The Other Woman offers estrogen-filled gal pal laughs

Movie Title:  The Other Woman

Grade:  B

PG-13, 1 hour 49 minutes

In a Nutshell:   

A woman’s guilty pleasure is to see a two-timing, adulterous scumbag get what’s coming to him.  It kind of gives “screwball comedy” another meaning.  This movie is all about revenge, girl power and the unconditional friendships that women crave and need.  The target audience is truly the stiletto crowd on a Girls Night Out.

Uplifting theme:   

• No woman deserves to be lied to and cheated on.
• A woman needs to be happy with herself and not rely on a man to do it for her.

Things I liked:

• Kate (Leslie Mann) brings Boston Market take-out to Carly (Cameron Diaz).  I haven’t eaten that since I lived on the east coast.  Yum.
• The audience loved it when Kate took off her bathrobe, revealing a black spy suit accompanied by the Mission: Impossible theme music.
• There is a lot of silly physical comedy featuring Leslie Mann and Cameron Diaz.  They have some great chemistry together and who doesn’t want to see them chest-bump in an ode to female empowerment?
• Guys just can’t truly appreciate the estrogen meltdown scenes like when Carly puts on her old wedding dress and gets drunk in a pity party, while squirting whip cream into her mouth through her toile veil.

Things I didn’t like:

• Watching a Great Dane poop.  Ick.  The slobbery giant’s name is Thunder and is really a handsome creature.  The audience howled with laughter.
• How nice that all of the parties involved were super rich and had amazing cars and houses.  I suppose it wouldn’t have been a comedy if they were all living in low-income housing.
• It’s strange to see Miami Vice: The Complete Series leading man, Don Johnson, as such an old guy now.  Of course, his character is still a romancer.
• Sure, there are messy problems with the movie, but you won’t mind too much if you’re watching it with your gal pals and eager to laugh at a silly chick flick.
• You don't realize Leslie Mann and Cameron Diaz are aging until you see Kate Upton.

Interesting lines:

• “Cheaters don’t change.” – Carly     Do you think that’s true?
• “Cry on the inside like winners.”  - Carly tries to teach Kate how to show strength during sorrow, but instead, Kate comically grimaces while attempting her brave face.

Funny lines:

• “If we find anymore mistresses, I’m going to have to send her to rehab.” – Carly
• “She makes me look like I’m wearing a diaper.” – Carly when she sees Amber for the first time.
• “I’m like Martha Stewart, but with big underpants.” - Kate
• “It’s a light recon day.” – Kate    Her brother Phil (Taylor Kinney) looks at her bag on the table and says “A grappling hook?  Really?”
• Kate says to Carly “No, you can’t have my husband AND my brother.  No! That’s just…no…greedy.”
• “My situation is pretty well situated, it’s true.” – Carly

Interesting references:

• Carly’s dad mentions eating Pho in Vietnam, a reference I wouldn’t have even understood before last weekend when my family went to a Vietnamese restaurant to try it for the first time.  It was delicious!  Find out if there is a Vietnamese restaurant in your town that serves it.  It’s kind of a soup with noodles and meat of various kinds.  They bring you a plate with bean sprouts, cilantro, lemon, pepper and sauces to add to taste.
• Carly says “I had a little Edith Piaf moment.”   Edith was a French singer who had quite a dramatic life.  Some of her songs have been featured in recent movies such as in Saving Private Ryan , , Bull Durham , and Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted .

Tips for parents:   The subject matter of this film is really not appropriate for children.  There was quite a bit of profanity, although no F-bombs, which allowed it to be rated PG-13.  Although girl power is a theme, I would not recommend taking your daughters to see this.  There is a lot of discussion about sex and the many sordid aspects of it, not to mention adultery and fornication.

Mr. Peabody and Sherman touch hearts and funny bones

Movie Title:   Mr. Peabody & Sherman

PG, 1 hour 32 minutes

Grade:   B+

In a Nutshell:   You may remember these lovable guys from the old Rocky & Bullwinkle & Friends: The Complete Series cartoon from the 1950’s and 60’s.  They finally get the feature animation they deserve.  Back then we didn’t realize that Mr. Peabody would invent tear-away pants and Zumba. 

True to the TV series, there are a lot of silly puns that will make you laugh and moan at the same time. There were potty-humor gags that kids tend to love, such as when a ship flies out of a Sphinx’s rear end, as well as wordplay references to movies that kids won’t recognize, but parents will enjoy, like when King Tut yells Runaway Bride!   Sherman often said “I don’t get it” when the adult jokes would fly over his head.

The WABAC machine (pronounced “Way Back”) is used to transport various characters in the movie to different periods of time and was originally created on the TV show to poke fun at the names of some of the first computers (UNIVAC and ENIAC).  Surprisingly, it is still a term used in some internet applications (Wikipedia) to describe the ability to go back to older content…”Not where, but when.”

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure fans will get a kick out of this animated run through select historical moments.

Uplifting theme: 

• Be proud of who you are and whose you are.   
• It’s a sweet, perhaps overly-sentimental, father-son movie that will leave you grinning as you walk out the movie theater.   
• Every dog should have a boy.

Things I liked:

• I thought it was cute when Mr. Peabody found Sherman as an orphaned baby in a box wearing glasses.
• I got a kick out of hearing funnyman Steven Colbert voice Paul Peterson.  He called Sherman “Dos Shermanos” when he got a little tipsy from Mr. Peabody’s dinner party drinks.
• I can never get enough of Allison Janney, Stanley Tucci, Leslie Mann, and Ty Burrell.  I was tickled to hear Mel Brooks brings Albert Einstein to life.
• The audience laughed with delight during the scene when Mr. Peabody plays a bunch of different audiences.
• A recurring gag occurred every time someone dropped something in Egypt; a servant would race by, pick it up and say something so fast I couldn’t quite tell…“I got it!"
• The audience I sat with instantly fell in love with Agamemnon.  Patrick Warburton always knocks it out of the park with his awesome voice and perfect comedic timing.  I thought his armpits were hilarious.  I thought it was cute when he recruited “Shermanis” to join his Greek fighting team.  One of his many funny lines was “My father is half man, half minotaur, all judgment.”  I thought the Trojan war scene was amusing how they tried to make it look like the movie 300 with slow-motion action sequences.
• Adorable Spartacus scene with Kirk Douglas cameo.

Things I didn’t like:

• The animation design of the hills outside the city of Florence was disappointing.  I loved the detail on the famous Ponte Vechio and the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore.  I was in beautiful Florence a few months ago and was reliving my trip through those scenes.  Unfortunately, the ocean water animation was also poorly done.
• It was hard to cheer for Penny Peterson who was such a brat.  I didn’t care if she got left behind in another time or not.
• I was kind of surprised when Mr. Peabody said something about booby traps and Sherman giggled “You said boobie!”

Funny lines:

• “When Sherman says “I love you Mr. Peabody”, his adopted dog father says “I have a deep regard for you, as well, Sherman.”
• “Pictures were taken for insurance purposes.”  - Principal Purdy
• “Wait, what kind of cake?” – a French man in the crowd during the French revolution scene, responding to Marie Antoinette’s famous line “Let them eat cake!”
• “A cantaloupe?  The lowest of the fruits!”  - A French man
• “When it comes to my daughter, nothing is more important than…(answering cell phone suddenly)  Shello?  Sure, I’ll take a survey.”  - Mr. Peterson
• Penny asks Sherman “Do you do everything Mr. Peabody says?”  “Yeah.”  She asks “Do you know what that makes you?”  “An obedient son.”  “No, a dog.”
• “Oy plagues.  Why did I ever move to Egypt?” – A random Jewish man in the crowd
• “You can’t marry him!  His name rhymes with butt!”  - Sherman
• “This is a little home-spun concoction I like to call ‘Einstein on the Beach.’” – Mr. Peabody
• “So, he’s literally a dog.”  (Mr. Peterson)   “I prefer the term “literate” dog.”  (Mr. Peabody)

Things to look for:

• Van Gogh with bandages on his ears
• The little boy in Sherman’s classroom whose feet can’t reach the floor when he’s sitting down at his desk.
• Boxers with hearts on them
• The dog with the cone on its head at the beginning of the movie.
• Try to figure out what the mystery meat is on the cafeteria food trays.
• The picture of cats hanging in Principal Purdy’s office at school.
• Picture of Ghandi next to Sherman’s bed.
• Rubic’s cube (Hint:  look for Einstein).
• “I love New York” t-shirt and underwear.
• Bill Clinton cameo.

Tips for parents:  Some inappropriate jokes, but mostly harmless.  Parents and children watching the movie in the audience I sat with enjoyed the movie equally.  It’s certainly no Frozen magic, worthy of an Oscar, but it’s very energetic and fairly entertaining family fun.  The visits through time should spark some conversations with your kids about history…."not where, but when.”