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.

Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

PG-13
Starring: Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Keith Richards, Geoffrey Rush and Ian McShane.
2 Hours & 17 Minutes
Johnny Depp is back in the infamous role of Captain Jack Sparrow. With this being the fourth installment of the very popular Disney "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies, you never know exactly what to expect. This movie will not disappoint you. It was exciting and just plain fun! Johnny Depp is magical as he reprises this role that he was born to play. He is so good as Captain Jack that he literally becomes him!
This movie was inspired by the book "On Stranger Tides" about the pirate Blackbeard and his quest for the fountain of youth by Tim Powers.
This movie is full of adventure with the usual array of weird looking characters and zombies, intense fighting, explosions, rescues and beautiful mermaids who are basically water vampires. There was also a voodoo doll of Captain Jack. The scenery as always was tropical and gorgeous.
This movie introduces Penelope Cruz as Angelica who is the daughter of the ruthless Blackbeard. She and Captain Jack have a love/hate relationship.
The secret for the fountain of youth involves two specific silver chalices, a mermaids tear and the water from the fountain of youth. This is an action packed thrill ride that does not disappoint! Parents be advised that there is your basic pirate violence with swords, guns, explosions and a small amount of female cleavage. I think PG-13 is a good rating for this movie.

Soul Surfer

PG
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Helen Hunt, Carrie Underwood and newcomer AnnaSophia Robb.
1 Hour & 45 Minutes
This movie is a truly inspiring and touching story about young Bethany Hamilton played by the beautiful newcomer AnnaSophia Robb. She is the 13 year old teen-age surfing sensation from Hawaii who had her arm bitten off by a shark while surfing back in 2004.
She was absolutely on top of her game when the tragedy struck. An amazing young lady with many friends and a great family. A fourteen foot tiger shark attacked her out of the clear blue and shattered her dreams and expectations.
She (and her family) were very fortunate that her friends got her the medical attention that she needed immediately and were able to keep her alive.
Bethany was a natural-born surfer having grown up with a surfing family on the island of Kauai. She became an outstanding surfer and had begun winning competitions.
This is her story about coming to grips with an unimaginable tragedy and how she was able to overcome her own obstacles and find her way back to feeling happy and knowing that she had a very important purpose.
Just weeks after her tragedy she went with
her church youth group to Phuket, Thailand in the aftermath of the 2004 Tsunami. While there she helped many people and inspired them to overcome their own fears. This helped her to to overcome many of her own obstacles and gave her the courage she needed to go forward and be strong.
She began to get mail from people all over the world who supported her and found her to be their personal inspiration! This gave her the courage to confront the big waves and try to make a personal comeback. With the help and support of her great family she overcame her limitations and entered another surfing competition. She gave it all she had and it was amazing!
I personally found this movie to be extremely inspirational and touching. I am seriously amazed at the courage and determination of this beautiful young girl! She credits the Lord with helping her to survive and thrive!
Be advised that this movie may make you feel a little squeamish. The shark attack scene was very realistic and difficult to watch. There was a lot of blood and it was very emotional.

Beastly

PG-13
Starring: Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer, Neil Patrick Harris and Mary-Kate Olsen.
1 Hour & 35 Minutes

This movie is a modern contemporary version of the original French fairytale "Beauty and the Beast". It is centered around the young, handsome and wealthy high school senior Kyle (Alex Pettyfer) who is full of himself and thinks he is better than anybody else. He is taught a life-altering lesson when a classmate (Mary-Kate Olsen) who is also a witch, curses him and causes him to physically change into a totally different looking person with a bald head, scars and tattoos. The only way the spell can be broken is if someone tells him that they love him within the next year. His life is turned upside-down and his famous father is ashamed of him and sends him away to live in a different place. He is attended to by a caring housekeeper and a blind tutor (Neil Patrick Harris). He is very angry and gets no sympathy from his tutor.
He goes out and rides his motorcycle one night and runs into Lindy (Vanessa Hudgens) a very intelligent classmate as well. He feels sorry for her when her father is being assaulted by another man. Just like the original story-she moves in with him to stay safe from her father's attacker. He tries everything he can to make her fall in love with him. He leaves her gifts and candy. They form a relationship and start to fall in love. She tells him that she loves him and the curse is finally broken. He turns back into Kyle the handsome classmate. She had no idea that he was Kyle all along. He remains the nice, kind and understanding person that he has become. I'm going to assume that they will live happily ever after.
This movie is geared especially for young adults. The young girls will love this movie! I think adults will enjoy it as well. It is rated PG-13 for some mild language, one suggestive love scene and also because a gun was brandished. I enjoyed this movie.

"The King's Speech" won the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Be sure and watch the 83rd Annual Academy Awards Presentation on February 27th.
The nominations for Best Picture are:
"Black Swan"
"The Fighter"
"Inception"
"The Kid's Are All Right"
"The King's Speech"
"127 Hours"
"The Social Network"
"Toy Story 3"
"True Grit"and
"Winter's Bone"