Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

The vacationing Chipmunks and Chipettes are turning a luxury cruise liner into their personal playground, until they become 'chipwrecked' on a remote island. As the 'Munks and Chipettes try various schemes to find their way home, they accidentally discover their new turf is not as deserted as it seems.

Not going to sugarcoat this. It was pretty painful to sit through this movie. At this point it's nothing more than a chipmunk voiced showing of Glee where the only goal is to sell soundtracks along with taking parents' money at the theater. The only positive thing that I can say is that the movie is super short. Outside of that - it was pretty much poop. Don't get me wrong - littler kids will love it but not the adults stuck taking them.

If you have little kids - you really don't have a choice in the matter. However, I really wouldn't recommend anyone bothering their time with this movie.

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close is a story that unfolds from inside the young mind of Oskar Schell, an inventive eleven year-old New Yorker whose discovery of a key in his deceased father's belongings sets him off on an urgent search across the city for the lock it will open. A year after his father died in the World Trade Center on what Oskar calls "The Worst Day," he is determined to keep his vital connection to the man who playfully cajoled him into confronting his wildest fears. Now, as Oskar crosses the five New York boroughs in quest of the missing lock - encountering an eclectic assortment of people who are each survivors in their own way - he begins to uncover unseen links to the father he misses, to the mother who seems so far away from him and to the whole noisy, dangerous, discombobulating world around him.

I still don't know what to think of this movie. I loved the story as gut wrenching as it was. I loved the journey of the kid and the different people he met and effected. I loved the coming together towards the end with the kid and the mother. However, I hated the kid. I feel horrible saying that because A - he's a kid and B - look at what he went through in the context of the movie. But - this was seriously one of the most annoying kids I've ever seen. Did they have to make him so quirky? If this is just a random kid doing this, this movie could have made my top ten. Unfortunately, the weirdness of this kid made me want to punch someone in the face and definitely took away from the movie for me.

I don't know that I would recommend people checking this out. I'm baffled by the Best Picture nomination too. Again - the story is great, but easily the most annoying child I've ever seen.

A Dangerous Method

On the eve of World War I, Zurich and Vienna are the setting for a dark tale of sexual and intellectual discovery. Drawn from true-life events, A Dangerous Method takes a glimpse into the turbulent relationships between fledgling psychiatrist Carl Jung, his mentor Sigmund Freud and Sabina Spielrein, the troubled but beautiful young woman who comes between them. Into the mix comes Otto Gross, a debauched patient who is determined to push the boundaries. In this exploration of sensuality, ambition and deceit set the scene for the pivotal moment when Jung, Freud and Sabina come together and split apart, forever changing the face of modern thought.

This is another one of those artsy character pieces. I get that Kiera Knightley was technically putting forth a great performance with her psychosis and what not, but it annoyed the living hell out of me and I could barely watch. And even though I'm becoming a huge Michael Fassbender fan - this movie was just too boring and annoying to finish. Pulled the plug about halfway through.

I obviously wouldn't recommend the movie because I was too annoyed/bored. I do realize that they were actually pretty good performances and my level of boredom and annoyance might not be shared by all. If you are into autobiographical movies like this - you will probably enjoy this a lot more than I did.

Hop

Blending state of the art animation with live action, Hop is a comedy about E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand), the teenage son of the Easter Bunny. On the eve of taking over the family business, E.B. leaves for Hollywood in pursuit of his dream of becoming a drummer. He encounters Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker with his own lofty goals, who accidentally hits E.B. with his car. Feigning injury, E.B. manipulates Fred into providing him shelter, and Fred finds himself with the world's worst houseguest.

I really enjoyed this movie for the first 3/4 of it. It was cute. It was funny. Great humor for the kids and the adults. Unfortunately, it kind of dovetailed in to your textbook holiday movie for the last 1/4 of it. It was like one of those yearly Christmas family movies but for Easter. It was very sad because up until that point I was all in and laughing a lot.

I would still recommend people checking this out. It is fun for the most part and had some huge laughs. Just really disappointing with the corny ending.

The Muppets

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world's biggest Muppet fan, and his friends Gary (Jason Segel) and Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theatre and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets' former stomping grounds. To stage The Greatest Muppet Telethon Ever and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways: Fozzie now performs with a Reno casino tribute band called the Moopets, Miss Piggy is a plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, Animal is in a Santa Barbara clinic for anger management, and Gonzo is a high-powered plumbing magnate.

There is no movie that I was looking forward to this year more than this movie. I have been a lifelong Muppets fan. It was baffling to me how they have been just kind of back there on the backburner for so many years. There have been a bazillion remakes, relaunches, etc over the last several years and I couldn't understand how this was left alone - especially with Disney having the rights to it. God bless, Jason Segel for bringing them back to the forefront of entertainment where they belong. All the spoof trailers and posters leading up to the movie were textbook Muppets and what I grew to love as a child. The movie capitalized on that even more because they were mocking their loss of popularity throughout with an ending that explained the exact joyfulness that I - and any other true fan of them for the last 25-30 years will - felt watching this on the big screen again. Hopefully they can get back to churning out movies or television specials again like they used to.

I couldn't recommend this movie more if I tried. Its an absolute joy for adults and children alike and is so long overdue. I had super high expectations and the movie completely met them. Get out there and welcome the Muppets back, people!

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first film in Columbia Pictures' three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson's literary blockbuster "The Millennium Trilogy." Directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, the film is based on the first novel in the trilogy, which altogether have sold 50 million copies in 46 countries and become a worldwide phenomenon.

This was one of the movies I was looking forward to more than any other this year. I read all three books and loved them. As if that wasn't exciting enough - David Fincher was directing it. Him and Christopher Nolan's are pretty much the two golden Gods of filmmaking right now. This movie did not disappoint. Fincher did a great job of translating the movie to the screen. He managed to play out the investigative part of the movie in an intriguing fashion while still putting maximum effort in to developing one of the most tortured characters I've ever read or seen in film. Lisbeth Salander is one of my favorite characters ever. She is such a dysfunctional badass and it was just as painful watching her plight as it was reading it. You can't help but root for her even though she is not the type of person that you would be rooting for on sight. The story ultimately becomes all about her and this movie was tough at many points to watch because Fincher really didn't hold back too much.

I loved this movie and would fully recommend it to everyone. I also very much so recommend the books. You don't have to read the books to be able to enjoy the movie because Fincher is amazing at what he does, but it definitely makes it more enjoyable. Side note - this movie is a super strong R movie. There are 3-4 scenes of intense uncomfortability. Ye have been warned.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

The time is 1973. The Cold War of the mid-20th Century continues to damage international relations. Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), a.k.a. MI6 and code-named the Circus, is striving to keep pace with other countries' espionage efforts and to keep the U.K. secure. The head of the Circus, known as Control (John Hurt), personally sends dedicated operative Jim Prideaux (Mark Strong) into Hungary. But Jim's mission goes bloodily awry, and Control is forced out of the Circus, as is his top lieutenant, George Smiley (Gary Oldman), a career spy with razor-sharp senses. Estranged from his absent wife Ann, Smiley is soon called in to see undersecretary Oliver Lacon (Simon McBurney); he is to be rehired in secret at the government's behest, as there is a gnawing fear that the Circus has long been compromised by a double agent, or mole, working for the Soviets and jeopardizing England. Supported by younger agent Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch), Smiley parses Circus activities past and present. In trying to track and identify the mole, Smiley is haunted by his decades-earlier interaction with the shadowy Russian spy master Karla. The mole's trail remains cold until maverick field agent Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy) unexpectedly contacts Lacon. While undercover in Turkey, Ricki has fallen for a betrayed married woman, Irina (Svetlana Khodchenkova), who claims to possess crucial intelligence. Separately, Smiley learns that Control narrowed down the list of mole suspects to five men. They are the ambitious Percy Alleline (Toby Jones), whom he had code-named Tinker; suavely confident Bill Haydon (Colin Firth), dubbed Tailor; stalwart Roy Bland (Ciar'n Hinds), called Soldier; officious Toby Esterhase (David Dencik), dubbed Poor Man; and Smiley himself. Even before the startling truth is revealed, the emotional and physical tolls on the players enmeshed in the deadly international spy game will escalate.

Was that summary confusing enough for you? I am not going to lie. I didn't even finish watching this movie because I was so bored and had no clue what was going on. This kind of movie is so not my cup of tea. It's one of those political espionage movies with no action and it was just a whole lot of talky talky. These are second only to old english period pieces as far as killing my attention span.

My recommendation of this movie shouldn't matter. I'm sure that this is a good movie with good performances but I just didn't care at all.

The Descendants

From Alexander Payne, set in Hawaii, The Descendants is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family's land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries.

This was a really great movie. The performances were awesome and it all felt very genuine on an emotional level. As twisted as it got sometimes, you believed in the character's decisions and ability to move past situations even with the feelings attached to them. Would this be a favorite for Best Picture in any other year? Probably not. Can I see it being one this particular lame year? Yes.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out. It's very well done across the board and is a deserving favorite for most of the year end awards.

Happy Feet Two

Happy Feet Two returns audiences to the magnificent landscape of Antarctica. Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son Erik is choreo-phobic. Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven - a penguin who can fly!! Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father's 'guts and grit' as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures - from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals - to put things right.

I think I might have liked this more than the first one. The first one was enjoyable only because of the music. The cuteness factor fizzled out after a while. This one didn't rely on the cuteness as much. The story was good, the music was great and the traveling through all different characters was awesome. I think that was what made the movie more enjoyable. And the two krill recurring throughout like Scrat in the Ice Age movies were also very funny.

I would definitely recommend people checking this out. It has great music, big laughs and very entertaining for both kids and adults.

The Adventures Of TinTin

The Adventures of Tintin is directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay by Steven Moffat and Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish. Starring Jamie Bell as Tintin, the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure, and Daniel Craig as the nefarious Red Rackham.
This was an enjoyable movie but it was like an animated version of Indiana Jones on speed. There was so much ups and downs and the pacing was way too fast. If this were paced a little better with some more downtime it would have been much better. It's a shame because the animation and action were great but it was like a script with a.d.d.

I would lukewarmly recommend people seeing this. It's not a must see and could have been much better, but you could do worse.

My Week With Marilyn

In the early summer of 1956, 23 year-old Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne), just down from Oxford and determined to make his way in the film business, worked as a lowly assistant on the set of "The Prince and the Showgirl." The film that famously united Sir Laurence Olivier (Kenneth Branagh) and Marilyn Monroe (Michelle Williams), who was also on honeymoon with her new husband, the playwright Aurthur Miller (Dougray Scott).  Nearly 40 years on, his diary account "The Prince, the Showgirl and Me" was published, but one week was missing and this was published some years later as "My Week with Marilyn".  This is the story of that week. When Arthur Miller leaves England, the coast is clear for Colin to introduce Marilyn to some of the pleasures of British life; an idyllic week in which he escorted a Monroe desperate to get away from her retinue of Hollywood hangers-on and the pressures of work.

This was an awesome character drama.  Michele Williams did an amazing job of playing Marilyn Monroe and all the different aspects of her personality.  Even pretty much knowing where the story was going to go based on the true story part of it - the characters and performances keep you more than hooked enough to be interested and appreciate all that is going on.

I would definitely recommend people checking this movie out.  It's more than worth your time and easily one of the best performances of last year.

Young Adult

Charlize Theron plays Mavis Gary, a writer of teen literature who returns to her small hometown to relive her glory days and attempt to reclaim her happily married high school sweetheart (Patrick Wilson). When returning home proves more difficult than she thought, Mavis forms an unusual bond with a former classmate (Patton Oswalt) who hasn't quite gotten over high school, either.

This is one of those movies where you hear so much about how great it was, especially the acting performance, and you watch it saying - Really? I'm not saying the movie was terrible. It was decent. But Charlize Theron got all these rave reviews for playing a egomaniacal high school prom queen who never really moved on. That doesn't seem like it would be too much of a stretch for any actress. I actually liked Patton Oswalt a lot more than her in this movie.

I would somewhat recommend people checking this movie out. It's not a must see by any means. There are much worse things out there than this decent character drama. And it's super short. 

The Three Musketeers

The hot-headed young D'Artagnan (Logan Lerman) joins forces with three rogue Musketeers (Matthew MacFadyen, Luke Evans and Ray Stevenson) in this reboot of Alexandre Dumas' story. They must stop the evil Richelieu (Christoph Waltz) and face off with Buckingham (Orlando Bloom) and the treacherous Milady (Milla Jovovich).

Poop. Total poop. And I love the story of The Three Musketeers. This was literally as if the actors sat down and watched the version with Kiefer Sutherland and Charlie Sheen from the 90s and tried to see how much of the lines/scenes they remembered. Really disappointing. But then again Milla Jovovich is in it so I guess that this should surprise nobody.

You should absolutely not waste your time with this steaming pile of cow dung. And that is again coming from someone who really wanted to see it.

Immortals

The brutal and bloodthirsty King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) and his murderous Heraklion army are rampaging across Greece in search of the long lost Bow of Epirus. With the invincible Bow, the king will be able to overthrow the Gods of Olympus and become the undisputed master of his world. With ruthless efficiency, Hyperion and his legions destroy everything in their wake, and it seems nothing will stop the evil king's mission. As village after village is obliterated, a stonemason named Theseus (Henry Cavill) vows to avenge the death of his mother in one of Hyperion's raids. When Theseus meets the Sybelline Oracle, Phaedra (Freida Pinto), her disturbing visions of the young man's future convince her that he is the key to stopping the destruction. With her help, Theseus assembles a small band of followers and embraces his destiny in a final desperate battle for the future of humanity.

This is another one of those wannabe 300 movies. It had that same visual flair as 300 and the other attempts at something like it. This one is probably the closest to 300 because it actually had a story not just a bunch of buff dudes running around and lots of gore. I was one of the people that thought 300 was amazing visually but not as totally awesome as many others did. I feel pretty much the same way about this one. I guess I'm just not in to the whole Greek Gods thing enough to really get in to the story.

I would lukewarmly recommend people checking this out. But that is based on my lessened level of interest in the subject matter. I have no doubt that those of you that liked 300 will be sure to like Immortals as well.

Jack And Jill

Jack and Jill is a comedy focusing on Jack Sadelstein (Adam Sandler), a successful advertising executive in Los Angeles with a beautiful wife and kids, who dreads one event each year: the Thanksgiving visit of his identical twin sister Jill (also Adam Sandler). Jill's neediness and passive-aggressiveness is maddening to Jack, turning his normally tranquil life upside down. Katie Holmes plays Erin, Jack's wife.

This was one of the most utterly pointless and stupid movies I've ever seen. It's basically just another Adam Sandler movie with all the usual stupidity and two Adams in it. The fact that Al Pacino was in this was beyond baffling. It's not that the movie didn't have laughs. There were a couple, but this is pretty much a big waste of time.

I wouldn't really recommend anyone wasting their time with this movie. There are much better options out there and this is definitely one of Sandler's lamer offerings.

Footloose

Writer/director Craig Brewer delivers a new take of the beloved 1984 classic film, Footloose. Ren MacCormack (played by newcomer Kenny Wormald) is transplanted from Boston to the small southern town of Bomont where he experiences a heavy dose of culture shock. A few years prior, the community was rocked by a tragic accident that killed five teenagers after a night out and Bomont's local councilmen and the beloved Reverend Shaw Moore (Dennis Quaid) responded by implementing ordinances that prohibit loud music and dancing. Not one to bow to the status quo, Ren challenges the ban, revitalizing the town and falling in love with the minister's troubled daughter Ariel (Julianne Hough) in the process.

This movie is criminal. CRIMINAL! To take something as classic as Footloose and remake it like this should be punishable by law. Not that the original wasn't corny. It's a movie about fighting for your right to dance in a small hick town. But back in the 80s - this was great. And the soundtrack was one of the best of all time. Fast forward to now and here is what we got:

• 1 - Bus derby instead of the tractor scene


• 2- Ren McCormack (no first names only please because clearly there are several Rens in the town of Bomont) having a Boston accent that comes and goes.


• 3 - A small hick town that knows how to get krunk, stomp the yard and step up.


• 4. The worst possible rendition of the dancing out your anger warehouse scene.


• 5. The worst concerned dad acting ever by Dennis Quaid.

The only good part of the movie was Willard. He was the only one that did a good job of filling the role from the original. This is easily one of the worst movies of the year. Now, all of that being said, this was one of the most hysterical movie going experiences ever because of the group of friends I watched it with. All eight of us realized the movie for the giant turd that it was and were riffing on the movie throughout. I had chest pains from laughing so much at the running commentary.
I would never recommend anyone seeing this criminal remake. It really is that painful and I know our posse of eight will not be going to see it again so we can't make it a fun experience for you.

Like Crazy

A love story is both a physical and emotional tale, one that can be deeply personal and heartbreaking for an audience to experience. Like Crazy illustrates how your first real love is as thrilling and blissful as it is devastating. When a British college student (Felicity Jones) falls for her American classmate (Anton Yelchin) they embark on a passionate and life-changing journey only to be separated when she violates the terms of her visa. Like Crazy explores how a couple faces the real challenges of being together and of being apart.

Another artsy snoozefest. This one is one of those "raw emotion" movies about longing lovers. I didn't care about the characters whatsoever. Didn't care what ended up happening to them. I could see artsy fartsy fans loving the range of emotions on the characters. I didn't.

I obviously wouldn't recommend people checking this one out. Again - my level of boredom might not be shared by all so if you were interested in seeing this - perhaps you should not heed my review here. It was a giant nap though.