The Vow

The Vow

                The Vow is a 2012 movie loosely based on the true story and the book of the same name.  The story revolves around the couple of Paige and Leo.  When the couple is in a car accident and Paige loses all her memories of their life together it’s up to Leo to try to make his wife fall in love with him all over again.  This is complicated when Paige moves back in with her parents who she had a falling out with, who have never met Leo, and who disapprove of the way she has chosen to live her life.  Leo works to overcome all of these obstacles and win back the women that he loves with all his heart.

                This book is very loosely based on the true story and the book by the same name.  My wife read the book and said that the only thing that was the same was the fact they were in a car accident, she loses her memory, and he has to make her fall in love with him all over again.  That being said it was a nice story about the power of love, for lack of a better phrase, and how when you are meant to be with someone you will come back to them no matter what.  The acting was decent throughout the movie, Tatum Channing plays Leo, and Rachel McAdams plays Paige.  The two have decent chemistry together but there was nothing great about either one of the performances but they were both good enough for the type of movie that it was. 

                This was an ok movie but it defiantly appeals to women more than men, ok let’s face it, it was a chick flick plain and simple.  So based on that I recommend this movie to almost anyone women who is looking for a good love story, although if you have read the book you might be a little disappointed by all of the changes they made to the source material.

I give The Vow 3 out of 5 paw prints, it was ok for a chick flick.

My next review will by over the 2011 drama Extremely Loud, and Incredibly Close.

And now as always, “ You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!” 

We Bought a Zoo

We Bought a Zoo

                We Bought a Zoo tells the story of Benjamin Mee, Matt Damon, and his family as they try to move on with their lives after the loss of their wife and mother.  Benjamin decides that a change of scenery is in order and so he sets out to find a new house and what he finds is a nice little house out in the country.  Unfortunately the house happens to be on the Rosemont animal park and the rundown  zoo and all of the animals now belong to the Mee family.  The family does their best to adjust to the situation and learns a lot about themselves along the way.               

                This was a nice family movie but did have a little bit of swearing throughout so you might not want to watch it with little kids around.  The movie overall was a feel good movie with some humor mixed in.  I would not call it a comedy so I guess I would have to call it more of drama/feel good movie.  The movie had a great story and left you feeling pretty good afterwards.  It was really great seeing the growth from all the characters during the movie especially Benjamin and his moody teenage son Dylan played by Collin Ford.   All of the actors did a great job of making you root for the characters and wanting them to succeed in getting the zoo up and running again.  Aside from Matt Damon, the movie also stars Scarlett Johansson as Kelly the head zoo keeper, Thomas Haden Church as Benjamin’s brother Duncan, and Elle Fanning as Lily, who was Kelly’s quirky cousin who works at the zoo. 

                Overall I enjoyed the movie and would recommend to anyone who is looking for a movie with a good story, decent acting, and will leave you feeling good afterwards.

I give We Bought a Zoo 3 out of 5 paw prints

My next review will be over the 2011 war drama War Horse.

And now as always, “you don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”       

50/50

50/50

                50/50 is about a young man named Adam, played by Joseph Gordon- Leavitt, who finds out he has a rare form of cancer, that only has a 50% survival rate.  The movie follows Adam as he begins his treatment and starts living life with cancer.  It also shows how his friends and family deal with his sickness in their own ways. 

                The story was well written and while some people might not like how light hearted it was about a very serious illness, I thought it did a nice job of breaking up the sadness with a little levity now and again.  I thought that the movie did a very nice job of mixing the sad moments that Adam had to deal with and mixing them in with the more lighthearted moments spent with his best friend Kyle, played by Seth Rogan.  The two seemed to work very good together on screen and played off of each other very well.  I also enjoyed the interactions between Adam and his very young working on her Doctorate therapist, played by Anna Kendrick, she was very awkward but you could also tell that she meant well and the two had chemistry together.  I also want to give acting credit to Anjelica Huston who plays his mom in the movie.  She is a little bit over protective at times but you can tell that she loves her son and only wants to be there for him when he needs her.

                I enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to anyone who is looking a good story with decent acting or anyone who likes a good drama/comedy.

I give 50/50 3 out of 5 paw prints just a good movie.

My next review will be over the 2011 family drama We Bought a Zoo

And now as always, “you don’t’ have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!” 

Drive

Drive

                Ryan Gosling stars as a stunt man by day and getaway driver by night.  He does this and gets along just fine until he befriends he next door neighbor Irene and her son Benicio.  Everything is fine until her husband gets out of jail and Driver, that’s what the credits call him, has to help him with a heist to repay some men from his time in prison.  Of course everything goes wrong and graphic violence and crazy amount s of blood ensue as Driver tries his best to protect Irene and Benicio at all costs .

                The movie had a good story with a decent amount of action mixed in.  It was not a high speed chase every five seconds like you would expect with a movie called drive, in fact there was very little driving involved.  So this is not a movie for guys who want to see good looking cars going really fast.  If that’s what you want get the Transporter.  The acting was very good Ryan Gosling was just excellent as the main character.  He was this quiet man that his boss just called the kid, yet when it came time to throw down he was kicking ass and taking names.  I was pretty disappointed that they did not do more of a back story on him so you could find out about his past and how he came to be this way.  I guess that is the fun of the movie for some people because they get to make up their own back story.  As far as other actors go Bryan Cranston was good as his boss Shannon, and Carrie Mulligan did a nice job playing his conflicted neighbor Irene.   I will also give and acting shout out to Albert Brooks and Ron Perlman for playing the wise guys in the movie.

                I overall liked the movie it was not what I expected for the first hour and then it was exactly what I had heard it was which was pretty graphically violent.  I recommend this movie to most guys who like action movies especially actions movies with and actual story to them.

I give Drive 3 out of 5 paw prints, good but not great.

My next review will be over the 2011 dark comedy/drama 50/50

 As always” You don’t have to go home but, you have to get the hell out of here”

The Avengers

The Avengers

                The avengers tells the story of six incredible individuals who come together to save the planet form the evil plans of Loki, the god of mischief, and the alien army that he has control of.  The movie starts with Loki gaining control of the tessaract, an otherworldly cube that can be used as a weapon, self sustaining energy source, or a gateway to the other side of the universe.  Loki plans on using the cube to create a gateway to bring forth his alien army and take over the world.  Of course Shield has different ideas and begins the avengers initiative.  The initiative brings together earth’s mightiest heroes, Captain America, Ironman, Thor, The Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, to stop the plot and save the earth.

                The movie starts off fast and doesn’t let up too much the whole way.  The action was great and it was not just large explosions and cool looking fights for the sake of large explosions and cool looking fights.  All the explosions and cool fights were there to build the story.   The story itself was well written taking directly from the previous movies.  They did not have to go back and explain a whole lot because all the single hero movies had been building to the point when all these heroes could be put together in the same place.  I also enjoyed all of the humor coming out of the characters some of it was expected but every once and awhile something would happen during an intense scene that would just crack me up.  I also felt like the cast all worked really well together there was several big names in the movie and they all worked great together on screen with everyone contributing at least one memorable moment.  There were so many actors/actresses that did a good job in the movie I will just list them.  They were Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Ironman, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America, Scarlet Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow, and Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton/ Hawkeye.  I thought all of them held their own very well in the movie and that they all stood out at one point or another. 

                I will also tell you to stay tuned until the end of the credits for one scene during the credits that sets up the villain for the next movie (ask me if you can’t figure out who it is), and at there is another scene at the very end of the credits that is just a little more silliness for you to enjoy.

                I absolutely loved this movie and I recommend it to anyone and everyone who wants to see a good movie.  It has already made over 200 million and it will make a lot more before it’s done.  I also recommend getting there early because it will be the hot movie for the next couple of weeks.

I give the avengers 5 out 5 paw prints, simply one of the best movies I have seen in a long time.

My next review will be over the 2011 drama/crime movie Drive.

And as always, “You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”

Hugo

Hugo

                Hugo is the 2011 movie based on the book titled The Invention of Hugo Cabret.  The story follows young Hugo Cabret as he lives in a French train station during the 1930s.  Hugo is trying to repair an old Automaton that his father found left in the back of a museum.  It also so happens that this mechanical man is the only thing left after his father dies in a fire.  As Hugo steals the parts he needs from the local wind-up toy shop he befriends the shop owner’s goddaughter Isabelle.  The two embark on a journey of discovery at comes full circle and revolves around this fantastic drawing Mechanical man.

                I liked everything about this movie from the story to the acting to the vividly colored setting.  The story itself I thought was very creative and had a way of drawing in to the movie making you wonder what was going to happen next.  He had the right mix of mystery and humor that I really liked.  The two young actors who were feature in this film will both have bright careers ahead of them.  Asa Butterfield who plays the title character does a great job of bring his character to life, and Chloe Grace Moretz who plays Isabelle is equally as good and these two can hold their own with the adults who they share the screen with.  Ben Kingsley and Sacha Baron Cohen also are in the film and both do a wonderful job playing their parts.  The sets and where also pretty incredible looking they brought the train station and Paris to life.  They were very bright and while they were realistic looking they a fantastic quality that I just can’t seem to place.  The movie was well received critically receiving five Oscars, as well as being nominated for another six including best picture.

                I overall really enjoyed this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone young or old looking for a story to get lost in.  I did not think there was anything that would be objectionable for littler kids around six and up.

I give Hugo 5 out of 5 paw prints just a fantastic movie.

My next review will be over the 2011 Ryan Gosling movie Drive.

As always, “You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy

                Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is the 2011 spy film that follows recently retired MI-6 agent George Smiley, played by Gary Oldman, as he comes out of retirement to investigate and uncover a mole inside of MI-6.  Using his training and the research left behind by his former boss Smiley, with the help of a young Mi-6 agent, and a retired agent, has to uncover who is the mole and why he is leaking this information to their cold war enemies the Russians.  

                The story was a good one although I did at times find it hard to keep up with all of the people.  There were also a lot of flashbacks from many different people that made it hard to follow along with at times.  The overall story was solid and by the end I was able to piece everything back together to understand most of what happened in the movie but I am still confused about a couple of parts and what the point of telling the viewer was.  I don’t know maybe I am just a little dim.  The acting over all was very good.  Oldman gave a great performance as Smiley, such a good performance that he was nominated for the best actor award at this year’s Academy awards.  There were several other good acting performances to note as well Colin Firth and Tom Hardy were also very good in supporting rolls. Peter Cumberbatch was also good as Peter Guillam, the young agent who helps Smiley uncover the truth.

                I overall enjoyed the movie even though it was hard to follow at times, the story and the acting made up for it.  I would recommend it to anyone who likes an intriguing spy movie or likes movies about the cold war era.      

I give Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy 3 out of 5 paw prints,  a good movie, but nothing special.

My next review will be over the 2011 Best Picture Nominee Hugo.

As always” You don’t have to go home but, you have to get the hell out of here”

Alvin and the CHipmunks: Chipwrecked

Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

                Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked is the third movie in the life action/cgi series.  The movie starts off with Dave, the Chipmunks, and the Chippettes heading out to sea on a luxury cruise on their way to the World Music Festival.  Alvin finds himself constantly and trouble which ultimately leads him and his friends to be blown off the ship and ending up on an uninhabited island.  While they are on the island they have to deal with nature themselves, and the fact that they might not be alone after all.

                I have seen all three of the movies and I thought this was easily the worst of all of them.  They did not work very hard to establish any kind of story and the first 30 minutes it seemed like all they were trying to do was to see how many songs they could squeeze in along the way.  Once they got on the island the story did pick up some and there was less singing but it was still a very weak story even for a kids movie.  All of the actors were back including Jason Lee, and David Cross, and they did a fine job with the material they had.  There were a couple of funny moments but I see very little adult appeal in this movie, which makes it a hard sell for large audiences, especially when there are so many movies out there that appeal to both kids and adults.

                I did not really care for the movie, but my kids did.  I would recommend it to kids up to about 9 or ten, but for the adults if you are looking for a movie that both you and your kids will enjoy there are many better choices out there.

I give Chipwrecked 2 out of 5 paw prints, good for kids but no adult appeal.

My next review will be over the 2011 spy movie Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.

As always” You don’t have to go home but, you have to get the hell out of here”

The Adventures of TIntin

The Adventures of Tintin

                The 2011 movie The Adventures of Tintin is based on the comic by Herge of the same name.  The story follows the boy journalist Tintin as he tries to solve the mystery of the Unicorn.  The Unicorn is an old English warship that went down with what was rumored to be a very large treasure.  Along the way Tintin meets up with the great grandson of the original captain of the Unicorn, Captain Haddock, as well as the villainous Sakharine.   Tintin and Captain Haddock unravel the clues and try to beat Sakharine and his crew to the great treasure of the Unicorn.

                The story was lots of fun with lots of action and very few lulls throughout the movie.  It was what I would consider action movie light very appropriate for kids eight and up.  I also really like the animation style.  It used the very realistic looking animation much like that which was used in the movie Polar Express.  The voice acting was good during with Jamie Bell lending his voice to the main character, while Andy Serkis was the voice of Captain Haddock, and Daniel Craig does the voice of Sakharine. 

                I overall enjoyed the movie it was blend of story telling and action.  I would not say it was appropriate for real young children but for kids around the age of eight or so it would be right up their alley.  I also could see the appeal for adults as well especially fans of the original comics or cartons.  I would recommend this movie to for kids 8 and up or anyone maybe looking for a good story and a little action.

I give The Adventures of Tintin 3 out of 5 paw prints, it was just good not great.

My next review will be over the latest Alvin and the Chipmunks movie Chipwrecked

 And as always, “You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here.

      

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

                My review today is over 2011 crime drama The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  The story starts of with disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist as he gets hired to investigate the forty year old disappearance of industrialist Henrik Vanger’s niece Harriet.  Along the way he gets some help from antisocial computer hacker/investigator Lisbeth Salander.  The pair investigates the crime and discovers that this family has more skeletons in the closet then a college science lab.  There are plenty of twists and turns that will keep you guessing up to the last thirty minutes.

                .  This movie is based on the book of the same name written by Steig Larson and is the first in a trilogy of books.  The movie had a great story and it kept me entertained right up to the very end.  The family being investigated is so dysfunctional that you really could see every single one of them as the culprit in the crime.  The acting was good Daniel Craig is decent as Mickeal , and Rooney Mara was excellent as the antisocial Lisbeth.  She was so good in fact that she received a best actress nomination for the Oscars this year.  My one complaint about the movie was there was a couple of parts that I felt were unnecessary and a couple parts that were a little hard to watch.   There is no way that this movie would be suitable for anyone under the age of 17 or 18 because of the theme of the movie and the interactions between Lisbeth and her social worker. 

                I overall really enjoyed the movie a lot, and look forward to the last two books in the Trilogy to be made.  I have not read the book or seen the original movie but I would be interested to see how the stack up against the American version.

I give the movie 4 out of 5 paw prints, because of the excellent story and strong acting of Mara.

My next review will be on The  Adventures of Tintin.

And as always, "You don/t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!" 

The Muppets

The Muppets

                 Meet Walter and Gary two brothers and best friends who love the Muppets.  It also so happens that Walter himself is a puppet while Gary is a Human.  On a trip to Los Angeles they visit the famous and very rundown Muppet studios.  While looking around Kermit’s office Walter overhears Tex Richman the oil tycoons plan to tear down the Studio and drill for oil(Maniacal Laugh).  That is unless the Muppets can get back together and raise the ten million dollars to keep their studio.  The rest of the movie is about reuniting the gang and putting on a telethon to raise the money needed, with Walter and Gary’s help of course.

                This was a wonderful family movie but it was enjoyable for adults as well.  The humor was a great mix of kid and adult jokes and the nostalgia of the Muppets will also entertain most adults as well.  I really enjoyed finding out what had happened to all of the Muppets after all these years.  My personal favorite being the fact that animal was in court ordered anger management.   All of the side stories did a great job of imagining were the Muppets might really be if they were real people.  The Music in the movie was fun as well and there were several big dance numbers with clever songs including this year’s best original song from the Oscars Man or Muppet.  The acting was good especially since it starred two of my favorites, Jason Segel, and Amy Adams.  Jason Plays Gary and Amy plays Mary who is Gary’s girlfriend of the past ten years.  The two do a great job playing off each other and the Muppets and both do a very nice job with all the songs and dances as well.  Aside from all of the Muppets you know and love there are a couple of new ones in the movie as well.  There was also several cameos in this movie including, Zach Galifianakis, Emily Blunt and Selena Gomez to name a few.

                I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it to anyone, from families, to fans of the Muppets, or just to anyone who is looking for a fun movie to sit down and enjoy.

I give The Muppets five out of five stars a very entertaining movie

My next Review will be over The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

And as always, “You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here.

The Descendents

The Descendents

                The Descendents is the 2011 comedy/drama starring George Clooney.  Matt King, played by Clooney, is a lawyer in Hawaii whose wife is put into a coma by a power boat accident, so as he puts it in the movie the second string parent is put in to raise their two daughters, 10 year old Scottie and 17 year problem child Alex.  If all of this wasn’t enough he is also the trustee of 25 acres of the island of Kaua’i that has been in his family for generations, and his family thinks it might be time to sell the land.   Matt and his family persevere through everything that comes their way and it all ends up making them stronger as a family.

                I did not have high hopes for this movie going into it, but I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.  I really enjoyed this movie.  I thought the story was great it was not overly dark and there were lots of funny moments sprinkled throughout.  The acting was good George Clooney was good and I thought that the part was great for him.  Shailene Woodley who plays the 17 year old daughter Alex does a nice job as well.  You might recognize Woodley as the main character from the abc family show the Secret Life of the American Teenager.  Whenever I have seen any part of that show all I can think is wow this girl is super annoying, but she was actually really good in this movie and wasn’t what I would call a real likable character but not one you disliked either.  I want to also give a mention to a boy named Sid, played by Nick Krause.  Sid is Alex’s boyfriend/friend and he is where most of the funny parts in the movie came from.  He is not very bright but very endearing throughout the whole movie and was easily one of my favorite characters in the movie.  He has not been in much but I hope to see him in more in the future.  The movie did receive several awards and nominations, including winning an Oscar for best adapted screen play, and Oscar nominations for best actor for George Clooney and Motion picture of the year.

                I overall really enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to just about anyone.  It’s not a movie that will leave you rolling on the floor but the story and acting are good enough to keep most everyone entertained.

I give The Descendents 4 out of 5 paw prints, it was a great movie.

My next review will be over the Muppets 2011 return to the big screen.

And now as always, “You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”

Friends with Benefits

Friends with Benefits

                Friends with Benefits, is the 2011 chick flick about two friends who decide to have a strictly sexual relationship, but of course complications arise when they realize that they love each other.  The movie starts with corporate head hunter Jamie, played by Mila Kunis, trying to convince web designer Dylan,  Justin Timberlake, to move all the way across the country to become the new art editor at GQ magazine.  The two quickly strike up a friendship and one thing leads to another and they decide that they can have sex while still remaining friends.  This of course leads to all sorts of misadventures where we learn about the characters and how damaged they both are.

                The movie was ok but I thought it was a little too much like another movie that came out around the same time No Strings Attached.  The main ideas of the movies are pretty much identical with friends who want to hook up without falling in love.  The characters and their back stories were different but that was not really enough to make it feel like that different of the movie.  The acting was about what you would expect from this kind of movie it was not bad but I doubt anyone will win any awards for it.  

                The movie itself was alright, but I have seen the same story played out a few too many times to really be able to enjoy it.  I only recommend this movie if you are looking for an ok chick flick but even then there are probably better choices out there. 

I give Friends with Benefits 2 out of 5 paw prints.

My Next review will be the 2011 best picture nominee The Descendents.

And as always,“You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”

Puss In Boots

Puss in Boots

                Puss in Boots is DreamWorks latest animated film and it expands on the character first introduced in Shrek 2.  The story starts out with Puss, voiced by Antonio Banderas, escaping from captivity and looking to steal some magic beans from Jack and Jill.  That’s when he meets Kitty Soft paws and her associate Humpty Dumpty who as it turns out has a long history with Puss from their days spent in an orphanage dreaming of some day getting the goose that lays golden eggs from the giant’s castle.  The movie follows the three as they search out the golden goose as well as all the twists and turns along the way.

                The movie told a good story and was enjoyable for kids and adults.  Just like the Shrek movies there was humor for both kids and adults.  It does a nice job of filling in Puss’s back story, but while I assume that this all happened before the Shrek movies there is really no way of knowing since there was no real attempt to tie the two stories together.  I would guess that there will probably be at least one sequel and they will tie the stories together in that.   The voice acting was done well with some big names bringing the characters to life.  Aside from Antonio Banderas, some of the other voice talent includes, Zach Galifianakis as Humpty Dumpty, Salma Hayek as Kitty, and Billy Bob Thorton, and Amy Sedaris as Jack and Jill.

                I thought the movie was alright I did not think it was as good as the Shrek Movies but it did have its moments and it worked well as a standalone film.  The movie also did receive an Oscar nomination for best animated feature it lost out to Rango which I agree was the better movie.  I recommend this movie to anyone who liked the Shrek movies or families looking for a good film that the whole family can enjoy.

I give Puss in Boots 3 out of 5 paw prints.  It was good just not great.

My next review will be the 2011 chick flick Friends with Benefits.

And now as always “You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games

                The Hunger Games is the movie based on the hit book of the same name by Suzanne Collins.  The story is set in the future when all that is left of the North America is twelve districts and a Capitol which is all now called Panem.  74 years before our story begins there were 13 districts and they revolted against the capitol and lost.  District 13 was wiped off the map and as reminder every year 1 boy and girl between the ages 12 and 18 are taking from each district every year to compete in a brutal fight to the death called the hunger games.  The movie begins on reaping day and follows our heroine, Katniss Everdeen, played by the very talented Jennifer Lawrence, from the moment she volunteers for the games to save her sister up through all of time spent preparing and fighting in the games. 

                The movie was amazing and I am very happy to say that it lived up to all of my expectations.  I was very happy with the fact that it followed the book very closely and while it did leave out a few things and some other parts were sped up for time’s sake it remained close to the book and all of the changes were things I can live with.  It was definitely better than some other book adaptations that I have seen lately were they changed huge parts or left things out entirely.  Since I had read the books I know the story pretty well.  But I do not feel like you had to read the books to understand what was going on in the movie,  although I would highly recommend the entire trilogy if you are looking for something good to read.   The acting was solid throughout the entire movie and I felt like every single character was cast well and that they really held true to what I pictured the characters looking like from the book.  Aside from Jennifer Lawrence the other actors/actresses of note in the movie were Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, Liam Hemsworth as Gale, Elizabeth Banks as Effie, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Stanley Tucci as Caesar Flickman, and Donald Sutherland as President Snow.     

                I absolutely loved this movie and would highly recommend it to anyone male or female above the age of 13.  I do feel that the subject matter was too mature for young children but the violence was handled very tastefully and the story is just amazing.

I give the hunger games a perfect 5 out of 5 paw prints.

My next review will be Dreamworks most recent animated family film Puss in Boots.

And now as always, “You don’t have to go home, but you have the get the hell out of here!”

Real Steel

Real Steel

                My review for today is over the 2011 fighting robot movie Real Steel.  The story is set in the near future where robots have replaced humans inside of the boxing ring.  The main character of the movie is former boxer turned small time promoter Charlie Kenton, played by Hugh Jackman.  The story goes that Kent gets stuck with his unwanted son when the boy’s mother dies.  The two do not get along at first but quickly bond over Atom the fighting robot that they find in junkyard while scrounging for parts.  Atom learns how to box from Charlie and quickly works his way from back alley fights into the pro circuit even earning a title shot. 

                I liked this movie alright the robot fighting was cool, but I thought at times the father son bonding was a little over the top, and the dance scene I felt was just slightly unnecessary.  (Yeah you read that right I wrote the dance scene)I won’t go into details about the scene but you will probably have the same reaction that I had.  I understand that they have to have the side story to draw a bigger audience but I thought it was all pretty cliché and they poured the sappiness on a little bit thick.  The special effects were good and the robots and the fighting didn’t look fake like it could have.  .  The acting was fine but in a movie like this the acting does not have to be Oscar caliber, the actors played their roles well enough but it was nothing special.

                Overall I enjoyed the story as a whole but I was mostly in it for the giant robots fighting so that was the parts that I liked the most.  The movie does appeal to a fairly wide audience my wife even liked it mostly for the story and not the robots, but any movie that we both like cannot be too bad.

I give real steel 3 out of 5 paw prints.

The next movie I will be reviewing is the current box office champ The Hunger Games.

And as always “you don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”

Moneyball

Moneyball

This movie is based on the book of the same name by Michael Lewis, and it tells the story of Oakland A’s manager Billy Beane.  Beane, who is played by Brad Pitt, is trying to recover from the loss of three of his stars to big market teams with big market checkbooks.   The movie follows Beane as he tries to compete with the big markets by trying an unconventional statistical analysis of players to fill in his roster holes.  The idea is first brought up to Beane by Peter Brand, played by Jonah Hill.  Beane takes what Brand has to say to heart and the two of them begin to work together to make the Athletics’ winners again.  Not too many people are fans of the idea especially the fans and scouts but Beane sticks the plan and the A’s turn it around with a record setting streak and another trip to the playoffs.

I really enjoyed this movie as I do with most movies about sports.  I thought it told a very interesting story and one I can definitely relate to being a fan of a small market baseball team, the Minnesota Twins.  While the A’s haven’t won the final game of the year they showed that you do not have to spend millions of dollars to compete.  I thought the acting was really good in the movie with most of the credit going to Brad Pitt.  He did a great job playing Beane as a very confident manager but also showed him as vulnerable with his daughter and when he recollects about his past as a first round draft choice that never lived up to the hype.  Jonah Hill also did a nice job playing the often nervous Peter Brand.  While most of the time he seemed nervous you could tell that he was learning from Beane and that he truly believed in what they were trying to accomplish.  Acting shout out goes to Chris Pratt who played catcher turned first baseman Scott Hatteberg.  He did not have a big role but it was nice to see him play a different role other than Andy from Parks and Rec.

Overall I really enjoyed the movie and I can see why it was up for best picture.  I haven’t seen any of the other candidates so I can’t say whether it should have won or not, but I thought it was one of the better movies I have seen in a while. 

I give Moneyball 4 out of 5 paw prints. 

 

The next movie review I will be doing is the 2011 robot fighting film Real Steel.

And as always “you don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here.”