Winter Break Movie Fun - Day Five - Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

DH went with Lady K and me to the movies today. The only movie he's been interested in seeing over the holidays has been Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, so we waited until he told us when he wanted to go. He said he had enough hours this week to come home early and we could make the 4:10 show. Yippee!
So very glad he could go with us, we don't get to see movies together very often. He's not a fan of getting up early like Lady K and I to make the first show of the day. Any later and the theater can get crowded.
We lucked out tonight and it was quite manageable and I had two passes from a previous trip to the show that led to a bunch of shuffling from one theater to another due to a scheduling mixup. Only had to pay for Lady K this time...bonus.

That luck only enhanced the enjoyment of the fab movie that is the sequel to the superb Sherlock Holmes of a couple of years ago.

From imdb.com
Storyline
Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and his longtime trusted associate, Doctor Watson (Jude Law), take on their arch-nemesis, Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), with the help of Holmes's older brother Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry) and a gypsy named Sim (Noomi Rapace).Written by ABID NAZIR

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The story is well told with superb action and humor. I'd love to go see it again tomorrow if we had the time. I can't do too much in reviewing without feeling like I'd be giving up some spoilers. The disguises and dialogue are perfection and I'll leave it at that.

Highly enjoyable and definitely recommendable. Go see it!

Winter Break Movie Fun - Day Four - The Muppets

Day four of the Winter Break Movie Fun featured 'The Muppets'. What a fun movie!!! Jason Segel, Amy Adams, a host of Muppets, and a lot of cameos are the good guys with Chris Cooper as the evil Tex Richman who wants the Muppet theater for his own selfish means. It's so much fun, good tunes especially when the song and dance scene ends and Amy Adams' or Jason Segel's daydream gets back to reality....kind of like when you sing out loud to the tune on the radio and your forget that you have your earbuds in? And everyone is looking at you kinda funny? It's perfectly played in the movie.
From imdb.com:
When 3 muppet fans learn that Tex Richman wants to drill under the muppet theater for oil Gary, Mary and Walter set out to find the muppets who have been split up for years Kermit lives in his own mansion depressed in hollywood, Gonzo is a high class plumber at Gonzo's Royal Flush, Fozzie performs with a tribute band called The Moopets , Miss Piggy is the plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, and Animal is at a celebrity anger managment rehab center in Santa Barbara.Written by Dre

Excellent tunes that make the audience grin especially if you are a fan of the show from back in the day. I am, so I was grinning like a fool the whole time. It was excellent sharing this with Lady K. We can both highly recommend this fun movie.

Mahna-mahna..do..doo..do..do..do...Mahna-Mahna...

Winter Break Movie Fun - Day Two - We Bought a Zoo

Day two of the Winter Break Movie Fun was my choice, "We Bought a Zoo". It is based on a true story and stars Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church and is directed by Cameron Crowe, so I went in knowing it would be good. And I was right (I like being right). It was highly enjoyable for both Lady K and myself.
Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) is coping the best he can as a single father of two after his wife succumbs to cancer. She's been gone for six months and the oldest child has become a surly teen and the youngest is the sweetest and doing her best to help her sad father. Benjamin has always been a self-admitted adventure junkee and newspaper writer. The newspaper biz is going under and his son has messed up one too many times and is expelled after his third strike.
Benjamin knows the family needs a change of scenery and goes in search of a new home. He finds the perfect house with eighteen acres attached. That eighteen acres is necessary since it's a zoo.
Benjamin sees an opportunity to begin a new life and have a new adventure. The zoo is on its last legs and is in danger of being closed with all of the animals being disposed of.
Benjamin thinks otherwise and buys the place against family's advice.

The movie is about family and doing the right thing even against all odds. A family movie with something for everyone. I liked that it wasn't just parents and kids at the movie when we went this morning. There were couples, young and old as well as extended families of grandparents bringing their kids and grandkids.

I'd go see this again and will definitely get it on DVD.

Winter Break Movie Fun - Day One - Alvin & The Chipmunks: Chipwrecked

Lady K and I are on day one of our turn at winter break. One of the nice things about winter break timeframe are the movies that get released....family movies especially. Lady K and I plan to see one movie a day at the show, doing out part to support AMC and popcorn growers.

Lady K has been wanting to see this third in the Alvin and the Chipmunks series of flicks for the longest time. The only reason I'd watch these is because of having an 8-year-old who loves the Chipmunks and Chippettes and tunes to dance to.

A reasonably decent storyline with cute catchphrases throughout. Even a mention of the honeybadger is in there, which made me grin.

The Chips and Dave are on a cruise ship destined for the International Music Awards. Alvin causes trouble resulting in the gang ending up on a desert island. Plenty of bits borrowed from other movies like 'Castaway' and 'Goonies'.

Then there are the tunes by Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, The Go-Go's done by the Chipmunks and Chippettes....catchy...

Tomorrow will be my choice, 'We Bought a Zoo'.

Movie review: Crazy Stupid Love

Went to see Crazy Stupid Love this morning. SUCH a sweet funny wee bit sad movie! I laughed so hard, had tears in my eyes, and smiled a lot. I can highly recommend this romantic comedy as a see it by yourself, with your buds or your date. My favorite scene. But it might have been this one.....

Go See Secretariat!!!

Lady K and I just got back from the 0855 showing of Secretariat. This has got to be the best movie I've seen this year. I tend to shy away from movies based on fact, since I know the ending...and those movies are always overblown in production and publicity. I made an exception for Secretariat for Lady K and what I saw in the advertisements. I also like Diane Lane and John Malkovich and James Cromwell, three of the stars.
The movie is more than a story of a horse who won the Triple Crown, it's the story of the people who believed in him. The people who made this movie did the best filming angles, story writing, acting. I kept laughing at the funniest bits and raising my fists in victory and cheering when Secretariat won each race. Lady K and I danced in our seats at the tunes played, "Oh Happy Day" performed by the Edwin Hawkins Singers and "I'll Take You There" performed by The Staple Singers. The radio is playing in each scene the songs are played as Penny (Diane Lane), Lucien (John Malkovich) and Eddie (Nelsan Ellis) as they are washing down Secretariat. The scenes of laughter, smiles and dancing made me grin and feel so much better.
And it did take me a bit to recognize one of the actors, Nelsan Ellis, playing Eddie, Secretariat's groom and friend. Nelsan is known to me as Lafayette Reynolds on HBO's True Blood. I knew I'd seen those gorgeous eyes and lovely voice somewhere. And it hit me soon enough.
Go see this movie. It will lift you up and make you cheer.

Big bowl of feel good lift you up diamonds....

Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D

This was Lady K's first 3D flick and she loved it! It was an inadvertant choice, we just wanted to see the movie. Only found out it was 3D when we bought the tickets and they handed us the glasses. Lady K was excited, to say the least. I was a little less so. I don't have good luck with 3D or simulations or spinny rides, so I just knew I'd be in for a long 90-some minutes.
Gotta say, though, that the 3D was easy and totally made the movie superbly fun. Very well done and I really wish that the DVD version could come out in 3D. The movie itself was very loosey-goosey and it helped to just let it flow over you and not get too caught up in the missing bits or how the humans were able to outrun the T Rex....just let it flow over you and you will be fine. And then there is Brendan Fraser....WOOF! Have always enjoyed watching him, especially in movies like this. The Mummy series is a huge part of my 'guilty pleasure' drawer of DVDs...
So go, put on the 3D glasses and enjoy seeing the tape measures, rocks, water, T Rex spit, all that fun schtuff...come at ya!
Four 3D beans!!!

THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR

Another fun day at the movies for the Browning clan. Went to see Mummy 3. Not a great movie, not as good as the first two. I missed Rachel Weisz as Evie, but there was yummy John Hannah as Jonathan and Brendan Fraser again as the dashing Rick. Their son, Alex, has grown up and is an archeologist in his own right and getting into the thick of things in China. Enough good adventure and special effects and an enjoyable time had by all and that counts for three beans.