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Reviews
Up (2009)
Not nearly what I expected but WOW!!
If you go into this movie expecting it to be the typical light-hearted Pixar fare you're in for a surprise. Pixar took a pretty big risk with this story, and despite what the nay-sayers think, UP shatters the stereotypical animated-movies-are-only-for-kids template and delivers a winner. Yes, the movie deals with some very grown-up subjects such as grief, disillusionment and loss. You WILL be crying within the first fifteen minutes - and that's okay. Detractors fail to grasp UP's two-part message: First, you are NEVER too young or too old to follow your dreams and second, life is the greatest adventure off all, whether or not you actually find your dream.
I loved Carl & Ellie because they represent something all-too-rarely seen in movies of any kind these days: a pair of soulmates who start out life with big dreams but never quite seem to achieve them because reality keeps rearing its ugly head. Nevertheless their love for and commitment to one another grows and grows throughout in good times and bad.
Russell is annoying but not overly so, and has one of my favorite lines: "Sometimes, it's the boring stuff I remember most."
The only part I really didn't care for were the dogs (with the notable exception of Dug). Pixar went WAY overboard with them.
And you simply MUST watch the credits all the way through. Some of those merit badges are HYSTERICAL!!
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (2008)
I like to watch it, watch it.
Just saw this at a discount movie theater ($2.50 a seat) and that's about what it's worth. Don't watch it expecting some major innovative work of art - it isn't, nor was it meant to be. It's purely fun fluff.
Without a doubt, the penguins steal the show. Their banter and antics are just downright hysterical. Granny on the other hand, needs to be retired. A cameo of her might have been funny, but she is overused to the point of irritation.
The ill-fated aircraft ride is a raucous ride, but after that the story splits into four or five (at least) concurrent sub-plots, so enough time isn't really given to each, and the pacing tends to jerk along in spurts. Basically it seems as if the filmmakers just strung together scenes of the funniest supporting characters from the original then tried to wrap it around a Lion King send-up.
All that said, I actually liked this one better than the original. Not every movie is intended to be a piece of ground-breaking cinematic artistry and this certainly isn't. But it IS just downright fun to watch. Now if Dreamworks would just give the penguins their OWN full-length picture...
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008)
OK as a movie, disappointing if you read the book
IF you're looking for a fantasy-action movie shorter than The Lord of the Rings, this might be for you. If you're looking for a reasonable movie version of the beloved C. S. Lewis novel, you are in for, at best, a rude disappointment. This is doubly disappointing considering the deliberate care Andrew Adamson took with The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe to keep Lewis' storyline intact. The few scenes Adamson added in that movie did not significantly change the storyline. In fact, the opening sequence of the previous movie is arguably necessary to establish the reason the children went to stay with Professor Kirke in the first place.
Granted, the two convergent plots in the book version of Prince Caspian make a screen adaptation tricky, but I have little doubt a director as talented as Adamson could have pulled it off nicely. As is, many of the plot subtleties in the book are completely absent.
The treatment of Peter and Susan was abysmal. Peter comes off as a stubborn, know-it-all bully and the romantic subplot between Caspian and Susan is just ridiculous. Furthermore, having Susan in the battle sequences is utterly crass political correctness.
The book isn't about what Peter and Susan learn from their return to Narnia, it is about what *Caspian and the Telmarines* learn about themselves, their ancestry and their place among the other races in Narnia.
Any movie adaptation of a book, especially one as well-known and -loved as this one, is difficult and never totally perfect. In this case however, given the excellent job done on the first movie, it is a disappointing one.
Kelly's Heroes (1970)
Still great nearly forty years later
This film is so highly underrated precisely because it combines so many things so well. It's not strictly a war movie, buddy movie, comedy or political satire. It is ALL of those things. It is best described as a playfully satirical action/caper movie set against the backdrop of World War 2.
The film relies on irony, satire and just a bit of farce for its humor as opposed to today's unfortunate predilection toward slapstick, potty humor or sexual innuendo. This allows the action to punctuated by subtle bits of humor throughout without detraction. For example, Crapgame and Willard unknowingly taking cover behind a latrine which collapses on top of them when a nearby building explodes (with predictable aromatic consequences), or the scene where the unit is strafed by an aircraft and a soldier runs out of the bushes unaware of what happened because he was relieving himself.
The other aspect that makes this so enjoyable are the characters and the actors that portrayed them. Eastwood's stoicism and Savalas' portrayal of Big Joe the harried, frustrated platoon sergeant make them the perfect straight men for the other zany characters to play off of. Rickles' caustic wit is on full display as the conniving Crapgame. Carrol O'Conner is superb as the bombastic Patton-esquire General Colt. And can enough be said about Donald Sutherland's completely over-the-top portrayal of the totally anachronistic hippie tank commander, Oddball? The character is presented so well and Sutherland does such a wonderful job with it, it becomes eminently plausible that such an out-of-place character could have existed.
Even actors in the supporting roles such as Gavin McLeod and Harry Dean Stanton (among others) turn in wonderful performances. This makes every man in the outfit a unique person instead just being cannon-fodder for the combat scenes, so you really end up rooting for them to pull it off.
All in all, it is just a great bit of storytelling, which is why it has endured for so long and will endure for quite some time.