The Muppets ~ they’re back … if you care.

I have come to the conclusion that there are basically three camps for Muppet fans. You can give yourself the test right now. Remember the old Sesame Street song Me-na-me-na? If you REALLY like that song and sing it out loudly, you are a fan. If the song irritates you, you are not. If it’s just sorta there, then you’re like me, a “tweener.”

I never really understood the whole Muppet Show craze except for maybe introducing kids to pop artists and actors/actresses. I would catch in on TV now and again, but it never really kept my interest.  That doesn’t mean I didn’t like the Muppets, they were just kind of…there..Ya know?

Well now they’re back in what I imagine is a Disney attempt to spark new interest in them. Judging by the turn out of the screening, it isn’t looking too good, but there’s still a chance. I noticed a large group of young adults leave after the first few minutes, so we can pretty much write off the age group just after me.

It was the “typical” Muppet movie. They need money to save the studio from a big mean oil tycoon. Kermit and Mrs. Piggy have broken up. All the others have moved on. The only way to save it is to get the group back together and put on a show….a telethon. Pretty much the whole gang is back including my favorite “Beaker.”

My 4 year olds didn’t much care for the movie, or the Muppets in general, but they did laugh at the funny parts and had a good time. The majority of the people laughing were adults, so it may be worth it to check it out if you are a fan. If you’re like me….. You can always catch it at someone else’s house. 

On a side note, I am becoming enthralled with Amy Adams who plays Mary, the girlfriend of Gary (Jason Segal). It’s kind of the getting a crush on the girl who is a little too wholesome in that Julie Andrews sort of way I imagine some guys wrestled with back in the day. Chris Cooper, the big bad oil tycoon, has an awesomely funny song that he pulls off quite well which is also worth a watch.  

So take what I said and run with it.

Happy Feet Two ~ cute, a bit long, and not entirely our fault this time.

Remember those adorable singing and dancing Emperor penguins who were in danger last time because we (humans) were overfishing the seas? Well those cuties are in trouble again, more or less because of Global Warning which people like to point at us and say we’re causing, but let’s get past that, and the fact that man is a carnivore and if you inject intelligence into animals they wouldn’t understand why they’re our victims.  Whew!! Guilt trip over.

Mumble (the voice of Elijah Wood), the dancing awesomeness of the first movie is a proud daddy to Erik, a shy and different penguin. Ramon (Robin Williams) is tired of being treated badly because he’s different (not an Emperor penguin) and heads back to his homeland with the rebellious Erik and friends following him. Lovelace, (also Robin Williams) has found a new worship idol, a Puffin named Sven who is mistaken for a different kind of penguin, and idolized because he can fly.

The Emperor penguins become endangered when an iceberg traps them inside an inescapable chasm and it’s up to Mumble, Erik, and the others to rescue them (even the human’s can’t undo this one).

 

There’s also a very fun side story of Will the Krill (voice by Brad Pitt) and Bill the Krill (voice by Matt Damon), tired of going with the flow, Will wants to evolve higher up the food chain.

It’s a whole” circle of life” message which movie makes fumble over as they try to explain how carnivores and herbivores coexist in the world and parts of the movie were a bit long for my 4 and 2 year olds. I noticed at that point a lot of other kids in the theater were getting bored as well so if you’re taking one, keep that in mind.

This does bring up a personal beef I have with the new movie trend, 3D. I don’t know about your kids, but mine absolutely HATE wearing the glasses for long. They don’t like the idea that when they look to the side it goes dark and I imagine it irritates their nose and ears after a bit. So if your kids are like mine, avoid the 3D.

Anyway, it’s a kid’s movie, so you know there’s a happy ending (no spoiler there). The movie promotes keeping your promises, not treating people bad because they’re different, and how every hand (or flipper) can make a difference. I will warn you, Erik’s talent is that he sings opera. A lot of the kids in the theater didn’t quite get into this, so you may want to be prepared for it as well.

I wish there was more Robin Williams in this movie, but as I said, the story was a bit long as it was.

So if you’re a movie on Thanksgiving kind of family, go see it.  

Priest ~ I hate when they have potential, then fall flat on their face.

Watching the previews for this movie, it seems like it would be REALLY interesting. If they do it right, it would be awesome…..wrong on both accounts. This movie would have you believe that humans and vampires (not the handsome glittery ones that you find all so dreamy, but the eye-less naked demon like ones that run around killing and eating all day) have been at war since the dawn of time.

The problem is, they’re faster, stronger, and more vicious than a human which means that they would have annihilated use long ago. The movie would have you believe if not for the church’s intervention and finding “The Priests” we would have been. The Priests are superhuman vampire slayers trained by the church.

A Priest (Paul Bettany) was very good at killing vampires. Once the Priests weren’t needed anymore, they were shunned and put to menial tasks in the city. This Priest has a secret, which Black Hat (Karl Urban) ,a priest turned into a vampire, exploits causing the priest to disobey his Monsignor. This is something you just don’t do in the fanatical religious society. So the Monsignor sends a group of other priests out to stop him.

Included in this crew is a Priestess (Maggie Q) who has a connection with Priest. I know… it’s all weird when no one has a name, and everyone is referred to as “Priest.” For the most part all you need to know is that vampires are being bad, the church is denying it, the Priest is hunting them, and the Priestess is hunting the Priest.

I’m so bummed! This movie had great potential. Superhuman hunting an uber-vampire, but it wasn’t anything special. It didn’t have the “Van Helsing” goodness, and frankly it wasn’t even enough like “Blade” to be likeable. It dragged on, and then when the time to fight was here, it was disappointing, and of course they set up a sequel.

Here’s a hint Hollywood. If the first one sucks, we aren’t going to see number two! If vampires are your thing (in the mindless killing way) you’ll probably not like this movie. Technically you only see two people die, and it’s not very gruesome.

Added to the “Meh” file! 

Knight and Day ~ Fast and Fun, Like a Tom Cruise Movie should be!

I have a moderate expectancy that any movie with Tom Cruise in it will be good. This hasn’t always been true, but for the most part, if you see him in it, you can figure on the movie to be worth watching and Knight and Day is one of those movies.  

Roy Miller (Tom Cruise) is a slick, charming, and adept agent for a nameless government agency. June Havens (Cameron Diaz) is a car mechanic innocently traveling home after buying car parts. She meets Roy and is immediately attracted to him. Once she boards that airplane with Roy, her life will never be normal again. Lurking in the shadows is Fitzgerald (Peter Sarsgaard), the bad agent framing Roy for stealing secrets and selling them to America’s enemies.

We’ve seen Cruise play the spy/agent many, many times. He’s good at it and it shows. I was surprised to like this movie as much as I did. For someone like me who doesn’t usually like Cameron Diaz, it’s very rare for me to want to go out and buy a movie with her in it, but there are exceptions.

Miller is always one step ahead, even just barely in some parts, and it’s a fun rollercoaster ride of action. The movie is fast-paced and exciting. If you’re looking for an action movie that the wife will enjoy, score this one. It’s cute to watch the “civilian” tag along the super spy.