We Bought A Zoo

Spanks - 5

Director - Cameron Crowe

Writers - Aline Brosh McKenna and Cameron Crowe

Starring - Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, Colin Ford and Maggie Elizabeth Jones

Release Date - 23 December 2011

MPAA Rating - PG

We Bought A Zoo is very loosely based on the book of the same name by the owner of the Dartmoor Zoological Park in England Benjamin Mee. Mee bought the struggling zoo with his entire family in 2006. The film takes place in Southern California and the Benjamin Mee played by Matt Damon quits his job a few months after his wife dies and wants to move to start over. He finds the perfect house that he wants to buy, but then is told that the property is a zoo that is being run by the state. Mee is a writer and has no idea how to work with animals and run the zoo.

The movie follows a lot of the traditional Hollywood formula, but it is done well. A good part of the movie is the struggle between Benjamin and his son who wanted to say with his friends in the city. The film is more about the family while the book is about the animals and the zoo.

We Built A Zoo is a good movie to take the whole family. It has some good laughs and it has some heartfelt moments scattered throughout also. It is a holiday movie worth seeing.

The Adjustment Bureau

Spanks - 4

Director - George Nolfi

Writers - George Nolfi

Starring - Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, John Slattery, and Terence Stamp

Release Date - 4 March 2011

MPAA Rating - PG-13

The Adjustment Bureau is loosely based of off the Philip K. Dick short story "Adjustment Team". The film follows Senator David Norris and his accidental run in with the Adjustment Bureau, a mysterious organization that keeps individuals from deviating from "the plan". David meeting Elise was not a part of "the plan", and David is determined to beat the Adjustment Bureau so he can be with Elise.

The film is part thriller, part romantic, and part science fiction. It uses all three together well. It does start off a little slow, but about half way through it picks up once you start to learn the mythology of this world. It takes a couple of turns that you don't expect to keep you on your toes. The Adjustment Bureau is not the best movie ever made based on a Dick story, but it is no where near the worst.

True Grit

Spanks - 4

Director - Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Writers - Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

Starring - Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper

Release Date - 22 December 10

MPAA Rating - PG-13

True Grit is a western based on the book by Charles Portis and is also a remake of the 1969 film starring John Wayne, but follows the book more closely. The film follows teenager Mattie Ross, who goes to Fort Smith Arkansas to pick up her fathers body after he was murdered by Tom Chaney. Disobeying her mother, she sets out to personally hire a US Marshall to hunt down Tom Chaney to bring him to justice. She chooses Rooster Cogburn because she is told by the town's sheriff that he has "true grit".

The film is very much more a period specific then a lot of recent westerns in that it uses a lot of dialog that they would use in the 1870's. Mattie uses some words that I have never heard before because they are words that every day Americans don't use anymore. Hailee Steinfeld, the actor who plays Mattie, is a very talented young woman who should be a big star in the next few years.

The Coen Brothers have made an excellent film. The acting by all three stars is brilliant. Who would ever think The Dude would win Oscars 12 years later. And how did they get Matt Damon to grow that mustache?

If you are not a fan of westerns, you don't have to worry about not liking the movie. My girlfriend never wants to watch westerns with me, and she loved True Grit even more then me.