Despicable Me

Despicable Me is the latest movie from Netflix that I got for my kids. I usually allow for one per month, though it looks like they will also be getting Megamind this month. Well, actually, I think Despicable Me counts as February and Megamind will count as March. So we're good.

Despicable Me is a animated movie (read cartoon) made by Universal Pictures. It stars Steve Carell as Villanious Gru, the evil mad scientist who is plotting to steal world-wide monuments. For his latest swipe he needs the incredible shrinking machine, but younger evil mad scientist Victor "Vector" Perkins (Jason Segal) has swiped it first. Now Gru's only chance of getting the shrinking ray gun is by exploiting the 3 young female orphans: Margo (Miranda Cosgrove, duh - Carly Shay from iCarly!), Edith (Dana Gaier), and Agnes (Elsie Fisher) and having them swipe it. And how in the world did 3 young girls in today's society end up with old lady names like Margo, Edith, and Agnes?

Despicable Me also stars the voices of Julie Andrews as Gru's mother, Russell Brand as Gru's older scientist mentor, Will Arnett as the evil bank administrator, Danny McBride as Gru's neighbor, and Kristen Wiig as Miss Hatie, the mistress of the orphanage.

Rated PG for crude humor and mild action (sounds like something else I know), Despicable Me is 95 minutes long.

My kids loved this movie. It made all of them laugh - the 11 year old, the 9 year old, even my 3 year old. This movie is great for them. I thought it was okay, too. They all lived the little yellow working guys.

Together, we give Despicable Me 4 stars.

Get Smart

I saw Get Smart in the theater 25 times. Would you believe on bootleg copy before it was released on DVD? How about last Tuesday?

Steve Carell stars as Maxwell Smart, the quirky gizmo-loving detective for the American intelligence agency known as CONTROL. We works along side Agent-99, played by the young and beautiful Anne Hathaway.

As you will remember from the Mel Brooks-produced 1960's show, Maxwell Smart fought against the implied Russian agency known as KAOS. Always lucky, but never Smart, he always seemed to get his man, though with a heavy hand from Agent-99. If you were born in the 1980's, you're definitely thinking right now, "Get Smart was a TV show in the 1960's???"

This movie adaption of the TV show has many familiar faces, such as former wrestler Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, former Sesame Street star Alan Arkin, and a Godfather, James Caan. And this movie does not disappoint. They cleverly included many of the sight-gags and vernacular of the original TV show. Steve Carell is funny, as he usually is. And Anne Hathaway is sexy - as she has been since the day she turned 18. Prior to that day, this editor had no relevant opinion of her.

Get Smart is 110 minutes long, 10 minutes short of 2 hours. It is rated PG-13 for some crude humor, mild violence, language, and would you believe plentiful nudity? If you blinked, then you missed it by that much.

I really liked this movie and I give it 4 stars. Make sure you see this movie.

Dan in Real Life

One would think that I was writing about another Disney Movie here. Dan in Real Life is about a dad who is a widower raising three girls on his own. I know - it fits perfectly with the Disney formula.

Steve Carell stars in this 2007 movie, along with Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook who's not wearing healies in this movie, Dianne Wiest (of Footloose and The Lost Boys), Jessica Hecht, whom I recognized from Friends as Ross' ex-wife's lesbian girlfriend, and John Mahoney, the dad from Frasier.

Steve Carrell's character, Dan Burns, is an advise columnist and he is joining his family for a week at the camp or summer house. Dan has been overwhelmed in life and needs a break. After having a trist with his middle teenage daughter, his mother sends him out to get a newspaper in the morning to get away for awhile.

Dan stops in a little shop on the water that sells various sundries including books. There he meets a woman named Marie and they have a quick and funny conversation. He really likes her so he invites her to breakfast. Finally she has to leave, but sadly informs him that she is in a relationship, but she really liked him and loved the conversation.

When Dan gets back to the house, he announces that he met a wonderful woman at the bookstore and thinks he's in love. Then his brother (Dane Cook) introduces him to his new girlfriend, the same lady from the bookstore. For the rest of the movie they struggle with their inner desires for each other, but with the restraint they know they must keep. As the movie progresses, Dan becomes more irritable, distracted, and less loving of his daughters. He is basically becoming unravelled.

Anyone who has ever loved someone, but cannot have her will be absolutely drawn to this movie. It's funny. It's sad. It's depressing. You know what he's going through. You'd think I was a 28 year old woman writing this blog, but I've been there and I know you've been there, too.

I like this movie a lot, so I am giving it 4 stars. I would rate it on Netflix, but it appears that after their website was down all day yesterday, they no longer allow users to rate movies. This should certainly help no one find movies they like. Hopefully Netflix will raise their prices since they are offering less helpful service.