Crazy, Stupefying, Lovely.

     Stupid, Crazy, Love is a movie more silly and complex than any other romantic comedy, where the writing always catches you by surprise.  The plot gets off to a slow start after Emily (Julianne Moore) tells her husband Cal (Steve Carrol) that she wants a divorce due to an affair with a coworker.  When Cal goes to a nearby pick-up bar to nurse his fresh wound, he meets a mysterious ladies' man (Ryan Gosling) who wants to teach him how to "recover his manhood".  So Cal tries to distract himself and move on with life by buying new clothes and new drinks and hooking up with new women.        
     But love is in the air.  Cal can't give up hope of his ex and secretly does her gardening at night; Emily finds herself missing him when her new relationship amounts to nothing.  Their thirteen-year-old son (Jonah Bobo, who's too-long hair bugged me through the entire movie) is obsessed with his babysitter and "soulmate" (Analeigh Tipton) and tries to strip himself of the "little kid" label for her benefit, while she attempts the same thing for her older crush, his father.  Even the Gosling character player can't help falling for his latest girl (an lively, convincing performance by Emma Stone).  All the character's life crash together into one in a shocking, hysterical climax.  The end is a bit over-the-top ridiculous, and the very end comes quite suddenly, leaving the movie unfinished and not at all correctly predicted.

A New Pooh

     Silly old bear!  Winnie the Pooh and friends made a hit come-back with this latest movie, simply titled Winnie the Pooh.  It consists of two well-known stories.  Eyore has loses his tail, and a contest is held for the person (or animal) who can find the best replacement.  Meanwhile, Christopher Robin has goes missing, and the only clue he leaves for the animals is a note saying that he was captured by a Backson; everyone sets out to rescue him.  Maybe these narratives are a little too well known; more than once throughout the movie I thought, Isn't there already a Winnie the Pooh movie that tells this story?  But the film puts enough of a fresh spin on the tales to leave movie-goers more than satisfied.  

     The flick switches between the pages of a storybook and the real-life story, with the narrator talking to the characters every once in a while to keep them on track.  The tale falls off the book pages and into the Hundred Acre Wood (sometimes quite literally).  There's lots of comedy, too.  Tigger, showing off some good slapstick humor, sneakily stalks his prey, a balloon, pounces, and then starts freaking out when it sticks to his fur.  Later on, after a flurry of jokes accidentally made by Pooh, Tigger attempts to train Eyore to be his Tigger Number Two, with a lot of paint and injuries, but no success.  Has Winnie the Pooh always been this hilarious?

     At 70 minutes long, the film's biggest, and arguably only, flaw is lack of length.  But Winnie the Pooh is really just a short, entertaining snippet.  It's good at what it does, which isn't something you can say for every movie.

                                                                

Farewell, Harry.

     So far, it's been a summer of sequels, and now, finally, we have the sequel.  The grand finale to a project spanning over thirteen years, seven books, eight movies (Despite my wishing they had made one long movie for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows instead of two short ones.  I mean, look at long and successful movies like Lord of the Rings and Avatar.), and a theme park.
     Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II begins right where Part 1 left off, with Harry, Ron, and Hermione finding and destroying Horcruxes (little bits of dark wizard Voldemort's soul).  You can tell that this movie is a continuation; there really isn't much of a beginning at all.  The rest of the film unfolds at a breakneck pace perfect for the film's action plot.  Harry, Ron, and Hermione break into Gringotts Wizard Bank (one of the movie's best scenes, involving Hermione's comical attempt at being Bellatrix Lestrange, scary multiplying fake treasure, and a breathtaking escape on a dragon), destroy the Horcruxes, and kill Voldemort -- boom, boom, boom.  This action is intensified by the soundtrack, a thrilling combination of old and new.  There are no pauses for breath, save a few for romance -- between Ron and Hermione, Harry and Ginny, Neville and Luna.
     This latest sequel also really showed off the talent of supporting actors we haven't seen since Half Blood Prince.  Brave Neville Longbottom (Matthew Lewis) defends Hogwarts fiercely during the final battle; Seamus Finnigan (Devon Murray) returns as the funny character we saw and loved in the first film.  In addition, the Harry Potter world in Deathly Hallows Part II has lived up to the high expectations set by the previous installments.  The Gringotts set was especially captivating -- the treasure, the architecture, the roller-coaster ride that led to the vaults.

     Harry Potter book-lovers may have noticed that some scenes in the movie unwisely diverged from their corresponding parts in the book.  Such as the final battle against Voldemort at Hogwarts.  In J.K. Rowling's novel, Harry had killed Voldemot in front of a crowd of onlookers, who promptly started celebrating.  There hadn't been any fight between the two of them, just the one blow.  In the movie, Voldemort had chased Harry into some remote area of the castle, where they exchanged continuous spells before Harry uttered the pointless line, "Let's finish this the way we started it.  Together." grabbed Voldemort, and jumped with him out of the school from several stories up.  Then they hit the ground and went on fighting.  Huh?  While this scene may have been suspenseful for some to watch, let's not forget that Harry is a teenager facing the most powerful wizard alive.  Harry would never have been able to hold his own in a long duel against Voldemort.  And what was that with the jumping?
     Another part is when Harry told his old teacher, "I never wanted you to die, Remus, especially after you had your son."  What son?  Quite regrettably, the movie, unlike the book, didn't include the scene where Remus finds out he has a son and asks Harry to be the godfather.   And, though the movie's title is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the story of the Hallows remains unfinished with the movie's end.  Harry never realized, as he did in the book, that he owned the Invisibility Cloak from the legend.  Nor did he use the Elder Wand to fix his own broken wand.  Instead, he tore it in half, leaving himself wand-less.  These issues leave you with the feeling that the movie wasn't very well thought out.
     Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II concludes with an epilogue, taking place 19 years later.  The characters hardly look like married adults, but Ron and Hermione already have two kids, and Harry and Ginny have three.  The four of them are seeing their kids off to Hogwarts at Platform 9 3/4.  Here, in Harry Potter's final minutes, where the whole story began, is where the sentimentality and nostalgia lost after the first two films makes a rare appearance.  A good one, too; very fitting for this last good-bye.
                                         

Popper's Penguins is Pleasing

     Based on the book by Richard and Florence Atwater and starring Jim Carrey as Mr. Popper, Mr. Popper's Penguins is the story of a divorced, workaholic dad learning to love his family.  In this regard, it has more in common with Carrey's 1997 Liar, Liar than the book it was based on; in the book, Mr. Popper was an Antarctic-loving painter struggling to provide for a wife and two young children.

     In the new movie, Mr. Popper needs to buy Tavern on the Green in Central Park from its private owner (Angela Lansbury) for his company.  The only problem is, she says she'll only sell to someone with good character, and Mr. Popper is a bit lacking in that area.  Meanwhile, he receives a penguin from his recently deceased father.  Five more soon follow.  Before he can get rid of the birds, Mr. Popper's kids, and, gradually, Mr. Popper himself, become way too attached to them.

     But if Mr. Popper changed his mind about sending the penguins away, no one else has.  A local zookeeper (Clark Greg) has his eye on the birds -- and Mr. Popper.  Keeping the penguins hidden from his landlord is virtually impossible, even without having to worry about proving his good character to the owner of Tavern on the Green to secure the sale.

     Cute, unrealistic, and completely happy-go-lucky, Mr. Popper's Penguins is good for a few laughs, from both penguins and people. And it is refreshing to see Jim Carrey more subdued, playing a character who's not entirely crazy.  Though the movie is really a one-man act, the supporting cast, including Mr. Popper's daughter Janie (Madeline Carrol), is excellent.

     But how ironic that a movie teaching that money isn't as important as love would deviate from a classic, cherished story --  in order to make more money.

                                                             

Towing Mater

     In Cars II, Tow Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), Lightning McQueen's tow-truck best friend from Radiator Springs, takes center stage.  Mater joins Lightning (Owen Wilson) on his trip to Tokyo, Italy, and London to compete in three separate World Grand Prix races.  While in Tokyo, small town native, simple-minded Mater embarrasses his famous race car friend with antics such as mistaking wasabi for pistachio ice cream.  This ignorance and provincial mindset is the center of the flick's comedy.  The jokes were funny, though many young children would not pick up on them.
     Later on, Mater gets mistaken for a canny American spy by secret agent Finn McMissle (Michael Caine) and his partner, Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer).  So, Mater gets pulled into helping to dismantle a worldwide coalition of terrorist cars.  This latest Cars film's action adventure plot line is pleasantly surprising and amusing, but also somewhat confusing.
     Film composer Michael Giacchino's (Up, Ratatouille) soundtrack was ultimately disappointing.  The music towards the beginning of the movie was gripping or enchanting, depending on the mood of the scene, but after about the first two songs, the soundtrack pretty much just blended in with the rest of the movie.  It was  unnoticeable and definitely forgettable.
     Perhaps Cars II's best characteristic was its animation.  The cars are charming; the Japanese girls look the part, with flowers on both sides of their heads, and the queen of England looks utterly comical in her crown and powdered wig.
     Overall, the second Cars movie really showcases Mater's great personality.  It has a lot of humor, heart, and action.  There's something there for everyone.

Super 1, Super 2, Super 3...SUPER 8!!!!

     Set in summer 1979, Super 8 has a fitting title.  It tells the story of a group of boys making a zombie movie and getting a real-life supernatural experience.  The movie begins with the main character, Joe Lamb (a heartfelt performance by newcomer Joel Courtney) grieving over his mother's death in a mill accident.  Flash forward four months and it's summer, and Joe's best friend Charles (Riley Griffiths) is making a movie, along with Joe and three of their friends. Charles also manages to gets older, cute girl Alice (played by passionate Elle Fanning) to act in the movie.  

     During a midnight film session at a train station, the movie-makers witness an Air Force train crash into a truck driving the opposite direction on the tracks.  The group escapes scared, but unharmed.

     The next day is pandemonium.  People and dogs go missing.  Cars get destroyed.  The Air Force comes to clean up the mess from the train crash, but won't tell anyone what's going on.

     Joe becomes the leader in trying to solve this mystery.  He has a piece of evidence from the crash, and, amazingly, Charles' film from the night of the crash is unharmed and usable.  Director J.J. Abrams does an excellent job of creating Super 8's air of mystery and excitement, but the plot's proportions are off.  The mystery is solved all at once, instead of through finding evidence and information little by little and then figuring out its significance.  Some questions are never answered. And the climax is too short compared to the suspenseful mystery part of the movie.

    Despite Super 8's cozy, small-town Ohio setting and nostalgic movie-making, you never quite get comfortable, always expecting another shock to make you jump in your seat and gasp out loud.

                                                              

Panda vs. Peacock

     When we first met Po (Jack Black) with the release of Kung Fu Panda in 2008, he was just a pudgy, ignorant panda who somehow managed to both be chosen as the legendary Dragon Warrior, and defeat the evil Tai Lung, without even knowing kung fu.
     Now, in Kung Fu Panda 2, Po and Tigress (Angelina Jolie) lead the Furious Five, consisting of  Tigress, Monkey (Jackie Chan), Viper (Lucy Liu), Crane (David Cross), and Mantis (Seth Rogen).  They embark on a quest to save China from the evil Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), who also happens to be a peacock.  Po and Tigress complement each other perfectly -- hardcore, no-nonsense Tigress, and Po, getting the job done (to his own surprise) while being stupidly comical.  We get to know the members of the furious five better in this film; while they spent most of the first Kung Fu Panda avoiding and shunning Po, Kung Fu Panda 2 is nothing but teamwork and joking around, as we learn from some of the funnier animals.
     While all of this is going on, Po starts to remember some of the depressing memories buried within himself.  He searches to discover who he is, where he came from, and what happened to his parents.  
     Though each of these ventures is a worthy plot, both together is a bit excessive for one movie.  Kung Fu Panda 2 ends up having too much happening in too little time.  Even so, it's a fine sequel and an entertaining movie for all ages.