Quick Shots 11

OK, some of these films I haven't seen in a long time. I will do my best to remember.

Title: The Other Guys

Starring: Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton, Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Eva Mendes, Ray Stevenson, Anne Heche, Steve Coogan

Brief Synopsis: Allen Gamble (Ferrell) and Terry Hoitz (Wahlberg) are police detectives stuck on the sidelines, especially with super cops Chris Danson (Johnson) and P.K. Highsmith (Jackson) on the force. When an accident allows for another pair of cops to make name for themselves on the force, Hoitz tries to get paper pusher Gamble to get in on the game.

Opinion: I have to say that the opening sequence of this film was totally not what my wife and I were expecting. We looked at each other and couldn't believe it. The rest of the film was pretty mediocre in my opinion. I laughed a few times and I enjoyed Wahlberg's insane cop. The best part of the film, hands down, was Keaton. He was amazing as the police chief and he needs to be in way more films.

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Title: Whip It

Starring: Ellen Page, Alia Shawkat, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern, Jimmy Fallon, Kristen Wiig, Drew Barrymore, Juliette Lewis

Brief Synopsis: Bliss Cavendar (Page) is a teenager who has no real sense of who she wants to be, despite her mother's (Harden) insistence that she enter beauty pageants, even though she has no real interest in them. Her friend Pash (Shawkat) attends a roller derby contest together and falls in love with the game. She isn't old enough, but lies about her age and joins an unsuccessful team with her new role model, Maggie Mayhem (Wiig).

Opinion: I didn't have much hopes for this film, but I really enjoyed it. I actually enjoyed the roller derby portions of the film, and to my surprise it looked somewhat realistic. It was also pretty funny and a good coming of age film as Page's character develops into a stronger woman through her derby playing and new role models.

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Title: Tangled

Starring: Mandy Moore, Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, Brad Garrett, Ron Perlman, Jeffrey Tambor, M.C. Gainey

Brief Synopsis: This film is Disney's telling of Rapunzel. Rapunzel (Moore) is stolen from her parents (the king and queen) by Mother Gothel (Murphy) because of her magical hair that helps keep people young. Gothel keeps Rapunzel in large tower and doesn't allow her out at all. Every year on her birthday the kingdom lets off tons of lanterns, which she can see from her tower. On one birthday, she wants to go out and see them, but Gothel will not allow it. Flynn Rider (Levi) has just stolen her crown from the castle and tries to hide in her tower, but gets attacked by her instead. In order to get his crown back, Rider must take Rapunzel to see the lights and return her safe and sound.

Opinion: This was a fantastic film. I am a huge Disney buff anyway, but I really came away liking this film and Rapunzel is now my new favorite Disney princess. Lots going on in the film that I enjoyed, especially the humor. The attack scene with Rapunzel and Flynn was great, the amazing back and forth with Flynn and Max (a horse) was outstanding, and the Viking thugs were hilarious. One thing I felt was a little lacking (at least on the one viewing) was the songs. Usually there are a few songs that stick out in a Disney film, but the only one that really jumped out at me was the Viking song in the tavern.

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Title: Yogi Bear

Starring: Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake, Anna Faris, Tom Cavanagh, T.J. Miller, Andrew Daly, Nate Corddry

Brief Synopsis: Live action film about the Hanna-Barbara cartoon. Ranger Smith (Cavanaugh) needs to raise $40,000 to save Jellystone National Park. He teams up with Rachel (Faris), a documentary filmmaker, to throw a blow out and raise the money. Unfortunately, he not only has to deal with assistant deputy Ranger Jones (Miller), who is sabotaging the event to become head ranger - and the two talking bears in the park, Yogi (Aykroyd) and Boo Boo (Timberlake).

Opinion: This wasn't horrible, plus my son loves it. The bad guy was way over the top and it was a pretty basic storyline, but it seemed to work for this film.

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Title: Love and Other Drugs

Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Anne Hathaway, Josh Gad, Judy Greer, Oliver Platt, Hank Azaria

Brief Synopsis: Jamie Randall (Gyllenhaal) is a bullshitter who can find a way to sleep with just about anyone - including his boss' wife which gets him fired from his job. This leads him into a job in pharmaceutical sales with Pfizer. During his time there he meets a girl, Maggie Murdock (Hathaway), who suffers from Parkinson's disease. The rest of the film is their up and down relationship and his rise as a representative.

Opinion: First of all, let me just get it out of the way, the nudity was outstanding - good looking people. Now, this was a great and new way of making a romantic comedy. Plus the addition of Oliver Platt is always a good thing.

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