I'm way behind on reviews, so I'm splitting them up into two entries, one for fresh movies and one for rotten movies. Un Chien Andalou has lost some of its impact, since the eye-slicing scene is fairly famous, but that doesn't make it any less potent. Besides, there's plenty of other strange imagery to keep you
interested, even if you don't know what the hell is going on. But then again, isn't that the point? A Movie is one of those experimental films that you only see in film class, so reviewing it is kind of pointless, but I did enjoy it. You can take anything you want to away from it, and even if you're not sure what the point is, it's still enjoyable. 7/10. No Lies... is another short film that you'd only see in film class, except it is much more interesting and much more potent. 8/10. I liked my film prof to begin with, but the fact that he showed Chicken Run in class proves how awesome he is. Of course I've seen it before, and of course I already love it. Given my solid Aardman animation boner, this should come as no surprise to many of you. But the stop-motion animation isn't the best thing abotu Chicken Run (although it is quite good). The simple fact is that this is a very funny, very enjoyable film. The voice work is great; Mel Gibson is perfect as the cocky Rocky, and Julia Swalhala's earnest performance as Ginger gives the film a solid ground. The characters are great, Mrs. Tweedy makes a potent villain, the score fits the tone perfectly, and it's 90 minutes of solid fun. Due to a busy workload, I had to wait two weeks to see The Incredibles. I heard plenty of hype. Believe the hype. A friend of mine said that it was joy onscreen, and it was. For starters, the animation is nothing short of spectacular, and is as good as if not better than the animation in Shrek 2. And I thought Shrek 2's animation was damn good, too. Brad Bird's stylized mix of cartoon sensibilities with astonishing realism pays off big time, especially in the characters. CGI humans have a tendency to look plasticine, a problem that was circumvented by having the hair and clothing look realistic as possible, while having everything else look stylized. It works. The action sequences are great, the voice work marvelous, and I'm quickly running out of adjectives to describe just how wonderful this movie is. It's not perfect, mind you. Frozone only appears when the story needs him, which is a shame, since he's freaking awesome. And it's not as funny as Pixar's other works. But who cares? The Incredibles is... well, incredible. Incidentally, I read a review somewhere (don't remember where exactly, just trust me on this one) lamenting how when Pixar finally decided to do a film that focused on humans, the humans had guns. And that one of the film's emotional climax involves the mother telling her children that there's a good chance they'll die at the hands of merciless villains. The critic kind of has a point, but I say poppycock. The Incredibles and Chicken Run work because the danger is real; the characters are at risk, and that risk gives the story some weight and maturity and allows us to invest tons of interest into the characters. It also leads to some good dialogue, since that moment where Elastigirl is warning her children about the dangers ahead is one of the film's best moments. I'm a huge fan of Spongebob Squarepants, so my views towards The Spongebob Squarepants Movie are a bit skewed. As a film, it's fluffy, enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable entertainment. In order to truly examine its flaws, though, you have to have a bit of an affinity for the show. The film makes Spongebob and Patrick its heroes, and the lenghty focus on the pair proves detrimental to the film. Spongebob's gimmick is that he's stupid. Patrick's gimmick is that he's even dumber. So we have stupid + stupid, which breaks a cardinal comedic rule in not having a straight man. Squidward, Mr. Krabs, and Sandy are all marginalized in the film, giving our dimwitted duo nobody to bounce off of, and so their schtick gets old very quickly. Plankton makes a decent villain, but part of his appeal is that all of his plans fail; that's why he has an empty restaurant and a computer wife. When he suceeds in stealing the Krabby Patty formula and succeeds in transforming everyone into his slaves, it just isn't fun. But I'm complaining too much. You'll have a good time at the Spongebob Squarepants movie, but I've seen superior episodes of the show. I Heart Huckabees is perhaps the only philosophical comedy I've ever seen. Surprisingly, it's not that big of a mindfuck. An even bigger surprise is that it doesn't give us much to think about at the end; its philosophy fits the contexts of the movie but doesn't lead to enlightening discussions over coffee afterwards about what Life means. That said, it's inventive, well-acted, and has some minor moments of brilliance, but it's ultimately forgettable. At least it aimed for the stars. I also re-watched Elf. I rated and reviewed it after I saw it last year, so there's no sense in repeating things, especially since it was just as funny as when I first saw it. I'd glady accept it as a modern holiday classic. 8/10.
November 28, 2004
