RBR: The Croods (Quick hits)

Technically this one isn't available at Redbox yet, but it is available on home video and will be at Redbox next month. This animated caveman picture does have some charm. The voice cast including Nicholas Cage and Emma Stone attempts to bring some energy to the characters. It also creates some memorable animal characters that the kids will adore. The biggest problem with the film is its story that plays more like a TV pilot than a self contained film narrative. There is a sense of desperation on the filmmakers part to setup each character and have you like them so that you can see more wacky adventures from this crew. If this had been on Nickelodeon or Disney, I would rate it higher. However, there have been way better animated films that were actually worth your money as opposed to this prehistoric dud. Rating: ***

Gru back

Villains rule the day once again as Gru and his minions are back once again in Despicable Me 2. Here's the first full trailer for the animated film set to come out this summer.

Fur beta kappa

School is almost back in session for Mike and Sully. Here's the new trailer for the Monsters Inc. prequel, Monsters University

RBR: The Lorax

Filmmakers have been relying on the work of Dr. Seuss for several years now as a means of easy children's entertainment. While some of them turned out well, this latest effort from Universal Pictures' Illumination Entertainment is a mixed bag. The Lorax is one of Seuss' best stories and has a comendable message about the environment; a message that undermined by the slick commercialism that surrounds both the promotion and execution of this film. It's hard to pay attention to characters preaching the value of saving trees when you're focusing on which celebrity voice is saying it or how good the Lorax themed pancakes at IHOP are. That's not to say that the film doesn't have its appeals. The filmmakers effectively bring the world created by Seuss to life in rich, vibrant, candy-coated colors and they manage to include a couple of catchy songs in as well. I also enjoyed Danny Devito's performance as the titular creature and wished that he was featured more prominantly in the film. This, though, points out another major issue with the movie - while the central story is solid, it's noticeable how much filler they needed to add in order to turn this into a 90 minute movie. Kids will surely enjoy this film even if they don't quite get the key message in the same way as if they had read the book. Adults, however, will struggle to find much to appreciate here and will be dismayed that someone has ruined another one of their beloved kids' tales. Rating: ** 1/2

RBR: Puss in Boots

I doubt there's anyone out there who was actually clamoring to see the origin story of Puss in Boots, the supporting character from the Shrek franchise, and yet here it is. In this latest computer animated adventure from Dreamworks, we see how Puss became the suave swashbuckler that we've come to know him to be. Along the way, we also run into some new characters including Humpty Dumpty as Puss' childhood friend (voiced by Zack Galifianakis) and Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) who plays a romatic foil for Puss. Despite the complete lack of necessity for this film, I couldn't help but find myself still enjoying it. The film provides a number of solid laughs without relying on cheap pop culture jokes like the later Shrek films did. There were also a lot of smaller touches that the animators did here (facial expressions, body movements) that added some depth to the storytelling. I found myself compelled to see where the story would go and what would happened to the characters. I do wish they would have expanded the central plot of the film. At a short runtime of 90 minutes, there was too much time spent on flashbacks and other ancillary business that, while enjoyable, came off as filler. This certainly works well as a rental. I would have felt ripped off spending money to see this in the theater, but it felt right on the small screen. In fact, I could easily see them turning this into a Saturday morning cartoon franchise instead of continuing on and making more films. If you've been a fan of the Shrek films, but opted to skip this one when it was in theaters, go ahead and check it out now. Adults and kids alike will find something entertaining here. This film may not be purr-fect, but it's a solid piece of animated fun. Rating: ****

RBR: The Adventures of Tintin

This movie had an uphill climb from the very beginning. Despite begin directed by Steven Spielberg and having Peter Jackson along as a producer, this is the adapatation of a Belgian comic book series that very few people in America were familiar with, let alone fond enough of the material to want to see it brought onto the big screen. The story centers around a young journalist named Tintin, who along with his dog Snowy, frequently finds himself caught up in the middle of mystery and adventure. In this case, it revolves around the mystery of a ship named the Unicorn. I'd explain the plot further, but there's really not much more to say. The mystery isn't particularly engaging and the treasure they ultimately find is rather underwhelming. Perhaps, American audiences have been jaded by films like National Treasure and The DaVinci Code where part of the fun is the end game of finally locating something rare and special. That is sorely missing from this tale. Instead, Spielberg pads the thin story with endless action scenes that just wear the audience out. Yes, everything looks amazing in those scenes, but we're given no reason to care what's going on in them. Part of that problem lies in the fact that technology still has not advanced enough to make these stop motion human characters realistic enough. Their eyes are expressionless and each characters' face looks so rubbery that you would think they were all wearing a Mission: Impossible mask hiding their true identity. Many were surprised when this failed to get an Oscar nomination for best animated film, but in this case I belive the Academy got it right. For all the technical achievements that this film has, the human touch is nonexistant here. Tintin may continue to delight audiences overseas, but I have no interest in seeing another adventure from this young investigator. Rating: ** 1/2

I see someone seeing dead people

Here's the latest trailer for the stop-motion animated film, ParaNorman set to come out this August.

2012 Movie Preview (#30 - 25)

Hard to believe we're at the end of another year. While there were plenty of things to celebrate in 2011, I feel that it was a rather lackluster year at the cineplex. Granted I haven't seen a number of potentially good movies yet, but overall I just wasn't as enamored with most of Hollywood's offerings this past year. But hope springs eternal, so as we turn the calendar over to 2012 we look ahead and I think things are looking much brighter. In the next few days, I'll be previewing the 30 films set to come out next year that I'm most looking forward to. Keep checking in throughout this week and see if you agree that 2012 is shaping up to be a great year at the movies.

30. Wreck-It Ralph (November 2nd)

Plot: Wreck-It Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) longs to be as beloved as his game's perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix (voice of Jack McBrayer). Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes... so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan-win a medal-but soon wrecks everything, and accidently unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade. Ralph's only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman), a young troublemaking "glitch" from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it's "Game Over" for the entire arcade?

Personal opinion: As will be the theme for most of these early movies on this list, it's a little too early to tell how this one will turn out. It has a terrific voice cast and it's being produced by Disney (although this is not a Pixar animated film) so it has the credentials, but I'm a little unsure of the film's story. It feels like well-tred territory. We recently had both Despicable Me and Megamind do the whole 'bad guy gone good' plot and there also seems to be some similarities to this film and the 90s cartoon Reboot. If the film can feel fresh, this should be very successful.


29. Man on a Ledge (January 27th)

Plot: An ex-cop and now wanted fugitive (Sam Worthington) stands on the ledge of a high-rise building while a hard-living New York Police Department hostage negotiator (Elizabeth Banks) tries to talk him down. The longer they are on the ledge, the more she realizes that he might have an ulterior objective.

Personal opinion: If you didn't see it originally, I had posted the trailer for this film a few weeks ago. I doubt this movie will set the world on fire, but given that January is usually a dumping ground for lousy movies, this looks like it has a chance at being half-way decent. There are a lot of solid character actors here who will no doubt raise the film's quality. And based on the trailer, there looks like there could be several twists and turns in the story. As long as they don't get too cute with the storytelling this could be worthy of making a trip out to the theater during the dead of winter.


28. Gravity (November 21st)

Plot: Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone--tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth...and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

Personal opinion: On the surface, this sounds like it could be the plot to a hokey B-movie. However, with George Clooney and Sandra Bullock leading the cast this will be anything but. The film is also being directed by visionary director Alfonso Cuaron (who directed Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which was in my opinion the most stylish film in the franchise). Given that this film will be done in 3D, this could be one of the few films that actually uses the technology effectively. I'm not sure this is the most conventional Thanksgiving film, but I'm still anxious to check it out.


27. Ted (July 13th)

Plot: "Family Guy" creator Seth MacFarlane brings his boundary-pushing brand of humor to the big screen for the first time as writer, director and voice star of "Ted." In the live action/CG-animated comedy, he tells the story of John Bennett (Mark Wahlberg), a grown man who must deal with the cherished teddy bear who came to life as the result of a childhood wish... and has refused to leave his side ever since.

Personal opinion: As anyone who has ever watched Family Guy knows, Seth McFarland can be a very funny guy. The big question though is whether that humor can translate onto the big screen. Considering that the quality of most of his animated shows has waned in the past year or so, I'm hoping it's because he's putting his best efforts into this project. McFarland has certainly improved his chances by bringing along several of his talented voice actors like Mila Kunis and Patrick Warburton to be a part of the cast. I've never been big on the whole live action/CG-animated hybrid genre, so that's a strike against the film. For this film to work, it's going to have to be something more than just a raunchier version of Alvin and the Chipmunks.


26. Wanderlust (February 24th)

Plot: Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston star in "Wanderlust," a raucous comedy from director David Wain ("Role Models") and producer Judd Apatow ("Knocked Up") about a couple who leaves the pressures of the big city and joins a freewheeling community where the only rule is to be yourself.

Personal opinion: This fills up the requiste role of movie that was featured on last year's preview and then got bumped. I don't feel the need to say too much more about this movie now. David Wain (Wet Hot American Summer, Role Models) has proven that he can make some very provocative, yet funny films. He's got his usual cast of actors back with him along with Jennifer Aniston, which sounds like a winning combination to me. With all that said, however, it'll probably be a tough sell getting people to come out and watch a movie about a nudist colony.


25. Chronicle (February 3rd)

Plot: Three high school students make an incredible discovery, leading to them developing uncanny powers beyond their understanding. As they learn to control their abilities, and use them to their advantage, their lives start to spin out of control, and their darker sides begin to take over.

Personal opinion: As I pointed out when I posted the trailer for this film, most people are probably tired of superheroes after this past year. But based on what I've seen I really think this is a creative approach to the genre. Taking a realistic approach combined with the documentary style of filmmaking really appeals to me. The key to this film will be in its execution. Will this unique idea be able to cause the genre to soar to new heights or will a failure to follow through cause it to crash and burn? Only time will tell.

RBR: Rio

This computer animated film from last spring is a complete paint-by-numbers effort. Admittedly, the paint used is a dazzlingly array of color. This is a great looking film with vibrant scenery and creatures. For me though, that only goes so far. It's the story here that is a let down. It centers on a domesticated bird (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) who is taken back to Rio in an effort to repopulate his species with the only remaining female bird of his kind (voiced by Anne Hathaway). Along the way, we move through one cliched story point to the next as the movie heavily borrows from better films like The Defiant Ones and Finding Nemo. To pad things out they throw in a handful of musical numbers that are in the moment pleasant but utterly forgettable. This film will probably be best appreciated by small children who will be easily mesmerized by the bright colors and goofy characters but there's nothing much for anyone older to latch onto here and enjoy. Rating: ** 1/2