Maids of Honor - The Help

41/2 Popcorn Kernels out of 5

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Can this film be classified as an African American film? From a character standpoint - Yes. From a character viewpoint - No. It is so sugarcoated with the nicest white folk I have seen while living in the darkest era of Civil Rights, that it feels as if I've stepped into Emerald City, instead of Jackson, Mississippi.

The Help is about three women - one white journalist, and two black maids, each with a dream that pushes them past their caged boundaries when achieved, and into the greatness within themselves.


We first meet Skeeter (Emma Stone), a white woman, who comes home after graduating from the University of Mississippi (more on this connection later), to find the only writing job she is able to get is one doing an advice column in the local paper on household cleaning techniques. At home she is not only shocked at the mysterious disappearance of her own childhood maid, but at the treatment of the maids that service her friends and other homes in town. For the column she asks the advice of a friend's maid, Aibileen (Viola Davis), and at the same times observes the racial abuse within her world.


She find this may be a better story for the novel she has always wanted to write, and eventually gets Aibileen's best friend, Minnie (Octavia Spencer) to expound on excerpts of their lives surrounding the town. She tells her publisher in New York, "Nobody every really talks about it down here," and she wants to be that voice, in describing the very people that take care of and mother the children of, a white populace that despises them.


So we enter the lives of two maids, Aibileen; who loves taking care of the white children in the houses she is employed with, and who also yearns to write stories someday, and Minnie, a maid with a biting tongue, who is the best cook/baker in town, as they deal with racial divisions, along the backdrop of the Civil Rights movement in the 1960's.

There's No Place Like Home...

The casting is great, and Sissy Spacek is a charm in many of her scenes. Viola Davis lets us know why she was nominated for an Oscar in "Doubt" with her matriarch manners and cold reserve; but the surprise is Octavia, as Minnie, she is the backbone of tenacity throughout the film, with an emotional range that hits all over the place. Her performance is on top in a scene where she first meets Skeeter at Abileen's home...and we are presented with her quite unique baking techniques.


We are also presented with quite a different view of racism in this film, one that had me a bit perplexed; while I am told that the book may reveal more of this in depth, the film's views of separation of bathrooms, and the disregard for Black Humanity, are quite in-your-face...but take time to listen to the edges of the film. On the televisions and the radios, we get a glimpse of the real Jackson Mississippi in all its racist horror. But sitting in a theatre of mixed race, I noticed that only the Blacks caught these glimpses, while other received it as emptily as they did the popcorn they were eating.

Very quickly, I'll mention one of those edges, and that had to do with the reception of the activism and assassination of Medgar Evans in the film. Medgar was an African American who fought for desegregation ever since he was motivated to attend - and graduate from - The University of Mississippi (the same school Skeeter came from, and I am guessing where she learned her blatant tolerance from). Skeeter and Medgar seemed about the same age, so I am guessing she may have even met the man. Ironically, Medgars parents were a prelude to his life; considering they were both named Jesse and James (names that together carry a volatile mix). Medgar went to college because his many cousins before him had been lynched, and he wanted the hatred and ignorance to stop. Medgar was the hope of Blacks in the country - having an education and served time in the military (buried in his uniform), all with the intention to give back to a community that hated him. He wanted his actions to stall the violence against his people. It didn't...but the Help manages to avoid the world that Medgar saw, but one that many African Americans know existed in that time.

For me that may have been the only flaw in this film. I wanted the story to give a real depiction of the racism going on in Jackson, but The Help is suppose to be a family-film, and maybe that is why the real threat to these women (and their men) was not brought to full light. Many critics and audience members of Color, thought it glossed over the subject too - but then I remembered, this whole movie is really brought to light from the point of view of Skeeter - not the maids. We know very little about the maid's circumstances that forced them to become maids; what had the men in their lives been doing?  But with such a lack of African American films out there, many African Americans want to include everything that relates to us - the good and the bad - when a drama like this is released...and it just cant.


Which is why I implore you to see this film, talk about this film, take a friend. It is a strong feature, with amazing actors doing an amazing contribution on a story that is fresh, new, and quite entertaining...while also keeping history alive. And if you do, I'm sure it will Help...other such movies to have a voice too. 

Neva Knew Love Like This - Crazy Stupid Love

3 1/2 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

SEE THE TRAILER HERE

It is nice to walk into a movie without any expectations, and come out with a smile on one's face. This movie has a young heart, but I don't think will appeal to those with younger birthdays. It reminds me of a boxed puzzle set where all the pieces don't fit until the end, but excitement still builds with each part.

This movie falls somewhere between romantic and screwball comedy. It starts off fast and unforgiving like Bridesmaids, in setting the atmosphere of what we are about to encounter. In the beginning, Cal (Steve Carrell) is having dinner with his wife Emily (Julianne Moore), who after having a modestly nice dinner, want "to have a divorce" for dessert. Cal is shocked, and while on the drive home, as Emily feels the need to confess more of her litany of reasons for her decision, his only need to escape all the chatter, is to open the door of the car and exit himself upon the moving pavement.


This is our first couple saga.


As the couple come home, they meet their baby sitter, 17 year old Jessica (Analeign Tipton), who we discover has an infatuation with Cal - and then there is Cal's 13 year old son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) - who has an infatuation with Jessica.


This is our second couple saga.


Cal drowns his divorce blues at a bar, where we meet a modern-day womanizer, Jacob (Ryan Gosling), who offers to help Carl drown his sorrows in the lesson of How To Get A Different Kind of Cocktail, namely women, and his lessons begin to work, especially with his first time out with Kate (Marisa Tomei) playing a most neurotic partner...until Jacob begins to find a woman who is immune to his come-on, Hannah (Emma Stone), and starts to chase her.


This is our third couple saga.

Lounge Lizardy 101

As you may guess this turns out to be an ensemble piece, and parts of it are very adult, as in Cal and Emily's relationship. We can tell they have had a long marriage, love each other, but want something more that the marriage isn't providing - or has been grayed out in the long term. And then there is the craziness of the young infatuations, that go well into comedy. No one breaks dishes, no knives are thrown, no revenge is taken, no one gets kicked below the belt...they all understand that love come, love goes, and some love lasts forever.


What makes Stupid Crazy Love unique is the way these love interests escalates to include a puzzle that eventually involves the whole cast of characters, and arrive at a most surprising ending. It will seem a little stupid, and make you a little crazy, but you will fall in love with these folk all the same.

Monkey See, Monkey Do - Rise of the Planet of the Apes

4 our of 5 Popcorn Kernels

 SEE TRAILER HERE

Rise of the Planet of the Apes, is a very difficult movie to review. This is a movie where the human actors act more like the apes than the apes do. 

Rise has some very good special effects; they wont stand the test of time, because you can tell the real from the CGI, but 20 minutes into the movie, when the lead ape Ceasar begins to gain personality, it is quite appealing and fascinating to watch...everyone else is (excuse the pun)...second banana.

There is action a-plenty in Rise, and it moves very quickly while still giving us a plot that makes sense. And of all the Planet of the Apes movies (Tim Burton's version still being my favorite), this one manages to create a world where  animals are animals, and not an allegory for gender/class separation as the X-Men series has become; but then again, this story feels unfinished, with an ending that teases us with what is yet to come. Will there be a sequel - I'm sure that will depends on the box-office receipts.


The movie stars Will Rodman (James Franco), as a neuroscientist who is trying to develop a cure for Alzheimer's, which his father Charles (Jon Lithgow) is afflicted. He has good results on one chimpanzee, who has developed a very high intelligence along with some very brigh, very human eyes - but that chimp goes...well...apesh*t, and is killed but is also found to have just given birth. This baby is ordered to be destroyed by Will's boss, Steven Jacobs (David Oyelowo - good performance), but Will's coworker Robert (Tyler Labine), and he, cannot do it, and Will takes the baby chimp along with him to raise.


This is where CGI takes over, and as any New Yorker will tell you, keeping wild animals in your home is only cute as long as they stay babies - but all children will grow up, and to imagine that this chimp can stay at this home is unreasonable. And in the movie, as the chimp gets smarter, and Will's funding gets cut, he decides to try the cure on his Father. It works, and this small family grows into an interesting one, but through some happenstances, the chimp, named Ceasar (Andy Serkis - more on him later) adult tendicies come to surface, and Will has to have him sent to a primate facility, where he confronts chimps, apes, and the like - that aren't as domesticated as he...but he plans to change that...


And so Rise begins to take off in the direction that it is suppose to, and Ceasar begins to Rise against the tyranny of the facility, and the reality of who (or what) he really is. The diversity of the animals, and the range of their personalities is really well thought out, and once Ceasar escapes and finds the cure (which we soon find out is not all that it promises), and brings it back to his hairy brother and sisters, the personalities really become 3-dimentional, and we want the chimps to conquer their freedom.

Work Can Be A Zoo

But all this plotting feels disjointed. There is really no reason for their freedom being gained, and it makes no sense that Ceasar, having being brought up inside a home all his life, would have the smarts to know how the outside world really works, and to develop a realistic plan for survival. Unless the cure was airdropped around the world, and the chimps had advanced smart phones to communicate with each other, their plan to just run into the wild, seems foolish. I expect that if there are sequals, maybe this will be developed more carefully.


Besides the pace of the action, the actors are a bit bland, given the roster of talent on board. James Franco is subdued, which is surprising from the performance (and Oscar Nod) in 127 Hours. John Lithgow, whom I love, seems satisfied to just play the father, brush his wild hair back, and go collect his check. David, as Will's boss, is a Black British actor - and an very talented thespian, who once played the part of a "white king" in a Shakespear production that had audiences gasping at such a thing (you can also see a glimpse of him in The Help, as the preacher), has volume but is too busy playing "mean" to really be a good protagonist. Look also for a few Slumdog Millionaires, and former Wizards here too...As for Ceasur, who is played by Andy Serkis (who also played Gollum in Lord of the Rings, Kong, and soon to play Capt. Haddock in the new Tin Tin movie, and Gollum again in The Hobbit), who is also British, has some very good depth in conveying emotion in body language. He must be a ninja when it comes to playing charades.


And it is this emotion, this feel for the character, that Ceasar accomplishes, which has not been given to the other actors. When the chimps, apes, orangatangs get together it is a treat, and it didn't need a lot of special powers, or explosives to pull this off. This is really a movie that can stand along your collection of other Planet of the Ape movies, and is better than it should be...it wont have you climbing the trees with excitement, but at least it wont have you scratching your head either. 

America The Beautiful, Very Beautiful - Captian America: The First Avenger

3 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

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I really wanted to like this movie, and although I didn't dislike it, it just felt a bit dated - but Captain America is a rather old comic book character, although the lead actors on it seemed photo-shopped right from GQ and Vogue magazines.

The look of Captain America, is really good. For those of you that are familiar with the comic books (or older comic books in general), they have really captured the look and feel of those very graphic and moving images. The color is a bit grayed, the buildings bold, the clothes stylish for that time, and story set up (nerd turned hero) is typical.


...too typical.


Maybe I have overdosed on the superhero movie - and maybe I was even more shocked to see that a trailer for another Spiderman movie had been made (WTF!) - that it would be nice to see the hero lose a battle or two these days, and maybe see what a villain would actually do if they really Ruled-The-World...world...world...world...<-- (place mountainous echo here). Hell, I'm sure The President would love to have someone to take over things at this point.


But without even seeing the movie, we all know how it is bound to end. When has a superhero ever NOT saved the day? But here's the rub...the movie is set in the 1940's - the best special effects to come along in that day was maybe Godzilla in a wet suit. You can only stretch the action so far and also keep it realistic to the times. There are no Magic-Wands, no Transforming Cars, no Phasers, no Aliens, no Lords or Rings...just a few made up inventions and a lot of Bang/Pow fight scenes (many done in slow-mo). It all is very fast-moving, but in the end, feels a bit dated - as if this would have been a better cable movie than a feature film. But Captain America - just like Thor - is a lead-in movie to introduce 2011's Avengers movie.

Beefcake Being Served - Table 1

This movie stars Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), who is a scrawny man with hopes of joining the army in the era of World War II - he is rejected time and time again because of physical ailments, but his tenacity us strong...so strong in fact,that it captures the attention of one of the doctor's, Dr. Erskine (Stanely Tucci), who wants Steve for a special project involving a new
"Super Soldier". So he is recruited in this special group, and is met by Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), who is there to train the troops, and Agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), who is overseeing this secret operation. At first there are misgivings about Steve, because he can barely fit the uniforms he is given; until he does an unselfish act that gains their attention.


Meanwhile, Nazi officer Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving aka. The Red Skull), has stolen an object of unknown powers, which he believes will not only power his massive weapons, but also himself...and turn the war over in their favor, but the power is a bit unstable, and will need some time to be controlled. Moving forward...Steve quickly becomes the only one to achieve success in accepting the "Super Soldier" formula which changes his body into something every boy (and some men) can envy - even Agent Peggy, who looks like she walked directly off a pinup calendar and into this movie. Meanwhile...the greedy Schmidt decides to try the power stone, despite the dangers it possesses.


With The Red Skull's attempt to take over the War...then the World, Steve (Now Captain America) is there to thwart his every move, and the battles begin, Good vs. Evil, Live vs Death, Man vs Machine...and all that other superhero stuff. Unfortunately, it is stuff that we have seen before - of course with a less beautiful cast. In mentioning the special effects put upon Captain America (when he is scrawny, and I am starting to believe when he is in full-buffness too) cudos! It is a seamless technique seen both in "The Devil's Double", and "The Social Network"...and one that will do away with the split/screen when it comes to actors playing duel roles. As for the rest of the film, which was bathed in CGI - as an action film, it passes. I just found it odd that in World War II where there are soldiers on both sides, that none of them are skilled enough to hit a half/naked man in bright American Flag colors when aiming at him from all directions...really!


And speaking of the casting, it is very interesting to dissect this, because then you can see how it aims to attract the appeal, not of the hero, but of the range of audience members it is trying to lure. Agent Peggy will get the men in, Steve Rogers will get in the girls (both with enough personality and good looks that they will appeal to both sexes & genders easily), Colonel Phillips gets the older crowd...and various other actors, including Schmidt, who are so well known in other films, that their name alone brings in numerous fans of all persuasions (he starred in the Matrix and Ring trilogies). With a varied audience to pull from in this movie the Avengers movie will need much less advertising because it is being plugged in this movie as well as others. We all know it is coming...


...and coming it will, for at the end credits of the movie, you get a taste of what will happen; which in my opinion once again, would have made a better beginning to start off with (nuff said).

Home on the StRange - Cowboys and Aliens

3 1/2 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

 SEE TRAILER HERE

Peanut Butter and Jelly goes together - But Peanut Butter and Mustard...not so much. And so it goes with this film; giving us the best of two movies, rolled into one. Eat Up!

Cowboys and Aliens was inspired by a graphic novel of the same name, and in that I can see where such a storyline may have been hard to translate to film. Not that it does a bad job, but graphic novels are exciting because of the art and the story - the reader creates the emotion. In film, it is hard to compete with what the mind is thinking is happening on paper. All in all, Cowboys and Aliens is rather a treat, because of its concept, and the actors involved. The Western part of this movie dominates the Sci-fi part, and that is why this film may not excite everyone. Transformers it is not. A sort of Twilight-Zone-esc feel is what you get with this film (without the ending twist). In essence, this becomes what many Westerns become...a film about a quest; something bad comes to town, and the town has to fight back, usually with a gunslinger hero to lead them.

This hero carries more than a gun...

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

The movie begins with our anti-hero (in a movie that seems filled with them) Jake Lonergan Zeke to his friends (Daniel Craig), in the dessert, without a memory of how he got there, with a clunky bracelet that would have Tim Gunn screaming for the Fashion Police. He wanders into a town called Absolution, and the townspeople who don't give him the grandest welcome...especially by one of the towns founding shareholders and all-around bad guy, Colonel Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford). Jake has gumption, and handles a few of the riff-raff in town quite well, including Dolarhyde's son Percy (Paul Dano).

Soon we find out that Jake is a wanted man, a leading member of a hold-up gang, who we soon discover has a vendetta against Jake for dissapearing on them after a gold heist of a stagecoach. In town we also meet Ella (Olivia Wilde), the local hot-gal that is drawn to Jake, and seems very intrigued by his situation to the point of unwanted tailgater. So all doesn't bode well for our anti-hero, because the Deputy Charlie Lyle (Brendan Wayne) wants the reward, Dolarhyde wants his hide, Ella wants the bracelet, and Doc (a wonderful acting job by Sam Rockwell), wants everyone to stop picking on him.

But as all of the cards seem to be folding for Jake, and the town is fixin' to hang him, in rides another visitor - space ships from the sky, that quickly swoop in to lasso a few of the townsfolk, until Jake aims his fancy wrist-piece at them, and it blasts a wave of energy enough to knock one of the ships down. Inside...well, the title says it all...aliens of course.

So now Jake is called to be apart of the town's posse in finding the abducted townspeople, and hopefully a part of his missing past. This adventure takes us into more of the Western part of this movie, as we journey into the dessert, and as Jake's memories slowly come back to him - and eventually the destiny of him, the aliens, and the townspeople.

Cowboys and Aliens is neither scary, or complex in its delivery. The aliens themselves do provide some thrills, but as with many alien movies, once they are done terrorizing us with their looks and uncivilized manner (which is odd for me that an advanced race can not only be found so easily, but they have even go through the trouble of capturing us in the open, for no better reason it seems than curiosity - you can learn much about us I would think just by them tuning into reality-TV),they have very little else to do in the movie. Where are the alien creatures that are written with the same complexity of emotions and purpose as the humans?

What I missed mostly about Cowboys and Aliens was the science fiction aspect of the movie. I understand that the western civilization can only be armed with six-shooters and arrows, but when pitted against advanced weaponry, how exciting is it bound to get? After a space ship travels past asteroids, meteors, solar flares, the coldness of space, debris, gravitational pulls...you mean to tell me that it takes 2 1/2 hours for them to fight with us?

Fashion Police Bracelet

I do have to say that the actors and the acting in this movie is what saves Cowboys and Aliens, for they are taking this with the seriousness that must be displayed so that this doesn't turn into a spoof about either genre. Nat Colorado (Adam Beach), plays an Indian in this movie, who helps Jake to get his memory back, and his portrayal in this movie of his character, almost torn between his duty and his heritage, is very pulling. Harrison Ford is strong in this role, and his character has a hard shell but a soft center that only he could play. Daniel Craig, with the help of his 007 role, really has turned into the action hero with steel reserve that kept me watching, and he plays well with Olivia Wilde.

Cowboys and Aliens is a good movie, with plenty of action, but non of it very surprising. We can figure out what is going to happen in the end, just as we do with most Westerns...and if you are not a fan of both (or at least interested in films like True Grit, 310 to Yuma), then I would sit at home and flip through the movie listing again, and cook popcorn at home.

The Pot Calling The Kettle...Harry Potter and the Deadly Hollows pt.2

4 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

SEE TRAILER HERE

I knew with the slow set up of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 1., that something had to be brewing in the mind of J.K. Rowlings, that was sure to explode in the 2nd installment. The movie was too slow and too careful in not revealing anything further in the story except Harry's quest for the horcruxed (read my review on the part 1).

And according to my expectations, everything and more was delivered in the second installment. The saga is sent off in style and quite frankly history. It reminded me less of The Lord Of The Rings - and its multiple endings; and more of the end of the Star Wars series (for those who can remember that original thrill). Harry Potter Part 2, ties up many loose ends, some I had forgotten about - like the lives of his parents - and some I had been curious about...and some I didn't see coming.


While I still have a few misgivings about the whole witch/warlock training elite come from Britain's most illustrious school - but I suppose in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we did actually meet students from other schools across the country (we just didn't know what country they were from...and many still seemed to have that British accent). Regardless, Harry Potter has always transcended these boundaries, and through seven earlier films, we have grown up with these characters, and know them well enough that they have become attached to our hearts as out own relatives.

We're Off To See The Wizard....

Harry Potter Part2 wont appeal to everyone - because from what I understand, the books have  a lot more detail, a lot more action, and a whole different path to the ending - but this is a movie, and you can't cram everything from such an acclaimed novel into it (and luckily I have not read the books, so my judgement isn't clouded...at least for now). This last of the saga is quite entertaining, and very adult in its presentation; what I mean by that is that while there isn't a barrage of action, and the actors do seem to expound quite a lot (they are British after all), and it does have it light moments of camp-comedy - it doesn't pull away from the movies as a whole. Harry's life is on the line, and many of his friends as well. The mood is dark, and the movie long because it has to be to convey this final journey that Harry is embarking upon.


I can't say too much that goes on in this movie, because this is a loose-end movie, and much is tied up from the other movies. It opens where the last left off, and the burial of Dobbie. This sets the tone for how grave Harry's mission is. His friends are there of course - Ron Weasly (Rupert Grint - turning into quite the lumber-jack type), and Hermoine Granger (Emma Watson - my, how she has matured). You can feel their urgency as they continue to search for the missing horcruxes that are small parts of Lord Voldemort's soul. Voldemort discovers their journey, and begins to attach Hogwarts, and all that reside within; hoping that this will bring Harry out in the open.


So begins good against evil, with many of the British Acting Elite on display, and having a good time it seems giving their best performances to date. Because the battle is so evenly matched with good and evil and on each side there are powerful wizards and witches alike - that the battle scenes seem a bit bland. The real Powers That Be are Harry and Lord Voldermort - and well, we have to wait until the end before they meet of course, and even then it is anti-climactic. I believe it is because with a children's novel, it is more emotional based, and I would not be surprised if the novels reflect this aspect that the movies have always had difficulty in capturing.


But like any journey, it is always good when it is finally over, and the way Harry Potter Part2 wraps up its serial, is clean and well thought out, and a pleasant way to bring this to its finale. For some it may seem too talky, and other it may appear too slow, and others it may appear less action-induced...but one thing it isn't - is disappointing.

Don't Drink The Koolaid - SuckerPunch

2 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

SEE TRAILER HERE

Sucker Punch reminds me of real punch...tasty when you put it in your mouth, but boring when you present it.


Sucker Punch is a menagerie of sights and sounds; the look is a cross between Sin City and 300 - and of course it is done by the same director; but the script is so convoluted and scattered, it feels as if it was created from other scripts that were pulled out of a pile of rejects. Now...if you want something that is eye catching, this would be it, but the look of Sucker Punch only excites for an hour before you get bored, and try to understand the subplot.


The plot stars off promising, with a 20 year old girl named Babydoll (Emily Browning) is sent to the crazy house by her stepfather (Gerard Plunkett), who we later find out was very upset when the mother passed away and left her fortune not to him, but to Babydoll and her younger sister. Well, the stepfather is seen abusing the sexually abusing the young girls, and when Babydoll steps in to try to save her younger sister, she is accidentally killed. The Stepfather blames the death on Babydoll, thus insuring the stepfather gets the inheritance. The Stepfather says the girl was insane, and institutionalizes her - paying the attendant there part of his riches to make sure she stays there; and the attendant forges papers to have her lobotomized.

Pussy Cat Dolls of the Future

This is where Sucker Punch starts its plot, for Babydoll meets a Dr. Vera Gorski (Carla Gugino), who seems to sympathize with the girl, and tells her the only way for her to survive her stay here until her operation, is to basically "escape within herself", which she does, by fantasizing her environment, and a few friends she has made, into some sort of espionage group bound for escape.


Suckerpunch tries to meld reality with fantasy all within look that seems very Gothic, ethereal, and music video (it does have a rocking soundtrack). But without a cohesive storyline, it fails greatly to capture the reason for all this dreaming Babydoll's does in order to escape from the trauma's of her life and deal with her present reality.


It sets up a strange quest where a Wise Man (Scott Glenn), tell her that she has to obtain five items in order to escape - and at first, I believed she was escaping in reality, but after dwelling on the film later, I believe she was escaping from the five-days or so left before her mind was to be surgically removed; and her sanity was the reward. Quite frankly, I would prefer to go crazy a little early.


The scenes with her and her friends going through this quest, also touches on Babydoll's reality too, as certain items and actions cross over, and some subplots go deeper into the dream. This just turns out to be a movie about some hot looking girls for the male movie-going audience as most of the dream sequences take place in a brothel, and Babydoll and her friends are all clad in Pussycat Dolls (some irony in that name don't you think) outfits strutting around bonding, fighting, and dying.


...It all left me a little drowsy, yet very afraid to dream again.

Quiet on The Set - Super 8

4 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

SEE TRAILER HERE

Yes it's true. Super 8 is so filled with the nuance of old film making, while giving you a jolt of the new, that it felt like being on a kiddie ride that suddenly dips onto the rollercoster ride of a lifetime.

The film stars a pretty good cast, with Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney),  and his father Jackson (Kyle Chandler) still dealing with the loss of their mother/wife. The film is about Joe and his friends, who are using old Super 8 film to create a low-budget zombie picture. Super 8 is filmed at a teenage angle, and much of it is waist-high to the adults...this is good, and keeps the kids in focus. One of the kids, Alice (Elle Fanning) - the oldest, maybe 15yrs and only girl of this crew - takes her father's car so that the gang can film near a train station. During a delightful scene, where Alice wows the boys with her acting prowess, a runaway pick-up truck is seen heading towards the track, where a train is coming in the other direction.

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin...

A crash happens, and the kids are caught in the middle of it, dropping their camera, while it is still filming. Later, Joe and his friend Charles (Riley Griffiths), review the film, and discover that more than just cargo was on that train, and witness what looks like an passenger was on that train...alien in nature. In the midst, the Air Force discovers the loss of this precious cargo, because it is running amok in the town, and happens to also take Alice. And so when Joe discovers this, he sets off to find her, and so their adventure begins...


Super 8 has great pacing, and although it does bring back the style of Stephen Spielberg, it doesn't feel as timeless as his projects. The alienation of the alien seems to be the problem with this, because in a Spielberg film, everyone has a part...even in Close Encounters, we assessed the aliens by what the selected township thought of them, and in the way their calm allowed us to believe that the aliens were friendly. This film has an alien that isn't really evil, but it does do some things quite frightening to survive. We sympathize with its fear.


The town - and of course I have to wonder - where is the diversity? Back in the day, the alien would have been thought of as the minority in the film, but I don't feel like going there. This is how Hollywood is, and many black film makers go with their point of view too. I am just miffed at how few diversity filled films there are for the younger child viewer. But with a production like this, it is about the fun of the film, and quite frankly, I suppose that it can be remade under any ethnic group, since it isn't very specific about that...okay, now that I have got that little bit off my chest...


As for the storyline and the actors, I did like them, you relate with the kids quickly, and you understand their urgency at finding their friend, and the danger that the town is in. I believe that this is the influence of J.J. Abrams as being the director. He can set a mood, and knows how to work with developing a storyline for the actors very quickly. I believe that this is more of a family movie, because it doesn't offend, it doesn't gore you out, there are some scary moments, and the ending wraps up nicely (although too cleanly for my taste. I would have liked to see how the town recovered from something like this), so yes, you may want to buy this one for when you feel like you just need a break from the day and your mind, and you're feeling a little spaced out by the whole world.

Bride of Frank-Zilla-Chucky - Bridesmaids

4 1/2 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

SEE TRAILER HERE

Laugh Out Loud

There are some movies tht are Laugh-Out-Loud...and then there are those that are Laugh-In-You-Head...and lastly, there are those, that if they were transformed into a cold drink - they would give you brain freeze.

Bridesmaids is the latter.

This is a movie that sneaks up on you and smacks you upside the head as it delivers upfront on what type of humor it is willing to give, but also surprises you on what it dares to deliver.

This movie begins with two best friends Annie (Kristen Wiig) and Lillian (Maya Rudolph) who are talking about the night they have just had with their uncommitted lovers. The discussion takes on such a turn, that one would be appalled at two seemingly career-minded women, would begin talking as if they had just come from a screen-test of Sex In The City. But as their talk continues we discover that Lillian has just been proposed to by her now fiance - who has gotten a promotion which has put Lillian in at a class level that Annie hasn't reached; this also explains why they have lost touch with each other, as Lillan has been hobnobbing with the elite. But because of their childhood history, Lillian asks Annie to plan her wedding, and takes her to a small party to introduce her to her bridesmaids.

This is where Annie meets Helen; Lillian's sister-in-law and new friend, who now wants to have the title of Best Friend. So as Anna meets a hilarious crew of bridesmaids, we see that Helen is undermining her every idea - and this takes us on a journey into the lives of these women, the ideas of friendship, and an adventure that is at once funny, and delightfully shocking at others.

Bridesmaids starts of running and seems to never stop, at least until about the middle of the movie where there develops a romantic segue into Annie's life - which is good, because between her job at a jewelry store, her aging mother, her sex-buddy buddy, and her co-dependant friendship - she has enough going on. Then we take a dip into the other actors, all sharp, all funny, and all feed off each other, and we have one of the best buddy-movies this year.

Much has been said about the character of Megan (Melissa McCarthy), and all of it is true. She is the healthy looking of the crew, and the most sexiest of them as well. Her seriousness in her actions make her the Straight-Woman in this group. She stands out because her actions are done with forethought. Annie and Helen are great rivals in the film, and it is good to see what develops between them.

I can't reveal too much on this film, because I believe this will surprise anyone. You will love it for its freshness and shock value, or you will be just vexed...but most likely you will be pleased at this invitation to a most delightful pre-wedding you may see in a long time.

Animal Crackers in my soup - The Zookeeper

3 out of 5 Popcorn Kernels

SEE TRAILER HERE

The Zookeeper works, although I'm not sure on what level.

It is very sophomoric at times, and the believability of the animals talking becomes rather annoying, as the lip syncing and verbal jokes are all too human in nature. I always get annoyed at movies where male animals are turned on by the human female form to such a degree that you would be under the impression that they have actually "experienced" it. I have never been turned on by female monkey's, lioness', or the giraffe form - no matter how high the skirt was.

The Zookeeper feels like a Saturday morning children's skit, where the actors break the Third Wall to tell us what the letter-of-the-day is. Television however is usually free...not where you pay an admittance price, concessions, and parking to see. This doesn't make The Zookeeper a flop, it just makes it watchable...and ultimately, predictable.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that most of the talking animals in The Zookeeper are adults, and they are trying to assist in an adult scenario. These movies work better when there are children interacting with younger animals, or guided by the adult ones. Talking animals are a childish whimsy fantasy, and the human lead needs to have this quality in order to bring it all together.

Monkey See Monkey Do...

The Zookeeper involves a...well zookeeper, named Griffin (Kevin James), who loves his job, and the animals he cares for. They love him too. But one day a woman he once dated and pined over for years, Stephanie (Leslie Bibb), comes to visit him. The only reason she never went further with him was she just didn't do the zookeeper thing (or zookeepers for that matter) - but she still loves the zoo (and in a sense, Griffin too). Griffin is a bit overweight and slightly clueless, and she is curvaceous and beautiful - but according to the new Book Of Hollywood, this is called a match made in heaven. Griffin also works with others that love their job too, especially Kate (Rosario Dawson), who works in the vet-hospital at the zoo, who is his closest friend and adviser. All these, beauty and beast, come to Griffin's aid when they see he is still in love with this girl, but lacks the skills to actually hook her.

What confused me about this plot, is that if Griffin had already dated Stephanie, wasn't there a point in his life where he had already hooked her without the help of talking animals? What makes matters more challenging is that there is another man after Stephanie, so this adds a competition and deadline to the plot which cause the animals to act faster in revealing their ability to speak and for Griffin to act.

While The Zookeeper is fun to watch, it suspends too much belief from the audience (adult and child alike) to believe that an adult would take the sort of advice that these animals serve - and that is mostly because Griffin seems much smarter than he is suppose to be. His antics are clownish, but his words are very wise, caring, and have forethought. He is already very typical of the male species in the real world. Him falling clumsily over things, or knocking things over, isn't funny, it's just distracting.

What these animals needed to really help him with, was his resume in getting a new job - because the staff (with the exception of one), are ideal caregivers along with Griffin. He could volunteer on the weekends, visit as a patron, do a webinar already. But that would be too much for a movie like this to think about. Had this been a movie where Griffin had fallen asleep in the monkey house and dreamt the animals were talking and giving him advice, this movie would have worked a lot better...

...but maybe that would have been a bit too cagey. This one is fun, light, well acted, inwardly funny - but it's not a day at the zoo.