, soon they discover another land, one just beyond the wardrobe. 

During a game of hide and seek, the youngest sister Lucy, who is played by Georgie Henley, discovers a wardrobe filled with old coats and mothballs.  The extraordinary wardrobe takes her to a mysterious land called Narnia. 

Narnia is full of extravagant and odd creatures.  Lucy quickly makes friends and shares tea with a faun named Mr. Tumnus, played by James McAvoy.  Mr. Tumnus is a slave to the corrupt White Witch, played by Tilda Swinton, who makes Narnia “always winter but never Christmas”.

Lucy leaves Narnia, only to find that her brothers and sisters, Peter (William Moseley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Susan (Anna Popplewell) are still playing the same game of hide and seek.  Lucy shares her adventure with her siblings, who doubt its authenticity.   

All four children travel back to Narnia and share many extraordinary undertakings there, come against the many problems the inhabitants face, and meet Aslan (voiced by Liam Neeson), the lion who guides them throughout their journey.

Narnia takes you on an adventure that is sure to fascinate you. It will capture you with its deeper meaning and excitement, and it is a suitable film for the whole family.

Scott Pilgrim movie takes the world

“An epic of epic epicness.” This is the slogan of the movie “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” based on the popular comics by Brian Lee O’Malley, and it couldn’t fit more perfectly. From the moment the video game spin of the Universal theme started playing, I knew that the movie was going to live up to all of my expectations.

The movie follows a 23 year old Canadian named Scott Pilgrim (Michael Cera) who is “between jobs”. He’s part of a band, the Sex Bob-ombs, and has a high school girlfriend, Knives Chau (Ellen Wong). His life seems happy and perfect until he meets and falls for an American girl named Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead). However, in order for them to be together, Scott has to defeat her seven evil exes, who include a movie star, a vegan bassist, and Japanese twins.

Filled not only with video game action and great special effects, “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” also has an amazing soundtrack and truly engaging characters. With songs from Metric, Beck, The Rolling Stones, and various video games, the movie is filled with dynamic sounds and exciting music. The characters are all believable, from Scott’s gay roommate Wallace Wells (Kieran Culkin) to my favorite character, the third evil ex and vegan, Todd Ingram (Brandon Routh).

All of the actors look like the characters they play down to a minute detail, which is a great bonus for fans of the comics. The actors also sell the characters’ personalities, truly translating them from the pages of a book to the big screen. Cera is believable as a young adult who struggles with life, Winstead plays the part of Ramona with a good dash of sarcasm, and Jason Schwartzman, who plays the last evil ex Gideon Graves, successfully conveys the evil aura of Graves.

As an added bonus for fans of comic books and video games, some members of the cast are from other comic book movies. For example, Brandon Routh plays the third evil ex. You may know him as the titular character from “Superman Returns.” Chris Evans, who plays the second evil ex Lucas Lee in “Scott Pilgrim,” also played The Human Torch in “Fantastic Four” and its sequel, “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.”

Over all, “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” is a funny, enjoyable movie for not only fans of the comic books, but for anyone who enjoys a bit of nerdy fun. If you want a movie with romance, action, comedy, and a video game feel, then this movie is a must see. This PG-13 movie is still showing in theatres.

‘The Last Song’

Julie Ann Robinson has done an excellent job with directing Nicholas Sparks “The Last Song” into a superb entertaining 107 minutes of drama starring Miley Cyrus, Liam Hemsworth, and Greg Kinnear.

I personally love chick flicks, but I’m usually very critical about any movie.  This movie not only had a great storyline but was also realistic, a huge bonus.

The movie starts out when an alienated teenager, Ronnie, (Miley Cyrus) goes with her brother to visit her divorced father, Steve, (Greg Kinnear) in North Carolina.  Ronnie meets Will (Liam Hemsworth) and goes through struggles with her father and ends up learning more about love, family, and herself.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys a good chick flick.  The movie also does a good job of following the original novel, with a few exceptions.  The soundtrack is also wonderfully made featuring Edwin McCain, Maroon 5, OneRepublic and Miley Cyrus herself.

‘The Santa Clause’

As young children, mostly everyone believes in Santa Claus and wants to be part of the Christmas magic he represents.  On Christmas day, children all over the world wake up and rush to see what Santa Claus brought.

“The Santa Clause” is a movie that will bring your childhood dreams back to life and will make you want to be at the North Pole. Director John Pasquin artfully brings to life the full magic of Christmas time as Scott Calvin (Tim Allen) accidently causes Saint Nick to slip on a cold, icy roof and plummet to the ground.  With this action, Scott finds a peculiar card that that he now has the job of being Saint Nicholas and delivering presents to every little boy and girl across the world.

 Tim Allen brings to life Scott Calvin as he grudgingly accepts the job and conquers the challenges on the way.  Special effects bring to life the movie as you slowly watch the changes from a skinny businessman to white bearded large man in a bright red suite.   The special effects are so realistic you can visibly see the beard growing right before your eyes.

The Christmas time excitement and feeling radiate from this movie as you think back to your youth and remember childhood experiences. The plot is easy to follow and is never confusing or outrageous and won’t cause a mid-life crisis with conspiracy theories.

The movie overall is good, but is somewhat predictable and can be boring at some points.  “The Santa Clause” is a good holiday movie that will bring Christmas to life.

‘It’s a Wonderful Life’

Filming a Christmas movie during the summer with 6,000 gallons of fake snow might be seen as a challenge for many actors, but the cast of “It’s a Wonderful Life” accomplished the task using foamite (a fire-fighting chemical), soap, water and a high-powered wind machine. And, of course, lots of Christmas spirit.

George Bailey, a frustrated businessman residing in Bedford Falls, discovers that $8,000 has disappeared from his family business and believes that he will have to go to jail. All of the other frustrations of his life pile on until he wishes he had never been born. His guardian angel comes to grant his wish so he can see what others’ life and surroundings would be like if he had never been born.

When “It’s a Wonderful Life” first debuted in 1946, the movie was not popular with critics or audiences, but was nominated for five Academy Awards, including James Stewart for “Best Actor in a Leading Role.” The film was quickly forgotten, shown on television occasionally in the late 1950s. In 1973, its copyright lapsed, and it grew greatly popular for the first time since its release.

This movie carries a great message: even when life seems to be trying, people should always remember that they have a wonderful life.  James Stewart (George Bailey), Donna Reed (Mary Hatch), Lionel Barrymore (Mr. Potter), Thomas Mitchell (Uncle Billy), Beulah Bondi (Mrs. Bailey), and H.B. Warner (Mr. Gower) portray their roles with perfect character and style, and writer Philip Van Doren Stern created a moving and well-paced storyline. With the perfect balance of humor, drama, and romance, the feel-good film leaves the viewer with a positive perspective on life.

Although it premiered 63 years ago, “It’s a Wonderful Life” is my favorite movie, and it has become a tradition for many families to watch every Christmas.

Originally produced in black and white, the colorized version of this movie are available locally at Hastings.

For “It’s a Wonderful Life” trivia and quizzes, visit  http://www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/movies/movies_h-k/its_a_wonderful_life_.html

‘G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra’

As I walked into G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra, I had no idea what to expect because I had never before seen a G.I. Joe movie.

What I found was an action-filled movie in which army men are attacked while trying to protect a case of new nuclear warheads.  The plot was fast-paced and fun, with a sub-plot of romance.  The movie was not in chronological order, but it doesn’t leave you confused.  It bounces from present to the past , although it clarifies the story.

This movie will be enjoyed by any guy who likes war or action packed movies and by girls who like Channing Tatum.  The movie was well composed.  The acting was great as was the sound.  The movie leaves you wondering what will happen next.

Click here for trailer