We Bought a Zoo

We Bought a Zoo

Rating 5 out of 10

I have to start this review with the disclaimer that I saw this movie in California.  While I'm sure it's nothing out of the ordinary for people to see movies in the Golden State.  I hear they even make a few movies there.  The problem is I am a Georgia boy who was still on the Eastern time zone.  So the 7p start time was 10p to me.  Cassie usually goes to bed at 10p!  This movie was on the slow side so the rating may have suffered a bit because of that.

We Bought a Zoo was "based on a true story".  Benjamin (don't call me Ben) Mee played by Matt Damon with the Pert pretty hair and his two kids are still in a depressed state from his wife's death from cancer six months earlier.  The son is doing poorly in school and drawing scary things on paper.  Dad feels the family needs a change.  Time to move to the country.  The problem is when they find the perfect house it has a zoo attached.  Yes, somehow the only way you can buy the house is by agreeing to bring the zoo back to it's lost glory.  I'm sure that happens all the time.

The zoo comes with a five person staff headed by Kelly Foster played by Scarlett Johansson.  Ms Johansson just seems out of place on this part.  The cast of misfits have a short period of time to get the zoo ready to pass inspection or all is lost including Benjamin's life savings.

This is a mostly simple and safe movie.  You probably won't be sorry you saw it, but six months from now you'll be looking at the dvd cover trying to remember if you have seen it or not.

Young Adult

Young Adult

Rating 4 out of 10

This movie had all sorts of red flags for me.  Even though it had the very good and attractive actress Charilze Theron and commercials playing all over this movie opened on less than 33% of the screens of the big blockbusters.  The previews looked like it would be funny.  It's not a comedy.

Ms. Theron plays Mavis Gary.  A thirty something woman who believes (and may be right) that her best days were in high school when she was the beauty queen and everyone wanted her.  She moved out of the small town and became the author of a series of young adult books that does not even bear her name.
She lives a sad life of watching reality tv in her nasty apartment and drinking herself to sleep.

Mavis living inside one of her young adult books fantasy land.  She decides somehow she missed out on her high school boyfriend and sets out to get him.  In her reality it does not matter that he is happily married with a new baby daughter.  In her mind it is just a matter of time.

The problem with this movie is it's just not funny.  It's sad and pathetic.  I found myself squirming in my seat with her behavior.  Instead of laughing at or with her I felt sorry for her.

The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin

Rating 6 out of 10

Until I saw the first trailer for Tintin I had never heard of the character.  Didn't know there was a series of books or what was going on with this dorky kid with the funny red hair.  The movie looked interesting so I thought I'd give it a try on a movie outing with my long time movie friends John and Ted.

What I found out was Tintin (not sure if that's his first name or last) is a youngish boy/man that is an investigative reporter for a newspaper.  Not sure how old he is supposed to be.  I was thinking he was very young.  Maybe mid teens.  But then he lives in a house to himself and his trusty dog.  He shoots bad guys with is gun and knocks out men twice his size with a single punch.

In the beginning of the movie Tintin buys a replica toy ship that turns out has clue to a hidden treasure inside and before you can say funky red hair the bad guys are killing people and tearing up his house looking for that clue.  Before you know it a chase is on that covers several continents and every mode of transportation you can imagine.

With this movie it's not the destination is the trip there that you go to the theater for.  The animation is nothing short of incredible.  From the cool airplane ride to the way the bad guys nose hairs move when he breathes in and out.  Incredible.

I take things too literal to really enjoy a movie like this.  Tintin walks into his destroyed house after bad guys looked for the hidden clue and he is only concerned that they didn't find it. Does not matter his house is tore apart.  He reads an airplane manual in two minutes and flies a plane like Sully.  I enjoyed the trip but these small things kept me from REALLY enjoying the movie.  John and Ted liked the movie more than I did.

I do admit the movie is a non-stop ride of visual effects.

The Darkest Hour

The Darkest Hour

Rating 6.5 out of 10

Christmas Day.  All the presents have been opened.  Food has been eaten.  Raining outside.  The cat goes to her sisters house to watch The Help again.  What are the mice to do?   Zip off to the movie theater to see that Christmas classic, the Darkest Hour!

Why in the world this movie was released on Christmas Day I have no idea.  It's not the normal type Christmas Day release.  No big stars.  The only actor you have probably heard of is Emile Hirch.  Maybe not heard of him but when you see is face you will probably give an oh yeah.

Here a couple software developers fly into Moscow for a big meeting.  At a club they meet a two American hotties about the time all the power goes off.  When they go outside they see these glow in the dark things parachuting from the sky.  When they touch you it turns you to dust.   They are in a foreign land, can't speak the language and these barely visible aliens are blowing people up.

The acting is pretty decent.  Mostly Russian actors.  The effects are not bad.  It's a fun movie.  Probably more of a rental or early show viewing on a rainy day.  I would say if you watch this preview and find it interesting you will probably enjoy the movie.  If not then maybe this movie is not for you.

I liked it.

Good movie rentals...

With the holiday season upon us and cold stay at home weather ahead (someday!) here are a few suggestions for movie rentals




Warrior

Folks, I tried  to tell you when it was in the theaters.  If you didn't see it and you probably didn't because it left the theaters in a hurry, you need to rent this movie.  Even if you are like Jill Daniels and disagree with every review I do you will like this movie.  Trust me.

It's not a fighting movie.  It's a good family movie with a story that happens to have some fighting in it.  If the fighting makes you squeamish you can easily look the other way for a the short time it's on screen.





Friends with Benefits

This movie suffered greatly by coming out a few months after what seemed to be similar No Strings Attached with Ashton Kutcher and Natalie Portman.  From the trailers it seemed to be the same movie with different less famous actors.  That is not the case.  I'm not a big fan of Justin Timberlake.  I think he can act sometimes but for the life of me can't figure out what females find so sexy about him.  Never really cared for Mila Kunis either.  Yet I liked this movie alot.  It was far better than No Strings Attached. Kunis shows she can be very funny.  The movie has some good lines and flows right along.

I found it well worth the price of a rental.



Win Win

I'm guessing most of you have not even heard of this movie.  Or you saw the goofy picture above and saw some goofy middle aged man sitting beside a kid in a wrestling outfit and thought there was no way that was for me.  I thought the same thing.  I had read good reviews and think Paul Giamatti is a great actor.  But look at it.  How interesting can a movie with high school wrestling be???  Turns out, pretty darn good.

I'm not even going to give you details on what it is about.  If you have nothing else to rent give this a try and say you are going to blame Royce if this sucks.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.  I was.




Larry Crowne

When previews for this movie came out I thought it looked interesting but could go either way.  Then the brutal reviews followed.  Maybe not.  I rented and it was better than I expected.  I admit a movie with Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts should be GREAT.  This one is just good.  Well worth the rental fee.

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol

Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol

Rating 8 out of 10

This is the forth of the Mission: Impossible movies.  I would say it's the best of the bunch.  By far.  Good cast.  Tom Cruise is back as the man with all the answers, Ethan Hunt.  He can climb the tallest buildings as he does in this movie.  He has to save the day.

In this movie like the others there is a REALLY bad guy about to do REALLY bad things to many people.  There is virtually no way anyone can stop him.  Lucky for us the MI gang are not just anyone.  These movies are not for hard to allow plots.  It's the action.  The stunts are incredible.

Where this one improves on the others is the comic touch added by Simon Pegg.  He is the agent and computer expert that adds a little funny to the bullets and bombs.  Jeremy Renner is also a nice add to the group.  Paula Patton adds the beauty and we are ready to roll.

This is one of the better movies of the year for me.  I'd be surprised if it does not make my top ten.  I wouldn't mind seeing it again at an IMAX.  Good movie.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Rating 8 out of 10

This is a movie most of you know was based on a best selling novel by Stieg Larsson.  I read this book (part of a trilogy) and finally enjoyed it.  The book is hard to get into in the start.  I put it down several times before reaching that ah-ha moment where I was glad I finished it.  An interesting fact about the trilogy and author... Larsson was a fledgling author in Sweden when he wrote the trilogy of books.  No one would publish the book.  He finally found a small publisher who would release the books.  Their office was in the 7th floor of a building with no working elevator.  Larsson was a heavy smoker and before the books were released died at age 50 of a heart attack from climbing the stairs.  The books were released after his death and are world wide best sellers in many different languages.  In 2009 a Swedish version of the movie was made that was actually pretty good when watched on dvd and dubbed in English.

One last piece of trivia.  The woman that played the Tattoo girl in the Swedish version, Noomi Rapace, plays the gypsy woman in the new Sherlock Holmes movie.

On to this movie...

I liked this movie alot.  Casting for the most part was perfect.  In the beginning of this movie we see Mikael Blomkvist (played perfectly by Daniel Craig) is a reporter/owner of a smaller newspaper.  He ran a big story on a very bad man. When the story is contested in court witness's "disappear" leaving Blomkvist holding the bad and a huge liable lawsuit.  He has to leave town with his tail between his legs. Aging millionaire Henrick Vanger (again played perfectly by Christopher Plummer) hires Blomkvist to come to his small community and write a book about his very dysfunctional rich family and while he is at it figure out what happened to his favorite niece who disappeared 40 years earlier at the age of 14.

The Tattoo'd girl is Lisbeth Salander. She is played by Rooney Mara.  She has tattoos all over, nasty piercings and the worst haircut since Jim Carrey in Dumber and Dumber. She has a bad attitude brought on from the death of her parents when she was young and being raised in the system.  She has a photographic memory and is an incredible investigator.  When Blomkvist makes headway in the niece's disappearance he brings in the tattoo'd wonder.

The movie does a good job in tying the stories together.  It runs 2 hours 50 minutes but did not seem long to me at all.  They make a few changes in the ending compared to the book.  I don't understand why the did it but won't effect most viewers.

Good movie.  Definitely worth seeing.