We Bought A Zoo /Rated PG/

Synopsis: Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) is now a single father after his wife died six months ago, with his oldest son Dylan (Colin Ford) surprisingly getting expelled from his school, with his younger daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) just trying to cheer him up. After a long talk with his skeptical brother Duncan (Thomas Haden Church) Benjamin decided to make a new start and move into a zoo! New things are occurring with not just the animals but with a growing relationship between Benjamin and the head zookeeper Kelly Foster (Scarlett Johansson) plus some other strong family issues with Dylan and Benjamin. Although just when things are looking great for opening up the zoo again a cruel, precise zoo inspector named Walter Farris (John Michael Higgins) is coming to take a look at the wildlife park, then things start to fall apart. Will everyone pull it together and pass the inspection, or will everyone including Benjamin and his family have to leave for good?

I give this movie out of a 1-10 scale a: 8: This movie was one of those rear films that was better than the book. I myself have not read the book by actually, the main character Benjamin Mee. Although my mom and some of her friends in her book club have, and in her opinion and from what she told me, it wasn't very interesting. Although movie was very good, in fact my mom said the movie was everything the book should have been which from what I heard, I agree. The casting choice was great from Matt Damon to Thomas Haden Church but really everyone did really well from an acting stand point. If you really dug into the film it was deep, very deep, it was one of those movies when you watch it, you totally think know the meaning, but then when you're laying in bed that night or driving home from the theater you realize what they were really trying to get across. I also loved some of the quotes, here's my favorite: "You know, sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it,"- Benjamin Mee... I just love that, I also think they really stuck with that during a couple parts of the film. I also really enjoyed Maggie Elizabeth Jones and some of her lines and quotes. Some parts were emotional so be prepared for all of you who aren't the best with that kind of stuff. Although to conclude my review I really like the balance between some of the comedy, drama, and the heart of the film. I hope you take the time out of your schedule to come out and see the movie We Bought A Zoo! A fun comedy/family film for everyone, see Benjamin Mee's true story come to life on the big screen!

About the Stars: Matt Damon: Matt Damon has been in a number of movies and T.V. shows but he is best known for the movies Good Will Hunting from 1997, The Departed from 2006, The Bourne Ultimatum from 2007, and Inside Job from 2010! Matt also recently starred in a episode of Saturday Night Live where he was surprisingly a Handsome Drug Addict I guess, although really I have no idea what Saturday Night Live is. Although he was a great pick for the role of Benjamin Mee, I actually heard Ben Stiller was considered for the role of Benjamin Mee, that would have been really bad in my opinion.

About the Stars: Scarlett Johansson: Scarlett Johansson has not been in a lot of films but she recently was on an episode of Saturday Night Live which I mentioned before. Although out of the movies she has been in her most famous are Lost in Translation, The Prestige, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, and Iron Man 2! She was also in the Spongebob Squarepants Movie where she is the voice of Mindy who is King Neptune's daughter. It is also rumored she will be in Iron Man 3 as the same roles!

About the Stars: Thomas Haden Church: Surprisingly Thomas Haden Church has starred in one of my personal favorite films Spiderman 3! Where he is Flint Marko a.k.a. Sandman! I was intrigued when I saw him in We Bought A Zoo, his character was really funny. Anyway, Thomas has starred lots of movies including Easy A, Wings from 1990, and Sideways. Most of these movies I've never heard of, but I appreciate him as a great actor!

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Arthur Christmas /Rated PG/

Synopsis: All operations are a success at the North Pole, with Santa (voice: Jim Broadbent) back and sound asleep from the long night of delivering presents with his team of elves. Although the stillness is broken when a janitor elf finds a gift that has not been delivered! Santa and his two sons Arthur (voice: James McAvoy) from the letter department and Steve (voice: Hugh Laurie) the big shot who next in line to be Santa are alerted, but hope is lost when there is only hours away from Christmas morning! Although Arthur will not accept a child being missed, so him, Grandsanta (voice: Bill Nighy), and a obsessive gift wrapping elf named Bryony (voice: Ashley Jensen) venture to England to deliver the gift "the old fashioned way."

I give this movie out of a 1-10 scale a: 6: I think this movie is one of those perfect family movies, but there were many aspects I was not a fan of. I did like the elf  Bryony and the humor that went along with her character and her obsession with wrapping, plus some of the intersting things she wrapped. I also liked some of the character of Grandsanta but he really just wanted the glory of being Santa again to show he didn't need all the technology which was the only reason why he went with Arthur. Another aspect I didn't enjoy about this film was that when the current Santa found out about the child being missed he really didn't care, in fact through the whole thing he really wasn't caring about any of the kids till the end. Also Santa didn't really do anything when delivering the gifts, the elves were basically doing all the work. The last thing about the current Santa I didn't like was that he didn't retire when he had the chance, it didn't seem like he really liked the job, the only reason why he didn't retire was that he felt so important, but like I said before he wasn't really doing any work in the first place. All of the things that I mentioned about the current Santa in my opinion don't go along with the Santa kids think about, and who puts their presents in their stockings and under the tree, it just doesn't go along with his personality. Also in this film almost all the characters didn't really get the meaning of Christmas which I think is a good theme. So really the only things I liked about this movie was the theme and the humor of some of the characters. Although over the holidays I encourage you to go and see Arthur Christmas! A film the whole family will enjoy!

About the Stars: James McAvoy: When I was searching the Internet for information on James McAvoy I was surprised that he was in lots of movies that I'd seen and movies that I've heard were really good. It turns out James McAvoy was in The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where he is actually one of my favorite characters, Mr. Tumnus. He also was in X-Men: First Class where he is Charles Xavier. Plus he is the voice of Gnomeo in the film Gnomeo & Juliet, and many other movies!

About the Stars: Hugh Laurie: When we were sitting in the theater watching Arthur Christmas my dad leaned over to me and whispered that's Hugh Laurie, the dad in Stuart Little. I didn't notice at first but then I remembered. Like I said Hugh Laurie has been in both Stuart Little movies where he is Mr. Fredrick Little and in the animated video Stuart Little 3 he is the voice of Mr. Fredrick Little. He is also in a movie called Monsters vs. Aliens where he is the voice of Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. and he is in a television series called House M.D. where he is Dr. Gregory House.

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The Smurfs /Rated PG/

Synopsis: Our little blue friends are back when evil wizard Gargamel (Hank Azaria) and his cat Azrael (voice: Frank Welker) chase Papa (voice: Jonathan Winters), Gutsy (Alan Cumming), Smurfette (voice: Katy Perry), Brainy (voice: Fred Armisen), Grouchy (voice: George Lopez), and Clumsy Smurf (voice: Anton Yelchin) into Central Park, New York City! When the Smurfs are trying to stay out of trouble they meet Patrick Winslow (Neil Patrick Harris) and his wife Grace Winslow (Jayma Mays) who agree to the Smurfs living in their home until Papa can find a way to get his family back to their village before Gargamel tracks them down. Although when another terrible crisis occurs the Smurfs along with Patrick and Grace continue to follow the code; no Smurf left behind. 

I give this movie out of a 1-10 scale a: 5: When this movie was about to come out I had never really seen the Smurfs show or comics and I didn't know much about them, although one day I was scrolling through On Demand on Top Picks when I saw episodes of the original Smurfs. So I watched the first few and I was hooked. After being excited for the movie and watching the episodes when I actually saw the movie, for me, it was a let down. I don't think the Smurfs in the movie were staying true to the characters from the television show and I am ninety percent sure from what I saw that they just made up Gutsy Smurf for the film. Although I did like some of the humor from Gargamel and Azrael occasionally but otherwise it wasn't that interesting. I did like the storyline and how it was all laid out plus I am a Neil Patrick Harris fan and I think he did a good job from an acting point of view. Also the cast was a very neat choice with Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, and I even remember Tim Gunn from the T.V. program on Lifetime, Project Runway. One of the few best things I liked about this movie was that it was part animated and with real people kind of like Avatar, although you can't really compare a five rated movie and a nine rated movie in the first place. Over all, in my opinion, I think this film would maybe be suitable for children at a younger age and all the Smurf fans across the United States!

About the Stars: Neil Patrick Harris: Neil Patrick Harris has been in a number of movies and mostly television shows including his most recent role as Barney Stinson in How I Met Your Mother on CBS, he has been on other popular shows such as Family Guy and Glee. He has also starred in many films including Starship Troopers, the Harold and Kumar films and many more. Also he was the voice of Prince Gumball in an episode of Adventure Time on Cartoon Network which most of the kids my age tend to watch.

About the Stars: Jayma Mays: Jayma Mays has been in surprisingly, very few films although she is in a well known show called Glee where she is Emma Pillsbury and she was on an episode of a show I have talked about many times before which is How I Met Your Mother. In the few movies she has been in she played the role of Amy in Paul Blart Mall Cop starring Kevin James which is funny to me and children my age. I think she was a intersting pick for her role in the Smurfs but all together she was pretty good.

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The Green Hornet /Rated PG-13/

Synopsis: Party animal Britt Reid's (Seth Rogan) life changes drastically when his father dies from a bee sting, and he must take over the job as the publisher for Los Angeles' "The Daily Sentinel." Britt is furious with his now dead father for screaming and ignoring him for years when he was a child, so Britt and his dad's car repairman/coffee maker Kato (Jay Chou) make a crazy move to commit a crime, but while at it save a couple's lives. Soon Britt assumes the name The Green Hornet, and Kato becomes his genius partner to protect Los Angeles but pose as criminals at the same time. Although when Gang Leader, Chudnofsky (Christoph Waltz) finds out about The Green Hornet, he will make sure The Green Hornet will be dead.

I give this movie out of a 1-10 scale a: 7: A friend recommended this movie to me a couple weeks ago, and when I saw it on the library shelf, I knew I had to see it, and boy am I glad I did! I was so surprised on how great this movie was. Some of the fighting scenes I totally zoned out from my surroundings, it was that amazing! I had never really heard of The Green Hornet before watching the film, I am thinking he is comic book character? I don't know. One of my favorite aspects of the movie was this. In basically all superhero movies and comic books the villain captures the girlfriend or some innocent people and the hero will do whatever he/she wants. Although in The Green Hornet, it's totally different. You see, Britt and Kato do illegal things to look like the bad guys, but really they help people when nobody is looking, so that way the real villain can't defeat them so easily, which in my opinion is very clever. I also LOVED the Black Beauty which The Green Hornet's car. It is loaded with weapons, steel that can penetrate bullets and lots more, made by Kato who is Britt's partner. The best aspect of the film was that Britt he isn't that special, he can't fight well, he's kind over weight and other stuff. While Kato is a mixed marshall arts specialist, he designed the Black Beauty, made their costumes, an amazing artist, and he can make mean cup of coffee. Yet Britt thinks he's the hotshot, but in reality Kato doesn't get any credit. Although I personally think the movie could have had less cursing which is why I rated it a seven. So I encourage you to buy or rent The Green Hornet, if you like action, this is the movie for you!

About the Stars: Seth Rogan: Seth Rogan has been in lots of kids movies and adult movies here are some his kids movies: He was a minor role in Shrek the Third as the voice of the ship captain, he is the voice of Hogsqueal in The Spiderwick Chronicles, in both Kung Fu Panda films he is the voice of Mantis, in one of my personal favorites Monsters vs. Aliens, Seth is the voice of B.O.B, and finally he is the voice of Morton in Horton Hears a Who! Seth Rogan has also starred in other movies such as Superbad and he is in an episode of The Simpson's where he is the voice of Lyle McCarthy.

About the Stars: Jay Chou: Jay Chou has not starred in very many films, in the films he has starred in I have never heard of before, and it looks like they may be in a different language. Although I thought he was the perfect role for Kato in The Green Hornet. 

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Captain America: The First Avenger /Rated PG-13/

Synopsis:  In 1942 America enters World War II and nerdy, but determined Steve Rodgers (Chris Evans) has yet again been rejected from being a miliatry recruit once again. Although when scientist Dr. Erkine asks him to be the subject in a top secert project called Project Rebirth, his strength is enhanced and his courage brightens. Dr. Erkine is assassinated by an angent of the Nazi's head of the secret research department HYDRA, who is fearless leader Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) a.k.a. the Red Skull. So Steve Rodgers is left a lonely, humiliated war mascot. When his commrades call, Steve must acommpany them to destroy HYDRA, will Steve make it out, or will the American's make a noble fall?

I give this movie out of a 1-10 scale a: 7: I have heard from may other people Marvel Studios wasted their money remaking all their characters into better movies such as Iron Man, Thor, and X-Men: First Class, with the exception of the three Spiderman films, (which were amazing in my opinon) and yet I really enjoyed this movie. The special effects were very well done, and I liked how they showed the back story of how Captain America came to be. He wasn't some buff hunk who was destined to be a hero. He is just wimpy Steve Rodgers who didn't have a chance in a million years to do anything right. They almost made the movie as if it could be real! It's not fantasy, I think it's sci-fi because of all the advanced technology. Although my favorite aspect was the twist ending which I won't ruin for you so you can see it. In my opinon out of all the Marvel characters I never really never cared much about Captain America, let alone knew who he was. Now I actually kind of think he's cool after seeing the movie. I was and I am still more into Batman, Spiderman, and Hulk. This movie was even better then it normally would've been, because I saw it with just my friend, (no adults!) which was cool. I'd like to tell you one more thing that I enjoyed, as I said in my synopsis even after Steve Rodgers becomes superhuman he still isn't noticed much, because he becomes a cheesy mascot. Athough after how good the movie was I rated it a seven for a reason, I don't think the main actors and actresses were good picks for the star roles like Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, and Hugo Weaving. I just think that they could have used other people. So, Captain America: The First Avenger is on D.V.D. everywhere now! I am exicted for the film to come on T.V. because I would love to see it again.

About the Stars: Chris Evans: Chris Evans has starred in several movies that are not well known, although he has played the role as Johnny Storm a.k.a. The Human Torch in Fantasic Four from 2005 and Fantansic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer from 2007. Chris Evans will also be starring as Captain America once again in The Avengers which is in post production now, but it will be realsed in 2012. 

About the Stars: Hugo Weaving: Hugo Weaving has starred in so many popular movies! Here is a short list of his most famous ones: All three Lord of the Rings where he is Eldrod, Happy Feet 1 and 2 where he is the voice of Noah the Elder, Transformers 1, 2, 3 and the new one which will come out maybe this year number 4 in 3D, and finally both in post production, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and The Hobbit: There and Back Again!

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