John Carter

This is the completed filming of the ever popular Edgar Rice Burroughs novel which started the John Carter of Mars franchise many years ago.  The first screen rendition was a direct to DVD production in 2009.  I didn't see that other version, but a direct to disc, well one has to wonder.

This film, Disney, of course took out all the nudity that ERB put in his novels.  They did manage to keep a lot of blood and brutality though, but on a par with Star Wars.  They also managed to de-villanize the Apaches who were brutal savages in the novel.

The overall look was kinda how I expected, though I have never actually read any ERB cover to cover.  By keeping a turn of the century scientifiction look it almost seems steampunk at times.

So, yes lots of fighting, lots of rebellious hero, lots of scantily clad maidens, lots of pulp SF in glitzy 3-D CGI where you just totally go with the flow.

One thing that irked me was the subtitles when Martian is spoken.  I was also tricked into seeing the 3-D version, but this one was very watchable.  I'm learning to not try to focus on the characters who are out of focus.

The Secret Life of Arrietty

So I first heard about this one a year ago.  I just missed seeing it in Taiwan, not that I had time to see films that week, but I did get the book.

I kinda knew what to expect of the story, just a simple tale, no big bug eyed monsters, no fast chase scenes, but it had it's moments of action.  The things  I really liked were the back drops and the music.  I'm not sure if the art in this is better than other Miyazaki films, because despite my best intentions I never got to see any of the others on the big screen.

I'd really recommend this one for big screen as it's visually impressive.