Grown Ups

Once again, late to the party.

If you are looking for a thought-provoking film, well, you would know better than to count on Adam Sandler and his compadres for that.

My first mistake was taking Ricky to see Grown Ups. In truth, we just pulled into the theater and looked at the marquee to see what was playing, it wasn't planned at all. He, of course, LOVED it. Has he seen one that he hasn't loved? He told me to give it 4 or 5 popcorns with lots and lots of extra butter. I'm not at all surprised about this, the humor was on his level (he even laughed at the jokes that went over his head). I know, I probably shouldn't have brought him, but he's seen PG-13 movies before, and the cast was loaded with kids, so I thought "Why not?"

Why not, indeed. Actually, it wasn't the sexual innuendo that I tried to shield him from, that stuff goes right over his head. It was the scene in which one of the children interrupts her mother's business call excitedly telling her that she lost a tooth. Her mother replied "Well, put it under your pillow and I'll put a dollar there later." I immediately reached over and put my hands over my still-believing son's ears. I fully expected the third degree afterwards, but it didn't even seem to phase him. He was excitedly talking about the funny parts.

My personal favorite part of the whole movie was Adam Sandler's wardrobe in the water park scene. It just so happens that he was wearing a Hartford Whalers t-shirt.

Of course, if you've seen David Spade in Rules of Engagement or almost anything else in the last few years, you've seen him play chronically-single Marcus Higgins.

He's not the only one. Adam Sandler played Adam Sandler and Kevin James played Kevin James. No breakthrough acting here. Rob Schneider's Rob Hilliard was a little more unique, but in an uninteresting way.

There were a few good laughs, although nothing at all original. There were some mild gross-out jokes, most of which became fodder for one-liners throughout the rest of the movie.

All I could say is that I really wish I hadn't wasted my money on this film the week that Ramona and Beezus and Salt were coming out. I'm hoping to still go to at least one of them this weekend.

Teens will enjoy this movie; some adults will find it funny. Wait for the DVD, or for it to come to cable/satellite. Ricky will be upset with me, but I am giving Grown Ups 2-1/2 popcorns.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice

When we got in the car and I asked Ricky how he liked The Sorcerer's Apprentice, he thought for a moment before giving it a loud, animated "AAAW-AAW-AW-AWESOME!" I think that in this case, he can safely speak for young audiences everywhere. After all, it is brought to you by the magical people at Disney, and they know their target audience. Your kids will be at the edge of their seat. The only thing I noticed was that during the scenes where Dave Stutler (the apprentice) was attempting to develop a relationship with his childhood crush, my 10-year-old boy's attention waned just a bit.

Initially, I had some reservations about the casting of Jay Baruchel as Nicolas Cage's reluctant Sorcerer's Apprentice. I'm not sure why. His appearance and voice scream "underdog," so I should not have been surprised. I suppose I was wondering if he had enough "hero" in him to pull off this role.

Pleasantly surprised, I was (when you see the movie, you will understand this obvious reference -- I won't give anything away!). He was extremely convincing as the geeky physics student, who found a way to utilize his own knowledge with the skills that he learns as an apprentice sorcerer.

Nicolas Cage was in his element as Balthazar, the master sorcerer trained by Merlin, himself. In the trailer, Baruchel's Dave asks him "Are you insane?" Balthazar contemplates for a moment and admits that perhaps, just a little bit. The perfect character for Cage, who so brilliantly plays characters who's mental stability is in question.

If you are one who becomes cynical of the use of CGI special effects, avoid this film. If you are someone who embraces the excitement of the visual thrill ride this technology has given the movie industry, buy your ticket today. The car chase alone will have you on the edge of your seat.

I can't help but wonder if those cynics fail to realize that what we are watching is an ongoing battle between sorcerers. They can make anything happen, people! Why not make it as exciting as possible?

The homage to Micky's apprentice in Fantasia is humorous and enjoyable. However, even if your child is unaware of the musical version, s/he will still be delighted by the scene.

The Sorcerer's Apprentice delivers exactly what it promises, no more, no less. A fun, fast-paced family film that will have the kids bouncing on their seats and please parents as well. I'm going to give it 4 popcorns...with a dash of extra butter.

Knight and Day

This is going to hurt.

You see, personally, I haven't been a Tom Cruise fan for quite a while. And it has nothing to do with Oprah's couch, either.

That being said, I must admit that Knight and Day is an enjoyable, fast-paced action film, and the chemistry between Tom Cruise and the always-endearing Cameron Diaz is undeniable.

Cruise's character is a CIA agent suspected of having gone rogue, who accidentally gets Diaz's June Haven involved in an intercontinental, multi-antagonist escapade. The CIA is hot on their trail; and what would a good thriller be without international arms dealers?

Roy Miller (Cruise) comes off as quirky, confident, charming and, above all, a gentleman. His fast-paced banter is full of wit, charm, and positive-reinforcement (for instance, after a car chase, loading up for another hail of gunfire, he tell Diaz "When you opened the [car] door back there, that was perfect timing. You saved us.")

Diaz is consummate Cameron Diaz. Her character is smart and clumsy, cute and sexy. It just seems to come naturally to her.

The film is pretty much the standard formula. The damsel in distress (even though it was our protagonist that put her there), the McGuffin (in this case the Zephyr, a power source that never needs recharging), the uber-geek who created it, the misunderstood hero, and did I mention the international arms dealers?

The fight scenes and chase scenes stand for themselves, especially when you understand that Cruise and Diaz both did most of their own stunts. They are uniquely choreographed and deliver exactly what you would expect from this type of thriller.

Would I say cancel your plans for tonight and go see it ASAP? Probably not. Could you wait for the DVD release? Absolutely, you wouldn't be missing anything seeing it on the small screen. If you have nothing else to do and are in the mood for an action-comedy would you be satisfied? In my humble opinion, it would make for an enjoyable evening, maybe followed by a dinner of pizza and wine.

After careful deliberation, I am going to give Knight and Day 3-1/2 popcorns. Although it probably didn't hurt that they mentioned Lake Sunapee, where I spent most of my summers in my formative years.

Despicable Me

It's evil vs. evil with a little more evil thrown in just for fun! I challenge the grouchiest grouch, the curmudgeoniest curmudgeon and the mal-iest of malcontents not to laugh out loud watching Despicable Me. In fact, Ricky, who gave the movie 4 thumbs up, said that it was "a double L-O-L."

First, the voices. Steve Carell, Jason Segel and Russell Brand transformed themselves into their characters. Their voices are barely recognizable. So many animated films capitalize on using an all-star cast with distinct voices to draw audiences into the theater. Mike Myers dons a Scottish accent as Shrek, but the voice is unmistakable. Despicable Me has the all-star cast, but then let them loose. The result is outstanding. Somehow, I don't think that an elderly mad scientist who sounded exactly like Russell Brand would have made the grade.

One of the great things about this story is that there is no "good guy" trying to save the day. It is Gru vs. Vector to see who can pull off the most dastardly deed. Threat of law enforcement never even enters the scene. The "good" in the movie comes in the form of three orphans that Gru adopts as a means to an end, never anticipating the affect the girls will have on his villainy. Of course, for the audience, Gru's transformation was telegraphed from the moment he takes them into his home.

I say evil vs. evil with a little more evil thrown in because of Kristen Wiig's character, Miss Hattie. Miss Hattie runs the Home for Girls in such as way that I couldn't help but think of Miss Hannigan from Little Orphan Annie. The writers apparently recognized this. When Gru was less than forthcoming with love and attention, one of the girls noted "When we got adopted by a bald man, I was thinking this would be more like Annie." After this role, I would embrace a production of Annie starring Ms. Wiig as the dreadful Miss Hannigan.

Gru's little yellow minions steal the show. I just wanted to pluck one off the screen, squeeze him and take him home with me. It's not clear what they are supposed to be, but their zany antics had the audience roaring with laughter. If the shelves in Toys R Us and Walmart aren't already lined with them, they will be soon.

The 3-D effects were excellent. Hang on to your hat for the roller coaster scene! It's well worth the extra money to see it on the big screen. When the end credits start, keep those glasses on. The little yellow guys are about to have some fun with 3-D.

If you are looking for an all-around fun family film this summer, Despicable Me belongs on your "must see" list. I'm giving it 4-1/2 popcorns. With extra butter for good measure.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

First, I will have to admit that I am a Twilight fan. I've read the books and I look forward to each film with almost the same anticipation that a new Harry Potter installment generates. Granted, I am almost always disappointed.

I wouldn't say that I'm a "Twi-hard," though. The series has it's shortcomings, and I can recognize that. New Moon was difficult to get through, both as a book and as a movie. What teenager hasn't had his or her heart broken at some point? You don't just "check out" of the rest of your life. You cry, you eat chocolate and ice cream, bitch to your friends and you move on. See? I can be unbiased.

I love the vampire genre. Going back to The Lost Boys, Anne Rice books, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the series, NOT the movie), Angel, True Blood...I love a good vampire story. However, one must recognize The Twilight Series for what it is...not a vampire epic, but rather a tale of teen angst that happens to contain vampires and wolves. The true story is in the love triangle.

That being said, Twilight fans will have to agree that this is the best film by far. Will it change the minds of non-fans? Absolutely not. Is it easier to follow if you've read the book? Undoubtedly. Personally, I have never felt the intensity of the relationship between Bella and Edward is as strongly portrayed in the movies as the books. The person who does the best job getting those emotions across is Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black, who pines for Bella.

Realizing that he's just a child, I still have to say that Lautner's performance was worth my $10. That could be because there was only one scene in which he wore a shirt, although I like to think that I'm more mature than that. But, still...wait, where was I?

Robert Pattinson's performance as Edward Cullen is as superficial as always. His character just lacks depth. Pattinson is a handsome man, there's no denying that, but they try to make his look too ethereal (somewhat ironic as vampires don't generally have souls), and as a result he usually looks as if he's about to cry. Perhaps the passion that he feels for his Bella is too much for him. Perhaps it's the amber contact lenses irritating his eyes.

Billy Burke as Charlie Swan is priceless. He's not the star of the movie; in fact, if you look on IMDB, you have to hit "more" on the cast list to even see his name. However his clumsy dadness (yes, I made up that word -- alert Websters!) lends a refreshing touch of humor to the film.

All in all, it would seem that all things Twilight remain status quo with this movie. The fans will love it, and the non-believers will continue to scoff, which is fine. As a fan, I will give it 3 popcorn buckets.

The Last Airbender

My son has been waiting for months for this movie to come out. For the last two weeks, he's been practicing his element-bending moves in anticipation of an amazing cinematic experience.

I have to say, he was very happy.

My opinion was less enthusiastic. Since it is based on one of my son's favorite cartoons, I am familiar with the storyline. Based on the few episodes I've seen, I thought that this movie had great potential, especially in 3-D.

The first thing I will say is that there was no need for this movie to be in 3-D. The effects were minimal. In fact, at Denny's afterwards, when I said this to my 10-year-old son, his response was "they make everything 3-D now to get people to go, Mom." And that was exactly it. With the manipulation of the elements, this could have been an amazing 3-D experience. It fell quite flat of expectations. Perhaps my glasses were defective.

Actually, flat is the perfect way to describe this movie.

I would love to talk about character development, but there wasn't any. The only attempt that was made for the audience to understand Aang's (the Avatar) emotional state was through ineffective flashbacks. The plot seems to jump around, never allowing the audience a chance to become vested in the characters or the outcome. One simply doesn't care whether the Fire Nation captures Aang or not.

The acting was lackluster at best. I almost dread typing that, because I don't want to be seen as jumping on the "casting boycott" bandwagon. While anyone familiar with the cartoon will raise an eyebrow when Jackson Rathbone (who plays Jasper Hale in the Twilight series, two theaters down) appears as Sokka, had he delivered any type of performance, perhaps the audience would have suspended their ethnicity issues and accepted him in the role.

The next film is well set up in the close of this movie, and I know my son will want to see it. I just hope that Mr. Shyamalan revisits his vision, and perhaps watches a few episodes of the cartoon, before this undertaking.

I wanted my first entry to be an enthusiastic endorsement of a movie. Unfortunately, I picked the wrong time to start. I should have made my premiere entry about The Karate Kid last week (in fact, I will write another about it, go see it!). I can only give The Last Airbender movie 1-1/2 popcorns.