Even before I took my three younger nephews (ages 4, 6, and 7) to see this somewhat frantic, effects-filled kid flick about super spy guinea pigs, they were quoting one-liners from its trailers. Especially funny to them was the sight and sound of one of the rodents farting inside a tricked-out, super-fast hamster ball.
Read More action, adventure, Bill Nighy, DVD, family, Fantasy, Hoyt Yeatman, Jon Favreau, Nicolas Cage, Penelope Cruz, PG-, Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi, Tracy Jordan, Will Arnett, Zach GalifianakisWhen the eminent Mexican director Alfonso Cuaron was brought on to direct the third (and still best) Harry Potter movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban, he proved that the franchise would be strongest when it departed from a rote retelling of J.K. Rowling‘s books and charted its own identity and style. As the books progressed, each [...]
Read More action, adventure, blu-ray, Daniel Radcliffe, David Yates, DVD, family, Fantasy, Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Jim Broadbent, Michael Gambon, PG-, Steve Kloves, willImagine That is a pleasant enough Eddie Murphy comedy that’s far from his best but merits a look nonetheless because it actually seems to rely on him, rather than fat suits, talking animals, special effects or jokes about pee and poop, to try and make us laugh. Granted, it is still a family flick with [...]
Read More comedy, David, drama, DVD, Eddie Murphy, Fantasy, Imagine That, Karey Kirkpatrick, PG-, Ronny Cox, Thomas Haden Church, Yara ShahidiMonsters vs Aliens starts out where most Disney fairytales leave off-a wedding. Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) is about to marry the weatherman of her dreams Derek Dietl (Paul Rudd). But alas, it seems that no one ever told the couple that it is bad luck for the groom to see the bride in [...]
Read More Amy Poehler, animation, DVD, Ed Helms, Fantasy, Hugh Laurie, Jeffrey Tambor, John Krasinski, Kiefer Sutherland, Monsters vs Aliens, Paul Rudd, PG-, Rainn Willson, Random Girl, Reese Witherspoon, Sci-Fi, Seth Rogen, Stephen Colbert, Will ArnettIn Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past, Matthew McConaughey takes the lead as the gorgeous, smooth-talking, emotionally shallow photographer Connor Mead. Mead is stuck firmly in his womanizing ways, and stops at nothing short of breaking up with 3 women simultaneously via teleconference. But Mead is forced to face his past while attending his brother’s (Breckin Meyer) [...]
Read More Breckin Meyer, comedy, DVD, Fantasy, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Jennifer Garner, Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey, Michael Douglas, PG-13, romance, SpookThough nowhere near as good as the first-rate first X-Men flick, the comparatively operatic Wolverine still succeeds as solid action entertainment thanks to some suitably brawny set pieces and star Hugh Jackman‘s robust reprisal of the title role. A prequel pic, it explains how the mutton-chopped speed-healer’s involvement with his like-powered brother (Liev Schreiber) and [...]
Read More action, blu-ray, Danny Huston, David, Dominic Monaghan, DVD, Fantasy, Gavin Hood, Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Lynn Collins, PG-13, Ryan Reynolds, Sci-Fi, Taylor Kitsch, thriller, Will.i.am, Wolverine, X-Men OriginsLike Kindergarten Cop and Agent Cody Banks before it, this hyperactive reboot of the beloved ’70s Disney flicks was ostensibly made for kids to watch and enjoy but contains a mite too much menace and violence to really be appropriate for them. It takes the original idea of two teen siblings (Alexander Ludwig and AnnaSophia [...]
Read More adventure, Alexander Ludwig, Andy Fickman, AnnaSophia Robb, Carla Gugino, Ciaran Hinds, David, DVD, Dwayne Johnson, family, Fantasy, PG-, Race to Witch Mountain, Sci-FiCoraline is a collaboration between author Neil Gaiman and master animator Henry Selick. Big names in their respective fields, these stars come together here to create one of the most startlingly different pieces of animation I have seen in years.
Read More adventure, animation, blu-ray, Coraline, DVD, family, Fantasy, Henry Selick, Neil Gaiman, PG-, SpookWhile I haven’t read the book by German author Cornelia Funke that inspired this $60 million fantasy starring Brendan Fraser, I can say with some certainty that it’s probably much, much better than the lackluster lump of a movie director Iain Softley makes out of it. The gimmick here is that Fraser can bring characters [...]
Read More adventure, Andy Serkis, Brendan Fraser, Cornelia Funke, David, DVD, family, Fantasy, Helen Mirren, Iain Softley, Inkheart, Jennifer Connelly, Jim Broadbent, paul bettany, PG-Kate Beckinsale and her skintight leather outfits are sadly nowhere to be found in this pretentious and poorly lit vampires-vs.-werewolves prequel in which returning players Bill Nighy and Michael Sheen basically duke it out for dominance. Replacing Beckinsale is leather-clad look-alike Rhona Mitra (Doomsday), a sexy butt-kicking bloodsucker whose vampire king dad (Nighy) has enslaved [...]
Read More action, Bill Nighy, blu-ray, David, DVD, Fantasy, horror, Kate Beckinsale, Michael Sheen, Patrick Tatopoulos, R, Rhona Mitra, Rise of the Lycans, thriller, Underworld