I don’t have much experience reviewing children’s movies, so, before writing this, I did some research to glean a few of the points prescient to their reviews. Fortunately the standard kid-flick critique doesn’t differ much from your standard, well, non-kid-flick review. The only theme uniting them all is to note whether adults will enjoy it as much as their brood (or whether either audience will enjoy it).

So let’s get that out of the way: The kids will probably enjoy it (the ones invited to my screening didn’t make too much noise, but that may have been due to the iron fists of their handlers); adults won’t mind it. Rio isn’t particularly sophisticated and comes with your basic (and I use this term only because it does very much apply here) cookie-cutter plot in which you already know everything that’s going to happen within the first 12 minutes, and, beyond that, there’s not a whole lot else—save for the location shots, which I’ll get to in a moment.

The story is that Blu (Jesse Eisenberg) is a rare Spix macaw, taken from his homeland of Brazil when he was a chick and shipped to Moose Lake, Minnesota, where his crate falls off the back of the truck and he’s adopted by Linda (Leslie Mann), a bookish girl who raises him over the next 15 years. Linda doesn’t make many friends in that time, but she does open a bookstore, and the story proper begins when Tulio (Brazilian actor Rodrigo Santoro), a bird scientist, drops by to inform Linda that Blu is one of the last of his species and must go to Brazil to mate with Jewel (Anne Hathaway), the other last of the species.

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What ultimately surprised me about this comedy is how sweet it is underneath the prickly premise. Based on a more scathing French film called The Dinner Game (1998), this Dinner has been toned down a bit for American audiences but it still has a bit of bite.

Paul Rudd plays Tim, a mild mannered businessman trying to get a promotion at work. He has earned the promotion but is forced to deal with typical office politics in order to seal the deal. He is horrified to find out that the good old boys at the office partake in a monthly dinner party in which each man brings the biggest idiot they can find to amuse the masses. They ask Tim to join them in a few days, promising that if he can find such a person, the job is all his.

Tim wrestles with the moral dilemma he faces. He’s visibly disgusted with the whole idea, but he really, really wants the job. He has been trying to get his beautiful girlfriend Julie (Stephanie Szostak) to succumb to his marriage proposal, and he believes that if he is financially secure she’ll be more likely to take the plunge.

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This summer hasn’t exactly been the best when it comes to comedies, but that may come to an end next Friday as the new comedy Dinner for Schmucks starring Paul Rudd and Steve Carell hits theaters nationally.

The film stars Rudd as an up-and-coming executive who wants to succeed so badly that he falls in line with the rest of his superiors in finding a socially awkward moron to invite to an annual dinner. Enter Steve Carell, who is a walking social catastrophe.

The film reunites Rudd and Carell for the first time since 2005′s 40 Year Old Virgin and looks to have quite a bit of hilarious moments in it. Joining in the ride are other genre funnymen Ron Livingston, Zach Galifiniakis, and Flight of the Conchord’s Jemaine Clement.

We’ve got four new clips from the film for you to check out, each of which show off the dynamic of Rudd and Carell. Paul Rudd even gets to do some physical comedy, which we haven’t seen him do in quite some time.

Check out the clips after the jump, and be sure to catch Dinner For Schmucks in theaters next Friday, July 30th.

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Back in April, we brought you the first trailer for the upcoming comedy Dinner for Schmucks starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd. We didn’t know much about it, but what we saw, we loved. Now we’re getting more footage in a full trailer, and it looks like it has potential to be one of the top comedies of the year.

The film comes from director Jay Roach, who brought us the first Meet the Parents films and the first two Austin Powers films. Basically, the premise is about up-and-coming executive Tim (Rudd) who needs to impress his co-workers and bosses by bringing the weirdest guest, played by Carell, to their annual dinner.

Not only will the film bring together Carell and Rudd for the first time, but will also throw in a few other comedic favorites such as Zach Galifiniakis, Ron Livingston, Jeff Dunham, and Flight of the Conchord’s Jemaine Clement. The newest trailer gives us a bit more of the epic “mind battle” between Galifiniakis and Carell, and some more awkward momest of Carell as the unfomfortable “Barry”.

Check out the new trailer after the jump, and be sure to catch Dinner for Schmucks when it hits theaters on July 23rd.

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While Steve Carell is doing his tour of major talk shows and appearances in preparation for this weekend’s release of Date Night, the first trailer for his next big comedy has just hit the web: Dinner For Schmucks.

The film also stars Paul Rudd, who’s been on a hot streak with comedies as well such as I Love You, Man, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and Role Models. The screenplay comes from about a dozen different writers, including the creator of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Andy Borowitz. Here’s the official synopsis.

Tim (Rudd) is a guy on the verge of having it all. The only thing standing between him and total career success is finding the perfect guest to bring to his boss’ annual Dinner for Extraordinary People, an event where the winner of the evening brings the most eccentric character as his guest. Enter Barry (Carell), a guy with a passion for dressing mice up in tiny outfits to recreate great works of art.

Jay Roach is stepping in as director, who we know as the director for all of the Austin Powers and Meet The Parents films. Check out the trailer after the jump, and be sure to catch Dinner For Schmucks in theaters July 23rd.

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Jared Hess is a name that doesn’t normally ring a lot of bells with people over 30, but is certainly known by the younger film goers for writing and directing a movie called Napoleon Dynamite back in 2004. Since then, Hess has had only one other film under his writer/director belt: 2006′s Nacho Libre starring Jack Black. The film was welcomed with mixed responses from both the audience and the studio.

Three years later, Hess is now coming back out of the woodwork with his third film, Gentlemen Broncos. The film stars Forbidden Kingdom’s Michael Angarano as Benjamin, a loveable loner who has a passion for writing. Benjamin joins a writer’s camp, lead by Flight of the Conchords star Jemaine Clement. Things take an interesting turn when Clement’s Chevalier steals Benjamin’s book and bastardizes the premise for a film.

The film utilizes the same off-beat aesthetic as the Hess’ previous two films, along with the punchy dialogue and fantastic plot devices. Also starring Jennifer Coolidge, Sam Rockwell, Halley Feiffer, and Michael White, Gentlemen Broncos hits theaters on October 30.

Click through to check out the new trailer.

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