Abduction

Directed by John Singleton

2011

Viewed February 2012

16 year old Nathan is doing a sociology project about abducted children when he finds his face on a website for lost kids. He contacts the site which is run by some Russian mob guys and they come looking for him. The CIA gets involved and also comes after him. Nathan finds out that his “parents” were really agents who were protecting him and they pretty much get killed in front of his face. Nathan takes off with his neighbor Karen and is on the run from the mobsters and CIA.



This is a pretty generic big brother is watching type movie. The mobsters tap into the CIA’s systems while the CIA is using traffic cameras and surveillance cameras to track Nathan and Karen. There are some decent chase scenes and it definitely keeps the movie moving. It’s refreshing to see Taylor Lautner with an expression on his face that isn’t pouty jealousy (like in the Twilight series), although he doesn’t have a very large range of expressions…. C+

The Grey

“Once more into the fray. Into the last good fight I’ll ever know. Live and die on this day. Live and die on this day.”

Directed by Jon Carnahan

2012

Viewed February 2012

This movie follows a group of Alaskan oil drillers who’s plane crashes in the Alaskan wilderness. There are seven survivors and they have to try and find a town or some sort of shelter before freezing to death or being attacked by wolves. It sounds really dumb, and I definitely was not expecting much, but I really did end up enjoying it. The biggest complaint that I have is that they are in the Alaskan wilderness in the middle of a blizzard, they all have a hoodie and a parka on, but none of them are wearing their hoods. They all have hats, but I know that when I’m super cold I put on my hat AND my hood for optimum warmth, plus the hood keeps blowing snow off of your neck… There also were plenty of parts that made me jump (even some that you could see coming, but it still made me jump… lame.) and it was just an entertaining movie. B- 

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Directed by Stephen Daldry

2012

Viewed January 2012

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from this movie. It has gotten such mixed reviews, but the preview was amazing, so I had high hopes. I am pleased to report that this is one of the better movies that I’ve seen in awhile. It follows nine year old Oskar Schell (who was tested for asperger’s and reports that the results were not definitive) who’s father frequently sends him on little treasure hunts throughout New York City. Oskar’s father is in the World Trade Center on 9/11 and dies after leaving many messages on the answering machine. Messages that only Oskar has listened to. Oskar finds a key in with his father’s belongings and believes that if he finds the lock that it opens he will find one last message from his father. He eventually gets help from a mute old man who is renting a room from his grandmother and they help each other on a road to emotional healing. I loved Thomas Horn who played Oskar, he was absolutely amazing. He wasn’t even an actor before this movie, the director saw him win on a kid’s edition of Jeopardy and asked him to audition. I also loved Max Von Sydow who is not in the movie for a whole lot of time, and never speaks, but relays so much emotion just through his face. Amazing. If you see this movie be sure to bring tissues, both Bobby and I cried (I cried through basically the whole movie). A

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+

The Adventures of TIntin

"Failed. There are plenty of others willing to call you a failure. A fool. A loser. A hopeless souse. Don't you ever say it of yourself. You send out the wrong signal, that is what people pick up. Don't you understand? You care about something, you fight for it. You hit a wall, you push through it. There's something you need to know about failure, Tintin. You can never let it defeat you."

Directed by Steven Spielberg

2011

Viewed January 2012

I loved the Tintin books when I was growing up. My mom would take us to the library every week and every week one of us would inevitably come home with a Tintin book or two. For those not familiar with Tintin, he is a reporter with a dog named Snowy who comes along on his adventures. Together they solve many a mystery and very often unknowingly stumble right in the middle of trouble. This movie is a pretty perfect adaptation of the books. It is a combination of a few of the books, but it has all of the elements of the Tintin world including the dimwitted police officers Thompson and Thomson, action and adventure, Captain Haddock, the smartest little white dog, Snowy, and even minor characters such as Mrs Finch and Bianca Castiafiore. The storyline is that Tintin purchases a model ship that holds part of a secret map to a treasure. Tintin is kidnapped and brought onto a ship headed to steal another part of the map. He meets the ship's captain, Haddock, who is also being held against his will by his first mate and mutinous crew as well as the mastermind Professor Sakharine. Tintin, Snowy and Haddock need to escape the ship and reach the ship's destination first to stop the theft. This movie is jam packed with action and I really really loved the animation. It really was this nerd girl's Tintin dreams come true...A

Contraband

Directed by Baltasar Kormakur

2012

Viewed January 14, 2012

This is a pretty generic heist movie. Chris Farraday used to be a smuggler of all things illegal and has gotten out of that scene to focus on his wife and two young sons. His brother in law, Andy,  went on a drug run and ended up having to dump the drugs so as not to get caught by customs. Tim Briggs, who had sent Andy for the drugs wants $700,000 to replace the drugs, and he wants it quickly. Farraday sets up a run for some counterfeit money to make up for Andy's mistake. While he's gone Briggs makes good and sure to scare Farraday's family to make sure that he gets his money. This movie was pretty predictable, and as always, Mark Wahlberg (who plays Farraday) has the same expression on his face that he does in every other movie he's ever made. Briggs, played by Giovanni Ribisi is a generic unimaginitive thug. Ribisi needs to stop trying to play villians because he's not good at it. They had to give him facial hair and tattoos to make him look "scary". I did like Ben Foster as Farraday's best friend. I've always been a huge Ben Foster fan. I was entertained and Contraband was fun to watch and see how they pulled off their heist, so I think that I'll go with a C+

Crazy, Stupid, Love

"I'm going to help you rediscover your manhood. Do you have any idea where you could have lost it?"

Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa

2011

Rated PG-13

Viewed January 2012

Middle aged husband Cal Weaver is blindsided when his wife, Emily, asks for a divorce. Emily reveals that she already had an affair and felt as though she was going through a mid life crisis. Cal moves out and spends his nights at the bar where he is noticed by Jacob who takes it upon himself to help Cal with his love life. The movie also follows a storyline involving Cal's son Robbie who is in love with the babysitter, Jessica. Unfortunately, Jessica is in love with Cal and does not appreciate Robbie's confessions of love. There's also another storyline involving Hannah who finds herself dating a really boring guy. This movie is definitely one of my new favorite romantic comedies. It is sweet and funny and, at times, heartbreaking. I love that it believes that when you find your soulmate you never give up on them and that true love is real even when there are bumps along the way. A