Fresh Living

Check me out on Fresh Living on channel 2 today at 1:00pm. I'll be reviewing "Mr. Popper's Penguins"

Mr. Popper's Penguins

PG
Starring: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Angela Lansbury, Ophelia Lovibond, Madeline Carroll and Maxwell Perry Cotton
1 Hour & 35 Minutes

I can honestly say I went into this movie having absolutely no expectations. I never know quite what to expect when it comes to Jim Carrey. I always feel that in most of his movies he has a tendency to over-act and he is usually over the top.
Jim Carrey plays Tom Popper and the movie begins when he is a young boy communicating on a ham radio to his father who is a world traveler and seldom if ever at home.
The adult Tom Popper lives in New York City, he is a very successful businessman who lives in a fancy penthouse and has lost touch with his family. He is a divorced father of two children; a cell-phoned obsessed teenage daughter, a young son and an ex-wife with a boyfriend.
He receives word that his father has passed away and that he will soon be receiving something from his father. When he opens the package, there is a penguin inside. Then he receives another package and there are five penguins inside that package He has absolutely no idea what to do with the penguins. He is expected at work as usual. He has a huge deal that he needs to negotiate in order to get the big account which just happens to be the world famous restaurant "Tavern On The Green", where he has his own childhood memories.
Needless to say, his world is turned upside down and he has no idea what he should do. He still has all the demands of his work, his obligations and his children.
He is helpless when the penguins take over his home, he concedes and turns his home into a penguin playground. He struggles to keep them safe and keep them inside the penthouse.
When his ex-wife brings the children over for a visit, they see inside the door and they are overwhelmed at all the mayhem. They all fall desperately in love with the penguins and they want to stay and play too.
There is an evil zookeeper who gets wind of the penguins and he wants to take them and put them in the zoo.
The family comes back together and the parents realize they still love each other.
I found myself actually liking this movie. It had some really sweet parts in it. Jim Carrey did a great job. I enjoyed the penguins and I thought it was a fun and happy movie. The children are going to love this movie and the adults will enjoy it too. It has your standard bathroom humor which I think we've all come to expect in children's movies these days. I personally think they should have waited to release it during the holidays just because it takes place during the winter. Overall, it is a fun and happy family movie with some really tender moments. I would recommend this movie for children ages five and older.

Super 8

PG-13
Starring: Joel Courtney, Riley Griffiths, Ryan Lee, Gabriel Basso, Kyle Chandler, Noah Emmerich and Elle Fanning.
1 hour & 52 minutes
Directed by: JJ Abrams and Produced by: JJ Abrams and Steven Spielberg

This movie is about four young middle-school aged boys in 1979 in Lillian, Ohio who are helping their friend make a movie about zombies. He uses what was the state of the art technology back then, the super-8 camera. He wants to enter his movie into a film competition where the competition is pretty tough. The young man (Riley Griffiths) who directs and makes the movie just happens to be from Cedar City and has acted in the Utah Shakespearean festival.
While they were out late one night filming a scene at the train station, a train gets into an accident and derails while the super-8 camera is rolling and something very unusual shows up on the film.
This movie is filled with action and suspense, young romance and the loss of a parent. You are always on the edge of your seat. This film is reminiscent of the old Spielberg movies and has a really retro feel to it.
The children stole the show, they were great and it was a lot of fun to watch and see them interact with each other.
Parents be aware that there is a lot of action violence with the train wreck, fires, explosions and a mysterious alien monster that might be to intense for younger children. I think this movie deserves its PG-13 rating, there is also some profanity with an unexpected F word as well.
I really enjoyed this movie a lot. It took me back to the days when Spielberg was at his best. Also, don't leave the theater immediately after the movie is over, there is a fun little zombie clip that the kids made that they play after the movie is over.