The Smurfs

As a fan of the cartoon when I was younger, I wasn’t sure what to expect with this new movie.  I really enjoyed it!  It was very “smurfy,” but not too much.  It might seem silly to say, but these Smurfs seemed more “real” to me and had much more personality than the cartoon – almost like they could really exist!  The adventure begins when they pass through a magic portal from their world and land in New York City.  Besides having to deal with everything in this unknown place, their enemy, Gargamel, has followed them and is trying to capture them!  They also must figure out some way to “re-open” the portal to get back to their own world before it’s too late!  Luckily, they meet some nice people that are able to help them during their stay in New York – and both sides learn important life lessons from each other while having a lot of fun along the way!  If you liked the cartoons or are just looking for a fun movie, I’d give this one a try!  It won’t “smurf” you down!

The Smurfs

The Smurfs was a silly but fun family movie.  When my 3 year old grandson asked me to watch this with him I was rolling my eyes.  I thought - here we go - another corny movie, but, to my surprise . . .it wasn’t half bad!!  I didn’t grow up watching the Smurfs so I wasn’t expecting much from the movie - but I found myself laughing and giggling in parts of it!  It had some very cute moments and Neil Patrick Harris was very charming in his role as the human they take refuge with and in the end - they all help each other out and find out that friendship goes beyond colors and worlds.  So to sum it all up - it was “smurfy” fun with lots of “smurf” to go around.

The Help

I have to tell you about “The Help”.  I LOVED this movie!!  What a powerful story!  The movie is from the book with the same title by Kathyrn Stockett and it centers around one town in Mississippi during the height of the racial tensions.  The story is told from the perspective of black maids who worked for white families.  These women were the primary caretakers of the home and the children but yet they were treated as third rate citizens even though they were running the homes.  The story centers around a character by the name of “Skeeter”, played by Emma Stone, who is home from college and feels propelled to tell the stories and secrets of the maids and show the prejudice that existed within her community.  This was a tremendous movie that is filled with character, charm, and depth and I recommend it to anyone who wants to see a film that is more than just fluff.

The Help

What a POWERFUL movie!!!  The story goes just like Christy said.  Besides how they were treated, some of what got to me the most was how they could just be fired for almost no reason and have their "life" ruined out of nowhere, even when their bosses were lying!  If they used the wrong bathroom or had company show up or were falsely accused of stealing or almost anything!  You could tell how devastating this was to them whenever it happened – they had obviously formed powerful bonds with the families they had helped raise and care for.  The maids were running everything and were treated terribly!  But then it was nice that some of the people really appreciated their help and did treat them as equals.  I'm sure it really was both ways.  You could also tell what a HUGE risk they were taking by telling their story.  The performances were incredible and it was just a really good, strong, powerful movie!!!  Like Christy said, it is definitely NOT fluff.