Quick Shots 4

Title: Paul Blart: Mall Cop.

Starring: Kevin James, Keir O'Donnell, Jayma Mays, Adam Ferrera.

Brief Synopsis: Paul Blart (James) wants to become a police officer, but suffers from narcolepsy and continues to fall just short of making it. He is also a single father, who lives at home with his mother. He is, however, the only person that can protect the West Orange Pavilion Mall during a break in.

Opinion: Another story of the loser overcoming all odds to take down the crooks. Of course there is also the gaining of respect from other police officers and the love story between the girl that is way out of his league. There were some decent laughs, but no where near the amount a Kevin James film should have.

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Title: New In Town.

Starring: Renee Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., J.K. Simmons, Siobhan Fallon.

Brief Synopsis: Lucy Hill (Zellweger) is a pretty high up executive living in Miami who takes on the task of a company in Minnesota to help downsize the company. Along the way she seems to make fun of each and every person in the town, but because they are such decent people they come to her aid to help save the company from being closed.

Opinion: This was a pretty decent film, I actually laughed more than I did during Paul Blart. It's kind of odd how Zellweger has sort of fallen off the charts as a leading actress. This film was a pretty good date movie, nothing more-nothing less.

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Title: The Hammer.

Starring: Adam Carolla, Oswaldo Castillo.

Brief Synopsis: Jerry Ferro (Carolla) just got fired from his carpetring job. He is still, however, a boxing instructor at a local gym - and somehow impresses a local boxing coach into gaining a tryout to make the Olympics. He does everything possible along the way, overcoming insermountable odds. He later finds out that the coach was only using him as a free sparring partner for his true prized fighter.

Opinion: This movie was definitely a little known gem. If you are a fan of Carolla at all, I suggest checking out this movie. I found it hilarious, and the premise of the film was actually pretty well done. Very good flick.

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Title: Still Waiting.

Starring: John Michael Higgins, Alanna Ubach, Steve Howery, Luis Guzman, Justin Long.

Brief Synopsis: A rival restaurant opens up right next to Shenanigenz and current manager, Dennis (Higgins) is trying to become a regional manager - in this night to even get considered he has to have the best night ever at his restaurant.

Opinion: The sequel to the pretty popular Waiting film, except straight to DVD. It's pretty weird though, because this was better than some films that actually get a full release. No where near the first film, but still pretty entertaining.

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25 Days: Fred Claus

The 25 Days of Christmas rolled on last night as we took in Fred Claus.

Fred Claus came out last year in November and stars Vince Vaughn as the titular character.

The story follows an unknown relative of a certain jolly fat-man named Santa Claus, played by Paul Giamatti. This relative is his older brother, who has been in his younger brother's shadow for years.

We learn that when Nicholas was born, he was immediately a giver and a saint. Fred began to resent his younger brother, as his mother often wished he would be more like him.

Fast-forward many, many years and Fred is still the black sheep of the family, while Christmas has totally taken off thanks to Nick.

In order to start up a company, Fred asks Nick for a loan - but to get the loan he has to go to the North Pole to visit and work off some of the debt.

This just happens to intertwine with the visit of Clyde Northcut (Kevin Spacey), a efficiency expert with a grudge.

Of course, as things start to pile up thanks to Fred and his bumbling ways - Christmas comes very close to being canceled. That is, of course, unless Fred can save the day.

I have two very different opinions about this film. First, because it is a Christmas film and obviously meant to have a lesson, I cut it a little slack. The entire story as a whole was very nice and very easy to watch.

I felt that all of the characters played their parts very well, and seeing Giamatti as Santa was pretty entertaining in itself.

I did have a few issues, though. The main one being the simple fact that a man (Santa) who spends his entire time doing things for the benefit of others for no reimbursement, would ever have an efficiency expert - or at least would ever listen to him. He isn't profiting from what he is doing, so there was no need. So, you really had to look past that.

Also, the main elf, Willie, is played by John Michael Higgins who just so happens to be a normal sized person. There were also a few others mixed in, like a DJ played by Ludacris. However, a few of the others were played by little people, or even children. What was the point of mixing that up? They should have went with the all of one to make things flow a little better.

And finally, this seems to happen in every Christmas film, but there is one 'elf' who happens to be regular size named Charlene, played by Elizabeth Banks. No real mention why she is regular size, she just is. Besides the main family and Northcut, everyone else was a small elf that was in the North Pole - so why was this one person normal size?

Just a few beefs, but it didn't really take a lot away from the film. I laughed out a few times and the story obviously held a lesson for the end.

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