“Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil”

Movie Review

Directed by Mike Disa, Written by Mike Disa, Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech, 85 minutes, Rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Animated films can get away with a lot. Audiences watching on TV or at the movies suspend disbelief before even sitting down. These films create unrealistic characters and illogical worlds, never needing to justify its absurdity. Despite all of this, no animated film should ever be boring.

“Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil” commits this crime. Already stretching the first film’s premise to the world of unnecessary sequels, its charm wares off during the first lengthy action sequence. Unable to balance laughs with thrills, almost every scene, horribly converted into 3D, feels flat, causing the short 85-minute runtime to feel like an eternity.

The problems begin at a plot level. Red (Hayden Panettiere), having renounced the Happily Ever After Agency, turns to the “Sister Hood,” a type of culinary ninja clan. During her training, she learns of Granny’s (Glenn Close) kidnapping and asks her old partner, Wolf (Patrick Warburton), to help get her back.

Throw in a sub-plot about a magical truffle and some tired references to other, better movies, and you get “Hoodwinked Too!” The script tries to construct a zany fairy tale world a la “Shrek,” but forgets its prime motif just as quickly. Disa has these iconic characters, yet does nothing with them. Instead, the script relies heavily on stale pop-culture references and generic messages.

What the film has over its predecessor is the ever-popular, post-converted 3D look, which doesn’t fix the lackluster animation. Red and co. awkwardly sit in the sparse settings, bursting from the screen without depth or energy. The film has sat on the shelf since 2009 to add the 3D effect, but Disa should have concentrated on making his world look interesting.

This doesn’t come as too much of a surprise – most converted projects end up looking awkward -- but a good cast can overcome this problem--usually. “Hoodwinked Too!” boasts Glenn Close, Amy Poheler, Bill Hader, Joan Cusack and Patrick Warburton, yet no one seems to be in their element. Casting Poheler and Hader sounds like a good idea. Casting them as Hansel and Gretel does not. This film is the proof.

“Hoodwinked Too!” can’t seem to make heads or tails of what it wants to do. Instead, everything from the animation to the performances seems lazy, with each plot point and joke detracting from the already weak premise.

The very nature of animation is to appear lively, and if that’s the case, “Hoodwinked Too” fails at almost every turn.

Grade: D+

“Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil”

Movie Review

Directed by Mike Disa, Written by Mike Disa, Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech, 85 minutes, Rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Animated films can get away with a lot. Audiences watching on TV or at the movies suspend disbelief before even sitting down. These films create unrealistic characters and illogical worlds, never needing to justify its absurdity. Despite all of this, no animated film should ever be boring.

“Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil” commits this crime. Already stretching the first film’s premise to the world of unnecessary sequels, its charm wares off during the first lengthy action sequence. Unable to balance laughs with thrills, almost every scene, horribly converted into 3D, feels flat, causing the short 85-minute runtime to feel like an eternity.

The problems begin at a plot level. Red (Hayden Panettiere), having renounced the Happily Ever After Agency, turns to the “Sister Hood,” a type of culinary ninja clan. During her training, she learns of Granny’s (Glenn Close) kidnapping and asks her old partner, Wolf (Patrick Warburton), to help get her back.

Throw in a sub-plot about a magical truffle and some tired references to other, better movies, and you get “Hoodwinked Too!” The script tries to construct a zany fairy tale world a la “Shrek,” but forgets its prime motif just as quickly. Disa has these iconic characters, yet does nothing with them. Instead, the script relies heavily on stale pop-culture references and generic messages.

What the film has over its predecessor is the ever-popular, post-converted 3D look, which doesn’t fix the lackluster animation. Red and co. awkwardly sit in the sparse settings, bursting from the screen without depth or energy. The film has sat on the shelf since 2009 to add the 3D effect, but Disa should have concentrated on making his world look interesting.

This doesn’t come as too much of a surprise – most converted projects end up looking awkward -- but a good cast can overcome this problem--usually. “Hoodwinked Too!” boasts Glenn Close, Amy Poheler, Bill Hader, Joan Cusack and Patrick Warburton, yet no one seems to be in their element. Casting Poheler and Hader sounds like a good idea. Casting them as Hansel and Gretel does not. This film is the proof.

“Hoodwinked Too!” can’t seem to make heads or tails of what it wants to do. Instead, everything from the animation to the performances seems lazy, with each plot point and joke detracting from the already weak premise.

The very nature of animation is to appear lively, and if that’s the case, “Hoodwinked Too” fails at almost every turn.

Grade: D+

"Rio"

Movie Review

Directed by Carlos Saldanha, Written by Carlos Saldanha and Don Rhymer, 96 minutes, Rated G.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Cliché plagues 20th Century Fox animation in their latest offering, "Rio," but the film manages to successfully transplant its well-worn topic to the tropical climates of South America. This familiarity doesn't make the film an outright waste, like the recent Easter adventure "Hop."  Quite the contrary. "Rio"'s audience can feel right at home in the plotting and enjoy the dazzling animation and pretty darn funny script in the mean time.

Our lead bird, Blu (Jesse Eisenberg), faces a problem many Disney princesses and talking animals are quite familiar with: After a lifetime in captivity, Blu finds himself in the wild without a clue how to navigate it. But Blu didn't mean to end up in this position. Blu, along with his protective owner (Leslie Mann), is invited to Rio so that he, the last male macaw, can mate with the last known female one. What other choice does he have?

Unfortunately, Blu and the female Macaw, Jewel (Anne Hathaway), are kidnapped and, thus, set forth on an adventure to find both freedom and Blu's owner.

The familiar themes that "Rio" settles on are numerous. Blu's conflicts are well-worn territory in animated films, while his will-they-won't-they relationship with Jewel follows the beats of a romantic comedy. Neither point ever develops beyond a base level, though. It’s like “Finding Nemo” without that strong emotional center and uses its script as a way to show off the animation and cast. Blu finds his bearings, gets the girl, and reconnects with his owner. Obviously, this shouldn't come as too much of spoiler, because the film earns its breezy feel through the knowledge that everything is going to be ok.

However, "Rio" does flourish in its animation and humor. The brilliant colors and swooping shots create an immersive and enjoyable visual style. Don Rhymer's script never complicates things too greatly, creating a series of funny situations for the talented voice cast to tackle. His film is decidedly simple in this regard, thus allowing the animators to really go to town. It’s enough to keep parents and kids quietly occupied, but will probably leave them slightly underwhelmed.

"Rio" never reaches the loftier heights some may expect from today's animation studios, but it makes good use of its resources. From the stunning animation to the talented and game cast on hand, the film makes something familiar look new, even if it's not at heart.

Grade: B-

"Rio"

Movie Review

Directed by Carlos Saldanha, Written by Carlos Saldanha and Don Rhymer, 96 minutes, Rated G.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Cliché plagues 20th Century Fox animation in their latest offering, "Rio," but the film manages to successfully transplant its well-worn topic to the tropical climates of South America. This familiarity doesn't make the film an outright waste, like the recent Easter adventure "Hop."  Quite the contrary. "Rio"'s audience can feel right at home in the plotting and enjoy the dazzling animation and pretty darn funny script in the mean time.

Our lead bird, Blu (Jesse Eisenberg), faces a problem many Disney princesses and talking animals are quite familiar with: After a lifetime in captivity, Blu finds himself in the wild without a clue how to navigate it. But Blu didn't mean to end up in this position. Blu, along with his protective owner (Leslie Mann), is invited to Rio so that he, the last male macaw, can mate with the last known female one. What other choice does he have?

Unfortunately, Blu and the female Macaw, Jewel (Anne Hathaway), are kidnapped and, thus, set forth on an adventure to find both freedom and Blu's owner.

The familiar themes that "Rio" settles on are numerous. Blu's conflicts are well-worn territory in animated films, while his will-they-won't-they relationship with Jewel follows the beats of a romantic comedy. Neither point ever develops beyond a base level, though. It’s like “Finding Nemo” without that strong emotional center and uses its script as a way to show off the animation and cast. Blu finds his bearings, gets the girl, and reconnects with his owner. Obviously, this shouldn't come as too much of spoiler, because the film earns its breezy feel through the knowledge that everything is going to be ok.

However, "Rio" does flourish in its animation and humor. The brilliant colors and swooping shots create an immersive and enjoyable visual style. Don Rhymer's script never complicates things too greatly, creating a series of funny situations for the talented voice cast to tackle. His film is decidedly simple in this regard, thus allowing the animators to really go to town. It’s enough to keep parents and kids quietly occupied, but will probably leave them slightly underwhelmed.

"Rio" never reaches the loftier heights some may expect from today's animation studios, but it makes good use of its resources. From the stunning animation to the talented and game cast on hand, the film makes something familiar look new, even if it's not at heart.

Grade: B-

“Hop”

Movie Review

Directed by Tim Hill, Written by Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, and Brian Lynch, 95 minutes, Rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Like the colorful candies of Easter, the latest animated Easter Bunny adventure—and more surprisingly, probably the first—is a pastel distraction lacking any kind nutritional value. Inside its foil wrapping exists an endless array of predictable jokes, aimless subplots and obnoxious characters.

“Hop” is an utter failure.

Director Tim Hill follows the formula of his last film, “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” and delivers another an anthropomorphic rodent musician and characters that eat his poop, literally—which seems a lot better than what he’s feeding us.

“Hop” follows the adventures of E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand), the son of the Easter bunny (Hugh Laurie) and next in line for the crown. Only problem is--wait for it--he doesn’t want to be the Easter Bunny, he wants to play the drums. So, following an argument with his father, E.B. heads to Hollywood to follow his drumming dreams and sidestep his lineage.

Meanwhile, in L.A., 30-something slacker Fred O’Hare (James Marsden) is also arguing with his parents about the future. Get a job they tell him, but, wait for it, he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. A chance encounter (Fred hits E.B. with a car) brings the two together, and they help one another fix their meaningless lives.

Between the script and the editing, the film is far too busy to make sense or provide any entertainment. Just when we seem to be moving in one direction (E.B. ruins Fred’s job interview), we’re suddenly thrown into another subplot (Fred upstaging his nine-year-old sister at an Easter pageant). The very mythology of the Easter Bunny barely has enough to work with—it’s essentially Santa-lore fashioned with Easter themes—so the three screenwriters litter their script with filler.

None of it makes a whole lot of sense, but it’s mostly harmless. Some of these plots, however, like Carlos’ (a Spanish accented Hank Azaria) worker’s revolution take some strange turns. The Easter Bunny mocks Carlos for asking for a promotion because Carlos isn’t a rabbit, but then gives it Marsden. Hill inadvertently makes a film that supports job discrimination, because neither he nor his screenwriters gave a second thought to the specifics of their script.

“Hop” is another example of a family movie gone horribly awry. Hill expects very little of his audience, and even less of his writers, putting whatever half-baked idea he has on screen, regardless if it makes sense or not.

Grade: D+

“Hop”

Movie Review

Directed by Tim Hill, Written by Cinco Paul, Ken Daurio, and Brian Lynch, 95 minutes, Rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Like the colorful candies of Easter, the latest animated Easter Bunny adventure—and more surprisingly, probably the first—is a pastel distraction lacking any kind nutritional value. Inside its foil wrapping exists an endless array of predictable jokes, aimless subplots and obnoxious characters.

“Hop” is an utter failure.

Director Tim Hill follows the formula of his last film, “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” and delivers another an anthropomorphic rodent musician and characters that eat his poop, literally—which seems a lot better than what he’s feeding us.

“Hop” follows the adventures of E.B. (voiced by Russell Brand), the son of the Easter bunny (Hugh Laurie) and next in line for the crown. Only problem is--wait for it--he doesn’t want to be the Easter Bunny, he wants to play the drums. So, following an argument with his father, E.B. heads to Hollywood to follow his drumming dreams and sidestep his lineage.

Meanwhile, in L.A., 30-something slacker Fred O’Hare (James Marsden) is also arguing with his parents about the future. Get a job they tell him, but, wait for it, he doesn’t know what he wants to do with his life. A chance encounter (Fred hits E.B. with a car) brings the two together, and they help one another fix their meaningless lives.

Between the script and the editing, the film is far too busy to make sense or provide any entertainment. Just when we seem to be moving in one direction (E.B. ruins Fred’s job interview), we’re suddenly thrown into another subplot (Fred upstaging his nine-year-old sister at an Easter pageant). The very mythology of the Easter Bunny barely has enough to work with—it’s essentially Santa-lore fashioned with Easter themes—so the three screenwriters litter their script with filler.

None of it makes a whole lot of sense, but it’s mostly harmless. Some of these plots, however, like Carlos’ (a Spanish accented Hank Azaria) worker’s revolution take some strange turns. The Easter Bunny mocks Carlos for asking for a promotion because Carlos isn’t a rabbit, but then gives it Marsden. Hill inadvertently makes a film that supports job discrimination, because neither he nor his screenwriters gave a second thought to the specifics of their script.

“Hop” is another example of a family movie gone horribly awry. Hill expects very little of his audience, and even less of his writers, putting whatever half-baked idea he has on screen, regardless if it makes sense or not.

Grade: D+

"Mars Needs Moms"

Movie Review

Directed by Simon Wells, Written by Simon Wells, Wendy Wells, and Berkeley Breathed (book), 88 minutes, Rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Matt Schimkowitz

Robert Zemeckis won’t be bound to this planet when it comes to exploring the creepy depths of motion capture technology, and with “Mars Needs Moms,” he shows that the style can ruin the cosmos just as quickly as Christmas. Much like “The Polar Express” and “A Christmas Carol” before it, the Zemeckis-produced “Mars” fails to deliver emotional and comedic blows thanks to the dead-eyed mannequins standing in for characters.

The plot is insane: Milo (voiced by Seth Dursky and motion-captured by Seth Green) doesn’t want to eat his broccoli, take out the trash, or live with his supposedly tyrannical mother (Joan Cusack). However, all that changes when Martians abduct Milo’s mother and take her back to their home planet to mine her brain for parenting skills.

Milo stows away on the spaceship and heads to the red planet to save her but not without his fair share of misadventures. On Mars, he meets Gribble (played by the endlessly hyperactive and irritating Dan Fogler), an overweight man-child marooned on the rock since the mid-'80s. With the help of Ki (Elisabeth Harnois), a cheerful Martian obsessed with stereotypical hippie culture, Milo and Gribble hatch a plan to save Milo’s mom before it’s too late.

Directed by Simon West, the film is terribly misguided, thanks mostly to Zemeckis’ motion capture. Each character is stiff as a board on the gravity-less plane, with their movements ranging from the awkwardly slow to inhumanly strange. Milo and Gribble’s freakish appearances take away from the gorgeous scenery of Mars’ landscape and look even more alien than their Martian co-stars.

West’s attempts to amuse and teach his audience vanish in a script muddled by bad jokes and confusing lessons. Each quip about "who let the dogs out" and how listening to your mother will get her abducted by malevolent space mutants should horrify parents and children just as much as the creepy character models. The film’s antifeminist leanings about what mother’s do and what family’s are should freak out the rest. It all waters down the more emotional moments, which, in turn, slows down the film. It's a domino effect ending in one bad movie.

Nothing in "Mars Needs Moms" really gives the sense of adventure one would hope. The weird motion-capture movements and dull vocal performances are too slow to keep the film moving. "Mars Needs Moms" is only consistent in that it's a mess.  Somebody should have told the filmmakers to clean it up.

Grade: D

"Mars Needs Moms"

Movie Review

Directed by Simon Wells, Written by Simon Wells, Wendy Wells, and Berkeley Breathed (book), 88 minutes, Rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Matt Schimkowitz

Robert Zemeckis won’t be bound to this planet when it comes to exploring the creepy depths of motion capture technology, and with “Mars Needs Moms,” he shows that the style can ruin the cosmos just as quickly as Christmas. Much like “The Polar Express” and “A Christmas Carol” before it, the Zemeckis-produced “Mars” fails to deliver emotional and comedic blows thanks to the dead-eyed mannequins standing in for characters.

The plot is insane: Milo (voiced by Seth Dursky and motion-captured by Seth Green) doesn’t want to eat his broccoli, take out the trash, or live with his supposedly tyrannical mother (Joan Cusack). However, all that changes when Martians abduct Milo’s mother and take her back to their home planet to mine her brain for parenting skills.

Milo stows away on the spaceship and heads to the red planet to save her but not without his fair share of misadventures. On Mars, he meets Gribble (played by the endlessly hyperactive and irritating Dan Fogler), an overweight man-child marooned on the rock since the mid-'80s. With the help of Ki (Elisabeth Harnois), a cheerful Martian obsessed with stereotypical hippie culture, Milo and Gribble hatch a plan to save Milo’s mom before it’s too late.

Directed by Simon West, the film is terribly misguided, thanks mostly to Zemeckis’ motion capture. Each character is stiff as a board on the gravity-less plane, with their movements ranging from the awkwardly slow to inhumanly strange. Milo and Gribble’s freakish appearances take away from the gorgeous scenery of Mars’ landscape and look even more alien than their Martian co-stars.

West’s attempts to amuse and teach his audience vanish in a script muddled by bad jokes and confusing lessons. Each quip about "who let the dogs out" and how listening to your mother will get her abducted by malevolent space mutants should horrify parents and children just as much as the creepy character models. The film’s antifeminist leanings about what mother’s do and what family’s are should freak out the rest. It all waters down the more emotional moments, which, in turn, slows down the film. It's a domino effect ending in one bad movie.

Nothing in "Mars Needs Moms" really gives the sense of adventure one would hope. The weird motion-capture movements and dull vocal performances are too slow to keep the film moving. "Mars Needs Moms" is only consistent in that it's a mess.  Somebody should have told the filmmakers to clean it up.

Grade: D

“Bambi” 

DVD, Blu-Ray Movie Review

Directed by James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, and Norman Wright, Written by Felix Salten (Story), Perce Pearce, Larry Morey, Vernin Stallings, Melvin Shaw, Carl Fallberg, Chuch Couch, and Ralph Wright, 70 minutes, Rated G.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Disney’s fifth animated feature--now out on Blu-ray disc--is a film of firsts.

Following a young fawn through the first year of his life, the film offers its audience a glimpse into the life of animals, from birth to death, and it recalls the joys of youth in the process. The film's realistic illustrations, careful structure and its depiction of death make it one the studio’s most beloved works. It's a coming-of-age story told with charm, beauty and reality.

Beginning at his birth, the film follows our titular fawn prince throughout his first year. Born in the summer, we see Bambi (voice of Donnie Dugan) take his first steps, hear him say his first words and watch him make his first friends. Bambi learns through socialization as do Thumper the rabbit (Peter Behn), Flower the skunk (Stan Alexander), and Faline the female fawn (Cammie King Conlon). They listen to their parents and thus learn through experience.

Bambi is born without a personality, and as we watch his character develop, we connect with his fresh look at the forest, whether he's doing so with curiosity or fear. Man provides Bambi with his first taste of the latter. With guns and fire in toe, man terrorizes the forest and, keeping with the film’s realistic view of nature, man succeeds in killing main characters.

The death of Bambi’s mother is one the most defining moment in Disney animation and, frankly, film itself. Moving away from the fairy tales of their first few pictures, Disney’s team doesn’t shy away from mortality in “Bambi.” It creates not only Bambi’s first look at death, but also a first look at death for the film's young audience. It's a moment that traumatized children across the nation, and one that Disney continued to replicate in such films as “The Lion King.”

“Bambi” offered the studio something entirely different. The forest's dim colors and the realistic depiction of animals make the film feel more down to Earth than, say, “Pinocchio” or “Snow White.”  The animals may talk, but they never appear as cartoonish as Disney's other works. The film’s loyalty to this realistic aesthetic bleeds over into the plot, and it does a remarkably fine job of it.

Grade: A

“Bambi” 

DVD, Blu-Ray Movie Review

Directed by James Algar, Samuel Armstrong, David Hand, Graham Heid, Bill Roberts, Paul Satterfield, and Norman Wright, Written by Felix Salten (Story), Perce Pearce, Larry Morey, Vernin Stallings, Melvin Shaw, Carl Fallberg, Chuch Couch, and Ralph Wright, 70 minutes, Rated G.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Disney’s fifth animated feature--now out on Blu-ray disc--is a film of firsts.

Following a young fawn through the first year of his life, the film offers its audience a glimpse into the life of animals, from birth to death, and it recalls the joys of youth in the process. The film's realistic illustrations, careful structure and its depiction of death make it one the studio’s most beloved works. It's a coming-of-age story told with charm, beauty and reality.

Beginning at his birth, the film follows our titular fawn prince throughout his first year. Born in the summer, we see Bambi (voice of Donnie Dugan) take his first steps, hear him say his first words and watch him make his first friends. Bambi learns through socialization as do Thumper the rabbit (Peter Behn), Flower the skunk (Stan Alexander), and Faline the female fawn (Cammie King Conlon). They listen to their parents and thus learn through experience.

Bambi is born without a personality, and as we watch his character develop, we connect with his fresh look at the forest, whether he's doing so with curiosity or fear. Man provides Bambi with his first taste of the latter. With guns and fire in toe, man terrorizes the forest and, keeping with the film’s realistic view of nature, man succeeds in killing main characters.

The death of Bambi’s mother is one the most defining moment in Disney animation and, frankly, film itself. Moving away from the fairy tales of their first few pictures, Disney’s team doesn’t shy away from mortality in “Bambi.” It creates not only Bambi’s first look at death, but also a first look at death for the film's young audience. It's a moment that traumatized children across the nation, and one that Disney continued to replicate in such films as “The Lion King.”

“Bambi” offered the studio something entirely different. The forest's dim colors and the realistic depiction of animals make the film feel more down to Earth than, say, “Pinocchio” or “Snow White.”  The animals may talk, but they never appear as cartoonish as Disney's other works. The film’s loyalty to this realistic aesthetic bleeds over into the plot, and it does a remarkably fine job of it.

Grade: A

“Gnomeo and Juliet”

Movie Review

Directed by Kelly Asbury, Written by Kelly Asbury, Mark Burton, Kevin Cecil, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Andy Riley, Steve Hamilton Shaw, John R. Smith, Rob Sprackling, and William Shakespeare (play), 84 minutes, Rated G.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Well, here’s an idea any studio would fast track--A revisionary telling of “Romeo and Juliet” starring computer-generated garden gnomes, set to the music of Elton John, and presented in glorious 3D.

The hits keep coming in “Gnomeo and Juliet” as squeaky parodies of John’s songs pump through the speakers and somehow reflect the not-so-tragic retelling of this classic tale.

As one Gnome so eloquently puts it, this story is very old and has been told many different ways. This one, however, is even more different. It’s the story of two sides of the fence--Red Garden Gnome and Blue Garden Gnome. Gnomeo, the blue gnome alpha male, falls for Juliet, the repressed daughter of the Red leader. It seems redundant, but in case you’re unfamiliar, the star-crossed lovers hide their love from their respective families, hoping to elope in a new garden across the street.

Crisis strikes when Juliet’s cousin Tybalt takes the war too far and destroys a priceless tree belonging to the Blues. In retaliation, Gnomeo attacks Tybalt, who is accidentally smashed in the process, and goes into exile.

By turning tragedy into comedy, “Gnomeo and Juliet" strips the Bard’s tale of its heart. Their romance isn’t palpable in the mess of gardening and pop-culture references. These attention-deficit characters numb Gnomeo and Juliet’s pain, which might be good for younger audiences, but an unfortunate parent will be bored to tears.

“Gnomeo and Juliet” is “Toy Story”-lite. Afraid to tackle tragedy, “Gnomeo and Juliet” plays it safe, pandering to the worst versions of children’s cinema. While other studios and filmmakers continue to challenge notions of the genre, Kelly Asbury goes for laghs. The animation is top notch, but with such a classic source, it’s as if they didn’t even try with the story.

Asbury resolves on having a good time, except her film isn’ behind hert. The characters are weak, the jokes are even worse and the garden gnome vehicle appears to be chosen to fit a forced rhyme.

"Romeo and Juliet" warrants endless retellings because of its tragedy. It builds its romance carefully only to leave the audience in pain, shooting for the heart and hitting the bull’s-eye. “Gnomeo and Juliet” asserts that a happy ending is better--though, if you don’t want to make a heartbreaking tale of romance, I suggest choosing a different story that sort-of rhymes with gnome.

Grade: C-

“Gnomeo and Juliet”

Movie Review

Directed by Kelly Asbury, Written by Kelly Asbury, Mark Burton, Kevin Cecil, Emily Cook, Kathy Greenberg, Andy Riley, Steve Hamilton Shaw, John R. Smith, Rob Sprackling, and William Shakespeare (play), 84 minutes, Rated G.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Well, here’s an idea any studio would fast track--A revisionary telling of “Romeo and Juliet” starring computer-generated garden gnomes, set to the music of Elton John, and presented in glorious 3D.

The hits keep coming in “Gnomeo and Juliet” as squeaky parodies of John’s songs pump through the speakers and somehow reflect the not-so-tragic retelling of this classic tale.

As one Gnome so eloquently puts it, this story is very old and has been told many different ways. This one, however, is even more different. It’s the story of two sides of the fence--Red Garden Gnome and Blue Garden Gnome. Gnomeo, the blue gnome alpha male, falls for Juliet, the repressed daughter of the Red leader. It seems redundant, but in case you’re unfamiliar, the star-crossed lovers hide their love from their respective families, hoping to elope in a new garden across the street.

Crisis strikes when Juliet’s cousin Tybalt takes the war too far and destroys a priceless tree belonging to the Blues. In retaliation, Gnomeo attacks Tybalt, who is accidentally smashed in the process, and goes into exile.

By turning tragedy into comedy, “Gnomeo and Juliet" strips the Bard’s tale of its heart. Their romance isn’t palpable in the mess of gardening and pop-culture references. These attention-deficit characters numb Gnomeo and Juliet’s pain, which might be good for younger audiences, but an unfortunate parent will be bored to tears.

“Gnomeo and Juliet” is “Toy Story”-lite. Afraid to tackle tragedy, “Gnomeo and Juliet” plays it safe, pandering to the worst versions of children’s cinema. While other studios and filmmakers continue to challenge notions of the genre, Kelly Asbury goes for laghs. The animation is top notch, but with such a classic source, it’s as if they didn’t even try with the story.

Asbury resolves on having a good time, except her film isn’ behind hert. The characters are weak, the jokes are even worse and the garden gnome vehicle appears to be chosen to fit a forced rhyme.

"Romeo and Juliet" warrants endless retellings because of its tragedy. It builds its romance carefully only to leave the audience in pain, shooting for the heart and hitting the bull’s-eye. “Gnomeo and Juliet” asserts that a happy ending is better--though, if you don’t want to make a heartbreaking tale of romance, I suggest choosing a different story that sort-of rhymes with gnome.

Grade: C-

"Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole"

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Zack Snyder, Written by John Orloff and John Collee, 90 Minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"Legend of the Guardians" seems set to be one of the more bizarre entries in the filmography of Zack Snyder, the director being touted recently as a "visionary" responsible for some very good films ("Watchmen," "Dawn of the Dead") and one pretty bad one ("300"). He's bafflingly uneven, primarily due to his focus on spectacle over character and plot development (even in stories that desperately call for it), but there are few directors out there as purely distinctive and earnest.

"Guardians" is his first attempt at reaching a broader audience--not only is it his first family film, but it's also his first animated film (though that may be giving him too little credit--"300" was virtually CGI animation behind live action). It would seem a rather odd choice for the director who previously covered pretty adult topics, and ultimately, that lack of experience in the area comes through in the final product.

The film is pretty by-the-numbers fantasy stuff. A young owl named Soren (Jim Sturgess) is told tales of the legendary Guardians of Ga'Hoole, an army of powerful owls sworn to protect the kingdom of Ga'Hoole at any cost. This story becomes all too true, however, when he and his friends are captured by a group of Barn Owls who believe their kind to be the purest race of owl and who intend on hunting down the Guardians and destroying them. In other words, there are some Nazi owls and some cool owls and they have to fight each other, and people learn stuff along the way. It's no "Lord of the Rings," that's for sure.

Snyder and screenwriters John Orloff and John Collee do very little to bring this stuff above sheer cliche--everything explored here has been done better, both in live action and animation. There is a heavy weight to the subject matter, but that generally just comes with Snyder's style. Where stories (books or films) like "The Secret of NIMH" or "Watership Down" really work is how much life is brought into their characters--although, regarding those works, in undoubtable that the animation style of this film would suit those stories extremely well. I don't want to throw out the "r" word, but honestly, remakes with this style with those stories have potential to be spellbinding--at least far moreso than "Guardians."

That's not to discount the animation, though. It's very much the one thing keeping the film afloat. Some of Snyder's more aggravating tendencies do come through even in this medium (for example, slow motion--seriously, if his films had no slow-motion, they'd all be about an hour long, combined). But the animation is quite beautiful, and a lot of detail is captured in the owl designs without them losing personality. It's quite a step above the animation the same studio did for "Happy Feet," which was quite good, but doesn't come close to some of the exquisite visuals on display here.

Generally, the whole affair just seems like what it's very likely to be--Snyder's first "paycheck" movie. With a far more conceptually insane and personal movie on the way in next year's "Sucker Punch," it's probable that Snyder picked up this project just so he'd be able to follow it up with something more oblique (probably even moreso than "Watchmen"). There's not necessarily a lack of effort, but there's very little heart in this film, and with such a dull plot, that's really what it needed.

Grade: D+

"Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole"

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Zack Snyder, Written by John Orloff and John Collee, 90 Minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"Legend of the Guardians" seems set to be one of the more bizarre entries in the filmography of Zack Snyder, the director being touted recently as a "visionary" responsible for some very good films ("Watchmen," "Dawn of the Dead") and one pretty bad one ("300"). He's bafflingly uneven, primarily due to his focus on spectacle over character and plot development (even in stories that desperately call for it), but there are few directors out there as purely distinctive and earnest.

"Guardians" is his first attempt at reaching a broader audience--not only is it his first family film, but it's also his first animated film (though that may be giving him too little credit--"300" was virtually CGI animation behind live action). It would seem a rather odd choice for the director who previously covered pretty adult topics, and ultimately, that lack of experience in the area comes through in the final product.

The film is pretty by-the-numbers fantasy stuff. A young owl named Soren (Jim Sturgess) is told tales of the legendary Guardians of Ga'Hoole, an army of powerful owls sworn to protect the kingdom of Ga'Hoole at any cost. This story becomes all too true, however, when he and his friends are captured by a group of Barn Owls who believe their kind to be the purest race of owl and who intend on hunting down the Guardians and destroying them. In other words, there are some Nazi owls and some cool owls and they have to fight each other, and people learn stuff along the way. It's no "Lord of the Rings," that's for sure.

Snyder and screenwriters John Orloff and John Collee do very little to bring this stuff above sheer cliche--everything explored here has been done better, both in live action and animation. There is a heavy weight to the subject matter, but that generally just comes with Snyder's style. Where stories (books or films) like "The Secret of NIMH" or "Watership Down" really work is how much life is brought into their characters--although, regarding those works, in undoubtable that the animation style of this film would suit those stories extremely well. I don't want to throw out the "r" word, but honestly, remakes with this style with those stories have potential to be spellbinding--at least far moreso than "Guardians."

That's not to discount the animation, though. It's very much the one thing keeping the film afloat. Some of Snyder's more aggravating tendencies do come through even in this medium (for example, slow motion--seriously, if his films had no slow-motion, they'd all be about an hour long, combined). But the animation is quite beautiful, and a lot of detail is captured in the owl designs without them losing personality. It's quite a step above the animation the same studio did for "Happy Feet," which was quite good, but doesn't come close to some of the exquisite visuals on display here.

Generally, the whole affair just seems like what it's very likely to be--Snyder's first "paycheck" movie. With a far more conceptually insane and personal movie on the way in next year's "Sucker Punch," it's probable that Snyder picked up this project just so he'd be able to follow it up with something more oblique (probably even moreso than "Watchmen"). There's not necessarily a lack of effort, but there's very little heart in this film, and with such a dull plot, that's really what it needed.

Grade: D+

"Nanny McPhee Returns"

DVD, Blu-Ray Movie Review

Directed by Susanna White, Written by Emma Thompson, Christianna Brand (characters), Rated PG, 109-minutes.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Emma Thompson’s second turn as the militaristic Mary Poppins is a mostly enjoyable experience. The snarky jokes, enchanting effects and wacky performances should please children and adults alike. But the film’s emphasis on both imagination and reality is where it really scores.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Isabella Green, a woman struggling to keep her children and family farm afloat while her husband serves in the army. It’s not easy, especially when her pompous niece (Rosie Taylor-Ritson) and nephew (Elos Vlahos) come to visit, and their proper ways conflict with the rural upbringing of the Green children.

From the onset, they hate each other.

Their bickering defines the early moments of the film, and it’s what prompts the arrival of the magical Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson). Appearing when needed most, McPhee teaches the children to work together, performing five lessons that test the children’s behavior and moral compass.

McPhee brings out the best in the children and gives them a common goal, during which the Nanny busts out some magic and director Susanna White shows off her beautiful locales.  And yet the movie isn't slight.  The first half of the film deals with the kids learning to work with one another, while the rest features them dealing with real-world problems.

At one point, Isabella receives word that her husband was killed in duty. Skeptical, the first Green son, Vincent (Oscar Steer), convinces his cousin Cyril and McPhee to go with him London to learn the truth.  In this regard, the film doesn’t ignore life during wartime – death always is a possibility, yet as often as the characters must deal with it, the film maintains hope.

So, rather than removing all optimism – which would be bleak given that this is a children’s film – “McPhee” offers a bit of both.  Fear is employed to build drama while imagination is used to rectify it.

Grade: B

"Nanny McPhee Returns"

DVD, Blu-Ray Movie Review

Directed by Susanna White, Written by Emma Thompson, Christianna Brand (characters), Rated PG, 109-minutes.

By our guest blogger, Matthew Schimkowitz

Emma Thompson’s second turn as the militaristic Mary Poppins is a mostly enjoyable experience. The snarky jokes, enchanting effects and wacky performances should please children and adults alike. But the film’s emphasis on both imagination and reality is where it really scores.

Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Isabella Green, a woman struggling to keep her children and family farm afloat while her husband serves in the army. It’s not easy, especially when her pompous niece (Rosie Taylor-Ritson) and nephew (Elos Vlahos) come to visit, and their proper ways conflict with the rural upbringing of the Green children.

From the onset, they hate each other.

Their bickering defines the early moments of the film, and it’s what prompts the arrival of the magical Nanny McPhee (Emma Thompson). Appearing when needed most, McPhee teaches the children to work together, performing five lessons that test the children’s behavior and moral compass.

McPhee brings out the best in the children and gives them a common goal, during which the Nanny busts out some magic and director Susanna White shows off her beautiful locales.  And yet the movie isn't slight.  The first half of the film deals with the kids learning to work with one another, while the rest features them dealing with real-world problems.

At one point, Isabella receives word that her husband was killed in duty. Skeptical, the first Green son, Vincent (Oscar Steer), convinces his cousin Cyril and McPhee to go with him London to learn the truth.  In this regard, the film doesn’t ignore life during wartime – death always is a possibility, yet as often as the characters must deal with it, the film maintains hope.

So, rather than removing all optimism – which would be bleak given that this is a children’s film – “McPhee” offers a bit of both.  Fear is employed to build drama while imagination is used to rectify it.

Grade: B

"How to Train Your Dragon" 

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, Written by Sanders, DeBlois, Peter Tolan and Adam F. Goldberg, 98 Minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"How to Train Your Dragon" is a wonderful fantasy set on the mythical island of Berk, where vikings have been at constant war with neighboring dragons for generations. Like many great fantasies, it concerns a young man who, despite the fate his family line has given him, rises above the life he's forced to live and learns quite a bit about himself in the process.

The young man is Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), son of the viking's leader Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler). Stoick and his men venture off one day to seek the nest of the dragons to rid them of their land once and for all, but while he's gone, Hiccup happens upon a wounded dragon himself. After finding that he doesn't have it in him to kill the poor creature, he instead befriends and tames him, and his newfound knowledge of dragons puts his and his whole clan's world in upheaval.

The film has some of the best animation Dreamworks ever has produced--sharp, fluid and absolutely gorgeous; the scenery, flame effects, dragons, humans, water, etc., has a painterly quality that balances realism with Brad Bird-esque character design, which suits the story perfectly. The numerous flight and action sequences are absolutely breathtaking, and a few moments where flames erupt from dimly lit clouds is nearly unmatched by the rest of Dreamworks' oeuvre. Impressive, considering directors' Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois general lack of experience in computer animation (the former Disney animators are perhaps best known for "Lilo & Stitch"). One of the greatest accomplishments in the animation is the transition of the dragons from fierce, violent monsters in the beginning of the film to more relatable, human-like creatures later on. Even in the first act or so of the film, where we only get brief glimpses of the dragons, little details in the animation of their faces hints at an untapped lovability that is really clear when we finally meet Toothless, the dragon Hiccup tames.

Unlike most Dreamworks films (and even the majority of Pixar's), "How to Train Your Dragon" also is a heartfelt and human drama more than it is a comedy or action film, and the comedy always pops up organically, as opposed to something like "Madagascar," where character or story is sacrificed for slapstick humor and unnecessary pop culture references. Yes, there's some of that here, but never so much that it takes precedent over the story.

At it's most basic, "Dragon" is pretty much a story about conflict and the ability of a younger generation to rid themselves of the conflicts of the older. It's also a very sweet story about a son trying to find the acceptance of his father, and Baruchel and Butler both give their characters a lot personality just with their voices (though it's rather bizarre that everyone has a Scottish accent except for Hiccup--but what can you do?).

So, with breathtaking animation (about the best I've seen in recent years, certainly on par with "Up") and a very sweet little tale, "How to Train Your Dragon" remains one of the best films of the year thus far.

Grade: A

View WeekinRewind's video preview of "How to Train Your Dragon" below. What are your thoughts?

"How to Train Your Dragon" 

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, Written by Sanders, DeBlois, Peter Tolan and Adam F. Goldberg, 98 Minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"How to Train Your Dragon" is a wonderful fantasy set on the mythical island of Berk, where vikings have been at constant war with neighboring dragons for generations. Like many great fantasies, it concerns a young man who, despite the fate his family line has given him, rises above the life he's forced to live and learns quite a bit about himself in the process.

The young man is Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), son of the viking's leader Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler). Stoick and his men venture off one day to seek the nest of the dragons to rid them of their land once and for all, but while he's gone, Hiccup happens upon a wounded dragon himself. After finding that he doesn't have it in him to kill the poor creature, he instead befriends and tames him, and his newfound knowledge of dragons puts his and his whole clan's world in upheaval.

The film has some of the best animation Dreamworks ever has produced--sharp, fluid and absolutely gorgeous; the scenery, flame effects, dragons, humans, water, etc., has a painterly quality that balances realism with Brad Bird-esque character design, which suits the story perfectly. The numerous flight and action sequences are absolutely breathtaking, and a few moments where flames erupt from dimly lit clouds is nearly unmatched by the rest of Dreamworks' oeuvre. Impressive, considering directors' Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois general lack of experience in computer animation (the former Disney animators are perhaps best known for "Lilo & Stitch"). One of the greatest accomplishments in the animation is the transition of the dragons from fierce, violent monsters in the beginning of the film to more relatable, human-like creatures later on. Even in the first act or so of the film, where we only get brief glimpses of the dragons, little details in the animation of their faces hints at an untapped lovability that is really clear when we finally meet Toothless, the dragon Hiccup tames.

Unlike most Dreamworks films (and even the majority of Pixar's), "How to Train Your Dragon" also is a heartfelt and human drama more than it is a comedy or action film, and the comedy always pops up organically, as opposed to something like "Madagascar," where character or story is sacrificed for slapstick humor and unnecessary pop culture references. Yes, there's some of that here, but never so much that it takes precedent over the story.

At it's most basic, "Dragon" is pretty much a story about conflict and the ability of a younger generation to rid themselves of the conflicts of the older. It's also a very sweet story about a son trying to find the acceptance of his father, and Baruchel and Butler both give their characters a lot personality just with their voices (though it's rather bizarre that everyone has a Scottish accent except for Hiccup--but what can you do?).

So, with breathtaking animation (about the best I've seen in recent years, certainly on par with "Up") and a very sweet little tale, "How to Train Your Dragon" remains one of the best films of the year thus far.

Grade: A

View WeekinRewind's video preview of "How to Train Your Dragon" below. What are your thoughts?

“Toy Story 3”

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Lee Unkrich, written by Michael Arndt, 98 minutes, rated G.

By Christopher Smith

The  horror movie, “Toy Story 3,” takes the beloved toys from the previous two films and puts them in a movie in which they no longer are needed by Andy, who is off to college. And so, since he’s moving on, the toys in question are given to a day care center, in which hives of scrambling, snot-nosed, unformed tots tear into them with such unbridled glee, their rampage hinges on something close to blood violence.

Thus the horror.

Director Lee Unkrich based the movie on Michael Arndt’s script, and what they created with Pixar is one of the year’s great movies.

Everyone is back--and then some. There’s Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), who remains Andy’s favorite, as well as Woody’s pals Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), Rex the dinosaur (Wallace Shawn), Hamm the piggy bank (John Ratzenberger), Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (Don Rickles, Estelle Harris), and Barbie (Jodi Benson), who no longer is wanted by Andy’s sister.

New to the show are those toys at the Sunnyside Day Care, and at first glance, they’re a welcoming bunch with broad smiles and big hearts. There’s a big furry bear in Lotso (Ned Beatty), who leads the pack and is a self-proclaimed “hugger,” as well as Ken doll (Michael Keaton), Big Baby (who wanders the facility like Frankenstein’s monster and who has an unfortunate, droopy left eye), and scores of others, including a rubber octopus and a grinning monkey replete with cymbals and eyes that see everything.

Which is sort of a problem for the Woody and company. After a honeymoon period in which they all believe they struck gold--instead of being tossed out with the trash, they now will be played with and loved by children--it’s quickly revealed that everything isn’t right at Sunnyside Day Care. The place is a nightmare, with its walls so locked down, you might as well consider the other toys’ leader, Lotso, a strict warden with an ax to grind. He plans to keep the new toys captive. And what do you want to bet that Woody, Buzz and everyone else is having none of that? Of course, with that comes its share of problems--such as how to get out, which is what a good deal of this movie is about.

“Toy Story 3” also is about leaving behind one’s childhood, the knowledge of doing so, and the heartache and exhilaration that can come from it when a way of life is lost and a new one is found. It’s a movie that highlights abandonment issues for the toys in question, and it’s a movie that emotes all of those complex emotions with such sensitivity, you’re once again left with a groundswell of admiration for the skilled people at Pixar, who have an uncanny way of balancing all of this emotional weight with outrageous moments of comedy and action.

With a superb set of new characters--you’ll never look at Barbie and Ken the same way again--and its clear understanding of human nature, “Toy Story 3” once again proves that toys not only are for kids, but toys, in fact, are us.

Grade: A

View Week in Rewind's video preview of "Toy Story 3" below. What are your thoughts of the film?

“Toy Story 3”

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Lee Unkrich, written by Michael Arndt, 98 minutes, rated G.

By Christopher Smith

The  horror movie, “Toy Story 3,” takes the beloved toys from the previous two films and puts them in a movie in which they no longer are needed by Andy, who is off to college. And so, since he’s moving on, the toys in question are given to a day care center, in which hives of scrambling, snot-nosed, unformed tots tear into them with such unbridled glee, their rampage hinges on something close to blood violence.

Thus the horror.

Director Lee Unkrich based the movie on Michael Arndt’s script, and what they created with Pixar is one of the year’s great movies.

Everyone is back--and then some. There’s Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), who remains Andy’s favorite, as well as Woody’s pals Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), Rex the dinosaur (Wallace Shawn), Hamm the piggy bank (John Ratzenberger), Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head (Don Rickles, Estelle Harris), and Barbie (Jodi Benson), who no longer is wanted by Andy’s sister.

New to the show are those toys at the Sunnyside Day Care, and at first glance, they’re a welcoming bunch with broad smiles and big hearts. There’s a big furry bear in Lotso (Ned Beatty), who leads the pack and is a self-proclaimed “hugger,” as well as Ken doll (Michael Keaton), Big Baby (who wanders the facility like Frankenstein’s monster and who has an unfortunate, droopy left eye), and scores of others, including a rubber octopus and a grinning monkey replete with cymbals and eyes that see everything.

Which is sort of a problem for the Woody and company. After a honeymoon period in which they all believe they struck gold--instead of being tossed out with the trash, they now will be played with and loved by children--it’s quickly revealed that everything isn’t right at Sunnyside Day Care. The place is a nightmare, with its walls so locked down, you might as well consider the other toys’ leader, Lotso, a strict warden with an ax to grind. He plans to keep the new toys captive. And what do you want to bet that Woody, Buzz and everyone else is having none of that? Of course, with that comes its share of problems--such as how to get out, which is what a good deal of this movie is about.

“Toy Story 3” also is about leaving behind one’s childhood, the knowledge of doing so, and the heartache and exhilaration that can come from it when a way of life is lost and a new one is found. It’s a movie that highlights abandonment issues for the toys in question, and it’s a movie that emotes all of those complex emotions with such sensitivity, you’re once again left with a groundswell of admiration for the skilled people at Pixar, who have an uncanny way of balancing all of this emotional weight with outrageous moments of comedy and action.

With a superb set of new characters--you’ll never look at Barbie and Ken the same way again--and its clear understanding of human nature, “Toy Story 3” once again proves that toys not only are for kids, but toys, in fact, are us.

Grade: A

View Week in Rewind's video preview of "Toy Story 3" below. What are your thoughts of the film?

"Gremlins" 

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Joe Dante, written by Christ Columbus, rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Jeremy Wilkinson

Joe Dante’s comedy/horror classic "Gremlins" is just out on Blu-ray. The movie takes place around the holidays, so if you want to watch a holiday film that doesn’t involve elvew--and if you don’t mind a bit of violence with your eggnog--the film is worth revisiting.

Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is an inventor whose creations don’t seem to work the way he wants them to. For Christmas, he wants to get his son something special, and so he comes upon a shop run by a man named Mr. Wing. Mr. Wing has a cute little creature called Gizmo and through some subterfuge on the part of Wing’s grandson, Randall purchases Gizmo. Due to the fact Gizmo breathes and therefore can’t very well be wrapped up until Christmas, Randall gives the creature to his son Billy (Zach Galligan) as an early gift. The father relays three very important rules-- keep bright lights away from Gizmo (that includes sunlight), do not get Gizmo wet, and do not feed the creature after midnight. What are the odds that this happens? Plenty--and Gizmo turns out to be more trouble than first expected when a neighbor does get him wet because Gizmo multiplies into lots of other creatures when exposed to water.

The film mixes horror and comedy, focusing more on the latter. It does not disappoint in the laughter department, bringing both slapstick and dark humor to the table. Generally speaking, comedies are not known for their deep characterization and "Gremlins" is not exception. The actors and actresses in this movie do their jobs well, however.

The film uses extensive puppetry, alongside other animation techniques, to portray the creatures. For the modern audience, it's especially nice to look back on an older film and see it employing these techniques instead of CGI. Compared to what can be done today, they might not seem as impressive as when the film was first released, but the effects still work well. The gremlins in the film are alternatively cute and creepy, furry and toothy, as needed for the story.

The one thing about the movie that's questionable is the rating. Considering this was one of the movies that caused a revision to the movie rating system, one would think it would have been re-rated as PG-13 later. But, it’s still rated PG. The film is a little on the violent side for its rating and it could very well be too scary for most children who normally watch PG films.

All things considered, the movie is a great comedy that’s only scary for young children. Whether you take it as a kind of satire or just a darker comedy, "Gremlins" will entertain and make you laugh.

Grade: B+

View the trailer for "Gremlins" below. Thoughts?

"Gremlins" 

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Joe Dante, written by Christ Columbus, rated PG.

By our guest blogger, Jeremy Wilkinson

Joe Dante’s comedy/horror classic "Gremlins" is just out on Blu-ray. The movie takes place around the holidays, so if you want to watch a holiday film that doesn’t involve elvew--and if you don’t mind a bit of violence with your eggnog--the film is worth revisiting.

Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) is an inventor whose creations don’t seem to work the way he wants them to. For Christmas, he wants to get his son something special, and so he comes upon a shop run by a man named Mr. Wing. Mr. Wing has a cute little creature called Gizmo and through some subterfuge on the part of Wing’s grandson, Randall purchases Gizmo. Due to the fact Gizmo breathes and therefore can’t very well be wrapped up until Christmas, Randall gives the creature to his son Billy (Zach Galligan) as an early gift. The father relays three very important rules-- keep bright lights away from Gizmo (that includes sunlight), do not get Gizmo wet, and do not feed the creature after midnight. What are the odds that this happens? Plenty--and Gizmo turns out to be more trouble than first expected when a neighbor does get him wet because Gizmo multiplies into lots of other creatures when exposed to water.

The film mixes horror and comedy, focusing more on the latter. It does not disappoint in the laughter department, bringing both slapstick and dark humor to the table. Generally speaking, comedies are not known for their deep characterization and "Gremlins" is not exception. The actors and actresses in this movie do their jobs well, however.

The film uses extensive puppetry, alongside other animation techniques, to portray the creatures. For the modern audience, it's especially nice to look back on an older film and see it employing these techniques instead of CGI. Compared to what can be done today, they might not seem as impressive as when the film was first released, but the effects still work well. The gremlins in the film are alternatively cute and creepy, furry and toothy, as needed for the story.

The one thing about the movie that's questionable is the rating. Considering this was one of the movies that caused a revision to the movie rating system, one would think it would have been re-rated as PG-13 later. But, it’s still rated PG. The film is a little on the violent side for its rating and it could very well be too scary for most children who normally watch PG films.

All things considered, the movie is a great comedy that’s only scary for young children. Whether you take it as a kind of satire or just a darker comedy, "Gremlins" will entertain and make you laugh.

Grade: B+

View the trailer for "Gremlins" below. Thoughts?

"Nanny McPhee"

Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Kirk Jones, written by Emma Thompson, 91 minutes, rated PG.

By Christopher Smith

Upon first glance, you'd swear her parents had commingled with rats.

There is, after all, the rather distressing issue of her overlapping front snaggletooth, which pinches her chin and suggests that somebody here took deep strokes in the shallow end of the gene pool. And then there's her nose, which is a shock of twisted audacity, and her face, which has blossomed with warts.

Her ruddy complexion doesn't exactly help her homely plight, nor does the fact that her straw-like hair is in desperate need of a hot oil treatment and that her gigantic bottom, draped in yards of black fabric, is large enough on which to show a double feature--simultaneously and in widescreen.

The person in question is Nanny McPhee, the fearsome governess with the magical walking stick who is the title character of Kirk Jones' movie, a sequel to which will be released Aug. 20.

Emma Thompson, who based the script on the "Nurse Matilda" books, stars in the lead and she's the best part of the movie, absolutely in her element even though the movie itself isn't nearly as fetching or as funny as she is herself.

Set in the late 19th century, the film stars Colin Firth as mortician Cedric Brown, who is busy mourning the death of his wife while trying his best to provide for his seven unruly children. In no time, his little monsters have gone through 17 nannies before they come upon the formidable McPhee.

It's she who has the moxie to contain them. It's also she who appears, as if by some unknown calling, to teach them life lessons. When each lesson is learned, it gives McPhee herself something of a dramatic makeover. The warts disappear, the weight comes off, the hair, the nose, the teeth soften. Just why is never explained, so one has to come to the conclusion that the only reason she cleans up so well is so that we can see that Emma Thompson is still attractive. What a relief.

The crux of the movie comes down to this--in order to keep his children, Cedric must protect the monthly check provided by his wealthy Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury), a haughty, diehard Victorian who demands that he marry within a month or she'll cut him off completely, even if it means that his children will be divided into foster care.

Celia Imrie is Mrs. Quickly, the buxomly blonde with the harsh curls and the saucy red mouth who is a few decades past her prime but more than happy to marry Cedric. Kelly Macdonald is Evangeline, the beautiful scullery maid on which so many hopes are pinned. It's she, after all, who belongs with Cedric. But will they come together?

It doesn't exactly take a trick walking stick to figure that out. "Nanny McPhee," with its stale whiff of "Mary Poppins," is good-natured and genial, but to a fault. A real sense of danger could have helped the movie, a little drama beyond, say, the food fight that comes at the end. Its appeal likely will be for the youngest in the household. All others might wish that this nanny recalled a bit of Bette Davis' nanny in 1965's "The Nanny." Cross that film with "Mary Poppins," and then you would have had a movie on your hands.

Grade: B-

"Nanny McPhee"

Blu-ray Movie Review

Directed by Kirk Jones, written by Emma Thompson, 91 minutes, rated PG.

By Christopher Smith

Upon first glance, you'd swear her parents had commingled with rats.

There is, after all, the rather distressing issue of her overlapping front snaggletooth, which pinches her chin and suggests that somebody here took deep strokes in the shallow end of the gene pool. And then there's her nose, which is a shock of twisted audacity, and her face, which has blossomed with warts.

Her ruddy complexion doesn't exactly help her homely plight, nor does the fact that her straw-like hair is in desperate need of a hot oil treatment and that her gigantic bottom, draped in yards of black fabric, is large enough on which to show a double feature--simultaneously and in widescreen.

The person in question is Nanny McPhee, the fearsome governess with the magical walking stick who is the title character of Kirk Jones' movie, a sequel to which will be released Aug. 20.

Emma Thompson, who based the script on the "Nurse Matilda" books, stars in the lead and she's the best part of the movie, absolutely in her element even though the movie itself isn't nearly as fetching or as funny as she is herself.

Set in the late 19th century, the film stars Colin Firth as mortician Cedric Brown, who is busy mourning the death of his wife while trying his best to provide for his seven unruly children. In no time, his little monsters have gone through 17 nannies before they come upon the formidable McPhee.

It's she who has the moxie to contain them. It's also she who appears, as if by some unknown calling, to teach them life lessons. When each lesson is learned, it gives McPhee herself something of a dramatic makeover. The warts disappear, the weight comes off, the hair, the nose, the teeth soften. Just why is never explained, so one has to come to the conclusion that the only reason she cleans up so well is so that we can see that Emma Thompson is still attractive. What a relief.

The crux of the movie comes down to this--in order to keep his children, Cedric must protect the monthly check provided by his wealthy Aunt Adelaide (Angela Lansbury), a haughty, diehard Victorian who demands that he marry within a month or she'll cut him off completely, even if it means that his children will be divided into foster care.

Celia Imrie is Mrs. Quickly, the buxomly blonde with the harsh curls and the saucy red mouth who is a few decades past her prime but more than happy to marry Cedric. Kelly Macdonald is Evangeline, the beautiful scullery maid on which so many hopes are pinned. It's she, after all, who belongs with Cedric. But will they come together?

It doesn't exactly take a trick walking stick to figure that out. "Nanny McPhee," with its stale whiff of "Mary Poppins," is good-natured and genial, but to a fault. A real sense of danger could have helped the movie, a little drama beyond, say, the food fight that comes at the end. Its appeal likely will be for the youngest in the household. All others might wish that this nanny recalled a bit of Bette Davis' nanny in 1965's "The Nanny." Cross that film with "Mary Poppins," and then you would have had a movie on your hands.

Grade: B-

"Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" 

Movie Review

Directed by Brad Peyton, Written by Rob J. Friedman, Steve Bencich, John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, 83 Minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

If "The Revenge of Kitty Galore," the ill-advised follow-up to the equally ill-advised 2001 film "Cats & Dogs," teaches us anything, it's that there are seriously people in Hollywood who look at an idea like "A dog and cat can talk and act like spies" and think that something about it is inherently funny.

They're wrong.

It's funny in the same way a new, random object might be funny to a baby. They don't understand what they're looking at, so in their confusion, they giggle. It's mindless humor in the most pure sense--it's supposed to be funny because it's supposed to be funny--when the real humor is that millions of dollars were spent to make a dog appear as if its mouth is moving.

The plot doesn't really matter, as the spectacle of animals talking and doing wacky things is the primary focus (kind of like "Baby Geniuses" or "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"), but quite basically it's a mish-mash of various James Bond plot points.

A hairless, fiendish feline by the name of Kitty Galore (obvious Bond reference number one) plots world domination and he's so dangerous that the generally feuding cats and dogs decide to team up (along with various other animals, including mice and pigeons) to take the supervillain down.

The main focuses are Diggs, a German Shepherd, and Catherine, a gray cat. Diggs is the Bond of the film, I suppose, as he's suave, charming and generally quite skilled, but he also goes against orders which occasionally puts his comrades in danger--this fact is actually used several times throughout the film to attempt to create dramatic tension, and the fact that the angst of a dog is played totally straight may be funnier than any of the actual jokes in the film.

Of course, the animals are voiced by plenty of celebrities--James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate, Neil Patrick Harris, Wallace Shawn and, in one of the more inspired casting choices, Roger Moore, a former Bond who voices a character called Tab Lazenby, himself named after another former Bond actor. One would think the cleverness of the writing might go beyond simply referencing Bond movies outright, but I suppose that would be expecting a bit too much.

It's likely that a great deal of the film's budget went into the special effects, which is baffling considering how poor they are. Giving a dog peanut butter may be a pretty archaic way to make it look like it's talking, but even that would've been better than this. Basically, the animals sit around, completely still, and then their mouths are animated. The result is less amusing or realistic and more weird and creepy. At least with peanut butter, the animals would move around with some sort of personality.

The action is pretty much equally bad, kinetic to the point of confusion at times and banal and boring at others.

Basically, it'll accomplish what parents will probably want it to--it'll entertain (very young) children for a little over an hour. But when movies like "Toy Story 3" and "Despicable Me" are still in theaters, it feels irresponsible to force them to watch stuff like this.

Grade: F

The film's trailer is below. What are your thoughts of the movie?

"Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore" 

Movie Review

Directed by Brad Peyton, Written by Rob J. Friedman, Steve Bencich, John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, 83 Minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

If "The Revenge of Kitty Galore," the ill-advised follow-up to the equally ill-advised 2001 film "Cats & Dogs," teaches us anything, it's that there are seriously people in Hollywood who look at an idea like "A dog and cat can talk and act like spies" and think that something about it is inherently funny.

They're wrong.

It's funny in the same way a new, random object might be funny to a baby. They don't understand what they're looking at, so in their confusion, they giggle. It's mindless humor in the most pure sense--it's supposed to be funny because it's supposed to be funny--when the real humor is that millions of dollars were spent to make a dog appear as if its mouth is moving.

The plot doesn't really matter, as the spectacle of animals talking and doing wacky things is the primary focus (kind of like "Baby Geniuses" or "Beverly Hills Chihuahua"), but quite basically it's a mish-mash of various James Bond plot points.

A hairless, fiendish feline by the name of Kitty Galore (obvious Bond reference number one) plots world domination and he's so dangerous that the generally feuding cats and dogs decide to team up (along with various other animals, including mice and pigeons) to take the supervillain down.

The main focuses are Diggs, a German Shepherd, and Catherine, a gray cat. Diggs is the Bond of the film, I suppose, as he's suave, charming and generally quite skilled, but he also goes against orders which occasionally puts his comrades in danger--this fact is actually used several times throughout the film to attempt to create dramatic tension, and the fact that the angst of a dog is played totally straight may be funnier than any of the actual jokes in the film.

Of course, the animals are voiced by plenty of celebrities--James Marsden, Nick Nolte, Christina Applegate, Neil Patrick Harris, Wallace Shawn and, in one of the more inspired casting choices, Roger Moore, a former Bond who voices a character called Tab Lazenby, himself named after another former Bond actor. One would think the cleverness of the writing might go beyond simply referencing Bond movies outright, but I suppose that would be expecting a bit too much.

It's likely that a great deal of the film's budget went into the special effects, which is baffling considering how poor they are. Giving a dog peanut butter may be a pretty archaic way to make it look like it's talking, but even that would've been better than this. Basically, the animals sit around, completely still, and then their mouths are animated. The result is less amusing or realistic and more weird and creepy. At least with peanut butter, the animals would move around with some sort of personality.

The action is pretty much equally bad, kinetic to the point of confusion at times and banal and boring at others.

Basically, it'll accomplish what parents will probably want it to--it'll entertain (very young) children for a little over an hour. But when movies like "Toy Story 3" and "Despicable Me" are still in theaters, it feels irresponsible to force them to watch stuff like this.

Grade: F

The film's trailer is below. What are your thoughts of the movie?

"Ramona and Beezus"

Movie Review

Directed by Elizabeth Allen, Written by Laurie Craid and Nick Pustay, 107 Minutes, Rated G

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

The "Ramona" series by author Beverly Cleary was a staple in my early grade school years. I recall reading a good deal of them, and they were generally enjoyable. Lots of imagination and optimism, if nothing else.

I don't recall enough about them to say for sure whether "Ramona and Beezus," an adaptation of various aspects of the children's novels, is accurate, but it definitely maintains that same level of fun and creativity, and it definitely doesn't get much more optimistic than this.

Third grader Ramona (Joey King) is a rambunctious little thing. She finds joy in everything--she makes playing on the jungle gym into an epic adventure through canyons and jumping into piles of dirt into skydiving, but with all her energy and imagination, she drives her family a bit crazy.

Her big sister, Beatrice (Selena Gomez), who has taken on the nickname "Beezus" because of how Ramona pronounced her name as an infant, is especially bothered by Ramona's relentless irreverence. Nonetheless, she, her sister, and their parents (John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan) are very close, and Ramona can also find solace in her Aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin), who shares Ramona's sentiments about being a younger sister, and who is always there for Ramona.

Trouble arises when Ramona's father loses his job and Ramona is pressured to ease back on her frivolousness for the sake of her family. Of course, that's pretty hard for an imaginative little girl to do.

There's not much at stake here, that's for sure. It's pretty episodic in nature, mostly due to the picking and choosing of various stories from the books, so most big conflicts are settled pretty easily and generally in very heartwarming ways. The film is as unapologetically optimistic as Ramona herself, and it's hard to fault it for that when it conveys that optimism so well. It really is a good deal of fun.

Joey King is really wonderful, certainly one of the better recent child performances out there, and most of the cast is able to match her enthusiasm. Gomez is pretty much the perfect pick for her big sister, and her subtlety and charm really goes to show how far wholesomeness can go (Miley Cyrus could certainly learn a thing or two from her).

The adults do what they have to do--basically act in the background and letting the kids have their fun--but Corbett and Goodwin are pretty solid for stock characters, and Josh Duhamel pops in here and there as Goodwin's old high school beau. He's charming, as per usual. The only weak link is Moynahan, and even then it's only because she actually portrays Ramona's mother as you'd expect her to be. The heavy weight she seems to carry kind of spoils the tone of the film, though, so maybe she should have held back a bit.

Honestly, it's hard not to like a film so upbeat. It has its slow moments, and it's not exactly on par with some of the best family films out there, but it's great for the kids (if you've already taken them to "Toy Story 3," of course) and it won't bore parents to death either.

Grade: B-

View the trailer for "Ramona and Beezus below. What are your thoughts of the movie?

"Ramona and Beezus"

Movie Review

Directed by Elizabeth Allen, Written by Laurie Craid and Nick Pustay, 107 Minutes, Rated G

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

The "Ramona" series by author Beverly Cleary was a staple in my early grade school years. I recall reading a good deal of them, and they were generally enjoyable. Lots of imagination and optimism, if nothing else.

I don't recall enough about them to say for sure whether "Ramona and Beezus," an adaptation of various aspects of the children's novels, is accurate, but it definitely maintains that same level of fun and creativity, and it definitely doesn't get much more optimistic than this.

Third grader Ramona (Joey King) is a rambunctious little thing. She finds joy in everything--she makes playing on the jungle gym into an epic adventure through canyons and jumping into piles of dirt into skydiving, but with all her energy and imagination, she drives her family a bit crazy.

Her big sister, Beatrice (Selena Gomez), who has taken on the nickname "Beezus" because of how Ramona pronounced her name as an infant, is especially bothered by Ramona's relentless irreverence. Nonetheless, she, her sister, and their parents (John Corbett and Bridget Moynahan) are very close, and Ramona can also find solace in her Aunt Bea (Ginnifer Goodwin), who shares Ramona's sentiments about being a younger sister, and who is always there for Ramona.

Trouble arises when Ramona's father loses his job and Ramona is pressured to ease back on her frivolousness for the sake of her family. Of course, that's pretty hard for an imaginative little girl to do.

There's not much at stake here, that's for sure. It's pretty episodic in nature, mostly due to the picking and choosing of various stories from the books, so most big conflicts are settled pretty easily and generally in very heartwarming ways. The film is as unapologetically optimistic as Ramona herself, and it's hard to fault it for that when it conveys that optimism so well. It really is a good deal of fun.

Joey King is really wonderful, certainly one of the better recent child performances out there, and most of the cast is able to match her enthusiasm. Gomez is pretty much the perfect pick for her big sister, and her subtlety and charm really goes to show how far wholesomeness can go (Miley Cyrus could certainly learn a thing or two from her).

The adults do what they have to do--basically act in the background and letting the kids have their fun--but Corbett and Goodwin are pretty solid for stock characters, and Josh Duhamel pops in here and there as Goodwin's old high school beau. He's charming, as per usual. The only weak link is Moynahan, and even then it's only because she actually portrays Ramona's mother as you'd expect her to be. The heavy weight she seems to carry kind of spoils the tone of the film, though, so maybe she should have held back a bit.

Honestly, it's hard not to like a film so upbeat. It has its slow moments, and it's not exactly on par with some of the best family films out there, but it's great for the kids (if you've already taken them to "Toy Story 3," of course) and it won't bore parents to death either.

Grade: B-

View the trailer for "Ramona and Beezus below. What are your thoughts of the movie?

"The Karate Kid"

Movie Review

Directed by Harald Zwart, Written by Christopher Murphey, 140 Minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"The Karate Kid" is a mixed bag. Under scrutiny it is, for the most part, just like the original '80s film starring Ralph Macchio and, of course, Pat Morita. The plot, the lessons, the characters, the montages, and the resolution are all the same. Anyone who's seen the original will pretty much know what's coming, beat for beat.

This seems to be the main dilemma with remakes. Either they're not faithful enough, and they get trashed, or they're too faithful and--well, they still get trashed, but I suppose not quite as often. "The Karate Kid," though, has enough charm and great enough performances that even being a virtual carbon copy of the original, it will impress new and old audiences alike.

One major (and wise) change is in the setting. The original film followed Macchio's character as he moved in with his estranged mother in California. Andre (Jaden Smith), the new film's equivalent of Macchio's Daniel, is still from Detroit, but here the film follows him as he moved with his widowed mother to her new job in China.

Andre just doesn't fit in. He doesn't speak the language, he has no friends, and soon after starting school a group of Chinese boys his age bully him when he attempts to make friends with a girl their leader likes, and he's desperate to go back home to Detroit. Following a particularly brutal attack from the bullies, Andre learns that his apartment building's maintenance man, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), is a master of Kung Fu, and he promises to teach it to Andre so he can face the gang at a tournament and earn their respect.

Jackie Chan is a hard sell at first--he's been so stuck in comedic roles lately that it's difficult to imagine him in a wise mentor role. But this may be the best performance (for an American film, at least) that Chan has ever given. He may not reach the iconic level of Morita's original performance, but he definitely makes it his own and does great things with it, both comedic and dramatic, and he and Smith work very well together.

And let's be honest, Jaden Smith's role here is obviously the product of nepotism--Will and Jad Pinkett Smith are both producers on the remake--but unlike a lot of child actors, Smith truly has the talent to back it up. Chan is great, but Smith really gives a star-making performance. If there's anything this film easily holds over the head of its predecessor, it's Smith.

There are some odd problems throughout the film, though, completely separate from the fact that its a remake--for one, Smith's character, the girl he likes, the gang bullying him--they're all 11 or 12. In the original Macchio's character was in high school. Stuff like what happens in the film make a bit more sense in context of teenagers and high school. But with kids this young, it's all a bit weird, and it almost comes off more as a cultural issue than one of honor or bravery. That's obviously not the actual case, but someone could conceivably jump to a conclusion like that.

The Chinese setting also makes for a few embarassing caricatures, but nothing too over-the-top or offensive. Referring to Smith's character as the "Karate Kid" when he and everyone else is studying Kung Fu is a bit out there, though.

But as far as remakes go, it's not the best out there, but it's definitely a worthy effort and a fine display of Chan and Smith's skills, both as dramatic actors and action ones. They're beyond impressive.

At 140 minutes, the film's quite a bit longer than it needs to be, but it's entertaining. Solid family entertainment in an age when something like that is really hard to come by.


Grade: B-

"The Karate Kid"

Movie Review

Directed by Harald Zwart, Written by Christopher Murphey, 140 Minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"The Karate Kid" is a mixed bag. Under scrutiny it is, for the most part, just like the original '80s film starring Ralph Macchio and, of course, Pat Morita. The plot, the lessons, the characters, the montages, and the resolution are all the same. Anyone who's seen the original will pretty much know what's coming, beat for beat.

This seems to be the main dilemma with remakes. Either they're not faithful enough, and they get trashed, or they're too faithful and--well, they still get trashed, but I suppose not quite as often. "The Karate Kid," though, has enough charm and great enough performances that even being a virtual carbon copy of the original, it will impress new and old audiences alike.

One major (and wise) change is in the setting. The original film followed Macchio's character as he moved in with his estranged mother in California. Andre (Jaden Smith), the new film's equivalent of Macchio's Daniel, is still from Detroit, but here the film follows him as he moved with his widowed mother to her new job in China.

Andre just doesn't fit in. He doesn't speak the language, he has no friends, and soon after starting school a group of Chinese boys his age bully him when he attempts to make friends with a girl their leader likes, and he's desperate to go back home to Detroit. Following a particularly brutal attack from the bullies, Andre learns that his apartment building's maintenance man, Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), is a master of Kung Fu, and he promises to teach it to Andre so he can face the gang at a tournament and earn their respect.

Jackie Chan is a hard sell at first--he's been so stuck in comedic roles lately that it's difficult to imagine him in a wise mentor role. But this may be the best performance (for an American film, at least) that Chan has ever given. He may not reach the iconic level of Morita's original performance, but he definitely makes it his own and does great things with it, both comedic and dramatic, and he and Smith work very well together.

And let's be honest, Jaden Smith's role here is obviously the product of nepotism--Will and Jad Pinkett Smith are both producers on the remake--but unlike a lot of child actors, Smith truly has the talent to back it up. Chan is great, but Smith really gives a star-making performance. If there's anything this film easily holds over the head of its predecessor, it's Smith.

There are some odd problems throughout the film, though, completely separate from the fact that its a remake--for one, Smith's character, the girl he likes, the gang bullying him--they're all 11 or 12. In the original Macchio's character was in high school. Stuff like what happens in the film make a bit more sense in context of teenagers and high school. But with kids this young, it's all a bit weird, and it almost comes off more as a cultural issue than one of honor or bravery. That's obviously not the actual case, but someone could conceivably jump to a conclusion like that.

The Chinese setting also makes for a few embarassing caricatures, but nothing too over-the-top or offensive. Referring to Smith's character as the "Karate Kid" when he and everyone else is studying Kung Fu is a bit out there, though.

But as far as remakes go, it's not the best out there, but it's definitely a worthy effort and a fine display of Chan and Smith's skills, both as dramatic actors and action ones. They're beyond impressive.

At 140 minutes, the film's quite a bit longer than it needs to be, but it's entertaining. Solid family entertainment in an age when something like that is really hard to come by.


Grade: B-

"Marmaduke"

Movie Review

Directed by Tom Dey, written by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio, based on the comic by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming.

By our guest blogger, Joel Crabtree

As any filmmaker or enthusiast could tell you, it's not a wise idea to book-end a movie with the same fart joke. Now, if only someone could pass that along to "Marmaduke" director Tom Dey.

"Marmaduke," the latest in an insufferable subgenre of talking animal movies ("Babe" excluded), sets the tone for its movie in the first five minutes. The title Great Dane mix Marmaduke (voiced by Owen Wilson), drags his owner Phil Winslow (Lee Pace) around the house trying to avoid a bath. After much destruction and mayhem, Marmaduke makes a run for the doggy door and gets stuck. Looking at the audience -- nothing more than a lame "Kangaroo Jack" looking effect -- Marmaduke tells us this is a day in his life. Oozing with subcontext, I like to think of this as Marmaduke asking me, "Are you ready to endure 80 more minutes of this?"

Sorry, Marmaduke. The answer is no.

Phil gets a high-paying job offer from an organic dog food company in California, which is run by William H. Macy (who I feel most sorry for). The husband, father of three and pet owner, packs up his family and heads West, where we're hit with "The O.C." references ad nauesum. Why a movie aimed at 8-year-olds would dwell on a show canceled three years ago is beyond me. Nevertheless, it does so again and again.

Like a family film with no originality, the movie finds Phil working too hard and neglecting his family. His son skips soccer practice, his daughter wants to move back to Kansas and his wife pleads with him to work less. While the Winslows try to find their footing in California, Marmaduke has an equally difficult time adjusting. The dog park that Phil takes him to is structured like a high school, with cliques of airheads, "mushroom" heads, popular purebreds and misfit mutts.

Marmaduke falls in with the mutts, where he meets Mazie (voiced by Emma Stone), Giuseppe (Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin) and Raisin (Steeve Coogan). Not understanding the social order of his new world, Marmaduke talks with Jezebel (Fergie), the girlfriend of the purebred pack leader, Bosco (Kiefer Sutherland), who strives to embarrass and belittle Marmaduke around every corner. Marmaduke continues to make mistakes, falling out of favor with his family and his mutt friends. Perhaps Phil and Marmaduke could both learn something from each other?

Marmaduke stumbles through each frame gracelessly, dragging Phil and the film's dignity down with him. The movie reaches its point of no return during a "Dance Dance Revolution" knock-off scene, where a computer-generated Marmaduke gets down to Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber's "Eenie Meenie." Of course, it ends with him knocking the machine over and breaking it -- classic Marmaduke.

And if that doesn't make you cringe, there's another ensemble dance scene, a doggy surf competition, two references to "Who Let the Dogs Out," and George Lopez providing the voice of the family's Latino cat, which borders on racist.

Thankfully for Wilson and company, they get to hide behind the mask of adorable dogs and not worry about taking responsibility for their poor choices. Unfortunately, the animal's voices contain so little liveliness that you would think the actors were rehearsing for pull-string doll recordings.

Previously, director Tom Dey made "Failure to Launch" and "Showtime," the latter of which was one of the worst movies of 2002. Congratulations Tom, you've done it again in 2010 with "Marmaduke."

Grade: F

View the trailer for "Marmaduke" below. What are your thoughts of the film?

"Marmaduke"

Movie Review

Directed by Tom Dey, written by Tim Rasmussen and Vince Di Meglio, based on the comic by Brad Anderson and Phil Leeming.

By our guest blogger, Joel Crabtree

As any filmmaker or enthusiast could tell you, it's not a wise idea to book-end a movie with the same fart joke. Now, if only someone could pass that along to "Marmaduke" director Tom Dey.

"Marmaduke," the latest in an insufferable subgenre of talking animal movies ("Babe" excluded), sets the tone for its movie in the first five minutes. The title Great Dane mix Marmaduke (voiced by Owen Wilson), drags his owner Phil Winslow (Lee Pace) around the house trying to avoid a bath. After much destruction and mayhem, Marmaduke makes a run for the doggy door and gets stuck. Looking at the audience -- nothing more than a lame "Kangaroo Jack" looking effect -- Marmaduke tells us this is a day in his life. Oozing with subcontext, I like to think of this as Marmaduke asking me, "Are you ready to endure 80 more minutes of this?"

Sorry, Marmaduke. The answer is no.

Phil gets a high-paying job offer from an organic dog food company in California, which is run by William H. Macy (who I feel most sorry for). The husband, father of three and pet owner, packs up his family and heads West, where we're hit with "The O.C." references ad nauesum. Why a movie aimed at 8-year-olds would dwell on a show canceled three years ago is beyond me. Nevertheless, it does so again and again.

Like a family film with no originality, the movie finds Phil working too hard and neglecting his family. His son skips soccer practice, his daughter wants to move back to Kansas and his wife pleads with him to work less. While the Winslows try to find their footing in California, Marmaduke has an equally difficult time adjusting. The dog park that Phil takes him to is structured like a high school, with cliques of airheads, "mushroom" heads, popular purebreds and misfit mutts.

Marmaduke falls in with the mutts, where he meets Mazie (voiced by Emma Stone), Giuseppe (Christopher Mintz-Plasse aka McLovin) and Raisin (Steeve Coogan). Not understanding the social order of his new world, Marmaduke talks with Jezebel (Fergie), the girlfriend of the purebred pack leader, Bosco (Kiefer Sutherland), who strives to embarrass and belittle Marmaduke around every corner. Marmaduke continues to make mistakes, falling out of favor with his family and his mutt friends. Perhaps Phil and Marmaduke could both learn something from each other?

Marmaduke stumbles through each frame gracelessly, dragging Phil and the film's dignity down with him. The movie reaches its point of no return during a "Dance Dance Revolution" knock-off scene, where a computer-generated Marmaduke gets down to Sean Kingston and Justin Bieber's "Eenie Meenie." Of course, it ends with him knocking the machine over and breaking it -- classic Marmaduke.

And if that doesn't make you cringe, there's another ensemble dance scene, a doggy surf competition, two references to "Who Let the Dogs Out," and George Lopez providing the voice of the family's Latino cat, which borders on racist.

Thankfully for Wilson and company, they get to hide behind the mask of adorable dogs and not worry about taking responsibility for their poor choices. Unfortunately, the animal's voices contain so little liveliness that you would think the actors were rehearsing for pull-string doll recordings.

Previously, director Tom Dey made "Failure to Launch" and "Showtime," the latter of which was one of the worst movies of 2002. Congratulations Tom, you've done it again in 2010 with "Marmaduke."

Grade: F

View the trailer for "Marmaduke" below. What are your thoughts of the film?

Movie Review

"How to Train Your Dragon"

Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, Written by Sanders, DeBlois, Peter Tolan and Adam F. Goldberg, 98 Minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"How to Train Your Dragon" is a wonderful fantasy set on the mythical island of Berk, where vikings have been at constant war with neighboring dragons for generations. Like many great fantasies, it concerns a young man who, despite the fate his family line has given him, rises above the life he's forced to live and learns quite a bit about himself in the process.

The young man is Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), son of the viking's leader Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler). Stoick and his men venture off one day to seek the nest of the dragons to rid them of their land once and for all, but while he's gone, Hiccup happens upon a wounded dragon himself. After finding that he doesn't have it in him to kill the poor creature, he instead befriends and tames him, and his newfound knowledge of dragons puts his and his whole clan's world in upheaval.

The film has some of the best animation Dreamworks ever has produced--sharp, fluid and absolutely gorgeous; the scenery, flame effects, dragons, humans, water, etc., has a painterly quality that balances realism with Brad Bird-esque character design, which suits the story perfectly. The numerous flight and action sequences are absolutely breathtaking, and a few moments where flames erupt from dimly lit clouds is nearly unmatched by the rest of Dreamworks' oeuvre. Impressive, considering directors' Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois general lack of experience in computer animation (the former Disney animators are perhaps best known for "Lilo & Stitch"). One of the greatest accomplishments in the animation is the transition of the dragons from fierce, violent monsters in the beginning of the film to more relatable, human-like creatures later on. Even in the first act or so of the film, where we only get brief glimpses of the dragons, little details in the animation of their faces hints at an untapped lovability that is really clear when we finally meet Toothless, the dragon Hiccup tames.

Unlike most Dreamworks films (and even the majority of Pixar's), "How to Train Your Dragon" also is a heartfelt and human drama more than it is a comedy or action film, and the comedy always pops up organically, as opposed to something like "Madagascar," where character or story is sacrificed for slapstick humor and unnecessary pop culture references. Yes, there's some of that here, but never so much that it takes precedent over the story.

At it's most basic, "Dragon" is pretty much a story about conflict and the ability of a younger generation to rid themselves of the conflicts of the older. It's also a very sweet story about a son trying to find the acceptance of his father, and Baruchel and Butler both give their characters a lot personality just with their voices (though it's rather bizarre that everyone has a Scottish accent except for Hiccup--but what can you do?).

So, with breathtaking animation (about the best I've seen in recent years, certainly on par with "Up") and a very sweet little tale, "How to Train Your Dragon" is one of the best films from the year thus far.

Grade: A

View WeekinRewind's video preview of "How to Train Your Dragon" below. What are your thoughts?

Movie Review

"How to Train Your Dragon"

Directed by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, Written by Sanders, DeBlois, Peter Tolan and Adam F. Goldberg, 98 Minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"How to Train Your Dragon" is a wonderful fantasy set on the mythical island of Berk, where vikings have been at constant war with neighboring dragons for generations. Like many great fantasies, it concerns a young man who, despite the fate his family line has given him, rises above the life he's forced to live and learns quite a bit about himself in the process.

The young man is Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel), son of the viking's leader Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler). Stoick and his men venture off one day to seek the nest of the dragons to rid them of their land once and for all, but while he's gone, Hiccup happens upon a wounded dragon himself. After finding that he doesn't have it in him to kill the poor creature, he instead befriends and tames him, and his newfound knowledge of dragons puts his and his whole clan's world in upheaval.

The film has some of the best animation Dreamworks ever has produced--sharp, fluid and absolutely gorgeous; the scenery, flame effects, dragons, humans, water, etc., has a painterly quality that balances realism with Brad Bird-esque character design, which suits the story perfectly. The numerous flight and action sequences are absolutely breathtaking, and a few moments where flames erupt from dimly lit clouds is nearly unmatched by the rest of Dreamworks' oeuvre. Impressive, considering directors' Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois general lack of experience in computer animation (the former Disney animators are perhaps best known for "Lilo & Stitch"). One of the greatest accomplishments in the animation is the transition of the dragons from fierce, violent monsters in the beginning of the film to more relatable, human-like creatures later on. Even in the first act or so of the film, where we only get brief glimpses of the dragons, little details in the animation of their faces hints at an untapped lovability that is really clear when we finally meet Toothless, the dragon Hiccup tames.

Unlike most Dreamworks films (and even the majority of Pixar's), "How to Train Your Dragon" also is a heartfelt and human drama more than it is a comedy or action film, and the comedy always pops up organically, as opposed to something like "Madagascar," where character or story is sacrificed for slapstick humor and unnecessary pop culture references. Yes, there's some of that here, but never so much that it takes precedent over the story.

At it's most basic, "Dragon" is pretty much a story about conflict and the ability of a younger generation to rid themselves of the conflicts of the older. It's also a very sweet story about a son trying to find the acceptance of his father, and Baruchel and Butler both give their characters a lot personality just with their voices (though it's rather bizarre that everyone has a Scottish accent except for Hiccup--but what can you do?).

So, with breathtaking animation (about the best I've seen in recent years, certainly on par with "Up") and a very sweet little tale, "How to Train Your Dragon" is one of the best films from the year thus far.

Grade: A

View WeekinRewind's video preview of "How to Train Your Dragon" below. What are your thoughts?

DVD, Blu-ray Review

"Toy Story"

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

You can't find many people these days, especially those with children, who don't know the name "Pixar." The animation studio has dominated the market for the past 15 years, and it all started with "Toy Story."

Unless you've lived under a rock for the past decade, you probably already know what "Toy Story" is all about--Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), an old-fashioned cowboy doll who comes to life when his owner, Andy, isn't around. He and all the other anthropomorphic toys with whom he shares Andy's room are preparing for a big move to a new house as well as Andy's upcoming birthday. Many toys fear being left behind or replaced. Woody reassures them that they're all special to Andy and no one will be left behind, but when Andy's birthday party rolls around and he gets the hot new spaceman toy, Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen), Woody's entire existence is thrown into an upheaval.

No one but Pixar could make a film about inanimate objects feel so heartfelt and human. "Toy Story" contains precursors to nearly every style and theme Pixar has dealt with in their 15 years of feature filmmaking--acceptance, friendship, family, jealousy, imagination, the balance between humor and drama (not to mention the balance between clever humor and screwball humor) and, of course, deeply detailed but still vibrant and simple animation. Watching some of the studio's more recent films and then going back to "Toy Story," you definitely can see elements of "Toy Story" in every single one of their works.

Obviously, the film is most well-known not only for introducing the world to Pixar (and its primary creative talents--"Wall-E" and "Up" directors Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter both had a hand in the script), but for introducing the world to feature-length computer animation in general. While it's true that it had been used infrequently in shorts and in short spurts in Disney films like "Beauty and the Beast," "Toy Story" was really the first film to take the animation techniques and use them to create an entire feature film with it.  Despite being 15 years old, "Toy Story" still looks great. Perhaps not nearly as detailed and beautiful as "Up" or "Wall-E," but still quite good. This is not only thanks to the quality of the animation, but the story and characters. The film is so well-written that the animation becomes secondary to the writing, which is pretty impressive for a film that easily could be thought of as showy or gimmicky (sort of like "Avatar" might have been thought of by some last year).

There's also hardly a bad thing you could say about the voice acting. Outside Allen and Hanks (who couldn't be better), Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Pixar regular John Ratzenberger, Erik von Detten and the late Jim Varney all provide perfect voices for their respective characters.

Really, you can't do much better than "Toy Story." And that alone is what makes Pixar so impressive--they've consistently matched the quality of their first film with almost every one of their projects since, and they even topped it with the sequel. The third is on the way this summer, and knowing Pixar's track record, they may top it yet again.

With "Toy Story," Pixar began an American animation renaissance that has yet to end.

Rated G. Grade: A



Toy Story 2 DVD, Blu-ray Review

By Christopher Smith

To infinity and beyond, indeed.

“Toy Story 2” not only holds up to the original (also released on Blu-ray this week), but it sometimes surpasses it in ingenuity and wit.

This is no shameless sequel, but a fully realized film that stands on its own. Once again, Woody (voice of Tom Hanks) is the focus. A bit older now, a bit tattered, his shoulder torn and his stuffing coming loose, he is left at home when his owner, Andy, goes away to summer camp.

Hurt and depressed and feeling as if he’s close to the trash bin, he sulks along with
Andy’s other toys, a hodgepodge of characters who seem to exist with the sad knowledge that Andy will one day tire of them and move on to bigger and better toys.

If this gives the film emotional depth, it also gives it its spectacular spark since these toys won’t leave Andy’s bedroom--or his heart--without a fight. When Woody is kidnapped by an evil toy collector (Wayne Knight), Woody’s pals--Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), Rex the dinosaur (Wallace Shawn) and Hamm the piggy bank (John Ratzenberger)--all conspire to get him home safe before Andy returns. No one has to say what these toys are thinking: Without Woody in the bedroom as an anchor, who’s to say what would become of them?

Filled with action, superb new characters, a terrific parody of “Star Wars” and a clear understanding of human nature, “Toy Story 2” proves, without a doubt, that toys are not only for kids, but toys, in fact, are us.

Rated G. Grade: A

DVD, Blu-ray Review

"Toy Story"

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

You can't find many people these days, especially those with children, who don't know the name "Pixar." The animation studio has dominated the market for the past 15 years, and it all started with "Toy Story."

Unless you've lived under a rock for the past decade, you probably already know what "Toy Story" is all about--Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), an old-fashioned cowboy doll who comes to life when his owner, Andy, isn't around. He and all the other anthropomorphic toys with whom he shares Andy's room are preparing for a big move to a new house as well as Andy's upcoming birthday. Many toys fear being left behind or replaced. Woody reassures them that they're all special to Andy and no one will be left behind, but when Andy's birthday party rolls around and he gets the hot new spaceman toy, Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen), Woody's entire existence is thrown into an upheaval.

No one but Pixar could make a film about inanimate objects feel so heartfelt and human. "Toy Story" contains precursors to nearly every style and theme Pixar has dealt with in their 15 years of feature filmmaking--acceptance, friendship, family, jealousy, imagination, the balance between humor and drama (not to mention the balance between clever humor and screwball humor) and, of course, deeply detailed but still vibrant and simple animation. Watching some of the studio's more recent films and then going back to "Toy Story," you definitely can see elements of "Toy Story" in every single one of their works.

Obviously, the film is most well-known not only for introducing the world to Pixar (and its primary creative talents--"Wall-E" and "Up" directors Andrew Stanton and Pete Docter both had a hand in the script), but for introducing the world to feature-length computer animation in general. While it's true that it had been used infrequently in shorts and in short spurts in Disney films like "Beauty and the Beast," "Toy Story" was really the first film to take the animation techniques and use them to create an entire feature film with it.  Despite being 15 years old, "Toy Story" still looks great. Perhaps not nearly as detailed and beautiful as "Up" or "Wall-E," but still quite good. This is not only thanks to the quality of the animation, but the story and characters. The film is so well-written that the animation becomes secondary to the writing, which is pretty impressive for a film that easily could be thought of as showy or gimmicky (sort of like "Avatar" might have been thought of by some last year).

There's also hardly a bad thing you could say about the voice acting. Outside Allen and Hanks (who couldn't be better), Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Pixar regular John Ratzenberger, Erik von Detten and the late Jim Varney all provide perfect voices for their respective characters.

Really, you can't do much better than "Toy Story." And that alone is what makes Pixar so impressive--they've consistently matched the quality of their first film with almost every one of their projects since, and they even topped it with the sequel. The third is on the way this summer, and knowing Pixar's track record, they may top it yet again.

With "Toy Story," Pixar began an American animation renaissance that has yet to end.

Rated G. Grade: A



Toy Story 2 DVD, Blu-ray Review

By Christopher Smith

To infinity and beyond, indeed.

“Toy Story 2” not only holds up to the original (also released on Blu-ray this week), but it sometimes surpasses it in ingenuity and wit.

This is no shameless sequel, but a fully realized film that stands on its own. Once again, Woody (voice of Tom Hanks) is the focus. A bit older now, a bit tattered, his shoulder torn and his stuffing coming loose, he is left at home when his owner, Andy, goes away to summer camp.

Hurt and depressed and feeling as if he’s close to the trash bin, he sulks along with
Andy’s other toys, a hodgepodge of characters who seem to exist with the sad knowledge that Andy will one day tire of them and move on to bigger and better toys.

If this gives the film emotional depth, it also gives it its spectacular spark since these toys won’t leave Andy’s bedroom--or his heart--without a fight. When Woody is kidnapped by an evil toy collector (Wayne Knight), Woody’s pals--Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), Rex the dinosaur (Wallace Shawn) and Hamm the piggy bank (John Ratzenberger)--all conspire to get him home safe before Andy returns. No one has to say what these toys are thinking: Without Woody in the bedroom as an anchor, who’s to say what would become of them?

Filled with action, superb new characters, a terrific parody of “Star Wars” and a clear understanding of human nature, “Toy Story 2” proves, without a doubt, that toys are not only for kids, but toys, in fact, are us.

Rated G. Grade: A

Movie Review

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid"

Directed by Thor Freudenthal, Written by Jackie Filgo, Jeff Filgo, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs, 93 minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" follows in the footsteps of such childhood favorites as the television shows "Hey Arnold" and "Recess" or movies like "Harriet the Spy." It focuses pretty much entirely on children, and they seem to exist in a universe where parents are just background figures and there is nothing more crucial than video games, friends and that unstoppable force that they form their lives around--school.

In this case, our wimpy kid is Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon), who is just starting middle school and is desperate to fit in and make a name for himself. The film is pretty loosely plotted. We basically see little episodes of Greg attempting various activities and interacting with his bullying big brother and best friend Rowley, and throughout the film, we get Greg's young outlook on life. We get a lot of the typical family film stuff here--trick or treating on Halloween, participating in the school musical, dealing with bullies, siblings, and goofy parents, etc. There's nothing particularly outstanding, but most of the time these sequences are amusing. This is almost entirely thanks to Gordon, who gives one of the better child performances of the last few years as Greg. He portrays him as vain, selfish and completely naive, but also with a great deal of heart, and he ends up being a very well-drawn and relatable character. I can definitely see a lot of things opening up for the young actor, especially if the film does well enough for inevitable sequels to follow.

The rest of the cast isn't too bad either, with some great stuff from Robert Capron, Karan Brar, Grayson Russell and Alex Ferris as Greg's various classmates; Steve Zahn and Rachael Harris as his parents; Devon Bostick as his brother; and, perhaps best of all, Chloe Moretz as the enigmatic and intellectual editor of the school paper. Moretz showed off a lot of talent in "(500) Days of Summer," and her role here definitely proves it was no fluke. She's immensely charming and has a subtlety that could grace a Wes Anderson film, and it's no wonder she's become so popular so quickly. Her role in the upcoming "Kick-Ass" is sure to be even more impressive.

Obviously, the film won't appeal that much to adults, but for those familiar with a lot of the children's shows of the '90s, "Diary of a Wimpy Wimpy Kid" is an interesting look back at that brand of entertainment, and it's sure to be an absolute blast for kids, especially ones who are already fans of the book upon which it's based by Jeff Kinney.

Though not particularly groundbreaking or memorable, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" definitely exceeds the standards for a modern family film and it's almost guaranteed to entertain any kid who goes to see it.

Grade: B

View the trailer for "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" below. What are your thoughts?

Movie Review

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid"

Directed by Thor Freudenthal, Written by Jackie Filgo, Jeff Filgo, Jeff Judah and Gabe Sachs, 93 minutes, Rated PG

By our guest blogger, Rob Stammitti

"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" follows in the footsteps of such childhood favorites as the television shows "Hey Arnold" and "Recess" or movies like "Harriet the Spy." It focuses pretty much entirely on children, and they seem to exist in a universe where parents are just background figures and there is nothing more crucial than video games, friends and that unstoppable force that they form their lives around--school.

In this case, our wimpy kid is Greg Heffley (Zachary Gordon), who is just starting middle school and is desperate to fit in and make a name for himself. The film is pretty loosely plotted. We basically see little episodes of Greg attempting various activities and interacting with his bullying big brother and best friend Rowley, and throughout the film, we get Greg's young outlook on life. We get a lot of the typical family film stuff here--trick or treating on Halloween, participating in the school musical, dealing with bullies, siblings, and goofy parents, etc. There's nothing particularly outstanding, but most of the time these sequences are amusing. This is almost entirely thanks to Gordon, who gives one of the better child performances of the last few years as Greg. He portrays him as vain, selfish and completely naive, but also with a great deal of heart, and he ends up being a very well-drawn and relatable character. I can definitely see a lot of things opening up for the young actor, especially if the film does well enough for inevitable sequels to follow.

The rest of the cast isn't too bad either, with some great stuff from Robert Capron, Karan Brar, Grayson Russell and Alex Ferris as Greg's various classmates; Steve Zahn and Rachael Harris as his parents; Devon Bostick as his brother; and, perhaps best of all, Chloe Moretz as the enigmatic and intellectual editor of the school paper. Moretz showed off a lot of talent in "(500) Days of Summer," and her role here definitely proves it was no fluke. She's immensely charming and has a subtlety that could grace a Wes Anderson film, and it's no wonder she's become so popular so quickly. Her role in the upcoming "Kick-Ass" is sure to be even more impressive.

Obviously, the film won't appeal that much to adults, but for those familiar with a lot of the children's shows of the '90s, "Diary of a Wimpy Wimpy Kid" is an interesting look back at that brand of entertainment, and it's sure to be an absolute blast for kids, especially ones who are already fans of the book upon which it's based by Jeff Kinney.

Though not particularly groundbreaking or memorable, "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" definitely exceeds the standards for a modern family film and it's almost guaranteed to entertain any kid who goes to see it.

Grade: B

View the trailer for "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" below. What are your thoughts?

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

“Fantastic Mr. Fox”

Directed by Wes Anderson, written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach, 88 minutes, rated PG.

By Christopher Smith

Wes Anderson "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is terrific, almost perfect, cataclysmic, not sophomoric.

Anderson and Noah Baumbach based their script on Roald Dahl’s 1970 book, and what they created is a movie encouraged to roam along a wacky landscape where good writing matters, wit infuses the bon mots, and close attention to character is key.

About “Fox”--just try getting through it without a laugh. The film is about Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and how he must win back the trust of his wife, Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep), and earn the love of his bickering, disenfranchised son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman), when Fox, a newspaper columnist, slides off the tracks and goes back to his thieving ways. The reason? Money is tight, sure, but a fox always is a fox, and shaking off those foxy instincts proves impossible for Mr. Fox to do.

In his sights are henhouses owned by Boggis, Bunce and Bean, grim farmers loaded with rabid dogs and enough artillery to bring down a battalion. The lot of them are a force lead by Bean (Michael Gambon), and they don’t take kindly to their trade being stolen by a bunch of crooked animals.

Not that that will stop Fox and company. Joining him in his quest to put turkey on the table are the opossum, Kylie (Wally Wolodarsky), who is a coward at heart but nevertheless tries to get beyond it, and whose eyes do things too funny to spoil for readers. Just enjoy them when they do their thing. Also involved is a cagey badger voiced by Bill Murray and Ash’s all-to-capable cousin, Kristofferson (Eric Anderson), who brings zen along with his zips. Against them are a motherlode of others, not the least of which is Willem Dafoe’s spurious Rat, who knows his way around a switchblade.

What will children make of this movie? Given the film’s level of sophistication, that’s up for debate. This movie is way on the fringe, and some scenes are a little sketchy and violent, to say the least. But adults who turn out to see it--and they are encouraged to see it--will find something unique and trippy, an animated tale that celebrates the medium and honors it.

Grade: A-

View the trailer for "Fantastic Mr. Fox" below. Thoughts?

DVD, Blu-ray Movie Review

“Fantastic Mr. Fox”

Directed by Wes Anderson, written by Anderson and Noah Baumbach, 88 minutes, rated PG.

By Christopher Smith

Wes Anderson "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is terrific, almost perfect, cataclysmic, not sophomoric.

Anderson and Noah Baumbach based their script on Roald Dahl’s 1970 book, and what they created is a movie encouraged to roam along a wacky landscape where good writing matters, wit infuses the bon mots, and close attention to character is key.

About “Fox”--just try getting through it without a laugh. The film is about Mr. Fox (George Clooney) and how he must win back the trust of his wife, Mrs. Fox (Meryl Streep), and earn the love of his bickering, disenfranchised son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman), when Fox, a newspaper columnist, slides off the tracks and goes back to his thieving ways. The reason? Money is tight, sure, but a fox always is a fox, and shaking off those foxy instincts proves impossible for Mr. Fox to do.

In his sights are henhouses owned by Boggis, Bunce and Bean, grim farmers loaded with rabid dogs and enough artillery to bring down a battalion. The lot of them are a force lead by Bean (Michael Gambon), and they don’t take kindly to their trade being stolen by a bunch of crooked animals.

Not that that will stop Fox and company. Joining him in his quest to put turkey on the table are the opossum, Kylie (Wally Wolodarsky), who is a coward at heart but nevertheless tries to get beyond it, and whose eyes do things too funny to spoil for readers. Just enjoy them when they do their thing. Also involved is a cagey badger voiced by Bill Murray and Ash’s all-to-capable cousin, Kristofferson (Eric Anderson), who brings zen along with his zips. Against them are a motherlode of others, not the least of which is Willem Dafoe’s spurious Rat, who knows his way around a switchblade.

What will children make of this movie? Given the film’s level of sophistication, that’s up for debate. This movie is way on the fringe, and some scenes are a little sketchy and violent, to say the least. But adults who turn out to see it--and they are encouraged to see it--will find something unique and trippy, an animated tale that celebrates the medium and honors it.

Grade: A-

View the trailer for "Fantastic Mr. Fox" below. Thoughts?