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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Zookeeper

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A zookeeper (Kevin James) finds out that the animals can talk, when they try to reunite him with the woman who broke his heart (Leslie Bibb).

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Kevin James, Rosario Dawson, Leslie Bibb, Ken Jeong, Donnie Wahlberg, Joe Rogan, Nat Faxon, Steffiana De La Cruz, Nick Turturro, Brandon Keener, and the voices of: Nick Nolte, Adam Sandler, Sylvester Stallone, Cher, Judd Apatow, Jon Favreau, Faizon Love, Maya Rudolph, Bas Rutten, Don Rickles, Jim Breuer

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Proceed with Caution. Here's what happened to me... I tried to take my almost 3 year old niece to see the movie with talking cars, but the Arclight didn't let us in because they were more than 10 minutes into the previews. She was disappointed, so I agreed to take her to the movie with talking animals instead. Turns out that talking animals are really scary to an almost 3 year old-- especially when voiced by the dulcet tones of Nick Nolte, Sylvester Stallone, and Faizon Love. So we left after 20 minutes. Unfortunately for me, the first 20 minutes were really promising, so I went back the next day to see the rest.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: A few times in the first 20 minutes. Less when I found out what the ride I was on was really gonna be like.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: It made my niece cry.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Best Beastiality Scene in a PG movie. (Thanks to the beautiful and charming Katrina Begin of Minnesota.)

Q: How is the Acting?

A: Kevin James is great. I know, I really just said that. But the voice cast is a-nnoy-ing! Especially Maya Rudolf as the giraffe. She's lucky she's in Bridesmaids, because otherwise, this could've marked the beginning of a dry spell for her. And why did Judd Apatow suddenly decide he needed to add acting to his resume? Isn't he busy enough?

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Seeing it a second time, I realized that it was the lighting and the score that were scaring my niece almost as much as the deep voiced lions, bears, and gorilla. But I think the fact that I had to explain to her several times that it was supposed to "funny" not "scary" kind of says it all.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: Well it has 5 writers, so you know how that goes. But at least they got a T.G.I.Fridays promotion in there, so everyone could get paid and laugh all the way to the bank! Honestly, it's not that bad if you like movies that are completely predictable in every way.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: A Gorilla in T.G.I.Fridays is totally disturbing even if he does speak English and wear a shirt. Speaking of which, whatever happened to "No shoes, no shirt, no service"? Dude isn't even wearing pants!

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Zookeeper Trailer

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Water for Elephants

Q: What’s the movie about?

A: A young man (Robert Pattinson) becomes a veterinarian for the circus during the Great Depression, and falls in love with the tyrannical circus owner's (Christoph Waltz) wife (Reese Witherspoon).

Q: Who’s in the movie?

A: Robert Pattinson, Reese Witherspoon, Christoph Waltz, Paul Schneider, Jim Norton, Hal Holbrook, Mark Povinelli, Stephen Monroe Taylor, and Tai, in the role of Rosie the elephant.

Q: Is this movie worth the price of admission?

A: Go! Though riddled with coincidences too good to be true, the setting is fairly original, the characters are complex and well developed, and the story of good love conquering evil love never gets old.

Q: Will this movie make me laugh?

A: There's a laughing hyena who actually laughs, and that made me laugh. Even more so when I tried to figure out what you would do with a hyena in a circus.

Q: Will this movie make me cry?

A: You should be warned that for a love story, there's a lot of violence and gore, and some of it is against animals, so all you beast worshipers will probably never feel anything less than rage for Christoph Waltz again. Just try to remember that he's just an actor playing a part. And if you can't get yourself to relate to that, then console yourself with the fact that what he did to the Jews in Inglorious Basterds was much worse.

Q: Will this movie be up for any awards?

A: Will somebody please give that elephant an Academy Award?

Q: How is the Acting?

A: When I was at the Twilight premiere, some Hollywood big-wig tried to convince me that Robert Pattinson would never be able to break out of his Edward role. He was wrong.

Q: How is the Directing?

A: Director, Francis Lawrence has once again proven that Rob Pattinson is an amazing kisser. Separately, I really enjoyed the shots of the smoke coming from the train, as it speeds off into the blue screen-- er, night sky.

Q: How is the story/script?

A: I haven't read the book this is based on, but I am still impressed at how well Richard LaGravenese transformed it into a properly structured movie. I wish, however, that there weren't so many pivotal plot points that revolved around convenient happenstances, which snap you out of the feeling that this might just be a true story-- which it isn't.

Q: Is there anything else worth mentioning about the movie?

A: Am I the only one who really wants to call this movie "Like Water for Elephants" behind its back?

Q: Where can I see the trailer?

A: Water for Elephants

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