Madagascar Three Europe's Most Wanted

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While on vacation, my family and I went to the drive in twice.  They always play a double feature, and as luck would have it, we had already seen the second film both weeks that we went.  The first week we saw Madagascar 3 followed by Dark Shadows.  My review of Dark Shadows can be read here.

As you all know by now, my family watches a lot of movies.  We aren't really TV watchers, and will choose a movie over a TV show most of the time when we want to watch something.  So it probably comes as no surprise that not only have we seen the first two Madagascar movies, but we own them on DVD as well.   They are  movies we like, but not necessarily movies we LOVE.

This third movie followed the same four animals, Alex the lion (Ben Stiller), Marty the zebra ( Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith) and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), as they try to get back to Central Park, NY. Julien (Sacha Baron Cohen) and other characters from the first two are still in this one, but their parts aren't very big.

As they are they are trying to escape Europe, they are nearly caught by the head of animal control, who REALLY wants a lion to hang on her wall.  In an effort to fool her and leave the country, they join a traveling circus.

When they join the circus they make up lies about how they are all traveling circus animals already.  They shake up the way the other animals perform as they travel the world on their way back to the United States.  They get caught in some of the lies, but ultimately realize that friendship is the most important thing.

We liked the movie overall, but I felt like it was a little too busy jumping around, and cramming too much stuff into a short time frame.  There were things that were hard to keep straight through the rush.

We didn't see it in 3D since we were at the drive in, and we didn't think it was worth another trip to a theater to see it in 3d.  We will probably buy it when it comes out on DVD, but we own well over 500 DVD's, so that's not necessarily a big deal.

Elliott really enjoyed it, and said it was worth seeing on the big screen, but he also admitted his favorite parts were all shown in trailers as well.

The Amazing Spider-Man in 3D

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As a lot of you know by now, my six year old loves superheroes.  He has a hard time deciding who his favorite is between the Hulk and Spider-Man, so he was obviously really excited and looking forward to seeing Spider-Man in the theater.  He's been counting down to the day it came out since the date was released!  We weren't able to go on the 3rd, since my husband was at work late, but we did go yesterday afternoon and we all three really enjoyed it.

First off, let me admit that no one in my immediate family has read any of the Spider-Man comic books.  We've seen some of the cartoons, and the three films that starred Tobey Maguire, but that's pretty much it.  So we know that the storyline is quite different than those films, but we don't know how much it stuck to comic book roots.

Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker/Spider-Man.  This was the first thing we had ever seen him in, and we all thought he did a good job.  He wasn't the same type of Peter Parker we are used to, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  Other stars included Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Denis Lear as Captain Stacy, Martin Sheen as Uncle Ben, Sally Field as Aunt May and Rhys Ifans as the Lizard/Dr. Curt Connors.

This film starts with Peter as a child, on the night he moves in with Uncle Ben and Aunt May. It just shows that single night, before fast forwarding to when Peter is in high school, but it proves to be a very important night. Peter's parents drop Peter off, along with a briefcase, that Uncle Ben and Aunt May store in the basement and forget about.

Peter is a pretty good child and generally does what's expected of him.  He stands up for the underdog, even if it lands him in trouble.  He seems to have a pretty good relationship with boy his aunt and his uncle.  As he is helping his uncle he stumbles upon the briefcase that belonged to his dad, and his world starts changing.

The briefcase leads him to the company where his father worked.  He meets his father's best friend and fellow scientist, Dr. Curt Connors.  This is where Peter gets bit and develops his powers.  He forms a friendship with Dr. Connors and helps him with some stuff, without giving away that he found it in his father's notes. Before he knows it, things get out of hand.

With a little bit of help from his girlfriend (the only one he tells about his secret powers) Spider-Man manages to save the day.  The movie ends in a way that leaves no doubt that there WILL be a sequel.

Like I said before, my family and I all liked the movie. We saw it in 3D, and while some of the scenes were pretty awesome, I'm still not positive it was necessarily worth the extra cost.  My guys both seem to think all movies are better in 3D, though, so they both disagree with me on that.

Elliott liked that this was a funnier, sillier Peter Parker than he was used to.  He thought the movie was just a little bit scary, but not too bad.  The scariest part for him was when someone died.  He says the movie was appropriate for kids 5 and up, as long as their parents are around to talk about the scary parts after the movie is over.

Sorry About Missing Reviews!

Sorry I didn't get any blog posts up while I was on vacation in June.  I ended up having a lot more trouble with my husband's old slow laptop than I thought I would.  I do plan on getting some extra ones up this week, though, now that we are home and unpacked and ready to go!  We've recently seen several movies including Brave, Madagascar 2, The Amazing Spider-Man, and the Lucky One, so expect all of those in the next few days!

I also have a few movie reviews to do on movies that are out on DVD, including Mirror Mirror (which just came out last week).  I do have another vacation scheduled this month for about 2 weeks, but I'll get some reviews done before I leave and hopefully Darla will remember to post them, so there will still be new ones up. :)

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington

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Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Rated: G
1939 Starring James Stewart, Jean Arthur, Claude Raines, Thomas Mitchell, Beulah Bondi
Directed by Frank Capra

In honor of what would have been my favorite actor, James Stewart's 104th birthday, we are doing Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I'm going to be honest, I have yet to find a James Stewart movie that I didn't like. This movie is definitely in my top 5 of his movies.

James Stewart plays Jefferson Smith, a patriotic man who is a leader of the Boy Rangers, and is appointed to the senate for his home state. When he arrives in Washington, he is awe of his surroundings, wants to see all of the sights and is eager to make a difference for the people of his home state. When he goes to report for his called duty, he is viewed as a country bumpkin who is out of his comfort zone.  Many are wondering why and how he is in Washington D. C. He was set up by his secretary for a press conference, where they make up stories that upset him, since he's not used to the scrutiny.

He gets to meet the other senator from his home state, Joseph Paine, played by Claude Raines, whom he thought highly of. What Jeff doesn't know about Paine is that he is part of a scandalous plan to rip off the state for personal financial gain.

Jean Arthur plays Clarissa, his secretary who at first views Jeff as someone who is not fit for D.C. and feels like she has to babysit him. As she gets to know him, she can't help but to fall for his charm and sees his genuine heart of gold.

Thomas Mitchell plays Diz, one of the members of the press that spends time with Clarissa to get the stories about senators first.

Frank Capra's directing of this movie earned him an Oscar nomination for best director, in 1939. Capra captures the idea of how one honest person can change the world around him, which makes the movie so great. In my opinion, this movie is definitely worth owning on DVD.

If you are interested in viewing this movie, it's available on Amazon here.

Dark Shadows

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Last week my husband and I celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary.  On my sister's day off, she stayed home with Elliott so my husband and I could go out and see a movie that we wouldn't take Elliott to.  My husband chose Dark Shadows.  Since we were both born in the 80s, we had never seen the original soap opera, but my husband loves Tim Burton, so that was reason enough to see it.

 Dark Shadows is rated PG-13.  We allow our six year old to see some PG-13 movies, but this is one that he won't be seeing anytime in the near future.  It stars Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham Carter, and Eva Green.

This review contains spoilers!

It starts out with the story of Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), and how he scorns Angelique (Eva Green).  It turns out she is a witch, so she gets back at him by taking things he loves.  She then turns him into a vampire and imprisons him.

Fast forward 200 years, and Barnabas is dug up.  He goes to find his family, and decides to help them rebuild their failing business. He finds out that the biggest competitor is none other than Angelique.  They fight a lot and she tries to destroy his business before it's all over.

This was pretty typical for a Tim Burton film.  It was dark and funny.  Johnny Depp did a great job as the odd vampire.  Eva Green did a pretty good job as the witch as well.  The other characters were less important, but were all pretty good as well.

The movie theater wasn't crowded when we saw it (it was a weekday evening, though), but the crowd seemed pretty involved in the movie anyway.  There were several laughs, and a few gasps around us throughout the movie.  And the talk after the movie, indicated that it was pretty well liked by most in attendance.

Overall, I think it would be worth the price of admission at a matinee, but I'm not positive it would be for a prime time viewing, especially if you are going with other people.  My husband enjoyed it more than I did, but I don't think we will be buying it when it comes out.

The Incredible Hulk

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Tim Roth celebrated his 51st birthday on May 14th.   In order to celebrate here at Reviewing Movies and More, we've decided to review one of my son's favorite movies: The Incredible Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk is rated PG13 and was released in 2008.  It stars Edward Norton as Bruce Banner (the incredible hulk), Liv Tyler as Betty Ross, William Hurt as General Ross, and Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky.

Bruce Banner is a doctor who becomes an angry, giant green-skinned hulk every time his pulse gets too high, thanks to a gamma ray experiment. He's learning to control himself when the movie starts, but the army is after him.  They want to use his blood to create super soldiers.  So very soon, Bruce is on the run, after the Army finds him in South America.

The movie follows him while he tries to hide, is ultimately caught by the Army.  Since he's pretty much indestructible he manages to get away, and saves his ex at the same time.  Considering she's the daughter of the General that whats him so bad, this is a pretty big deal.

Meanwhile, General Ross has given something to one of his soldiers, Emil Blonsky, to make him into a super soldier as well.  It's not the same thing that Banner has taken, but it does still work to give him some super human skills.  He's power hungry, though and still wants more.

Bruce and Betty end up going to see a professor that Bruce has been corresponding with.  He sent "Mr. Blue" a blood sample, hoping that he would be able to find the cure.  He gives him an antidote, but they don't know if it will work only on that one instance, or if it will mean that he will never be the Hulk again.  As they are talking, Bruce is shocked to find that his scientist friend has made gallons and gallons of his blood and been testing it.  Bruce demands he destroys it all, but right about that time the Army shows up.  Blonsky comes in and insists on being injected with the Hulk's blood, and refuses to take no for an answer.

Bruce and Betty are taken away, but once they are in the air they realize that Blonsky is now huge and out of control.  General Ross calls in more fighters, but Bruce decides he's the only one that can stop him.  They drop him out of the plane, hoping that he will be able to turn into the hulk and save the day.


Overall, my family and I really like this movie.  My six year old says it gets 5 stars (out of 5).  It's one of his very favorite movies, and one he's seen at least a dozen times in the past few months.  He loves Bruce, but loves him even more when he's the Hulk.  Edward Norton is his favorite version of Bruce.

My husband says this is a 3 star movie. He says it's pretty good but not one of his favorite movies based on a comic hero.  He hasn't seen the 2003 version, so couldn't comment on which of them was his favorite.  His favorite scene of the movie was when the Army was shooting at the Hulk on the college campus, and he kicked butt and got away.

I would give this movie 3.5 stars.  It's also not one of my very favorite of the movies based on comics, but I think it was still done pretty well.  I like this version better than the one that came out in 2003.

Is this a movie I would pay for to add to our collection?  Certainly, but mainly that's because my son loves it so much.  We didn't buy it until after we had borrowed it from the library twice, though.

Harold and Maude

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Harold and Maude
Released in 1971, rated PG.
Starring Bud Cort, Ruth Gordon and Vivian Pickles

Harold meets Maude at one of the most unlikely of places; a funeral. Harold and Maude hit it off immediately and spend a lot of time together.

Vivian Pickles plays Harold's disapproving mother, who tries to introduce her young son to potential brides via a dating service, which doesn't go according to plan. She feels that Harold is out of control and wants to enlist him in the Army with his Uncle Victor, played by Charles Tyner.

Bud Cort is featured in the movie as Harold, a young rich man who is obsessed with death.  He attends funerals of people he doesn't know and acts out various ways of committing suicide.

Ruth Gordon plays Maude, a kooky old lady who at the age of 79, is still lively and spontaneous. She has done many things, legal and illegal, and always lives life to the fullest.

Maude shows Harold how to have fun and take risks.  With Maude's wisdom from life experiences, she is able to show Harold how to love and live, and to truly find happiness.

It is only after meeting Maude that Harold realizes that he still has a lot of time to live, to enjoy life, and has found happiness, an emotion he had never experienced.

The soundtrack is pretty good too. Every song is sung by Cat Stevens. How can you go wrong with that?

I stumbled across this movie on a late night movie search and could not go to sleep until it was over. The movie has a dark sense of humor and definitely isn't for everyone, but I absolutely love it.

Searching on Amazon, I discovered it is available on DVD, and it's on my wish list.