We Bought a Zoo

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: After the death of his wife, Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) feels the need to move himself and his kids out of town to escape all the memories of her, but the house he falls in love with happens to also be a zoo.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford, Maggie Elizabeth, Jones, Angus Macfadyen, Elle Fanning, Patrick Fugit, John Michael Higgins, Carla Gallo, J.B. Smoove, Stephanie Szostak, Kym Whitley

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! This is the "family film" version of The Descendants, and between you and me, it's a lot more pleasant to watch.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: More than The Descendants.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: More than The Descendants.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Less than The Descendants, but that wouldn't be the case if I were the boss of all things buzz.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Matt Damon is always good-- if we don't count that moment when he smiles a little too hard at Scarlett Johansson, who is usually bad, but bucks that trend in this one-- if we don't count that moment when she stares a little too hard at Matt Damon. But the true breakouts here are the kids, Colin Ford, who shows some real acting chops at the ripe young age of 14, and Maggie Elizabeth Jones who may actually be as cute as Drew Barrymore was as a kid.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: My only gripe about the directing is actually about the acting. Both John Michael Higgins and Angus Macfadyen seems to be in a much broader and over the top movie than the rest of the cast, who played it real. I would let it slide with a lesser director, but Cameron Crowe, you're better than that.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Nothing in the script is particularly brilliant, but you still let the occasional cheesy or improbable line of dialogue slide because the story is so damn sweet.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: We Bought a Zoo Trailer

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The Other Guys

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A couple of buddy cops who hate each other (Will Ferrell & Mark Wahlberg) try to prove that they are not the two most incompetent police officers who ever lived.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Will Ferrel, Mark Wahlberg, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendez, Steve Coogan, Rob Riggle, Damon Wayans, Jr., Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ray Stevenson, Bobby Cannavale, Andy Buckley, Lindsay Sloane, Natalie Zea, Anne Heche, Michael Delaney

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! As far as Will Ferrell movies go, this one actually has a story. And yes, I admit that my expectations for his movies are so low that I may be being more lenient than I normally am.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Prepare for usual stupid, wacky Will Ferrel comedy stylings, which often make no logical sense, and yet seem to catch on like The Macarena.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: No, but when people fall from tall buildings, you actually get to see them hitting the ground... So that's disturbing.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: I think it's going to be up for the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences for the mind blowing stats and charts during the credit sequence that point out exactly how badly we were screwed by the banks in the financial collapse. What, you didn't know this was a message movie?

Q: How is the Acting?

A: First of all Mark Wahlberg is hilarious in this. His curmudgeonliness reminded me of Mr. Roper from Three's Company, the way he would smile through intense annoyance, unable to hide his insincerity. And Will Ferrell's jokes are always funnier when they come from a character who is sweet, naive, and innocent, as they do in this film, than when they come from that unlikeble cocky, bastard place, as they do in some of his less well developed films. I am always happy to see him in a character that highlights his strength. Sadly, I didn't think Steve Coogan was exploited to the best of his abilities.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Adam McKay, who directs most of Will Ferrell's movies, succeeded in making it look like a Will Ferrell movie.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I was ecstatic to see that there was one, even if it contained several moments, emotions, and jokes that have no basis in reality.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-other-guys/38655/trailers

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17 Again

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: If you don't know what this movie is about from looking at the title, you're an idiot.

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Zac Efron, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Matthew Perry, Sterling Knight, Michelle Tractenberg, Hunter Parrish, Melora Hardin, Jim Gaffigan, Brian Doyle-Murray, Nicole Sullivan

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! It's been done before, it'll be done again, but I don't think it will ever stop being a good time for all. Anyway, you can't really go wrong with a premise about suddenly changing ages, and getting mixed up in weird sexual situations like having to avoid your daughter's come-ons and resist your own attraction to your currently age-inappropriate wife.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: Not guaranteed, but it will definitely make you smile.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: Zac Efron is like porn for the 16 and under crowd. And since the movie opens on shots of his shirtless 6 pack abs, some girls will be screaming and crying by the end of the first scene.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: I'll bet Matthew Perry would give it an award for Movie I Most Wish Were My Real Life and Not some Made-up Story. Can you imagine if every time his life fell apart, he got to turn into a mature version of Zac Efron? Those hard times he fell on during the height of Friends never would've happened.

Q: How is the Acting?

A: All Zac Efron has to do to get the ladies screaming is walk to the beat of the soundtrack, looking cool. It's a good thing for him, too, cuz that's kind of what he does best. And I'm so glad that Leslie Mann married Judd Apatow, so that he could put her in his movies, so that Hollywood could get a chance to recognize how funny she is, and let her be a star in her own right.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: You can tell this director comes from an indy background, because he takes a story that is an otherwise standard example of what comes out of the studio machine, and tries to add some art to it. Sure it draws attention to itself as being totally on the nose, but if you didn't know from the actor's expression that he was going through a difficult time, at least the blatant lighting shift from bright and cheery to dark and dismal telegraphs that for you at every phase. The good news is, it's no longer important for an actor to convey his own feelings, when the dramatic shift in lighting and music can do most of it for him. And that means we can cast more really good-looking, totally talentless people in stuff!

Q: How is the story/script?

A: The set up is really heavy handed, with lines like, "You're my best friend"-- as if we couldn't tell. And, "If your wife hadn't kicked you out and your kids didn't hate you, etc."-- in case we weren't going to catch on to the family dynamic depicted in the very next scene... But once Matthew Perry turns into Zac Efron the fun begins, and the clunky exposition takes a rest.

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: http://www.moviefone.com/movie/17-again/33126/trailers

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