NANNY McPHEE RETURNS
When you need me, but don’t want me, I must stay…but when you want me, but no longer need me, I must go.” Nanny McPhee
In a beautiful little valley, there lives a happy little family, but with Dad away fighting in a war, it’s a struggle to take care of the farm. There is a Mom, Isabel (Maggie Gyllenhaal), and three kids, Vincent, Megsie and Norman. When the movie begins, the three kids are cleaning up the farm for the cousins, Cyril and Celia, to come stay with them. Cyril and Celia are stuck-up, London , rich kids who are disgusted about staying on a farm. When he arrives, Cyril says “We’re in the land of poo.” The kids are at each other’s throats and the poor Mom is at her wits end and that is when Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson) shows up. Nanny McPhee teaches the kids five lessons: #1 to share nicely, #2 to stop fighting, #3 to help each other, #4 to listen and say thank you, and #5 to do as they are told and to have faith and bravery.
My favorite part is when all the little piggies are in the water swimming because Nanny McPhee uses her magical powers on them. They are soooo cute!!! OMG, there is like this creepy part with an uncle who owes some hit women a farm, so he’s trying to pressure Isabel into selling off the farm. The hit women threaten to remove his kidneys and then later they say they’re going to stuff him (like a doll) and they get out an operating table and everything, like they’re really gonna do it. I think that is very creepy to be in a kids movie. There is a sad part and I almost cried. It’s toward the end and it kinda hooks you, like you’re so interested to see what happens next that you’re on the edge of your seat.
I liked Nanny McPhee Returns, but my sis didn’t and my Mom just thinks it’s OK. I think it’s the perfect movie for the grandparents to take the grandkids to!
I give Nanny McPhee Returns 4 out of 5 dancing piggies!
THE EXPENDABLES
It’s Good To Have Friends…
A team of mercenaries, for the right price, will do anything. The Expendables are a team of hired guns led by Barney Ross (Sylvester “Sly” Stallone). His right hand man is Lee Christmas (Jason Statham) and the crew is rounded out with Ying Yang (Jet Li), Toll Road (Randy Couture), Hale Ceasar (Terry Crews), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren) and retired Tool (Mickey Rourke). Big name actors with guns, guns and bigger guns, oh and knives too make for a nonstop testosterone ride. Throw in a ruthless bad guy, James Munroe (Eric Roberts) and his thug bodyguard, Paine (“Stone Cold” Steve Austin), a bunch of explosions and stuff blowing up to save a hot chick and you’ve got a perfect guy movie.
Bodies being blown in half, heads being blown straight off, human shish-k-bobs, intense explosions and Terry Crews’ loudest gun on earth mowing down the bad guys…the R rating is for violence and blood, and you won’t be disappointed. But it was good clean R violence, none of that twisted stuff.
Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) and Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger) make a brief but entertaining appearance. The Expendables is surprisingly funny and there is just enough drama to the plot to keep the girls happy, but not too much to sap up the movie. With the cast of action-gods, it is hard to give each of them enough screen time, but we left satisfied and we definitely recommend you see it.
Paul & Matt
DESPICABLE ME
The world’s greatest super-villain, just adopted three small problems.
Despicable Me is hilarious! I love Steve Carell and he played Gru verrrrry well! Gru is this tall broad shouldered dude that has a bunch of cool gadgets like the freeze gun. He is trying to be the best super-villain ever. After someone steals a pyramid, Gru decides to steal the moon! First he needs some money from the Bank of Evil. While at the bank, he meets his competition, Vector (voice of Jason Segel). In order to steal the moon he has to shrink it so he steals a shrink ray and then Vector steals it from Gru and Gru takes it back and finally, Vector ends up with it. Three little orphan girls named Margo, Edith, and Agnes are the three small problems Gru adopts. Miranda Cosgrove from Nickelodeon is the voice of big sister, Margo. The girls sell cookies to Vector, and Gru thinks he can get the shrink ray from Vector, using the girls. Well its not that easy when the girls start to get attached to him.
Gru has an army of minions (the little yellow dudes) who are awesome! My favorite one is Dave, look for him when you go see the movie! Another awesome part is when Gru and the girls go to an amusement park and Agnes sees a stuffed unicorn and screams, “It’s so fluffy I’m gonna die!” I love Agnes and her annoying sound too!
Will Gru get the shrink ray and steal the moon and will the 3 adorable girls find a loving family to live with? This movie is great for all ages, lots of adults were chuckling through much of the movie. Although we are seeing a lot of 3-D lately, Despicable Me is different than what we are used to in animation, it really holds your attention all the way through with the visuals.
This is Lauren and I rate despicable me 4 ½ out of 5 tiny yellow minions!
The ½ one is the one that gets shrunk by the shrink ray…so cute and funny!
THE TWILIGHT SAGA:ECLIPSE
Sometimes bitter rivalry is less important than protecting the one you love.
After seeing the third in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, we say it is the best of the movies so far. Filled with plenty of action, romance, and even humor, Eclipse continues the story of Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and her deep love for Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson). Their love for each other is complicated by Bella’s feelings for Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner). After tracking unexplained killings and disappearances in Seattle , the Cullens become aware of a vampire army of new born vampires being built to hunt down Bella and avenge Victoria ’s mate James’s death. Brought together by a common goal, werewolves and vampires unite to destroy the army and to protect Bella.
The intensity in this movie is phenomenal. There are so many scenes where we were literally on the edge of our seats. There is so much passion between the actors and you really feel their connection. The action in this movie really compliments the intensity. The big battle between the New Borns and the Cullen-Wolf clan is an epic one. All throughout the movie leading up to the battle, you can really feel the tension building. Flashbacks from Jasper (Jackson Rathbone) and Rosalie (Nikki Reed) provide intriguing background and depth to those characters. Romance, of course, is heavy during the entire movie. With Bella and Edward being so deeply in love, and with Jacob also being deeply in love with her, emotions run high in this love triangle.
We recommend this movie for 13 and up since it contains a lot of kissing and some rather sensual moments. Nothing major happens, but we don’t think it’s very appropriate for those under 13 and the story requires a certain level of maturity. The next in the saga will definitely not be for younger ones. We love this movie so much that some of us (actually only one of us) started seeing vampires all around us (her). We are defiantly seeing this movie again!!
This is Lauren, Annie, and Morgan
and we give The Twilight Saga: Eclipse…
5 out of 5 New Born Vampires!
PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME
“Most people think time is like a river, that flows swift and sure in one direction.
They are wrong.”
Based on a video game (that I’ve never played) Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a very enjoyable family movie. The main guy, Dastan (Jake Gyllenhaal), is an orphan kid who knows the street life (literally jumps off buildings like a monkey…sweet!). The movie begins when the King of Persia (Ronald Pickup) rides through the marketplace and sees Dastan standing up to the royal guards and like, defeating all the soldiers and the King is so impressed with this orphan kid’s courage that he adopts him. The movie then fast forwards to when a grown Dastan and his two brothers, Tus (Richard Coyle) and Garsiv (Toby Kebbell) are leading the army of Persia. Tus is in line to become king next and Garsiv is 2nd in command. Their Uncle Nizam (Ben Kingsley), the King’s brother, is always lurking in the background and telling them what to do, like how to rule the army. So, under Nizam’s advice they attack a holy city. The holy city is rumored to have a princess more beautiful than any other…yep; you see the love story coming! Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton) is very beautiful and pretty sassy too, so you’re going to really like her! This beautiful princess is guarding this really cool dagger that can be used to shift time, get it, the sands of time!? When clever Dastan ends up with the dagger and the princess finds out that he has it she does whatever it takes to get it back. The mystical dagger that can change back time (I know pretty cool, right?) gets its power from magic sand that is kept in the holy city. Dastan gets tricked many times by the sassy little princess and they both get mixed up with the Valley of Slaves which is pretty cool because they have ostrich races…super duper cool…oh yeah, and they don’t have to pay taxes!! The villain of the movie wants the dagger because it’s so powerful and of course he wants to rule the world, so he hires The Hassansin (some really creepy dudes with snakes) to track and kill Dastan and get the dagger. Well, he almost succeeds with his evil plan, but the mighty Dastan is too smart to be defeated, and he’s got a sassy little princess to impress.
Prince of Persia is rated PG-13, but I think most 10 year olds and up will do great. It’s not really bloody or gory and the love story is clean. It’s kind of like Pirates of The Caribbean meets Disney’s Aladdin meets a little bit of Indiana Jones. I recommend you go see it in theaters because of its awesomeness!
This is Lauren getting ready to re-watch Disney’s Aladdin---and I rate Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time…4 out of 5 Magical Sand Daggers!
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action
Running Time: 1 hour, 56 min
SHREK FOREVER AFTER
“I didn’t realize what I had, until it was gone.”
Shrek Forever After is about what it would be like in Far, Far Away if Shrek (Mike Myers) never saved Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz). No Donkey (Eddie Murphy), no Puss-in-Boots (Antonio Banderas), no King (John Cleese) and Queen (Julie Andrews), no home in the swamp, no ogre babies and no princess, only a warrior.
Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohm) is THE scam-master, and he tricks Shrek into the biggest mistake of his life…everything and everyone changes! In Shrek’s ‘new’ reality, Rumpelstiltskin rules Far, Far Away and scary witches find and capture ogres. After a mysterious find in the forest Donkey discovers a clan of ogres where the ‘new’ Fiona lives. To break Stliltskin’s deal and return things to normal, Shrek must get his true loves kiss…but it doesn’t work! In this reality, Fiona doesn’t even know who Shrek is, much less share his true love! The Ogre clan attacks Rumpelstiltskin, only to be captured by a bounty hunter---the Pied Piper who commands mad dance skills. All but Shrek and Fiona are captured and taken to the castle, then as heroes often do, Shrek surrenders himself, to save them. A few battle scenes later they are free. Will Shrek get his true loves kiss and save his ‘real’ life???
Magical potions, fire breathing dragons, our favorite singing donkey, brand new ogres, action, comedy, romance, and a universal message. All this awesomeness leaves us saying go see it in theaters, the 3D was FUN and actually popped out to amaze the little kids! We’re not recommending you take little dudes to see Shrek Forever After, we heard a 3 year old repeatedly ask his mommy to leave and a couple of toddlers crying. There were some very scary witches and Rumpelstiltskin is sorta creepy. Just like the other Shrek movies, there are lots of moments where the Mommies and Daddies got to LOL and leave the kids wondering what was so funny! This 4th Shrek is MUCH better than the 2nd and 3rd , but of course not as good as the 1st!
This is Lauren, with Kyra & Morgan giving 'Shrek Forever After'
4 out of 5 Singing Donkeys...
Rated PG (for mild action, some rude humor and brief language)
Running Time: 93 mins
LETTERS TO JULIET
There is a place where the heartbroken leave notes…asking Juliet for help.
As a special Mother’s Day treat, Lauren took her Mommy to dinner and to see Letters To Juliet!
Letters To Juliet is about the search for long-lost, true love. The movie starts off with Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) and her fiancé Victor (Gael García Bernal) heading to Verona for an early honeymoon, but Victor is a chef and ends up spending all of his time tasting new cheeses, and buying wine for his restaurant. What a lame fiancé! Sophie acts like it’s all good and goes sightseeing alone. She finds a wall where the brokenhearted write notes to Juliet asking for love advice. Each night, a group of women who call themselves The Secretaries of Juliet come to the wall, gather the letters, and reply to them. Sophie wants to be a writer and since lame Victor left her all alone, she spends some time with the Secretaries. Sophie finds a 50 year old letter behind a rock in the wall. Feeling like it’s fate, Sophie writes back to the brokenhearted girl named Claire (Vanessa Redgrave). After 50 years, she wasn’t even sure the reply would reach Claire, but it does and Claire is so moved by Sophie’s letter, she travels to Verona to hook back up with her long lost love, Lorenzo Bartolini. Claire’s grandson, Charlie (very cute Christopher Egan), thinks it’s wrong to search for Lorenzo because he doesn’t want his Grandma to get hurt! How sweet! Charlie meets Sophie when he searches out the Secretaries and yells at her for meddling in his Grandma’s life! Yeah, you see it coming…Sophie and Charlie will fall in love!!! But even predictable love is romantic! The trio search across Italy by going to all the Lorenzo Bartolini’s listed, trying to find Claire’s true love. Their search is fun, then it’s aggravating, then it’s sad…then they give up completely. Did you hear me??? They give up on true love!!! Yeah, you’ll see it coming…but you’ll have to go see the movie to find out if they find Lorenzo and if Sophie gets smart and dumps icky Victor!
This is a total love story about true love and fate…don’t give up, just try harder (but not in a stalker kind of way!). And if you’re dating a Victor, dump him quick!
From the audience response, everyone loved it. Grandparents loved seeing Vanessa Redgrave and the respect given to an older generation love story. Girls as young as 10 years old enjoyed the comedy between Sophie and Charlie. There was just enough romance to keep the teens interested and Moms will be thrilled to have a squeaky clean romantic comedy to watch with their daughters!
This is Lauren and her Mommy,
and we give Letters To Juliet…4 out of 5 Romantic Kisses!
Rated PG (Some Rude Behavior)
Running Time: 91 mins
FURRY VENGEANCE
You can’t run, you can’t hide, you can’t escape…the Furry!
Furry Vengeance is about a family who was forced by the dad, Dan Sanders (Brendan Fraser), to move out to the forest to start a community. Dan’s wife, Tammy (Brooke Shields) and son, Tyler (Matt Prokup) are mad they got moved to the middle of nowhere. Well, it ends up they’re building their new community on the animals homes. Because of money, Dan’s boss Neal Lyman (Ken Jeong, so not funny in this movie!) doesn’t care…so the animals plan a revenge and won’t stop until they take Dan out. The main animal, like a commander of all the animals, is a raccoon. Then come the skunks, crow, squirrel, bear and all the others. They basically just try to ruin Dan’s life and make him stop building on their homes.
I would like to say, if any of The Flick Fanatic readers go see this movie and you figure out where Brendan Fraser’s pants went when he was in the port-a-potty, please email Karl and let me know!! One minute he’s in there, fully clothed, and the next, he’s running around outside in his whitey-tighties. Sounds funnier now than it was on the screen, trust me!
This movie is probably going to be at the top of my list of worst films, like 2009’s Super Capers. Brendan Fraser is usually really good, but in this movie, he is just really odd. There’s a construction foreman named Frank (Ricky Garcia) who could be very funny, but his jokes just end up being very awkward. Furry Vengeance is not cute, it’s not funny and it’s just not any good! I heard a couple of 6 or 7 year olds come out of the theater saying they liked it, but everyone else was bored to death and came out saying…waste of time!
I’m Lauren, one of the Fanatical Two…
and I rate Furry Vengeance 2 out of 5 Stinky Skunks!
(But only cuz I’m just too nice to give any movie a 1!)
MPAA Rating: PG (some rude humor, mild language, brief smoking)
Running Time: 1 hour, 32 minutes
THE BACK-UP PLAN
The Back-up Plan is about a woman who takes charge of her own life and decides to quit waiting for Mr. Right and become a Mommy by herself. But, the funniest thing happens on the way home from the doctor right after she gets prego, she jumps right into a cab with…you guessed it, Mr. Right!
The Back-Up Plan with Jennifer Lopez is really good even when most of it is going right over your head! Since I’m only 13, I really don’t get much of the pregnancy jokes flying by and parts are a bit awkward, but overall I came out having enjoyed it. As Zoe, Jennifer Lopez is just sooooo pretty, but my Mom says the real talent is in the roles around her: boyfriend Stan (Alex O’Loughlin – way cute Irish guy!), best friend Mona (Michaela Watkins), Nana (Linda Lavin), Nana’s fiancée (Tom Bosley) and prego doctor (Robert Klein – he kept saying the “V” word out loud, ugh!).
One of the funniest scenes is when Stan hangs out with a playground Daddy (that guy from Kangaroo Jack - Anthony Anderson) and basically the advice he gives is this --- Having kids is really awful, then it’s awful, then, well, it’s awful again, and more awful. Then, there’s one moment of magic where everything is wonderful…then it’s pretty much awful and more awful and awful again, and oh, another tiny bit of wonderful before more awful again. I think my parents can relate!
So, do you wanna know if Mr. Right ends up running far, far away or if he sticks around for a happily ever after with J.Lo? If you’re twenty-something or older, you’ll enjoy finding out. I’d call this more of a chick flick and not so much a date flick with all the “womanly” stuff. Oh, and if you love doggies you’ll automatically like it cause Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer, is in it and Zoe has a hilarious little “handi-capable” doggie in a doggie wheelchair. But, if you’re a teen, go re-rent The Proposal and LOL at Sandra Bullock without all the awkwardness of someone shouting the “V” word!
I'm Lauren, one of the Fanatical Two...
and I rate The Back-Up Plan 3 out of 5 lucky pennies
RATED: PG-13
RUNNING TIME: 106 mins
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ has the best animation I’ve seen and who wouldn’t want to see a movie about DRAGONS?! This movie has it all---action, comedy, romance, sad parts, scary parts, gross parts, and really awesome parts! So there’s this Viking dude named Hiccup (voice of Jay Baruchel)---weird name for a Viking, right? I know, haha!! Well, he’s not very Vikingish, he’s real skinny and not very strong, so he’s not allowed to go out and fight dragons with all the other Vikings. Gobber (voice of Craig Ferguson) is this funny character that is like Hiccup’s Viking babysitter, or godfather or something, and he tries to train the young Viking in the ways of dragon killing. Look for Gobber and his undies jokes, high-larious! The movie is more than just great animation, it has a pretty intriguing storyline with Hiccup and his dad, Stoick (voice of Gerard Butler). Since Vikings haven't really been done in a kids movie before, and there's a big twist halfway through, the movie is new and exciting all the way to the end. Amazingly, the animators make each dragon species have its own little personality, and the most fearsome of all dragons is the Night Fury. Well, in the beginning of the movie, Hiccup manages to shoot a net onto a Night Fury, but of course since he’s not a big hero Dragon Killer, nobody is around to see it. Well, he finds the injured dragon and discovers a great truth about dragons…I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s kinda like teenagers---we’re not always what we seem! The first time Hiccup interacts with the Night Fury, it gives him this big smile, just gums, no teeth. The audience went, “Awwwe!” and Toothless was named. The friendship was sealed when Toothless regurgitated a fish head for Hiccup to share, ewww! There are other kid characters you’ll enjoy getting to know. The cute gutsy girl named Astrid (voice of America Ferrera), too cool Snotlout (voice of Jonah Hill), twins Tuffnut (voice of T.J miller) & Ruffnut (voice of Kristen Wiig), and chubby Fishlegs (voice of Christopher Mintz-Plasse). This is a perfect movie for all kids! With lots of sarcasm, it was cool enough for older kids and the little 3 year old dudes watching with us weren't scared at all, they jumped with excitement at many parts, and at the end said they LOVED it! Cool story, amazing animation and loveable dragons! I give ‘How To Train Your Dragon’ … 5 out of 5 Giant Dragon Roars PERCY JACKSON'S THE LIGHTNING THIEF Before you start reading this review I want to let you know that Lauren couldn’t make it so my brother Grant will be taking her place. Are you entertained by Greek gods, demigods, and monsters? Then go to the movie The Lightning Thief, Percy Jackson and the Olympians! Talk about an action flick… they fight a mythical Greek creature, Medusa, a Greek monster the Minotaur and more! Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) realizes he is a demigod at the age of 14. Then again, don’t most boys think they're a demigod? Lol! That’s not all, he is the son of one of big 3 gods, Poseidon (Kevin McKidd), god of the sea! There is bad blood between Poseidon and Zeus (Sean Bean), king of the gods. When the most powerful weapon ever created Zeus’ feared lightning bolt is missing, Zeus naturally accuses Poseidon’s son, Percy of stealing it. The third of the big three gods gets involved when Hades (Steve Coogan), god of the dead, sees an opportunity to grab the master bolt so he can take over Olympus. OMG! Hades, looking for the bolt, tries to attack Percy with monsters from the Underworld. Seeking refuge, Percy flees to Camp Half Blood which is a safe haven where demigods train to become warriors. Percy must make a life threatening journey to the Underworld to save his mom and get the master bolt back to Olympus by the Summer Solstice, which gives them just 12 days to complete their mission. Percy meets many friends and learns many life changing lessons. We both read the book before watching the movie and think we would have enjoyed it more if we had done it the other way around. We knew what was going to happen in some of the scenes, and would have liked it to have been less predictable. That said, we loved the movie and we are really happy we were able to see it! We recommend this movie for kids ages 10 and up because the monsters are kind of scary and there is some mild language. Go see this movie in theaters (the special effects are amazing) but don’t take your young ones! The Lightning Thief wins a grand total of 4 ½ out of 5 master bolts! THE TOOTH FAIRY Spying is easy…babysitting is hard! If you are looking for a great action movie to see with the kids, this is it! Bob Ho (Jackie Chan) is an undercover spy who is dating his next door neighbor, Jillian (Amber Valleta). At the beginning of the movie, Bob retires from the spy biz because he wants to marry Jillian and live a normal life. Soooo, as with most of these kid movies, her kids don't like the boyfriend, duh! Well, when Jillian needs to go away for a week to take care of her sick father, Bob offers to watch the kids. Hmm…an undercover spy babysitting 3 kids with people trying to kill him around every corner. Have we seen this movie before??? Ok, so the story has been done, but it wasn’t done with Jackie Chan! This movie is filled with fun and adventure and it will make all the little dudes want to learn Jackie Chan's cool spy moves! Jackie Chan does a great job in this role and he is really good with the kid actors (Madeline Carroll, Will Shadley and Alina Foley). Oh yeah, George Lopez is Bob’s spy boss and Billy Ray Cyrus is his spy partner! Who will enjoy “The Spy Next Door”---all kids, some parents, and anyone who likes to watch Jackie Chan go all kungfuey on the bad guys, especially when he gets all crazy with props like ladders and bmx bikes. We weren’t really laughing out loud, but it was pretty funny. Jackie Chan is just so cool, right? We’re the Fanatical Two, Lauren & Syd, and we rate ‘The Spy Next Door’ … 4 out of 5 Karate Kicks! Rated PG (Violence and Rude Humor)
The creators of Shrek have WOWed us all over again!!!!
RATED PG (Scarey Images)
Running Time: 96 mins
RATED: PG (FANTASY VIOLENCE)
RUNNING TIME: 119 MINS
Do you believe in the tooth fairy? Well, you better, or else you might get summoned to Fairy Land and sentenced to Tooth Fairy duty!
Derek Thompson (Dwayne Johnson, aka 'The Rock') is a hockey player who believes in nothing but fighting on the ice and knocking out teeth. That's how he gets nicknamed "The Tooth Fairy", but being mean to kids is how he ends up in pink and purple Fairy Land sprouting wings and wearing a blue tutu! The Fairy Godmother (Julie Andrews, the Grandma from Princess Diaries) tells him he must work as a tooth fairy to make up for being so mean and stomping on kids dreams. Well, the hard part is, he still lives his normal life by day, but he can't tell anyone his secret, so when there's a tooth to fetch out of some kids house, poof...he sprouts his wings and magically changes into fairy clothes and he can't tell anyone why. You can imagine how hard this is for his girlfriend (Ashley Judd), and it gets pretty funny when the call comes in the middle of a hockey game---you don't really wanna know how he gets out of the hockey arena without anyone seeing his wings and fairy outfit!
Tooth Fairy is about believing and following your dream...giving up on his dream is what landed Derek in a mess. Will wearing pale blue tights and waving a magic wand straighten him out? We think you should take the kids to see it and find out for yourself!
We are Lauren & Syd, The Fanatical Two...
and we give Tooth Fairy 4 out of 5 missing teeth!
Rated PG-13 (Crude Humor)
Running Time: 101 mins
THE SPY NEXT DOOR
Running Time: 92 mins
ALVIN & THE CHIPMUNKS: THE SQEAKUEL
Get ready for…
Alvin…“Make room for the Love Doctor!”
Simon…“Glasses, glasses, you wouldn’t hit a guy with glasses!”
and Theodore…“Hi, I’m Theodore! Hi, I’m Theordore! Hi, I’m Theodore!”
Alvin & The Chipmunks: The Squeakquel is at the top of our best movies of 2009! “You spin me right round, baby, right round…” Okay, so, the movie starts off with a crazy, funny Chipmunk concert starring Honor Society, aka a really cool band The Fanatical Two met at the movie Bandslam. Check out pics of the totally cute guys in Honor Society on theflickfanatics.com 'The Red Carpet' page!
Back to the munks...as soon as the movie gets going, guess who gets hurt?
ALL the adults! And not just normal injuries, we’re talking “Gasp!” and then LOL! With Dave (Jason Lee) and ‘Popcorn’ Jackie (Kathryn Joosten) in the hospital, the only person left to take care of the Chipmunks is Toby (Zachary Levi), the ‘living-in-his-mama’s-basement-going-nowhere’ cousin! Toby does one responsible thing---makes the Chipmunks go to high school. At school, the girls all LOVE them, and the guys all get jealous. The Principal ends up secretly being a HUGE Chipmunks fan (even has a tattoo of them…weird!) and strikes a bargain for the Chipmunks to represent the school at a competition. This is where the Chipettes come on the scene. The Chipettes---Brittany, Jeanette, and Eleanor, are with that dude Ian (Dsvid Cross) from the first Chipmunks film and he is kinda disturbing. The girls perform ‘Hot n Cold’ and ‘Put a Ring On It’! You’re totally gonna sing along, you know we did!
Some very cool actors do the voices of the Chipmunks & Chipettes. Justin Long is Alvin, Matthew Gray Gubler is Simon, Jesse McCartney is Theodore (our FAVE!), Christina Applegate is Brittany, Anna Faris is Jeanette, and Amy Poehler is Eleanor. Remember their voices are munked-out, but when you go see the movie, see if you can tell it's them!
We are the Fanatical Two and we give 'Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel' ... 5 out of 5 Rockin' Air Guitars!
Rated: PG (mild rude humor)
Running time: 85 mins
THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG
“Gotta dig a little deeper, find out who you are!”
We love The Princess And The Frog! It’s just like a regular Disney Princess movie where something happens to the princess and she goes on an adventure to find a way to change back and ends up finding true love. Just when you think you’ve seen all there is to a Disney Princess, in walks Tiana and she’s like no other princess before her. This is an amazing movie for little wannabe princesses and their families!
Tiana is Disney’s first African American Princess, and she is BEAUTIFUL! In the very beginning, the movie shows Tiana and her friend, Charlotte, as little girls playing princess dress-up and you don't want to miss it---it is the cutest part of any Disney movie, ever! After Tiana grows up, she saves all her money and works a ton of waitressing jobs to get money to own a fancy restaurant and become a famous chef. She and her Daddy shared the dream of owning “Tiana’s Place” and when her Daddy dies while she is still young, Tiana starts to think it’s her responsibility to make their dream come true on her own. The movie doesn’t show him dying or anything, but Tiana does talk about missing him. Tiana suddenly gets enough money to buy a building to start the restaurant, but the night of Mardi Gras, when she is going to sign the papers, someone outbids her and she loses sight of her dream. Hopeless, she’s all sad and she’s on a balcony when a frog comes up and she asks sarcastically, “I suppose you want a kiss?” and the frog says, ”Kissing would be nice, yessss?” After freaking out about a talking frog, she calms down and finds out the frog is really Prince Naveen who has been cursed by a witch doctor. She gives him a kiss to try to turn him back to human, but it doesn’t exactly go as she expected! Tiana just ends up turning into a frog too! Eeeek! The adventure with her Prince begins when they hop off to find Mama Odie, who might be able to change them both back to humans. In the swamps of Louisiana , they meet new friends, Louis, a jazz playing alligator, and Ray, a hillbilliy lightning bug with a big heart. The Witch Doctor, who we prefer to call the Shadow Man, is after them the whole time. The shadows with the Shadow Man are a bit scary---not leave-the-theater-crying-scary, just snuggle-up-to-your-Mommy-scary!
When they finally get to Mama Odie, she tells them that what matters is what’s under the skin. We think this Disney movie has lots of great morals for little princesses…never lose sight of your dreams, work hard to get what you want, it’s not what you have, it’s who you are that matters, and best of all…all you really need is love! The music is really cool and different from what we’re used to with Disney! The whole movie with it’s new characters, new voices, new music, and new setting was like a big pot of Gumbo…all sorts of delicious stuff thrown into one big pot that turns out to be wonderful through and through!
We are The Fanatical Two, and if we were still little Princesses, we’d be giving this 5 out of 5, but since we’re a little older and got a little bored in the middle, we’re going with 4 out of 5 wishing stars!
Rated G (for Great!)
Running Time 97 mins
OLD DOGS
“Sit. Stay. Play Dad."
This is Syd, 1/2 of The Fanatical Two which mathematically makes me a Fanatical 1 this week.
The "Old Dogs" are Dan Rayburn and Charlie Reed. They are life-long buddies who have formed their own Sports Marketing firm. Dan is played by Robin Williams. Charlie is played by John Travolta. In their 50's now, Dan and Charlie are both swinging single bachelors. 7 years ago, Dan divorced and Charlie took him to Miami to get over his depression. While in Miami, he meets Vicki (Kelly Preston, John Travolta’s real wife). After a heavy night of drinking, Vicki and Dan impulsively get married. Realizing their mistake, they get the marriage annulled. Fast forward to present day. Vicki calls Dan and says she wants to meet up. At dinner, Vicki has a surprise for Dan. Dan is the father of their 7-year old twins. Vicki has to go away for two weeks and is leaving the kids with a good friend. All that gets turned around when Dan accidentally breaks the hands of the babysitter. Dan, on a whim, tells Vicki he can watch the kids. With his best friend’s help, Dan has to figure out how to be a first-time dad to his children while simultaneously negotiating the biggest contract in their firm’s history with a Japanese client. Answering the question if these two old dogs can really learn new tricks is where the comedy comes in.
My favorite scene is where the twins, Emily and Zach mix Dan’s and Charlie’s medicine up on accident. They put them back in the wrong containers. When Dan and Charlie take each others’ pills they have side effects from taking the pills that are really funny. LOL!
The great thing about this movie is it is a comedy that can appeal to all ages from 8 year-olds (young pups) to adults (senior dogs). After stuffing yourselves with turkey on Thanksgiving, head out to the theaters with the family to see this one. I give this movie 4 1/2 out of 5 Dog Treats
Rated: PG-13 (Language, Rude humor)
Running Time: 88 mins
TWILIGHT: NEW MOON
We have seen 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon' and it is even better than Twilight! There is so much action and the girls get their fill of romance, too! Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) and Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) are very deep in love. Thinking he is protecting Bella from harm, Edward and his family make the difficult choice to move to a different area. Bella is devastated and eventually turns to Jacob Black (Taylor Lautner) to ease her misery. Bella discovers that by doing daring, life threatening things Edward will appear to her and try to convince her to stop. During one of Bella’s stunts Edward thinks she died and since he can't bear to go on without her in the world, he goes to the Volturi. The Volturi are like the head vampire council, and Edward tries to convince them that he has broken the vampire rules so that they will kill him. The scariest part (without giving too much away) is when Edward almost dies!
Yeah, sorry, but love that deep has to be fiction!! No guy, (Edward) can possibly be that into a girl (Bella), and if he was, they'd call him her stalker! Don't get us wrong, we love Edward! He is so into Bella and he is so intense about it! Edward's love for Bella may seem like fantasy, but Taylor Lautner's 8-pack (yep, we counted!) is no fantasy, it is very real!!! He is sooooooooooo hot in this movie and his shirt is off ¾ of the time! Isn't that just so aaaaaagggghhhhh?!? We love Jacob Black, but who wouldn’t...even his muscles have muscles! From the way everyone in the theater screamed when he took off his shirt, we think he may be everyone's favorite!
Parents will be happy to know there is nothing offensive in this movie. The theme of Edward and Bella not being able to go on living without each other could be kind of disturbing, but no more than Romeo and Juliet. It's really done in a fictional way, come on, he's a vampire and Jacob's a werewolf! Really? We think a mature 10 year old and up will do fine with it. They'd do more than fine, they'd do anything to see this movie! Have them clean their rooms, wash your car, be nice to their brother...anything, they'll do it to get to go see this movie! 
We are the Fanatical Two and we rate 'The Twilight Saga: New
Moon' 5 out of 5 smokin' hot Jacobs!
MPAA rating: PG-13
Running Time: 2 hours, 10 minutes
PLANET 51
“Something strange is coming to their planet...Us!”
If you live on a planet where it rains rocks, dogs eat mailmen, and you think that the humans are the aliens, then you must be on planet 51. The aliens in Planet 51 freak out because one of our astronauts, Captain Charles T. Baker (voice of “The Rock” Dwayne Johnson), lands on their planet. Captain Baker is lucky enough to land in Lem’s (voice of Justin Long) backyard. Lem is a really good alien kid and tries to help Captain Baker get back to his ship, but the tricky part is sneaking past the huge army guarding it.
We were really looking forward to “The Rock’s” voice for the main character, but it was not impressive at all. It’s really weird, but we’re thinking the animators took that big scary alien from “Aliens” (the really scary movie with Sigourney Weaver) and turned it into a cute cartoon dog that pees acid, has a long sticky tongue, and eats mailmen. We’ve never seen “Aliens” (way too scary!), but Lauren’s Dad filled us in on all the similarities! Freaky! Parents will want to know, some of the comedy in Planet 51 is questionable and your kids may actually get the jokes, which is bad. We did like that the aliens are kind of set in the 1950’s and there is some really good music, like…Lollipop, lollipop, oh, lolly, lollipop…now try and get that outta your head, cuz we’re still singing it!
We recommend waiting for DVD on this one…and we think it may only appeal to kids between 5 and 12 years old. Lauren gives it a 4 (she loves anything animated!) but Syd says a 2, so let’s give Planet 51 a rating of 3 out of 5 Little Freaky Green Things!
Rated : PG (Suggestive Humor)
Running Time: 91 mins.
CIRQUE DU FREAK:THE VAMPIRE'S ASSISTANT
"Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" is such a good movie, I cant stop talking about it! Syd was busy, so I went to see it with my brother, Matt. He liked it and he's very picky about movies, so what does that tell you about this movie? Well, the movie is about two best friends, Darren (Chris Massoglia) who is totally into spiders and Steve (Josh Hutcherson) who is totally obsessed with vampires. Darren ends up becoming a vampire to save Steve from an extremely poisonous spider bite. When Darren becomes a vampire he has to die first, so Crepsley (John C. Reilly), the man who made him a vampire, breaks his neck and throws him off the roof---maybe one of the reasons this is PG13! Don't worry though, Darren refuses to drink blood and the vampires in this story only sip from people, not killing anyone. Steve eventually finds out about Darren being a vampire and meets up with the vampaneze, bad vampires that do kill people. The boss of the vampaneze is Mr. Tiny (Michael Cerveris) and he turns Steve into a vampaneze so that he can get in a big fight with Darren. My favorite character is the monkey girl, Rebecca (Jessica Carlson), because I love monkeys!!! I also like her cause she says this amazing line in the movie “Its not what you are, its who you are.” Isn't that just amazing? If you don’t think it's amazing, there's something seriously wrong with you! This movie is based on some books, and when I get finished with “Ninth Grade Bites” I'm going to start reading the "Cirque du Freak" series. I give it 5 out of 5 fangs.
Hey, I'm Matt, Lauren's twin brother. Sydney's washing her hair or something, so I'm visiting Lauren's little Freak Show and reviewing a movie with her. Meet Darren Shan (Chris Massoglia, an unknown and gonna stay that way). He's sixteen going on immortal. In "Cirque du Freak: Vampire's Assistant" he sacrifices himself to save his best friend, Steve (square-faced Josh Hutcherson from Bridge to Terabithia), getting a permanent gig as a half-vampire doing daytime errands for Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly of Talledega Nights fame---Shake 'n Bake). This movie is based on a book series titled, "Cirque du Freak" by author Darren Shan. Wonder if the main character has more in common with the author than just the name. I didn't read the books and don't intend to---I'm not really the book reading type, but the movie was GOOD. My interest stayed high all the way through and the freak show was freakin' awesome. The little dudes are the best, I want some for my room! I have to say I hate it when they leave me hangin' with such an obvious gonna-have-a-sequel ending. Know what else I really hate? Every halfway decent movie is tainted with some corny moral. I mean, why does everything have to be a preschool lesson? This one is "It's not what you are, it's who you are." Really? The PG13 rating is for a little bit of cussing, but it's nothing compared to walking down a 7th grade hallway. It didn't really show the vampires drinking the blood, but it was implied and the violence was pretty PG. I'd say maybe 10 and up would be good to go. Take a break from your own little Freak Show and go see "Cirque du Freak". I give it 4.7589 out of 5.
Rated: PG-13 (for supernatural violence and action, disturbing images, thematic elements and some language)
Running Time: 98 minutes
ASTRO BOY
Rated - PG (for some action and peril, and brief mild language)
Running time - 94 min
The Fanatical Two, Lauren & Syd 
" Life is a work of art ... you gotta paint it colorful ! "
WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE
Inside all of us is ... hope.
Inside all of us is ... fear.
Inside all of us is ... adventure.
Inside all of us is a wild thing.
Our first thought was, "How could they turn a 10 sentence book into an hour and a half movie?" But they did and it is really good! This book is over 40 years old, but is probably still in every child's book collection. They did a fantastic job of turning the book's illustrations (by author Maurice Sendak) into real big Jim Henson puppets! The movie has scary parts, romantic parts, funny parts, and sad parts. It has a little of everything!
'Where the Wild Things Are' is a good movie for ages 7 and up, but kids younger than that may get freaked out by the scary scenes. Adults will be left wondering if the movie was max's dream or his imagination, or his real life or what! We love that! S the story goes...Max (Max Records) gets yelled at by his mom (Catherine Keener) and runs off into the woods. After he runs away, he sails to the land of the wild things and his crazy adventure begins. Syd's favorite character is Carol (voice of James Gandolfini) because when he gets mad he is mean, but at other times he can be so sweet and nice. Syd & Carol have a lot in common, LOL!. Lauren's favorite character is Alexander (voice of Paul Dano) because nobody ever listens to him, no matter how hard he wants to be the center of attention. Lauren and Alexander have a lot in common, LOL! Sorry to say, if there was a moral in the movie we didn't get it, but then we didn't get it from the book either, we just really love the pictures! We would see this movie again because we loved it so much and probably find details we didn't see before. We both say it's worth buying a movie ticket!
Syd gives 'Where the Wild Things Are' 3 1/2 "Wild Things out of 5 and Lauren say 5 out of 5!! In the words of KW (One of the Wild Things) "We'll eat it up, we love it so!"
The Fanatical Two, Lauren & Syd
" Life is a work of art ... you gotta paint it colorful ! "
TOY STORY 1 & 2 IN 3D
......... not so much in 3D!
Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are two of our favorite movies! The double feature has a fun intermission with Toy Story trivia. Our favorite character is Rex because he is a dino and dinos are amazing like Spiderman, and he’s just so cute!
In the first Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear (voice of Tim Allen) comes along and Andy (voice of John Morris) starts to play with Buzz more than Woody (voice of Tom Hanks). Woody gets all jealous when the toys start to like Buzz more than him. He gets in a fight with Buzz and they both end up in Sid’s (voice of Erik von Detten) house and Sid is this real mean kid who tortures toys for fun. So Woody has to save Buzz before he gets blown-up because Sid really likes to blow things up.
The second Toy Story is about how Al (voice of Wayne Knight), a toy collector, nabbed Woody from Andy's garage sale. Buzz and some of the other toys go on a rescue mission to Al's Toy Barn because that’s where they think Al took Woody. Woody is actually in Al's apartment, where he meets the rest of the Round Up Gang; Jessie (voice of Joan Cusack), Stinky Pete the Prospector (voice of Kelsey Grammer), and Bullseye. When the toys find him and try to take him home to Andy’s room with them, Woody thinks he should stay with Jessie and go to the toy museum were they will be put on display.
Even though the Toy Stories are amazing, we had a bad 3D movie experience because there was hardly any 3D! Many people came out of the theater complaining that nothing came out of the screen at us. If that’s why you want to go see it during this two week special engagement, then you will be disappointed. If you have kids who have never seen it, or who are addicted to Toy Story, then definitely take them to see Woody & Buzz bigger than life! However, if you've already seen these movies many times over (like us!), we recommend you rewatch them on DVD to get ready for Toy Story 3...it's coming next summer!
This is Lauren & Syd,The Fanatical Two, still singing "You've Got A Friend In Me" and ready for Toy Story 3!!
" Life is a work of art ... you gotta paint it colorful ! "
CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is like the best animated 3-D movie EVER, it’s even better than G-Force and if you’ve been following our reviews, you know we REALLY liked G-Force!
The story is from a popular kids book by Judi & Ron Barrett, and it’s about a town where food falls from the sky like rain. Our favorite character is Sam Sparks (voice of Anna Faris), a geeky weather girl who gave up her glasses and ponytail to fit in, and be 'normal'. Will Flint Lockwood (voice of Bill Hader) see her for who she really is or will Sam hide her true self, even from him? The best line is by Sam Sparks while she is broadcasting the weather in Swallow Falls , “This meteor shower is getting even meatier.” Get it? The meat is falling from the sky while she is broadcasting. LOL! There are a lot of surprises in this movie, like when the little, quiet cameraman named Manny (voice of Benjamin Bratt) ends up saving the day with his many talents. Earl (voice of Mr. T) is the maniac police officer for the town and his son, Cal (voice of Bobb'e J. Thompson), went into a food coma from eating too much junk food. Saw that coming! The mayor (voice of Bruce Campbell) gets really, really fat by the end and we thought that was really gross, but he’s the bad guy so it’s okay that they made him gross.
There’s a kissing scene, where Sam and Flint kiss, but Flint never kissed a girl, so he sticks his lips out and has bubble cheeks when they kiss. EWW, but funny and kinda cute! When this movie comes out on DVD we are going to buy it and watch it every day, because it’s so amazing and the animation was so detailed that if you watch it again and again you will keep catching stuff you haven’t seen before. Pay attention at the very, very, very beginning to see a ginormous banana hit the Statue of Liberty! And we haven’t even mentioned the monkey Steve (voice of Neil Patrick Harris) yet…gummi bears, gummi bears, gummi bears!
For the Mommies and Daddies, you’ll be happy to hear the movie has a few great morals; “Always be yourself, and quit worrying what other people are going to think!” and “When times get tough, if you work together you will get your problem figured out.” and something about fathers and sons that adults will get better than us kids. The PG rating is right on and everyone should go enjoy thisFUN movie in the theater!
We’re Lauren & Syd, The Fanatical Two, we LOVED this book and now we LOVE this movie…and that’s a wrap!
MPAA rating- PG (Mild Language)
Running time- 1 hr 21 min Lauren …I actually liked Shorts! It had some really gross stuff in it, like a nose-picking kid and a giant booger that came to life, eeewwww! The girl bully ate lunch with her toes which was really creeping me out, but little kids will be laughing out loud. The storyline skips around a bunch, but kids are random and just want to goof off (like me), so I don't think that’s a problem! There was a bunch of morals goin’ on in the story, like “When friends come together, they can accomplish anything.” And the parents kept texting on their black box instead of paying attention to the kids and in the end realized they were losing out on family time. And, of course there was the whole “Be careful what you wish for” thing that everybody got a peek at in the previews. Buy this one on DVD when it comes out, cuz the little kids are gonna wanna watch it over and over. I’m going with 3 out of 5 stars!
SHORTS
Syd …Shorts is about a couple of kids, Toe and Loogie, who find a magical rock that grants wishes and the adventures that it takes them on. My favorite character, Loogie, had all the good action scenes…if there even were any! My favorite scene was when Toe was getting bullied and the kids were throwing rocks at him and the piles of dirt around him were exploding…OMG! The storyline is a bunch of movie “shorts” that are not in the right order and with all that jumping around, it will be confusing for little kids. Even though the previews make Shorts look really good, I wouldn’t recommend anyone go see it in the theater. I guess I give Shorts 2 out of 5 stars.
This is The Fanatical Two, BFF's who don't always have to agree, and like Mr. Karl says, Shorts is a wrap!
Rated: PG (action and rude humor)
Running Time: 89 mins
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