Python Hyena Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011): Dir: Mark Waters / Cast: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Madeline Carroll, Angela Lansbury, Philip Baker Hall: Unbearable piece of crap that is embarrassing to sit through. Mr. Popper inherits a bunch of penguins from the father who was never home when he was young. Now he must struggle to adapt to them. He initially wants rid of them but his children back him into promising that they can keep them. What is truly irritating about this garbage is that the so-called villain, the zookeeper is actually right in his accusing Popper of not having the proper facilities to deal with penguins. What's even more idiotic is that the two children see their father as some sort of penguin expert who knows best. Director Mark Waters made the wonderfully funny and insightful teen comedy Mean Girls but none of that talent is present in this pathetic sideshow. Jim Carrey as Mr. Popper turns his apartment complex into a winter wonderland that would be deemed inappropriate by most landlords. His deals with the penguins is also more painfully bad humor. Carla Gugino has the thankless role of ex-wife who is dating someone else but she will come around and see Popper's true potential. Madeline Carroll plays Popper's daughter who spends most of the film texting and whining. Angela Lansbury appears as a rich tavern owner for which Popper must influence to sell her place for job profit. Philip Baker Hall is likely missing those great Paul Thomas Anderson roles since this garbage is way below par. None of this matters because the film is so stupid that it should be buried in penguin sh*t. Score: 2 / 10

Adam Peters (20%) An almost complete waste of time, money, and talent, leading to a pointless overall end result, with no real message at all to anything. And as the penguins themselves are nothing but glorified cartoon characters without hardly a shred of actual penguin behaviour meaning that the poor kids that watch this won't even learn anything. Carrey is a fine comic talent with a very good sense of acting ability, but here he is lost in a script written by far too many different people for such a simple story, and yet this somehow feels like it was created by a soulless machine. It could be worse, but this was still always destined to fall flat.

Ed-Shullivan MAY CONTAIN SPOILERSI trust the producers were not expecting Mr. Popper's Penguins to be a box office smash, because if they were, they neglected to mix the full recipe ingredients for a block buster movie. Yes, they included one of the major star comedians, Jim Carrey. Yes, they gave us a good background story of a young boy named Tommy Popper who listened endlessly and intently to his CB (citizen band) radio patiently waiting for the rare occasion his world traveler father would reach out to him from afar on the CB radio and tell young Tommy Popper about his current adventure he was on from the four corners of the world. But Tommy grew up as a lonely boy and then 30 years later we see Tommy (now an adult Jim Carrey) as a successful real estate mogul, who is separated from his wife and two kids because he just does not have time for any of his own family. Like father, like son.Before Tommy's father passes away he sends adult Tommy two crates from the Antartica containing six adorable Penguins. There is also a letter included in one of the the crates which Tommy inadvertently does not see fall under the hall table until quite some time later. Again the producers did a good job with making the penguins look real in all their animated scenes. The penguins bathroom breaks were exceptionally cute and appropriate for all age audiences including young children. I saw the movie at home, but I would imagine any child between the age of 3-13 would be howling of laughter with the antics of the six penguins, who were individually named in a manner that resembles their predominant and individual behavior, similar to the Disney's Seven Dwarfs.Jim Carrey's estranged wife Amanda (played by Carla Gugino) has moved on with her life and she has a new man she is interested in. Their two kids, a girl and a boy have not spent a lot of time with their father who is always too busy with his real estate deals. I anticipated I may have heard Cat Stevens 1971 classic song "Father and Son" contained somewhere in the film, but it was missing, as was a story line that the audience could commit to believing in.Angela Lansbury plays Mrs. Van Gundy the sole owner of the Tavern on the Green restaurant that adult Tommy Poppers bosses assign him to acquire for their new development plans. We find out later that little Tommy used to eat at the restaurant with his father on the rare occasion he came to town to visit with his son. Introducing Angela Lansbury was an attempt to make it more like the 1971 Disney classic she previously starred in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. It is worth a watch for Jim Carrey's interaction with the adorable penguins. The animators did a fantastic job of making the penguins irresistibly entertaining. But let's not fool ourselves. Mr. Poppers Penguins is a good movie that is sure to entertain children between the ages of 3-13 but when I mentioned the film was missing some key ingredients I am referring to that Disney magic. Mr. Poppers Penguins is simply lacking that warm story line and the charm of any of the Disney classics even with Ms. Lansbury in a supporting role, and the advanced CGI animatronics available today.

callanvass (Plot) An arrogant businessman's life begins to alter for the better when he inherits six penguins. His apartment becomes a suitable, winter home for the Penguins, and everything begins to change around himCarrey's star has waned a bit over the past few years, but he can still be very funny with the proper scripts. I wouldn't say this is one of his best movies, but its decent entertainment for sure. It has plenty of slapstick gags that will get some chuckles going, and a sentimental story that rings true. Any complaints? Not really. It is very predictable, and it was easy to see where most things were headed, but it's a family film, not something that is gonna bring in the Oscars. Jim Carrey is funny as per usual, and I enjoyed him immensely. His interactions with the Penguins were cute & amusing. Carla Gugino is a classy lady, and made for a good love interest. Angela Lansbury has a small, but effective role, whilst Clark Gregg steals every scene he's in. Final Thoughts: This is a good rental or a good selection on Netflix if you are looking for something to watch. It's also a film the whole family can get some kicks out of. It's not great, but I felt it was decent. Give it a whirl6/10