CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 Review

Never have I been so hungry after seeing a comedy film. Thanks a lot for doing so CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2. 

Flint Lockwood is at it again, this time he needs to go back to his Swallow Falls to find his invention, the FLDSMDFR, which has survived the first encounter. Now Flint re-assembles his friends and ventures back to the Swallow Falls to turn his invention off once and for all.

There's a ton of things to love about 'Cloudy'.

The characterization for all the characters was great particularly for Sam Sparks who does not settle for being the typical 'damsel in distress' chick in animated movies. She's smart and sassy(pants) and is the voice of reason for the group. Flint Lockwood however takes the cake here as he's experiencing new stuff when he gets hired to work in LiveCorp, the company built by his idol, Chester V (played by SNL Alumnus Will Forte).



The film for all it's entirety is colorful, bright and wonderful. Kinda makes you think of happy thoughts for the entire 2 hours that the film is running. And it's not limited to the former Swallow Falls as even the animators made it possible to make a dull and boring looking San Franjose, California a spectacle.

The cuteness factor also gets jacked up in this movie to the next level. Felt like the minions from Despicable Me 2 was cute, wait till you get a load of the animals here in the film such as Barry the Berry.



Another great thing about 'Cloudy' is that it rarely relied on slapstick humor to get people laughing. Oh and let's not even dabble too much on the puns, this movie's just full of it.



This moment alone passes for gold as Flint's dad, the technophobic Tim Lockwood tells Flint that he's got the situation and that said situation is a piece of cake with which the camera pans right to reveal a cake who just shrugs at the mention and attention. I guess that comes off from the comedic caliber of the cast which includes SNL guys like Bill Hader, Will Forte and Andy Samberg, Anna Farris and Barney Stinson himself, Neil Patrick Harris.

Like a double edged sword, this factor could be a bad thing as the Pinoy audience grew up and prefer slapstick humor in their animated features. I mean, seriously, the screening I attended last night had kids who were either perplexed by the puns or just missed the whole punchline. But the adults sure loved it.



Then there was Terry Crew's character (and my namesake) Earl Deveaux. Originally voiced in the first movie by Mr. T, Crews takes over and brings some manliness to the film and at the same time carries over some OLD SPICE humor into the scene. Seriously pay attention to whenever the focus goes to Earl and you'll know what I mean. 

"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" might just be the freshest and most-natural animated feature film I've seen this year. It's clever and new and breaks the mold of family-oriented movies.

CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 is now showing and is distributed locally by COLUMBIA PICTURES PHILIPPINES.

It's the Revenge of the Leftovers in "Cloudy" Sequel

The new, 3D animated comedy “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” picks up where Sony Pictures Animation’s mouth-watering 2009 original left off. Inventor Flint Lockwood thought he saved the world when he destroyed his most infamous invention -- a machine that turned water into food causing cheeseburger rain and spaghetti tornadoes. But Flint soon learns that his invention survived and is now creating food-animals – "foodimals!" Flint and his friends embark on a dangerously delicious mission to battle hungry tacodiles, shrimpanzees, hippotatomuses, cheespiders and other foodimals to save the world – again!

Starring the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Will Forte, Andy Samberg, Benjamin Bratt, Neil Patrick Harris, Terry Crews, and Kristen Schaal, “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” is directed by Cody Cameron and Kris Pearn. Story by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller and Erica Rivinoja. Screenplay by Erica Rivinoja and John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein. Inspired by the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs written by Judi Barrett & illustrated by Ron Barrett.

Flint Lockwood and his pals discover that something big was leftover on the island of Swallow Falls. The action picks up just sixty seconds after the first film ends: Flint Lockwood has destroyed his greatest invention, the Flint Lockwood Diatomic Super Mutating Dynamic Food Replicator, or FLDSMDFR for short. That invention was a wild success, in that it could turn water into food, and an unmitigated disaster, in that it unleashed a torrent of deadly food weather that threatened to destroy the world. Flint blew it up – or, at least, that’s what he thought.

“I love the world of Cloudy,” says Cody Cameron, who directs the film with Kris Pearn. A story board artist on the first three “Shrek” films, as well as the Sony Pictures Animation films “Surf’s Up,” the first “Cloudy,” Cameron says, “Of all the films I’ve worked on, `Cloudy' is my favorite. So to get the chance to go back and revisit the characters in this new, crazy world that we were developing made this a really exciting project for me.”




“When we started the brainstorming process, we found a very rich amount of elements to explore – not just a new adventure, but also the characters,” says Pearn, who headed up the story team on the first “Cloudy” film. “On this adventure, all of the characters get to express themselves more fully. For example, Earl, the town cop, wants to protect the home he loves so much. Manny – who was so silent through most of the first film – reveals more and more hidden sides of himself. Sam, the one person who understands Flint better than anybody else, is the one to see the island for what it is – an expression of Flint’s creativity.”

Cameron and Pearn were hand-picked to direct “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2” by Phil Lord & Christopher Miller, the writers and directors of the first film. “I worked on the movie for 4½ years – the last 3½ with Phil and Chris,” says Pearn. “In the story department, you tend to have a small crew and you spend a lot of time with the directors. We got to know each other well and there was a lot of trust there. Cody and I were on the movie pretty much until the end, which is unusual, because it’s common as a film winds down to let board artists move on to other projects. So, once Phil and Chris decided they weren’t going to direct the sequel, it was an organic choice to allow us to take the reins – and not only that, but I think they saw how important it was to us to maintain the unique humor and quirkiness that made the first film so special as we embarked on the sequel.” Lord and Miller remain actively involved with the project as executive producers.



“On the first film, Phil and Chris were the first directors I’d ever worked with who treated the film like a writer’s room,” says Pearn. “Anybody with a thought that could help the film – even assistants and PAs – could pipe up. After all, a good idea can come from anywhere. We found that very helpful, and we’re keeping that going on this film. It’s very helpful when you can trust the crew and there’s a give-and-take in how the show is run.”

Lord and Miller say, “Kris and Cody were great collaborators on the first film and we loved working with them to bring these fun, unique characters back to life. The final result is a beautiful, stylized, funny film and we are thrilled that the Cloudy franchise has continued on in the hands of so many great people.”

Opening across the Philippines in Oct. 9, 2013, “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2” is distributed by Columbia Pictures, local office of Sony Pictures Releasing International. Visit http://www.columbiapictures.com.ph for trailers, exclusive content and free downloads. Like us at www.Facebook.com/ColumbiaPicturesPH and join our fan contests.

Terry Crews' Character Channels Old Spice Powers for CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2

I'm willing to bet that the guys behind CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 are big fans of Terry Crews' OLD SPICE commercials as evidenced in this new clip. 

Here's the clip I was talking about...

Of course we'll all miss Mr. T who originally played Earl Deveaux in the first movie.

"Cloudy" also features the voice of Bill Hader, Anna Farris and Neil Patrick Harris. 

THE SMURFS 2 Review

The Smurfs are back in a new adventure in the ole Paris with familiar faces together with new ones in THE SMURFS 2.

I thought THE SMURFS 2 was a nice family movie. It touches on a lot of themes that can yank anybody's heart and at the same time provide lots of laughs here and there.

Anton Yelchin is Clumsy Smurf

Here are added things I'd like to comment:

- For a second forray, the animation for the Smurfs has improved tremendously. Again, good job in creating a movie with little blue non-existent, happy creatures interacting with celebrities.

- I hate Hank Azaria's Gargamel. It's not that he didn't do a good job playing the main villain, but more of he was so good at being annoying. There, that's a great way of describing it.

- Katy Perry as Smurfette was OK. I wish I could've heard more tell-tale signs of Smurfette being Katy (or Katy being Smurfette) but that line's disappeared. Good job on that end.

The voluptous Katy Perry is Smurfette

- I love Neil Patrick Harris for his work in the "Harold and Kumar" series but it does seem like lazy acting in this movie. I think, his appearance in the first one not only made sense but it also tied in neatly into the story. For Smurfs 2 however, I think the appearance and the storyline was just concocted to bring the two parties together.

- Jayma Mays had the same terrible misfortune in my book. She was barely in the film if you ask me, except for that scene where she tries to pass off as a knockoff Audrey Hepburn (which was called for in the script mind you). Still with the limited screen time, she could've done a lot of things.

-  Its hard not to like Vexy and Hackus, the two new 'naughties' here in the film. Although between the two, the obviously well-rounded character here is Vexy played by Christina Ricci. Through the film, the relationship between the two 'sisters' drastically change and by the end of the movie, when they're all singing the 'Lala Song', we've already taken in Vexy as a good character.

Vexy, Smurfette and Hackus

- I like they tried to flesh out a family story amidst all the glorious blue chaos of the Smurfs but it's not fully fleshed. Well again maybe that's because it wasn't intended for me but rather for the kids. Gotta love a rambunctious dad though.

- Probably the strongest Smurf here is Papa Smurf. Yay for Papa Smurf. The character goes through the ringer in order to rescue his adopted daughter and gets to experience a little heartbreak. That moment when Papa Smurf watches as things unfold in Gargamel's suite was one of the most heartbreaking thing I've witnessed when it comes to the Smurf. That probably couldn't be topped. Still since this is a family movie, you can expect a happy ending.

- Azrael the Cat is not only the best thing in the movie, he's also the cutest. 

Overall, I think the SMURFS 2 was a nice movie. Nothing Earth shattering, just good, clean family fun for the whole family. I recommend you see the film when it opens today.

(Special thanks to Sony Pictures/ Columbia Pictures for the invitation)

Best Dressed Celeb Picks from the Grammys

Looking at the red carpet photos for this year's Grammy Awards and I've decided to post some of my picks from the Grammys.

Katy Perry looks so hot in her light green dress with a little bit of 'cleveland' making an appearance. Still, this doe eyed pop star looks oh-so-yummy. I heart you Katy.

Alicia Keyes is definitely on fire with her dress. The girl who sang 'Girl on Fire' should definitely go out more in this stylish dress.

Sneak Peek: The Smurfs 2 Teaser Trailer

Columbia Pictures has just shared the teaser trailer of “The Smurfs 2,” the sequel to the 2011 hybrid live action/animated family blockbuster comedy “The Smurfs.”

The film reunites original castmembers Neil Patrick Harris, Jayma Mays, Sofia Vergara, Hank Azaria, Brendan Gleeson, Katy Perry, Jonathan Winters, Alan Cumming, Fred Armisen, George Lopez and Anton Yelchin.

How I Met Your Mother S7E24 Spoilers - Barney's Bride

This is going to be short and sweet. If you haven't caught up with the latest episode of How I Met Your Mother you'll definitely be in for a big surprise as the show finally reveals who Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) ends up with in the future.

Apparently in the future Barney does get hitched and its with the girl half of us viewers were expecting... Robin Scherbatsky (Cobie Smulders aka Maria Hill from The Avengers). 

She definitely looks purrty in that bridal gown of hers.

Image source: How I Met Your Mother Wikia