Marmaduke—film. Not as insipid as many kids movies, but a kid movie nonetheless. The story followed the often-told plotline of an outcast who becomes popular and forgets “where s/he came from” before realizing the error of her/his ways.
Everyone played his part well enough, and other than the unreal ways the animals’ mouths moved when they talked (although I honestly don’t know what else the director could have done about it), it worked. It’s been done before; sometimes better, often worse. C+
Men in Black—BD. I haven’t watched this since I saw it in the theatres, and I was really impressed by how well it’s held up these past 15 years. The BluRay conversion could have been better, but the film is more about the wacky world/universe this new, hip guy finds himself in the middle of that the pretty (and pretty weird) vusials. It’s an early-era Will Smith flick, and his chattering wise-guy persona hadn’t gotten old yet, and Tommy Lee Jones fell on my radar after this film, and his sarcastic, dry “K” was a fun foil against Smith’s “J”.
Other than the two leads, the supporting characters were also a blast. Rip Torn’s “Zed” was the typical, blustering “top cop” (but done with flair by Torn), and Tony Shalhoub had a great scene as alien informant Jeebs. But the best role had to be Vincent D’Onofrio’s Edgar the Farmer. As the alien roach used Edgar’s skin as a disguise, D’Onofrio, had to change from bad-mannered farmer to… an alien that is using a human skin as a disguise. Hilarious. B+
Moon— This one had a lot of good reviews within my normal sphere of review-reading, but I just couldn’t get into it. The acting and directing were way above average, but I just couldn’t get hooked. I’m going to chalk that up to not being ready for it. I’m going to give it another shot in the future. For now, it receives an Incomplete.
Planet Hulk— A pretty different take on the character, which is odd considering it’s only the second animated DVD movie of The Hulk from the Marvel Animated line of direct-to-DVD titles they’s been working on the past five years or so. But the story is a great one (probably enhanced because it IS a different take on the character), and the “movie”, if you can call something just over an hour a movie, hit the main beats of the comic book story well (better in some ways; I felt the comics meandered a bit whereas this movie was pretty streamlined). Worth renting; maybe if it drops to $5, I’ll buy it. B-
Step Brothers. When you think of an actor who can do a modern-day man-child, who pops into your head? Maybe Jack Black, but definitely Will Farrell. Now bring along an up-and-comer to the genre like John C. Reilly, and you’ve got a movie that’s bound for childish lunacy. Farrell’s played the type enough times to have both good and bad movies in this “genre” on his resume, and this one is one of the better ones.
Two grown men who act worse than children have to live together when their parents get married. Not an unusual concept for a film, but a normal film would have the children portrayed as monsters (if the parents were both loving as they are in this movie) as they destroyed property. But this film is ridiculous because the “children” are men in their forties.
Long story short: this isn’t a great film, but I did find it fun (aside from the by-the-numbers plotline). Farrell can easily venture into “too much”, but I think having Reilly along to take some of the pratfalls and lunacy off his hands worked. B-
Toy Story 3—film. I didn’t love Toy Story 2—even though I am well-aware it’s much better than most movies that get released. I just didn’t feel much for the characters. But this story hit a little closer to my heart. Maybe it’s because Pixar doesn’t sugarcoat things just because it’s animated. The story had some darkness to it, but that’s what the story required, so it worked perfectly—as does most anything Pixar works on.
The last half-hour or so is pretty powerful (bring a tissue). Maybe it was extra-powerful because it’s been rumored this is the last Toy Story film (although there have also been rumors of doing a fourth), and the story had a number of climaxes that made me wonder “Is this it?”
But what they came up with to end the film (and maybe the franchise) was perfect for the story. I can’t say more than that or else it may diminish the wonder of the last part of the movie for others.
In the end, I should just have to say “This is a Pixar film,” and you should already know it’s going to be great. And it is. Pixar has something about their films that I can only describe as “magic”. This is what filmmakers should all aspire to. There are too many kids movies specifically and movies in general that have no art or wonder at all about them. The people behind this film could have EASILY put it on auto-pilot and pooped out a decent movie that would have raked in the cash in both box office and toys, but they went for a film that has many meanings (both for children and adult) and is of the highest quality. If only more filmmakers/studios would do the same. A-
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