Despicable Me 3 is double the fun when Gru meets his twin brother Dru

Movie Title:  Despicable Me 3

Grade:  B

Rating: PG, 90 minutes

In a Nutshell:  This is the 3rd installment in the Despicable Mefranchise (4th if you count Minions).  It's not as good as the first two, but it's still silly fun for families.

The detailed animation is absolutely outstanding. The movements, colors, textures, voices, water, and facial expressions are incredible.  The physical humor is adorable.

Uplifting theme: 

• Family

• Kindness
• Imagination

Things I liked:

• I’m a twin, so I was excited to see Gru’s twin.  If you’re one too, be sure to go to the annual “Twins Days Festival” in Twinsburg, Ohio at least once in your lifetime.  It’s awesome and hilarious.  Steve Carell has always done an excellent job with Gru's lovable accent and now he adds a double who has a voice that is similar, yet different.  Well done.
• The 80’s villain “Balthazar Bratt” voiced by Trey Parker is really funny.  I love his dance moves retro style.  Watching him do aerobics on that exercise ball made me laugh out loud.  Complete with a Michael Jackson cassette tape and bubblegum-launching shoulder pads, he steals every scene he is in.  I love the detail of his bald spot.  Dance battle!
• Pharrell Williams did most of the music, making for a foot-tapping soundtrack.  The cutest musical moment for me was when the minions sing "Papa Mama Loca Pipa" in the "Sing" competition.
• I love Jenny Slate’s voice and think she’s perfect in animated movies.    
•  The lovely Julie Andrews gives us a cameo voice talent of Gru’s mom.
• Other voice talents include Russell Brand, Steve Coogan, and the SNL favorite Kristen Wiig.
• The Cheese Festival had some fun features, like that slide grater people went down on a chunk of giant cheese.  Ha ha
• I’d like a magical unicorn to help me do math too. 

Things I didn’t like:

• As a mom, I don’t appreciate that the advertising tagline is “It’s good to be bad.”  Really?  That’s what you want to teach our kids?  One of the Minions holds up a sign that says, “Be bad!”
• Some themes could have gone much deeper.  Instead, there are a lot of story lines going on, so the movie just doesn’t have time to explore them all.
• The movie never reaches a truly emotional moment like Pixar is so brilliant at doing.
• You’ll chuckle, and maybe even a lot, but probably not belly-laugh.
•  The finger-snapping Minions are still cute, but moving dangerously close to the annoying Jar Jar Binks status.  In fact, they get crude and violent in this film.  Not cool. 

Funny lines:

• “Heist music!” – Balthazar Bratt
• “Dance fight!” –  Balthazar Bratt
• “Son of a Beta Max!” – Balthazar
• “I saw a unicorn once.” – guy in a bar

“Was it fluffy?” – Margo (Miranda Cosgrove)

“It was so fluffy I thought I was gonna die.” – guy

“Sqeeeeeeee!” – Margo
* "Yes, Molly Ringwald.  I will take you to the prom." - Balthazar Bratt

Tips for parents: 

• You see Gru’s naked back side.
• The minions stick out their tongues and say, “Pffffth” often.   Fair warning: your little ones may think that’s hilarious and want to imitate it.  They're also going to want to hunt for a real unicorn. Squee!
•  Animated violence and destruction.

Need to catch up on the first 3 films in the series?  You can find them cheap on Amazon, just in time for Amazon's annual Prime Day!
Despicable Me

Despicable Me 2

Minions

@trinaboice 

Sing has lots of toe-tapping heart and humor

Movie Title:   Sing

  

Grade:  A

Rating:  PG, 108 minutes

In a Nutshell:   All creatures great and small will really enjoy this delightful musical journey brought to us by the clever creators of Minions and Despicable Me.  

The music is fun and uplifting, the animation is imaginative and ADORABLE, and the story is heartwarming and inspiring.

Uplifting theme: 

• “Dream big dreams!” – Mr. Moon (Matthew McConaughey)
• “Don’t let fear stop you from doing the thing you love.” – Mr. Moon
• “Do what you love to do, then you won’t be afraid, because you’re doing it!” Mr. Moon
• “You know, the one thing that’s good about hitting rock bottom?  The only way is up.” – Mr. Moon

Things I liked:

• There is a lot of good, toe-tapping music that can’t help but make you leave the theater in a good mood, 65 hit songs to be exact.  There’s a nice variety of styles of music too.
• There are so many entertaining animals to see in every frame.
• The main characters are voiced by extremely talented A-List actors, such as Academy Award winners Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, and Seth MacFarlane.   
• All of the actors do their own singing!  Tori Kelly, Taron Egerton, and
• Each of the characters struggle in his/her own way, adding several layers to the story.
• The scene where Mr. Moon is at the carwash is HILARIOUS and absolutely adorable.  It’s a scene that will stick with you for a long time.  The audience was howling with laughter.
• You can smell the ending a mile away, but there are a few twists and turns that keep the characters in peril and the audience engaged.
• The talented cast who voiced the characters is an impressive list that includes some names you haven’t seen in some time or ever in animated films, including Laraine Newman, Rhea Perlman, Jennifer Saunders, Nick Offerman, Leslie Jones, and John C. Reilly.

Things I didn’t like:

• There is some really bad behavior from a lot of the characters: Johnny’s dad robs banks; Mike the mouse is a deceitful, cranky bully and con man; Mr. Moon is dishonest and steals things; Eddie is spoiled and lazy. 

Funny lines:

• “Stand back…moody teenager in the way.” – Mike (Seth MacFarlane)
• “You can’t just sing; you have to show the fire and desire!” – Gunter (Nick Kroll)

  

Interesting lines:

• “Wonder and magic don’t come easy.” – Mr. Moon

Tips for parents:   

• It’s a kid’s movie, so yes…there is farting.
• No profanity.
• There are criminal acts by several of the characters.   

The Secret Life of Pets is fuzzy fun

Movie Title:      The Secret Life of Pets

  

Grade:  A-

Rating: PG, 90 minutes  

In a Nutshell:  This high energy family flick by Universal and Illumination is colorful and fun for all ages.  

Directed by Yarrow Cheney and Chris Renaud, the visual gags, lines and chase scenes come at you non-stop with just the right touch of heartwarming “ahhs.”  It’s oddly therapeutic, like you’ve just been playing with your own pet for 90 minutes.  

Uplifting theme: 

• Friendship
• Love

Things I liked:

• I love the opening New York City scene.  You just can’t go wrong making a movie with the Big Apple as one of your characters.
• You’ll recognize Jenny Slate’s voice from the adorable Zootopia movie.  She has such a unique voice that she has a great future in animated family films.
• The animators clearly have pets.  They nailed the body movements and pet expressions.
• It’s fast-paced with humor that even parents will get a kick out of.
• The talented cast includes Louis C.K., Kevin Hart, Albert Brooks, Steve Coogan, Dana  Carvey, Ellie Kemper, Lake Bell, Bobby Moynihan and more.  I adore Jaime Camil in the popular TV sit-com “Jane the Virgin”, so I was happy to hear his melodramatic, over-acted Latino voice as Fernando in a telenovela that Gidget watches.
• I laughed out loud at the sea monkey's comment because I had thought the very same thing after buying some.
• The story about how dogs are descended from wolves.  Ha ha
• Cute and perky music by Alexandre Desplat.
• Keep watching after the first set of credits at the end.  At the very end, you hear Pops yell, “Alright, party’s over!”

Things I didn’t like:

• See it in 3D if you want to see dog drool flying towards you.
• It’s chaotic, so you'll probably want to take a nap with your dog afterwards. 
• Isn’t this story basically Toy Story with animals?  Think about it.
• Kevin Hart’s character Snowball screams during the entire movie, which can grate on your nerves. 
• The French animation studio, Illumination, really pushes the envelope for family entertainment, because this movie has violence, sexual innuendo, and a few jokes that are inappropriate for American sensibilities.
• You see most of the cute moments in the movie trailer within the first 10 minutes of the film.
• Snowball is a total psycho and the action sequences with him escalate into the absurd by the end.

Funny lines:

• “Where is Max?  Tell me!  Don’t look at him.  Look at me.” -  Gidget (Jenny Slate)
• “I feel heroic…and handsome…a little wet, but I look good.  I look good.” – Snowball
• “I’m your friend, and as your friend, I gotta be honest.  I don’t care about you or your problems.” – Chloe
• “We gotta take the secret route!” – Pops

“Ok, the secret route was death.” – Chloe

• “Nobody could ever love a cat like they love a dog.  I’m just saying.” – Max
• “Dog people do weird, inexplicable things like they get dogs instead of cats.” – Chloe
• “You’re not doing great, but you’re not drowning…and that’s something!” – Duke  (Eric Stonestreet)
• “You may have lots of time, but for me, every minute is a cliffhanger.” – Pops (Dana Carvey)
• “This is groundbreaking evil behavior, people!” – Snowball
• “Oh, great. You’re in love.  How gross for everyone.” - Pops

Tips for parents:   

• It will make you want to line the walls of your house with web cams to see what your pets really do when you’re gone.
• Because the target audience is young, plan on butt-sniffing, rabbit pooping, and nervous peeing jokes.
• Your kids are DEFINITELY going to want a pet after seeing this.