Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011)

Of all the penguin movies out there, this may just be the worst. It's certainly not offensively bad by any means, but it is almost intolerably annoying, due largely in part to Jim Carrey's performance as the title character. I truly like Carrey's acting in even some of his worst movies, but here he's a mess - the screenplay is basically a series of fragmented ideas and jokes and in what can only be interpreted as a desperate attempt to make these fragments work, Carrey overacts to the point of idiocy. At one point, Carla Gugino's character sincerely states "you're a complicated man, Mr. Popper", a factoid both Carrey and the screenwriters clearly forgot to explore, despite the latter's desperate attempts at fleshing out the character with daddy and ex-wife issues. What is perhaps even more troubling is the confusing morality at play - the Penguin Expert, who is truly just doing what he can to help the penguins, is portrayed as evil, whereas Mr. Popper, a man who egregiously concludes that his New York apartment is a suitable place for Antarctic life is portrayed as a hero who can bend the law at will.

Of course, it's not all terrible. Carla Gugino actually makes good of her meager character and a few of the gags are actually extremely successful (especially the Guggenheim scene, which was just the right amount of ridiculous). In addition, the CGI penguins were undeniably adorable and surprisingly convincing. However, even though my target-audience-younger-siblings liked it, I do find myself worrying for the state of family cinema. If this kind of mindless, shallow filmmaking is what children are becoming used to seeing, more interesting family films are going to be come increasingly unaccessable.

4/10

Note: I have not read the book, but I have a hard time believing that a Roald Dahl novel could have been this vapid.

The Other Guys (2010)

I thought that I had heard some good things about this movie, so imagine my surprise when it turned out to be utter garbaaaaaage. Really, it was just a huge mess. Not only was the script slightly homophobic and treated its female characters like crap, but it was also horrendously paced and chock-full of unbearably clunky dialogue, and the jokes rarely took off. Even the editing was noticeably poor. On the other hand, considering the atrocity of the script, Wahlberg and Ferrell are able to muster up some laughs and chemistry that kept the movie from being entirely unwatchable. There were also a couple of visually interesting scenes (the paper-flying-around-shoot-out and the shot-by-shot bar scene) that were like small little tiny faux-diamonds in a trash can. Ugh. What a waste of an hour and forty minutes of my evening. Skip this one.

4/10

Catherine O'Hara Filmography: Game 6 (2005)

"Game 6", directed by Michael Hoffman (whose last film was, oddly enough, "The Last Station"), is a film that takes place in 1986, on the night of a real-life historic baseball game. Nicky Rogan (Michael Keaton) is a playwright who skips opening night for his newest play, to watch this game, but also in fear of the cutthroat review that he is sure that infamous reviewer Stephen Schwimmer (Robert Downey Jr.) is going to give the show. He also has to deal with family issues, involving his daughter Laurel (Ari Graynor) and wife Lillian (Catherine O'Hara).

Overall, "Game 6" is just a mess. Even though it has some interesting moments, it has absolutely no focus. It doesn't know if it's trying to be a character study, an indie comedy, a family drama, or a sports movie. The dialogue is really, really annoying and the film drowns in its self importance. The last thirty minutes are especially terrible. And honestly, New York City traffic is not that bad.

However, the film has two saving graces - Ari Graynor and Catherine O'Hara. As the cocky daughter, Graynor shines, giving her character both attitude and sensitivity that all feels so lived in and natural. She does so much more with her character than she needed to. A really interesting performance.

As for Catherine, she is, as usual, a shining light in this otherwise bleak film, even though she is in literally one scene. This is subtle O'Hara - she's totally subdued, none of her signature crazy in this role, but she pulls it off perfectly. In her short exchange with Keaton, we see everything that Lillian is going through - fear, sadness, hopelessness, anger. O'Hara succeeds in getting us totally under the skin of Lillian, all while injecting subtle touches that are just wonderful.

So anyway, there you have it. I really, strongly disliked "Game 6" but as usual, Catherine saves it. With the help of Ari Graynor! Get it gurls.

The Film: 4/10

Catherine: 8/10

Best in Show: Graynor and O'Hara

A continuation of my mission. What should I watch next?