MOVIE REVIEW and GIVEAWAY of DVD "Despicable Me"

Winner of Giveaway: Kevin Liu

Congrats!!!

Guest Blogger Liz Parker of Yes/No Films reviewed this movie in June 2010.

Yes/No Films provides concise, accurate movie reviews that tell you whether you should see the film: yes, no, or maybe.

Liz is an '09 University of Michigan grad who loves going to the movies, and is lucky enough to see a fair amount of free screenings. She hopes to bring you the inside scoop on all the latest films.


Review:
I received some very last minute passes (they were emailed to me at 12:30am) to see an 11am screening of "Despicable Me" this morning. Did I still go? Of course! I had seen the trailers for this animated 3D movie a few weeks ago, and they looked adorable, and I am happy to report that the movie lived up to my expectations.

Gru (voiced by Steve Carell, "Date Night") is the #1 supervillain and master thief of all time, at least until the young Vector (voiced by Jason Segel, TV's "How I Met Your Mother") steals an Egyptian pyramid. Gru, however, is planning an even bigger heist: he plans to shrink and then steal the moon. All he needs is a shrink ray, which he steals from the Chinese. Unfortunately, Vector then steals the ray from Gru. Vector's gigantic fortress where he lives is impenetrable, but Gru notices that he lets three little girls - Agnes, Edith, and Margo - inside, as they are selling the equivalent of Girl Scout cookies. The girls live in an orphanage run by the mean Miss Hattie (voiced by Kristen Wiig, TV's "Saturday Night Live"), and Gru finds a solution to his problems: adopt the girls, and wait until they lead him into Vector's fortress. But he doesn't count on actually growing to like the girls.

The movie is hilarious and the 3D is awesome as well - literally eye-popping (is there a way to make 3D more "eye-popping" in one movie as compared to others? It was the best 3D I've seen lately). The green creatures, or Gru's "minions" (as seen in the poster above) are adorable, and they come to love Gru's "adopted children" as well. Although I knew Steve Carell was the voice of Gru, he has a Russian accent in the film, so he was barely recognizable; other voice cameos include Russell Brand ("Get Him to the Greek") as "Dr. Nefario," Gru's scientist sidekick, and Julie Andrews ("Shrek Forever After") as Gru's mom, who disapproves of him his entire life until he adopts the girls.

I would say Yes, definitely see this movie. Even though you might be tempted to peg it as a "kids movie," there are a lot of references that only adults would get, and the little girls (especially Agnes, the littlest one) and the "minions" are super cute. If you're going to see this movie, definitely see it in 3D - there is a scene where they ride a roller coaster at an amusement park, and I literally felt like I was on the coaster with them! "Despicable Me" might be the first summer film that all ages will like, and I will definitely see it again if I get the chance.

Despicable Me was released on DVD Tues, Dec 21, 2010

• Buy It-Click Here
• Win It- Enter Below

Giveaway:

Win a copy of "Despicable Me" on DVD

(U.S. entries only)

TO ENTER-Fill out the information in the form below.

-One entry per person please, each entry will be verified.

***The contest ends on Dec 30, 2010 at 6pm EST.


*1 extra contest entry for "Liking" YesNo Films on -->Facebook

*1 extra entry for "Following" Yes/No Films on -->Twitter

*1 extra contest entry for "Liking" T's Budget Savvy Club on -->Facebook

*1 extra entry for "Following" T's Budget Savvy Club on -->Twitter

*1 extra entry for subscribing by email below

-->Subscribe by Email:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Form has been removed. Winners will be announced shortly.

Disclosure: Opions in this review are personal opinions of Yes/No Films and haven't been influenced in any way. I did not receive any compensation for this giveaway.

MOVIE REVIEW- "How Do You Know" in theatres Dec 17, 2010

Guest Blogger, Liz Parker, is back from a screening of "How Do You Know". If your considering seeing this movie you will want to read her review of this movie before spending your money.

She rates movies by "Yes-Good Movies", "No-Bad Movies" or "Maybe-Average Movies"

Review:
This film has four A-listers in it, and I usually like movies by all of them, so I had high hopes for it. My parents saw a screening of it the day before, and cautioned me that it was boring, but I didn't listen to them, and so I trekked across town (a few towns, actually) to see it. Alas, the movie was very slow and actually didn't feel like a movie at all, more like various scenes put together, and it definitely did not measure up to my expectations.

Lisa (Reese Witherspoon, "Four Christmases") is a 31 year-old Team USA softball player who just found out that she didn't make this year's team. She's currently kinda/sorta dating Matty (Owen Wilson, "Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian"), but has recently started hanging out with George (Paul Rudd, "Dinner for Schmucks"), who has just found out that he may be indicted for fraud, even though he's innocent. That's the basic plot of the film, but from there the movie flits off into whatever directions it pleases; it didn't really matter what profession any of the characters were, or even their personalities, really, just that there was two guys and a girl, and the girl will eventually have to choose which of the guys she wants to be with.

No, don't see this film. Even Jack Nicholson ("The Bucket List") couldn't save this movie. Witherspoon, Rudd, and Wilson have all had great movies in the past - I especially liked Witherspoon in "Sweet Home Alabama" and "Legally Blonde," and Wilson in "Wedding Crashers" - but this movie was pretty much a train wreck; whether this was the actors' fault or the writers' is up to one's own opinion. There were a few chuckles sprinkled throughout, but they were few and far between, and I spent the majority of the movie checking my watch, as the film clocks in at a lengthy 113 minutes. It's disappointing to see an awful movie with such (usually) great actors in it, but this is unfortunately the case with "How Do You Know."

"How Do You Know" comes to theaters on December 17th, 2010

You can "Like" YesNo Films on Facebook

You can Follow YesNoFilms on Twitter

Subscribe by Email:

Delivered by FeedBurner