Mud Songs

I saw Kung-Fu Panda last night and I regret not seeing it while it was still in theatres. It’s easily the most entertaining animated movie I’ve seen in 2008. My brother said something like this about it: “Kung-Fu Panda is an animated film about a panda who loves Kung-Fu and has to learn it in a hurry to save his village from his master’s nemesis. I recommend it for kids and adults. The story is simple but engaging, with plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. The action scenes are incredible, intense, fast, and fun — it could make you dizzy. The animation is well done. I took my seven-year-old daughter who laughed out loud at parts, as I did (although different parts). She wasn’t scared during the intense, dark scenes. We both recommended it.”

WALL-E is one of the most imaginative stories I’ve ever seen. It’s also proof to me that if Pixar wanted to, they could make an excellent adult science fiction film. They have conceptual artists who can create creatures and landscapes as impressive as anything put on film. They have writers and directors who know how to develop strong characters and a good story. They know what they’re doing. Everybody loves them. They can’t do wrong. They’ve found a winning formula making CGI family films, but I’d still love to see them take a crack on at some hard science fiction. Instead they give us WALL-E, a touching, entertaining and engaging story of a little robot left behind on a post-apocalyptic earth where everything is so polluted that humans can’t live there anymore. He eventually meets up with another robot that sort of looks like an iPod, and things take off from there. It’s a nice, harmless kids movie with an environmental message: don’t pollute.

Skip it. The first Narnia movie is excellent, one of the best family-friendly movies of 2005. The best thing I can say about The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is they’ve improved on the special effects. Not much happens for the first hour (which will bore most kids), and when the action does pick up, it’s just eye candy. Too much emphasis on meaningless battles sequences and not enough on character and story.

The Spiderwick Chronicles is a fantasy film in line with the first Chronicles of Narnia flick and Bridge to Terabithia, but a bit scarier and probably not suitable for children under 10. The kids in this one spend most of their time running from and fighting against goblins and other forest creatures. There’s not much to the story, but it’s adventurous and fun.

The camel is in the Gobi Desert and the people in the film are the real nomads who live there, though it’s fiction. The Story of the Weeping Camel is interesting as a document of their way of life, though it may have been more compelling — and more accessible — as a straightforward documentary.

I laughed all the way through this computer-animated family film. The rock ballad transitional scenes I could have done without, but the subtleties in characterizations are hilarious. Jeff Bridges reprises his role as the Dude but in penguin form. I like the moral of the story too. Surf’s Up may not have the same story quality that you’ll find in a Pixar production, but the animation is the most innovative I’ve seen for awhile.

Stardust is a predictable fairy tale that will take you for a fun ride if you’re willing to just go along with it. All the actors have a good time with this one, and it’s infectious. It’s got adventure, comedy, romance, thrilling action and enough interesting twists so it never gets boring. A good night at the movies.

I did something today I normally don’t do. I saw a movie without knowing anything about it. And it sucked. The Last Legion is not adult entertainment. 13-year-olds who don’t know what a clichéd fantasy film looks like might enjoy it. Parents might like it too because no blood or actual killings are shown.

Indiscriminate Harry Potter fans will probably like Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix . It was another soulless, unengaging snoozefest for me.

Skip Ratatouille and see Surf’s Up instead (which, although flawed, seems more innovative). I’ve officially reached the point where I can no longer get excited about a Pixar movie. I know everyone loves them and they make big bucks, but they continue to fall flat for me. They’re so perfect, there are no surprises.

A Peter Pan message about the power of imagination, Bridge to Terabithia is geared more towards kids than adults. However, the story eventually diverges enough from the normal sugar-coated Walt Disney production that I can recommend it for adults too.

I enjoyed The Squid and the Whale so much, I rented it twice over a two-day period and enjoyed it even more the second time. It’s the story of two adolescent brothers and how they react to their parents’ splitting up, and how their parents react. Their individual reactions are honest and weird and so real that it’s strange to find it all entertaining. Nothing seems exaggerated for dramatic or comedic effect. It’s a well-written story, well-acted, with likable but not entirely admirable characters, which is nice to see for a change, because it lends a sense of realism to everything that happens. This could be, and probably is, the story of a real family, and it feels that way. I like everything about this movie. I don’t know what else to say without giving it away.

Finding Nemo has fully-drawn characters (no pun intended), each of them perfectly voiced. Amazing renderings of underwater life and a script that doesn’t just give you a bunch of neat stuff to look at, but actually tells a worthwhile story. Great for kids and adults, even if you only watch a few scenes from it now and again.

Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers is the peak of Wallace and Gromit, more entertaining than the recent theatrical release. Funnier, creepier, moodier, ominous, and a good time all around. The penguin is pure evil.

Saint Ralph is an excellent Canadian film that — like most Canadian films — didn’t have a chance to be seen because of all the Hollywood crap that controls the market in North America. It’s a cliched, by-the-numbers underdog story, but it’s still the most enjoyable family movie I saw this year. (I enjoyed it much more than Millions.)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is one of the most engaging family movies I saw is 2005, with CGI characters that seem like the real thing. It’s a fairy tale with a message, and it works.

Valiant is about carrier pigeons during WWII. It is the worst computer animated film I’ve seen to date. It is so dull, uninteresting, unfunny, I would have walked out of the theatre when I saw it if I was by myself. I could smoke a pound of weed and write a better script than Valiant. It may have worked as an animated short, but there’s not enough to hold out for a full-length feature. And not a thing to look at it. Computer animated movies for kids should be at least visually stimulating, give the kiddies something goosh about. But there is nothing to see here, folks. The most vibrant colour I saw was grey. Skip this movie. It’s a stinker.