Bonus Review: Cars 2

This week I got to see two movies.  It happens sometimes.  Do I feel slightly guilty or gluttonous when I see two movies in one week?  Maybe a little.  But it was for the betterment of my child.  How could I not take my boy to see Cars 2 on opening weekend?  You know how many times I've seen the first one?  Many.  Very many.  It only seemed right.

I have to say this was a pretty good one.  One reason I thought it was so good was because it actually felt like a real story and seemed to last just as long as a non-animated movie.   Also, it didn't have as much of that fall down humor that kids seem to dig so much.  For this very reason I was worried that Rhett might get bored with it.  He didn't laugh out loud quite as much as he did with Kung Fu Panda 2 but not once did I hear, "Is it almost over?".  And when it was over he said he loved it.  He also said he wanted to be a spy.  A ninja spy to be exact.

Speaking of spies, that was the whole gist of this Cars.  It had a James Bond thing going on.  And it focused on Mator more.  One thing I thought was amazing in this movie was the scenery.  There were scenes when they were in Italy that I could have sworn looked real.  The detail was really awesome.  Fun movie for kids and adults.

To Sum it up: Kid friendly, adult friendly and top notch animation.     

Week 26: Bad Teacher

Bad Teacher was the movie for this week.  I have to admit I was a little more disappointed than Deb for this movie.  I wasn't expecting this movie to be great but I thought it would be funnier.  It turns out I was more annoyed with the characters than anything.

I generally like Cameron Diaz in most movies.  She usually plays characters that are easy to like.  For this one, not only did I not like her character but I was a little disgusted.  Okay, maybe disgusted is too strong of a word.  I'll go back to the word annoyed.  I was annoyed with her selfishness and annoyed with the absurdity of the story line.  I mean really, what teacher would get away with acting like her character did?  Does this mean I'm getting old?  I can't laugh at this kind of stuff anymore?  Maybe so. 

And I'm usually a fan of Justin Timberlake too.  Even he fell short for me.  The only character I thought was decent was the one played by Jason Segel.  He had a little more genuine quality to him even if he didn't have much chemistry with Cameron Diaz.  Lucy Punch's character was okay.  Dare I say, slightly annoying.

Overall the absurdity of this story should have been overshadowed by the humor.  It just wasn't for me.  I guess my funny bone wasn't working as well as Deb's for this week.

To Sum it up: Good actors who should have been funny but just plain...annoying.

Week 26: Bad Teacher

"Bad Teacher" was our movie of choice this week, starring Cameron Diaz, Justin Timberlake, Lucy Punch and Jason Segel. I can't really say this movie had any depth what so ever, it really was quite shallow and mindless, however, I laughed a lot and the comedy was good.

The movie was basically about a teacher, Elizabeth, played by Cameron Diaz who teaches for no other reason, then that she needs a job. Her primary goal is to find a rich man to take care of her, and she thinks Scott, played by Justin Timberlake, will fit the bill perfectly. Amy, played by Lucy Punch, can see that Elizabeth is shallow and only out for self fulfilling goals, and goes about trying to prove it. Russell, (jason Segel) is the gym teacher, and has a thing for Elizabeth, but does quite fit the bill for her.

All in all, like I said, pretty shallow and little depth, but for some reason the humor hit my funny bone today and I enjoyed it. The humor was raunchy, (not as bad as the hang over) definately an "R" rating, and if you are looking for a movie that challenges your mind in any way, this isn't it..but stupid humor? right no it!

Overall, makes you laugh, a little romance and mindless entertainment.

Week 25: X-Men First Class

This week was X-Men First Class.  Another superhero movie.  Have you noticed how many have come out recently?  Marvel is making a killing this year.  Just like last week with Thor, I expected to like this but wasn't expecting to enjoy it quite so much.  Although, I thoroughly enjoyed all the other X-Men movies I've seen so I'm not sure why its such a surprise.

This movie was a prequel to the other X-Men movies.  It was about how they all started.  I wish I remembered more of the other movies so it all made a little more sense but you didn't really need to know it all in order to enjoy this movie.

I thought all the actors were good.  I thoroughly enjoyed James McAvoy playing Charles Xavier.  I can't really place him in another movie but I liked him.  The other people were good too.  I really enjoyed seeing what each character's special power was.  I think that's part of X-Men that I like so much.  Kevin Bacon was a surprisingly good bad guy.  Oh, and I loved the 5 second cameo with Hugh Jackman.

I would highly recommend this movie.  Very entertaining.

To Sum it up: Good characters, very entertaining and a lot of action. 

Week 25: X-MEN First Class

X-men First Class was our movie of the week! A winner! If you are an x-men enthusiast, this one will definately rank up there for you. I was introduced to X-Men when I married, 17 years ago..Somehow we ended up with a collection of X-Men comic books and in our first years of marriage, woke up on Sat A.M. to watch X-men. Surprisingly I always liked the storyline and premise. On the surface I suppose it just seems like another comic hero type of film. However, I kind of like the message behind it all. This is my take...we encourage uniqueness, yet look for sameness, we are outcasts if we are too different and have to have a lot of inner strength and support to live as we truely are....different, yet the same. (ok so I am no poet, but still..good message)

This movie had a good variety of actors, many were quite noteworthy and really none dissappointed me in their performances. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Kevin Bacon, Jennifer Lawrence, January Jones (really?) and a whole bunch of other great folks! The movie was fast paced, kept me entertained and interested, and most importantly for me....told a story that leads up to many other good stories...or in other words, gives a good history of X-Men and how they came to be!

I have to say the only shocker...there were kids (young kids!! like 3 year olds) at this movie. Okay, the movie is good, but not appropriate for kids under 10, a little on the violent side for a young child. Just my opinion....

Good movie, good cast and recommended!! See you next week

Week 24: Thor

Thor was the movie for this week. I have never been a real sci-fi/superhero kind of girl, but this movie was well played and I really liked it. Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth and Lok, played by Tom Hiddleston, played the good brother/bad brother part marvelously. I don't recall either of these actors from other movies. Their characters were perfect! I was quite impressed with both. Natalie Portman, who played the love interest/scientist did a great job, as she usually does..(except for my reveiws of black swan from week 2 or 3). Anthony Hopkins also did great playing the father and king.

The movie took place on 3 different planets. I am sometimes a little turned off by the ideas of what other planets may or may not be. This movie didn't overkill the planets too much, and the whole "beam me up Scottie" idea seemed to work for this one.

I was surprised at the humor in this movie, there were some funny scenes...I think Darcy, played by Kat Dennings, added to that humor, along with Natalie Portman. It wasn't all fights and battles, but had some comedy as well.

I was pleasantly surprised with this movie choice. I would definately recommend it! When I left I couldn't wait to get home to tell my husband and son how good it was and that they would enjoy it as well.

Great movie for the superhero/starwarsy types as well as the basic movie goer. See you next week!

Week 24: Thor

This weekend we went and saw Thor.  I would have never pegged myself for liking superhero movies so well but I have to admit that the last couple I've seen I've really liked.  This was no exception.  This movie was actually really entertaining. 

The main character, Thor, was played by Chris Hemsworth.  I've never seen him before but he really was spot on.  He had the body, look and personality for the role.  Thanks to my sister-in-law, we were also scoping him out to play Jamie in the Outlander series.  Not that there's a movie coming out or anything.  But if there was, he'd be perfect.  Just slap a Scottish accent on him and voila.  But that's beside the point. 

And again, Natalie Portman.  I can't believe she's in another movie.  Seriously, how many has she been in?  She was really good too.  I'm always a little surprise how funny she can be.  I thought she had a good mix in this movie. 

The plot was about two battling planets, one good one bad.  Thor, from the good planet, was suppose to be King but his dad banished him to teach him a lesson.  He ends up on earth, meeting Natalie's character scientist Jane.  The main gist is while Thor is on earth the good planet is in trouble.  Thor learns his lesson about being too arrogant and finds a way back to his planet to save the day.  In the meantime, he falls in love with Jane.  Even though the love story aspect was quick and a little shallow it still worked in this movie.  The action and humor made up for it.  I would definitely recommend this movie.

To Sum it up: Great cast, good amount of humor and thoroughly entertaining.  

Week 23: Kung Fu Panda 2

In Celebration of school being out for the summer we took the kids to Kung Fu Panda 2.  My son has been wanting to see this movie.  We have the first one on DVD and I've seen it a gazillion times.  As far as cartoons go it's not a bad one to see over and over.  The second one was just as good.

I'll admit I probably wouldn't go see this movie if I wasn't taking a kid but it was really entertaining for adults.  It had a good plot and an underlying moral theme like most animated movies do these days.  Jack Black's voice is perfect for Po.  Speaking of voices, why is it that I can never hear Angelina Jolie's voice as Tigress?  It just doesn't sound like her. 

Anyway, the true test for this movie though is what my 6 year old son thought of it.  Like I said, he really liked the first one but he is just now getting into watching movies at a theater.  Normally when he watches movies at home he jumps to the parts he likes or stops watching when he gets bored.  Overall, he's getting really good in a theater.  But even if he likes the movie he'll usually ask if it's almost over about 3/4 of the way through.  For this one...he didn't ask once AND he was laughing the entire time.  I would say it was a hit.  And he even did a Kung Fu roll in the theater lobby afterwards.  Can't get better than that.

To Sum it up: Great voices, good story and funny for both adults and children. 

Week 23: Kung Fu Panda 2

Well, this week was kids week for us. We went to Kung Fu Panda 2 with our kids. I have not seen the first Kung Fu Panda. There were a few references to the first one, an I am sure some back story, but it was very enjoyable regardless. I actually think I enjoyed it more than some of the other movies I have seen recently.

It's hard for me to give credit to the "actors" in an animated film, but as I was watching I thought about how amazing the writers and artists were for this movie. The writing was quite witty and I found myself laughing and smiling many times. I didn't get bored (as some kids' movies tend to cause me to be) and I enjoyed the story line. The animation was pretty cool. It was if the characters were actually living animals at times, their mannerisms came out in the "drawings".

My two youngest really enjoyed the movie, my 14 year old didn't. I think it was a great family movie and would recommend it for all.

I hope everyone has a great week! Looking to do a giveaway soon so stay tuned!

Books to Movies: What do you think of the cast?

We all know I love movies and books pretty equitably.  But I get slightly obsessive when the two are combined.  There are a couple books that I'm really excited to see coming to a theater near you.  There are actually more than a couple but these are the two that are on my brain right now.

The Help

Now who's read this book?  I just recently read this and I absolutely loved it.  It's one of the better books I've read this year.  The movie comes out this August.  Yippee!  I was a little critical of Emma Stone playing one of the main characters but I think I'm warming up to it.  All the other characters seem pretty darn good.  Have you seen the trailer for it yet?  Check it out.

The Hunger Games

I'm really excited about this one mainly because it was a great series and because I really think it will make a great movie.  You're going to have to wait a little longer for this movie.  It doesn't come out until 2012 but I've been seeing all the buzz on who's going to play who.  Here's the cast.  At first I thought casting Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss was awful beings that she's blonde and didn't look at all what I thought Katniss should look like.  But you can see they've darkened her hair and really changed her look.  And Woody Harrelson as Haymitch is perfect. 

Have you read these books?  What do you think of the cast?

Week 22: The Hangover II

Wow, I can't believe we are on week 22! This year is flying by, almost to the half way point. Well, as Tiff already posted, we say The Hangover II. I did see The Hangover and let me tell you, that was one of the funniest movies I have seen! Like this movie, it has a lot of crude humor, and nudity, and kind of out of control crass situations. I think the downfall, was the fact that I saw The Hangover and because it was so good, I wanted this one to match it...

The premise behind this movie was basically the same, bachlor party gone bad. The thing about the first one, was all the situations were so "real" In this sequel, that situations seemed a little far fetched, not so believable. The humor was there, and I did enjoy the actors Bradley Cooper (one of my favorite hotties) Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis. Zach did make the funny more funny, and unfortunately, I think really he was the only funny one. I did not like Ken Jeong in this one, (or the first one) and he kind of got on my nerves...and he played a much bigger role in this movie so I wasn't as impressed.

Really, the whole suite theatre experience was the cool part of this movie for me. I would highly recommend if you haven't tried a movie suite experience do it! It was pretty cool to have comfy seats, wait service and drinks all while watching a movie! I will definately be patronizing that theater again!

As far as the movie...I did laugh, I was glad I was with my brother and sister and people my age and not my mom and dad. (even at 40 some things just aren't comfortable around your parents!) It wasn't as good as the first one, but it was light hearted and fun. Best quote: "My uncle once saw an albino polar bear"

If you want some laughs go see it, but don't expect it to compare to the first, you will be let down! See you next week!