Despicable Me 2

I think it's safe to say that the reason the first "Despicable Me" was so popular was because of the minions. The hundreds of little yellow three stooges-esque guys had some of the funniest parts in the last one, and I think the studio got the message. They were a lot more prominent this time around.

In this hilarious sequel, Gru is hired by the Anti-Villain League to find out who has stolen a serum from a lab in Antarctica... actually the whole lab, not just the serum. The serum changes cute, little things into giant, coked out purple monsters! Kind of like if the Incredible Hulk and a crack-head had a child together. Gru sets up surveillance in the local mall and hunts down the villain all while trying to raise his newly adopted daughters, all the while, the minions start to disappear!

They did what to Kevin?!

As with the first one, the real selling points of this movie are the minions. Every scene they have is hilarious and even overshadows Agnes' adorableness. They sing songs on multiple occasions and there is even a cameo of Boyz 2 Minions.

It's been a while since I've seen the first one, but everything I remember about it had to do with the minions. But I can't be sure which one is better.

Honestly, they should drop the whole act with Gru and the girls and just make a movie about the minions. I'd pay to see that. And I don't have to pay.

Overall, this was a fun movie. Anyone who saw this, did you notice the "World War Z" nod towards the end? Or am I crazy?

My Grade: B

Monster's University

It's kind of cool going to see the sequels (or prequels) of the movies I loved as a kid and seeing them for the first time as an adult. It's also interesting seeing the creators of the movies reference the older movies, seeing if they reference the same stuff you remember so vividly. "Toy Story 3", along with being an emotional roller coaster, did that very well.

All the great monsters are back! But only this time, we get to see their college days! We get to see how Mike and Sully start off as enemies and become friends, and we get to see how Randall became so evil. Kicked out of the Scarer program at Monster's University, Mike and Sully team up with an unlikely team to join the Scar Olympics in effort to win a bet with the dean and win their place back in the scare program.

The one thing I loved about "Monsters Inc." was the differences between the Monster world and our own. The creator's don't miss a beat in this prequel. One of the best bits in my opinion is when the mother of one of the fraternity brothers drops them off at Monsters Inc. She tells them "I'll just wait here and listen to my tunes". Click here if you don't mind hearing the joke before seeing the movie.

I can only imagine what rebels listen to in their world.

"Monsters University" has a great cast of new and old characters voiced by great actors such as Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, Helen Mirren, Charlie Day, Dave Foley, Alfred Molina and Nathan Fillion. Pixar has a way of making every single character interesting that very few studios can do. It's great to see how they all interact with one another.

It has a great message and as always has jokes for both the youngest of children and the oldest of adults. As much as I miss Pixar doing original movies, I like that they're doing sequels to some of their classics. Now we just need "A Bug's Life 2" and "The Incredibles 2"

"Monsters University" is a great movie for kids of all generations.

My Grade: B+

Epic

I had a few thoughts when I first saw the trailer for "Epic". I thought "Wow. They're really modest for naming this movie 'Epic'". And I also thought "I can't tell if I like this trailer because of the trailer itself or just the song in it".

That song being the first part in the Snow Patrol song "The Lightning Strike" called "What if the Storm Ends". I know, it's confusing.

"Epic" tells the slightly intense story of a girl who goes to live with her estranged father after her Mother dies. Being obsessed with proving his theory of the forrest being filled with tiny humanoid protectors, he does little to comfort. But when she tries to run away, she finds herself shrunken by the dying Queen of a tiny civilization in order to save the forest from the Boggins. Not to be confused with the Baggins from Bag End. They were good guys.

Although, not without their flaws.

There is the first problem. I feel as though she could have done a better job if she was bigger. But who said Queen's are perfect? Especially when they're voiced by Beyoncé Knowles.

"Epic" is what I expected it to be. A non-spectacular animated film. It had it's moments, such as everything Aziz Ansari's character said, but for the most part, it lacked the heart that a lot of animated movies have.

I mean, they didn't even show anyone's Mom dying.

They just talked about it!

In all seriousness, there isn't much to this movie. It has some funny bits, but there is no heart. The relationship between Father and Daughter didn't really feel different from beginning to end and other such relationships felt forced.

This is a good movie to take your kids to, and it isn't terrible. But it's not likely to be anyones favorite. Though, I've been wrong before.

As always, go see it. Your opinion is more right for you than mine is.

My Grade: C

The Croods

I'm gonna be honest with you guys. I thought this movie was gonna be terrible. I thought this was gonna be the worst animated film of the decade. I thought this was gonna make me want to gouge my eyes out. I know, a bit extreme, but I need to stress to you how little my hope was for this movie before I tell you this...

Never have I been so wrong.

"The Croods" is an animated film about a family of cave dwellers before the Ice Age. They are lead by a Father, voiced by Nicholas Cage, who is so afraid of their world that he only lets them out of the cave to find food. Of course this goes over well for everyone but the angst ridden teen that he is raising, voiced by Emma Stone.

Again, I failed you guys and I am writing this three months after watching it. I know I suck, and I'm sorry. Anyway, Something that I can't remember causes them to leave their cave and they go on quite possibly, the worlds first road trip. On this road trip you may or may not laugh, cry smile depending on if you have a heart or not.

For those of you who know him, doesn't this look like a

Cave Man version of Mike Egan?

This movie surprisingly has a lot of heart and good messages in it for how ridiculously goofy it is at times. It is a great example of how a family must keep together through everything, but at the same time should never keep them from achieving their dreams. With great lessons like that, it amazes me that there are people out there who don't let their kids watch TV or movies. You can learn so much from them.

Like how Sloths used to be used as belts... I'm sure that's a real thing.

My Grade: B+

The 'Mikey Awards' Nominees (Also known as the 'I Have No Life Awards')

Here are my nominees for 2012... Not that anyone cares.

Best Picture
Argo
The Cabin In The Woods
The Dark Knight Rises
Hitchcock
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Lincoln
The Perks of Being a Wall Flower
Seeking A Friend For The End of The World
Seven Psychopaths

Best Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Logan Lerman, The Perks of Being a Wall Flower
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths
Christopher Walken, Seven Psychopaths

Best Actress  (Combined in one, because I'm rarely impressed with actresses, only because very few good characters are written for them)
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings playbook
Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks
Helen Hunt, The Sessions

Best Director
Ben Affleck, Argo
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises
Drew Goddard, The Cabin In The Woods
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Thomas Hooper, Les Misérables

Best Screenplay
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Chris Terrio, Argo
Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard, The Cabin in the Woods
Tony Kushner, Lincoln
John J. McLaughlin, Hitchcock

Best Original Score
Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek, Tom Tykwer, Cloud Atlas
Alexandre Desplat, Argo
Nathan Johnson, Looper
Danny Elfman, Hitchcock
Mychael Danna, Life of Pi

Best Animate Film
Paranorman
Wreck-It Ralph
Frankenweenie

Best Short
Paperman
Curfew