Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Despicable Me

Posted by benjamin on July 10, 2010

Directors: Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud
Rating: PG
Release: 2010
Language: English
Runtime: 95 minutes
Plot: In a happy suburban neighborhood surrounded by white picket fences with flowering rose bushes, sits a black house with a dead lawn. Unbeknownst to the neighbors, hidden beneath this home is a vast secret hideout. Surrounded by a small army of minions, we discover Gru planning the biggest heist in the history of the world. He is going to steal the moon, yes, the moon. — Yahoo! Movies
Official Movie Website

I’ve been pumped to see this movie for sometime thanks to the interest my fiancée had in seeing the film. It also didn’t hurt that the trailers made it look especially cute and entertaining.

Now when I went to see the film, we opted to enjoy it in all its 3D glory as well as the XD Cinemark technology. I’m not a huge fan of 3D since most of the time it doesn’t really add much to a film and can sometimes be a deterrent to the actual story. However, Despicable Me didn’t follow those rules. The film was quite crisp and clear and after a certain period of time I even forgot that I was enjoying the film in 3D. There were a few shots that made the 3D look terrible (see the tip jar) and seemed to hurt the actual animation but they were so minimal that I’ll have to say that it was worth the few extra bucks to enjoy. Even for someone sitting in the second to front row (like I had to do) I was still even able to enjoy the film without much strain.

With the visuals out of the way, its time to get on to the actors/characters. Instead of listing the voice actors, I’ll just say see the cast of Forgetting Sarah Marshall as there are many hold overs between the two films. But the star of the film is around Gru who is voiced by Steve Carell. The accent Steve brought was perfect for the role and it was hard for me to think of Gru and Steve as the same person. He really brought the character to life. In addition to Steve, the three little girls that he cares for within the movie were perfect. Two newcommers and one returnee provided real emotion for the film.

Regardless of everyone else, the minions really stole the film. These little “twinkie” like characters were to Despicable Me what the penguins were to Madagascar. And for those who have a smartphone, there is a Best Buy app (cheap plug) that can be used at the end of the film to translate what the minions are saying during the credits. It was kind of cool for a sponsor tie in.

Overall, the film was very cute, sweet and fun. I thought the second half was better in terms of story and characters, but maybe that was because I spent the first half really getting to know who they were. My one real negative thing about the film was that it was a little edgey at times similar to the ways that the Shrek films were, but Despicable Me was more open and not trying to hide the jokes as much.

The Verdict:

1 Comment on this post | Published in Comedy, Family

The Movie Game

Posted by benjamin on July 5, 2010

On this Fourth of July weekend, many people will be heading to the movies (home, theaters, or both) and those of us here at The ACG will probably be no different. However, I did want to pass along a fun game for movie buffs if you find yourself in need of a way to pass the time. This game was first introduced to me as a drinking game, but you can still enjoy it without the need for a drink.

No boards, notes, or additional pieces of any kind are needed. You just need a group of people that love movies and know many of them. Here are the rules:

1 ) Someone starts off the game by naming a movie or actor/actress.
2 ) Each person, in turn, responds with someone from the movie or another movie that the actor/actress appears within. I.E. if the game starts with Batman Begins, then the next person would respond with Christian Bale or Michael Caine. Or the game could start with Tom Hanks, then the next person would respond with Toy Story 3 or The Da Vanci Code.
3 ) The game continues and changes based on each person’s answer.
4 ) Each person always has two options to respond: Another actor/actress in the movie or another movie based on the previous actor/actress that was mentioned.
5 ) The time allowed for each person playing to respond can be customized based on those playing. Advanced players might want to allow for shorter time.
6 ) No movie or actor/actress can be repeated.

That’s it. However, while playing the other night, my friends and I decided to add to the game with inclusion of a Lightning Round (LR). A LR is started whenever a predefined list of actors/actresses are mentioned. Here are the rules of the Lightning Round (LR):

1 ) Once a LR actor/actress is named someone else must call out “Lightning Round.”
2 ) Everyone must now only name a movie that the LR actor/actress is in.
3 ) If someone can’t name another movie, they are out and must take a drink.
4 ) The remaining players continue until only one player remains who can name a movie.
5 ) The last player must provide one last movie before the LR ends.
6 ) Once the LR ends with a winner, the winner can restart the game with a new movie or actor.
7 ) If no winner results from the LR, everyone drinks and the game starts back with the player who initiated the LR.
8 ) The predefined list of actors/actresses can be modified and changed prior to the start of the game so that all players are in agreement and have a list that matches the types of movies/actors/actresses that everyone enjoys.

Here is the current list of LR actors/actresses:

1 ) Tom Hanks (Beginner)
2 ) Tom Cruise (Beginner)
3 ) Sandra Bullock (Beginner)
4 ) Julia Roberts (Beginner)
5 ) Will Smith (Beginner)
6 ) Robin Williams (Beginner)
7 ) John C. Reilly (Advanced)
8 ) Meryl Streep (Advanced)

Enjoy for those interested in playing.

1 Comment on this post | Published in Action, Adventure & Epic, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Family, Horror, Musical, Mystery & Thriller, Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy, War, Western

Percy Jackson & the Olympians – The Lightning Thief

Posted by benjamin on June 13, 2010

Director: Chris Columbus
Rating: PG
Release: 2010
Language: English
Runtime: 118 minutes
Plot: It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus and assorted monsters have walked out of the pages of high school student Percy Jackson’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. And they’re not happy: Zeus’ lightning bolt has been stolen, and Percy is the prime suspect. Even more troubling is the sudden disappearance of Percy’s mother. As Percy adapts to his newly discovered status as a demi-god (his father is Poseidon), he finds himself caught between the battling titans of Mt. Olympus. He and his friends embark on a cross-country adventure to catch the true lightning thief, save Percy’s mom, and unravel a mystery more powerful than the gods themselves. — Yahoo! Movies

Let me begin this review by stating that I am a sucker for mythology. Doesn’t matter if it is Greek, Roman, Norse, or other. There is just something about it that draws me in to each and every story. Maybe that’s why I chose to take a look at Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightining Thief. It’s just a real shame that all adaptations aren’t as good as the initial stories.

The start-studded staff should have given me a quick clue of the path this movie was going to take and take quickly. Its quite rare that a cast of this caliber will pull off something better than below average, especially when being led by a rag tag crew of new thespians. I found myself rooting for more gods and centaurs in order to see something that was at least believable and less cheesy than the early special effects.

As the movie progressed to a story that was at least accepting more than “get me out of this,” I learned two things. First is that the one you think is behind the entire theft is accurate. If you don’t see this one coming, then I believe the United States government will list you as legally blind. Glasses and contacts couldn’t help you at this point. The second item is that the production crew must have thrown away the initial effects team half way through the movie because it just seemed that the graphics increased visually to the point that it wasn’t reminiscent of the early 2000′s and actually could have been created in the same year as the film that sported music (Gaga and Ke$ha) and jokes (recession) that were ahead of their time.

It was great to see Chris Columbus, director from the first Harry Potter films, attempting to take a new collection of stories to the same masses. Please note that I said attempting and I meant it. The element of fantasy was always evident and most scenes presented an attitude that didn’t allow any emotion that one might have seen in any Harry Potter film, whether it was Columbus’s or not. I need to feel bad for all of the demigods for never having known their parents instead of just saying “who cares?”

Overall, I’m not even sure this film was worth the time I used for it to pass my recent cross-country flight. At least it probably did poorly enough that we will not have to be subjected to a sequel….or will we.