Review: LITTLE FOCKERS

There was no reason to ever make this movie. The studio could have made a funnier movie starting the same actors "by the people who brought you Meet the Fockers" and it would have been just as successful, if not more so because it would have been funnier. The funniest moments in this film occur within the first ten minutes as the film gives a quick recap on the quirkiness of each character and the relationships amongst them. It takes a dive to the pits of boredom from then on.

Greenberg

Oh this looks great. Nice to see Stiller in a role like this again.

Review: NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN

I enjoyed Night at the Museum because of one reason: it was fun. It was simple, enjoyable, charming, and often times very funny. The only thing it had going against it was its predictability.

Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian has pretty much the same qualities going for it, except it might have been a bit less funny, and bit more predictable. *Sharp inward breath*

This movie has a comedy ensemble the likes of which I have not seen in a while; Ben Stiller, Amy Adams, Robin Williams, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Eugene Levy, Hank Azaria, Christopher Guest, Alain Chabet, Ricky Gervais and Bill Hader. Not to mention some great cameos from Jonah Hill, Mindy Kaling, Jay Baruchel, Craig Robinson, and Thomas Lennon. Also, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but the Jonas Brothers even have a cameo, and it is nothing short of delightful.

Let's start. Ben Stiller is his lovable Ben Stiller self. He has the rare talent of being able to work well off of every other actor in the movie, especially Hill, Adams, Azaria, and Chabet. He has some really funny one-liners, and to be honest, the movie would be nothing without him. Great job to Ben Stiller.

Hank Azaria, as usual, is hilarious. He plays Kahmunrah, Abe Lincoln, and The Thinker (the sculpture). Azaria just might be the greatest character actor of all time. His accent is amazing, his wit as sharp as his spear. The movie might be worth seeing just for his conversation with everyone's favorite Sith.

I have to give honorable mention to Jonah Hill as well. It's silly, but one of the reasons I didn't love the movie as much as the last one is because he was only in one scene. In it, he and Stiller banter back and forth for about five minutes of absolute comic brilliance. I would have loved to have seen one more bit with him.

Now for Amy Adams as Amelia Earhart. I am incredibly conflicted about my opinion of her character. For one, I want to say how ridiculous it is to have such a young, beautiful actress playing Amelia Earhart. I want to say that in school, I was told that Earhart was mean and grumpy all the time. However, Amy Adams plays her as smart, fun, and incredibly charming. She really is great. I want to say how ridiculous of an interpretation of her the movie had, but she was just too adorable for me to care.

This one was written by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon. Here's what I think: they should not be making PG movies. Balls of Fury is hilarious, because they don't have to censor themselves. Reno 911! is definitely not censored, and it's great. They need to stick to being filthy; it works much better.

As for Shawn Levy, he has yet to make a movie that really blows me away. He's clearly a very capable filmmaker, so why not try something that has more promise than films like The Pink Panther and Night at the Museum? I know he's got the talent. I'm excited for a project that has some depth to it.

So, Night at the Museum 2 gets a 3. It's not bad, it's just not good enough. Sequels should be better than the previous movie. No one wants to walk out of the theater thinking about their favorite parts of the first movie. And while it is very, very funny, its predictability brings it down. Not to mention the enormous buildup the movie has to an extremely disappointing finale.

Funny, but not the best.

Upcoming Film: Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian

Here's a sequel to the Ben Stiller film "Night at the Museum." I personally loved the first one, it was lots of fun, and if you haven't seen it and like to laugh you'll probably enjoy it too.

With the sequel, you can probably expect a bunch of awesome cameos (Robin Williams, Amy Adams, Bill Hader, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Abe Lincoln and many many more).

I think this trailer looks hilarious.

Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian Trailer

Night at the museum hits theaters May 22nd, 2009.

Review: MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA

Before I jump into a delightfully short, yet detailed review, let me tell you - I did not see Madagascar. It didn't appeal to me back when it came out in the days before this blog's existence, and even now I probably won't go back and see it. But - I absolutely loved Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Spoilers May Occur - But Not Major Ones
Written by Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) and directed by Eric Darnell (Madagascar) and Tom McGrath (Madagascar), this film tells the story of Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) growing up with his dad, Zuba (Bernie Mac). One day, Zuba turns his back and Alex is captured by poachers and sent to the New York Zoo. Then (the first movie) along with some of his friends, Alex left the zoo, went to Madagascar. Now, accidentally ending up in Africa, they need to figure out how to get back to New York as well as deal with family and personal issues along the way.

The visuals are great and stylized in a very delightful, and not distracting way, and the voice acting is pretty excellent. While the cast includes Chris Rock, Alec Baldwin, Ben Stiller, Jada-Pinkett Smith, and David Schwimmer, my favorite character in the film was Bernie Mac, who channeled a king as powerful as Mufasa was but with a heart that might seem even bigger. I was tremendously sad after watching the film when I came to the realization that that character will likely not be in the next installment.

This isn't a Lion King rip-off. Face it, it's pretty hard to make a movie about a pride of lions in Africa and escape similarities entirely. But DreamWorks pulls it off nicely.

The score is written by Hans Zimmer (surprise) and includes a few songs by will.i.am, who also voices the character of Moto Moto in the film. This brings me to another point. DreamWorks seems to have gotten over their ideas that an animated character needs to look like its real life counterpart. Bernie Mac doesn't sound like Bernie Mac, and will.i.am does not sound like you're watching an animated will.i.am. I have always liked the idea of actors creating voices for their characters, because it adds a lot to the film and makes each character even more authentic.

I loved the fact that you did not have to have prior knowledge of the first film to see this one. They explain the previous plot nicely in about 2 minutes and you are instantly caught up to where you should be, as any good sequel should do. All the characters are great, as is their development, and the visual gags are hilarious and simply amazing - especially since there are hardly any pop culture references (finally).

What I didn't like was the heavy inclusion of the old woman from the first movie. I thought that she was a terribly annoying and frustrating character. But every vine of gapes has a few bad ones on it, and it doesn't stop you from eating the rest of them with joy.

Remember when DreamWorks made great movies like The Prince of Egypt and Road to El Dorado? Well, Kung Fu Panda showed it and now Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa has confirmed it. Dreamworks is back on the great filmmaking track, and I have nothing but the highest hopes for their next film, Monsters vs. Aliens.

Robert Downey Jr. rejoins Ben Stiller in Mastermind

Moviehole recently announced that Robert Downey Jr. and Tina Fey could possibly star in the upcoming Ben Stiller produced animated film Mastermind. The film follows the trials and tribulations of a supervillain after killing off the hero, Uberman in the first few minutes of the film. The movie will be directed by Dreamworks Animation veterans Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson and has a screenplay written by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons. Ben Stiller has also stated that he may provide the voice for the main character but he's unsure of it at this point.

The last superhero satire helmed by Ben Stiller was the critically panned Mystery Men. Though, Tropic Thunder which was both written and directed by Ben Stiller received critical acclaim and box office success alike. With this film reuniting Stiller and Downey Jr. could we have a Ben Stiller renaissance? this film is still a long way off but at least its looking slightly more promising than the Jerry Seinfeld produced Bee Movie.

Tropic Thunder Premier Protest!

Yesterday at the world premier of Tropic Thunder, the new Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black film, which chronicles actors who are dropped into a live war zone to film a war movie guerrilla style, the stars walked the carpet (which to their surprise) to not cheers from fans, but boo's of protest from angry protesters.

Apparently, in the film, somebody calls Ben Stiller's character a 'Retard', which is apparently a word you can't say in modern cinema. With movies like Superbad, Soul Plane, Borat, and Epic Movie, constantly lampooning gay people, as well as people of other nationalities and religions, you would think that anything said in a film is alright, as long as a film is given a proper rating to keep out the lil' kids.

I think this is ridiculous because retard is a word that people use all the time in real-life, and it is a film that is a comedy and is not meant to be taken seriously in any degree. Secondly, if you know it is happening in the film and don't approve, just don't see it.

This reminds me of back when Horton Hears a Who came out earlier this year, and was met by protests of people who took the line "A Person's a Person No Matter How Small" quite literally as to a anti-abortion statement. Due to protesters in the theaters with the industry people and the stars, at Tropic Thunder, they took nothing with a grain of salt. Everyone who was not industry was locked out of the main theater, and sent into the one across the street. The red carpet was blocked off, and security was increased, making it no fun for anyone.

Maybe next time people can realize that a film is just a film, and will be gone and forgotten sooner than it will with out them performing antics that will make this a day to remember, and promote the film quite well. Remember, even bad publicity is still publicity.