Mr. Popper's Penguins Directed by: Mark Waters Starring: Jim Carrey, Carla Gugino, Angela Lansbury Rating: NR Release Date: June 17, 2011

TRAILER SCORE: 3/10

MY THOUGHTS: I vaguely recall reading the book this was based off of as a kid, when I was going through my huge penguin phase. Now, with that phase behind me, it's hard to say what attracted me to the story. I mean, a man and the wacky antics of him and his penguins? That doesn't seem like much of a story...

But in all fairness, it's even harder to see what might attract somebody to this adaptation. When you start off the trailer with a prayer to god to stop the polar ice caps from melting, well, you're certainly not making any new friends with that material. It's just not funny. It's not even incendiary enough to be offensive, it just falls flat. Even with that joke behind them, I found myself a little distracted by how poorly Jim Carrey has aged, which isn't really relevant to the trailer, but if I'm honestly rather be thinking about that than the trailer itself? Well, then you've certainly got yourself a problem.

So, after re-watching it a second time, this time making sure to avoid the numerous Skeletor references I came up with in my head when I first saw Carrey's face, I found it difficult to come up with much to say about the trailer. It's just a mess, from that very first global warming joke to the heavy-handed "Ice Ice Baby" at the end. Carrey is up to his usual antics with that over-the-top delivery of every line and his bizarre brand of comedy. By the end of this brief teaser trailer, I was almost sure that the joke was on Carrey because it's almost impossible to imagine anyone laughing at this pathetic attempt at humor. Not even the cuteness of penguins was enough to sell me on this wreck and as somebody who has an embarrassing amount of penguin paraphernalia including, but not limited to, underwear and kitchen utensils, that's saying a lot.