Theatrical Review: Despicable Me 3

Date: Sunday, July 9 2017
Time: 11:45am
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)

Directors: Pierre Coffin (directed previous "Despicable" films), Kyle Balda (directed Minions & The Lorax) and Eric Guillon (a character designer for "Sing" and several other films)
Writers: Cinco Paul & Ken Daurio

Cast:
Gru & Dru- Steve Carell
Lucy- Kristen Wiig
Minions- Pierre Coffin
Balthazar Bratt- Trey Parker (yeah, one of the 2 guys behind "South Park")
Fritz/Ramsbottom- Steve Coogan
Margot- Miranda Cosgrove
Edith- Dana Gaier
Agnes- Nev Scharell
Clive the Robot- Andy Nyman

Duration: 90 minutes (+2 trailers)

Write-up:

Opening Comments

I forgot which movie we were going to see when they aired the trailer. The music and all the fun action happening was enough to sell me on this movie, not to mention it's been a good franchise up to this point.
Although part of me wonders if it's already worn out its welcome.
We got to the theater and a sign on the door said two of the theaters didn't have air-conditioning. This is a small local place, so it doesn't have the best facilities. But hey, it's close by. That's kinda hard to argue with.
It was the three of us and three other people. Then maybe a dozen other people showed up during the trailers or the first couple minutes of the movie. But considering we had to be told we were in the wrong theater (it said 3 Despicable, so we thought it was the right movie- not because it was where the 3D version would be later... but at least there was no issues with the screen or sound system, so I really shouldn't complain).

Trailers

First there was a teaser for the Emoji Movie. It was narrated by the "meh" emoji with various other things going on. We get more from the trailers shown on TV, but they only show one trailer where it seems like the poo emoji is one of the most famous because he's very full of himself.
Me, I like these things as much as the next person. Heck, my favorites are the :P face, followed by the winkie face, and on Twitter, I've gotten into using the purple umbrella with rain drops for my Prince tweets and comments. And prince.org (a messageboard where I got my start in the fan community 10 years ago) used these things LONG before they were popular for cell phones. But we called them emoticons. And I still like that name better than "emojis"... I'm sorry, that always sounded lame to me. And by extension, this movie looks kinda lame. Like they're trying to commercialize emojis even more with a storyline that reads like a cheap imitation of "Inside Out."
I believe "Angry Birds" failed at the box office, but the fact the game isn't as popular as it used to be might have more to do with it than the idiocy of trying to do a movie about something you find on your phone. And don't get me started on the TV game show of "Candy Crush." What the heck is Mario Lopez even doing hosting that? He's probably the most successful alum from "Saved by the Bell" with various other hosting gigs on better shows and he's a part-time DJ. It's not like he needs the money... I don't think...
I'd spent way too much time on this thing I'm deeming a waste of time, moving on...

Leap!, by contrast, has the potential to be something really good. In a year where there really haven't been any standout animated movies, I can see this winning an Oscar. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
It's a story about a boy and girl who grew up in an orphanage and both have big dreams. The girl (played by Elle Fanning... whatever happened to her sister, Dakota... did Twilight "ruin her career" too or did she just outgrow her niche, which was precocious child star?) wants to be a dancer for a ballet company. The boy (played by Nat Wolff- this guy from two movies based on books by an author whose name escapes me...John Green... he's really getting a lot of good material coming his way) wants to be a world-famous inventor.
I was thinking while watching this that animation has come such a long way since Walt Disney did "Snow White"-- THAT was groundbreaking, but we now have 3D animation with really life-like human characters.
We'll see how the critics react (I don't put a lot of stock in critics, but I still check out what they say on some things), but this has a lot of potential, I think.
I just don't know if these kids are brother and sister or friends because there's a scene where the guy seems to be falling for the girl...and that'd be icky and not-so-kid friendly if they were related.

Geesh... I've had so much to say about the trailers, and I don't know if I'll have as much to say about the actual movie.

The Main Event

Here's the basic story-- Gru and Lucy (his new wife from the previous movie) are given the mission to bring Balthazar Bratt to the Anti-Villian League and thwart his attempt to steal a rare pink diamond (they don't call it the Pink Panther, but it might as well be).
However, while they manage to retrieve the diamond, Bratt gets away. And the new leader of the AVL fires Gru for this mistake (and Lucy, who says in the trailer that she'll have to fire her as well).
The Minions take this news in a positive way. Led by Mel, they decide they want to go back to villainy. Something Gru doesn't want now that he's happily married to someone who catches bad guys. So the Minions abandon him and due to some shenanigans they commit, they wind up in jail.
Gru also finds out that he has a twin brother named Dru. The whole family goes to another country to meet him. Dru reveals that their father was a great villain and he wants the two of them to go into the villain business together. Not telling his brother, Gru's plan is to gnab Bratt and bring him to the AVL to get his and Lucy's jobs back. Meanwhile, Agnes, the youngest of the three girls, is on a quest to find a real-life unicorn after hearing a barkeep in town rave about one.
And Bratt has another evil plot in mind and it involves getting back at Hollywood.
Balthazar Bratt is probably one of the most unique, most slyest, but goofiest villains I'd seen in any movie. He was a child star who had a show where he committed heists. The show got cancelled the moment he hit puberty and it got super awkward super fast to see a pimpled teenage Bratt say his noted catchphrase "I've been a bad boy."
His methods, funny enough, are real-life versions of things he did in his show. Only in an animated movie would they be able to get away with this and I thought that was kinda cool.
The best part, for me personally... his show was big in the 80's, so this guy is all about the 80's references. He wears a purple body suit with big shoulder pads. He has a keytar that not only produces a killer soundtrack for dance fights, but it literally blew Gru away and his clothes right off his back.
However, it did get to a point where I thought to myself: did the writers really love the 80's, as I do... or were they making fun of all the pop culture cheese that decade produced? It's hard to tell. Because after a while, I was even tiring of it, which made me sad. I guess you really can have too much of a good thing.
Then everything was okay after when he first unreleased a legion of his own action figures (merchandise that nobody bought, apparently) and calls them... wait for it... The Bratt Pack! [Brat Pack movies are among my all-time favorites... although the best of them is The Breakfast Club, followed by Ferris Bueller and the rest aren't quite at the same level]

As for the soundtrack... 80's songs included
"Bad" by Michael Jackson
"Into the Groove" by Madonna (my favorite song by her, by the way)
"Sussido" by Phil Collins (if you're one of those people who accused him of stealing this song's synth line from Prince's song "1999"... this movie has that 80's pop trifecta... I am not nearly THAT crazy)
"Money for Nothing" by Dire Straits (one of the best 80's videos ever!)
"Take on Me" by A-Ha

...I'm sure there were more, but those were the best of the bunch.

We've gotten to know Margo, Edith and Agnes a bit over these three movies. Margo is only 12, but she comes off as 16 (but she's also played by 20-something Miranda Cosgrove). She went from being the one in charge to the boy-crazy teenage to... kinda being embarrassed by her new stepmom, who makes her be nice to this local boy. Something that backfires, but how it resolves gets them closer as a result.
Agnes's cuteness still hasn't grown out its welcome, at least for me anyway. She represents the kid in all of us who wants to believe that unicorns are real and she just might get her wish this time to have a real one.
Edith... I still don't know what her character is supposed to be. She spent all of the last movie dressed in a karate/ninja outfit. In this movie, she likes pranking Fritz, the butler at Dru's mansion and she goes with Agnes to find the unicorn, but she's not quite believing it. I don't know-- so much attention has been given to the other two girls, I just don't get her the same way. And we're three movies in.

Of course, we have the Minions. They spend most of the movie in jail and, maybe because they have the numbers, they wind up ruling the roost. (At least it makes a lot more sense than Austin Powers 3 where Dr. Evil and Mini-Me manage the same thing with just the two of them). All the while, Mel (a Minion we hadn't gotten to know before this movie) starts regretting his decision to leave Gru and reflects on their time together. He acts like such a tough guy by leading this revolt, but the flashbacks show he was kind of a baby.
Sure, their cuteness legitimized them getting their own movie with origin story and everything... but I think that might have worn out its welcome a bit.

And Lucy spends most of the movie trying to adjust to her new role as stepmom. Which isn't perfect, but then again, who is?
One of the most often aired trailers for this movie has her saying to Gru and Dru "so you're villians now?"... that scene never happened in the movie! At one point, it appears she's starting to get the scent that something isn't quite right with those two, but there's no confrontation scene.

Of course, Steve Carell plays both roles of Gru and Dru. And they both have their individual quirks. It's kinda funny how each was raised by a single parent and that parent told their kid that they were the biggest disappointment. Yet when Gru is part of this job he's pulling with his brother, it really seems like he's a better villain than he appeared to be in the original Despicable movie. Meanwhile, Dru is a big klutz that nearly ruins everything. But they do come together in the end and come out on top.

Bratt may seem like a goof super obsessed with the 80's, but he does have moments of brilliance in his own villainy. Although there was one moment that happened that I saw through the deception almost immediately... maybe the writers wanted it easy for the adults to guess or they didn't... either way, I liked feeling super smart for a moment as long as it lasted.

The movie as a whole... it's not bad, but being the 2nd sequel of one really good movie... there were times where I was thinking it's getting stale and maybe they should quit while they're ahead.
However, the final act of the movie is really good. Very action-packed and exciting and it was fun to be back in the 80's again.

Grade: B+

Theatrical Review: Ghostbusters

Date: Tuesday July 19 2016
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Time: 1:45pm
Party: 1 (me, myself and I)

Director: Paul Feig ("Bridesmaids" and practically all of Melissa McCarthy's "good" movies)
Writers: Paul Feig and Kate Dippold (and a lot of uncredited ad-libs from the cast)

Notable Cast:
Abby Yates- Melissa McCarthy
Erin Gilbert- Kristen Wiig
Jillian Holtzmann- Kate McKinnon
Patty Tolan- Leslie Jones
Kevin- Chris Hemsworth
Mayor of New York- Andy Garcia
Mayor's aide- Cecily Strong (another SNL alum)
Benny the take-out guy- Karan Soni (check it out- it's the taxi driver from "Deadpool"!)

Duration: 116 minutes (+3 trailers)

Write-up:

Opening Comments

"Ghostbusters" was one of the 80's most iconic movies. There'd been talk for years of a third movie that never materialized. (At one point, I believe Bill Hader was attached). Finally, it happened and it wound up being a reboot with an all female cast.
It's crazy enough to work. Yet everyone was so quick to come down on it.
Why? I have no idea :P Are they that attached to the original?

I mean, the actor who played the dude from the EPA in "Ghostbusters... people actually started fights with him because of what his character did. Not much of a spoiler, but he did something that complicated things SEVERLY.
And the firehouse where they filmed the movie, I heard it was being shut down or demolished and people rallied to save it.

And yes, "Ghostbusters" is one of the funniest movies of all time. So why not be a little protective of that?

At the same time, I'm up for something new when it involves people I know are capable of being hilarious and putting their own spin on it.

Of course I know Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig from "Bridesmaids"... which I was completely against when it was released because it was promoted as the female version of "The Hangover." Speaking as a woman, I'm not jazzed about the idea of girls doing gross-out comedy. No offence, but guys are more natural at being gross.
But "Bridesmaids" was more than just the "dressing shopping after Brazilian food" scene. It was freaking hilarious. Especially when Kristen Wiig was hopped up on pills on the airplane.

Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones, I know very well from Saturday Night Live over these past couple years.
On the one hand, Kate was someone who always kinda bothered me :/ because she plays a lot of famous people I don't like. With this being an election year, SNL hasn't exactly been my favorite place. But on the other, this is the kind of role I'd been dying to see from her. Just playing an original character that is inherently quirky. I'm writing this part of the review before seeing the movie and I have a feeling this will be a break-out role for her.

Then with Leslie Jones- dude, she is freaking hilarious! Nearly every time she's in an SNL sketch, I'm laughing my ass off. She's so over the top vocal and blunt.
The Oscars this year did this whole sketch about putting black people in Oscar-nominated movies to mock the lack of diversity in nominations. [FYI- there were two characters in "The Martian" played by black actors and they played significant roles that saved Matt Damon's life, so it wasn't as if the movie was entirely lacking in diversity].
Her part was the biggest laugh by far. She played the bear that attacked Leo in "The Revanent." Seriously, if that was in the movie, maybe I would have seen it. [I like Leo, but it's too damn serious for my tastes].

I was listening to the radio last week and during their news segment, they were talking about this movie coming out and Leslie Jones said how everyone needs a laugh right now- citing all the recent shootings and attacks that had occurred

And even if the laughs are forced and kinda stupid, I kinda need to laugh today. Seriously, is it 2017 yet? With the except of my working life, which is stable and still enjoyable, and one pretty cool concert, it's been a miserable year.

Trailers:

Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them
Kind of a teaser trailer really... asking if we want to return to the wizarding world and how Eddie Redmayne says how his suitcase opened just a smidge and had accidentally let loose some magical creatures.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar ChildrenDirected by Tim Burton and starring Helena Bonham Carter in the titular role (well, of course)- based on a YA novel. The title kinda speaks for itself.
The special effects are amazing.
Also- this is the third YA novel Asa Butterfield starred in. He'd been in "Hugo" (which I've yet to see) and "Ender's Game" (which I struggled to read and the movie was slightly better). After I first saw him as a kid, I pegged him to play a character in a YA book I wrote. Sadly, nobody wanted to publish it and now he'll be too old to play my teenage character by the time it is published. If it is at all.

Beauty & The Beast
Another teaser trailer, but it's one I had heard a lot of good things about. Well, just a lot of buzz and excitement without a lot of detail.
I saw the Disney logo, marveled at the interior design of the castle, and when the music started playing, I gasped and almost started crying. It's the same music from the animated movie.
And yes, even in flashes and voices (we hear briefly from Lumiere, Cocksworth and Emma Watson as Belle)...
I cannot wait for March 17th 2017- OMG!

The Main Event:

Spoilers!!

you know... in case anyone cares...
just kidding... there's only one or two and they're minor

For starters, I liked the movie a lot. It might not be perfect, but it doesn't deserve all of the flack it's been getting from people. I got exactly what I came for and it was to have a good time and escape for a while.

We start, as we did in the original, with our first haunting. And our unlikely librarian, er, tour guide is played by Zach Woods. Whom a lot of people know as Gabe from "The Office" and is also in the HBO series "Silicon Valley." Don't worry, he makes it out okay. But it got pretty intense for a while.

They overdo it a little bit with the slime gags and the CGI renderings of the ghosts aren't all scary. But it does have some intense moments. Maybe it's because I hadn't seen this before, but I did gasp and jump once or twice.
or I'm just a freaking lightweight.

We cut to Erin (Kristen Wiig) who's trying to get tenure at a university, but her past (haha, you know where this is going) comes back to haunt her. In the form of a book she co-wrote with her ex-bestie Abby (Melissa McCarthy).
She tracks Abby down at her place of work where she has a new partner in Holtzmann (Kate McKinnon). Originally, she wants her to take their book off Amazon, but the three of them wind up going to the site of the opening haunting.
Erin regains her belief in ghosts and winds up losing her job over a YouTube video they posted.

Patty (Leslie Jones) joins them after reporting a haunting in the subway where she works. And they put out an ad for a receptionist and Thor himself Chris Hemsworth (but we just call him Kevin) was the sole applicant.
Oh don't worry, Kevin actually plays a big role in the third act, so he's not just there for eye candy and dumb jokes.

The kinda cool thing about this movie that they didn't do in the original... they had a reason behind the hauntings. It wasn't just random. And some government agent isn't the bad guy. Although the mayor's office (which has their own SNL alum... Cecily Strong is another member I didn't always find funny) is no help regarding the Ghostbusters' credibility.

And as I predicted, Kate McKinnon was the funniest one there, but they all did have their moments. One movie blogger I follow said that Holtzmann was quirky for no apparent reason and didn't have much of a backstory to her.
I honestly don't care. She needs more original roles like this.

For whatever reason, Leslie Jones is getting a lot of flack right now. People suck. She was awesome in this movie. Although I do miss her saying "It's a Cadillac!" when referring to their new vehicle- that was only in the trailer), I hope to see her in more comedies.
There are seriously nights watching SNL where there are few laughs to be had and she saves the show for me. As much as I don't want her to leave, she could easily carry a comedy better than Melissa McCarthy in "Tammy" and "The Boss."
Melissa hosts SNL last season and I didn't laugh at her once :/

In this movie, though, she has a lot of heart and is genuinely funny without trying too hard. There's a running joke with her and Benny the delivery guy throughout the movie.

Kristen Wiig is the sanest one of the bunch. And maybe some of her jokes were a little forced, but in the plot, she does come through where it counts. Especially in the third act.

This is one of those rare movies where the third act was maybe the best part.

There are also a bunch of cameos in this movie. You could call them Easter Eggs from the original movie. And the roles vary from passing by to comic relief to have some baring on the actual plot.

Again, it's also worth sticking around through the credits. Lots of extra goodies. Some great music ("Get Ghost" by Mark Ronson, Ray Parker Jr. and a bunch of other guys was the easy highlight). And even a dance number choreographed by Twitch (I tell you, he has to be the most successful 2nd place winner of any reality show ever- dude's freaking everywhere and he's an amazing dancer/choreographer and person).

Side-note: They DO run the movies even when people aren't in the theater. Except I was the only person in the theater and they shut the movie down halfway through cuz they forgot I was there :P but they quickly realized the mistake, apologized and restarted it within 5 minutes of where it was stopped.

Grade: A
(I had fun- that's all that matters...)

Theatrical Review: How to Train Your Dragon 2

Date: June 15, 2014
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Time: 11:30 am
Party: 2 (my sister & I)


Writer/Director: Dean DeBlois
Based on the book series of the same name by Cressida Cowell


Duration: 102 minutes (+3 trailers)


Cast:
Hiccup- Jay Baruchel
Stoick- Gerard Butler
Valka- Cate Blanchett
Astrid- America Ferrera
Snotlout- Jonah Hill
Fishlegs- Christopher Mintz-Plasse
Tuffnut- T.J. Miller
Ruffnut- Kristen Wiig
Gobber- Craig Ferguson
Eret- Kit Harington
Drago- Djimon Hounsou


Trailers:


The marquee to our theater had this movie's title and "Maleficent." Based on the first trailer, I was a little afraid they were showing the wrong movie.


Basically, it was a teaser trailer for next year's live-action "Cinderella," a black screen that rotated around a glass slipper. I don't know much about it, but I'm already excited about it much more than "Maleficent"... I'm not the biggest Angelina Jolie fan


The second looked like a pet project Guillermo de Toro had been working on for years. It was an animated film called "The Book of Life." His heritage was very much in play because it takes place in Spain, one scene had bullfighters involved and Zoe Saldana plays the female lead who's dressed like Carmen ala the opera of the same name.
The overall look of it reminded me a little bit of "Coraline," but with more textures, colors and patterns.


Then there was a Disney movie called "Big Hero 6" by the same people behind "Wreck-It Ralph" (still haven't seen it and still wanting to). It was a goofy teaser trailer where this kid conjured armor for his creature and has difficulty fitting the pieces over his large frame.


Write-up:

Intro

I figured we were due for another animated film my sister could enjoy. The box office has been going through a bit of a drought lately with nothing I'd really wanted to see.
As August approaches, I think that'll start to change.


It might not resonate with her in the long run as much as "The Lego Movie" did (which we'll most definitely get on DVD whenever possible), but we both enjoyed this movie a great deal.
So did the dozen or so other people in the theater with us. A lot of parents with kids, all younger than 12.


I feel bad going into this with little memory of the first movie, which I do remember enjoying quite a bit. I guess it would help to see the first movie before this one, but you won't be lost if this is the first time you're visiting the Nordic village of Berk.


Word Travels Fast


Going into it, I've heard a couple things about it. I've heard a lot of good things said about it. One trailer said it was "Braver than Brave and more fun than Frozen"... Loved both movies and I'll give them the first thing, but not the second.
[Brings me back to the "Captain America" trailer that claimed it was better than "The Avengers"... uh, no..]


I've also heard a couple negative things, few I paid attention to. One review I read compared the new sport of Berk to Quidditch... not that there's anything wrong with Quidditch, but I understand where the comparison came from.


Then I heard a rumored "traumatic" scene that drew comparisons to Bambi's mom getting shot... if the scene is what I think it is, it doesn't come until maybe the 90 minute mark*, just before the final battle scene. I can see why it might be rough for some people, but it isn't tragic to that nth degree.


Either way, it astounds me that this movie only raked in $50 million, $10mill shy of the #1 spot, "22 Jump Street."
How "22 Jump Street" is drawing such an audience is beyond me, although I haven't seen any of the series or the previous film. But you'd think with this movie being in 3D that'd give them more of a boost.


Speaking from an objective POV, "How to Train Your Dragon 2" was really well done.


Plot


We return to the island village of Berk 5 years after the previous film... which came out in 2010 (eh, I'll let that slide).
We enter in the middle of an action scene that happens to be their version of Quidditch. Riding dragons, the kids have to carry a sheep into their particular goal and there's plenty of roughhousing along the way. Then there's a black sheep that's worth an extra amount of points and could turn the tide (kinda like their Golden Snitch).
However, the only kid missing from the action is Hiccup, who is busy chartering more outer territory with his best friend, Toothless. He also tries out his set of wings, which he uses a few times to glide solo.


Part of the storyline is your run-of-the-mill "coming of age" story.
The village leader, Stoicke, just asked Hiccup to take over for him and he's unsure if he could handle the responsibility. Between his small build and his demeanor, it's understandable why he doesn't want the job.


While exploring with Astrid, they come upon dragon trappers, who tell them about their leader, Drago, who wants to take over the world with his dragon army.
As it turns out, Stoicke had met Drago before. We see a flashback where Drago proposes his dragon army idea to the other leaders and massacres them by dragon fire when they don't agree with him.


Stoicke decides to put the village on lockdown, but Hiccup believes he can convince Drago to change his mind... a naïve notion, yes, but that's exactly what he does.
His plan is not without its snags. Firstly, his big idea is surrendering to the dragon trappers so they'll take him to their leader. Secondly, his friends show up to rescue him and fowl everything up. Then Hiccup and Toothless run into a bit of trouble... or so it seems that way at first.


They get kidnapped by, as it turns out, Hiccup's believed-to-be-dead mother Valka who explains her 20 year absence and shows them the Dragon Paradise where she'd been living. Then Stoicke tracks them down and we have a touching reunion between him and Valka.


After that, conflict erupts when Drago arrives, overthrows the alpha dragon with a larger one of his own and spellbinds the remaining dragons to attack Berk.*


Everything turns all right in the end, but there are a bunch of great twists and turns I don't want to give away. Let's just say that the pay-off we get at the end: such a great ending 8-)


Cast and Characters


I was saddened when I read that Jay Baruchel was retiring from acting. With the exception of "Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist" (he's just not cut out to be anything but a good guy), I've loved him in every movie. But I always knew I had this sequel to look forward to.
As was the case with the original, nobody else could play Hiccup to be the loveable young Viking we know him to be. Such an endearing underdog of a character we can't help but want to see do well.


Actually, for the first half hour of the movie, it was hard for me to watch this movie and not think about the all-star cast. I only remembered the first four names off the cast list, but I could picture the actors while listening to their voices. As much as I enjoy that, I also like to be lost in the illusion of animation.
After the first half hour, I became immersed in this fantastic world and forget about the actors...


...with the exception of one moment with Gerard Butler as Stoicke.
Now there's another of those "where the heck has he been?" names. Looking over his resume, a couple movies ring bells: Olympus has Fallen, Playing for Keeps, Chasing Mavericks... nothing I've seen or wanted to see or did well in general.


We hear his native Scottish accent in full force here, a great asset to this franchise.
He's one of few foreign actors I've encountered who got to KEEP their accents in their roles. (yet why is it that Robert Pattinson, Alex Pettyfer and Theo James had to go "American" for their roles? doesn't seem fair to me)


But I digress... there's a sweet scene where Stoicke serenades Valka with song to talk her into coming home with them. Even more sweet for me because I hadn't heard Gerard Butler sing since "The Phantom of the Opera"
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/11/53-phantom-of-opera-2004.html


Overall, the cast was great throughout this movie.


No matter what she does, Cate Blanchett always does well and having her in animation was a nice change of pace.


Djimon Housou, who I remember most from his compelling "Amistad" performance, made an already intimidating villain even more so. Plus the dude was drawn so ugly that you needed just the right voice to pull everything together.


Kit Harington plays the lead dragon trapper, Eret.
If my mom was around, she would have jumped for joy because he's a "Game of Thrones" actor. I don't know much about him, so I spent part of the movie thinking maybe Eret was played by Orlando Bloom. Either way, a really good looking guy with a hot accent.


This movie was not short on comedic relief and it provided great balance with all the dramatic and sentimental bits in between. One running joke that got laughs out of us and the audience was the way Ruffnut (the twin voiced by Kristen Wiig, who I did not recognize at all) fawned over him and his muscles.
Even animated, the dude was good looking. I also loved how, later on, he has a change of heart and allies with the good guys.


Jonah Hill is another voice easy to recognize and begs the question if it's fair that he has two movies coming out the same weekend. Whether he has a leading role or not is not the point :-P it's just a pet peeve of mine because that kind of thing never happens with actors and actresses I personally invest in.


Animation and Story


However good the reviews said this movie was in 3D (DreamWorks actually does it pretty well), we saw it in 2D just because it was cheaper and it was the earlier showing (did not want to deal with the parking situation later in the day).


There are definitely a lot of high-flying moments that lend themselves well to 3D. Anytime we fly around with the dragons is an exhilarating experience. Loved it.
I had a jaw-dropping moment when we arrived in Dragon Paradise because everything was so vibrant and so beautifully rendered. Maybe not the same degree as "Avatar," but in the back of my mind, I thought how I'd love to live there.


Also in the back of my head, I had that little voice warning me how good things won't last forever. The movie does get dark in some places, especially when the new alpha dragon gets control over Toothless and temporarily sways his loyalty.


I don't know if it was my overall mindset or the balance of the script, but optimism always had a way of winning out. I felt a reassurance that everything would be okay in the end and I was not disappointed.


Grade: A


-I don't think I can say anything bad about this movie. In any aspect, it did really well and as a sequel, it did justice to the original and stood on its own really well. Not many sequels, live-action OR animated, can say that.

69. Bridesmaids (2011)

Code-name: SNL BFF's

Director: Paul Feig
Type: R-rated Comedy (with some gross-out)

Cast:
Annie Walker- Kristen Wiig
Lillian- Maya Rudolph
Megan- Melissa McCarthy
Helen- Rose Byrne
Nathan Rhodes- Chris O'Dowd
Becca- Ellie Kemper
Rita- Wendi McLendon-Covey
Gill- Matt Lucas
Brynn- Rebel Wilson
Annie's mom- Jill Clayburgh (RIP- died a year b4 theatrical release)
Air Marshall John- Ben Falcone

WIN- AFI- Movie of the Year

Notable Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Supporting Actress- Melissa McCarthy
OSCAR- Best Original Screenplay- Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo
Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actress- Melissa McCarthy
Golden Globe- Best Picture (Comedy/Musical)

Write-up:

[ok... I'm a believer]

Promoted as the "female Hangover" movie, "Bridesmaids" was tauted as one of the biggest surprises in the box office in 2011. And while she wasn't lobbying for "Finding Nemo" to get a sequel, Ellen kept saying how much she loved this movie... and she didn't even need a cast member as a guest to bring it up.

I just scoffed at the idea. Firstly because I loved "The Hangover" and didn't like that people were already trying to top it. But mainly, I didn't feel women should do gross-out comedies. I see that as more of a guy thing.
But as often is the case, I was proved wrong. I still don't think it's funnier than "The Hangover," but it got more laughs out of me than I ever expected.
(Rest assured, a handful of my favorite movies yet to be discussed were ones I had zero interest in seeing or just was skeptical... I'm not afraid to admit I'm wrong when it comes to these sorts of things).

Part of the reason I wasn't up for it was also because of its leads. More so Maya Rudolf because I didn't recall seeing Kristen Wiig-- but after seeing the movie, I stood corrected. I HAD seen Kristen Wiig and enjoyed her work on SNL. I'm likely one of the few people who loves Gilly :-P her designated Christmas special is a guilty pleasure, about which I have ZERO guilt.
Although I give her some slack because she's a Prince fan (and with a friend of hers, has performed his songs live as "Princess"), I just haven't found her funny. That remains true, but for the majority, I liked her in this movie... either because she played straight or the annoying department was taken up by someone else.

[The Basics]

We're introduced to Annie (Kristen Wiig) and Lillian (Maya Rudolf) as the tightest of besties. Lillian recently got engaged and made Annie her maid-of-honor. As the title suggests, the bridesmaids give additional dimension to the story.
You have:

• Rita, the cynical, overworked housewife with young kids in DIRE need of a get-away
• naive (their thoughts, not mine) Becca who recently got married to the only boyfriend she ever had
• (borrowing from "The Hangover" again), the future sib-in-law, Megan (also the scene stealer of the movie, much like Zach Galifianakis)

...btw, is it also coincidence that the groom's name is a derivative of Doug?

Last (and most certainly least) is Helen, Lillian's newest friend. Both beautiful and generous, she's a "little Mrs. Perfect" who may have a hidden passive-aggressive streak. Watch the interaction between her and Annie and tell me I'm wrong. There just seems to be this hidden desire for her to one-up Annie in everything she does, just to thank Lillian for being the best friend she ever had... and they'd only known each six months.

WTF!
(and there are several moments that prompt that reaction... almost like it's a reoccurring theme... also known as outer conflict generated by the plot)

The way it's written (not to mention who wrote it), the audience is lead to sympathize with Annie because she's the protagonist. She represents the average everyday woman in all of us. Starting out, we see the multiple ways why her life sucks.

Lillian insists that Annie and Helen spent time together, get to know each other. Annie (me as well) is skeptical and remains so for the majority of the movie.
Ala the "reoccurring theme"-- if Helen isn't shooting down Annie's ideas, she either makes sure she's the first time to tell everyone her own ideas... or she downright steals the ideas she hated and passes them off as their own.

But amidst the drama, hilarity is never too far behind and that balance is what makes good films. Especially in a comedy like this.

[Scene Stealing and Memorable Moments]

Another running "joke" in the plot is the fact Annie's car (ancient, btw, from the 80's or 90's) has a tail-light out and keeps forgetting to get it fixed.
On the plus side, it's how she meets her new flame, Nathan- a policeman who happens to have an Irish accent. She believes he pulled her over because she was driving erratically, as if drunken. This was after the engagement party so she was complaining to herself about Helen, whom she'd just met for the first time.
She doesn't just walk the straight line and do the alphabet backwards, but she even does a little jig for more laughs (big laughs too).

The shenanigans they get into together are simply brilliant, but they're also things that probably wouldn't be legal in reality. Like when he shows her how to use a radar gun and they let people get away with driving 10-15 miles above the speed limit.
At least when someone was doing 90, they got their act together.
That relationship does a lot of good for Annie, especially with the lack of confidence she's been battling throughout the beginning of the film, but she finds it difficult to commit after they sleep together for the first time. 

As for the "gross-out" factor, it only comes through in one particular scene (to my knowledge... I haven't seen the unrated version). Annie picks out a Brazillian restaurant that, subsequently, makes everyone ill... except for Helen who had the "foresight" to have a salad.
Immediately afterwards, they go to pick out dresses and unfortunately, that's where the food gets to them, and all kinds of bodily functions overreact. Not even the wedding dress goes unscathed.

Other than that, most of the R-rating comes from a couple brief sex scenes and vulgar language. At times, it's a tad overkill, but most of it is merited. R-movies aren't always my thing, but when the content is handed tastfully, they do really well. 

My absolute favorite scene is the plane ride to Vegas. 
Apparently, Annie is afraid of flying or doesn't travel well, so she's not feeling well. Being stuck in coach while everyone else is in first class doesn't help either. Helen offers her some pills to calm down, one of the few instances where I believe she's genuinely nice, and it has some adverse results. 
She's practically intoxicated, stumbles into first class, talking all kinds of crazy. My sides literally split at the scenes when she's arguing with the flight attendant Steve because he is so montone, but freaking hilarious. The best line comes when she reads his name tag: "what kind of name is Stove?" and she's acting like he can't see her, but he does his job to keep her in coach.
And anyone who saw the trailers knows this is where Megan banters with the guy she suspects to be an Air Marshall, flirting with him. Even more hilarious because they're married in real life.
Unfortunately, Annie's sheningians gets the whole bridal party thrown off the plan so the bachelorette party doesn't happen and Helen is dubbed the new maid-of-honor. Aside from Megan's new love interest, the only success was that Rita and Becca were able to bond over drinks. 

As if things weren't bad enough, Annie has to move in with her mom because her roommate and his sister (who doesn't even pay rent!!) kick her out of the apartment.

Then all hell breaks loose at the bridal shower after Helen steals another of Annie's ideas... hence another tirade laced with F-bombs. Plus she destroys the chocolate fountain and a giant cookie shaped like a heart. 
Lillian flips out and ultimately kicks her out of the wedding. But before all comedy is lost, she screams to the staff as she's making her exit "No! She does not get a party-favor!"
...did I mention she was giving away puppies? Golden Retreiver puppies?
LOL... and Megan steals like 7 of them (and gives Annie a helluva good pep talk a couple scenes later). 

Luckily, they found a clever way to sew the plot back together before it falls apart.
Lillian gets cold feet and Helen is freaking cuz she can't find her.
(Yeah, karma's a bitch, lady).
Annie goes with her to find Nathan and does all kinds of sheningians in her car to get his attention... freaking awesome!

And all's well that ends well.
The two of them finally look like they could be friends.

...although Helen gets Wilson Phillips (Lillian's favorite group) to sing at the wedding reception, one final one-up.