Review: Coraline 2 Disc Collector's Edition on Blu-Ray

Diving into the 3D masterpiece called Coraline was nothing short of brilliant, creative and superb. A two thumbs up, 5 star flick!

When I first heard about Coraline hitting theaters in 3D, I wanted to go immediately, however whenever I go to a flick I always have someone ruin the show. Laughter, talking, or screaming. It never fails. I told myself that I would wait for it to come out on Blu-Ray, and that I would enjoy it more at home.

That wait was well worth it. I bought myself the Coraline 2-Disc Collector's Edition with Digital Copy on Blu-ray Disc, from blockbuster for a gut busting $29.99.

I hoped that the movie would be worth the $30, and it was.

The Coraline 2-Disc Collector's Edition with Digital Copy on Blu-ray Disc came with a Blu-Ray disc that featured the movie in it's original format, and in 3D format. A digital copy which allowed me to view the movie on my PC, and on a standard DVD player. There were 2 discs total, but in reality the bundle is like a 3 in 1. You have a PC copy, a copy for the Blu-Ray player, and a copy for regular DVD viewing pleasures.

Naturally I viewed Coraline in 3D on Blu-Ray format.

Inside of the case were 4 3D glasses. I slipped a pair on, and handed off the remaining 3 pairs to my family. From the beginning to the end we were all captivated by how wonderful the 3D graphics were presented.

In the past 3D movies were pretty bad. In fact, nothing ever seemed to pop. Coraline however had images popping from the screen at every turn. I truly felt immersed in the story, as if I were there in the computer animated world, peeking in and watching on a more personal stage.

Some of you may be wondering what Coraline is all about though. It is a computer animated movie brought to us by none other than the brilliant creative mind of Tim Burton. It features a young girl named Coraline who has parents that she considers less than standard. One day she discovers a small door in her home. Through the door Coraline has an entire new family that she considers perfect. Her mother looks the same, her father looks the same, even her friends look the same; however they have eyes made of buttons.

Coraline becomes obsessed with her 'other parents' as she calls them. She visits frequently, and its no wonder why either, because her new parents seem to do everything she could ever wish. However, when she is told to stay in this new world forever, Coraline realizes that these perfect parents of hers are not so perfect after all.

All in all the plot in the story is presented fairly well, the scenery however is what steals the show. The 3D graphics will have you completely mesmerized. With an excellent eerie matching choice of music, Coraline could not have been better. It was stitched together with patience, creativity, and a dash of lunacy, Coraline is a perfect example of art in motion.

Review: Olympus Underwater Housing PT-043 For Olympus Stylus 1030SW

So you want to take your Olympus Stylus 1030SW down, down, down to even further diving depths! Yeah, I did too, and that was why I purchased the Olympus Underwater Housing PT-043. It is made specifically for the Olympus Stylus 1030SW, and it allows us to take our cameras from 33 feet down under, to 141 feet down under the water.

Besides giving us deeper depths, the pt-043 also allows us to add different lenses to the housing. It is a 52mm, and you can screw in red filter lenses which will fix the underwater blue water issues that many have while taking photos in blue waters.

You can also attach other special lenses, such as wide lenses, or macro lenses, fish eye, etc, etc. So long as they are 52mm, it is all good. You can also add strobe lights to the housing for better underwater photography.

Quality:

The PT-043 is made of with a round polycarbonate design that is extremely sturdy, and out of the box I could just feel how high quality the PT-043 was, right in my hands.

The buttons on the housing are all specifically located on the housing with easy to see etched in labels. They work with precision, and are perfectly aligned for flawless photography underwater.

Everything is nicely set up, and the housing itself is clear, with red bold detailing. I liked the choice of coloring Olympus chose due to the fact that if I were to drop it, I'd be able to locate it relatively easy.

Luckily though, in the water, the casing provides neutral buoyancy, so even if it were to drop from my hands, it would float to the bottom very slowly.

However thanks to the thick wrist strap, dropping of the camera and housing is not likely at all.

Placing the camera into the housing is also very simple. The housing came with packets of silica gel, that you are to place inside of the housing, right underneath where you place the camera. The silica gel will absorb any moisture from fog, so if you happen to buy the PT-043, save the silica gel packets.

The housing closes up using very sturdy and secure metal clasps. It opens and closes like a suitcase buckle would, and they snap tightly shut to ensure no leaking.

Inside of the box, there is also some gel that you use on the O ring, which is the large red rubber ring that you will see stretched along the housings mouth. This ring should be replaced whenever you notice flaws such as drying out, small rips, etc. You can buy replacement O rings online for around $10-$14.

You want to keep the O ring clean at all times, as the O ring provides the leak proof seal to the housing.

On the viewing panel side of the housing, you will notice a nifty black shade blocker. You can remove this shader, however it provides much better viewing in sun lit areas where viewing the LCD screen is sometimes difficult. The shade mount is perfect. It may add a little bulk, but viewing the LCD is much easier now.


My Use:

In the water, I tested the PT-043 without the camera first. It had absolutely no leaks, nor did it fog up, so I was happily satisfied, and went ahead and loaded my camera into the housing.

I took some photos, and loved how well the housing worked. It is a little bulky, but underwater it is as light as a feather, and easy to use.

Overall:

I find the PT-043 to be an excellent investment for those who own the Stylus 1030SW. It kept my camera dry, allowed my to keep the camera with me in the water for the entire day, had absolutely no leaks, and I felt safer about bringing my camera along with me in the water. Last year I toted the camera with me in the water, and always worried about it leaking or flooding. I no longer have to worry about it, nor do I have to worry about the camera faulting and loosing images.

A lot of people have complained about the new Stylus Tough cameras leaking. I would say the same to those of you who bought the new Stylus Tough- definitely, definitely buy a housing case for your camera, it's a smart choice, will protect your camera, and will allow you to tote it along without having to worry about your camera.

Mouth To Mouth Movie Review; Starring Ellen Page

Sorry Ellen, I love you, I do. But Mouth to Mouth seriously sucked. I have been reading mixed reviews on this flick for the most part, and frankly I found the movie to just confuse, and suck the life out of me. Granted, Ellen does a great job at portraying her character Sherry; for the most part the whole plot was just boring, and confusing.

We start off with Ellen Page playing a young runaway named Sherry. While in the streets of Europe she runs into a group of homeless folks who have some sort of stupid message. She is passed a flier, and decides to join this group of homeless nomads. They have a group called SPARK, which represents, Street People Armed with Radical Knowledge.

Basically what we have is a trashed old van which carries a group of hopeless druggies, to try and reform them. At least that what I could gather, the whole message was just senseless.

From the get go, I had a sense that something horrible was going to happen to young Sherry, armed with nothing more than a backpack, and a will to be free.

Sherry of course meets up with this group of homeless people in the back of some sort of warehouse where they are all piled into this SPARK labeled van sleeping.

The ring leader of this group is an older scruffy looking chap named Harry. He seems to have some sort of message to tell, and he seems to be charismatic enough as to where people are willing to believe in him enough to follow where he leads, while cutting off all ties to their lives back home.

The plot is confusing, and I continued to watch hoping to make some sort of sense of things, but the further and further the movie went on the more ridiculous, and poorly sketched out it became.

At any rate, you get an immediate sense that Harry is preying on young vulnerable people who don't really have anything better to do with their lives. Harry seems cleaner, and seems to have this iron fist authority about him.

While on a road trip to some event, the youngest member ends up dying while dumpster diving for food. When Harry states he wants to leave the boy behind Mad Ax, one of the Spark members is not hearing it. Before making it to this big Woodstock type event Mad Ax displays a very gut wrenching sad scene where he is holding the boys dead body. Frankly I think this was the most interesting scene in the entire movie, seeing that it seemed so very real, and I was able to get an immediate sense of sadness. Well done.

Fast forward to the big event. They leave the body of the boy in the van, and light it on fire. Sherry is slipped some acid, and nearly loses her virginity to one of the Spark members she had a slight crush on.

Meanwhile at the same event, roaming around is Sherry's mother. Sherry made the mistake of calling her mom to tell her where she was going. Sherry's mom naturally seeks her out, and oddly enough manages to find her within the crowd.

Just when you think the movie was to end, it continues on into a new odd realm of confusion.

Sherry and her mother get into a fight after her mother attempted to take her home. Sherry should have just been a good little runaway and been grateful that mom came to rescue her from this group.

Instead she takes off on her own, and manages to find her way back to the group. I don't know how things unfolded, but when she shows up to a large vineyard, her mom is already there.

Frankly I was baffled by this whole unexpected, unlikely event, and even more so when her mother announces she too will be joining Spark.

At this point the drama begins to unfold, and we really get a taste of how evil Harry is. His means of punishment are cruel and unusual, and for the most part it seems like what he did was board up a bunch of homeless, low self esteem folks and brought them to his vineyard for free slave labor.

Punishments include being put in a well for 36 hours, or longer. Rules are constantly added, and the reign of terror becomes unbearable for Sherry, whom loses her virginity in a harsh circumstance to the emperor of evil.

Without ruining the tiresome confusing ending, I will just say that the flick was very sleepy, with a lack of a compelling plot, and an unbelievable (not GOOD unbelievable), fake ending.

If you are going to see Mouth to Mouth, see it if you are a huge fan of Ellen Page, otherwise just spare yourself the boredom.