144. Hop

Back to back Russell Brand movies. I felt a little more comfortable coming into this one because I know that Russell Brand has to be decent in a children's movie. He was hilarious! I thought that his funniest scene in Hop was when he made a cameo as himself and introduced his animated bunny self, E.B. on the Hoff's talent show.

If you don't know anything about Hop, it is the story of who a human became the next Easter Bunny. Slacker boy, Fred O'Hare played by James Marsden, needs a job but nothing seems to appeal to his sensibilities. Finally his family has to plan an intervention to light a fire under him. When he agrees to house sit his sister's (Kaley Couco) boss' house because his parents are finally kicking him out, he literally runs over E.B. who is the bunny that is next in line to be the one and only Easter Bunny but who has also run away from home. As it turns out he would much rather be a famous drummer than the Easter Bunny.

What E.B. doesn't know is that when he ran away, he opened the door for the crazy head-chick Carlos (Hank Azaria) to hatch his plan for the ultimate Easter take over. You see HE wants to be the next Easter Bunny.

The movie was decent. It had some really funny parts but it definitely wasn't the best movie that I have ever seen.

Final Verdict: I wouldn't buy it but my wife might.

143. Arthur

So I have to admit that I was intrigued and I thought that I would take a chance on the movie, Arthur. I say a chance because you never know what you are going to get with Russell Brand. He can be really funny and decent or he can be utterly perverted and filthy. What finally pushed me over the edge to try it was Helen Mirren. My wife is a HUGE Helen Mirren fan and she is a quality actress so I hoped that anything she was willing to co-star in wouldn't be a total piece of trash. Let me just say that my faith in Helen Mirren hasn't let me down!

In Arthur, Russell Brand plays the lead character by the same name. He is a spoiled, rich grown-up who insists on acting like a child. You could argue that this was due to the utter neglect of his mother and the early death of his father, but there is really no excuse for acting out at his age. Anyway, since he continues to act like a child his mother still employs his childhood nanny, Hobson, played by Helen Mirren to watch out for him. Let me tell you...Helen Mirren steals the show! She is curt and no non-sense and watches Arthur's back at all costs. She genuinely cares for him and it shows.

The plot thickens when Arthur's mother decides that she is tired of his non-sense and so he is either going to marry the girl she has chosen for him (Jennifer Garner) or she will disinherit him. Jennifer Garner's character is dominating and cares nothing about Arthur but agrees to marry him because she knows that she will be the top choice to run the family company because Arthur is so irresponsible. The only problem is that after Arthur agrees to his mother's horrible plan, he meets Naomi (Greta Gerwig) who quite possibly could be the love of his life. So he has a big decision to make. Will it be love or will it be money? As you can imagine, chaos insues.

Final Verdict: Worth Owning.