Horton Hears A Who!

As a kid I don’t remember too much about my early childhood. Maybe all the TV I’ve watched has started to replace my memories with TV theme songs. Somehow I never seem to forget those. If they could turn the periodic table of elements into one of those catchy 80’s theme song, I would be the greatest scientist in the world.

One thing I do remember was having Dr. Suess' books. A ton of Dr. Suess’ books. Did I really I have ever single one? I should check with my mom to verify if any of this is true. Either way I had remember having these books and Cat In The Hat bookends that kept them on top of my dresser. Needless to say I was excited to see Cat In The Hat and How The Grinch Stole Christmas. The Grinch I enjoyed but Cat In That Hat…………..not so much.

Why do I see kids movies at my age? I’m still not sure yet. I think it’s because they can do so much more with animation. They are able to make the characters more entertaining and the movie more visually stunning. Look at the way animation was used for huge hits like Sin City and 300. It doesn’t work for every movie because I’d rather drink bleach than watch Renaissance again.

Dr. Suess’ newest book turned kids movie is Horton Hears A Who. The movie starts Jim Carey as the voice of Horton the loveable Elephant who finds a world of people living on a speck of dust. He comes in contact with the Mayor of Whoville (Steve Carrell) and realizes he has to find a safe place for the tiny speck to live. Horton sets off to find a stable home and saving Whoville.

Horton’s neighbors refuse to believe anything can live on a speck. The most notorious of them is Kangaroo (Carol Burnett).

I was very surprised how much I enjoyed the movie. It was funny, heart-warming, and even had a “after school special” point to it at the end. The voices for the movie are casted very well. For some reasons the Who’s always remind me of Planet of The Apes.

One of the movies comedic highlights comes from Vlad (Will Artnet) an evil vulture. Vlad steals a few funny scenes with his ridiculous antics and even more ridiculous accent. Morton (Seth Rogen) is funny as Horton’s paranoid friend.

My suggestion: See Horton! It is a great family movie that continues the tradition of animated movies that both kids and adults can enjoy. I know kids can’t wait for the DVD release. Like any kids movie it will be annoying to the parents who are tortured into watching it every day for two months.

Knocked Up

Knocked Up

Still depressed about the $9.75 I spent to see Pirates Of The Caribbean 3: Waste Your Money On This . I realized I could have done a lot with that $9.75. I could have had lunch at Specialty's Bakery, food and drinks at happy hour, bought a health and fitness magazine I' ll never read (but looks really cool on my table) or even some new Star Wars stamps ! People are tired of hearing me complain about how much I couldn' t stand the movie. I really needed to see something good. I needed something positive to talk about. My choice this weekend was the comedy Knocked Up. Writer/Director Judd Apatow gives us is a fresh look at dating, relationships, marriage and pregnancy. Just not necessarily in that order.
Alison (Katherine Heigl) is out on the town after receiving a promotion and meets Ben (Seth Rogen). The two of them get drunk, have a one night stand, and 8 weeks later she realizes she' s pregnant. The film follows as both characters navigate through their lives as things start to change around this unplanned pregnancy.

Not only is this movie funny, I felt like Knocked Up is a very real movie with real characters and real dialogue. This is hard to find in cinema these days. Even with the raunchy jokes and foul language, the movie never feel off track. The conversations seemed to be plucked from real life and placed on film. From the awkward post one-night stand conversation, advice Ben and Alison receive from their friends and family, to the many discussions/arguments that you witness during the movie. It gives you that weird "maybe I shouldn' t be listening to this conversation " feeling. If you' ve ever walked in on your friend arguing with their spouse you know what I mean. I saw the movie with my friend and his wife. It all seemed so real to me, but then again I' m single. When I told them my feelings on the dialogue they agreed. I glanced over at them a few times during the film to catch a reaction and I could see them talking laughing as if they could relate.

One of the added bonuses of the film is Alison's sister Debbie (Leslie Mann) and her dissolving marriage with Pete (Paul Rudd). The two of them go back in forth in the film. It 's like they both can' t stand each other but are still really in love and just trying to figure things out. The parents-to-be look at them as maybe a glimpse into their not so happy future. Some of the films funniest moments come from Ben's roommates (Jason Segel, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Martin Starr) who argue fight like brothers. Also funny are two very short scenes with one of Alison's coworkers (Kristin Wiig) who makes very subtle but rude comments about Alison during a meeting with her boss.

Knocked Up is not a film about romance or a geek gets he girl tale. Don 't let the trailer for this film fool you. It 's a smart comedy and a real look at how this generation views relationships. You see how the characters grow throughout the film. There are some really good life lessons disguised as in slacker jokes and gross humor.

My Suggestion: Go see the film. You can A) get lost and laugh at all the jokes and take a timeout from life or B) Have a discussion about relationships and responsibility. I know you may think I 'm crazy for saying that, but see the film and then we'll see who 's crazy!

My Grade: 3.5 - The only reason you didn't get a 4.0 is to not show up your friends.