Movie Review - Monsters University

 Monsters University   $$$ 1/2    

 

 

G

104 Minutes

Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, and Helen Mirren.

Director: Dan Scanlon. 

 

            Follow up films in a franchise are tricky to pull off successfully. You have to capture the same feel as the original movie, but find a way to make it different. And if you decide to make that second movie a prequel you have increased the difficulty of your task. The folks at Pixar have really hit the mark with Monsters University.      

            The story takes us back to the college days of Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sullivan (John Goodman) where the two met. Mike has dreamed of becoming a scarer since he was a child and Sully is a natural that comes from a family of scarers. And the two of them do not get along.

            The rivalry between Mike and Sully eventually results in the two of them being kicked out of the scaring program at the college. Mike concocts a plan to win the campus scare competition in order to force Dean Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) to allow him back into the scare program. He has formed a fraternity with some of the scare program washouts, but is one monster shy of a team. Sully joins at the last moment and it’s off to the races—or rather the fast moving scare scenarios.

            This is a delightful combination of underdog story and buddy-picture rivalry. The writing is on target and presents a touching, while still hilarious, story of a young man with big dreams. As you can expect, the animation is great. The acting is seamless. Put it all together and you have a great movie suitable for family fun.

            I give Monsters University three-and-a-half Movie Bucks, but wonder if it doesn’t deserve a full four MBs. It’s worth paying full price to see the movie, but if you have a lot of children it might be better to catch it as a matinee. I do plan to add this to my DVD collection when it comes out on video. My only hesitation for not giving it top marks is that I didn’t leave the theater thinking it was in the running for the best movie of the year. And that is generally what I am looking for when I give out all four Movie Bucks.

            If you like family films, go out and see this movie.

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

Author In Training No More

            Today, I had planned to post a review of Monsters University. (Yes, I do realize that recently all I have done are movie reviews.) But the MU review will have to wait for later in the week. I’ve decided to discuss the matter of my “Author In Training” status.

            First off, I want everyone to take a look to the right. Well, kind of over and down. Below the lovely blogging awards I received. You may have noticed that there is a new picture of me over there. The very capable Jonathan Stalnaker snapped a series of shots that I could use for my author’s pic in my upcoming novel.

            That’s right, I sold my first novel. Cedar Fort Publishing has picked up The Gathering and will be releasing it in January. They sent me the cover today and I decided that I couldn’t wait any longer to blog about it.

            This year my writing portfolio has really blossomed. In addition to the novel six short stories have been picked up for publication (Not Fragile; You Better Watch Out; Time Enough To Die; Waste Not, Die Not; Bloody Hector; and Matches.) as well as the inclusion of five of my flash fiction pieces in the Flash 500 anthology. (You can now access the Flash 500 for free if you are interested.) In my mind, that makes for a pretty good year.

            I have seven more short stories I’m submitting to the Sci-Fi/Fantasy market. The first novel I wrote, Hellathon, had a nibble this month. And a close friend of mine has talked me into self-publishing a collection of quirky Christmas stores, which I plan to put out next year. Who knows what can happen before the end of the year.

            Is all of this a matter of bragging to you?

Maybe. A little I suppose. But mostly it has to do with something one of my friends brought up during a writing related conversation. She asked: Are you going to change the name of your blog? Once I have a novel published can I still be considered an author in training? Or is it a matter that a good writer is always looking for ways to improve their craft?

I am leaning towards the latter response, but that is more of a matter of being too lazy to go through all the effort of changing the name of my blog and any promotion that goes along with it. Besides, what would I name the new blog? My business cards have: Randy Lindsay, all around creative guy. Is that a good enough replacement for my author in training tag? I suppose if we were going with the ultimate truth in advertising it should probably read – All around nutty guy.

But the Planter’s nut mascot has already warned me about edging in on his turf.

 

Movie Review - R.I.P.D.

 R.I.P.D.   $$ 1/2    

 

PG-13

96 Minutes

Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Jeff Bridges, Kevin Bacon, and Mary-Louise Parker.

Director: Robert Schwentke.

 

            The first time I saw the trailer for this movie, I was jealous. I loved the concept of a police department that worked to control the unruly dead. Oh the stories I could tell with an idea like that. I couldn’t wait to see what Hollywood had done with it.

 

            Then I saw the film. I’m not so excited anymore.            

            Nick (Ryan Reynolds) buries a bag full of gold in his back yard. After talking with his wife about how nice it would be to not have to worry about money, he decides to turn it in as evidence for his current case. But before he can do that, he and his partner, Hayes (Kevin Bacon), are sent to help bust the most notorious criminal in the city and Nick is killed.

            Turns out that Nick hasn’t been the most honest of police officers, but is recruited by the R.I.P.D. (Rest In Peace Department) to send Dead-Os back to Hell. He is partnered with long-time veteran Roy (Jeff Daniels). It isn’t very long before the two of them stumble on an infernal plot to release the inhabitants of Hell upon the Earth.  

            I laughed a lot during the movie. It definitely has some funny bits. Unfortunately, that’s about it. The film failed in just about every other way. The chemistry between Reynolds and Bridges just wasn’t there. I love both actors and enjoy the majority of the work they do, but didn’t feel it here. The best scene with the two of them together is when they are beating the tar out of one another. Not a good sign when you’re talking about how well the characters engaged the audience. I didn’t care about either of the characters and I certainly didn’t care what happened to them.

            Kevin Bacon did a good job in his role, but the only character I found myself liking was Proctor (Mary-Louise Parker). The mysterious romantic sub-plot between her and Roy was the only situation I found myself interested in seeing what happened next.

I would have liked to have had a better look at the dead creatures in the film.  The action scenes were fast and hard to follow and prevented me from getting a good look at the creative take on how their form was shaped by the sins they embraced. That was one of the better concepts in the movie and they could have done more with it.

And then there was the plot. My son described it as Men In Black with dead people. It certainly didn’t feel original or fresh. The entire story was very predictable.

Was this film horrible? No. It just failed to be as epic as the concept could have been. I give RIPD two-and-a-half Movie Bucks. You should see it on the big screen in order to follow the action better, but definitely see it as a matinee or even at a discount theater.

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

 

Movie Review - Despicable Me 2

 Despicable Me 2   $$$ 1/2    

 

 

PG

98 Minutes

Starring: Steve Carell, Kristen Wiig, Benjamin Bratt, and Russell Brand.

Director: Pierre Coffin and Chris Renaud.

 

            While on vacation, I had the opportunity to watch this film with my family and all of us enjoyed it greatly. As far as sequels go, I felt that this one surpassed the original.

            With his villainous days behind him, Gru (Steve Carell) is adapting to a normal life with his three adopted daughters. This turns out to be more of a challenge than concocting evil plots to take over the world. The worst of this new batch of life hurdles is the prospect of dating. (In fact, it gives me chills just thinking about it.)

            Things get even more complicated when the Anti-Villain League decides to recruit Gru to deal with the latest threat to the world. He is asked to run a bakery in the mall in order to discover which of the other business is actually a front for an evil laboratory that has developed a substance that transforms its subjects into monsters. And he is assigned rookie agent Lucy Wilde (Kristen Wiig) to help him.

            The plot is on the simple side of the scale, but in this case that is an advantage because the real attraction of this film is in the antics of the minions and the interaction between Gru and his girls and between Gru and Agent Wilde. The scenes with Gru and his adopted daughters are cute and endearing. I loved them. However, if cute and adorable are bad words in your movie viewing dictionary then you should avoid this film.

            Minions. What needs to be said about them? They are stupid. They are predictable. But most of all they are hilarious. They kept me laughing all through the movie. If you liked them in the first movie I suspect that you’ll love them here. Who knows, maybe the next sequel will be about them.

            The writing is witty. The voice talent is excellent. The story is sufficient to string together all of the endearing moments together and attach them to all the funny bits in a satisfying way. I think the movie would be just as enjoyable if watched at home, but my recommendation is to check it out as discount showing and then pick it up for home viewing when it becomes available. And for that I give it a rating of three-and-a-half Movie Bucks.

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

Movie Review - The Lone Ranger

The Lone Ranger  $$$     

 

 

PG-13

149 Minutes

Starring: Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, William Fichtner, and Ruth Wilson.

Director: Gore Verbinski. 

 

Hi-Ho, Silver.

The Lone Ranger has arrived in theaters and expectations are high because Johnny Depp and the people responsible for the Pirates of the Caribbean films are involved. And from the short glimpses I’ve seen during the trailers it looks as if the viewers are in for a wild ride.

The movie opens as John Reid (Amrie Hammer) returns home. He plans to bring his idealized notion of justice back to the wild western land where he was born. As it just so happens, the notorious outlaw Butch Cavendish (William Fichter) is on the same train. Cavendish has a date with the hangman. John interrupts the rescue effort that the Cavendish gang has for their boss and ends up chained to an Indian named Tonto (Johnny Depp) who wears a bird on his head.

I don’t remember the original series so I can’t compare it to this film, leaving me to review the movie entirely on its own merits. The Lone Ranger was a fun trip at the theater. All the way around, the acting was good. As expected, Johnny Depp turned in an over-the-top performance. Armie Hammer was a little too inept for my tastes, but I expect others may disagree with me. William Fichtner turned in a creepily awesome performance as bad guy Butch Cavendish.

Special effects were good. This is definitely a film that benefits from being seen on the big screen. The story line was decent. I could probably pick out some flaws with it, but I was too busy laughing to notice most of them.

I felt that The Lone Ranger deserved a solid 3 Movie Bucks. See it in a first-run theater, but wait to catch it during a discounted showing. 

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.

 

 

Movie Review - World War Z

 World War Z  $$$    

 

PG-13

116 Minutes

Starring: Brad Pitt, Daniella Kertesz, and Fana Mokoena.

Director: Marc Forster.

 

            I’m not a zombie fan. I think the genre is silly. It ranks at the very bottom of things that go bump in the dark. As much as the horror writers tweak the concept it still doesn’t any sense. Be that as it may, the biggest reason I don’t see movies in this category is because they are usually rated R and extremely gross.            

            World War Z is rated PG-13 and avoids the gruesome and, in my mind, unnecessary scenes of people chomping that is a normal part of this kind of film. The story is a cross between Dawn of the Dead and Outbreak. For what it’s worth, this is my all-time favorite zombie movie.

            The film opens with an average day in the life of the Lane family. Gerry (Brad Pitt) makes everyone pancakes and then they climb into their car and head off to do what they normally do. Except that traffic grinds to a halt and they soon find themselves in the middle of a zombie assault. Once bitten a person thrashes around on the ground for about twelve seconds and then boom—a new recruit to the undead movement is ready for action.

            Gerry is contacted by his former boss, Thierry Umutoni (Fana Mokoena), who wants to bring him in to investigate the cause of the zombie apocalypse. He eventually agrees and is teamed up with pathologist specialist Andrew Fassbach (Elyes Gabel) and start globe-trotting in search for a solution that will save the human race.

            The supporting cast did a good job with their roles. I found Brad Pitt fairly toned-down emotionally and while that didn’t detract from the story it certainly didn’t propel it to the next level. There were plenty of tense scenes with zombies hot on the heels of the heroes to put you on the edge of your seat. But what makes the movie work is the quest to find out what happened and in doing so to see if anything can be done to save the human race. A bit at a time the mystery is unraveled and that is what kept me keenly interested in the movie.

            On the negative side, there are the numerous story flaws that are part and parcel of almost all zombie tales. The largest of these is explanation of how the zombie threat spread so quickly throughout the world. Let me just say that if it only takes a few minutes to be infected and turn against humanity—then airlines do not make an effective delivery method.
            If zombie films are a regular part of your entertainment diet you might find this a little tame for your taste. On the other hand it is a good choice for those who may have liked horror films earlier in their life and since given them up due to the gore and graphic violence they normally contain. I give World War Z a solid 3 Movie Bucks. See it on the big screen so you can fully enjoy every jumping in your seat moment, but don’t pay full price for the experience. 

 

                        Randy’s Rating System 

$$$$   = Full Price    See this movie right away and pay full price, it’s worth it.

$$$     = Matinee      Catch this as a matinee or other discounted showing.

$$        = Discount     Wait until this movie reaches a discount theater near you.

$          = Rental         Wait until this movie reaches your local video rental outlet.

0          = No Sale       Don’t see this movie at any price.