David Vaughn

David Vaughn | Apr 11, 2011 | 0 comments

Once one of the world's top crime fighters, Bob Parr (a.k.a. Mr. Incredible) fought evil and saved lives on a daily basis. But 15 years later, he and his wife Helen (the former Elastigirl) have been forced to take on civilian identities and retreat to the suburbs. Itching for action, Mr. Incredible gets his chance when a mysterious communication summons him to a remote island for a top-secret assignment.

Pixar has quite a track record with its films, and this is one of their best. I love how they take something from our society (rampant personal injury lawsuits) and weave it into a story about superheroes that can no longer practice their craft because someone gets a sore neck when being saved from certain death! The cast is brilliant here with Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter as the husband and wife crime fighting team along with Samuel L. Jackson as Lucius Best/Frozone.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

A.I. Artificial Intelligence

David Vaughn | Apr 08, 2011 | 1 comments

In the future, the polar ice caps have melted, the sea waters have flooded coastal cities, and you must obtain a license to have a child. Science has evolved to the point of creating artificial beings, called mechas, to serve humans and preserve precious natural resources. One such mecha, David (Haley Joel Osment), is the first of its kind; an artificial kid that can give and receive unconditional love to his adoptive parents.

Of all of Spielberg's films, this is probably my least favorite. Its pacing is horrendous, it runs much too long at 145 minutes, and its last 40 minutes are a bizarre waste of time. While the acting and special effects are very good they can't overcome the boring second act and the horrendous ending(s).

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Little Fockers (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Apr 06, 2011 | 0 comments

After his brother-in-law ruins his marriage with his philandering ways, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is his father-in-law's (Robert DeNiro) last hope to assume the role as the family patriarch (aka, "The Godfocker"). When a beautiful pharmaceutical rep (Jessica Alba) enters the scene, Greg must repel her sexual advances in order to keep his marriage sacred and not lose the new found admiration from the family patriarch.

After being skewered by critics in its theatrical run, I had extremely low expectations for the third installment of the trials and tribulations of Greg Focker. While it doesn't measure up to the first film (or the second), there are quite a few laughs, especially when Stiller and DeNiro share the screen together. Unfortunately the screenplay doesn't flow very well and I expected to see more of the kids given the title of the film, but their time on screen is very limited.

3D Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Tron / Tron Legacy 3D: Two Movie Collection (Blu-ray/Blu-ray 3D)

David Vaughn | Apr 04, 2011 | 0 comments

When Sam (Garrett Hedlund) was seven years old, his father (Jeff Bridges) left for work one night and was never seen again. Some thought he couldn’t handle the pressure of being CEO of Encom and fled the country, but little did anyone know he had left our world and was trapped in a digital realm he had created. Now 20 years later, Sam is sent to his father’s old shop to investigate a mysterious page from the abandoned building. It’s there he discovers a hidden room and before he knows it he’s transported into a digital reality he must join forces with his father in order to defeat a rogue program that has overtaken the digital paradise.

I was 13 when I first saw Tron and was disappointed with the story, although I was a huge fan of the video game. The technology talk in the script went over my head because I didn’t discover computers until a couple years later. Surprisingly, the film holds up quite well by today’s standards if you discount the rudimentary special effects and my kids and I really enjoyed it a lot (although my wife fell asleep).

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Stand By Me (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Apr 01, 2011 | 0 comments

During the Labor Day weekend in 1959, a group of friends go in search of a young boy's dead body on the outskirts of a woodsy Oregon town. The two day trek turns into an adventure of self-discovery as Gordy (Wil Wheaton), Chris (River Phoenix), Teddy (Corey Feldman), and Vern (Jerry O'Connell) must overcome some town bullies and find an inner strength they never knew they possessed.

Based on the Steven King novella "The Body," Stand by Me is one of my favorite films from my high school years. Director Rob Reiner takes you on a wonderful journey and reminds me of some of my own adventures (although I never went looking for a dead body). The performances from the young cast showed each had the talent to become Hollywood stars, but Phoenix threw it all away with a drug overdose in 1993.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

The Ten Commandments (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Mar 30, 2011 | 0 comments

In this beloved Biblical epic, Moses (Charlton Heston), once favored in the household of the Pharaoh (Yul Brynner), turns his back on a privileged life to lead his people to freedom with the help of God and his Ten Commandments.

Few motion pictures in the history of Hollywood reach the heights of this masterpiece. Cecil B. DeMille's last picture made Charlton Heston a superstar and holds up extremely well 55 years later. Filmed in Egypt and the Sinai with one of the biggest sets ever constructed, the special effects seem rudimentary today, but they look fabulous when put into the proper historical context.

3D Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Tangled 3D (Blu-ray 3D)

David Vaughn | Mar 28, 2011 | 5 comments

Pursued by the King's troops, Flynn Rider (voice by Zachary Levi) takes refuge in a mysterious tower, but he's not alone. Before he knows it, he's tied to a chair by Rapunzel (Mandy Moore), a spirited teen with 70 feet of magical golden hair. Looking for her ticket out of the tower she's been trapped in for years, she strikes a deal with the handsome thief, and the duo set off on an adventure pursued by a determined horse, a pair of thugs, and an evil woman who doesn't want to lose her fountain of youth.

This is Disney's 50th full-length animated feature, and while I wouldn't consider it to the level of The Lion King or Beauty and the Beast, it's very entertaining. There are a lot of laughs, especially from the horse and overprotective chameleon, but the musical numbers are a mixed bag.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Skyline (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Mar 25, 2011 | 2 comments

A birthday weekend in Southern California goes off the tracks when sunrise arrives two hours early while a mysterious light source draws unsuspecting humans outdoors and are swept into massive alien ships that have appeared over the Los Angeles skyline.

There are a lot of bad movies that come out of Hollywood, but Skyline may be the worst I've seen in years. Character development is non-existent, the dialog is cringe-inducing, and the ridiculous twist ending is the cherry on top of a steaming pile—yes, it's that bad.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

How Do You Know (Blu-Ray)

David Vaughn | Mar 23, 2011 | 0 comments

Lisa (Reese Witherspoon) is in the emotional dumpster after getting cut from the Olympic softball team and shacks up with a major league baseball player and ladies' man, Matty (Owen Wilson) while she tries to put her life back together. Shortly after their relationship takes root she meets George (Paul Rudd), a business man facing his own personal issues with his father and a pending indictment by the Justice Department, and the two become good friends but could there be more to the relationship than she realizes?

Writer-director James L. Brooks' has quite a resume and I guess every now and then even the best of writers will release a stinker, and this certainly qualifies. The love triangle storyline had possibilities between Rudd, Wilson, and Witherspoon, but there are too many loose ends with Rudd's neurotic secretary (Katheryn Hahn) and his father (Jack Nicholson) that could have been excluded to quicken the pace and make the film more interesting.

Blu-ray Movie Reviews

Hereafter (Blu-ray)

David Vaughn | Mar 21, 2011 | 0 comments

A childhood illness gave George (Matt Damon) a unique ability to communicate with the deceased and the ability to lead a normal life vanished in the process. A French journalist Marie (Cecile de France) barely survives a horrific tsunami and for a brief moment enters the afterlife and begins to ask questions. Then there's young Marcus (Frankie and George McLaren), who loses his twin brother in an accident and he wonders where he's gone and if he can ever speak to him again. At some point, these three lives will intersect and set their lives on a better path.

Two time Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood has brought us some outstanding films but his last two, Invictus and now Hereafter, haven't measured up to his better projects. While I wouldn't say this is a bad film by any stretch, but it's pacing is too slow and runs about 20 minutes too long. Overall I thought the topic was interesting and I felt for each of the characters.

Search form

David Vaughn

Pages