2014: Week 13: Muppets Most Wanted

Muppets Most Wanted

Genre: Comedy, Adventure

Main Players: Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell, Tina Fey and of course Kermit and Piggy and all. 

General Gist: The Muppets decide to go back on tour and get caught up with the wrong tour manager while Kermit is mistaken for a "bad" frog.

Tiff's Take:
I want to start with letting you know that the Muppets aren't my thing.  They have never been my thing.  Even when I was younger.  Originally I was going to let my husband take my kids to this because it looked too unappealing to me and because he actually likes them.  But it just so turned out that I found myself with a weekend alone with my kids and nothing to do.  So The Muppets it was.  Ugh.

One thing that saved me with this movie was the funny actors in it.  At least I hoped.  They weren't as funny as they should have been.  So I guess they didn't really make it that much better.  Honestly, I don't really have a lot to say about this movie.  I didn't find it all that funny or entertaining and I almost fell asleep at one point.  My kids seemed to enjoy it enough but even they didn't think it was exceptional.  My 5 year old asked how much longer after only about 45 minutes in.

Unless you're a fan of the Muppets, I wouldn't bother seeing this unless your kids make you.

Tiff's Rate: Rent It

Preview: Just catching up on all our reviews.  A few more to come.

2012: Week 13: Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror

Genre: Adventure, Comedy

Main Players: Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer, Nathan Lane

General Gist: A new take on the Snow White classic with a little more focus on the evil queen.

Tiff's Take:
It's sort of strange that there are two variations of Snow White coming out this year, isn't it? You wonder why that happens. All the sudden there's this interest in it again. (And not to mention the new TV show Once Upon A Time. Who's watching that? I love it!) Both movies look very different. The other one, with Kristen Stewart, looks much more serious and dramaesque. This one more light hearted and fun.

I would say that's exactly what it ended up being too. This movie reminded me of one of the classic Disney princess cartoons but without it being a cartoon. Does that make sense? It was fun and wholesome and I can easily see why it was rated PG. It was very much a happy ending love story without a whole lot of depth. But that's fine because I think it was meant for a younger audience. I think adults will enjoy this but probably not as much as the pre-teens.

As far as the acting, Julia Roberts was excellent as the evil queen. You don't often get to see her in a role like that. Lily Collins was also good as the sweet, innocent princess. And I couldn't put my finger on where I'd seen the prince, played by Armie Hammer, before until I just looked it up. He was the "other guy" in J. Edgar. Very different role but well done.

Tiff's Rate: Matinee (Unless you're an 8-12 year old girl. Then maybe Friday Night worthy.)

Deb's Take:
Well, considering I am a romantic at heart, I suppose a movie with a princess, prince and evil queen is always spot on. I have to say, I knew this movie was geared towards a PG audience and went in with that view. Not to much depth so a younger audience could enjoy it. I really loved it. Like Tiff, I felt Julia Roberts did an excellent job. She was really amazing in this role. I think the costumes were amazing. The adaptations to make the movie modern were clever and unique. I was impressed with the twist on the 7 dwarves and the mirror. I can't say there wasn't a character I didn't like, and completely enjoyed. This is a great family movie. I took my 8 year old daughter (who is above a hopeless romantic) and she thought it was great too.

Deb's Rate: Good Friday night Family movie.

Preview: The winner of our giveaway coming up!

Week 13: The Lincoln Lawyer

Sorry about the late post guys.  Man, we need to get our act together.  Anyway, we saw The Lincoln Lawyer for week 13.  This movie was chalk full of well known actors; Matthew McConaughey, Ryan Phillippe, Marisa Tomei, William H. Macy, Josh Lucas and John Leguizamo.  And some other faces you would recognize.  All were good.  And of course the two main actors, Matthew and Ryan, were not hard to look at.

This was your classic crime, drama with all the suspense.  Matthew McConaughey's characters plays this bad-ass lawyer who can handle all the tough clients.  He plays that character well with his easy confidence.  Ryan Phillippe plays a client who appears innocent at first but then you find out he's not what he seems.  Is it me or does he always play characters like that?  I can't remember him ever playing a nice guy. 

Anyhow, the story was interesting and it kept me entertained the whole time.  I'm sure the detail of the book would be even better.  But since I'm not really into these kinds of books the movie worked just fine.  I wasn't sure what I thought at first about everything having this 70's "feel" but I think it worked in the end. 

To Sum it up: Good acting, good story and good views.