Brain Spill Movie Review #9

We Bought A Zoo

Setting

The story mainly takes place in a city and in the zoo some ways outside of said city. This movie takes place in the present day.

Summary

Benjamin Mee, the father of two children and who's wife recently died, decides to move from his old house. The house he thinks is perfect turns out to be a zoo. Benjamin and his two children, Dylan and Rosie, come to the rundown zoo, hoping to repair it. With the help of the small zoo staff and his children, Benjamin Mee works to fix the zoo and find a way to pay for it before the zoo's opening day. In the process, Benjamin learns more about himself, his kids, and learns to move on from his wife.

Characters

Benjamin Mee

Benjamin is the main character of the story. He is the father who decides to buy the zoo. Throughout the story, he struggles with his relationship with his son. Mee also struggles to make ends meet while trying to fix up the zoo. His feeling are really made clear by all the emotional highs and lows Benjamin has.

Kelly Foster

Kelly Foster is the lead zookeeper. She is also one of the most devoted to getting the zoo back into its previous glory. She is the staff member who trusts that Benjamin will make it through the most. She also serves as a love interest for Benjamin.

Dylan Mee

Dylan is the oldest child of Benjamin. He is still saddened by the death of his mom, and his relationship with his father has grown more and more tense, especially after Dylan was expelled from school. He hates that his family moved to the zoo and that none of his friends came to visit him. He also is so wrapped up in trying to get back home that he is completely oblivious to that fact that his longing for his old home is breaking up his friendship with Lily.

Rosie Mee

Rosie Mee is the youngest child of Benjamin and is also the one who convinced him to buy the zoo. She does not play much else in terms of plot significance other than a constant source of comic relief.

Duncan Mee

Duncan is Benjamin's older brother. Duncan serves as Benjamin's call back down to Earth. He tries to get Benjamin to get over his wife and later to get over the zoo. Benjamin ignores both of those bits of advice, but Duncan plays the ever important voice of reality.

Lily Miska

Lily is Kelly's 13-year old sister who is home-schooled and works at the zoo. She does not play a major role in the film other than having a few key lines and as a love interest for Dylan.

Walter Ferris

Walter Ferris is the closest thing to an antagonist in the film. He is the zoo inspector who is very arrogant and strict. The zoo must meet Ferris's standards if they want to get the zoo opened at all.

Peter MacCreedy

Peter is the zoo's carpenter who created many innovative ideas for the enclosures in the zoo. He believes that many of his ideas were stolen by Walter Ferris. The first time Walter comes to inspect the zoo, Peter says he will kill Ferris and is locked in the bathroom to keep him under control. The second time Ferris comes, MacCreedy gets himself drunk in order to get the zoo passed the inspection. This is a great addition to the movie, and it shows how dedicated these people are to the zoo.

Conclusion

The movie was a feel good movie, and it was good at it. The movie made me all warm and fuzzy, even if some of the scenes were a bit annoying. I rate this movie 8.5 out of 11 penguins.h

Brain Spill Movie Review #7

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Setting

Earth. Modern Times. Nothing unusual.

Summary

Dr. Alfred Jones is a man who works for the British government as an expert on salmon fisheries. He is contacted by Harriet Chetwode-Talbot, a representative for Sheikh Muhammed, a wealthy Yemeni who is fond of salmon fishing in Scotland. Sheikh wants to bring salmon and salmon fishing to Yemen. Though he thinks it is impossible to bring salmon fishing to Yemen, Jones is forced to work exclusively on this project because Patricia Maxwell, the prime minister's press adviser believes this could bring better Anglo-Yemeni relations. The plot revolves around Jones, Harriet, and Muhammed trying to make this dream a reality despite opposition from both the British and the Yemeni.

Characters

Dr. Alfred "Fred" Jones

Fred Jones is a man who suffers from Asperger's syndrome, which leads to difficulties in social interaction and to a repetitive and restricted life style. In Jones's case, this lifestyle includes going to his government job every day and doing little to nothing. This is what makes the Yemeni salmon fishing project even more difficult for Jones. Jones changes over the course of the film. His lifestyle, beliefs, and attitude all change over the course of the film.

Harriet Chetwode-Talbot

Chetwode-Talbot is the representative who comes and contacts Jones about the project. She also helps to contact certain people about the project, including the engineers of the Three Gorges Dam. She has a boyfriend in the army who goes missing in action early in the film, whom she mourns for a good deal of the film. Her outlook on life and her attitude towards Jones both change as the film plays its course.

Sheikh Muhammed

Sheikh Muhammed is a wealthy Yemeni who initiated and sponsored the salmon fishing project. He is a devoted fly-fisher and also a devote Muslim. He believes that fishing is much like religion and brings out many of the virtues in a man.

Patricia Maxwell

Maxwell is the press adviser of the prime minister of Great Britain. She is the one who gets Jones on the fishing project in the first place. She will try to find solutions for problems in the fishing project, but she just as easily drop government support of the project if it doesn't go the way she wants it to. 

Conclusion

The movie was very nice and had a good plot. I didn't really like the whole love part of the story, but the movie was overall very nice. 8.25 out of 11 penguins.

Brain Spill Movie Review #6

Men in Black 3

Setting

The Men in Black come from a secret organization that is in contact with multiple species of aliens. The goal of the Men in Black is to keep aliens hidden and comfortable on Earth without letting the secret of alien existence on to the rest of humanity. They also constantly save the planet from unfriendly aliens.

Summary

In 1969, Agent K captured and imprisoned Boris the Animal,      an alien who came to destroy an artifact that would protect the earth from an invasion from Boris the Animal's species. In 2012, Boris the Animal escapes from LunarMax and finds a way to travel back in time to kill Agent K. Agent J follows Boris back in time to stop him from killing K. If the two do not stop Boris the Animal, the Earth will be subject to invasion. Agent J and young Agent K work together to keep K alive and, in the process, discover more about both of their pasts.

Characters

Agent J

Agent J is Agent K's partner. The two of them are some of the most useful of the Men in Black and have saved the planet multiple times. Not much is known about J's past. J is annoyed at K's constant seriousness and negative attitude. He is also suspicious that K is not telling him just about everything that he knows about the Men in Black. He changes a lot over the movie as he discovers how much he likes K, and as he learns more about K and about himself.

Agent K

Agent K is a secretive and serious Man in Black. He is J's senior partner and has been with the Men in Black since the very beginning of the organization. He knows more about the organization than most, which leads to suspicion from J. He has also accumulated a lot of enemies over the years. He doesn't change much   over the movies, but his back story serves as something to be discovered over the source of the movie.

Agent O

Agent O isn't really a very important character, but she serves the purpose of revealing some of the back story of K. She also helps J to discover what has happened to K.

Griffin

Griffin is an alien who is able to see all possible outcomes in the future and also see past events. He comes from a planet that fought against Boris the Animal's people. He helps young Agent K and Agent J as they try to stop Boris the Animal. He also has the ArcNet, a device to stop invasion from Boris the Animal's people.

Boris the Animal

Boris the Animal hates being called Boris the Animal. He holds a grudge against Agent K for arresting him and also for stopping the invasion. His goal is to stop any of that from happening at all.

Conclusion

I like this movie because it mentions pie and aliens in it. I think that some of the parts of the movie are just strange or disgusting or awkward. I also think that Agent O was one of the most useless characters and she was in the movie too little to be developed well. The movie was, though, very good. 7.75 penguins out of 11.

Brain Spill Movie Review #5

The Avengers

Setting

The Avengers takes place in the modern day (2012) world. This takes place after Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The First Avenger, and Thor. The story takes place mainly in New York City, where Tony Stark (Iron Man) has recently built a Stark Tower.

Summary

While studying the Tesseract for SHIELD, Dr. Erik Selvig and Nick Fury bring Loki to Earth. Loki uses a spear to mind control Selvig and Clint Barton (Hawkeye). Loki takes the Tesseract from the SHIELD base before he blows it up. Nick Fury and Agent Phil Coulson activate the Avengers Initiative. Steve Rogers (Captain America), Tony Stark (Iron Man), Bruce Banner (The Hulk), Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow), Thor (Thor), and later Hawkeye are gathered to help stop the threat that Loki poses and aim to find out what Loki is planning. The movie follows the Avengers as they attempt to stop Loki while also learning to settle the differences between them.

Characters

Nick Fury

Nick Fury is the leader of SHIELD and the Avengers initiative. He is serious and mysterious. He is not the most likable character and is not supposed to be. He is under suspicion by most of the characters for the beginning of the movie and remains mysterious for the entire movie. He is, though, a pretty awesome hero with one epic scene in the entire movie.

Agent Phil Coulson

Phil Coulson is Nick fury's right hand man. He makes appearances in Iron Man 2 and Thor as he tries to recruit heroes for the Initiative. He is probably one of the most ignored character in those movies, but in this movie, you finally appreciate him for who he is.

Steve Rogers/Captain America

Captain America is a character who feels out of his time period. He is a living anachronism. A lot of his problems come from this out-of-place feeling. This is why he is so at odds with Tony Stark who is so comfortable in the present time. He is a super soldier who was frozen in the Arctic since WW2 and carries a super shield.

Tony Stark/Iron Man

Iron Man is literally a man in an iron suite that is equipped with weapons and that can fly. This is what keeps Iron Man alive. As Tony Stark, he is a billionaire and the CEO of Stark Industries. Another reason why Stark is at odds with Captain America is because he made his fortune on selling weapons and promoting war. Stark and rogers both change to be more accepting of the other.

Thor

Thor is the Norse god of thunder who came to Earth to get Loki. Thor is pretty distant from the other characters because he is so high up in the way he acts. This is a source of tension within the Initiative. Thor, in my opinion, is one of the less focused on heroes, and he doesn't change as much as some of the other characters.

Bruce Banner/The Hulk

Banner, when angry, changes into the Hulk, a giant, green strong man. He does not get along with the government and stays hidden from his enemies to avoid changing into the Hulk. At the beginning, the Hulk is reluctant to come, but as time goes on, he learns to control his anger and to be a helpful avenger.

Clint Barton/Hawkeye

Hawkeye is a superhero without super powers. He is just able to use a bow really well (What is up with all the protagonists with bows these days?). He is also not focused on as a character and is actually under some sort of mind control spell for most of the movie. He is though, pretty awesome, and I'm happy they didn't stick with the purple outfit.

Natasha Romanoff/The Black Widow

The Black Widow is the most annoying and useless of the Avengers and nobody admires her. Seriously.

Conclusion

The movie was well thought out and well paced, and they didn't skimp out on the action scenes. I think the finally action scene was about twenty minutes long. The movie also has both a balanced internal and external conflict and develops all the main characters very well. I enjoyed the movie greatly. 9 out of 11 penguins.

Brain Spill Movie Review #4

The Hunger Games

Setting

This setting is exactly like the book The Hunger Games. Twelve Districts are controlled by the tyrannical Capitol in the country of Panem, somewhere in the future. Each of the districts must send a boy and a girl as tribute to compete in the Hunger Games, where the 24 children must fight to the death. The winner is showered with fame and wealth.

Summary

In the story, the main character, Katniss Everdeen, volunteers as tribute after her sister, Prim, is chosen as tribute. Katniss and the male tribute, Peeta Mellark, go to the Capitol to prepare for the games. In one interview, Peeta admits that he loves Katniss in order to gain support of sponsors, who could send the tributes supplies during the games. The story revolves around Katniss and Peeta trying to keep up the appearance of being in love as well as trying to survive the games.

Characters

Katniss Everdeen

This is the third time I've done a character description of Katniss. Like always, I think she is annoying and that she complains to much. I might even despise her more in the movie than in the book. Its really annoying whenever Katniss and her mom have an encounter because the movie really emphasizes their conflict.

Peeta Mellark

Peeta is an interesting character, but is focused on even less in the movie than in the book. Sure, he is a big character, but you just don't see too much of him.

Haymitch

Haymitch has a big role in the film, as he does in the book. They cast Haymitch very well, and try to reveal his emotions in this film. 

Cinna

Cinna is the stylist as fashion designer for Katniss. He plays a big role as one of the people who Katniss can relate to within the Capitol. 

Rue

Rue was one of the characters they got spot on. She was innocent, yet powerful and they cast the perfect person to play her. She, like in the books, brings out the best in Katniss. Katniss actually looks like a sort of nice person when Rue is around.

Effie

Effie looks scary.

Conclusion

The movie makes more sense if you have already read the books. I liked how they tried to use Katniss's hallucinations to reveal the back story of her father, but it wasn't done to well. I also liked their use of muted or silent scenes to change the feel of the scene. I didn't like, however, how they made Katniss's prep team so serious. I thought the prep team was nice and fun in the books, and I didn't like the take the movie had on those characters. Overall, it was a 'meh' film. 6.25 out of 11 penguins.

Brain Spill Movie Review #3

John Carter

Setting

John Carter takes place in post-Civil War Earth, but the majority of the story takes place on Mars. On Mars in this world, there are human-type people and martians, known as Tharks, who are tall, green, and have tusks and four arms. There is also a race known as the Thurns. The Thurns control the power of a mysterious energy source known as the ninth ray.

Summary

On Mars, or  Barsoom, there is a war going on. The mobile city of Zodanga is at war with the city of Helium. The Thurns have taken the side of Zodanga and their king, Sab Than. This has given the power of the Ninth Ray, which makes Zodanga near unstoppable. To halt the onslaught of Zodanga, the general of Helium has agreed to marry off his daughter, Princess Dejah Thoris, to Sab Than. Meanwhile on Earth, John Carter is a treasure hunter, looking for a cave of gold. While looking, he comes across a Thurn and is accidentally transported to Mars. Carter discovers that while on Mars, he is much stronger than others on Mars, able to punch harder and jump higher. Carter soon gets himself into the center of the Martian conflict, trying to save Dejah from the marriage and save Helium from destruction.

Characters

John Carter

John Carter is an interesting character. At the beginning of the movie, he is a treasure hunter, not wanting to get involved with the conflicts of others, namely between the United States and the Apache. John Carter develops well, changing from an indifferent man, looking out for his own good, into a man who cares enough to try to save the princess and Helium. This movie does a good job at developing its main character.

Dejah Thoris

Dejah Thoris is the princess of Helium. She is smart and comes close to discovering the power of the ninth ray, and would have if not for Thurn sabotage. She is a less interesting character, whose motives include not getting married to Sab Than, discovering the mysteries of the ninth ray, and saving Helium from destruction.

Tars Tarkas

Tars Tarkas is the leader of the Tharks, a once-great power of Mars. Tarkas is more interesting than he looks at first glance. He is the one who spares John Carter's life multiple times within the movie. He sees something in Carter that other Tharks do not. He sees Carter as a symbol of change. He hopes for change within his traditional tribal culture and change so that the Tharks can once more become a great nation.

Sola

Sola is the daughter of Tars Tarkas. She is shamed for messing up and making mistakes many times. She has led to so many mistakes that she has to run away from the Thark tribe with Carter and Dejah to avoid death.

Matai Shang

Matai Shang is the leader of the Thurns, who are the controllers of the Ninth Ray and the so-called messengers of the great Goddess. The job of Shang is to make sure that the Ninth ray is not discovered where the Thurns do not want it to be and that it stays as a mysterious force to be feared. To do this, the Thurns give the Ninth Ray only to arrogant warlords who would only use the Ray for destruction.

Sab Than

Sab Than is the arrogant warlord referred to in the above section of the article.

Conclusion

John Carter was, overall, a very good movie. It was interesting and I enjoyed it. It would probably have kept my mom awake in a movie theatre, which is saying a lot. I think that the problem that John Carter had in the box office was that it had too small of a fan base and too small of an advertising scheme to get people interested in the movie. Nine stars out of eleven.

Brain Spill Movie Review #2

Source Code

Setting

Source Code takes place in a military lab of some sort, after a bomb destroys two trains somewhere in the vicinity of Chicago. The main character is within a computer program known as the Source Code, which allows him to go back before the train explodes.

Summary

Captain Colter Stevens wakes up after fighting in Afghanistan to find himself on a train with a woman named Christina Warren. After eight minutes on the train, it blows up. Stevens wakes up again within the Source Code, though he has no idea how he got there. Captain Colleen Goodwin, his contact, and Dr. Rutledge, the head of the Source Code program, explain that the Source Code allows Stevens to relive the last eight minutes of someone's life. In this case, that life is of a man on a bombed train. Stevens's job is to find out who the bomber is in order to stop the bomber from striking again. Stevens, as the story goes on, realizes more about his life from the past two months and becomes suspicious of those who are running the Source Code.

Characters

Captain Colter Stevens

Captain Colter Stevens is the main character of the story. After waking up on the train within the Source Code, Stevens wants to find out how he got there and who the people of Source Code were. As he continues to go into the Source Code, he begins to want to change what happened rather than find out who the bomber was. Stevens discovers that much has changed in his life over the past few months. Stevens, rightfully so, is the most interesting character in the story.

Christina Warren

Christina Warren is the travelling companion of Stevens on the train in the Source Code. Her main role in the story is as a person that Stevens wants to save from her fate of dying on the train. She is what convinces Stevens to use the Source Code as a past-altering tool rather than as an infromation gathering device.

Captain Colleen Goodwin

Captain Goodwin is the main contact Stevens has while inside the Source Code. She gives him advice, instructions, and sends him back onto the train. Over the course of the movie, Goodwin and Stevens learn more about one another, and Goodwin starts to help Stevens in his quest to save Christina from the explosion.

Dr. Rutledge

Other than the bomber, Dr. Rutledge is the closest thing to an antagonist that there is. Rutledge, instead of worrying about the bomber, the people on the train, and Stevens himself, is worried about this mission because it is the mission that determines whether or not the Source Code is militarily useful. Rutledge, though he pretends to be worried about people's lives, is worried about the success of Source Code and himself.

Conclusion

Source Code had its good points and bad points. It was one of those movies that was good, but at some points, you just want to walk away because one of the characters is being so dumb. The plot was a new and interesting one and I enjoyed it greatly 6.5 out of 11 penguins

Brain Spill Movie Review #1

Brave

Setting

Brave takes place in a Scottish Kingdom in medieval times. Stories in the movie tell of a kingdom ruled by four brothers until one brother tried to control too much power and turned against the other brothers, taking all the power for himself. In the movie, the land is ruled by four clans: the king's clan along with the clans Macintosh, Macguffin, and Dingwall.

Summary

Merida, the daughter of the king, loves to ride her horse and do archery. Her mother, Elinor, and father, Furgus, (but mainly her mother) have planned for her to be betrothed to one of the three firstborn sons of the three clans. Merida does not want this, and when the time comes, she shoots for her own hand, being the firstborn of King Furgus. In anger, Merida cuts down a tapestry her mother had worked on for a long time. Elinor then throws Merida's bow into the fire. Merida runs of into the woods and finds a witch, who she pays to change her mother. Merida gives a fruit tart given to her by the witch to her mother, who promptly turns into a bear. The story is about how Merida tries to turn her mother back into a human.

Characters

Merida

Merida is the main character of the story, the princess of the kingdom. She likes archery and horseback riding. She also is completly against getting married. Pixar makes a point of making Merida seem prideful in the beginning, especially when it come to her mother. Merida blames her mother for everything revolving around the unwanted betrothal to one of the sons of the clan leaders. Merida really wants to be free.

Elinor

Elinor is the Queen of the kingdom and has set up the whole betrothal, which is not surprising, given that she basically runs the country for her husband, Furgus. Everybody seems to listen to her, except for Merida. This really bugs her. She, at the beginning of the movie, shows the attitude of an overbearing mother. This overbearing-ness along with Merida's pride are what drives the plot forward in the story. The two attitudes continually clash.

Furgus 

Furgus is the king of the whole kingdom, though his wife basically runs the kingdom for him. He is a strong king, but is missing a leg due to an encounter with a bear. He is an interestingly stupid character with little change throughout the story. He has trouble keeping the clans from fighting with one another and with him.

The Triplet Brothers

The Brothers are not at all main characters and probably have no voice parts in the entire movie, but they do play a main role in getting people stuff. They help get Elinor out of the castle after she turns into a bear. The brothers also get the key from Maudie after Merida gets locked in the bedroom. They're mainly just in the movie, though, to add some comedy to the movie.

Lords Macintosh, MacGuffin, and Dingwall

The Lords are important because they add a sense of urgency to the betrothal and marriage of Merida. The Lords are the loose connections that the King has with the clans. The three sons of these three lords are the possible suitors, and Merida's fight for her own freedom puts the Kingdom on the verge of civil war. These lords provide an urgency to the plot.

Conclusion

The movie is very good, with a good plot, but has trouble mixing humor and seriousness. I believe that this movie is beginning of a new chapter for PIXAR. All of the other movies of PIXAR are comedic, while this movie has a much more serious plot. Though it is not the best PIXAR movie, it was very good. I give it 8 out of 11 penguins.