PCP on DVD - Happy Feet Two

Anyone that knows me knows I like to watch a lot of movies.  New visitors to this blog can probably figure that out quick by looking through my post history.  I'll watch pretty much everything.  Sometimes, that pays off with a good movie, and sometimes you get a dud.  Happy Feet Two was one of those duds. 

Two, not 2

Happy Feet Two - 2011, Rated PG.  100 minutes.  My rating:  5 out of 10.

Happy Feet Two is a sequel to the cute 2006 animated penguin movie that was far better than this one.  In fact, my enjoyment of the first one was why I chose to waste my time on this film, even though I am about 25 years older than its target demographic.  Sometimes kids movies have something for the grownups to enjoy.  Only sometimes though.  This is not really one of those times.

The film is a series of loosely connected plot threads primarily told through giant song and dance numbers by all of the penguins.  While the song selections are great (I especially loved Queen's Under Pressure showing up), since they are all covers and not original numbers it really kind of feels like an animated episode of Glee with penguins instead of humans.  The film also has a pro-environment, anti-climate change message to it that kind of beats you over the head after awhile, so if you are a climate-change denier and don't want your kids to grow up to like the environment, then don't show them this movie.

I'm sure this film is great for kids though, as the massive song and dance numbers are probably pretty enthralling to a 5 year old, but to a 30 year old the film falls flat.  I'll let my son watch this when he gets older, but I'll pass on seeing it again.

Thanks for dropping by CRAPOLA - if you are new here since the redesign make sure you take some time to check out the changes, as well as the posts archive!

PCP in Theaters - The Dark Knight Rises

For the first time in a long time, I actually got a chance to see a movie on the day it was released.  I had the Friday off from work the day The Dark Knight Rises hit theaters, and I wasn't about to miss my opportunity to catch the film.  I also wasn't going to let the tragedy in Colorado deter me from catching this one in theaters as opposed to the comfort and safety of my own home. I'm definitely glad I didn't decide to wait.  I only wish I had a chance to catch it in IMAX, but maybe that'll have to happen if I get a chance to go a 2nd time.

The Dark Knight Rises - 2012, Rated PG-13.  164 minutes.  My rating:  10 out of 10.

The Dark Knight Rises was an outstanding conclusion to a grand trilogy.  This trilogy will go down in history as one of the best trilogies in film history (I currently slot it 3rd behind Lord of the Rings & the original Star Wars trilogy, and just ahead of the first 3 Indiana Jones movies) and deservedly so.  Picking up 8 years after the events of The Dark Knight, TDKR deals with a broken Bruce Wayne having to readopt the mantle of Batman that he had hung up after the death of Harvey Dent.  TDKR wastes little time in jumping into the action, introducing Bane in an epic opening involving a mid-air plane heist.  This action setpiece is an even better introduction to the villain as well as to the film than we were treated to in TDK when the Joker pulled off an awesome bank heist.

It is hard to review TDKR without making comparisons to both TDK and to Batman Begins, as obviously they are a very intertwined series.  In fact, TDKR goes back to the events of BB quite a lot, bringing back the League of Shadows from the first film.  If you never watched BB or TDK, go and watch those before watching TDKR as it will help greatly with your understanding of this film.  I have no problem with TDKR going back to the well of BB because it ties everything together rather nicely.  I do wonder however where the film would have gone if Heath Ledger had not died.  Would Nolan & Co still have gone in this direction for the finale of the series or would the plot of TDKR been completely different?  I would love to have a chance to ask Nolan that some day.

Read the rest of my thoughts on TDKR after the jump -->

FML - Teething Bites

So my son has started teething recently.  He has had his first tooth burst through the gums and has several others that should pop through soon as well.  Teething sucks.  It has taken our son, who is normally the most happy-go-lucky, smiling baby and turned him in to a cranky, needy, whiny monster for the lion's share of the night.  We cannot put him down without him crying.  If we are out of the room to get something, he's crying.  If we are sitting next to him but he's not being held by us, he's crying.  He's not so bad in the mornings, maybe because he hasn't woken up fully yet, but at night he is downright awful.  We have him using cold teething rings around the clock, and we use baby Tylenol in the evenings, but he still is just so miserable. 




Before teething - "Wheeeeeeeeee"



After teething - "Bite Me"



 



















The photo of him on the right is about the best photo he's taken since his tooth has popped in.  He smiles from time to time, but nowhere near as frequently as he used to.  He's also been having a much harder time eating than normal too.  It even has managed to irritate him more than his eczema (although that requires much more treatment to manage).  It's even hampering his sleep, making him fussy in the middle of the night.  I'd gotten used to him sleeping through the night, I am not happy at all that he is having a harder time both going to bed and staying asleep.  If anyone has any useful teething suggestions from experience, let me know!  After all, it's only 1 tooth down, 20+ to go.  Oh lucky me.