Ed's Review Dot Com

Centro Digital Pictures Ltd., Davis Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Madeline Carroll, Angela Lansbury, Ophelia Lovibond, James Tupper, Philip Baker Hall, Dominic Chianese, Kelli Barrett

Tom Popper (Jim Carrey) is a vicious real estate mogul who can close any deal. He’s a divorced Dad with two kids who he’s trying to be close to, but is finding it difficult as the kids grow up. Tom had a father who was an adventurer and a world traveler and had little time to spend with him as a boy which has caused him some issues.
His father passed away and sent as a gift a penguin which quickly becomes 6 penguins. Living in a penthouse with 6 penguins is a bit of a challenge, but because the kids love them, he tries to make it work. To top it off, his biggest challenge at work is to purchase the Tavern on the Green in Central Park for his firm from a wise old lady named Mrs. Van Gundy (Angela Lansbury) who is not eager to sell, but is looking for someone who has great worth. Can Popper keep the kids happy, and try to scam Mrs. Van Gundy at the same time?

Mr. Popper’s Penguins is a quite well done tale, similar to a lot of other movies, even some of Jim Carrey’s own like “Liar Liar” for example. But it’s such a charming story and the premise of trying to raise penguins in a Park Avenue penthouse is very unique and very well done. This story has less Jim Carrey making funny faces and crazy pratfalls, and instead gives up lots of story and character development and heart. This is so much better than Zookeeper turned out to be, and I enjoyed this film very, very much more. Since I saw them so close together it is hard not to compare. Mr. Popper wins by a mile.

Jim Carrey has the ability to crack you up one second, and leave you crying your eyes out the next. This is a familiar story which is why I did not give this 5 stars, but as I said before, the fact that the story is so unique makes it really fresh, so you don’t mind the “Dad who has a bad relationship with this kids and is tied up to his job too much and needs a crisis or two to bring him close to his kids and make him realize he still loves his ex-wife” bit is in the background of all the action going on in the apartment. I just think that this is going to be a very fun movie for the youngsters because of all the penguins running around, and still plenty of story for the grown ups to enjoy. Bringing this out in July is a really odd decision, as it really feels like a perfect Christmas movie, but in a way, it’s a nice way to feel “artificially cool” in the middle of the summer too. I really liked this movie, and if you’re tired of all the big action films and anxious to take the kids to see a great kids story, this is an excellent choice. I highly recommend this one.

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Broken Road Productions, Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison Productions

Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb, Ken Jeong, Nick Nolte, Adam Sandler, Sylvester Stallone, Cher, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Maya Rudolph, Don Rickles, Jim Breuer

Griffin Keyes (Kevin James) is in love with a hot girl, but when he offers marriage, she laughs at him because he’s a zookeeper. So Griffin has to review his life and whether it’s time to move on to a better job. But he’s a great zookeeper and the animals love him, and they don’t want to lose him. But what we never knew is that the animals talk, but never do because it always “turns out badly”. Zookeeper is a romantic comedy featuring talking animals. What could go wrong?

Nearly everything. This is a Happy Madison production, and unfortunately it follows suit to most of the other Adam Sandler productions. It’s partially Kevin James’ fault as well, but he seems like a nice guy. He just is stuck in the lovable oaf who spouts fat jokes and falls down a lot. The talking animals bit is pretty funny for a few minutes, but as it goes on, it’s way to predictable for the grown-ups and even boring for the kids. This should have been a decent movie, and they tried really hard, but it fell into the trap of being exactly like a slew of other films. I really wanted to enjoy this film, but was so disappointed. This is one of those films where everything funny is in the preview, and that’s never a good sign.

Granted there are a couple decent laughs (most which were in the preview anyway) and the depressed gorilla is a hoot, and Ken Jeong manages to keep his clothes on for the PG rating’s sake. But, unfortunately there’s just not enough here to make it worth the price of a ticket. Some kids might get into the talking animals bit, and there’s a chase, of sorts, to get to the airport before the girl leaves town (once Griffin figures out what he really wants). It was a disappointment, as this should have a been a really cute film.

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Columbia Pictures, Mosaic Media Group

Cameron Diaz, Lucy Punch, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake, Phyllis Smith, John Michael Higgins, Dave Allen, Jillian Armenante, Matthew J. Evans

Elizabeth Halsey is a gold digger! She has a boy toy who she uses for his huge credit limits and lavish presents. Finally he is fed up with her, and just before their engagement, she quits her job as a unimpressive teacher to finally live the good life only to find out that he’s dumping her. Now she’ll have to go back to work. There is a handsome substitute teacher who comes from a wealthy family, so naturally she gravitates to him, (Justin Timberlake) but she has a bit of competition, a very enthusiastic teacher named Amy Squirrel (Lucy Punch). Not only that, but the P.E. Teacher Jason Segel) is stalking her no matter what.

This is a cute little romantic comedy, very much like the movies “Bad Santa” or “Mr Woodcock” from a few years back. Cameron Diaz is pretty good as a flaky blonde gold digger who wants to step over anybody to get her way. This is not a unique story in the least. So you’ve seen it before, certainly, which is why it’s not kicking butt in the theaters. But still there are some unique funny parts that make it fun to watch. It’s hardly worth plunking down $12.00 to see it in the theater with all the blockbusters out this summer, but as soon as cool weather rolls around, it’ll be out on DVD and well worth watching. Lucy Punch is fantastic as Miss. Do Right, queen of nice, Miss Gung Ho, and the best teacher in the state, and she gets down and dirty when she has to fight the Queen of Mean head to head. One unique thing about this film is that it doesn’t slap you in the head with a moral. The nasty bitch wins and, just like real life, gets what she wants after all. The other characters are very funny as well. Phyllis Smith from The Office is perfectly cast as a teacher who wants to be bad, but just can’t be. She envies Elizabeth, but just can’t pull it off. Jason Segel is pretty much wasted in this movie, but it must have been fun for him to play, as he didn’t have to stretch much to play the nice guy P.E. teacher who’s just happy with life.

Not recommended for full price, but great as a $6.00 matinee or as a DVD rental, Bad Teacher is a friendly movie that will make you laugh without having to think too hard. But it’s not breaking any new ground, so it will seem awfully familiar.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog

Movie Rentals Releasing Tuesday July 14, 2011

• Rango
• Arthur
• The Lincoln Lawyer
• Insidious Click HERE for Eds Review]
• Miral

Serendipity Point Films, Fandango, Harold Greenberg Fund, The

Paul Giamatti, Rosamund Pike, Minnie Driver, Scott Speedman, Dustin Hoffman, Jake Hoffman, Mark Addy, Saul Rubinek, Rachelle Lefevre, Bruce Greenwood

Barney Panofsky (Paul Giamatti), a Jewish Canadian television producer, reflects in flashbacks on three strange decades and three wives. Clara (Rachelle Lefevre), a free-spirited proponent of free love was the first. “Mrs. P” (Minnie Driver), a self-centered princess who cares for things and is very demanding was the second. Miriam (Rosamund Pike), the right woman who comes along at the wrong time. Barney led an interesting life, and as he is entering his golden years, he it taking time to look back at the events in his life.

I found this to be a very interesting look at the life and loves of one man. There are many parts that are quite humorous, some downright funny. In his younger years Barney was a carefree fellow. As time passes, he makes a few very bad decisions. Barney’s job as a producer of very mundane and useless television program who drinks too much, smokes too much, and is an extreme hockey fan, lives an ironic life. With all his excesses, he’s still a decent guy and when he meets the love of his life at the wrong time, he hangs in there trying to be close to her regardless of the consequences. The irony in the end of his life is not lost either as slowly he loses everything that was important to him. Mostly a sad and frustrating life, Barney still tries to make the best of everything that gets thrown at him.

This film also makes use of one of the longest standing urban legends which results in a moment that is kind of hard to follow. You’ll know what I mean when you see it, and if you keep “snopes.com” in mind you’ll get what finally happened to Barney’s best fried.

I enjoyed this film, and found it surprising. It’s all about Barney, and basically someone wrote a book about his life and how he got away with murder. The whole film is “Barney’s version” of what happened to rebut the book. If you’re a fan of strong character development stories, this is a good one, and although a bit sad, especially in the end, it’s got it’s funny moments and is a very entertaining life.

EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog