Yogi Bear (2010) I enjoyed the "real world" antics of Yogi and Boo Boo even more the second time around. I think I was able to relax about if they were going to screw up this movie or not, and sit back and enjoy what I knew was an enjoyable flick. Yogi Bear isn't phenomenal, but it's a really well done family film adaptation of a beloved classic cartoon series. The movie manages to maintain being funny throughout and not interjecting potty humor or a single curse word. My only two complaints about the movie are that the interaction between the human actors and the CG bears doesn't look too convincing. It looks as if they decided to change the height of Yogi after the filming had taken place. Ranger Smith seems to over shoot looking directly at Yogi. In the film's defense, it appears that there was a conscious effort to keep human/bear shots to a minimum. My biggest complaint however, and there is no excuse for this...is the absence of the classic Yogi Bear theme song. It would have fit perfectly into the ending of the film, but for some reason it is nowhere to be found. Other than that, a really fun film that is good for kids and adults. Even my wife laughed twice before she fell asleep 14 minutes into it!
Rio (2011) I happily went and saw
Rango and
Hop but had to be
talked into seeing this animated bird comedy. I ended up enjoying it way more than the other two animated flicks I had seen in theatres this year.
Rio's story isn't all that fresh. A domesticated bird and a wild bird from the jungle end up captured together and must escape the bad guys. It plays as a buddy film and there are lots of great musical numbers sprinkled throughout. The humor is light and breezy and the visuals are impressive. There's a few too many characters but they are all given something fun to do. The bulldog character is probably the most unnecessary, but he's voiced by Tracy Morgan so you can't complain.
Country Strong (2010) I should mention first off that I came to watching this country music melodrama at the hands of my wife who very rarely shows interested in any particular movie, so when she said she wanted to see it, I was up for a viewing. We both agreed half way though it that it's pretty lame. This is basically a Lifetime Movie with a good cast. Gwyneth Paltrow plays a country singer just out of rehab. Tim McGraw is her manager/husband. I liked Leighton Meester as a younger star who is brought on tour to open for Gwyneth's character, although her character seemed to be an unnecessary (and ugly) slam at the likes of Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift. Tim McGraw is a really good actor, I've liked him in everything I've seen him in - and he's really good here. He's just not given all that much to do. This is a pretty bad film with a few enjoyable musical sequences but they don't make the entire experience worthwhile.
Doctor Detroit (1983) My friend Kevin had been quoting this 80's comedy quite a bit lately. I'd never seen it. He thought I should, so I did. Dan Aykroyd is a nerdy college professor who ends up becoming the pimp for a group of high priced call girls. In order to stand up to the city's crime boss, Aykroyd creates the alter-ego Doctor Detroit - a whacked out old guy who speaks with a slur, wears neon yellow and green and dons a metal hand. The character is pretty crazy and all sorts of mishaps happen as Danny tries to juggle his double life as an uptight professor and the world's greatest pimp. Again, this is one of those films that if I had seen when I was younger I would probably love but seeing it for the first time almost 30 years after it was made - it was just so-so. Sorry, Kevin!
Yogi Bear (2010) I enjoyed the "real world" antics of Yogi and Boo Boo even more the second time around. I think I was able to relax about if they were going to screw up this movie or not, and sit back and enjoy what I knew was an enjoyable flick. Yogi Bear isn't phenomenal, but it's a really well done family film adaptation of a beloved classic cartoon series. The movie manages to maintain being funny throughout and not interjecting potty humor or a single curse word. My only two complaints about the movie are that the interaction between the human actors and the CG bears doesn't look too convincing. It looks as if they decided to change the height of Yogi after the filming had taken place. Ranger Smith seems to over shoot looking directly at Yogi. In the film's defense, it appears that there was a conscious effort to keep human/bear shots to a minimum. My biggest complaint however, and there is no excuse for this...is the absence of the classic Yogi Bear theme song. It would have fit perfectly into the ending of the film, but for some reason it is nowhere to be found. Other than that, a really fun film that is good for kids and adults. Even my wife laughed twice before she fell asleep 14 minutes into it!
Rio (2011) I happily went and saw Rango and Hop but had to be talked into seeing this animated bird comedy. I ended up enjoying it way more than the other two animated flicks I had seen in theatres this year. Rio's story isn't all that fresh. A domesticated bird and a wild bird from the jungle end up captured together and must escape the bad guys. It plays as a buddy film and there are lots of great musical numbers sprinkled throughout. The humor is light and breezy and the visuals are impressive. There's a few too many characters but they are all given something fun to do. The bulldog character is probably the most unnecessary, but he's voiced by Tracy Morgan so you can't complain.
Country Strong (2010) I should mention first off that I came to watching this country music melodrama at the hands of my wife who very rarely shows interested in any particular movie, so when she said she wanted to see it, I was up for a viewing. We both agreed half way though it that it's pretty lame. This is basically a Lifetime Movie with a good cast. Gwyneth Paltrow plays a country singer just out of rehab. Tim McGraw is her manager/husband. I liked Leighton Meester as a younger star who is brought on tour to open for Gwyneth's character, although her character seemed to be an unnecessary (and ugly) slam at the likes of Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift. Tim McGraw is a really good actor, I've liked him in everything I've seen him in - and he's really good here. He's just not given all that much to do. This is a pretty bad film with a few enjoyable musical sequences but they don't make the entire experience worthwhile.
Doctor Detroit (1983) My friend Kevin had been quoting this 80's comedy quite a bit lately. I'd never seen it. He thought I should, so I did. Dan Aykroyd is a nerdy college professor who ends up becoming the pimp for a group of high priced call girls. In order to stand up to the city's crime boss, Aykroyd creates the alter-ego Doctor Detroit - a whacked out old guy who speaks with a slur, wears neon yellow and green and dons a metal hand. The character is pretty crazy and all sorts of mishaps happen as Danny tries to juggle his double life as an uptight professor and the world's greatest pimp. Again, this is one of those films that if I had seen when I was younger I would probably love but seeing it for the first time almost 30 years after it was made - it was just so-so. Sorry, Kevin!
I see RIO made $40 million on its first weekend pretty good huh? Cant wait for the DVD
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