Yowazzup: A Directory of Happening Things

Despicable Me is an animated film about a trio of orphan girls causing the normally deplorable Groo to rethink his plan to steal the moon. Starring the voice of Steve Carell, Will Arnett, Julie Andrews, Jason Segel. Despicable Me opens on July 9, 2010.

Popularity: 1%

Monsters vs Aliens is a 3D animated film featuring the voice of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Rainn Wilson, Kiefer Sutherland, Stephen Colbert, and Paul Rudd.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Susan and her Monsters friends in "Monsters vs Aliens"

On the day Susan Murphy (Reese Witherspoon) is getting married to weatherman Derek Dietl (Paul Rudd), she is hit by meteorite. When she gets into the aisle, she grows into a giant Susan. The military arrive as they are alerted by the meteor and capture Susan. She is sent to a top-secret facility led by General W.R. Monger (Kiefer Sutherland) and given a nickname “Ginormica”. In the prison, she meets other monsters: B.O.B. (Seth Rogen), a brainless, gelatinous blob; Dr. Cockroach Ph.D. (Hugh Laurie), a mad scientist who turns into a cockroach; the Missing Link (Will Arnett), an amphibious fish-ape hybrid and Insectosaurus, a giant grub that is even larger than Susan. The monsters are contentedly locked in the facility for the past 50 years but Susan feels incredibly isolated and wishes to return to her old life.

An alien called Gallaxhar (Rainn Wilson) is in the search for quantonium, the most powerful source in the universe and he finds it in Earth and thus deploys a gigantic robot to find and extract from its source, Susan. As the robot refuses to make peace after an attempt from the US President (Stephen Colbert), the President of the United States orders an attack on the robot. As all the attack from the military proves useless, General Monger convinces the President to use his top-secret monsters to fight the robot instead. The monsters agree with the promise of freedom if they succeed. Susan and the monsters manage to defeat the robot on the Golden Gate Bridge with her new-found strength.

Susan returns to her hometown and introduces her family to the monsters, but the monsters are rejected after causing panics in the party. Meanwhile, Derek breaks up with Susan, claiming she overshadows his career. Susan is devastated but realizes that becoming a monster has changed her life and Derek is just a selfish jerk. Susan is abruptly abducted by Gallaxhar and along the way kills Insectosaurus when he tries to save Susan. On the ship, Susan manages to release herself from captive and chases Gallaxhar, only to end up in the machine which extracts the quantonium from her body, making her normal again. Gallaxhar continues to use the quantonium to clone himself into armies so he can invade Earth.

With the help from the General, B.O.B., Dr. Cockroach and the Missing Link invade Gallaxhar’s ship and rescue Susan, in the process, activate the ship’s self-destruct sequence. Susan is separated from her monsters friends who are trapped inside the ship. In an attempt to save her friends, Susan embraces the quantonium and transforms her into a giant again allowing her to save her friends. The monsters are rescued by General Monger on the back of the revived Insectosaurus, who had transformed into a giant butterfly.

Overall, the film is amazing and is definitely catered for children and maybe some adults. If you love good-humored fun and Nickelodeon’s cartoons, you will love this flick.

My ratings: 7 out of 10.

Popularity: 1%

Monsters vs. Aliens is an animated movie about a young California girl named Susan Murphy (voiced by Reese Witherspoon) who turns her into a giant monster when a meteorite from outer space hits her. She is taken to a secret government compound and meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. Monsters vs. Aliens will be released on March 27, 2009.

Popularity: 1%

Amy Poehler and husband Will Arnett welcomed their first child, son Archie Arnett on Saturday according to her rep. "He is 8 lbs. 1 oz.," rep Lewis Kay said in a statement.

Amy Poehler, the veteran of "Saturday Night Live" will not return to the NBC show.

Earlier this year, Poehler played "baby mama" in the movie "Baby Mama" together with former "Saturday Night Live" cast-mate Tina Fey. And now, she’s finally a baby mama.

Popularity: 3%

Horton Hears a Who! is an animated film based on Dr. Seuss book featuring the voices of Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Carol Burnett, and Will Arnett. Produced by Academy Award winning computer animation studio Blue Sky Studios which is owned by 20th Century Fox, Horton Hears a Who! is the fourth feature film by Blue Sky Studios after Ice Age: The Meltdown.

SPOILER WARNING: Plot and/or ending details follow.

One day, Horton the Elephant (Jim Carrey) is doing his daily routine of having fun when he discovers a tiny speck of dust which is flying around after it is taken out of from its place by the wind. Horton hears a cry for help from the tiny speck. Despite the fact that he cannot see anything from the speck, he chooses to help. He runs all over the jungle just to save the speck.

Jim Carrey is the voice of Horton in Horton Hears A Who!

The speck of dust turns out to contain a small city of Whoville with residents of Whos living in the city. Horton tries and finally manages to make contact with the Mayor of Whoville (Steve Carell) who responds back despite the initial ambiguity. When Horton convinces the Mayor by changing the weather of Whoville, the Mayor believes Horton right away. Though Horton’s friends do not believe Horton’s story of people living in the speck, they gleefully play along by carrying a clover flower each.

As Horton assumes the responsibility of protecting the Whos and their home, he learns that the Mayor of Whoville has a wife, 96 daughters and one son named JoJo (Jesse McCartney) who all share a bathroom!

Sour Kangaroo (Carol Burnett), a busybody and overprotective kangaroo who is skeptical about the existence of lives on the speck, tries every possible ways to get rid of the speck. She even makes deal with the evil monkeys and the eagle hitman Vlad Vladikoff (Will Arnett) to do her dirty work.

When Sour Kangaroo manages to convince the entire jungle about Horton’s insanity in believing the speck has people living in it, all the animals gather towards Horton to help to bring Whoville to an end. Meanwhile, the people of Whoville do not believe what the Mayor has said after the Councilman (Dan Fogler) has convinced the people of Whoville that the Mayor is a moron. When the people of Whos finally hear Horton’s voice and after the disaster that has happened in Whoville, they believe him. Even the Councilman stands by him. The Mayor then convinces the entire city to make enough noises in order to save the city from being destroyed.

Overall, it’s one of the best animated films made that is not from Pixar or Disney. Quoted from Horton, “A person’s a person, no matter how small.” Indeed.

My ratings: 8 out of 10.

Popularity: 2%