Overview: The Great Muppet Caper

cast/trailer/info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082474/

   This movie was G-rated and I rated it a 3/5 for cleanness, light humor, big song/dance sequence and simple story.  The deduction was that this was not my top 100, that it's not a film that people will go ohh...ahh, and it being a sequel (The Muppet Movie was first one).

  This movie starts off where Kermit is a private detective for a company and has Gonzo (Camera) and Fuzzy (news/note jotter).  But while working on a case they cause havoc and their boss gets mad at them.  He gives them a second chance by sending them to London to solve a case of some missing jewelry.
   Soon after arriving in London, they discover theat they have little funds left over for expenses and thus have to find a cheap hotel called the "Happy Hotel" to reside in.  Here they meet all their friends from the first movie (The Muppet movie), and a song breaks lose.
  After finding their residence, they start on their case by trying to find Lady Holliday (played by Diana Rigg), but instead mistaken miss Piggy (brand-new secretary for Lady Holliday) to be her.  Miss Piggy uses this to try and impress Kermit and get him to go on a date with her.  She also tells him a fake address where a funny scene with John Cleese happens.
   After this ordeal, Kermit and Miss Piggy dine out at an exclusive restaurant where the real Lady Holliday and her companion. a jewel thief, Mr. Holliday (played by Charles Grodin) are dining.  Soon a song/dance routine occur where Miss Piggy is the star and center of attention of this.  But soon after this, the lights are turned out and the necklace is stolen by three ladies who work for Lady Holliday.
   Soon after the lights turn out, Kermit and his gang (all the people of the hotel they were staying at wanted to meet Lady Holliday [the fake one but unknown to them] went to the dinner with him and miss Piggy).  Gonzo thought that he was able to get a picture of the criminal in the act, when the lights were out, so Kermit and Fuzzy and Gonzo all went to try and process the picture.  After processing the film, they discovered that they didn't get a picture of them, but since miss Piggy was in the picture Lady Holliday assumed that she stole it (they found out miss Piggy was a fake when they saw the real Lady Holliday at the dinner).
   After Finding out who the real thief was, from Gonzo overhearing Mr. Holliday and the three girls he was with, the muppets made a plan to try and stop the jewel thieves before they made their midnight snatch of the necklace.  Once the thieves arrived, arguments and fights occurred.  But after the fight, the muppets were able to retrieve the diamond and the thieves were apprehended.

Overview: The Muppet Movie

cast/trailer/info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muppet_Movie
info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Muppet_Movie

  The movie was G-rated and I rated the movie a 4/5 for being clean, G-rated, simple-songs, and involving the muppets, big bird, and some famous stars such as Richard Pryor and Steve Martin.  The deduction was for it being not in my top 100 and for some strange/odd parts of the movie.

   The movie starts out with Kermit singing in a pond.  He gets approached by a man who is a Hollywood talent agent and tells Kermit he should try out for a role where a frog is need in a movie.  So Kermit decides to go after some thought.
   Along his travels, he does some singing and finds Fuzzy the Bear at a type of Salon.  While there Kermit gets roped into a stage act but thankfully runs off before people start to attack them for their poor performance.  This is where they get "a bear's natural habitat, a Studebaker".
   After much driving they stop at an abandoned church where a band is currently playing (Animal is at the drums).  A song occurs here and Kermit and Fuzzy drive off on the road with a new tie-dyed type colored Studebaker.  While driving, they encounter other people who want to go to Hollywood, such as Gonzo (with his chicken), miss Piggy (at a carnival beauty contest) and others, Bird Bird travelling to New York and a literal fork-in-the-road.  Also at a fancy restaurant, Kermit meets Ruff and they do a song there.
   But things get more exciting when miss Piggy gets captured (by a man who wants Kermit to be his spokes-frog for his new restaurant).  Kermit finds the whereabouts of miss Piggy.  He happens to get captured but manages to escape by slipping out of his hand-cuff handles and electrocuting the restaurant owner.
   Once they escape they all board their bus (gotten from the band people meet at the church), they all head to Hollywood to try out for the audition.  They all go in together into the reception office and demand to see the man for auditions.  At this the receptionist, tells them that he is busy but barge into the big shots office anyways.  At this they tell him that they are there to be Hollywood stars and the big wig likes the group and ends up with them all being hired for a movie.
   In the End, Kermit and the rest of the muppets do a big song (in a giant stage) at the end which recaptures some of the best and memorable moments of the movie and leaves people with a happy smile on their smile (or a puzzled look).

Overview: 4192

cast/trailer/info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1663128/
Pete Rose info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_Rose

  I think that this movie was rated PG for references of language (but I could be mistaken) and I rated this a 4/5 for being a sports documentary, good narration of the life of Pete Rose and showing actual sports footage of his 4192 hit.  The deduction was for it being slow in some parts and not being on my top 100.

   This story starts off just telling about Pete Rose and his early life.  They talk about how he grew up in Cincinnati (Cincy), his father and their relationship.  Also they discuss how he picked up his 100% all the time attitude from his dad.
   Later in the movie they discuss his climb from the minor leagues to Cincy and how he made his Rookie of the Year debut, at 2B, on the same team as the great SS Joe Morgan and 3B Brook Robinson, and that later in his career got to play with C Johnny Bench and 1B Tony Perez.  This was when they were called "The Red Machine" and were winning world series in the 70's under Sparky Anderson.  Also later on in his career, he was traded to the Phillies and played with the great 3B Mike Schmidt (Pete played 1B and LF and RF [I think]).  Also they talk about how his popularity got him to be on commercials for Aqua Shave for several years.
   After winning a world series with the Phillies in the 80's, Rose was then traded to the Expos ands then back to Cincy.  While in Cincy, he became the player-manager.
   But the climax of the movie comes on September 11, 1986 (15 years before 911), where he gets his 4192 hit.  They show this clip in the movie as well as the reaction of the fans, his son and his teammates to reaching this achievement and beating Ty Cobb's former all-time hit record.
   The movie ends with the narrator (J.K. Simmons) talking about this great achievement and the other achievements of Pete Rose's life.  The credits show Pete Rose's career numbers and also which reords he holds in baseball such as hits (4,256), at bats, outs and many more.

Overview: Golf: Links in Time

Info: http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/183297/Golf-Links-in-Time/overview

reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_Majors
history of golf ball: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_ball
History of St. Andrews: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_and_Ancient_Golf_Club_of_St_Andrews
History of golf clubs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_clubs

   This movie had a G-rating and I rated it a 4/5 for being a sport documentary, informative about how golf became the game it has become today and its history.  The deduction was for being a little on the slow side and not being in my top 100.

   This movie starts off with a history of how golf became a game but first introducing the golf ball (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_ball; skip if went to link).  All that the movie went over is in the "History" part of this link.  But in summary, they used a stitched ball and after many different types of balls, and by accident, they came up with the ball that is used today.
  Also, they went over how the game of golf was just a hobby among elites at first until it became competitive.  This leads to more holes being made and then when more holes were made the elite demanded that they be more complex.  The most famous of these courses is the famous St. Andrews Golf Course (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Royal_and_Ancient_Golf_Club_of_St_Andrews) located in Scotland.  It is also known as the "Golf Paradise" for hard-core golfers.
  Throughout the movie they also went through how with each new golf course a club house had to be made, the improvement/changes (including limiting the number of golf clubs to 14 from as many as you can carry) and history/design of new golf clubs types including woods, hybrid, irons and putter, and the change of golf from a hobby to a game to a career.  This is were the introduction of golf events and major were introduced such as the four majors that are in golf today (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_Majors).  Also men such as Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus were talked about throughout the film.
   This lead into the discussion of how golf went from just a spectator sport to a popular TV program during the era of Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer due to their increased fame and famous duels.
   In the end, It leaves off talking about Tiger Woods and how he will become one of the best golfers of all-time (funny since we know the outcome).

Overview: John Carter

cast/trailer/info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401729/
John Carter info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Carter_of_Mars
A Princess of Mars book info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Princess_of_Mars

  This movie was rated Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action by the MPAA (Motion Pictures Rating) and I gave the movie a 4/5 for good depictions of Dejah Thoris and Tars Tarkas and many other aspects of movie, compared with book, and for staying fairly close to book (even though it was not the same).  The deduction was for depiction of John Carter (I imagined him smooth shaven), for having a Thern in the movie (when none are in the book this is based off of "A Princess of Mars") and for not being a movie I would put on my top 100.


  This movie starts off with John Carter (played by Taylor Kitsch) roaming around the streets to deliver a message at the same time Edgar Rice Burroughs (his nephew, also writer of the Martian books (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barsoom) is going to John Carter's estate.  But also the backstory of the villan (Tardos Mors played by Ciaran Hinds) and how he achieves his superweapon unfolds through the first few scenes as well.  While Edgar Rice is going to the estate, he is reading a letter, which will play importance later in the movie, that is from John Carter and is short and almost pointless (except for later in the movie).  When Edgar gets to the estate he learns that John Carter is presumed dead and that John Carter left some possesions to Edgar including a book (memoirs of John Carter's exploits to Mars; used in Barsoom books by Edgar Rice Burroughs books [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barsoom]) and his estate, which will be Edgar's after it is used for income the first 20-30 years.  Also, Edgar is told the John Carter has desired to have his coffin left with a door on the inside (find out why later in movie).  After receiving all these news, Edgar is left alone in John Carter's office and starts reading John Carter's memoirs of Mars.
   At this point, John Carter is played out and shows him on Earth, then going into a cave and soon after being transported unto Mars.  On Earth, Carter is a virginia millitary man with a fighter/never say die attitude that gets him into a lot of trouble.  But is still highly regarded as an excellent soldier and thus gets assigned a task which leds him into a cave, meets a Thern (Matai Shang played by Mark Strong) and gets transported to Mars.
   Once on Mars, John Carter realzies that he has super-powers (stronger, faster and jump farther due to the lower gravity of Mars vs. Earth) and is also confronted by Tharks (first introduced to future Jeddak of Tharks, Tars Tarkas voiced by Willem Dafoe).  They attempt to kill him since he is found near the nesting area of the Tharks but Tars Tarkas stops them.  This is where the first reference of John Carter being called "Virginia", by the Tharks, is played from through the rest of the movie.  But John Carter is soon captured by the Tharks as a slave.  Once among the Tharks, John Carter behaves brashly and almost gets killed several times if it were not for Tars Tarkas intervention, which leads him to be the owner of John Carter.
   But after developing the characters of the Tharks and John Carter's relation to Tars Tarkas, John Carter and Tars Tarkas soon grow to be friends, despite the Tharks Spartan-like beliefs.  But soon after this occurs Helium and Zadanga (Helium is lone remaining power against Zadanga, among the red-people of Mars; Tharks are green-men), engage in a fleet war with one another where the Tharks pull back to allow the "red-men to kill each other" but John Carter comes to intervene and rescues Dejah Thoris (princess of Helium, played by Linda Collins) from the Zadnagas.
   But despite these efforts John Carter and Dejah Thoris are both taken as slaves under Tars Tarkas ownership.  But before these two were to be slain Sola (his biological daughter; rare among Tharks [explained in books]), John Carter and Dejah Thoris all runs away to escape slavery with Tars Tarkas help.
   After escaping from the Tharks, Dejah Thoris leads them to a place Carter believes to be the Temple of Issus (discussed in movie as place where John Carter can get back to Earth from, but actually is not [learn later in movie what it actually is]; discussed in books as heaven for people of Mars but learn in 2nd book of Martian series "Gods of War" [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_Mars] that it actually is not).  But Dejah Thoris is actually leading them to her home of Helium, which John Carter and Sola learn quickly and cause Thoris to bring them to correct path to the temple of Issus.  But while on the path Carter and his companians are suddenyl attacked and thus must resort to escape where they are lead back towards Helium.
   On the way to Helium, Dejah Thoris and John Carter soon grow close to one another but Thoris is to be wed to someone else (this is due to the fact that the leader of Zadanga will use this marriage to save Helium and unite Zadanga and Helium together; Thoris is against this marriage but agrees only after her father tells her that is has already been agreed to).  Upon hearing about this, he decides to try and recruit the Tharks to help save Dejah Thoris.
   This attempt to recruit results in both John Carter and Tars Tarkas being thrown into a gladiator-type arena where he must fight to the death.  But instead of dying, they conquer all the creatures as well as destroy the corrupt leader of the Tharks and avenge the death of Tars Tarkas wife, Sola's mother (explained in books).  This arena fight leads John Carter on a frenzy to get back to Helium to stop the wedding and save Dejah Thoris and Helium from the clutches of Tardos Mors, Matai Shang and the rest of the Therns (holy men of mars; explained in "Gods of Mars" book, link pasted two paragraphs above).
   John Carter and his army stop the wedding in time and an all-out war against Zadanga occurs.  The irony of this scene is that the Tharks and Helium men are so accustomed to fighting each other that they almost kill each other instead of Zadanga (explained more in books).
   After the battle, John Carter and Dejah Thoris get married and the nation of Helium is saved from Zadanga but the Therns still live to possibly set-up for a sequel.  Also John Carter, involuntarily gets transported back to Earth by a Thern.
   This then leads back to Edgar Rice in John Carter's office where Edgar learns that the therns may be tracking him (the men following John Carter in the beginning) and that they may try to destroy his grave.  But Edgar finds a way to get to the grave and open the burial site to try and save John Carter's body.  Once Edgar opens the burial site, through the letter he received earlier in the movie, he soon discovers that John Carter's body is not there and before he looks all the way around discovers that John Carter has knocked out a Thern that was waiting for the burial site to be opened so that they could destroy the body of John Carter.
   After this event, John Carter tells Edgar the reasons behind the letter, how he faked his death and why he needed the door to be able to be opened on the inside.  This leads to John Carter picking up a portable device, from the Thern, that allows him to be able to transport back to Mars through some martian verbal commands.  Thus leaving the door open for a sequel based on the 2nd book of the Martian series called "Gods of Mars".

Overview: Hoosiers

cast/trailer/info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091217/
more info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoosiers

  This movie was given a PG rating (I think it was given this for the drunk man and his manner/state of being and  language).  I rated the film a 4/5 for being a sport film, having a happy ending and it being based off a real team (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Milan_High_School_basketball_team).

   This movies starts off with the hiring of a new basketball coach (Gene Hackman as Coach Norman Dale) to return a favor to a friend.  While visiting his new school he finds out that basketball is regarded as the supreme sport around the place in the small town.  This put massive pressure on the coach to turn the team around and make it excell.  While attempting to change the team to a winning program, he is meet with much criticism about his style of play early in the season.  This continues even after he starts to win a lot of games.
   But what complicates things even more is that he has fallen for a local women and a local drunk that causes havoc at almost every game.  But instead of making these challenges he uses these people to help make his team even better.  The local women is the guardian of a local basketball prodigy who decides that he doesn't want to play for anyone (the coach whom Coach Dale is taking over for was his mentor ans very close to him), whom allows the boy to play later on in the season (the boy decides to play for the team, during a town meeting to vote on firing coach Dale due to the coach's radical change of style from fast-paced shooting off to a defensive team that takes smart shoots (with only 8 players), and she allows it).  The drunk is the father of one of the basketball players on his team but coach Dale makes him an assistant coach to try and help him on the straight and narrow path, who ends up being a valuable asset to the team and gains the respect of his own son.
   With the prodigy boy on their team, the team goes through the rest of the season in sync and makes it to the state championship game.  While preparing for the game, the coach takes the team out to the court and shows them the largest stadiums these boys have ever seen by a long shot.  While the coach is showing them this, he takes a tape measure and measures the features of the court to show them that the court is exactly the same dimensions as the one back hone.  This helps calm the team down and prevails them to a close victory over a highly-favored and very large school.
   This victory not only brings a championship to the coach and his team, but also unties a town that was very much in need of something to be proud of.  Also the coach gets the girl, the drunk and his son plan on spending more time together and the coach coaches a high school that was 8x smaller than any high school in the history to ever to win the state championship.  The end shows the banner of the real 1964 team (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1954_Milan_High_School_basketball_team) that accomplished this same feat in just as dramatic fashion.

Overview: Mr. Moto's Last Warning

cast/info: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031678/

  This is a movie is the 6th of 8 Mr. Moto movies that starred Peter Lorree as Mr. Moto (9th movie didn't star Peter Lorre; http://www.drberlin.com/mr_moto.htm).  The Mr. Moto movies are based off of the Mr. Moto books (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Moto).

   It was not-rated since this movie was made before such standards were made but I would have to give it a G rating since it is a very clean movie.  I rated this movie a 4/5 for it's cleanness and good/simple story plot as well as having "Pee-ter Lo-rree" (how I like to say his name).  The deduction was for not being spectacular in anything and not top-performances from actors/actresses in the movie.


   This movie starts off where several people are on a boat having a good time but one of these people is actually trying to use these people to find Mr. Moto.  After several scenes and introductions of characters the man finds who people claim to be Mr. Moto.  He goes after Mr. Moto, with his henchmen who are all disguised on board, and get rid of Mr. Moto.  But they happen to get rid of the wrong man who was used as a double for Mr. Moto to investigate the henchmen and find out what their scheme is.
   Upon arriving on shore, the henchmen go visit a saloon where they hold their headquarters (upper floor).  In these headquarters the scheme of these henchmen is found out but not before one of the henchmen is found to work for the British Secret Service.  During the henchmen's stay Moto, while hiding and trying to listen in vain, meets with the British agent.  But this event unexpectanly results in the demise of the agent later when his identity is compromised.
   Also along the way Mr. Moto discovers a fellow, besides the British agent, who has been around these henchmen whom the real Mr. Moto (Lorre) uses to find out exactly what these men are up to and the specifics.
   Once Mr. Moto discovers that these men intent to cause a war for financial and personnel gain, he forms a disguise and discovers the warehouse in which the henchmen are currently meeting in.  But while in the warehouse he gets caught and must fend for his life using his jujitsu skills.
   In the end, Mr. Moto is able to narrowly put an end to the start of a war and saves the day once again.

Overview: Over the Jungle Trails

Extra info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Scott_Flying_Stories

  This story starts off with the author assuming that the reader has prior knowledge of Ted Scott, main character of the story, due to the fact that this book is the 10th of 20 books written by the author in this series.  But being a person who had never read any of these books before, I was still able to understand most of the book.
   This is a story about an aviator, Ted Scott, who is world-famous, known as the man who does the impossible like sail across the Atlantic, Pacific and everything in-between, on his way to visit a friend.  But along the way he happens to go through a rough storm and has a rough landing near the home of Grace Larue and her mother.
   Grace, hearing the noise, being stubborn to go out outside even against her mother's wishes, goes outside and discovers Ted Scott lying unconscious on the ground and gets her man-helper (person who does all dirty work around house or handy-man) to help her bring Ted Scott inside to warm and get healthy.  After Ted Scott gains consciousness he discovers the presence of the strange people around him but soon realizes they are the people who have saved him.  They ask his name and soon get excited over the presence of Ted Scott and ask him about all his adventures.
   He decides to stay several more days to get to know these people better and to thank them for saving his life.  When he gets fully recovered, he tells the people that before he crashed his plane that he was supposed to visit a friend and that he should be going soon.  But before he could do so he had to fix the plane and clear a run-way for him to take off on.  This was done through the generous assistance of Grace, her-man and the rest of the town once word had spread that Ted Scott needed help.
   Once all was needed to be done was done, Ted Scott thanked all these people and stated to Grace that if she or any member of her family needed help to telegraph him and he would be there.  Also he stated that if he came back that way that he would visit them again.  Soon afterwards, he took off to visit his friend.
   Once he landed and was able to meet his friend, several people came over and wanted to see and talk to Ted Scott but Ted Scott spent several days with his friend and their buddies from the days when Ted Scott was in the flight postal service (I assume from one of the previous books).  But while visiting his friend Ted Scott receives a notice from Grace that her father and his team were missing and she was wondering if he would be willing to help.  Ted Scott replied with a yes, accepted the challenge and assembled a team to go into Brazil to try and save her father and these men before it was too late.
   After many days of storing gas, rations, ammo, etc., Ted Scott was able to assemble a team of four of the best aviators that they had contact with, including himself, as well as get a ship to hold all these items and a total of 8 people, 4 people plus 4 to save, and head off to Brazil.  On the way to Brazil, Ted Scott and his gang encountered a vicious hurricane that they miraculously had escaped and landed in a "deserted camp".  This camp was not deserted but happen to hold the occupancy of two men that escaped from captive where they were able to discover the location of where the last two captives (Grace's father and a man who Grace adored) were located.
   While attempting to reach the destination, Ted Scott and his gang encountered a Snake, almost 100 monkeys, a native named Muri, hostile natives, a near crash due to powerfully dangerous flowers, and many other creatures.  When they arrived Ted Scott went in alone to the camp so that if they failed only one would die rather than four.  But while trying to find the captives, Ted Scott got captured himself.
   During his imprisonment, he was able to talk to the captive men, whom he looked for, and was able to devise a plan to save them all.  This plan involved a lot of risk and some lives being at risk.  But they would not have made it without the help of the native they saved named Muri, who lead them out of the camp to their plane and allowed all to be saved.
   In the end all 8 men were safe and were on their way to the states for a warm welcome and another flying adventure under the belt of the great aviator, Ted Scott.

Overview: The Warlord of Mars

Extra info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Warlord_of_Mars

  This book is the 3rd in the Martian series written by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  It starts off where John Carter of Mars is at the outer surface and has decided to go on a rescue for Dejah Thoris or princess of Mars, Thuvia of Ptarth and Phaidor, daughter of Matai Shang, all whom are trapped in the Temple of the Sun for one whole Martian year (630? days).  But he only brings his pet Woola (in cover picture above) for companionship and emergency support.
   While on his journey down to rescue Dejah Thoris, he discovers two men who hate John Carter, Thurid, black barsoomian in 2nd book and first-born as well, and Matai Shang, head of all therns (therns were holy men in 2nd book).  But after overhearing a part of their conversation, discovers that they know the way to the Temple of the Sun, as well as how to open it before the one year period, and decides to follow them.  While following these men to the Temple of the Sun, John Carter discovers men who try to lead him into a trap, but avoids it due to Woola's sense of danger, goes days without food/water and has to steathily manuever a water raft to avoid detection by the men whom he is following.
   While upon arriving at the Temple of the Sun, John Carter captured a thern disguise and was able to avoid much detection to the Temple.  But first he had to unlock a door with a 3-combination lock of Radium torches intensities (their equivalent to our flashlight) for desired time slots.  Once he picked the lock, he gained access to the Temple of the Sun but he was too late since Thurid and Matai Shang captured three women that John Carter tried to save (Dejah Thoris, Thuvia and Phaidor).  This lead him to the tower which caused him great misery.
   In this tower laid way to the evil men (Thurid and Matai Shang) whom held captive the three ladies (Dejah Thoris, Thuvia and Phaidor).  But to get in the tower John Carter had to try to solve an impassable door, climb the edge of the tower and reach the highest room where Thurid and Matai Shang were currently waiting.
   Once John Carter was in this room, he met not only the "evil men" but also over a dozen Thoats (big huge monsters that John Carter fought (in a cave with Tars Tarkas in "The Gods of Mars").  But then Thuvia reminded John Carter, with only a smile, that she could control the actions of these creatures and help John Carter escape this madness.  This allowed John Carter to fight off the men guarding these evil men but this only lead the evil men to be able to escape once more to a far away land in Koal.
   While trying to follow these "evil men", John Carter's ship lost control and he was forced to land in a thick, dense forest where many people roamed through.  But to his delight and surprise, he was able to fight off these men as well as a creature that was a very large bug that had stingers and was over 10 ft long.  After this fights John Carter meets a man named Tokkar Bar, Dwar (keeper/protector) of the Kaolian Road (road in forest but before Koal).  With Tokkar's help, John Carter is able to find his way to Koal as well as get a disguise that will allow him to blend in with the yellow men (thought to be extinct in book but fully alive and dangerous species of barsoomians (Mar's men like the red and green men discussed throughout).
  With this disguise, John Carter is able to go into the city, posing as a man who wants to gain membership into the royal guard of Koal, where the "evil men" have captive Dejah Thoris.  This is used to be able to give John Carter time to find Dejah Thoris and find a way to save her.  He tries to find information about her by going to local spas/baths and asking the servants/natives about her whereabouts, but also trying to be discrete.
   After many days, John Carter spots Dejah Thoris and the rest of the captives outside his temporary residence but she is unable to recognize him through his disguise.  But despite this when he saw one of the men holding her captive there squeezing the life of her, John Carter jumped from his place and choked the man who was doing the same to Dejah Thoris.  This only led to greater problems for John Carter such as the ruler, Salensus Oll, Jeddakk of Jeddakks, ruler of Okar, recognizing and desiring Dejah's hand in marriage and being thrown into the pit of plenty to suffer immeasureable toreture.
   But beng John Carter, he escapes from this torture with the help of a man who had the same kind of ring John Carter had (John Carter was given the ring when he got his yellow man disguise; the ring was one of only three in the world and would vibrate when another had the same type of ring, stating they were an ally) and helped him get out but making a path, with rope, that John Carter could climb to escape the city.  But upon his escape, John Carter had gone to the wrong path, rope had been severed off at 6-way crossing by enemy who found out about this rope, and thus led himself to a room full of men that he had to fight himself out of.  Once John Carter fought out of his mess, he was able to find the proper path designed.
   Surprisingly, along the path he discovered Tardos Mors and Mors Kajak (rulers of Helium that were deemed lost at beginning of book but that John Carter had wished to save along with Dejah Thoris and others, if he found them).  With this discovery he now had an army that he could use to go after Dejah Thoris and rescue her from the clutches of the "evil men".
   After many battles and having to hurdle many buildings and face Salnsus Oll himself, John Carter had rescued the fair hand of Dejah Thoris and won the war and title of Jeddakk of Jeddakks or WARLORD OF MARS.

Overview: The Artist

Cast/trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655442/
Plot summary: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1655442/plotsummary

   It was Rated PG-13 for a disturbing image and a crude gesture and I rated the movie overall as a 4.5/5.  I really liked the story, plot, camera shots and the gradual ascension from silent to sound.  Also, being a guy who really likes black and white movies and has seen several silent movies I think that this movie portrays, at least my view, of what I liked about the 1920's and 30's movies and what I think of when I go to see/expect from a 20's or 30's flick. The deduction was only because I don't know if I would put this on my top 100 list but that's the only reason I didn't give it a 5/5.


  This movie starts out with a silent movie star, George Valentine (Juan Dujardin), who has just watched and seen the reaction from the audience of his latest film.  Being the star he is, he spends many moments going back and forth on the stage and even has his dog do tricks on stage (I liked the playing dead trick).  He also teases his co-star (wife in the movie) by not allowing her to be on stage until the very last moment.
   Outside of the theater where fans are at, Valentine poses and talks with the paparazzi and by accident, trying to get her dropped item, an unknown girl (Peppy Miller played by Berenice Bejo) happens to run into Valentine and share a photo with him.  This starts headlines and controversy that allows her to go from extra on one of Valentine's movies to Hollywood starlet in a very short period of time (1-3 years).  But during this uprising she grows a fondness for Valentine that is there even at later parts of the movie.
   Later in the movie (several years), Valentine is shown into a screen room where he is shown a screen test involving the first makings of a talkie movie.  Valentine's manager (played by John Goodman) tells Valentine that the studio wants to invest in those types of movies but Valentine doesn't want to do a talkie movie.  This soon causes uproar and the eventual firing and decline of Valentine as a film star.  
   Although he has been fired and has been told that no one wants to see a silent movie anymore, Valentine decides to make and direct his own movie called Tears of Love.  In the movie, the stock market has crashed the day before the movie comes out meaning he has lost everything he owns.  So he must rely on the movie being a big hit if he has any chance of living the lifestyle he is used to.  But his movie debuts on the same day as Peppy Miller's, former unknown star who still has fondness for Valentine, movie.  His movie is a complete flop but Peppy Miller decided to see Valentine's movie instead of her own because she wanted to support his film and be able to catch another glimpse of Valentine.  To complicate things, his wife leaves him since he has become depressed and has stopped talking to her altogether, due to his recent film flop and the stock market crash.
   Despite through all the depression and financial woes Valentine goes through over the next 2 years, his butler (played by James Cromwell) and Peppy Miller stick by and try to care for him even when he doesn't want anyone to help him.  This leads to Valentine firing his own butler, due to not being able to pay him for over a year, partly due to his alcoholism; the butler decides to work for Peppy Miller.  During this period, Valentine sells all his possessions, that he hasn't already sold for alcohol, at a local auction where Peppy Miller uses her domestic workers (maid and I think butler [before James Cromwell]) to buy all of his possessions, which he finds out about later.
   After all this has taken place, he burns all his film, except one (accidentally burning down the whole house), ends up passing out and being saved by his dog, and then transported to Peppy Miller's house after she discovers that the film that the only film he saved from the fire was the first movie they ever were together in.  Awakening after resting a long time in Peppy Miller's house, Valentine discovers that Peppy Miller has taken the liberty to have him cared for at her house and has even vouched for him to be in a talkie movie (which he refuses to talk in any movie), while being glad to discover that his former butler now works for Peppy Miller.  
   While walking around in the house, Valentine discovers that she has bought all his possessions and that she is the one who has been trying to help him all along.  But being overrun with loss of pride and jealousy, he runs away to his burnt down house and decides to kill himself.  
   Peppy Miller discovers this and tries to drive (she drives as if she has not driven for a long time due to always having here butler drive her everywhere) and reach the house where she knows he is and tries to stop him from killing himself.
   This scene leads to a part of the movie where a "BANG!" flashes across the screen and the relationship between Peppy Miller and Valentine on/off the screen changes forever.

Overview: Outlaw of Torn

Extra info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Outlaw_of_Torn 

   This story starts off in a time where knights, chivalry and honor rule the courts and custom of the day but also where outlaws make a name for themselves.  A dispute between the English king, Henry III, and the French king, De Montfort, over their honor and over other comments not mentioned in the book occurred.  Being upset, Henry III decided to put out his anger on the fencing teacher for his children, Sir Jules de Vac, who was regarded as the best swordsmen alive, which involved insults and spitting on de Vac's face.  This very much upset de Vac, already had hatred towards his fellow king (Henry III), decided then and there they he didn't just want satisfaction for these insults but revenge beyond all others.
   Unsure of what his revenge should be, he spent many days pondering about and thinking what the best one would be.  All ideas were too simple or not good enough, so one day when watching the young prince, Richard, he decided that he would trick the gardener into lending him the keys to the grounds and capture the boy and train him to despise his own family and have this young boy destroy all of England.
   Once he captured young Richard, de Vac lived in an abandoned but extravagant palace to raise and train the boy for 18 years, in total isolation from the outside world.  One night when Richard was around 15 years of age, lost English soldiers came to the palace to ask directions to arrive to their destination.  Upon doing so they noticed that Richard looked very much like the prince that was taken away (by de Vac) around 15 yeras ago.  This concerns de Vac, but Richard is so well trained that Richard tries to and successfully fight off these three men with ease.  Due to this display, de Vac decides to further train him in Swordsmanship, French and hatred of English (this was his school/training all his childhood) more brutally to prepare him to be able to start the revenge and allow Richard to train his own army.
   So when Richard turned 17, de Vac (calls himself "father" of Richard, where Richard only knows to be called "son") goes along with Richard and one by one, battle by battle, they take people into their army; But they were only allowed under the guidelines of Richard being sole authority over the whole group and that no man may harm a women under pain of death.  During these battles/conquest, The outlaw of Torn never showed his identity in combat due to the warning/lie issued by de Vac that Richard's face was a monstrous face that people would not like to look upon (but was really to not allow anyone to recognize him as the long lost prince Richard).  This lead to the tall tales and stories people would tell who meet/saw the outlaw of Torn when relating the story to others such as he being the devil or the most fearsome creature one ever laid eyes on, etc..  After many of the conquest and adventures he set out with de Vac to do, he collected and organized an army of over one thousand men, all obeying his every order.  With this group of bandits, the Outlaw and his men pillage villages, steal loot, kill Englishmen but always leave the women unharmed.  His trademark was that he would draw in blood, with his sword, the initials NT for a name the outlaw gave himself, Norman of Torn.  Through the next couple of years, he would grow more mature, more powerful and by the age of 19 he was so well known that many people including the king of England had a price on his head.
   But later on throughout the book, The outlaw of Torn would meet a women named Bertrade de Montfort who would change the entire course of the book and the rest of his life and interactions with others as well.  It would allow him to make alliances, under the name of Roger de Conte (except for the priest), with the French king, de Monfort, friendships with a french prince and princess and a priest.  Due to these alliance and the threat of de Vac's revenge not being fulfilled, The Outlaw of Torn had to reveal his identity to Bertrade and the rest of his family as well as duel with de Vac himself at the end of the book.  This duel was a very climatic ending to the book that once a for all ended the revenge of de Vac, for better or for worse.

Overview: The Gods of Mars

Extra info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gods_of_Mars

   This book is the 2nd of the Martian series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the first being "A Princess of Mars", which is mostly about how John Carter comes to meet his future bride, the princess of Helium (Helium refers to a martian race of red-skinned people), Dejah Thoris.  The book originally was written as a 5-part serial series published in the All-Story Magazine from January - May 1913.
 
   This book starts off about 10 years after the 1st book where we find John Carter on earth trying to find a way back to Mars.  He happens to get back by an intense memory of the past regarding how he arrived on Mars as well as his desire to be on Mars which allowed him to basically transport to Mars.
   Through this he happens to arrive in a fairley deserted area where few men are.  While walking ans taking in the scenery he happens to come across on old green martian friend, Jeddak of Tharks (Tharks is race of green-skinned martians and Jeddak refers to highest military rank), Tars Tarkas.  While talking with Tars Tarkas, John Carter and Tars Tarkas discover some martian monsters such as white apes and creatures with many legs with sharp fangs along the way.  They  fight these creatures for hours on end even while seeking shelter inside a tree.  But during a dull time of night when the monsters fought no more but decided to place a siege on John Carter on his friend, John Carter found a route of "escape" from these monsters.
   Upon their "escape", the cave door closes and Tars Tarkas reveals to John Carter they have happened to slip into the path of no return or the path where the people believe they go to get to heaven (not easy to explain but basically a martian superstition).  They find out very quickly this is not the case.  As upon their entrance a voice warns them of instant doom and creatures appear from the dark to attack them.  John Carter being the true warrior, and Jeddak of Helium, discovers that the creatures don't come from thin air but from a trap door directly behind them that opens/closes through certain movements that John Carter and Tars Tarkas make.
   Once John Carter slips below he soon discovers that prisoners are in chains and trapped leaving Tars Tarkas above to fend for himself.  Once spotted, John Carter has to carefully dispose of several guards including one one whom happened upon a gun that John Carter was able to fend away and use himself.  Then happens upon the first time that the fair, beautiful Thuvia is introduced in the book.  John Carter frees the prisoners in chains but not before he is helped by Thuvia as how to properly do so as well as gain an entrance to the lower chambers to free the others.  But before he opens the chambers he opens the hatch that would led him back to Tars Tarkas to help him dispose of all the evil creatures above.  Soon afterwards they are both able to dispose of the creatures and head down below to the chambers and hopefully closer to their escape.
    Through this journey they go deeper and deeper into the Lost Sea of Korus in the Valley Dor eventually reaching the site of the Temple of Issus.  They encounter flesh-eating therns or holy men of mars, black barsoom or black men or Mars (long history of first-borns explained in book), Phaidor or daughter of Matai Shang who is father of the therns, a black barsoom named Xodar and eventually Issus (whom the black barsooms believe to be a deity instead of a wicked, old and deceitful women) herself.  Phaidor and Xodar became companions on their travel due to being saved by John Carter and owing their allegiance and lifes to him.
   But along the way John Carter, Xodar and Phaidor all become prisoners of Issus, along with a young boy that looks and fights just like John Carter, and are given only one year to live.  Due to John Carter's weightless mass on Mars, in comparison to Earth, he is able to jump out of the cages (open above) and memorize the guard routes and devise a plan to escape.  He does and is able to not only escape but destroy a large part of Issus's palace and save Phaidor once again.  Although they had escaped it took many hours for them to find Thuvia (who was later captured) and Tars Tarkas and to truely escape from the Temple of Issus to the outer world or Mars surface.  Upon their escape, John Carter finds out that this boy that looked and fought like him is his own son, Cathoris (from mixture of Carter and Thoris).
   Once along the surface of Mars, they are reunited with the people of Helium rejoicing in the arrival of their long lost son, Cathoris, and prince of Helium, John Carter.  But among the rejoicing news that Dejah Thoris left just days ago with her best subject, Sola, daughter of Tars Tarkas (because of events in 1st book).
   Despite the desire to rescue them, John Carter and his companions had to be tried for the charge of having gone to the land where people go to die (Lost Sea of Korus in the Valley Dor) and having come back (better explained in story).  This where an evil man named Zat Arras [rank not clarified but close to judge], due to his jealousy of the love of Dejah Thoris, ensured that a John Carter would be sentenced to death for coming back from the land of no return. But John Carter being a clever man asked that the sentence not be carried out until the powerful Tardos Mors or his son [ranks not clarified but close to rulers] returned from their trip.  Zat Arras agreed, due to fear of these powerful rulers, to allow this to be carried out which allowed John Carter to formulate a plan for his escape and rescue of Dejah Thoris.
   Despite the secrecy which his meetings had maintained, a spy of Zat Arras found out about this and imprisoned John Carter for almost an Earth year (330 days).  Zat Arras tried to allow John Carter freedom for the title of Jeddak of Helium (John Carter's title which would mean absolute and complete control of the armies of Helium) and for Dejah Thoris to never return to Helium.  John Carter of course objected profusely and so began John Carter's long imprisonment.  But at the end of his imprisonment, John Carter had managed to tell his son and loyal followers of John Carter where he was.  This lead to his escape and ability to command an army that consisted of most of the armies of Helium and Tharks to help in the rescue of Dejah Thoris.
   This rescue mission took several days and many men died on both sides of the battlefield but eventually he made it to Dejah Thoris and the Temple of Issus.  Upon the discovery of Dejah Thoris, John Cater and Dejah embraced one another a short time before she allowed John Carter to go back to the battle to get their son and begin their escape to the outer surface.   Upon arrival discovery of his son, they made their way to the chamber where John Carter had left Dejah Thoris but she was gone.  This lead John Carter to a mad frenzy and eventually having to physically hold Issus ransom to find out where his princess had been placed.  After exposing her as a fraud and getting the information he needed, he allowed the black barsoom  ,who were furious and angered over the deceit they had lived through all these years, to make quick work of her.
   Here he and his men went to the Temple of the Sun where not only his princess, Dejah Thoris, was captured but also Thuvia and Phaidor (the other women he rescued and who loved John Carter).  But all the time that he was there they were in danger of never being able to escape due to the flooding that was starting to occur but John Carter told his men to go while he would never leave Dejah Thoris.  After many back and forth debates between him, his men and Dejah Thoris telling him to go and save himself, the door that would trap the three female prisoners closed but not before John Carter saw a dagger towards Dejah Thoris and a shriek.  Despite his longing to find out he would have to wait another year and was prompted then to escape so he may be able to find out next year, "what was the fate of my princess, Dejah Thoris?".

Overview: Green Hornet

Cast/trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0990407/
Plot summary (no spoilers): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0990407/plotsummary

   This movie was rated PG-13 and I rated it a 3/5.  Rated PG-13 for sequences of violent action, language, sensuality and drug content according to the MPAA.  The 3/5 rating for the action, green hornet attire and KATO, GreenHornet's (Britt Reid played by Seth Rogen) partner/sidekick (Kato played by Jay Chou).  The deductions were that this movie had too much attempts at comedy (also language) in a movie that I think should have been mostly action and for Seth Rogen being a very annoying through the whole movie (I know some like that stuff but I like classic superheroes like superman, batman, spiderman, etc.).

   The movie starts off with scenes showing a sour relationship between playboy son Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) and his father, who happens to own a large newspaper company.  Also, there were scenes introducing the "am I scary?" villan of the movie (Chudnofsky later Bloodnufsky played by Christoph Waltz), where James Franco makes a brief apperance as the new upcoming bad guy of the area (Danny "Crystal" Clear). 
   After a little while into the movie Reid's father dies and leaves his entire estate, including his newspaper company, to Britt Reid (Rogen).  Because Britt despises his father and everything he stood for, Reid deicides to fire all his father's domestic workers/servants and ruin his father's company. 
   The next morning he realizes his ritual coffee is no more the same.  So he tries to find out who made his "perfect" cup because his life is "ruined" without it.  This is how he meets Kato.  Instantly they form a relationship together where basically Kato builds and make almost all the plans and Britt assumes that he is doing equally important stuff, but he is not.  Kato makes the car and outfits that they will use for the rest of the movie here.
   Reid soon decides that Kato and he should do something crazy, so he decides on stealing the head of his father's statue.  Upon doing so they run into a gang of men who just happen to work for the villan (Chudnofsky).  miraculously, Kato and Reid escape and defeat this gang on their first try (mostly due to Kato and his ability to make super quick decisions like he was in slow-motion).
   The next morning, Reid decides to run the company so he can control what people say about his and Kato's character's (Green Hornet and Kato).  Also they happen upon hiring a new sectretary that turns from temporary to permanent (played by Carmeron Diaz) because she would be able to help, without knowing, the Green Hornet (Reid and Kato) decide how to make sure that they are heroes and not considered villans.  She would be the one who researches and then relays her best guess at what the Green Hornet will do next.
   Through much of the rest of the movie, the Green Hornet duo make a name for themselves and Reid and Kato learn to deal and develop a better relationship with one another.  But due to this, the villan, Chudnofsky decides to place a bounty of $1,000,000 for their death or capture but prefers death.  Soon afterwards the Green Hornet duo finds themself in a trap but manages to escape by blowing up their own car.
  While being chased they end up in their own newspaper company where a final fight scene decides the who dies and who lives in the end.

Overview: Alice in Wonderland

  
   This story starts out on a warm summer day with Alice and her sister sitting under a tree.  While under the tree, Alice becomes very tired and suddenly sees a rabbit that is walking and talking in muttered terms.  Seeing that the rabbit has gone down the tree, and being the curious girl she is, she goes down the rabbit hole and soon starts falling but for a very long time.
   After she reaches the bottom, she soon discovers the rabbit again and begins to follow him.  She soon looses him but through discovery of a golden key on a glass table and a bottle that says "drink me" she makes her way through the room.
   Upon reaching the outside, Alice discovers the rabbit once again and follows him once again.  She discovers and talks to several animals she meets along the way including a caterpillar.  Then she goes to a home where people are first introduced to the duchess, cheshire cat and "pepper" cook.  Not much happens in the house except introduces the characters for later in the story.
  Alice soon escapes from the home but not before she encounters the cheshire cat, who like the movies, appears and disappears at will.  The cat leads Alice to the mad Hatter and the famous tea party scene, no unbirthday song.  Because they didn't make a good first impression with Alice,  she scooted away herself unto the Queen's palace grounds at the first moment she could.
   While in the grounds, she is first introduced to the playing cards (people working for the Queen of Hearts) as well as the Queen/King of Hearts.  By being innocent and a mere child, she is invited to play a game of croquet.  But this game is played with Flamingoes as the sticks that you hit with, hedgehogs as croquet balls and people as the poles you hit them through.  It is much unlike regular croquet due to the hedgehog always moving around to escape and that people don't take turns as well as the reasons stated in the previous sentence.  After the game, Alice begins to talk with the Queen and happen upon a story about the Mock Turtle (head of Cow, body of Turtle).
  Since Alice is unaware of such a story and being a curious girl, the Queen of Hearts tells the Gryphon (half Eagle, half Lion) to help Alice find the Mock Turtle.  Once upon meeting the Mock Turle, it tells its sad story.  But in between a discussion of "the lobster quadrille", which is a dance with lobsters and throwing them into the sea and going after them, occurs and gets the Gryphon and Mock Turtle in happy moods.
  After Alice has heard the story, she is brought back to the Queen's grounds where a trial about who stole the tarts? (silly I know).  Three witnesses are brought to the witness chair consisting of the the mad hatter, her cook and a surprise guest that shocks the whole court.
   Afterwards, Alice realizes something about the whole adventure which puts a twist on the story.

Overview: The Punisher

Cast list/Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330793/Synopsis (w/spoilers): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330793/synopsis
Polt summary (no spoilers): http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330793/plotsummary

   This was R-rated and I gave it a 3/5.  Rated R for pervasive brutal violence, language and brief nudity by the MPAA.  The 3/5 was for the good action, basis of a Marvel comic book character and followable plot of Hummurabi's Law or in this case family for family.  The deducations were for the R-rating and some what undesirable ending.

   The basic outline was that the "Punisher", an ex-FBI agent named Frank Castle (Thomas Jane), goes away to celebrate his retirement and celebrate with family and friends.  But unknown to him was that on his last mission the son of a powerful drug lord and corrupt businessman (John Travolta as Howard Saint) was killed.  So Saint decides to take matters into his own hands and orders the assasination of not only Frank Castle but also Castle's whole family (as wished by Saint's wife Livia Saint played by Laura Harring).  After taking out Castle's family, Frank Castle miraculously survives and seeks refuge with an off-shore fishermen while he recovers.  Once he does he rents an apartment where he spends most of his days drinking and most of his nights seeking revenge on the Saint's family.  But inbetween he meets and develops a friendship with his aprtment neighbors which gets put to the test towards the end of the movie.  Castle uses decept, manipulation, espoinage and a person on the inside to take down the Saint's family (and their workers) one by one.  The story has a short show-off between Castle and Mr. Saint at the end decides the outcome of the movie and what Castle will do for the rest of his life.

Overview: A Gentlemen's Game

   Cast list/trailer: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0260924/
   Synopsis: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0260924/synopsis

   This movie was R-rated and I considered it a 3/5 star movie.  Rated-R for language by the MPAA.  But I also think that a brief scene of a girl swimming without any clothes was another reason for the R rating.  The 3/5 rating was for it being a golf movie with followable plot.  The deuctions were for R-rating and bitter-sweet/sad ending.
  
   The basic outline for the movie was that of a young 13 yeard old who over one summer goes from "looper" (caddy) to golf prodigy.  Along the way he mets a man who was talented but had a tainted past with women along with a reason he doesn't play golf anymore.  This man, along with help from a caddie with no thumb, help develop the "prodigy" into not only a better golfer but a love for the game.  He also takes a liking to a girl, has a struggling relationship with his father and encounters a tragic evebt near the end of the movie.