Review: Happy Feet

Mumble sets off to discover what has happened to all the fish after being shunned from the penguin colony for his lightness of foot.

Cute movie with a message. Great music, awesome animation. At one point I was confused as to whether the people in the movie were real or animated. I definitely know at one point they were real but there were also points where they seemed animated too. Crazy.

My favorite parts of the movie:

The Music
The Animation
Robin Williams, always great

4 out of 5 stars.

Trailer: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Review: Casino Royale

James Bond (Danial Craig) recieves double-o status and enters a high-stakes poker game to stop a financer of world terrorism.

Excellent movie all around. (As long as you don't mind a blond Bond, which I don't). I appreciate that the series has abadoned the cheesy-type movies they made with Pierce Brosnan, except for Goldeneye. I enjoyed Goldeneye. It reminds me of where the Batman series went before Batman Begins. The only slightly cheesy part in this movie is the unbelievable action, especially the crane sequence. However, I will give them the fact that it is a movie after all and action in general keeps getting bigger and crazier.

The dialogue between Vesper Lyd (Eva Green) and Bond is wonderful, especially during their first meeting on the bullet train. This movie also has the funniest torture scene. Probably the only funny torture seen ever.

Also, crashing Aston Martins, ouch. My dream car...

My favorite parts of the movie:

Refreshing humor
the poker game
the opening credits
Dame Judi Dench (M) is always wonderful
Aston Martins

And I must say Bond in his swim trunks, ow ;)

5 out of 5 stars.

Lauren's Tidbits

I just finished watching Full Metal Jacket starring Matthew Modine, Vincent D'Onofrio, and Adam Baldwin. What a messed up movie. I must say that Vincent D'Onofrio is one of my least favorite actors, right under Steven Segal and Chuck Norris. He is a good actor (unlinke the other two) but all of his characters irritate me. He gained 70 pound for his role in the movie. A record just broken by Christian Bale (100 pounds from The Machinist to Batman Begins). R. Lee Emery, the drill instructor, also irritates me. He was hired to train the actor playing the drill instructor and won the role with his demostrations. (Spoiler alert: Thankfully they both bite the big one in this movie).

Trailer: Evan Almighty

Trailer: Bridge to Terabithia

I remember really enjoying this book as a 6th/7th grader.

Trailer: The Simpsons Movie

Trailer: Spiderman 3

Review: The Prestige

Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Bolden (Christian Bale) are two rival magicians in 19th century London.

Great mystery. Slightly confusing. The movie goes back and forth in time quite frequently, often without an obvious transition. Nevertheless, the plot twists and turns are wonderful. I definitely recommend this to anyone who likes figuring out where the plot of a movie is going to go next.

It reunites Batman Begins' stars Christian Bale and Michael Caine with director, Christopher Nolan. Plus, no movie would be complete without David Bowie, remember Labyrinth. (He's a trained mime. That explains so much.)

My favorite parts of the movie:

The secrets
The cast
Especially Andy Serkis, what a great character actor, got to give it up for Gollum

5 out of 5 stars.

Lauren's Tidbits

The Goldblums

There is a new professor in the Geography Department at NIU, David Goldblum, who is related to Jeff Goldblum (Independence Day, The Fly, Jurassic Park). I believe they are cousins. Jeff was coincidentally in the last movie I reviewed, Man of the Year. They even kind of look alike, in a nerdy scientist kind of way.

Review: Man of the Year

Comedian Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams) decides to run for president after an audience member of his talk show makes a flip comment that he should.

Very funny, especially if you enjoy Robin Williams and/or political humor. Besides the comedy extending from his underground run for president, the movie also tackles the more serious vein of the fraudulent electronic voting system employed in the election. The humor and seriousness came in bursts with the movie taking itself a litte too serious. I mean in a comedy I should not almost have a heart attack from fright. Seriously.

My favorite parts of the movie:

Robin Williams
His candidness with the press

4 out of 5 stars.

Review: The Guardian

Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) is reassigned after losing his crew to teach A-school for Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers which includes swim champ Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher).

A good movie about the unheralded Coast Guard. The rescue scenes were exciting but the movie was a little too long at 2 hrs and 19 mins.

My favorite parts of the movie:
The second trip to the Navy bar
The old Coast Guard pictures in the credits

3 out of 5 stars.

Lauren's Tidbits

Actress Isabella Rossellini's (Death Becomes Her, Wyatt Earp) mother was Ingrid Bergman (Casablanca). Her first movie was with her mother, A Matter of Time.

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow's (Shakespeare in Love, Sliding Doors) mother is Blythe Danner (Meet the Parents). Her first movie was Hook.

Isabella was on Ross' (David Schwimmer) "LIST" on Friends and starred with Gwyneth in The Pallbearer.

Lauren's Tidbits

Random movie trivia, anecdotes, and connections...

The Parent Trap: Joanna Barnes played Vicky, the young money-grabbing fiance, in the original 1961 version with Hayley Mills and Hayley Mills. (Remember the honey on the toes). She also played Vicki, Meridith's mom (the young money-grabbing fiance), in the 1998 version with Lindsey Lohan and Lindsey Lohan.

"You can call me Aunt Vicky/Vicki."

Trailer: Eragon

Review: Invincible

The true story of Vincent Papale (Mark Wahlberg), a Philadelphia Eagles fan who makes the team during open tryouts.

I love football and I love all the Disney-we overcame the odds-Sports Stories, Remember the Titans, The Rookie, Miracle... Hence, I really enjoyed Invincible. Good Dramady (Drama and Comedy) mixture. In fact, I wish it was a little longer. Anyway, good fun that gears me up for football season.

My favorite parts of the movie:

Mud Football
His love interest, Janet, is a Giants fan
His recovered fumble

4 out of 5 stars.

One is never enough, Part 2 (see I told you)

Walt Disney is filming Unnatural History about a faimly trapped in a History Museum overnight and the exhibits start coming to life. Sound Familiar??? Of course, it does because (say it with me now), One is never enough. I will admit though that Unnatural History is a far superior title to A Night at the Museum.

Why is one never enough?

Armageddon: Deep Impact

Dante's Peak: Volcano

National Treasure: Sahara

Now it's....

Beowulf and Grendel: Beowulf

At least this time, it's indie/art house versus mainstream... poor little indie flick.

The Nativity Story

Brave Project. First impressions look good. Check out at behind the scenes featurette at their website. Opens December 1, 2006 just in time for Christmas.

A Night at the Museum

This looks right up my alley. Very Toy Story, Indian in the Cupboard....except with Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke and Mickey Rooney. Website