Dragon Evolution

Director: James Wong
Cast: Justin Chatwin,
Emmy Rossum,
James Marsters,
Chow Yun-Fat,
Jamie Chung, Joon Park,
Eriko Tamura
Release Date: 10th April 2009

When I saw the title “Dragonball Evolution” on DVD, my thought immediately went to the manga animated series projected on TV a few years ago but the live action movie has nothing to do with it. Regardless of what some critics said about wasting money on making such a crap movie, I personally watched and enjoyed it. Of course the story is fictitious and unlikely to happen in the real world. On the flip side it does offer enough action and adventure to amuse teenagers as well as adults.

The Plot

World’s fate hangs in the balance. Demonic alien Picolo has come back to earth to destroy it. To fulfil his wish he has to find the seven mystical dragon balls, gather them and pronounce his wish.
The scene starts with the young, charming and good looking Goku (Jusitin Chatwin) fighting hand to hand on an elevated rope with his grand-pa Gohan. He has all features of a young energetic boy to please girls but mission awaits ahead-He has find the seven dragon balls and stop Picolo’s evil plan to destroy earth.
Goku spent his entire life with his grandpa and is very attached to him. On his eighteenth birthday Gohan gives him a dragon ball and tells him that he has to find another six like that and pronounce a wish. A bit later Gohan dies and Goku is left alone to face his destiny. Does he take matters in hand or will he retract face to the challenge. As mentioned earlier the story does not stand out “from the crowd” compared to other action/adventure movie but what I like is the philosophy in it.
Life is a battle ground. What do we do when we have a mission to fulfil and that every step is loaded with adversities? When suddenly we don’t know where to begin with, what to do and that the only close parent we have suddenly disappears leaving us to confront ourselves and our destiny. We have a choice in life either to be strong and carry on or we quit. Goku suddenly loses his grand pa and has no one to guide him. He nevertheless has to move on with his life and fulfil his mission. In the middle of the crisis he takes a step of faith and decides to carry on, something he learned from Gohan. His determination leads the way. He must the find the remaining dragon balls. Our parents are our guide and teacher who give us all the love, support, training and advice we need to go through the storm of life. From a very young age they teach us about the pros and cons of life and help us to make as much as possible the right choice for our life. They transmit knowledge and spice it up with words of encouragement. Goku had grandpa Gohan to guide him. He’s been trained and prompted each time with word of encouragement. “You must have faith”. Does he apply the teachings in his life or does he follow his own way. In fact he listens to grandpa and acts accordingly in front of each obstacle.
Achievements in life are not given on a golden plate but on the battlefield. Every task we undertake is a challenge and very often we lack patience and motivation especially when things stir up and turn bitter. Instead of persistence we become impatient, lose faith and get off track- mission unfulfilled.
Heaven favours the brave. In the middle of the fight it seems that Goku loses ground and goes towards his own destruction but he keeps his faith and does not get off track, he fights, stumbles and fails not once but a few time. Adversity hits hard but he does not quit. At this stage we see the fighter who regardless of difficulties, decides to fight with all his energy. To encourage himself he memorises grand pa words and fights back. He ends up a conqueror.
Dear reader nothing is easy in life. The bible says something like that: “let’s fight the good battle of faith”. That’s just a movie for kids but what you learn from it is the bravery, patience and determination of a young kid.
Are we going to take his example and apply it in your life? I learned from that movie.

Buy a DVD here:Dragonball: Evolution

Skykids or Flyboys

Director: Rocco Devilliers
Stars: Reiley McClendon, Jesse James Stephen Baldwin, Tom Sizemore.

Sky kids or flyingboys: The title does not appeal much to you but yet the story is one of friendship, passion and bravery.
Looking at the cover and title in the rental shop the other day, I was wandering whether I did the right choice to spend Sunday evening watching Sky kids. At first I thought that would be too childish and boring a movie. I nevertheless took it to watch. I can tell you that I was not at all deceived and strongly enjoyed that movie.

"Sky Kids" or "Fly Boys" is just a sweet and cool story of common issues and adventures which happen with kids in their daily life. It has a touch of exaggeration but the scenes and actions prove that you don’t need a den full of electronic gadget and sophisticated computers to create fun and adventure to captivate the audience.
Kyle lives with his single mother in a motel, he has a father "somewhere" and does not bother much he loves his mum and he is happy. He is new in Town and also his first day at school. He does not talk much and looks shy but when one of his classmate Jason (jesse james) is bullied by one of the resident bully and his trash brother, he comes to his rescue. Surprisingly and fearlessly beats them up and saves Jason. The latter is amazed to see such bravery and a fresh relationship starts between the two. Again when chased all over town by both the “bully” brothers, Kyle with his new pal Jason, made an impossible bike jump over a creek.Jason has a strong passion for planes. After his first plane ride with his uncle Ed, he and Kyle decide to go back to the airfield run by Jason’s uncle the next morning and sneak into a jet. Unexpectedly the plane takes off to go “somewhere”. On their return the kids discover a bomb in a bag left in the plane and no pilot on board. One more time they demonstrate bravery. Jason has some knowledge of flying and this time takes the command and instructs Kyle to follow. They manage to land the plane safely and surely. Suddenly they become the centre of attention on newspaper and TV.



The resulting media frenzy leaves Mafia boss Angelo (Tom Sizemore) surprised to see why two kids are flying his plane. He sends his men to capture and bring them to his place. It turns out that Sylvio, Angelo’s brother and his lowlife accomplice Lenny, plot together to rip off Angelo. The plot fails and everyone wants to know whether the kids have any information on who started the plane which headed off to “nowhere” with no pilot on board.

A walkie-talkie is the key element which unveil the secret about the culprit. One more time Kyle and Jason run for their lives...

Great camera and special effect at work to leave you breathless when the kids are alone in the plane but forget about booming soundtracks. This movie is about two lovable kids, friendly and good hearted who enjoy life and do their own things, get involved in difficult situation, face challenge and are happy no matter the difference in social background.

Wall-E

I watched Wall-E for the first time yesterday. The first 20minutes I was presented with a picture of boredom, simplicity and complexity mixed together. It’s a silent movie including a robot with a pair of binoculars perched on a metal box wheeling around cleaning up an inhabited town that‘s all. But little by little I discovered and appreciated the marvellous work of imagination of Pixar. In fact it has a great message.

The gentle, smiling little robot is Wall-E. His daily routine consists of sweeping garbage, compacting them and stacking them in heaps. He is followed by a lonely cockroach whom he befriends. For how long he does that and where he started we don’t know; but looking at the stacked garbage which has reached skyscrapers level give us an idea that this has been going on for quite a while. Wall-E has a taste for particular objects which strike his fancy. While cleaning he picks up items which seems interesting here and there . For instance he picks up a round “attractive lid” which he decides to keep and a blue box containing a diamond ring. He throws the ring and keeps the box leaving us smiling. Robot thing isn’t! We love diamond rings and Wall-E loves the blue box. His pass time is spent in his ramshackle headquarters watching replays of Hello Dolly, suspecting that there is a lot to learn from humans.


He is later joined by Eve another robot dropped on earth by a spaceship. Eve is an investigator, her mission is probably to analyse earth condition to see if humans can live in it again. In the meantime Eve and Wall-E become best friend and wall-e falls for her. Mission accomplished eve has to leave as the spaceship has come back to take her. Madly in love now, wall-E will cling to the spaceship to follow Eve.
Back in space the world of Eve, Wall-E discover a different life. There millions of people live in an luxurious orbiting space, piloted by an obese commander who spends his life in idleness among the passengers. Humans are served by sophisticated auto programmed robots purposely for that task. People’s lives are so wealth off that they can hardly move on their own and they are all obese.

This is ironic. The movie is in fact a prevailing fear to show that we are so damned consumed by latest technology that our planet could be at risk. Our rampant consumption, capitalism and competition, our futile selfish greediness to live in a luxurious world will bring our planet to its knees. So to speak.
Besides when humans are so absorbed by futility and turn crazy to the point of putting an end to civilisation, will robots be more intelligent and take over. Can wall-E restores life on planet earth and teaches us that they are now better than us because they can think wisely and find new solutions to tackle problems?Wall-E (Two-Disc and BD Live) [Blu-ray]

Race to witch mountain

Cast: Jack Bruno(Dwayne Johnson), Sara(AnnaSophia Robb), Seth(Alexander Ludwig),
Major Henry Burke(Ciarán Hinds) and professor alex(Carla Gugino)

Jack Bruno (Dwayne Johnson) is a cab driver in Las Vegas. One morning he is shocked to see two kids Seth and Sara seated at the back of his car. They seem to be in a hurry and tell him to drive to a specific location. They present a big amount of money to convince him, Jack is not interested in the money but the kids arouse his curiosity so he agrees.Watch a trailer here

They arrived at an old house in the middle of nowhere. The place and the house is unusual. Why would two kids want to go there? Jack’s curiosity and concern lead him to follow them.
The kids are looking for a device and encounter a few issues with an alien called “Siphon”. Siphon is here on planet earth purposely to target and destroys the kids Seth an Sara.

Jack, even though does not understand what’s really going on, is determined to offer his help and protection to the two. The lives of all three is now a race. On their way Seth and Sara tell Jack that they are aliens and they explain their mission on planet earth.

On the other side Major Henry Burke a government agent and his team are searching for two aliens and somewhere he knows that they are friends to Jack and he pursues and bullies him each time to snatch the kids from him.

In fact the two aliens planet is dying and the government of that planet wants to invade the earth to save their own planet and continue to live. The kids mission on earth is in fact to prevent this to happen. The device they now have in their possession is an experiment conducted by their parents to save their planet and having found it they have to take it quickly home.
The old house to which they went to search the device is in fact the location where the kids’ parents conducted this experiment.

There is one big issue to overcome though. It’s to find the spaceship of Seth and Sara. They don’t have any clue about it but the cab driver knows one of his client namely professor Alex Friedman a failed scientist who is delivering a speech at a conference on legitimate scientific theories of UFOs and outer space. They are now joined by the professor and Seth and Sara discover that their crashed spaceship has been relocated to a government based at Witch mountain. The group head to witch mountain, once there the kids are unfortunately captured and brought to the laboratory for experiment. In the meantime Siphon arrives to the base creates distraction and allows the humans Jack and professor Alex Friedman to free the kids.
The team together with the humans launch the spaceship and escape through the tunnel of witch mountain. Siphon is defeated and destroyed and Seth and Sara drop off Jack and professor Alex. All four share a tearful goodbye and Sara gives Jack the power to read minds. Honesty the movie is just OK but for those who like Sci-fi movie, it’s a good one. Well since I was a small girl I was and am still fascinated with science and outer space.

My own interpretation is that it seems that Hollywood is trying to make people understand that UFO and aliens do exist and that the US government knows something but they hide the truth from the world. At a given point in the movie Dr Friedman will tell major Henry Burke that the world should know what’s going on.

It is may be foolish on my part to say so but if aliens are controlling the world, then all the chaos in the world could be directly related to them. Is planet earth controlled by aliens? If they have a different name, are they devils because this reminds me of the biblical passage in the bible:
Ephesians 6:12: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms;

Who are the spiritual forces in the heavenly realms. Alien? Devil? Have we ever thought about the connection between the two or are the same?

Garfield Fun Fest

Garfield Funfest ideal for kids around five to 8 years old. It’s a new fresh day for Garfield and his fellow friend Odie the lovable dog. Garfield is preparing himself for the annual talent show which takes place each year. He and Arlene his girl always perform together and win each time but this time things are different and Garfield refuses to dance with his girl thinking that he is not hilarious anymore to win this time.
He wants to try something new as he is not convinced that this time he will win. He and Odie therefore sets off in search of the funny water. According to him if he drinks enough of the funny water he will turn to be funny again. After a difficult journey he meets with the funny frog who challenges him on his funny character but Garfield not knowing that he is being tested, insists to find the funny pond to be able to drink the funny water.

Funny frog does not prevent him but he will lead him to the funny pond so that he can drink the funny water and be funny again. Having drunk the funny water Garfield thinks that now he is funny again but Funny frogs warns him that he is not ready to perform. Back to the studio things are going smoothly in the show and people are happy of the performance of the new cat. Seeing that Garfield is upset and does not want to perform. He goes outside and is met again by funny frog who convince him that he can perform and that every thing is in his head…

This amazing and relaxing cartoon has got a message for everyone. The funny pond is the golden plate that Garfield and other people think they should have to start doing something good. Like Garfield many people still wait for something magical to happen for them to start afresh when in fact decision is in our hand. Ideal for kids below 10years old.

Why I created this blog

When I was working as a Sales Assistant for the now deceased Xtra-Vision movie rental shop in Ireland, customers would come to the counter for advice concerning kids movies. They wanted to know whether those movies were suitable and did not contain any F words or graphic of violent nature for their children to watch. They would spend long hours in front of the kids ' movies section trying their best to pick the right movie. I realised there was a need there and that was what gave me the idea to start this blog.

Being a fan of animation myself, I decided that it would be wise to start watching kids movies, and provide information, helpful enough for you to decide on your choice of animation.

Many years back, DC comics, cartoons and the likes were really entertaining and "safe." Although there are still good animated movies out there, nowadays animation has taken a different twist. They contain F words, graphics of violent nature, horror scenes to frighten kids and sometimes ironic messages with many meanings- the Simpson for example.

Therefore parents if you don't know which movie to choose you can come here and get an overview  of cartoon and kids movies available for your kids. This blog will be updated on a regular basis each week.

Space Chimps Review

When I watch CGI animation now, it seems to me that the producers, directors… the people involved in Hollywood /blockbuster are not only entertaining people for commercial purposes or simply creating a fantasy world for dreamers (like myself ) but they themselves dream of a world where animals could think, talk and do the things human being does and delight in it.

In Space Chimps, three chimps are involved in a mission in outer space to recover one of the expensive satellite probe which got sucked through a black hole. I’m amazed with one thing here is that the chimps are presented as knowledgeable fellows who are already used in dealing with human affairs rather than wild animals who have just been captured and need training.
One is Luna the headed level beautiful chimps who takes her mission seriously, the other one is titan who plays the macho man, mature and sure of himself and the youngest , Ham III whose grand dad was already an “ape-stronaut”.
Being involved in the show business, Ham III is a cool guy who handles matters in a more relaxed way compared to his two apes mates. He is a bit reluctant to be part of the mission but will nevertheless comply and will continue to behave in an entertaining manner while performing well in space.

During the trip their spaceship also gets caught by the black hole and they land on the same planet where the lost space probe crashed.

There the dictator Zartog rules everyone and promises to dip them into a kind chemical liquid which freezes anyone who comes into contact with it in case they disobey him. The chimps, clever than we think will unveil their “savoir faire”, defeat Zartog and bring the space ship back to earth safely.

Titan the macho chimps uses his witty spirit to fool Zartog and avoid the chemical liquid. Meanwhile Ham III lost in his quest for a bit of adventure together with Luna will demonstrate his talent and also his witty spirit as a chimp to escape all the dangers of the jungle. This is an ironic situation, Luna a chimp does not know how to behave in the jungle. She cannot swing among trees and is helped by Ham III who guides her all throughout the way.

Reunited, the three chimps with the help of the habitants of the planet will rebuild the space probe and will return to earth safely.
The message in this CGI animation is one of courage, “savoir faire” determination and faith. The chimps have no problem to go into space. They have a mission and will fulfil it no matter the odds. Guided by their own instinct they deal with situation perfectly without fear, even if its not the jungle but technology involved. They are not afraid of Zartog and find no problem to repair the space probe and take it back to earth. Apart from what is said this is a very entertaining movie and parents feel safe to allow your kids to watch the movie.#

What have we learned 
This is about team spirit, three monkeys with different personalities who react differently when faced with the same situation yet they are determined to fulfil their mission. They put aside their differences and work together. When the Babylonians were building the tower of Babel, even God said that “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.…" (Genesis 11:5). Notice He says "as one people" to highlight their team spirit. United they are strong and no one could stop them from achieving their goal - that of building a tower whose top would reach the heavens. 

No matter what it is that you are building in life, what's your plan or project you are working on, fighting with one another when facing odds leads to nowhere, or if it does then, it leads to regression. Putting aside our differences, and putting our minds together to find the right solution is the way to go to bring "the spaceship back to earth."