Mr. Popper's Penguins

Directed by Mark Waters

2011

Viewed January 21, 2012

This is yet another adaptation of a book that I loved when I was younger. I was not expecting a whole lot from this movie since Jim Carrey's middle name is "butt jokes". I also was a bit upset at the beginning of the film since it follows Tom Popper the rich businessman and not Mr. Popper the poor house painter. I ended up really liking it. As I said, it follows Tom Popper, rich businessman trying to close a deal on the sale of a building for his firm to tear down and rebuild as something else. Tom has two kids with his ex wife, a son and a daughter, who he barely has a relationship with because he is simply too busy. Tom's life is interrupted when his father passes away and sends him a penguin. Tom tries to return the penguin but is sent 5 more penguins instead. He has to keep the penguins in line in a condo (or loft maybe? I'm not sure which qualifies as which) that doesn't allow pets. His kids fall in love with the penguins and so did I. They were simply adorable and so much fun to watch. This is a pretty predictable film, and there were a few poop jokes and fart jokes, but overall I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. Definitely a good one to watch with older kids, if you can get pass the couple of bodily function jokes. B+

Megamind

"All men must choose between two paths. Good is the path of honor, heroism, and nobility. Evil... well, it's just cooler."

Directed by Tom McGrath

2010

Viewed August 2011

I'm on a huge animated movie kick.... I love them! Megamind (Will Ferrell) is a super villain hell bent on taking over Metro City but is constantly thwarted by Metro Man (Brad Pitt), who has been his rival since infant hood (probably not a real word, but I'm using it any way). Megamind always kidnaps reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) and Metro Man always saves her. Megamind finally beats Metro Man and goes on a crime spree, but then realizes how empty his life is without a hero to battle. Megamind is super funny (he often mispronounces words in a hilarious way since he's from another planet, among other things) and has a great message about how bad may be fun, but it isn't good. Will Ferrell's voice had a tendency to get on my nerves, I felt like he was yelling at me for most of the movie, but other than that, this was a great movie! B+

The Green Hornet

"You said I was boring. My gun has two barrels. That's not boring."

Directed by Michel Gondry

2011

Viewed June 2011

I didn't have high hopes for this film. The previews made it look so dumb. I was pleasantly surprised by it though. The buddyness of Seth Rogan and Jay Chou is just so fun and bromantic. The movie is about Britt Reid whose father dies of an allergic reaction to a bee sting and inherits his father's fortune as well as the newspaper he built. Britt's father is played wonderfully by Tom Wilkinson who definitely warmed me up to the movie despite having very little screen time. Britt ends up meeting the car/coffee making guy Kato and the two become fast friends who decide to become super heroes.... Except sort of not... They go and commit crimes to make people think they're bad, but really they help people and are trying to take down a drug ring.... I dunno, it didn't really make a whole lot of sense... They end up angering drug boss Chudnofsky who is played by the fantastic Christoph Waltz who pretty much makes the movie with all of his cheese and cheekiness. The actual plot is pretty dumb, but like I said, Seth Rogan and Jay Chou are fun together. C+

Kick-Ass

"With no power comes no responsibility... Except that wasn't true."

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

2010

Viewed June 5, 2011

In a world full of super hero comics, games and movies, teenager Dave Lizewski wonders why no one has tried to be a super hero. He decides to take things into his own hands and buys a scuba suit and mask and walks the streets looking for people to save. He gets into a fight with some thugs and the video is put on Youtube and Kick-Ass gets thrown into the spotlight. Meanwhile, Damon Macready (a.k.a. Big Daddy) is training his young daughter in the different forms of combat so together they can bring down drug tycoon Frank D'Amico. Kick-Ass has a really good mix of humor, seriousness, super (or not so super) heroism, action and heart. My only really big problem in this movie is Big Daddy and his daughter Hit Girl. Hit Girl is played wonderfully by Chloe Grace Moretz. She's quick witted and kicks a lot of bad guy butt. The father/daughter duo work wonderfully together and Nicholas Cage does a great job as Big Daddy. The thing that I had the biggest problem with is that this dad purposely puts his 11 year old daughter into harms way. He trains her and basically brainwashes her to become a killing machine. I'm really not cool with someone who puts a bullet proof vest on their daughter and then shoots her in the chest. There's also the issue of Hit Girl getting punched in the face and beaten up by a grown man. Even though the characters were very entertaining and perfectly cast, I still had a hard time with all of that. B-

The Hangover Part II

"We made a pact, Wolfpack only."

Directed by Todd Phillips

2011

Viewed May 2011

If you enjoyed the Hangover part 1, then you'll probably enjoy this one as well. Yes, it follows the same basic plot as the first part, yes some of the same characters randomly pop up, but I think part 2 holds its own against part 1. I can't decide which one I enjoyed more! For those who aren't familiar with the plot... The 4 guys go to Thailand for Stu's wedding. Stu insists on not having a bachelor party because of how badly that turned out for Doug in the first movie. So instead they have a bonfire and a couple of beers. The next morning Stu, Alan and Phil wake up in Bangkok with no memory of what had happened the night before. Also, Stu's future brother in law (and also his future in-laws pride and joy) is missing. They have to piece together what happened the night before in order to find Teddy. Hilarity ensues.  B+

Bridesmaids

Directed by: Paul Feig

2011

Rated R

Date Viewed: Saturday May 21, 2011

There is no way to pick a quote from this movie. Every single one of them has that "had to be there" feel to it. If you do see this movie then let me know how you feel about "It's coming out like lava!!!!"... Anyways, this movie is about Annie who is asked to be Maid of Honor in her childhood best friend Lillian's wedding. Annie is broke and single and is trying to keep up with the other bridesmaids, one of which is extremely wealthy. There's some rivalry between the wealthy bridesmaid and Annie over who is Lillian's real best friend and it's all pretty hilarious. This is a really funny movie. Kristin Wiig is fabulous and I just love her often dry delivery. The supporting cast is really funny as well. My favorite character was Megan who is the bride's future sister in law and who provides quite a few laughs. There is a bit of raunch so if that's not your thing, you're warned. From speech rivalry to food poisoning during dress fittings to destroying a big cookie, this movie is definitely a barrel of laughs. A-

How To Train Your Dragon

"We're Vikings. We have stubbornness issues."

Directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders

2010

I admit, I thought this movie looked pretty lame from the previews and I had very little desire to see it. I eventually did sit down to watch it (obviously) and I found that I loved it! Hiccup is a Viking who lives in a village overrun by dragons. He's definitely not a warrior and he's definitely very clumsy... He ends up catching a very elusive species of dragon and intends to kill it to prove his Vikingness. The poor dragon looks at him with such a sadness in his eye that Hiccup can't bring him to do the deed. Instead he lets him go only to find him later stuck in a small oasis with rock walls surrounding it. The dragon is missing part of his tail so he can't steer or become fully airborne. Hiccup ends up inventing a contraption to help the dragon and ends up training him. There are many other adventures, but I don't want to give them all away. I loved how creative this movie was. It came up with several different species of dragons that all had different mannerisms and characteristics. I loved the diversity of the characters and how completely adorable Hiccup's dragon (Toothless) was. There is plenty of witty dialogue as well. A

Due Date

"I'm sorry I spat on your dog. I have no recollection of that."

Directed by Todd Phillips

2010

Date Viewed: Saturday November 14, 2010

This movie is HILARIOUS. Bobby and I laughed through the entire thing. There are many many many hilarious moments. I loved it. This is about Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) who is about to fly from Atlanta to L.A. (his wife is super pregnant and is scheduled to have a C-Section in 5 days). He runs into a guy named Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) who accidentally gets them both put on the no fly list. Peter and Ethan end up having to drive across the country together to make it in time for the baby. Ethan drives Peter CRAZY, but Ethan is also just really lonely and grieving his recently deceased father. There are many hilarious mishaps along the way. I was asked if this movie is funnier than The Hangover, and I'm not sure because I haven't seen it in a long time... It is super hilarious though and a must see for Zach Galifiankis fans... A

The Great Outdoors

"Bear... bear... Big Bear... big bear chase meeeeeeee...! "

Directed by Howard Deutch

1988

Date Viewed: Sunday October 3, 2010

This was a cute movie... Not necessarily the greatest movie ever made, but it was cute and funny in a very 80s way. It's the story of Chet (John Candy) who takes his family out to a cabin in the woods to have a nice family vacation. The peaceful vacation is ruined when his annoying rich brother in law Roman (Dan Akroyd) drops in with his family. There's the usual John Candy/Dan Akroyd-esque silliness, although I was suprised that it didn't have a whole ton of bodily function jokes and only a little bit of language. (Although I did watch it a week ago and I could be mis-remembering...) It was fun, but I don't feel like I need to watch it all the time. B

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

"Bread makes you fat"

Directed by Edgar Wright

2010

Date Viewed: August 2010

This movie is the definition of awesome. It's got a little bit of everything, romance, action, cool special effects, music and video game references. I loved pretty much every minute of it. Scott Pilgrim is kind of an awkward loser (as Michael Cera, who plays him, is in every movie, but it's ok cause he's awesome at it) who falls in love with Ramona Flowers and proceeds to awkwardly dump his high school girlfriend, Knives Chau. So he goes on this date with Ramona and eventually finds out that if he wants to date Ramona, he has to defeat her 7 evil exes in video game style. The fight scenes are so funny/awesome in their videogameness. The music is also awesome and I loved every one of the characters. Jason Schwartsmann and Michael Cera were superb in this movie as well. I give it an A