Horton Hears a Who!

Viewed: 03.22.08
Theater/DVD/Cable: Theater
Overall Review: 3.5 out of 5

Plot:
Horton the Elephant struggles to protect a microscopic community from his neighbors who refuse to believe it exists.

Memorable Quote:
"I wonder what ASAP means anyways. Maybe act swiftly awesome pachyderm. "

My Thoughts:
I love Dr. Seuss books very much indeed.
KajaKid loves them too and it's pretty much all I get to read.
So when we were staring at a long weekend with not much to do, the family decided to go see 'Horton Hears a Who!'.

We sat in the darkness, we sat there us three.
When the lights went out we all shrieked with glee.
We munched on our popcorn, we drank with a slurp.
Everyone jumped when I had a big burp.

OK, well enough of that then.

Horton is a great family movie. Jim Carrey and Steve Carell do a terrific job as the voices of Horton the elephant and the Mayor of Whoville. I guess it takes an animated character to tone down Carrey a bit. Or maybe it's just old age catching up with him.

The animation is fantastic in that it's just silly enough to be great 3D, but also make the Seuss characters shine. You really feel like the book comes to life. This is much better than previous live costume attempts like 'The Cat in the Hat' (which was so bad I never actually saw it) and another Carrey film 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'. Animation is the way to go in my opinion.

It's hard to take a short story and turn it into a full length feature, but aside from a couple of strange editing choices I think the film was just long enough. I can't really understand the Japanese Anime scene somewhere in the middle. It was so out of place and was pretty scary to a little kid. But the rest of the film was adorable and made everyone laugh at the right spots.

There aren't many choices when it come to G-rated films these days and when you want to take a 3-year old to the movies, Horton is a fantabulous choice. And it's fun for the adults in the family too.

Don't forget to check out the trailer in the player below.

The Holiday

Viewed: 04.08.07
Theater/DVD/Cable: Plane
Overall Review: 3.5 out of 5

Plot:
Two girls on the rebound from bad relationships decided to swap house for a vacation from their lives. One is in LA and the other in Surrey, England. They intend to spend some time with themselves getting over their ordeals but life gets in the way and nothing goes according to plan.

Memorable Quote:
"OK, sorry about that. Boob graze. That was accidental".

My Thoughts:
As far as romantic comedies go, this one was actually pretty good. The fact that it has very likable actors (Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law & Jack Black) makes it all that more enjoyable. Kate Winslet in my opinion is tremendous in anything she does and doesn't disappoint here either. Diaz is always fun to watch and she looks cuter than usual in this film. Jude Law doesn't get on my nerves like he usually does. And Jack Black is always good.

The plot line is easy to follow and goes by quickly enough. There are a few surprises along the way which make it fun to watch. I don't think there were any 'laugh-out-loud' moments, but when you're stuck on a plane for 13 hours, this movie will bring a smile to your face.

Note:
Thank you TripJax for inviting me to contribute to your pet project. Feel free to kick me out if I get boring or annoying. I am a huge movie buff, but don't get enough time to watch serious films. KajaWife is not a big fan of action/horror/drama or anything that isn't a superficial romantic comedy and will make her cry. I've been flying around the world lately and these long flights allow me to catch up on some of the movies I've missed.