Yogi Bear, 2010

Yogi Bear, 2010
Director: Eric Brevig
Cast (voices): Dan Aykroyd, Justin Timberlake, Anna Faris



Stage: Home theatre, 3D version?


Yogi in short: Jellystone Park is celebrating its 100 anniversary, however it may be for the last time, because attendance is down and Mayor Brown wants to close the park and sell the land. If the park is closed, Yogi Bear and Boo Boo will lose their home. They join forces with Ranger Smith to save Jellystone from closing forever. Yogi must really prove in this endeavor that he is "smarter than the average bear".



Preps: Well, I have seen several of the cartoons regarding Yogi and loved them. How about a movie? Usually it wrecks what you had pictured for something like this. But let me get my surprise.


Reality: Well, Yogi is Yogi. Wherever he goes, he's the same. Even in the movie, that doesn't resemble cartoon even from a long distance. All the scenes with Yogi should remain in the movie. Most of them superb and genuine, some a bit weird. All the scenes without Yogi in this case are plain stupid.The director must believe that the viewers are really limited and without any sense of humour or sense for reality. The underestimation of the viewer is huge and I feel truly stupid at some moments for watching this piece of s...

All comes back when Yogi steps in the field. Yes, this is the true sense I had for this cartoon when being a child. The voices, the humour, so genuine. Why do these people need to be around? The storyline is predictable, all the effects are .. well, on the level 1 - the movie could have been done so much better. Did they have a thin budget to go along with most of the studio filming? Where was the music? And someone to knock over the actors every time they really exaggerated at some move or some scenes? I am on one side, dissappointed and as said, would put all the "human" scenes out, but I am absolutely crazy about Yogi and Bubu. If you are a fan of that cartoon, watch it, because you will love the couple and hate all the rest.



My personal rating: 4,0 (looking it from a child's perspective and neglecting the influence of stupidity shown in the way adults are supposed to react.. well, take this away and it can be edible. But nothing beyond that. Fans from Yogi will remain fans. But the fan pool will not increase because of this movie, maybe even shorten).


Yogi on IMDB

The Bucket List, 2007

The Bucket List, 2007
Director: Rob Reiner
Cast: Morgan Freeman, Jack Nicholson




Stage: Home theatre
The Bucket List in short: Corporate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers have nothing in common except for their terminal illnesses. While sharing a hospital room together, they decide to leave it and do all the things they have ever wanted to do before they die according to their bucket list. In the process, both of them heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find the joy in life.



Preps: I have seen this once or twice, a good piece. Nicholson is the reason to make me watch it again. The same goes for Freeman. Nothing but energy could be deriving from these two.



Reality: Now, what is the thing you will do if you think or believe you only have six months to go? I have created some philosophical dilemmas prior to this post regarding several movies that play with the philosophy. The idea is strong and will make you think about how you indulge your everyday life and if you get out of it more than you give into it.

Where would you go, what would you do? The two newly fresh friends make a journey beyond the imagination. Every person in this world would go into something like this. The images are fascinating, the imagination goes wild when watching. But. Yes, there's always a but. You need loads of money to make this true. Billions of people can just remain dreaming about it. Therefore, beside giving crazy ideas about how you can invest into free time and the wonders of the world you can see.. well, it's definitely stunning. But all in all.. the idea, the thin red line of the movie as I see it, is make every day count.

The movie is filled with fresh, ironic approach, the true gift of Nicholson. Freeman ads somehow divine approach to coping with things and voila.. you have a perfectly watchable and pleasant piece. No sudden expectations, solid humour and a short trip around the world that will make you want to take it at once.



My personal rating: 7,0 ( a good piece that will make you rethink the way you lead your normal life. Needless to say, you don't need to wait for the deadly disease to make every day count).


The Bucket List on IMDB

The kids are allright, 2010

The kids are allright, 2010
Director: Lisa Cholodenko
Cast: Annette Benning, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo



Stage: Home theatre, almost HD :)

The kids in short: Nic and Jules are in a long term, committed, loving but by no means perfect relationship. Nic, a physician, needs to wield what she believes is control, whereas Jules, under that control, is less self-assured. During their relationship, Jules has floundered in her "nine to five" life, sometimes trying to start a business - always unsuccessfully - or being the stay at home mom. She is currently trying to start a landscape design business. They have two teen-aged children, Joni and Laser, Nic who is Joni's biological mother, and Jules who is Laser's biological mother. Although not exact replicas, each offspring does more closely resemble his/her biological mother in temperament. Joni and Laser are also half-siblings, having the same unknown sperm donor father. Shortly after Joni's eighteenth birthday and shortly before she plans to leave the house and head off to college, Laser, only fifteen and underage to do so...


Preps: I adore Moore and Benning, therefore two good reasons to see it. A family drama is a good description of the genre I would love to see again - in good shoes, I guess.


Reality: An excellent drama, bringing out all the devious stuff your children could think of when being raised and questioning themselves, who they are, who their parents are and what their role is.

The children want to know who the parents really are. Do they? Well, this movie brings a strong point to revealing these "secrets" at the early stage and not when they are teenagers. Lesbian relationship and motherhood is the second strong point, just waiting for the filmmaker to follow up on it. Philosophical dilemmas, really trying to pull through a perfect family. Even if it consists of two women that couldn't be more different in the way they perceive life, life choices, options, and the way they interact with everyday things or dilemmas.

Benning and Moore play an excellent role in this piece, firstly trying to seduce you with a perfect realistic way of living a normal life and afterwards complication when the biological father enters the premises. The children prove at this point their natural organic way of celebrating life as it is, with its ups and downs and accumulating or adopting to changes. On the other side, the older you get, the harder it is to change things from the way you used to cope with them to a newer, maybe even not necessarily better version. Therefore, a drama or a ironic comedy, filled with energy from the two ladies and every day scenes. You will find it really hard not to like this piece and easily to fill in the gaps that director left behind. As a woman, the perspective of dealing with things, the director of course puts in her perspective. I believe that a male director would not only see things quite differently, the movie would have a different course as a whole.

In some sense, the movie is also provocative. Can a lesbian family really (and I mean REALLY) function as a normal? What do the kids tell the others in school? It cannot be romantic like it is shown in the movie. But I leave this to the interpretation of the viewers. It was a thought that stroke me the most, while watching this.


My personal rating: 8,0 (a strong, feminine movie, still filling the gap with a guy and guy energy :)

The kids are allright on IMDB