I can’t believe I’m actually going to say this, but I was pleasantly surprised by Over the Hedge. As anyone who has paid any attention to me knows I have absolutely despised the more recent “hits” DreamWorks has churned out, but this film was enjoyable and close enough to it’s source material that I was able to appreciate what was accomplished. The voice acting was phenomenal. Eugene Levy and Catharine O’Hara as Minnesotan porcupines? William Shatner as an overacting possum? Thomas Hayden Church as The Verminator*? It’s the funniest thing this side of Mars! And Steve Carrell…he’s the next Robin Williams of animation…I hope to God that the DVD has outtakes of him in the booth. The biggest change from the source material (if you can call it that) is that this is more of an introductory story to the world of Over the Hedge. It’s about the characters first … Continue reading →

I absolutely adored this movie. The characters are vivid and enjoyable, the voice acting is phenomenal and the music is lots of fun. My biggest regret watching the film was that I never actually took a road trip on Route 66. What I love the most is that aside from the story, the film really emphasizes Americana with the music and the car racing and the Route 66, and I love Americana. I love being America and I love it when art emphasizes this and shares this great patriotic pride I have. Owen Wilson plays Lightning McQueen, rookie race car who desires nothing more than the Piston cup. His brash, arrogant attitude and cocky style get him in jail in Radiator Springs, the Jewel on the Mother Road (Route 66). Here he learns the lessons he never learned growing up (where are his parents?) and in the end finds himself … Continue reading →

This film was a really solid, really well put-together disaster flick, and it was nice to see one that doesn’t bang you over the head with junk science (d’you hear about Al Gore? He’s traveling the country scaring the $h!t out of people with global warming “facts”. He’s even making a documentary/movie based on it called “An Unfortunate Truth”. I think it’s unfortunate that we have to watch. It’s just so sad that nobody will take him serially. Excelsior! I think it’s because he has no friends. I love South Park.) like Day After Tomorrow. That was a great disaster flick in and of itself, but Roland Emmerich just had to go the liberal route and criticize humanity. Curses! Anyways! The premise is that a “rogue wave” comes across and capsizes an ocean liner the size of the Titanic and a small group of people band together to try and … Continue reading →

Aha! I found the trend. Or at least I think I did. Starting as far back as 2001 with Nancy Myers’ What Women Want, some romantic comedies have moved away from traditional values and become more enjoyable as a whole. I can’t think of in-betweeners for this theory (maybe Myers’ other film, Something’s Gotta Give), but it’s evident in 50 First Dates, Wedding Crashers and this film. In fact, I thought at one point that this film was like a PG-13 Wedding Crashers. It’s even got Sack (nice to see that Bradley Cooper can be something other than an asshole…mainly a holistic guy who wanders the world in tune with nature and sleeping with everybody, but still). The film deals with Trip (Matthew McConaughey) and the fact that he lives in his parent’s house…with his parents. His mother (the lovely Kathy Bates) cooks him a pancake breakfast every morning and … Continue reading →

I think I wanted to hate this movie and for that reason alone I pick on the story. Because the movie was really funny. I laughed several times. But the whole premise of the movie is much thinner than the first one, which makes this an OK sequel, not a great one like Toy Story 2. The core original cast returns, including Blue Sky director/aficionado Chris Wedge as Scrat (easily the funniest part in the entire movie) with the addition of Queen Latifah (a mammoth raised by possums), Seann William Scott (one of her possum brothers) and Jay Leno as a fast-talking car-salesman character who “would sell his own mother for a grape. Are you making an offer?” Their story is one of migration as the nearby glacier begins to melt, unveiling the threat of a ginormous tidal wave crashing down on the community our heroes have carved out for … Continue reading →

Oh my. This movie was absolutely fantastic. It even had a awesome soundtrack…right off the bat with A.R. Rahman’s Cheya-Cheya (sp). Oh that’s right…I didn’t tell you about him. He wrote the music for Bombay Dreams, and he’s an international music god by his own rights. And the music fun doesn’t stop there. The credits list an entire symphonic orchestra piece by piece…but I’m getting off track…because as I’ve said before, a movie of this type (we’ll just stick with drama as the genre) isn’t about the film’s individual pieces… My name is Dalton Russell. Pay strict attention to what I say because I choose my words carefully and I never repeat myself. I’ve given you the who. Recently I planned and set in motion events to execute the perfect bank robbery. That explains the what, when and where. Why? Because I can. That leaves only the how…and as the … Continue reading →

That’s it. I’m moving to Seattle…it’s the coolest place in the world. It rains a lot (I like the rain) and there’s wireless internet access and cell phone signal everywhere! Even out on some dirt road by the train tracks. All sarcasm aside, this movie is best at its portrayal of human drama. Not the bad guys. The bad guys were a bunch of crap. I’m talking about how Jack Stanfield (Harrison Ford), his wife Beth (Virginia Madsen) and their kids (Carly Schroeder and Jimmy Bennett*) deal with being held hostage. It’s about the human drama involved, it’s not about a plausible story. Bill Cox (Paul Bettany…you know, Jennifer Connelly’s husband?) is a fantastic bad guy and plays evil incredible well, but to me, it was out of proportion. Here’s the problem. Bill got together with his friends one day and said, "Hey I have an idea. Val, you’re good … Continue reading →