puffball97 Reviews

The Three Stooges (2012)

The Best Work of the Farrelly Brothers since "There's Something About Mary"

[7/10 · 13 April 2012]

Peter and Bobby Farrelly, after a long, dry spell, are back in comedic form again. For many years, their target audience was with adults with sarcastic, gross senses of humor, as demonstrated in their monster 1998 hit, "There's Something About Mary" that made a big star out of Cameron Diaz. Previously, there was 1994's big hit "Dumb and Dumber," which had many silly, sometimes tasteless, sight gags, and Jim Carrey was a star on the rise.

Now the Farrelly brothers have created a kiddie flick entitled "The Three Stooges." No, this is not a biography of the three slapstick comics from way back when, but what it would be like if the three comics were transported to modern times. The Farrellys have not let go of their trademark slapstick and gross-out humor, although it has been toned down for the youngsters. However, it is not altogether a kiddie flick, where there are scenes of extreme violence, a large black rat, and model Kate Upton as a nun in a revealing swimsuit, but most of all that is harmless.

The story begins in 1934 where three small boys wrapped in a blanket are thrown to the doorstep of an Atlanta orphanage. Already, they are hitting the nuns, each other, and everyone else. The funny thing about these boys is that they look exactly like what they would become as adults. Running the orphanage are the straight-arrow Mother Superior (Jane Lynch), the warm and fuzzy Sister Rosemary (Jennifer Hudson), and the ultra-tough Sister Mary-Mengele (Larry David in drag, and he hams it up with enthusiasm. In fact, David played Larry the Stooge recurrently on the 1980 comedy skit show, "Fridays.")

The boys eventually grow up into dark-haired Chris Diamontopoulos as Moe, Sean Hayes with frizzy hair as Larry, and beefy Will Sasso as Curly. The plot goes as their blond good friend, Ted (Kirby Heyborne), was lovingly adopted as a child, but later on, he faces trouble, as he learns his widowed father Mr. Harter (Stephen Collins) is a shady lawyer having an affair with his alluringly conniving wife, Lydia (the sexy and curvaceous Sofia Vergara, parodying the femme fatale character). Mr. Harter, Lydia, and a goon (an oily Chris Bierko, who gets his when you look at his face near the end of the movie), are out to kill Ted for the money that his late Mom left him, and the Stooges unwittingly come to Ted's rescue. More mayhem, hits, and bruises.

Like Jeff Daniels and Jim Carrey in "Dumb and Dumber," the Stooges are dumb lads with lots of heart, which is a typical plot device in many Farrelly Brothers mothers. The Stooges, employed as maintenance men in the orphanage they grew up in, learn that the orphanage is closing down due to economic circumstances (which definitely speaks of today's times), lose their jobs, and they will do anything to save it, which inevitably it happens, but not in their own hands. I'd have to say that brothers trying to get money for a closing orphanage was the same exact plot from the 1980's "The Blues Brothers."

The Farrelly Brothers also work well with anachronisms as Moe is accidentally hired on today's reality show, "Jersey Shore," and he seems to blend well with that cast, although they seem to find him a bit strange, and they act as though they don't want him there.

If anyone thinks that "The Three Stooges" is all violent slapstick, think again. The three plots of the murder, the closing of the orphanage, and the reality show, are all juxtaposed intelligently and coexist so well that it can make an adult think. The original Three Stooges were known for cartoonish violence, but the Farrellys take them to different levels. The Farrellys let the actors run and knock each other around, and the result is a literal bang-up job. At the end of the movie, the children applauded and so did their parents.

This movie works for me on a personal level because my sister-in-law and her three children were extras whose scene was they were onlooking one of the characters about to be run over by a bus. My mother and I went to see this with very low expectations, thinking this would be one of the stupidest movies all around, but we were both pleasantly surprised by our feelings as we walked out. Yes, there was violence, but the violence was good-natured. The Farrellys and the cast seem to have had a lot of fun doing this project, and I think that the Farrellys had the best fun since "There's Something About Mary." With "The Three Stooges," the Farrelly's used their best imagination, and everything just worked.

The Artist (I) (2011)

This Season's Best Movie

[10/10 · 30 December 2011]

If you like something that's different in more ways than one for the holidays, where the movie has real plot and character development, and not standard cartoonish violence as in many of this season's holiday movies, then run, don't walk, to see "The Artist." The movie is headed by two international stars who should become well-known to American audiences - French actor Jean Dujardin as the hero George Valentin, and Argentinian actress Berenice Bejo as the ingenue Peppy Miller, along with the familiar faces of John Goodman as his usual cheerful self in the role of the egomaniacal studio head Al Zimmer, Penelope Ann Miller as Valentin's troubled wife, Doris, and James Cromwell as Valentin's faithful butler.

The message of "The Artist" is all about changes in our culture. Also, this movie, while maintaining its originality, pays homage to two of the greatest Hollywood movies ever made, "Singin' in the Rain," where Debbie Reynold's regular voice fit best for talkies as Jean Hagen's itty-bitty voice didn't, and fell for her co-star, Gene Kelly, and the storyline of "A Star is Born," where the heroine's celebrity rises and the hero's celebrity falls. For those who really think that "they don't make movies like the used to," then you see everything in "The Artist." It is much more than an all black and white silent movie. It is a tribute that makes the viewer think, feel, and yet enjoy its magical movie-making. It is funny, sometimes disturbing, intellectual, and the viewer leaves with good feeling and emotion. And that's what a great movie is all about.

The storyline goes that George Valentin is a hot 1920s silent movie hero who meets dancer Peppy Miller. He puts the beauty mark on her and then she is a star ingenue. However, Al Zimmer realistically announces to George that the movies are forever changing to sound, which is true in our culture, and George feels disheartened over his silent film celebrity status. Even more disheartening when Peppy's sound movie is a fit, George's last silent movie is a flop, and George's actress wife, Doris, deserts him. George moves into a small apartment with Clifton, and his Jack Russell Terrier, and still more desolation ensues. George drinks uncontrollably, attempts suicide twice, and the only people to save him are his smart and loyal dog who knows more danger signals than humans, and Peppy, who loves George unconditionally. The predictable but exhilarating ending is a real gem that not only makes the viewer feeling good, but thinking what will come next for years to come. And finally, George is back in form in the next status, which Peppy adapted to right away.

The last silent movie tribute was, well, Mel Brooks' "Silent Movie" back in 1976. Sorry, but audiences these days seem to be more interested in a thoughtful tribute than a mindless but still always hilarious and timeless parody by our spoofmeister Brooks. Thirty-five years later, we get the real treat for what the silents are all about. Call it artsy and all black and white, but "The Artist" is a thought-provoker that I would like to see nominated for Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor Dujardin, and Best Actress Bejo. I'm not the best at handicapping Oscars, but it looks so far that this movie may win for all its artistic merits.

Tower Heist (2011)

Amusing Crime Caper Ripped from the Headlines

[20 November 2011]

If you know your headlines about Bernie Madoff's Ponzi schemes and how he has ripped off numerous clients investing with him, then it helps more to enjoy "Tower Heist." Alan Alda plays the Madoff-based character, Arthur Shaw, a cunning, devious financial snake who lives in a luxurious apartment modeled on Trump Tower and in the same location of Columbus Circle, New York. Mocking Trump and Madoff is quite a doozy and a daily double for Alda. Shaw has stolen millions of dollars from many of his employees, stored it in his red Ferrari once owned by Steve McQueen inside his living room, and now those employees want to rob him back.

Among the employees are Ben Stiller as Josh Kovacs, the manager of the building who organizes the revenge scam, and his accomplices are the bumbling bellhop Enrique (Michael Pena), a self-pitying evicted tenant and unemployed stockbroker named Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), the not-so-bright concierge Charlie and Josh's brother-in-law(Casey Affleck) who is about to become a father and worries about the future for his wife and upcoming child, the quick-witted housekeeper (Gabourey Sidibe, who became a major star after her Oscar nomination for "Precious," and wants to lend comedy a hand) whose father was a safecracker, and the wisecracking street hoodlum named Slide (Eddie Murphy, returning to his original smart-mouth acting form from the last 30 years) whom Josh knew as a child and is recruited by Josh and the gang.

The gang is ready to turn the tables on Shaw, and they end up finding the loot, along with a ledger inside the Ferrari. They dangle the Ferrari outside the apartment during a Thanksgiving parade, and are all arrested by the FBI. In exchange for the ledger, everyone else is set free, but Josh plea bargains and serves a two-year sentence.

The other cast members, in addition to the gang, are Tea Leoni as the pert FBI Agent Claire Denham in charge of the case who becomes Josh's apple of his eye, although the relationship is platonic, Judd Hirsch as Mr. Simon, the boss for Josh and the others who fires them after Josh admits that a retiring doorman named Lester attempted suicide after losing to Shaw right in front of Shaw, and Stephen McKinley Henderson as Lester, the would-be-suicide who has a few scenes laying in a hospital bed.

It is too bad that only get to see Eddie Murphy in the second hour of the movie, but it is refreshing to see him return to young form. Ben Stiller is less frenetic than usual, but he gets to chew scenery as he usually does. The real star of the movie is Alan Alda, who can skewer and parody Madoff mercilessly and give Madoff the due he deserves. The supporting cast is game, but the strongest performance is by Gabby Sidibe, the safecracking expert who shows she can do comedy. The self-pitying performances of Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, and Michael Pena wore thin, but Sidibe shows all her confidence in her part, which makes her the best vengeful crook.

Now this movie may not make history or have that much bit, but it is an amiable crime caper that kept me amused. Some people may find people like Stiller and Murphy repeating themselves in a "greatest hits" sort of performances. I felt that somewhat. As I said before, Alda and Sidibe had the best performances of all. And to fully understand the movie, you have to know the headlines or you can be lost. There is a lot of detail to the movie which tries to make it interesting, and some of the details are a bit too much.

"Tower Heist" is entertaining and informative in its way. It's not perfect but it's enjoyable. It's well worth your money.

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

One of the Better Romantic Comedies in Recent Years

[24 August 2011]

"Crazy, Stupid, Love" is a romantic comedy that is less predictable than most romantic comedies of modern days. It doesn't have the old formula of boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, boy and girl break up, boy and girl run into unexpected place and reconcile at end, which we have seen numerous times that it's like we already have seen the movie. Here, we are seeing a more mature comedy with some serious undertones and plenty of surprises. Too bad there aren't too many movies like this around.

Steve Carell is most restrained and controlled here in his role as Cal. He does not overact or try hard. He acts cool all along, and when he shows his emotions, he does them more internally than externally. He is in sudden shock when his longtime wife, Emily (Julianne Moore) asks for a divorce rather than dessert during dinner. Emily is bored and just had had an affair with her coworker, David (a sly but restrained Kevin Bacon). Cal moves out and heads into the singles scene. Ryan Gosling, a very serious and choosy actor in his generation where most men act like boys and he always acts like a man, is Jacob, a ladykiller who gets the girl every night, but has never kept one yet. At the bar, Jacob coaches Cal on how to get girls and tries to change his wardrobe in the process. Cal and Emily's children are deeply affected by the breakup of their parents, and each show their own emotions of it without resorting to overacting.

13-year-old Robbie (Jonah Bobo) is hit the hardest, and acts out more lustfully than his older sister, Hannah (the ubiquitous and reliable Emma Stone, a hot property of this generation and currently doing well this summer in "The Help" and other movies). Robbie has a secret crush on the alluring babysitter, Jessica, who takes a nude picture of herself and blackmails it to Cal. Hannah, an aspiring lawyer, already in love, has an affair with Jacob, who doesn't realize that she is Cal and Emily's daughter. Molly is underused, but like any other product of divorce, feels the pain of a broken family. Another surprise - Cal has a one-night-stand with Kate (Marisa Tomei, hilarious and heartbreaking, and shows her emotions the most externally), not realizing that she is Robbie's teacher, and gets angry when meeting with Cal and Emily, which adds fuel to the fire of the breakup.

All the secret affairs unfurl at the third act of the movie. All is restrained in comedy until the family reunion scene when everyone finds each other out. Naturally, happy endings occur. The only thing about this movie was the pacing was on the slow side at the beginning, but gets faster as the movie goes on until the third act. But thanks to a talented cast, Steve Carell, who some say is a "junk actor," doesn't get to overplay the comedy loudly. He is quieter, and he shows that side very well. If you are expecting his shtick from "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," "Get Smart," and "Dinner With Schmucks," you will be pleasantly surprised when you see his most mature performance yet. He is playing against type and real actors, not comic virtuosos like Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell. It's not crazy, it's certainly not stupid, and you will fall in love.

The Change-Up (2011)

The Worst Body Switch Movie of All Time

[23 August 2011]

Sometimes, I am dragged by a friend or a relative to a movie just because we have nothing better to do, or it just fits within our schedule. This movie was one. I had these experiences in recent years with "Stepbrothers" and "The Other Guys" in the months of August, both featuring an overacting Will Ferrell screaming his lines just to look for attention. This month, we have Ryan Reynolds doing his overgrown juvenile delinquent shtick paired with the usually reliable Jason Bateman in "The Change-Up."

Directed by David Dobkin who did the much better and funnier "Wedding Crashers" back in the summer of 2005, he's not sure how to deliver a gross joke anymore, so he has to find every way to overblow it, and he does, along with the performances. This is the gross-out version of the classic body switch and what's-it-like-be-there-and-again movie trend that began in the 1980s with "Peggy Sue Got Married," "Big," and in the last decade, "Freaky Friday," where the 40ish Jamie Lee Curtis stole the show from the then up-and-coming Lindsay Lohan. None of the gags work, and believe me, we were in a very empty, laughless theater with only three other people.

So what do Reynolds and Bateman do? They literally have to do their business outside in a magical water fountain in Atlanta. Both are bored with their lives, even if Reynolds as Mitch, a carefree, irresponsible bachelor currently making "lorno" or "light porno" movies, and Bateman, as Dave, a loving, hardworking, but uptight lawyer and family man. When all that is done, their lives are switched and they start to act like one another. Hence, Bateman loses his cool as the family man and finds himself having an affair with a young legal aide named Sabrina (Olivia Wilde). Reynolds becomes more of a control freak, but still dallies with the ladies nonetheless. Leslie Mann, the wife of Judd Apatow and often cast as the straight woman in Apatow's gross-out movies, is Jamie. She is the confused wife of Bateman wondering why he no longer wants to handle family responsibilities and if he is suddenly possessed by the body of Mitch. In disappointing casting, there is Alan Arkin in a small role as Mitch's father who has plans to remarry, and wants Mitch and Dave to attend. Arkin toils hard to keep a straight face amid this cinematic muck.

The jokes are so puerile, and more often than not,they border on the unwatchable, where Dave as Mitch carelessly handles crying babies and then the babies are in appalling danger. There is often the f-word throughout for forced laughs, and for good measure, nude breasts spurt out as turn-ons. In fact, there is more nudity here than in most of the R-rated party-boy-and-girl comedies in recent years.

This movie won't make you smile or feel good about yourself. It will just make you cringe and hope you get out of this long 105-minute movie.

The Help (2011)

Best Movie of the Year So Far

[17 August 2011]

If you read the book "The Help," you will certainly not be disappointed in the movie. The movie faithfully follows the important parts of the book, and it hardly misses a beat. I'd say that both the book and the movie are equally great, and there are so many outstanding performances in the movie that are Oscarworthy for 2012. Most importantly, you will go through many emotions. You will laugh, cry, and most of all, feel intelligent. That is the basis of feel-good movies - to evoke an emotion in you.

Emma Stone is Eugenia "Skeeter" Phelan, the center heroine of the story who isn't looking for marriage, is dating the son of a politico, but just finished college and is looking to become a journalist. She is rejected at first in New York, but is immediately accepted as the advice giver "Miss Myrna" for a local newspaper in Mississipi. But "Miss Myrna" is not enough. She realizes that she has been raised by a loving black housekeeper named Constantine (beautiful cameo by aging actress Cicely Tyson, and has been a staple in intelligent black acting), and out of all her old college friends, she is the only one who has never taken her housekeeper for granted. All her other friends have turned evil as they hired housekeepers to raise their babies and do all the hard work for them, while they are hedonistically having fun and playing bridge. The meanest of all of them is Hilly Holbrook. Bryce Dallas Howard, Ron Howard's lookalike daughter, viciously chews up her character of Hilly with boundless enthusiasm, and I hope that she gets an Oscar nomination for her portrayal. Emma Stone is quieter in her role as Skeeter, but I think she should get an Oscar nomination as Best Actress because she played her so honestly and faithfully.

The housekeepers are marvelously played and the actresses' performances of them are priceless. Viola Davis will touch you deeply as Abileen, the Oprah Winfrey-esque domestic, who is more loving to Katherine Leefolt's (Ahna O'Reilly) neglected daughter, and convinces her that all people are equal, and they are. Octavia Spencer is a hoot who provides comic relief as the overweight, sassy, blurting domestic Minny, who lost so many jobs, is a heck of a cook, and tells everyone what she thinks of them. She is first booted out of Hilly's house, when Hilly discovered she was using the family bathroom, and then told everyone she stole silver as a cover-up, but then she forms a wonderful relationship with the naive but troubled new girl in town, Celia Foote (Jessica Chastain, looking and acting like Marilyn Monroe, and yet bringing intelligence and complexity to the character). Unlike the book, Celia keeps Minny as Minny forms a strong bond with Celia after her miscarriage, and helps her through her intimidation of her husband Johnny's former lover, Hilly. And of course, there's those hilarious and unforgettable Minny's chocolate pie scenes, the comic relief of the movie and book.

In addition to the bright young cast, there are wonderful supporting parts by veteran southern-born actresses - Sissy Spacek plays Hilly's equally prejudiced mother who may or may not dig into the pie. Mary Steenburgen as Elaine Stein, the New York-based editor of Harper and Row who at first is reluctant to hire Skeeter, but after Skeeter's book,"The Help," is published, she accepts her. That makes Skeeter have to leave her ill mother, (Allison Janney, in an icy performance) behind. Her mother doesn't tell Skeeter about the entire truth of why Constantine, the housekeeper who raised her, disappeared, so that is where Skeeter uncovers the truth of domestics and their employers.

"The Help" is a perfect marvel that is faithful as historical fiction. It speaks the truths of the Civil Rights Era and the beliefs of blacks and whites alike. This was author Kathryn Stockett's first novel, and it is a huge blockbuster. Writer-director Tate Taylor follows the book meticulously, but dilutes it for the 2-hour and 15-minute running time for content. He delivers honest and emotional portrayals from everyone, whether the characters are touching, sensitive, funny, or cold-hearted. Hands down the best picture of the summer, and were not even into the fall, but this movie makes for an Oscar Contender, and I hope my prediction will be right. I would like the Academy to remember Emma Stone as Best Actress, Bryce Dallas Howard as Best Supporting Actress, Tate Taylor as Best Director, and "The Help" as Best Picture. I would also like to add Viola Davis for her tender performance as Abileen for an Oscar nomination as well.

Cars 2 (2011)

The First Worst Movie Pixar Has Ever Brought In

[1/10 · 26 June 2011]

Up until now, Pixar could do no wrong. Hopefully, this will be both the first and last time with "Cars 2." Pixar has so far been the best animated studio for the last 15 years or so, and has never delivered a bad movie even once. They don't resort to pop culture references and star egos like Dreamworks has around the same time. But then, even Pixar hasn't been intact with "Cars 2." With this movie, the studio is condescending to the level of Dreamworks also with pop culture and star egos, not to mention a confusing storyline that can baffle the young ones. Still no matter how bad the reviews, and I'm agreeing with them,the movie will rake in business like any other animated movie from the 1990s on.

What is wrong with this movie? Where can I begin? Well, first of all, the story borrows and rips off the James Bond movies during the Sean Connery era. Although Michael Caine has never been James Bond, he is sure suave and reliable enough to play any British spy, animated or live action. He definitely is the perfect fit as the British secret agent car Finn McMissile. His part is good enough, but he doesn't seem to intertwine with two of the original "Cars," the hero Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) or the redneck Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), who now upstages McQueen as the hero. Mater has the role as an unwitting agent and is foil to Finn McMissile and his sleek female assistant Holley Shiftwell (The British actress Emily Mortimer), and even falls for her at the end of the movie. Still nothing of interest.

Second, the story is way too confusing. It's all about greed of the oil supply. The villain is Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddie Izzard), who wants to replace all of the gas oil with synthetic oils so cars can use it in a World Grand Prix in Tokyo, Paris, Monte Carlo, and London. There are even offensive jokes about the Italian mafia, something never done in Pixar before, and Pixar usually has kind, sensitive humor. Mater, Finn McMissile, and Holley Shiftwell join forces to thwart this dastardly attempt and restore the oil to its normalcy, while Lightning McQueen races against a new Italian Rival Francesco Bernoulli (John Turturro).

Third and most important of all, it is rated G, and with all the frightening gunplay and violence, and literal bathroom humor, it should be rated PG. Some people would suggest it should be PG-13. Back in the day, there were numerous G-rated cartoons that should have been rated PG, and PG-rated cartoons that should be rated R. "Cars 2" is no exception to the inaccurate ratings of animated movies.

The only good things about the movie are the colorful artwork, especially in the Tokyo sequences, and the addition of other characters besides cars, such as submarines and a smiling plane named Siddeley, McMissile's espionage partner.

I'm so glad I didn't bring any small children to this movie. There were no laughs in the audiences and the children came out of there asking their parents, "What's it all about?" Original characters come back in smaller cameos, but their scenes really had no place in the movie. The actor doing Fillmore did a lame imitation of George Carlin, who died three years ago. Luckily, Doc Hudson, played by the late great Paul Newman, wasn't replaced, he had a small tribute. If "Cars 2" had the same type of endearing storyline like let's say, "Toy Story 2," or "Toy Story 3," adults would have been fine with it. But no, it had to be like any routine animated movie from other studios. Hopefully, Pixar in the future will go back to it's usual style again because there is an adult audience for animation.

Bridesmaids (I) (2011)

Girls Just Want To Have Fun, Too

[7/10 · 30 May 2011]

Throughout the years, gross-out comedies would revolve around groups of guys ("The 40-Year-Old Virgin,", "Wedding Crashers," "The Hangover" and now "The Hangover 2," which I have no intention on seeing since I didn't like the first "Hangover," "Hot Tub Time Machine," and "Dinner for Schmucks," from more recent years) or just one girl who is the object of desire of many guys ("There's Something About Mary"). But now, there is a twist. The girls are the protagonists of gross-out.

Raunchmeister Judd Apatow is the producer. Paul Feig is the director. They treated the ladies the same way men would get treated in gross out movies. The ladies would drink, cuss, tear each other apart, and would have so much fun doing all that.

"Saturday Night Live" alum Kristen Wiig is the star of the movie. She is Annie, a young woman whose life is on the rocks when her best childhood girlfriend Lillian (fellow SNL alum Maya Rudolph) asks her to be the maid of honor at her upcoming wedding. Her love life is not so lovely and she lost two jobs. She beds one man, but has the eye for a police officer who continually runs into her on the streets and everywhere else. Complications come when there are four other bridesmaids on the scene, and all of them duke it out.

Expectedly, the best work comes from heavyset actress Melissa McCarthy as the tough as nails Megan, the sister of the groom. There is always that principle where the least attractive actor/actress becomes the most attractive when they get the best and funniest lines, steals the show from everyone else, and no one else can be as funny or clever, not even the leads. Surely enough, the filmmakers are doing her a favor where beauty is only skin deep, and they are right. The other three "beautiful" bridesmaids are Rose Byrne as Helen, who becomes a fierce rival for Lillian as the matron of honor as she is the trophy wife of the groom's boss, Wendy McLendon-Covey as the tall blonde Rita, an aggressive foul-mouthed stepmother of equally foul-mouthed children, and Ellie Kemper as Becca, the most sensitive bridesmaid who is newly married and feels the sorriest for Annie because she is still single. Lesson to be learned: Never take your beauty for granted. You can be sexy because of your brain.

There are numerous gross out gags that pop up and keep you laughing out loud. But there is a lot of heart as well so we won't think it's just another rambunctious comedy. Due to Jill Clayburgh's recent death, her presence is the most bittersweet. She did have very funny lines as Annie's lustful mother, although she looked wan and weak. It was nice to have a funny comedy be her swan song for her distinguished and respectable career.

Have a great time and laugh. Bring all your friends to see "Bridemaids" and you'll be glad you did.

Rio (2011)

An amiable outing

[5/10 · 24 April 2011]

"Rio" is not terrible like more recent Dreamworks movies where the animated movies always have to depend on star power and pop culture references for laughs, but their stories aren't as convincing as those of Pixar movies. Like most spring movies, "Rio" is fine for an outing, but it is not the kind of movie I would put in my DVD collection.

The best thing about Rio is the colors, the realistic animated backgrounds of the South American tourist city which also includes the slums as well as the beaches we love to see ourselves at, and a few good musical numbers, including the song that goes "I Want to Party, I Want to Samba," by Jamie Foxx and Will I Am, who play two birds held in captivity who entertain the other birds. Otherwise, I would say that the story is formulaic and predictable, and we've seen many of these movies before.

The story goes that Blu (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg from the brilliant "The Social Network") a nerdy domesticated macaw dropped off in Minnesota from a truck on the streets, enjoys his companionship with his owner Linda (voiced by Leslie Mann), and has never learned to fly. A Brazilian ornithologist named Tulio (voiced by Rodrigo Santoro) comes to town and wants to bring Blu back to Brazil to mate with the other remaining macaw from the country, the independent Jewel (voiced by Anne Hathaway). They get down there during Carnaval season, Blu meets Jewel, but sure enough, they are kidnapped by nasty bird smugglers, but make escapes to various parts of the city. It always appears that villains steal the show in otherwise middle-of-the-road movies, and that villain is the smugglers' cockatoo pet Nigel (voiced by Jemaine Clement, who does the best work), who gets more into the action and smuggling than the humans themselves.

Linda and Blu are separated from two-thirds of the movie. She and Tulio are looking for Blu, who is now with the smugglers and Jewel. During the adventures, there are friends who aid in returning Blu to his owner, such as a funny bulldog named Luis (voiced by comedian Tracy Morgan), a wisecracking toucan named Rafael (voiced by comedian George Lopez), and two rapping birds played by Will I Am and Jamie Foxx. Recently they performed that party/samba number on "American Idol," and they did better on that show than in the movie. Then there are ugly, thieving monkeys who Nigel enlists the aid of to find Blu and Jewel in their escapes.

As stated earlier the story follows the formula of most animated movies. Couple meets cute. Couple gets into danger. Then then male bird returns to its owner, and marries the female, producing their own birds. Villains lose and get locked up. Note that Rodrigo, a poor kid, reluctantly works for the smugglers, and would rather be with Linda and Tulio, as he searches back for the macaws. He just kidnaps the macaws just for the money, but the smugglers won't let him get away with that.

In my years of seeing animated movies, I have to say that the Pixar movies are by far the best. They don't depend on clichés and formulas, like Rio. Even the first Ice Age Movie, made by the makers of "Rio" didn't depend on these elements. They don't look for star power and pop culture, like Dreamworks does all of the time in recent years. However, "Rio" goes slightly above Dreamworks, but still falls into the predictability cliché department. The backgrounds and colors make up the most for the movie, but the plot and character development is just about everything we have seen before as well. Fine for an outing, but not one of the best movies I have seen.

My Best Friend's Girl (2008)

Indescribable is What You Can Call Dane Cook

[1/10 · 21 April 2011]

Dane Cook looks really handsome enough. Too bad his talent doesn't match his good looks. Some comedians in this day and age, like let's say, Steve Carell, can get away with being bad actors once in a while because they at least have charm and talent inside. But Dane Cook has nothing. No talent, no charm. He is just coarse, crass, cringeworthy, and foul-mouthed throughout "My Best Friend's Girl." His comedy style is an acquired taste, and I can see why.

Then there is Kate Hudson. She always had enough charm but what she really needs is a hit. She really hasn't had a hit since being nominated for an Oscar for "Almost Famous" back in 2000, which wasn't a comedy. Since then, she wants to follow the footsteps of her famous mother Goldie Hawn in romantic comedy after romantic comedy. So far, she hasn't found anything yet, and all of her subsequent movies have been flops. Hopefully, a hit will follow her soon.

I haven't seen any of the "American Pie" movies, but I realize that when you see the name Jason Biggs, you know he will pop in some raucous gross-out comedy that will satisfy the Generation X crowd.

Take these three actors, Dane Cook being the worst one of them all, and put them into "My Best Friend's Girl." There is nothing but vomit jokes and continuous swearing that is never funny. Cook plays the supercool hustler Tank, who is hired by his nerdy close friend Dustin (Biggs) to go out on a date with his coworker and ex-girlfriend, Alexis (Hudson). Tank is the kind of guy who has one night stands women from failed relationships and returns them to their exes. Predictably, Tank and Alexis fall in love. More gross-outs and fights ensue. We get to see less of Dustin, and the story concentrates mostly on Tank with Alexis in the middle. There is a cameo by Alec Baldwin as Tank's equally lecherous and foul-mouthed father. Even Baldwin doesn't help.

The movie is too long. The characters are all despicable. Someone like Kate Hudson really knows better, and audience members keep asking themselves "What's a sweet, nice gal like Kate Hudson doing in dreck like this?" Hudson is too perky and sweet to be vulgar. I believe being brought up by Goldie and Kurt, she doesn't seem the gross-out type like let's say, Cameron Diaz, whose gross-out humor from "There's Something Like Mary" was actually convincingly funny, and that's why she was the gross-out queen of the late 1990s. Everyone else acts really nasty in this movie. Dane Cook is just nasty. I don't like nasty humor. 1980s teen comedy director Howard Deutch returns to helm this haphazard train wreck sloppily. A total mess, skip this floperoo, which it was at the box office.

The King's Speech (2010)

The Best Movie of 2010

[10/10 · 25 January 2011]

I can't think of a more perfect movie than "The King's Speech." It got all the 12 Academy Award nominations that it deserves. I do predict that Colin Firth will win as King George, aka "Bertie," the sixth, and Geoffrey Rush will win as Bertie's loyal speech therapist Lionel Logue, who helps him overcome his stutter and then becomes his friend for life. Helena Bonham Carter was fantastic and exquisite as Bertie's loving wife, the Queen Mother Elizabeth, who recommends her husband to the speech therapist, and deservedly was nominated best supporting actress. I'm not sure if she will win, but I would nominate her. Best actress win? Natalie Portman, the front runner for "Black Swan," an overrated "artful" horror movie that I will not see, and many people I know personally don't like that movie.

What I liked most about "The King's Speech" is that it is not a pedantic fact-throwing history lesson taught by your average social studies teacher. It is really a very touching story that delves into Bertie's positive relationship with his wife, his daughters, and the speech therapist. When his older brother King Edward (Guy Pearce) decides its time to abdicate the throne, Bertie is the next of kin and has to step in. But he is not all that confident enough due to his stammer, so the Queen Mother and the speech therapist help out. When Bertie is angry, he doesn't stammer. It comes out more so when he is nervous. During the speech courses, many lessons are learned, and some are quite humorous as you will see.

Then comes the big speech at the end of the movie. It's 1939, and Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain got England into World War II against Hitler and Nazi Germany. When you hear Bertie speak through a microphone, your heart, mind, and soul will feel warm all over.

"The King's Speech" passes the litmus test for positivity in every way. You don't have to be a history scholar to understand the movie. Let the history be the backdrop and concentrate more on the relationships and the wonderful feelings the movie wants to convey.

Morning Glory (2010)

Fun Satire of the Morning News

[7/10 · 14 November 2010]

"Daybreak" pokes pleasant fun at today's 3 morning TV shows and the ins and outs of it and the world of television news broadcasting. It portrays all types of news and society archetypes - the ambitious young TV producer fired from her local TV station who wants higher ratings (Rachel McAdams), the brash, no-nonsense, seasoned and substantial anchorman (Harrison Ford), the perky female anchorman who smiles at everything yet is not completely comfortable working with an anchor who doesn't smile (Diane Keaton), the comical weatherman who breezes through forecasts and does humorous on-air stunts (Matt Malloy), the producer's boss who gets angry when things don't go well (Jeff Goldblum), the on-the-job boyfriend who wishes the producer wouldn't take her job too seriously (Patrick Wilson), the sexually charged younger anchor who the producer fires right away before hiring her the more seasoned veteran anchorman (Ty Burrell), and the producer's mother in a small part who makes her aware of today's unemployment and downsizing (Patti D'Arbanville). All these people and much more elements make up "Morning Glory" and tells us about the world that we live in today.

McAdams is young Becky Fuller, fired from her local TV station as the producer in New Jersey, and then gets her big break accepting the job of a fourth-place morning news show producer at a fictitious TV network across from 30 Rock called IBS. That morning news show is called "Daybreak," which relies more on style than substance. Right away, after Becky fires the lecherous anchorman (Burrell), she meets her childhood idol in the elevator named Mike Pomeroy (Ford). And as much as she has loved him all her life from afar, he initially doesn't reciprocate his feelings to her. She meets Colleen Peck (Keaton), who despite her on-air smiles, has a tough edge. She spent 11 years on the show and has worked with at least 15 anchorman, none who she really got along with. Now Peck and Pomeroy meet, she smiles, he grunts, and they eventually go head to head over their news styles. Ratings are close to cancellation due to clashing anchorpeople in contrast to the friendly repartee of Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira, Ann Curry, and Al Roker, that we get to see every day on "The Today Show," and the silly stuff played on the show all the time.

After an important interview with the governor, where Pomeroy whisks Becky to see the substance of his career, Becky is offered a job as the producer of the always top-rated "Today Show," and feels that she had enough of Pomeroy's arrogance and ego, and demeaning attitude towards her. Predictably enough, Pomeroy loosens up and shares his secrets of cooking frittatas, something he did share personally with Becky. Ratings soar. We get that conventional happy rom-com ending just as we are always manipulated to believe that the heroine and hero depart after a quarrel in the third act.

"Morning Glory" won't be as Oscarworthy as "Network" or "Broadcast News" since both have more substance in them. But despite the fluffy nature (a word that Pomeroy avoids), there is more intelligence in this movie than you would expect. The first rate cast of older pros (Keaton, Ford, Goldblum) and younger rising stars (McAdams, Wilson, Burrell) make it worthwhile, and deliver smart, sassy humor and snappy zingers.

Dinner for Schmucks (2010)

Don't Be a Schmuck! Run, Don't Walk, to See This Hilarious Comedy.

[7/10 · 1 August 2010]

When I saw "Dinner For Schmucks" today, the audience was jam-packed and everyone seemed to be having a great time. Box office champion Steve Carrell and his regular second banana, Paul Rudd, along with high-concept comedy director and raunch maestro Jay Roach, combine their trademark sarcastic humor with underlying sensitivity and deep character study, and the result is a crowdpleasing winner.

We take innocent but ambitious career-minded stockbroker Tim Conrad (Rudd)who, during a business meeting, sees one colleague fired for losing money in a stock gamble, and he wants to take his place. His boss Lance Fender (a conniving Bruce Greenwood) lets him on the deal, but on one condition: he must attend his dinner and find himself a willing guest who is so perfectly stupid. He refuses to let his sensible regular companion Julie (Stephanie Szostak) know about this, and this all leads to an on-again off-again relationship. Then Julie hooks up with a strange art curator named Kieran (Jermaine Clement), who likes to paint humans with animals hanging off of their bodies.

Enter Barry Speck (Carell), a dumbed-out IRS employee with glasses and an overbite who has a fetish for dead mice and dresses them up in costumes or his landscapes. The landscapes with the mice reveal Barry's passages in life. Tim accidentally hits him with his car as Barry is about to pick up a dead mouse. Tim takes him and he and Barry develop a love-hate relationship as the unthinking Barry gets Tim into escapes with a blonde SNM stalker named Darla (the appropriately named Lucy Punch. Yes, that's her real name) and fellow IRS employee Thurman (Zach Galifianakis), who wants to rival Barry with his idiotic mind control tactics. Barry and Thurman hate each other so much and Barry's wife left him for Thurman. Also essential to the cast are David Walliams as a Swiss stock client of Tim's and the beautiful big blue-eyed Lucy Davenport as his exotic wife, who in one funny scene, coax Tim into marrying Darla when Julie was unavailable.

Now get to the climactic dinner scene. All the characters and elements build up to the hilarious dinner in a huge mansion where chaos and laughs reign. The humor is funny but the slapstick really is the best at that climax. In the end, Barry gets the top prize against Thurman who wants to outdumb him. All works out everyone predictably in the end.

The best thing about this movie is where the characters appear comfortable with themselves. Barry is content with his idiocy. Tim may be a social climber, but he is good hearted in his personal relationships with Barry and Julie. The rest of the cast play cold-blooded types for good measure, but in the end, all the good guys win.

Toy Story 3 (2010)

Pixar Always Delivers the Best of Its Kind

[9/10 · 5 July 2010]

If there is one animation studio we can always rely on and so far, has not let us down, it is the Pixar Disney Studios. Their movies are always played for laughter mixed with substance, sometimes we'll shed a sentimental tear or two, and while their movies rake in the money, this studio has more consideration for its audience. I'm saying this against the recent trend of Dreamworks movies where it looks for pop culture references out of nowhere and star power, and while they look for bucks, they are more in for themselves. Right now, I'm hearing that Dreamworks has run into financial trouble. Pixar has not.

"Toy Story 3" is the latest of the "Toy Story" trilogy and Pixar flicks, and it never disappoints. Tom Hanks and Tim Allen are back on hand as Cowboy Woody and E. Buzz Lightyear, and apparently, these actors work so well they enjoy working together. The other reliable cast members are Don Rickles as Mr. Potato Head, Estelle Harris as Mrs. Potato Head, Wallace Shawn as the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Pixar Good Luck Charm John Ratzenberger as Hamm the Piggybank, Joan Cusack as Jessie the Cowgirl, and Laurie Metcalf as Andy's mother. New faces include Ned Beatty as the evil pink teddy bear Lotso, Michael Keaton as the dashing Ken doll, and Jodi Benson (Who more than twenty years ago, did the voice of Ariel in "The Little Mermaid. Time flies.) as Ken's girlfriend Barbie.

This story takes place many years later. Andy is grown up and is getting ready for college. He doesn't know what to do with the toys and thinks about putting them into the attic box. However, the toys end up in a trash bag, and his mother accidentally sends them to the Sunnyside Day Care Center, where other toys have been donated. All the toys feel that Andy is getting older and he doesn't need them anymore. Woody is still most attached to Andy and cannot separate from him. There the toys bond with Barbie and Ken, and at first they befriend the tricky organizer of the donated toys, Lotso, but soon realize that he is in just for self profit. Once again, as in the other "Toy Story" movies, the toys all encounter peril, here going from one garbage compactor to the next, but they always make it home to Andy.

This movie has the most adult themes - separation anxiety, scary toys (in the first movie, a rotten kid named Sid had very scary toys) that may frighten the most impressionable young children, and an ending that tugs at the heartstrings more so than in the other two movies. You wouldn't mind getting out a handkerchief for this one, but the rest of the movie is still funny and sometimes frightening, but not to give nightmares. I'm always looking forward to see the next Pixar movie, but at this point, I'm thinking twice before I throw out my precious money for another bombastic Dreamworks movie.

Letters to Juliet (2010)

My Favorite Movie So Far This Year

[9/10 · 6 June 2010]

If you have had enough of bombastic animation, shoot 'em ups, and comedy, "Letters to Juliet" is your answer to a movie where you walk out feeling good and romantic. The performances and humor are intelligent. The storyline is simple yet delightful. The scenery is so lush and breathtaking you feel like you are in Italy. It gets touching without getting maudlin. If you are selective moviegoer, then you will not be disappointed.

Amanda Seyfried may be only 24, but she acts so grown up in a world full of girls. As Sophie, a writer for the New Yorker, She and her boyfriend Victor (Gael Gabriel Bernal), an aspiring restaurateur, want to go on a pre-honeymoon trip to Italy. There, he opens up his restaurant, and she wanders around the countryside where women write out letters to four women who call themselves "Juliet" about their lost loves. All the letters are posted outside, and are taken down every day. Sophie takes the job as the fifth and youngest Juliet, and she finds a letter dated back from 50 years ago pushed inside the wall. She meets Vanessa Redgrave as Claire, who wrote that letter looking for her long lost Lorenzo, accompanied by her son Charlie (Christopher Egan). They look for every Lorenzo they can think of until they find the long lost Lorenzo at the end of the movie (Franco Nero, who is Redgrave's real-life current husband). They marry. Sophie drifts apart from Victor and leaves him behind and marries Charlie.

Break out the vino. Every once in a while amid the egotism of the box office, a small movie paves way that looks like no other movie. "Letters to Juliet" is the one.

Shrek Forever After (2010)

Indescribable

[1/10 · 6 June 2010]

Over the years, the megalomaniacal geniuses of the Dreamworks animated movies are getting unfunnier and unfunnier with star power and pop culture references; they think they are smart to lure unsuspecting moviegoers and families into thinking their movies will sell to the world and will be just as good as the first "Shrek" or even "Shrek 2," which is sad to say, the only two good Dreamworks movies there ever was. Everything else is all the same. Get a roundup of actors. Draw them to how they look like in their human forms. Give personalities to the characters that match their acting styles, only to exploit those actors. Add some stupid pop culture references out of nowhere to make the adults laugh, and they never do. And then the movie rakes in the money, but adults get bored and think it's just another ego vehicle, and small children are too young to notice a thing.

So is to speak of "Shrek Forever After," which they say will be last "Shrek" movie, and hopefully so because it is simply the worst and worse than "Shrek the Third," where the series was starting to outwear its welcome. So has the dumb Dreamworks animation studios, and I hope I'll never see another one of their animated movies, just sticking with Pixar, like all other smart moviegoers. Adults and children all love Pixar, and it has never failed on gone on an ego trip even once.

In my best overview, Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, John Cleese (who died as the frog in "Shrek the Third, and appears in a flashback in the first scene), and Julie Andrews return, getting their paychecks, but little payoff. Walt Dohrn is the new villain, a creepy character named Rumplestiltskin, and he isn't convincing, just dark and creepy. This is without a doubt the darkest of all the Shrek Movies, with the darkest settings and elements. Bored with his life as a family man, Myers as Shrek wants to go back to the glory days as an ogre, so he makes a deal with Rumplestiltskin, foolishly signs the contract, and gets into so much trouble in his alternate reality world. He is not born, and Rumplestiltskin is the head of Far Far Away. The gnome has captured all ogres but Shrek. Diaz as Fiona, who looks like a warrior, is captured, and in this reality, she doesn't know who Shrek is. Murphy as Donkey tags along and jabbers as always. Banderas as Puss in Boots does nothing but look fat. The witches are Rumplestiltskin's henchwomen who try to capture Shrek and don't let him go, and like all the other characters, they are creepy.

If you think that's enough, rats (not the cute kind rom "Ratatouille"),slugs, and eyeballs serve as sight gags. A bratty young boy chants in a gurgly voice, "Do the roar" to Shrek, in a cheap attempt to get laughs at the opening scene of the birthday party. Cakes are smashed.

This movie was made in 3D, and this is the biggest ripoff of the year. I'm lucky I got in with discount tickets. Save your money everyone. And this has been the highest grossing movie for four weekends, but has the lowest and weakest box office record of all the "Shrek" movies. Hey, I'm a fan of Ralph Bakshi's "Wizards," and this is no small comparison, but where one would think "Wizards," or more appropriately, his "Lord of the Rings" the next year, was dark and murky, I thought "Wizards" was hilarious in a Mel Brooks mode. "Shrek Forever After" holds the record for the least cute, dreariest, and murkiest animated movie I've ever witnessed, and more so than Bakshi's "Lord of the Rings" and Disney's only PG-rated "The Black Cauldron." Some things have to move on, and "Shrek" is one of them after a delightful start.

Hot Tub Time Machine (2010)

Makes You Laugh, Makes You Think, Makes You Feel Young

[9/10 · 27 March 2010]

"Hot Tub Time Machine" is a vulgar, raunchy, foul-mouthed knockoff of "Back to the Future." "Back to the Future" was made in 1985 in which Michael J. Fox played Marty McFly, a 1980s teen who was transported into a time warp he did not live through, but his parents did - the 1950s - and would see the future and no one else in that period would understand his 1980s sensibilities. One of the cast members of "Hot Tub" would be Crispin Glover, who played Marty's father, George McFly. Glover makes a cameo as a bellhop in the past and present sequences of "Hot Tub" as he did in "Back to the Future."

"Hot Tub" would feature three actors who grew up in the 1980s - John Cusack, an '80s staple himself, along with Craig Robinson and Rob Corddroy - and Clark Duke, whose IMDb bio lists him as being born in 1985, so he gets to play the nephew of Cusack who goes along for the ride and never fully understands the cultures of the 1980s.

In the present day of 2010, Adam (Cusack), Nick (Robinson), and Lou (Corddroy) are in their 40s and not feeling so good about their personal lives. To escape, they, along with young Jacob (Duke) go to a ski resort where the three older men went back in 1986. When they get there, it is a ghost town. But they discover a jacuzzi where one inadvertently presses the digits and the four are automatically transported to the wild 1980s, a period of big hair, walkmen, spandex, Reaganomics, VHSs, the increasing popularity of heavy metal music, and the seeming lack of technology that would some day pave way to the Internet, Cell Phones, DVDs, Facebook, Twitter, Blackberries, and iPods. These guys know the words "Dot-Com," "Text," and "Facebook." No one else knows it yet. They also look the same as they do in the present era, but their mirror images appear younger, thinner, and more hair.

There is a "Back to the Future" plot where Lou meets the girl of his dreams, the blonde Kelly, who is Adam's sister, and eventually marries her, producing Jacob as their son. Adam gets to marry April(actress Lizzy Caplan), who during that period thought he was a dork and shoves a fork into Adam's right eyeball. Nick first gets to sing "Jessie's Girl," the popular 1981 Rick Springfield song, with his band, but goes 20 years ahead with "Let's Get it Started," which stuns the audience. In the end, the four go back to the present and learn that problems are in every era and they have to be dealt with and not to be escaped. They find they are happier more so today than they were as young men.

The movie throws in a short but delicious cameo by comeback kid Chevy Chase, whose movie career soared during the 1980s with "Vacation" and "Fletch" movies. He is the wise old hot tub repairman who keeps warning the four if they are not careful, they have to go back to the present, thus constantly zapping young Jacob for his carelessness.

If you lived through the 1980s, as I did, you can easily identify the numerous pop culture references and even some anachronisms, if you can pick them up as well. But if you didn't live through the 1980s, you might be a little confused. I wasn't around during the 1950s, but when "Back to the Future" came out, the 1950s references were easier to identify for those who didn't live through that decade.

"Hot Tub" may have a lot of swearing in every other sentence, but it is all creative swearing, which too many movies don't have. Most movies force the cursing for cheap laughs, but they don't come out too funny, such as in last year's "The Hangover," which I found overrated, bombastic, and unfunny. The 1970's Paul Newman hockey comedy "Slap Shot" is another example of creative swearing that is often funny and never offensive. More to the point, "Hot Tub" appears as shallow teen sex comedy, but it is more intellectual in the sense that it makes you think about how we deal with problems in every era, from the confused young adult to the physically pained middle-aged adult. Jump into this hot tub for good times and big laughs. I'm glad I did.

The Proposal (I) (2009)

This Summer's First Romantic Comedy

[6/10 · 30 June 2009]

Everything in this movie may look clichéd, and you may have seen much of the same material from so many other contemporary romantic comedies – girl and boy meet, girl and boy clash, girl and boy get together under unexpected circumstances, girl and boy fly to town to meet boy's parents, girl and boy are about to get married, girl and boy have a fight and break up, girl and boy fly out of town separately only to coincidentally find each other back home and fall back in love again. But a winsome cast holds everything together and sustains many honest laughs to keep "The Proposal" from being another formulaic romantic comedy and date movie.

Sandra Bullock has been the heroine of so many romance films since 1995's "While You Were Sleeping," but here in "The Proposal," she gets to play a ruthless corporate witch. She plays Margaret, the tough book editor of a prestigious publishing firm in Manhattan, bullying everybody, including her assistant Andrew, played by Ryan Reynolds, who has also established himself as a romantic leading man in many of his recent movies. Somehow, they are smitten by each other deep down. They discover that when an immigration visa inspector (played by Denis O'Hare) declares that Margaret's Canadian visa has expired and she has not renewed it, and now he wants her to leave the country. Margaret and Andrew come up with a ruse saying that they are engaged to be married, but they don't go back to Canada. He whisks her off to Alaska.

The Alaska scenery is actually shot in the daylights of Boston and Rhode Island. Here, Andrew introduces Margaret to his parents (nicely played by Craig T. Nelson and Mary Steenburgen) and his spry "Grammie" about to turn 90 (the always reliable Betty White, 87 years young). The women immediately take a liking to Margaret and accept her as part of the family. However, the father is more cantankerous and doesn't want to see his son fly away millions of miles from home with his bride-to-be, but he warms up to his son and prospective daughter-in-law near the end of the film.

There are a lot of laughs that keep the audience rolling, and intermittently, there are scenes played with heart for good balance. No, this is not going to make movie history or win any Academy Awards, but it is a light outing for anyone who wants to fall in love, have a good laugh, or even wants their hearts touched. "The Proposal" is an enjoyable summer romance.

Up (2009)

A Very Up-Lifting Adventure Tale

[10/10 · 7 June 2009]

"Up" is so far the best picture I have seen all year. In a slow season of movies, and the year is almost halfway done, I am glad I can write about an outstanding animated feature that would appeal to all ages. I like this one much better than "Monsters vs. Aliens," the previous film I reviewed because this movie relies on careful character development and an interesting story, rather than "Guess which celebrity does this voice? Pick out the celebrity's personality and features in the drawings and you'll know who," needless pop culture references which can bore the most discerning adult film-goer, and violent action. That's right. The reason why Pixar animated movies, and "Up" is the 10th Pixar movie, always do so well, I can say even better than DreamWorks animation, because they are interested in plots and characters, where most DreamWorks animated movies in recent years such as "Monsters vs. Aliens" can border on vulgar pop culture and celebrity parodies.

The visuals and colors are breathtaking. The story is beautifully constructed and richly textured. The plot brings out all sorts of emotions to us. It can be funny, touching without being melodramatic, action-packed without being violent, and we get to delve into the lives of each main character around.

We meet Carl Fredericksen as a young boy interested in flying adventures. He watches a newsreel of his hero Charles Muntz, a famous explorer who flew on a giant airlift to Paradise Falls in tropical Venezuela. However, Muntz is accused of bringing back fake fossils, so years later he sets out for a real giant, colorful ostrich. In the neighborhood, he meets young Ellie, a tomboy who likes to dabble in flying around the world. What follows is a very poignant footage set to music of Carl and Ellie getting married, living in a house the fix up, saving money into a gallon jug in the hopes of traveling to Paradise Falls, but too many expenses get in the way, growing older, and eventually Ellie dies. The footage is not at all maudlin, but it does touch the way we all live.

Fast forward to the present day. The elder Carl (voiced cantankerously by Ed Asner) is left alone and his beloved house is about to be taken away and he would have to go to a retirement home. No, he says, as he blows up all the balloons attached to his house and flies it off the ground on his own. Joining him is a young wilderness scout named Russell, who becomes Carl's loyal sidekick and friend. The two take off to Paradise Falls, where Carl always wanted to go all his life. They meet up with a big colorful ostrich Russell names Kevin and a cute dog named Dug, who become welcome allies. The conflict of the adventure is that they see Charles Muntz (voiced convincingly by Christopher Plummer), who is after the ostrich that Carl is now friends with. Aided by Muntz are a large pack of vicious-looking robotic dogs which bring comic relief to the movie. But at the end, Carl's dream is fulfilled and more wonderful things happen, even without Ellie in person.

Pixar movies always have a heartfelt message, which is why they are always on a roll. The message of "Up" is that if you live long enough and you never give up, you can always have your dreams come true. "Up" is rated PG for mild peril and action.

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)

Not Monstruous But Entertaining

[6/10 · 29 March 2009]

The friendly folks from Dreamworks Animated Entertainment have pitched in yet another cartoon that shall satisfy both children and their parents. The only thing is that as I was watching the movie, there were a bit too many adult pop culture references that could go over a child's head. Yes, many modern animated movies are layered both for children and adults, but as I have discovered in the Pixar movies, the Disney animated studio, most of the layering is kept both at a child's and an adult's level by not throwing in too much pop culture to amuse the adults.

The premise of this recent flick is a group of mutated monsters, well, saving the world from alien attacks. There is always a reliable cast that gives voice to each character to match the personalities so you can think, "I know who's doing that voice." The heroine of the movie is Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon), a sweet and perky young California girl who is about to get married to an egotistical TV weatherman named Derek Dietl (voiced by Paul Rudd). Quicker than saying "I do," Susan, who was momentarily hit by a meteoroid, grows into a strong, near 50-foot mutant, stomping on grounds and pulling objects apart. She is taken by the feds to a monster prison run by the gung-ho and macho General W.R. Monger (voiced by Kiefer Sutherland). She meets and makes friends with four other mutated monsters held capture there for 50 years. They are the grunting half-insect, half-dinosaur Insectosaurus, the oozy, blue, one-eyed Bob (voiced by Seth Rogen), the fish monster Missing Link (voiced by Will Arnett), and the small insect mad scientist monster Dr. Cockroach (voiced by Hugh Laurie). As for Susan, one of the monsters dub her as Ginormica, although initially, Susan doesn't think of herself as a monster, but as a human being. Anyone familiar with the 1950s B-monster movies would guess which character the monster is being based on. Small children may not understand the movies their parents grew up on.

The monsters are all banded together and now the general, as well as the President of the United States (voiced by Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert), want to free the monsters from captivity. All the military talks are done in a war room run by the president in order to reference the 1964 classic "Dr. Strangelove" to keep the adults interested, but small children may not get that as well. To do that, they have to fight an alien ship. The attack starts in San Francisco (and the scenery of the city is amazingly drawn) and then moves to Susan's hometown of Modesto. In Modesto, Susan is taken aboard and goes face to face with an evil four-eyed alien with a pointy head named Gallaxhar (voiced by Rainn Wilson) and has armies of aliens who look like him to do battle. Three of the four monsters get on board to help Susan, temporarily back to her regular size, since Gallaxhar zapped Insectosaurus. In the end, the monsters defeat the aliens and Susan returns home with all of her friends to her family, now happier as a monster than as a human.

Most of the character development revolves around Susan/Ginormica. Despite her gigantic size, she's too perky to be frightening. All the other monsters are well-drawn but there is little depth to them in their development. Also, these monsters have personalities too benign to be scary. The humans in the movie, the General and the President, are drawn to look exactly like the actors voicing them to remind us who they are. But Gallaxhar is the scariest character in the entire movie because he and his armies are so evil. The animation and visuals are fantastic, and the actors, like in many Pixar/Dreamworks animated movies, lend fine vocal support. I don't think this movie will make animated history like "Finding Nemo," "Shrek," "Toy Story," or "Ratatouille," to name a few, but it is a sweet and genial escape, and the visuals are what make it worthwhile. It is shown in two versions – 2D and 3D. Either way, it makes a pleasant outing. It is fun for the family, but it is rated PG for cartoon violence and a bit of crude humor and mild language.

The House Bunny (2008)

Agreeable Time Filer for Late August

[6/10 · 22 August 2008]

I went with my mother and my nine-year-old niece to see "The House Bunny" in the early morning in a relatively empty theater where there were only women. Of course it won't be the most memorable movie I've seen, but for late August, it's not all that bad.

Comedienne Anna Faris is perfectly cast as a carefree, big-haired and hare-brained Playboy bunny who after celebrating her 27th birthday (that's 59 in bunny years) at the Playboy Mansion, where she has lived much of her life, gets kicked out of there by yours truly, Hugh Hefner. With nowhere to turn, she looks at a sorority house that seems to resemble her previous house, only not as big. There, she accepts the job of a house mother to seven social misfits who make up the sorority Zeta Alpha Zeta. They need 23 more pledges before they are totally ousted as a campus sorority by the beautiful but snooty Pi Alphu Mu sorority.

Do the clichés sound familiar? Yes, they do. It seems like the creators of this movie grew up on "Revenge of the Nerds," one of my all-time favorite movies and the granddaddy of all jocks vs. nerds and losers who become winner comedies. So they decided to make a "Nerds" comedy a generation later with a feminist perspective. Faris's character, appropriately named Shelly Darlingson, first takes on all the wallflowers and makes them like her with flashy clothes, heavy makeup, costume jewelry, and platform shoes. At first, it is successful and boys fall for them. Soon enough, they see Shelly as frivolous and teach her to have brains as well as beauty. This leads Shelly to a forced, clumsy conversation with the man of her dreams (Colin Hanks, son of Tom Hanks). At the end of the movie, everyone wins except for the Pi Alpha Mu sorority.

There is a fine cast. Anna Faris perks everything up in what could have been a total lamebrainer. Her appearance and high voice get laughs, but when she does a dead-on "Exorcist" voice by saying everyone's names in order to remember them, that is the real deal. Colin Hanks and fellow Hollywood Offspring Rumer Willis, daughter of Demi Moore (and looks a lot like her) and Bruce Willis, provide able support. Katharine McPhee, the American Idol Runner Up of 2006, is made first ugly, then beautiful, as one of the sorority members. Listen for an "Idol" reference in which Faris tells Hanks she listens to Paula and Randy and that Simon is mean. The rest of the cast is amiable as well. We tend to know more about Shelly and the misfit sorority than the snobby girls or the hunky boys. Small parts by Beverly D'Angelo as a snide veteran house mother and Christoper McDonald as the prissy dean are provided nicely as well.

Now I would not put this on a must see list, but it is okay for a lazy day. As they dump out leftover movies for the summer, I would rather see this than a truly terrible one I was made to see with a friend - "Stepbrothers," where Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly did nothing but scream their heads off and I was so exhausted the night before that I fell asleep and could barely stay awake. For "The House Bunny," I was awake the whole time through.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Why So Serious?

[10/10 · 11 August 2008]

Why is "The Dark Knight" so serious? For many good reasons. Christopher Nolan is a true auteur who can take a simplistic comic book story like "Batman" and turn it into a complex psychological movie with plethora of character study. He has directed Christian Bale into the most serious Batman character of all. He sure did direct the late Heath Ledger into performing as the best Joker of them all, and Ledger did not work to upstage Bale or the other actors in any way. Ledger should definitely win a posthumous Oscar for his scary performance of a clown who possesses deep wounds.

If Christopher Nolan was old enough, he should have done Batman movies instead of Tim Burton or Joel Schumacher put together. Tim Burton's mood was dark as well, but as I'm looking at it now, Michael Keaton was a more sloppy Batman, Kim Basinger was a mousy Vicky Vale, and Jack Nicholson overdid his Joker performance. In "Batman Returns," also directed by Burton and starring Keaton, the commercialism continues, adding Michelle Pfeiffer as a more idiotic Catwoman than the Catwomen on the 1960s TV series and Danny DeVito, who still was a wounded Penguin, but not enough that we feel sorry for him. Then in the mid 1990s, Keaton didn't want to play Batman anymore, feeling he was upstaged by all the villains. Looking for more actors often typecast as villains, director Schumacher got Tommy Lee Jones to parody his villain persona as Harvey "Two-Face" Dent. Also, there was still that rubberface persona in Jim Carrey as the Riddler as well. 1997's "Batman and Robin" was a total washout. So Nolan came to rescue this moribund franchise and made his own franchise moody with dark colors, mature, less focus on the action and more on the story and detailed development of each character without exploiting them. In 2005, "Batman Begins" was just the beginning, but "The Dark Knight" is the real story. It would be sin that Christopher Nolan does not get nominated for an Oscar, just as well as Heath Ledger, for best director.

Christian Bale is, and many people would agree with me, the best Batman of them all. With his rich performance, we do know him better than Adam West, Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and George Clooney put together. We know Bruce Wayne's haunted past and demons, and why he becomes his alter ego Batman to fight crime in Gotham City. Unlike Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger is a much more complicated joker. He doesn't torture people just for pure torture. He doesn't laugh maliciously between every single sentence. He grew up with such an abusive upbringing that he wants to exploit Batman as a fraud for Gotham City, even bringing in Batman clones with the typical Caped Crusader outfit on the crime scenes just to tell Bruce Wayne "Will the real Batman stand up?"

All the other actors give excellent, detailed performances. Maggie Gyllenhal gives a stronger performance than Katie Holmes (Mrs. Tom Cruise) as Bruce Wayne's love interest Assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes, but is smitten with D.A. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) in the end. Gary Oldman, in one of his few good-guy roles, does a fine turn as the mustachioed Commissioner Gordon, more serious than the one we've seen on TV. Veteran thespians Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman are always a treat to watch as the faithful butler Alfred and the gadget inventor Lucius Fox. These two men get better with age each time they make movies. And Aaron Eckhart plays Harvey "Two-Face" Dent not as a torturous villain like Tommy Lee Jones did before, but as a victim wounded by the Joker's torture in a gas chamber out to seek revenge with his coin as his calling card for what could be good or what could better yet turn out for bad on his intended targets.

The summer of 2008 had a lot of movies. I've seen "Mamma Mia" as a light feel-good musical comedy riddled with off-key singing, notably by Pierce Brosnan. I've seen "Wall-E," which I thought was Pixar's blander efforts. Remy the rat from last year upstaged this robot on all costs. But "The Dark Knight" is the best movie of the summer. When it comes to comic book stories, as I said before, directors Burton and Schumacher got all caught up in themselves with too much action and seemed to forget their audiences. Nolan never does.

Get Smart (2008)

Sorry About That, But Would You Believe It Misses It By Too Much

[2/10 · 26 June 2008]

These are all the Maxwell Smart clichés, but all these clichés ring true for this dreadful update of the fabulously funny 1960s spy spoof series. Don Adams had gone to the great CONTROL agency in the sky, and had left an unfortunate heir to his position. That heir is Steve Carell. Carell has no egomaniacal bone is his body and none of what he has done in the movie is his fault. It is the jarring script and the filmmakers who botched the movie with the incomprehensible combination of the classic Adams slapstick and clichés (one walk scene, one shoe phone, each of the clichés I put in my headline for the review) and the action scenes from Arnold Schwarzenneger, Chuck Norris, and Sly Stallone movies. That is the real problem of the movie.

The rest of the cast sleepwalk their way throughout. Anne Hathaway does a fair to middling job as Maxwell Smart's straightarrow partner agent 99. But she does not make us forget Barbara Feldon. Alan Arkin is well Alan Arkin as the chief. He has done so many memorable comedies in the 1970s and 1980s and in one scene is re-teamed 34 years later with his "Freebie and the Bean" co-star James Caan, who plays a dimbulb George W. Bush-like president. I'd say Caan, with little screen time, has the best role in the movie. Dwayne the Rock Johnson has little to do in the movie as agent 23 and forces the slapstick onto himself. Terence Stamp, best known as the diabolical General Zod in the Superman series, gets to play Siegfried, the evil head of KAOS, and CONTROL's archenemy organization, doesn't make such a convincing villain in a comedy. And lastly, there is a sad cameo by Bill Murray, playing the ever-hiding Agent 13. You see his face, but not his hair, and even he doesn't look happy.

The complex plot takes us from Washington to Moscow to Los Angeles in order for Maxwell Smart and Agent 99 to destroy KAOS' evil plan to take over the world and kill the president during a symphony concert at Walt Disney Hall in the end. Throughout this long trip, many gags are forced. Spoiler alert: an airplane bearing Don Adams original surname is one. Then the dancefest in Moscow is over-the-top with too many vulgarities and gross scenes abound. Also, there are obscene subtitles forced in for good measure as Russians curse, saying that Russians talk trash. Finally we are taken back to our country in Los Angeles for the real climax. What was the point to go to Moscow and the back to the states to seek out KAOS? It just could have stayed in America.

The only two gags were the opening and end scenes. First, Carrell doing the Adams strut from door to door and then to an obsolete phonebooth, with an updated rock and roll version of the TV theme. With that same theme at the end, Carrell and Hathaway strut together. Take out all the convoluted middle scenes, keep the beginning and end, and you would have seen the whole movie in five minutes.

Oh, and I would have never lived to say this, but would you believe I recently rented "The Nude Bomb" with Adams on DVD, tried to remember this, and I liked this little-known movie much better than this recent "Get Smart?" But the TV show is the real thing.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

Welcome Back, Indy!

[7/10 · 15 June 2008]

I had a swell time seeing Harrison Ford at a ripe near-66 years young strutting his usual stunts as Indiana Jones. He is a wonderful role model for aging men and as his return as his famed character in this latest installment, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," he has not slowed down a bit. Maybe he is doing lesser stunts, and is spending more time as a university professor, but Ford feels that age should not be a detriment to his character or his acrobatics.

Also adding to youthful middle-age is Karen Allen. She doesn't get to do as many stunts as she did as Marion in the first of the series, "Raiders of the Lost Ark," but, at 56, she appears in the second hour of the film looking even better than she did when she was pushing 30. Allen smiles a lot throughout this current installment, and that smile gives her a countenance of youth.

As for the plot, it is 1957, more than 20 years after Indiana Jones' first adventure. Indy gets called to uncover a crystal skull in the Amazon Jungle of Peru, battling a villainous army of Russians headed by the exotic Colonel Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett). Blanchett combines the Russian accent with her own Aussie accent, giving her voice a seductive international rhythm. The fights and chases are always exciting to watch as we see who gets their hands on the skull. And in every "Indiana Jones" movie, a gross creature scene is never left out to keep us awake and at the edge of our seats - from snakes, to insects, to rats, and now swarms of giant ants that heap up the amazon.

There is a brand near character in this - Mutt Williams, played by Shia LeBouf. He is a Marlon Brando type of a young man who claims that Indy is his illegitimate father, and enlists him to help his estranged mother in the Peruvian forest. Mutt is the catalyst of reuniting Indy with Marion. Mutt also brings comic relief to the movie with his 50's tough-guy, greaser-biker caricature. Midway through the movie, there is a hilarious aside where Mutt gets into a fight in the malt shop.

What seems to be the problem with the latest installment is that it copies the plot line of "Raiders," you know, the expedition, the university, the assignment, the expedition, the reunion of long-lost lovers, the battles, the gross insects, and a finale where the villains gets the same gory treatment as the original Nazis. Thus, it appears that "Crystal Skull" is a more of a remake of "Raiders" than a sequel. But there is no criticizing the excitement and fast-pacing that doesn't lose a beat. Occasionally, the movie gets talky when it comes to the university scenes, and also a bit heavy-handed as it asks us to get sentimental over a photo of Sean Connery, Indy's father in the third installment, "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade," which, of course, it is not. It may not be as Oscarworthy as "Raiders" was, but it is pure summer escapism.

College Road Trip (2008)

It's Not All That Bad, It Could Be Worse

[5/10 · 20 March 2008]

I have never seen a Martin Lawrence movie before, and this movie did make me into a new fan. I have seen his material here and there, but his material never has grabbed me. But today, I went with my mother and my eight-year-old niece to see "College Road Trip." I fully expected to be disappointed, but it turned out to be okay for me. Not the best and not the worst, but entertaining here and there.

The story goes that Raven Symone is Melanie, who aspires to become a lawyer at Northwestern University in her hometown suburban Chicago, but gets a letter of acceptance to Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Her three girlfriends are going, and she wants to go to. But her father James (Lawrence) fears losing his little girl, and wants to accompany her on the trip. Tagging along is her little brother Trey and their pet pig Albert, who hide in the trunk the first quarter of the journey. That leaves behind Mom Michelle (Kym Whitley).

On the way, they stop at Northwestern University, and who do they run into - Donny Osmond as Doug Greenhut and Molly Ephraim as his daughter Wendy. Both have the same exact aspirations - She wants to go to Georgetown and he tags along with her. And when James and Melanie make pitstops, Doug and Wendy end up at those same stops. Doug and Wendy's annoyingly overperky behavior and singing and dancing are the highlights of this movie. They are so loud they make James and Melanie cringe, but they always pop up at the same stops. And when James' car breaks down, they get into Doug and Wendy's truck. But my real favorite part is when they lose Doug and Wendy along the way, get on a bus, and get all the Asian tourists to sing and dance to Frankie Smith's 1981 hit, "Double Dutch Bus."

As James and Melanie get closer, they visit James' mother in Pittsburgh, and James gets to come to terms with his long lost mother about letting go of children. Finally, they sky dive all the way to Georgetown, where, who else, Wendy becomes Melanie's roommate and then the two would head to Japan.

Donny Osmond and the pig do take away from Martin Lawrence's and Raven Symone's performances. The pig is funny, especially when Lawrence disguises him as a baby in a quaint hotel where no pets are allowed and then makes a big mess at a wedding taking place at that hotel. Osmond's preppy, squeaky clean, teen idol image is played to great exaggeration, his character's wife and daughter add to the perkiness. But Martin Lawrence and his family are sadly undermined by Donny Osmond and the pig, which is the film's major weakness. For 83 minutes, it is not super slow, it does go fast, but there are bumps and curves along, and then there is forced sentiment, when Melanie finally gets to say goodbye to her parents, amid the manic craziness. Martin Lawrence, like many comedians of his generation who turn to movies, is more of a comedian and less of an actor whose performances often resort to overacted slapstick.