Quick Shots 10

Title: Grown Ups

Starring: Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Rob Schneider, David Spade, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Maya Rudolph, Maria Bello

Brief Synopsis: A group of friends reunite at a camp on the lake after their basketball coach passes away. A lot has changed with the friends over time - and some start to realize that they may have not changed for the better.

Opinion: As much as I heard this film get blasted, I have to say I actually enjoyed it. Is it amazing? Absolutely not, but it was pretty good and I definitely laughed out loud a handful of times. Sometimes the actors do play out a joke a little too far, but there were enough to make this an alright film.

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Title: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Starring: Michael Cera, Kieran Culkin, Ellen Wong, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Jason Schwartzman, Brandon Routh, Chris Evans

Brief Synopsis: Pilgrim (Cera) plays in a band that is looking to make it big. He also happens to fall in love with Ramona Flowers (Winstead). Little does he know that in order to date Flowers he must defeat her seven evil exes.

Opinion: I loved it. Wasn't sure how everything would play out, but it was done really well. Kieran Culkin as Cera's gay roommate was amazing, and each of the seven evil exes battles was done really well. I loved the video game aspect - just done really well.

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Title: Twilight: Eclipse

Starring: Robert Pattinson, Talor Lautner, Kristen Stewart, Bryce Dallas Howard, Xavier Samuel

Brief Synopsis: The third installment of the Twilight series. Bella (Stewart) has chosen between Jacob (Lautner) and Edward (Pattinson). However, Victoria (Howard) is still out to destroy her and rip apart the Cullens. She has created an army led by Riley (Samuel) to track her down and kill her. The Cullens are forced to join forces wit he werewolves in order to protect Bella and the town.

Opinion: I feel I liked this one a little better than before, but it is still way too much of a love triangle for me. I was pretty jazzed for the vampire and werewolf fight, but was a bit let down as to how short it was. I thought the entire movie was building to that point and it was sort of rushed in my opinion.

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Title: How to Train Your Dragon

Starring: Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Craig Ferguson, Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill

Brief Synopsis: Vikings and dragons have always been enemies and it is up to the vikings to kill the dragons in order to stay alive. At least that is what everyone believed until scrawny Hiccup (Baruchel) befriends an injured dragon and learns the real truth behind why the dragons are attacking the village.

Opinion: I have to say this was a very good movie, however, I am not sure why it is considered to be even close to Toy Story 3. That being said, this was the second best animated film I have seen all year. It was beautiful to look at, and it had a great story. And my son loved it - which is a good way to judge animation in my opinion.

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Title: Dinner for Schmucks

Starring: Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, Zach Galifianakis, Jemaine Clement, Stephanie Szostak, Ron Livingston, Bruce Greenwood.

Brief Synopsis: Tim (Rudd) is really looking forward to getting a promotion at his company in order for his girlfriend to think he is a big shot and marry him. He is very close to getting the promotion when he finds out he needs to find a loser to bring to a dinner so everyone can make fun of them - lucky for him, he meets Barry (Carell).

Opinion: I will say this, I did laugh a few times during this film. But, I also have to say that I was not expecting it to be as bad as it was. Everything seemed forced - especially the humor. The only redeeming quality was the underlying story of Barry losing his wife, except we didn't get any real closure to that in the end. So, I do not recommend this film.

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