Movie Review: Grown Ups

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It was another tough decision at the theater this week, Adam Sandler or Tom Cruise. I thought heavily of checking out the art cinema but timing didn't work out. So I choose Adam Sandler in Grown Ups and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn't a great movie by any stretch of the imagination, it had it's problems but it was better than I thought. BUT before I could get to the comedy gold (tongue planted firmly in cheek) of Sandler, I had to get through the previews. I'm really starting to loathe them. First there were five shown before the movie. I can deal with that, not a big deal. Two of the movies are "coming in 3D and in 2D at select theaters." Argh! That's starting to get annoying! Then there was this trailer, I won't plug the movie, but it stars Will Farrell. Why must I be tortured with Will Farrell? It was more of a Talladega Nights:

The Ballad of Ricky Bobby than Stranger than Fiction type of movie. By the looks of the preview, I think that he'll be up for a Razzie.

Will Farrell aside, Grown Ups was your standard Adam Sandler movie with some of the language and potty humor. Rob Schnieder showed up in this movie as usual but instead of the cameo type appearances he was one of the leads in this film along with Chris Rock, Kevin James and David Spade who play five life long friends. They've gathered back in New England after 30 years to attend the funeral of their beloved basketball coach, Coach Buzzer (Blake Clark) who lead the team to a championship when the boys were 12. As a reward they had a party at a gorgeous lake front house.

As the town gathers at the church for Coach's funeral the five are reunited Lenny, Rob, Eric, Marcus and Rob (Sandler, Schneider, James, Spade and Rock) along with their families. As they see each other the insults and one upmanships start flowing. Even during the service they take bets as to what one of the guys would do. It's like the five of them never separated and continued their friendship right where they left off many years ago. Lenny, a successful Hollywood agent, decides to rent the lake front property and have all the families, all 17 people: wives, children, pets, nannies and mother-in-laws stay under one roof for the Fourth of July weekend.

Each family has their own issues. Lenny has his successful clothes designer wife Roxanne (Selma Hayek Pinault) who needs to get to Milan for a fashion show and two very spoiled children. Eric has unique family issues with his wife Sally (Maria Bello) who can't seem to break their four year old son from breast feeding. Kurt is a stay at home dad with a successful bread winning pregnant wife (Maya Rudolph). Rob is a new age type of guy on his fourth marriage with kids from previous marriages and a new, rather unconventional wife. Pulling up the rear is Marcus, the single guy on the prowl for anything that moves, kinda like the same character he played on Rules of Engagement.

There are some funny scenes, there are some gross out scenes, there are some things that should NEVER be tried at home. They apparently tried, like the Wadsworth poem "I shot an arrow into the air, it fell to earth, I know not where." and make a game out of it. Kids, if you see this movie don't EVER try what they do with a bow and arrow. Something really BAD could happen. Actually, I shouldn't limit that just to kids....adults, this applies to you too! The movie has a PG-13 rating due to crude material including suggestive references, language and some male rear nudity, you know typical stuff for a Sandler movie.

Some of the editing was choppy. With some great comedic people together I'm sure they did some improvisation that the director Dennis Dugan (Don't mess with the Zohan and The Benchwarmers) had to try to stitch together in the editing bay. Some of the incidents and conclusions were just too contrived and easily resolved, but ultimately the story was about friendship and family and that part of the movie was enjoyable in the 102 minute running time.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Toy Story 3

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Back in 1995 when Pixar released Toy Story, it changed the game for movie goers. To see what sort of images the computer could generate and get us to accept this world of toys in Andy's room could actually exist hadn't been done before. More importantly was the story. They got us to believe that Sheriff Woody, Buzz Lightyear (Tom Hanks and Tim Allen) and the rest of the toys were real and to care what happened to them. Four year later along comes Toy Story 2 giving further refinement to the characters that we know and love. We are introduced to new ones like Jessie the yodeling cowgirl (Joan Cusack) and Bullseye. Then they were put on a shelf for eleven years. But now they are taken down, dusted off and back better than ever. The wait was worth it! It's great to be reunited with old friends.

My home theater is showing the movie in IMAX 3D, Real 3D and 2D. I was in the third show of the day, the first showing in 2D and the theater was packed. It's like schools and summer programs had made a field trip out of seeing this movie and packed the room. I couldn't get my regular seat about three quarters of the way up and in an end seat. I had to sit in the first row of the risers in a handicap seat knowing that if a wheel chair guest came in I might have to move to the front row and stare up at the screen. This movie will probably break some records this weekend.

Just as time had passed between movies in the real world about the same amount of time has passed in the world of Andy's room. He's now grown up and heading off to college. He has to clean out his room. What do you do with the toys that you loved as a child? Take them with you, throw them away, donate them or store them? The toys ponder their fate while reflecting what happened to some of their old pals that didn't make it up to this point. Inadvertently the toys end up being donated to a day care center.

Here our heroes plus Mr and Mrs Potato Head, Slinky dog, Barbie, Hamm, the three eyed aliens and Rex (Don Rickles, Estelle Harris, Blake Clark, Jodi Benson, John Ratzenberger, Jeff Pidgeon, and Wallace Shawn) come to cross roads. In Toy Story 2 the relationship between Jesse and her owner Emily translated through the beautiful song When She Loved Me. Many of the same feelings were once again being expressed but not exclusively by Jessie. Their fears are put to rest by a new character Lots-0-Huggin Bear (Ned Beatty) or Lotso for short, a pink fluffy teddy type bear that smells like strawberries who acts as representative for the toys who call Sunny Side Daycare their home. Other new toys introduced are Mr Pricklepants, Dolly, Buttercup, Sparks and Bookworm just to name a few. I'll have to drop by my local Disney Store and see if Mr Pricklepants comes in a plush. I find the idea of a lederhosen wearing hedgehog pretty funny and even funnier when he reveals that he wants to be a Shakespearean actor!

Their orientation is given by Ken (Michael Keaton) who for the first time discovers Barbie. The reaction and banter between the two is inspired creativity. They could probably have a spin off with just these two. Ken shows the newbies to the Caterpillar room where after recess the kids come in and the toys get played with....and HARD! Buzz makes an appeal to Lotso to move to the Butterfly room where there are children more age appropriate for the gang. Turns out Sunny Side isn't so sunny after all. Andy's toys decide to make a break for it, to get out from under the storm clouds of Sunny Side but to return to what?

Overall the tone of the movie is much darker than we've seen in any previous Toy Story movie. Although the movie has a G rating, there are themes here which are very grown up. The last twenty minutes of the movie you will need tissues. Friendship and loyalty versus responsibility and duty. Where is my place? Should I rust out or get worn out? Do I stick with what I know or venture into the unknown? All great questions that are presented to us through the eyes of a toy or a group of toys. Ultimately, the movie's conclusion is very satisfying as we watch the closing credits. The guys and ladies over at Pixar have not only given us great visuals to enjoy but a story worthy of watching.

Speaking of visuals, Pixar is known for putting easter eggs into their films. The little nods to inside jokes, running gags, past or even future films abound in this movie. The big one that I noticed was the Pizza Planet truck. The letters Y-O stuck out like a sore thumb. One blogger over at Slash Film counted about 60 hidden gems. Many are not as blatant as the truck but interesting on their own. Check out the blog post at: http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/06/18/toy-story-3-easter-eggs/ for the details.

Usually I give you the running length of the movie, but I forgot to look at the time. I've seen a couple of times reported on web sites, but don't know if that includes the short that is shown in front of the movie. It's entitled Day and Night and is very different than any of the previously released shorts like Boundin', Knick Knack or Partly Cloudy. It's a very ingenious presentation! I'm assuming that the short was about 8 minutes and the main feature about 90 minutes. In any case, it's time well spent.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.

Movie Review: The A-Team

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So I'm looking at Fandango trying to figure out what movie to see this weekend and I was very disappointed at the selection. The regular theaters have two remakes, one a big screen adaptation of an 80's TV show or the other a re imagining of a beloved 80's movie. The art cinema didn't look much better. Due to a State of Hawaii holiday, I didn't go to my usual first show of the day but went in the later afternoon. I was very surprised to see a huge line for people to get in and see Karate Kid. I on the other hand had chosen to see The A-Team. Even though I was in high school and college in the 80's, I didn't watch The A-Team.

The only thing I remember was Mr T's catch phrase "I pity the fool" which didn't even come from the series. I only had the previews and movie itself to go by. While I was not totally thrilled with it, it did make for a good popcorn movie.

The previews set it up, a group of soldiers was arrested for a crime they were wrongly accused of committing now they are out to clear themselves. We are introduced to each of the members of the A-Team and how they met. Introduced first is Liam Neeson as Col John "Hanibal" Smith. Funny now every time I hear the name Hannibal I think of a cannibal and not the place where Tom and Huck grew up. Next is MMA fighter Quinton "Rampage" Jackson as Sergeant Bosco Albert B.A. "Bad Attitude" Baracus. Joining them is Bradley Cooper's Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck and to top off the team is Sharlto Copley as Captain H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock. This time instead of Vietnam, they are stationed in Iraq.

So we're treated to their origin. Next up, how they are wrongly accused. In Iraq , one of Face's old flames Lieutenant Sosa (Jessica Biel) tells him not to get involved with a plot to try to retrieve stolen money. This plan requires split second timing and in a country like war torn Iraq how they managed to get that timing down amazed me! Some of the set up and execution of the plan was both laughable and amazing to watch at the same time. But then again, we've already been treated to some of this beforehand. As the movie goes along it just gets more laughable and more amazing. Unfortunately, something goes wrong and someone dies. The A-team is court-martialed and sent to different penitentiaries to serve their time.

They manage to escape prison with the help of a CIA operative named Lynch who was also there in Iraq. Throughout the movie this became a running joke. But once Lynch helps Hannibal escape, it's like watching dominoes fall as the rest are sprung free to now fight and right that which has been wronged. Over the top action where physics don't seem to matter is the norm in this film. For example, you have a multi ton tank falling from the sky with a single remaining parachute hanging off the back end. In physics we know that every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Let's shoot off the big tank gun to slow ourselves down so we can survive the landing. While watching it on the screen we go "Cool!" but afterward go "huh?"

If you accept the whole movie with that attitude, it will be a fun movie. If you try to make sense of what is being burned into your retina, you won't have a good time. For the intense action, violence, language and smoking, the movie has a PG-13 rating. I personally think this is a little high. Yeah, there is violence, but it's not like you're seeing blood and guts everywhere. The only skin you get to see is Bradley Cooper's torso and none of Jessica Biel's. If this is a guy movie why don't we get to see more of her? Maybe that would have justified the PG-13 rating!

They left the movie in a place where if it does well in the box office, they could easily have a sequel pumped out in the future. OH Yeah, make sure you stay all the way to the end of the credits. There are a couple of good easter eggs there for you to enjoy.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.

Movie Review: Get Him to the Greek

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Aldous Snow, a name that will live in rock-n-roll history for having the worst album ever with the song African Child being listed as the third worst thing to ever happen to the continent of Africa after war and famine. He may be upset with the album and song, but we are glad that Russel Brand is back playing the hedonistic, self centered, self absorbed rock star that we were introduced to in 2008's Forgetting Sarah Marshall. This time it's up to Aaron Green (Jonah Hill) to get Aldous from London to Los Angeles in 72 hours. Aaron has to Get Him to the Greek!

How did Aaron get this career make or break assignment? His boss at Pinnacle Records, Sergio Roma (Sean Combs) was asking for ideas to improve sales from his account executives. Aaron suggested getting the rocker back to the venue where he cut a great album, both an album and star that Aaron loves. Unexpectedly he gets the green light to fly to Europe gather the rock star and have Aldous give a great repeat performance. But things couldn't be that simple could it? Aaron is dealing with his own personal relationship and work issues and then has to deal with Aldous who comes with his own set of baggage and peculiar habits.

To help us understand Aldous' current condition we get treated to MTV, TMZ and other tabloid and paparazzi fodder of Aldous' life since the release of African Child. Breaking up with his long time girl friend, relapsing back into drugs and alcohol, the binges and rages and sexual activity that we perceive as the stereotypical rock star lifestyle. All of this plus the pervasive language help to garner the film a very sold R rating. We get introduced to all this information pretty early in the film.

Aaron works to get Aldous on the plane in London. So we now have the set up for a road trip movie as they need to stop in New York on the way to Los Angeles for an appearance on the Today show giving one of the famous Today concerts in the Plaza. The buddy movie starts to kick into gear while the two are traveling almost half way around the world. Aaron gets exposed to the rocker lifestyle while trying to keep his head on straight to accomplish the goal while being hounded by Sergio. Aldous has someone who is not part of his inner circle and can provide an outside point of view. Travel and relationship make baby steps forward with inevitable detours along the way. Aaron walks the fine line of keeping his client and boss happy while trying to maintain his own wits about himself. Not an easy task!

The film has a mix of cameos to lend an air of credibility to the rocker story and enriched the background. Whether it is Mario Lopez reporting on a TV show about Aldous, Aldous being caught on film partying with Pink or Christina Aguilera or story line interaction with Today host Meredith Vieira, their talents add to the story's believability. The funniest cameo for me was with Tom Felton of Harry Potter fame. That one had me laughing out loud.

Directed by Nick Stoller who also directed Forgetting Sarah Marshall, he doesn't forget to pay tribute to the movie that created the character in a scene that I thought was funny. The joke is even funnier if you saw Forgetting Sarah Marshall. Camera angles that you usually only see on a reality show were used to great effect. There are some very funny scenes and some that make you squirm in your seat a bit. Fuzzy wall is all I'm gonna say. Brand does a great job fleshing out Aldous Snow even more. Hill does a good job balancing the up tight guy with a purpose thrown into the midst of madness. Combs has some very funny scenes as the music mogul who wants to make a buck and keep on top of his underlings.

The movie runs for 109 minutes. At the very end there is an easter egg for those that choose to wait it out. This is an adult comedy.

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.