I’m not sure if I want kids but I know I love kids movies! Pixar and old school Disney movies are some of my favorites and on a rainy day, I love watching them…even on VHS!

And after the Inception brain teaser last week, I kept it light with a little animated fun. Let’s take a closer look

Movie: Despicable Me

Rating: PG

Release date: July 9, 2010

Everyday Adventures grade: B

Summary: Gru (Steve Carell) is an evil superhero with some serious mommy issues. Seriously, she’s a b*tch. And now he’s off to maintain his evil superhero street cred and outsmart Vector (Jason Segal) the young, new guy on the block. Along with doing this, he adopt three little girls to help him beat Vector and maybe have a softening of his cold heart in the process.

My thoughts: Overall, I did like this movie, even if I mostly wanted to see it for the scene in the trailers where the little girl squeezes the unicorn and screams, “it’s so fluffy!” I mean, oh my god that just melts my bitter heart. I want to give her and that unicorn a non-creepy squeeze! What I liked about this, which I also liked in Shrek, was that there was some adult humor. Sure, it’s masked and dry but you can laugh at parts even if your kids don’t. Let’s be honest, some kids movies suck, so having something in it for the adults, is perfect. And makes me more likely to pay attention during the entire movie.

Initially, I wasn’t sure if i was digging Steve Carell’s accent but it grew on me and fit for his character. He was an odd mix of a few Addam’s Family characters but that was fine. Of course, the three little girls stole the show, especially the youngest, who seriously still makes me want to adopt her myself. Could they be any cuter? And the somewhat misleading yellow henchmen, who have been the main figures in the movie’s ads, were pretty funny and adorable too. Ugh, why is everything so adorable?

The Vector character served his purpose but I found his voice more annoying than anything else. Let’s hope he’s not back in the sequel, which is due in 2013, according to IMDB.com. Wow that was fast.

But the part I also like about the kids movies, which was in Shrek as well, is the heart. Sure, the movie’s storyline is all over the place and slightly rushed and pared down due to time, fine, but there is a moment where the emotion between Gru and the girls is really genuine and it even made someone as cold as me cry a bit in theater. So those tears really brought the move together for me.

Damn you animation.

Verdict: If it’s hot and you need some free AC, check it out. And try NOT to squeeze the little girl and the yellow mignons.

Do you like animated movies? What are your favorites?

When I can’t find something about a movie’s plotline, I think one of two things: 1) it sucks and studios are trying to release it under the radar or 2) it’s too complicated to even explain.

The buzz around Inception for months has been “what is this movie about?” That was a red flag for me. How could NO ONE know what this is about except for those close to it? But after I saw a few tweets from friends that saw a sneak peek (jealous!) earlier this week, they loved it. And the reviews so far have been great too.

So I was a good girl, avoided all articles and went to see it tonight. And let me say this. Wow.

Movie: Inception

Rating: PG-13

Release date: July 16, 2010

Everyday Adventures grade: A+

Summary: Seriously, I’m not going to ruin this for you. I will just say this: Leo and friends play some mind games.

My thoughts: Holy sh*tballs this movie was amazing. Blew my mind. No joke. I’ve only give one other movie an A+ review (The Young Victoria, love) and this absolutely warranted that rating. Christopher Nolan is an amazing director who knows how to shoot a beautiful movie and command the best out of his performers. He did this in Memento and The Dark Knight where he got stellar performances out of Guy Pierce and Heath Ledger respectively and he does it again here.

Really, the movie is so visually beautiful that you can get lost in it. Scenes that rotate between slow motion and fast pace keep you on your toes and really soak in the awe of how it was filmed. I’m MORE than curious how a few of the scenes were shot because it was unbelievable to imagine. Nolan is a great storyteller too, bending your mind while tugging at your heartstrings and making characters righteous but flawed and morally questionable but good inside.

There were a few plot twists I didn’t see coming and didn’t fully understand, but I went along for the ride and am glad I did because it was worth it.

And the cast here is stellar. Baby face Leo is really becoming a solid leading man. He’s shown this in his last few movies, including the Departed, Blood Diamond and Shutter Island, but here he is strong, handsome (hey there pretty man in the tie) and tortured. Ellen Page and Jordan Gordon-Levitt also move into more leading woman/man roles, ditching the indie hipster looks for GQ-inspired matureness. And on Joseph, I do NOT mind. Both were really strong in this movie as well. There were also great smaller roles by Michael Caine and Tom Beringer too.

I don’t want to give too much away because I’m really looking forward to hearing what others thought of it as well but this was a really great, challenging, confusing and awe-inspiring movie.

Verdict: Um, I think it’s pretty clear I loved it. Go see it!

What did you think?

Hi everyone! Jumping on the blog while I’m on vacation to post a spoiler-free review of Eclipse. Yes, even vacation couldn’t keep me away from a midnight showing!

Not sure what your theater experience was like but Amy and I got to ours 90 minutes before the movie and barely got seats together. The people next to us had been in the theater since 10 a.m. that MORNING to get seats. That’s insane.

If you would like to dish spoilers in the comment section, please just leave a note before you dish so people can pass over if they would like.

Movie: Eclipse

Rating: PG-13

Release date: June 30, 2010

Everyday Adventures’ grade: B+

Summary: Bella (Kristen Stewart) can’t choose between Edward (Robert Pattinson) and Jacob (Taylor Lautner) so she strings both along while they fight to see who can do a better job of protecting her and ultimately win her heart. Edward presses Bella to marry him (can’t a guy give her some space please?) and Victoria (Bryce Dallas Howard) assembles a vampire army to descend on Forks and Bella for revenge. I swear, I don’t know what this girl has that makes men and women go after her, but bottle that sh*t up.

My thoughts: As promised, this is a spoiler-free review so there are some things I won’t discuss here. But then again, I’m sure 95% of you have read the books so I’m sure I’m not ruining everything :)

Overall, I didn’t think this was too bad. New Moon was my favorite of the books and after a diasterous first movie (really, it was bad), the previous movie really exceeded my expectations, so I was curious if this would sustain my interest. Fortunately, it did.

Unfortunately, it was not a complete home run. Here are some of the things I liked and didn’t like.

Like:

• Taylor Lautner  (and his naked torso)- Yes, his abs are still hot and now that Jacob is in love with Bella and tortured, his character continues to steal the movie. Also, ALL the girls in my theater went bananas whenever he was on screen. Good taste!
• Billy Burke (Bella’s dad) – I really love this character and I loved him more after this movie. Such sweet father/daughter moments and great one-liners. I can’t wait to see more of him in Breaking Dawn
• Jacob/Bella kiss – It was hot. Really hot and my cold, dead heart fluttered a bit, only to be inevitably crushed (that I didn’t like)
• Special effects - The effects, especially with the vampires and wolf pack, continue to be better and more “realistic” than the previous movies. New Moon stepped it up and Eclipse definitely maintained that calibur
• Bella – Sure, she’s still whiny and annoying, but she is more sure of herself and her character seems stronger than she ever came across in the books (in my opinion). It’s nice to see her grow part of “a pair”

Didn’t Like:

• Bryce Dallas Howard - Her role is small in this but I just didn’t dig her as much as Rachelle LeFevre. Recasts in the middle of a series can work (Maggie Gyllenhaal in The Dark Knight) but Bryce didn’t cut it for me. She didn’t have that ruthless nature that Rachelle did
• Tent scene – Before you tar and feather me I need to say that I should re-read this part of the book and then adjust this if necessary. It just wasn’t hot for me at all. Maybe I envisioned it differently from the book but it was anti-climatic
• Kristen Stewart’s wig – She wore one in this movie because of the tragic Joan Jett cut she got and it could not have been MORE obvious that it was a wig and a bad one (remember Jacob’s from the original movie?) Poor Bella had helmet hair the entire time and I could not stop staring at the hairline. Seriously.
• Makeup inconsistency – I can admit that RPatz is an attractive man, but his pale vampire makeup was very inconsistent. He was pale in one scene and almost normal flesh-tone in the next. Yes, it did make him hotter but I just wish it would have been more consistent for him and all of the Cullens. They look totally different now, but not in a completely bad way
• Lighting - Again, this is not major but the big scene on the top of the mountain was supposed to be snowy and cold but you could see sunlight from the set coming in the back and it just looked really…fake
• Bree Tanner - I don’t remember the character too much from the book but given the recent release of Bree’s own short book, she got a lot of screen time she might not normally have had. And it wasn’t even memorable. Disappointing

Verdict: If you’ve read the books, it’s worthwhile to see but be prepared for some cheesy stuff, which I’m sure you know :) I’m still glad I saw it and recommend it!

How about everyone else? Did you see it? What did you like or dislike about it?