Fantasy, 108 Minutes, 2012
This movie aspires to be nothing less than the “Toy Story” [IMDB] of the video game generation. It has the same “your playthings have private lives when you leave” theme. It also features similar “new v. old” and “respect v. apathy” plotlines. Finally it populates its world with a mixture of classic characters and original characters that fit classic archetypes. The arrogance! The audacity! The cheek!
Damn if it doesn’t (almost) do it.
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” on IMDB
Fantasy, 169 Minutes, 2012
It seemed at times like it would never actually happen. Between studio financial issues, directorial changes, scheduling conflicts and a myriad of technical issues “The Hobbit” was a very long time coming. Was it worth the wait?
“Beasts of the Southern Wilds” on IMDB
Fantasy Drama, 93 Minutes, 2012
This is an odd little movie. A wonderful, thought-provoking, completely odd little movie. In broad strokes, it’s an environmental film but this aspect is almost an afterthought. The setting – the origin of which is only really mentioned in passing – is a place called “The Bathtub”. It’s the only remnant of Louisiana left dry and outside an enormous levy built to protect the Southern U.S. from rising sea-levels. The small population of the Bathtub live in squalor struggling to maintain their sense of community fearful that they will be forcibly taken from their homes to government shelters.
Fantasy, 93 Minutes, 2012:
Pixar makes good movies. Period. At some point, I’m sure, some relatively minor decision will snowball out of control and they’ll release a steaming pile of crap. Something that will taint their good name and become the butt of jokes for an entire generation of movie fans. The Internet will rip it to shreds with perverse glee. It will be mentioned in the same breath as “Howard the Duck” [IMDB] and “Leonard Part 6” [IMDB].
Zombie alert!
See the review of “Corpse Bride” on our sister site, MoreBrains.com dedicated to all things zombie!
Adventure, 142 Minutes, 2012
I have to begin this by admitting that I’ve not read these books. My wife has, however, and wanted to see the movie and I want to continue to see my wife so we watched it. So I can only speak to the film and not how well it honors its source material.
Family, 126 Minutes, 2011
It’s sometimes hard to review universally acclaimed films. There’s a temptation to run counter to the pack and find flaw (anything everybody likes can’t really be good can it?) Sometimes you just have to admit it though: the pack has its moments. This is something special.
My wife and daughter are away overnight so my son and I decided to have a long-delayed Trilogy day. Which was his decision (Star Wars, The Matrix or Lord of the Rings) and he decided on Lord of the Rings (the extended editions, of course). We started late which means we won’t finish until after 3am, but there’s no school tomorrow and there’s always time for bonding, right?
“The Secret World of Arrietty” on IMDB
Family, 94 Minutes, 2011
This is Studio Ghibli’s eagerly anticipated adaptation of the massively popular children’s book, “The Borrowers”. While not faithful to the storyline of the book it’s abundantly clear that the filmmakers have a deep and meaningful respect for the source material.
Action, 90 Minutes, 2011
Being a big fan of the Schwarzenegger version I was happily looking forward to this. Swords, magic, monsters – you really can’t screw it up that much, right? Well, it turns out that you can try pretty damn hard to screw it up but that no… you really can’t screw it up all that much.
