Movie Review: ***^ The Super Mario Brothers Movie (2023)

 Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day) are plumbers in Brooklyn.  They get sucked through a pipe to mushroom land.  They go separate routes.  Mario meets Toad (Keegan-Michael Key) who takes him to Princess Peach's (Anya Taylor-Joy) castle.  Luigi ends up in the dark kingdom which is under Bowser's (Jack Black) control.  Bowser has threatened Princess Peach that she must marry him or he will destroy her kingdom.  Mario and the princess team up to rescue Luigi and confront Bowser.  They recruit Donkey Kong (Seth Rogen) and his army to help.  They are taking a short cut, but Bowser expects this and ambushes them.  The rainbow road is partially destroyed and Kong and Mario fall into the ocean and are swallowed by an eel.  They escape and get to Peach's castle during the wedding ceremony between Peach and Bowser.  The wedding thwarted Bowser launches a rocket against the mushroom kingdom.  Mario diverts it into a pipe where it explodes and sucks Bowser and everyone to Brooklyn.  Bowser is terrorizing Brooklyn until Marion and Luigi use invincibility stars to defeat Bowser and his minions.  Peach uses a blue mushroom to shrink Bowser who is captured in a bottle.

This is the first animated feature to gross over $1 billion.  There must be many, many Mario players who were immediate fans.  The movie follows the game fairly well.  The movie is a project from Nintendo and Illumination.  

In Theaters: ***^ The Super Mario Galaxy Movie (2026)

 This is a movie more enjoyable to kids than adults.  It is very much like playing the game, at least in terms of the music and some of the graphics.  However it does add a plot.  Rosalina, Prince of the Star land (Brie Larsen) is captured by Bowser's son (Benny Safdie).  His goal is to free his father so they can rule the universe together.  She appeals to her long forgotten younger sister, Peach (Anya Taylor-Joy for help, and she turns to Mario (Chris Pratt) and Luigi (Charlie Day).  They want to use Rosalina's star power to power their doomsday weapon.  This movie is about sisterly love, as well as brotherly love.  And finally father an son love.  However it is when Bowser (Jack Black) realizes his circle includes his friends too that things begin to change.

At the Movies: Movie Review: ***^Anaconda (2025)

 A sort of a remake of the Anaconda movie of 1997 with Ice Cube and Jennifer Lopez with cameo roles.  Four childhood friends decide to rekindle their passions of youth, and make an Anaconda movie.  Ronald (Paul Rudd) recruits his friends to travel to the Amazon to make a movie, telling them he has the right to Anaconda, their favorite movie as youth.  He recruits his best friend, Doug (Jack Black) and old crush, Claire (Thandiwe Newton) and Kenny (Steve Zahn) to run the camera and technical stuff.  They are on their way to Brazil where they meet snake handler, Santiago (Selton Mello) who is obsessed with his snake.  However Ana Almeida (Daniela Melchior) high jacks their boat, with them on it and recording their movie on the way.  

There is a really creepy scene with the snake.  Santiago holds it in Ronald's face, an he reacts, and kills the snake.  Santiago leaves the boat to find a new snake; the new snake gets him instead however.  Now the snake has a taste for people and is after them.  Worse yet, Ana is a smuggler of gold.  Of course the snake gets her.  And in truth Ronald does not own the rights to Anaconda, as those who do, show up making their own movie.  But that doesn't last long as the anaconda destroys their set and is after them as well.  It doesn't discriminate.  Amidst the chaos our four are trying to get away, but Doug gets devoured by the snake, and somehow spit up hole.  He appears dead.  They rap him in a pig so as to create a diversion and they can get away.  They put a squirrel in his mouth.  However he is not dead and the snake is boring down on him.  He runs, eventually the snake gets the pig and not him.

This movie has some funny parts.  The characters run away a lot and seem to run in a funny manner.  The four rekindle their relationship and form a stronger bond.  And Doug gets to make the wedding video for Claire and Ronald.  

More Christmas/Holiday Movies

***Kung Fu Panda Holidays (2010)  This is a made-for-tv short animated feature about the importance of family and friends for the holidays.  It concludes with those dignitaries joining the family celebration and learning something in turn.  This show includes the voice talents of all the Kung Fu Panda regulars including, Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Lucy Liu and Jackie Chan.  This is available on Netflix

***Journey Back to Christmas (2016)  In this movie a WWII nurse gets sent back in time somehow by a comet.  She helps people in the modern era remember some of the things about Christmas, like caroling.  She does meet a couple old acquaintances, who give her hope.  This movie would have been better if the plot had been more believable.  Hallmark

**** Christmas Harmony (2018)  This easily is one of my favorite in this genre because of the music.  Harmony (Kelley Jakle) returns home after a bad breakup.  She has been pursuing music, writing for someone else (her jerk boyfriend) but in returning home she reacquaints with her father (she hadn’t been home since her mother passed away) and a new man in town, Luke (Adam Mayfield).  Together they make some beautiful music, with only one momentary fly in the ointment.  These shows always have that fly someplace.  I really enjoyed this film. 

***^ Sons of Mistletoe  (2001)  This is a story about a man (George Newbern) who grew up in a boys home, and has taken over the running of the home.  However their benefactor, and landlord passes away.  Everything passes to his daughter (Roma Downey), who is more interested in getting away than continuing the family interest in the home, and the family mercantile business.  A large conglomerate from “the city” is willing to pay big bucks.  So while the young man is struggling to save the home, it seems his benefactress is sabotaging his efforts.  But what is she were to become attached to the boys? BYUtv

Movie Review: **^Goosebumps II, Haunted Halloween (2018)

This is the sequel which is appropriately named "Haunted Halloween" because everything Halloween is haunted and comes to life.  But before we get there, Sarah (Madison Iseman) is in charge of her brother for the weekend.  Her brother, Sonny (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and his friend, Sam (Caleel Harris) have started a rummage company.  The get their first job and inadvertently open an R.L. Stine (Jack Black) book releasing the mannequin, Slappy.  Slappy insists on being part of a family with a Mommy (Wendi McClendon-Covey) a and siblings, all of the Halloween characters.  The unleashing of the monsters is terrible.  This movie gets distorted by too many monsters going every which way.  In the end it is credited to a weather anomaly, but pretty gruesome until they can get them all back in the book, and finish the story of one of Stine's first manuscripts.

Movie Review: ***Goosebumps (2015)

This is a classic retellng of R. L. Stines's (Jack Black) Goodebumps stories with the monsters coming to life and preying on a town.  This is after Slappy, a mannequin is set loose and he then lets all the other monsters lose.  Zach (Dylan Minnette) a neighbor and Hannah (Odeya Rush) Stine's daughter, help in recapturing all the monsters.  They can only do this by typing a new story, on the original typewriter, which happens to be at a school where there is a prom dance taking place.  Lots of monsters, maybe even too many.

Movie Review: ***The House With a Clock in its Walls

The House with a Clock in its Walls

A fun movie, but I found it lacking just a little.  I think it was that the main character were supposed to be weird, and at times it just came across a little too weird.  Lewis (Owen Vaccaro) goes to live with his uncle(Jack Black) after his parents die in an accident.  He meets his uncle's friend (Cate Blanchett).  Over time Lewis discovers that his uncle and his friend are both involved in magical pursuits, and that there is a clock hidden within the wall s of the house which is counting down, and portends some great tragedy will take place when it does.  At any rate, Lewis starts to learn magic, but is also manipulated by the former owners of the home, Isaac and Selena Izard (Kyle MacLachlan and Renee Goldsberry).  Isaac was involved in an experiment which killed him, and he had apparently killed his wife during the experiment.  However by manipulating the boy, they both reappear with the intent of ending the world where there is war.  It takes all the skills and wit of our little threesome to overcome this evil. 
Great Halloween movie with seed spitting pumpkins--they don't have teeth so can't really hurt you, and other spooky goblins. 

Movie Review: ***^ Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017)

Jumanji is just a fun movie.  It is not a movie with any moral lessons, but just to have a good time.  Four high school kids, transport themselves from high school detention to inside the Jumanji Game, where they have to go through a series of levels, and save Jumanji.  At the same time, they have only three lives.  In real life a nerd, Spencer (Alex Wolff) becomes the hero in Jumanji (Dwayne Johnson.)  The football player, Fridge (Ser'Darius Blain) becomes the back pack holder (Kevin Hart.)  the socialite Bethany (Madison Iseman) changes gender, loses her phone and becomes a zoologist (Jack Black.)  Martha, a nerdy woman (Morgan Turner) becomes the woman in short shorts (Karen Gillam.)  Each has their own skills and weaknesses.  Spencer is a good runner and climber.  Fridge blows up when he eats cake, Martha is good at fight dancing and Bethany knows animals.  However the team is not complete until they find someone who has been in the game for 20 years, Alex (Nick Jonas.)  This movie is pretty OK throughout.  There are some cracks at humor based on the changing gender, and part of Bethany. 

Movie Review: ***Kung Fu Panda II.

Movie Review: ***Kung Fu Panda II.  I don't remember being very impressed with the first Kung Fu, but this is a case of me liking the sequel more than the original.  I was actually entertained.  There was a good deal of character development, and explaining where the Panda came from and to be raised by a goose.  There was action throughout, and my only complaint is maybe there was too much going on.  The peacock was so rotten, he made a good bad guy.  Bad to the end.  I really like the way the Panda took the fire being shot at them, and throwing it back at the shooters.  Such is the Kung Fu way.  The relationship between the panda and his adoptive father was very nice.  Tony really enjoyed this movie, and he could relate to the Panda being raised by an adoptive father.