Movies with Robert

My best bud Robert took me up on my offer to come over and watch some screeners. He arrived around 9:30am and we got started. He first went through my pile of screeners and picked out movies that he wanted to see. I then went through and pulled out a few that I have seen and didn't wish to see again. We wound up with six movies and put them in a order that we though was good.

We weren't sure if we would get through all of these but we started with Rise of the Guardians. Now I saw this last week and loved it. It became an instant yearly Christmas movie for me. And on my second viewing I loved it just the same... it's a Christmas classic already for me.

After Rise ended we were hungry so we headed out for some lunch. We went with Wienerschnitzel as it's one of Robert's and my favorite places. Back home we popped in Moonrise Kingdom. Again I had seen this one a few weeks ago and was mediocre about it. But Robert really wanted to see it and I enjoyed it enough to watch again. I have to say that I actually enjoyed this movie more the second time around and I'm glad Robert wanted to watch this one.

Next was The Perks of Being a Wallflower. And if you read my blog about hanging with Brett yesterday you will notice that I watched this with him as well. So this is going to be my third time watching this in a matter of a few weeks.. and you know what... I don't care. I love this movie. Everything about it is just so good. And I'm actually the one who suggested that we watch it. Robert knew I had just seen it and it wasn't in his pile to watch.. I actually put it there because he needed to experience this fantastic movie.

So the first three movies I had seen.. now it was time to watch a movie that I have not seen yet. Madagascar 3. Here's the synopsis: Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman are still trying to get back to the Big Apple and their beloved Central Park zoo, but first they need to find the penguins. When they travel to Monte Carlo, they attract the attention of Animal Control after gate crashing a party and are joined by the penguins, King Julian and Co., and the monkeys. How do a lion, zebra, hippo, giraffe, four penguins, two monkeys, three lemurs travel through Europe without attracting attention and get back to New York? They join a traveling circus. Their attempts to get back to New York are consistently hampered by the Captain of Animal Control who wants to make Alex part of her collection. Once they make it back to New York Marty, Alex, Gloria and Melman realize that they want to be part of the traveling circus.

My Review... I enjoy the Madagascar movies. I've seen the first two several times and was looking forward to watching this. I had heard such great things about it and folks comparing it to Toy Story 3 which I just adored. Well it's defiantly not Toy Story 3. The first hour or so the movie is kind of crazy. Robert kept looking at me and saying "I feel like I'm on speed" the movie was so disjointed and fast pace it was very bizarre. Once they joined the circus the movie slowed down and actually started to get good. And it ended great bringing this trilogy to a conclusion. Maybe that's why folks were comparing it to Toy Story 3 as that movie did the same. It nicely ended that series. I give Madagascar 3 a C+

Made some pizza for dinner and started with our fifth movie Flight. Again another movie that I had not seen yet. I have heard from friends that it's not what you think, that it's a much darker film about alcoholism. So I was warned about the movie before watching it. Here's a brief synopsis: An airline pilot saves a flight from crashing, but an investigation into the malfunctions reveals something troubling.

My Review... As I mentioned the previews are a bit deceiving but I was warned about what the true story is about. The movie is not bad, but it's wasn't enjoyable for me. I have a hard time when the person, who is the main character and protagonist, is just horrible and never really changes until the end. But by that time I didn't care what happen to him. There wasn't one redeeming quality about him. The acting was excellent but I just couldn't get pass that I hated the main character. Maybe I didn't enjoy the movie because it was too real, I mean I understood that alcoholism is a sickness and that part of his actions were not controllable because he was sick, but it was just to hard to watch someone so self destructive.  Maybe that's why I enjoy Fantasy as I have enough real life drama in real life I don't need to see it on the big screen.

As I said this isn't a bad movie I just don't think it was the right movie for me. If you enjoy extreme drama then this movie is right up your alley and I'm sure you'll love it. Am I glad I watched the movie.. sure, will I ever watch it again.. nope. I give this movie a C

After that depressing movie we watched our final movie of the night Dr. Seuss The Lorax. This is the third movie of the night that I had not seen. Here's a brief synopsis: In the walled city of Thneed-Ville, where everything is artificial and even the air is a commodity, a boy named Ted hopes to win the heart of his dream girl, Audrey. When he learns of her wish to see a real tree, Ted seeks out the Once-ler, a ruined old businessman outside of town in a stark wasteland. Upon hearing of how the hermit gave into his greed for profits and devastated the land over the protests of the Lorax, Ted is inspired to undo the disaster. However, the greedy Mayor of Thneed-Ville, Aloysius O'Hare, has made his fortune exploiting the environmental collapse and is determined to stop the boy from undermining his business

My Review... I enjoy Dr. Seuss and don't ever remember reading The Lorax so I wasn't sure what to expect. This was an environmental film animated for kids. This movie is all about deforestation and how it effect the environment. Robert mentioned several times how this film just hits you over the head with their message and I agree.. it's not a subtle message. But with that said I did enjoy the movie and I did like the storyline, though a bit heavy-handed. My biggest complaint were the musical numbers that they would do in the middle of a scene.... Those felt very weird. Nowadays most kids movies are written for kids and adults and can be enjoyed by both. This is definably a kids movie and one that I don't think I'll watch again. I give it a solid C +

So I saw three movies that I had already seen and three new movies, but the best part was spending the entire day with one of my favorite peoples in the world.. Thanks for hanging with me all day Robert, you're AWESOME!!