So for those of you who went out and saw Mr. Popper’s Penguins, or didn’t, I have a few films that I think would work well to compliment the film.Every once in while you’ll watch a movie and think to yourself that you’ve seen bits of this before, or it looks very similar. Well that’s usually because it’s true. However, with that said that doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s anything wrong with the film, just that you’ve watched one too many. What a lot of people, including myself, like to do is to compliment that movie by checking out related (directly or indirectly) films that might give you a bit of more insight into the genre, filmmaker, actor or just general idea of the film. I think today’s selections may seem a bit obvious, but I hope that coming weeks will prove a bit more interesting.
Now I didn’t go and see the film, but after seeing the trailer and reading the full plot synopsis (spoilers abound) on the wikipedia page I thought long and hard and tried to focus in on what I think is the most important element of the latest theatrical release and find it some really great movies. The most integral part of this movie is that a man is trying to win back his family after it all falling apart already, the penguins are just a facilitator for that action.
So here’re my recommendations:
Liar Liar
In this film, starring Jim Carrey, a lawyer can’t lie for a whole 24 hours after his son makes a wish on his birthday after his father (the lawyer) lets him down again. This movie isn’t something that I’d say is worthy of any awards, but in the context of playing right after Mr. Popper’s Penguins you’ll probably find it amazing, also you’re children can watch it too (which was a big factor in all of my choices for this weekend’s recommendations).
Fantastic Mr Fox
A father is starting to get bored with living the straight and narrow and after moving his family into a new neighbourhood he decides to return to his life of stealing birds from three of the meanest farmers you’ve ever seen. The film is written and directed by Wes Anderson in one of his most ambitious projects I’ve ever seen. Almost every film that he’s made has been about father’s in dysfunctional families or the aftermath of a questionable father. Here a father puts his family and his entire community all in danger with a smile on his face like he has everything under control, it’s a blast to see how this man can break this family apart and bring them back together right after that.
The Incredibles
Just like Fantastic Mr. Fox a father gets bored of moving from being a superhero to being a regular Joe. So he decides to go out at night and do good deeds. This however has consequences as his family becomes to target of the villains and while it creates a lot of tension among the family and a lot of danger at the same time it’s the thing which relieves all the tension that existed before when the father just couldn’t go to work every morning and hate himself for not being able to truly helping people when he has the ability to. The film is amazing and might just be the touch you want to see when you get home from the matinee.