Day 112: Fantastic Mr. Fox

Fantastic Mr. Fox
Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray, Willem Dafoe & Owen Wilson
Rated:PG
Length: 87 min.
Released: November, 25 2009
Trailer

IMDB.com Synopsis:
It is the story of one Mr. Fox and his wild-ways of hen heckling, turkey taking and cider sipping, nocturnal, instinctive adventures. He has to put his wild days behind him and do what fathers do best: be responsible. He is too rebellious. He is too wild. He is going to try “just one more raid” on the three nastiest, meanest farmers that are Boggis, Bunce and Bean. It is a tale of crossing the line of family responsibilities and midnight adventure and the friendships and awakenings of this country life that is inhabited by Fantastic Mr. Fox and his friends.

My Thoughts:
It’s a cute family movie and a wonderful adaptation of the book. The thing I love most about it is how well they bring these characters to life and give them all personalities that fit so well with the story and each other.

It’s animation was great. I don’t know that I could say it’s as good as the Tim Burton team that made The Corps Bride, Coraline and The Nightmare Before Christmas…but it’s rather close.

The voice work was…well, fantastic. They were cast perfectly and really captured the mannerism and characteristics of each character very well. Each actor’s voice just seemed perfectly tailored to character they played.

By far, the best part of the movie was how spot on it was in bringing the whole book to life. It was amazing to watch, because it was a perfect adaptation. Again, the animation wasn’t as perfect as others I’ve seen, but in the grander picture it was a beautiful and fun filled movie to watch. 4.5 stars out of 5.

Day 97: Casper

Casper
Director: Brad Silberling
Starring: Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, Eric Idle & Cathy Moriarty
Rated: PG
Length: 100 min.
Released: May 26, 1995
Trailer

IMDB.com Synopsis:
Furious that her late father only willed her his gloomy-looking mansion rather than his millions, Carrigan Crittenden is ready to burn the place to the ground when she discovers a map to a treasure hidden in the house. But when she enters the rickety mansion to seek her claim, she is frightened away by a wicked wave of ghosts. Determined to get her hands on this hidden fortune, she hires afterlife therapist Dr. James Harvey to exorcise the ghosts from the mansion. Harvey and his daughter Kat move in, and soon Kat meets Casper, the ghost of a young boy who’s “the friendliest ghost you know.” But not so friendly are Casper’s uncles–Stretch, Fatso and Stinkie–who are determined to drive all “fleshies” away. Ultimately, it is up to Harvey and Kat to help the ghosts cross over to the other side.

My Thoughts:
This movie was “not allowed” when I was growing up. Neither was the cartoon. Let’s just say I had some rather strict parents who didn’t want me watching anything that was remotely scary, ghostly or mystical in any way. That said, I did end up seeing this one…in school for Halloween. I never told my parents. Oops. Eventually my parents came around to see the error in their over exaggeration and over protection. I still don’t know if they’ve seen this one yet, but if not…they are missing out.

This movie is really a brilliant real life adaptation of the animated classic. The characters are such good replications of the original cartoon characters. Simply put, the CG animation of the ghosts is fantastic! Even 15 years later they are perfect for this concept. They are far enough away from straight cartoon CG to be believable in real life while still staying true to the animated characters and having a slight cartoon/animated feel to them which helps it feel like the original cartoon.

The story is real engaging too. It’s funny, it’s serious, it’s suspenseful, it’s heart warming, it’s scary…it’s just perfect! The whole idea of a psychiatrist trying to help Casper and the incredibly quirky trio of Stretch, Stinkie and Fatso is such a great concept. Lord knows they’ve got some issues to work out.

Its also got a few cool cameos in it too. Like, Ben Steine, Mr. Rogers, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson and Dan Aykroyd among others. Those are always fun to see.

I’m giving this one 4 stars out of 5.

Day 93: First Kid

First Kid
Director: David M. Evans
Starring: Sinbad, Brock Pierce, Robert Guillaume, Art LaFleur & Zachery Ty Bryan
Rated: PG
Length: 101 min.
Released: August 30, 1996
Full Movie On YouTube

IMDB.com Synopsis:
Luke Davenport is the 13 year old son of Paul Davenport, the President of the United States, and first lady Linda Davenport. Ill tempered Agent Woods is the secret service agent in charge of Luke. Woods is fired after mistreating Luke in front of media cameras. Woods is then replaced by former boxer Sam Simms, who won a boxing title in 1977. Sam is eager to take the job-even though no one else wants it. Everyone thinks that Luke is just a brat when the only thing Luke wants is to just fit in and be like every other kid at his school, the Georgetown Academy. Sam almost gets fired when Luke gets decked at school by school bully Rob MacArthur. This is when Sam decides to use his boxing expertise to teach Luke how to fight. Luke has his eyes on classmate Katie Warren, but so does Rob. Katie agrees to go with Luke to an upcoming school dance, so Sam teaches Luke how to dance. Rob is also at the dance, but this time when Rob tries to deck Luke, Luke turns the tables and decks Rob. Sam is then fired for taking Luke to the dance without permission, although Luke had the permission of his parents, but secret service chief Morton didn’t want Luke leaving the White House grounds while Luke’s parents were on the campaign trail. Luke runs away anyway to meet a friend that he has been chatting on the internet with. The meeting is set to take place at a local mall,where Luke discovers that his secret friend is a now psychotic Woods, who blames Luke for his firing and wants revenge on Luke, but not if Sam can help it.

My Thoughts:
One of my favorite Disney movies…hands down. I use to love this movie as a kid. I was a little nervous about if it stood the test of time and aged well as I got older. It did. It has such a classic performance from Sinbad. There is clean comedy at both the adult and child’s level which makes this a superb family movie.

I can’t imagine having to be a kid and deal with stuff like this. Any kid that has gone through being the child of a sitting President has got to have it hard, and they likely don’t understand to the full extent the amount of pressure their parents are under and why things have to be the way they are. This film does a great diving into that and making the “First Family” seem a bit more normal in their family dynamics.

Also, it’s aged well thus far. It really has. I find myself laughing at this movie years after it’s come out and after having seen it several times. The performance of Home Improvement’s Zachery Ty Bryan is also an interesting addition (for those old enough to remember that show) and fun to watch.

For the fun, clean family oriented comedy I am giving this one 4 stars out of 5.

Day 86: The Sword in the Stone

The Sword in the Stone
Director: Wolfgang Reitherman
Starring: Rickie Sorensen, Karl Swenson & Junius Matthews
Rated: G
Length: 79 min.
Released: December 25, 1963
Full Film on YouTube

IMDB.com Synopsis:
Arthur (aka Wart) is a young boy who aspires to be a knight’s squire. On a hunting trip he falls in on Merlin, a powerful but amnesiac wizard who has plans for Wart beyond mere squiredom. He starts by trying to give Wart an education (whatever that is), believing that once one has an education, one can go anywhere. Needless to say, it doesn’t quite work out that way.

My Thoughts:
A forgotten gem of the Disney Collection…and one of my favorites! It has the same feel as so many other classics like Sleeping Beauty, Robin Hood, The Jungle Book and so on. For some reason this one doesn’t come to mind right away for most people when thinking of the Disney films of that era.

I’ll be honest, I have been one of those people. Everything that makes a Disney movie works…lovable characters, fun songs, a great moral to the story and fantastic animation. It’s got it all. I’m particularly a fan of the songs in this one…and the wizardry battle between Merlin and the villainous witch Madam Mim.

I’m giving this one 4 stars out of 5.

Day 85: Chicken Run

Chicken Run
Directors: Peter Lord & Nick Park
Starring: Mel Gibson
Rated: G
Length: 84 min.
Released: June 21, 2000
Trailer

IMDB.com Synopsis:
Having been hopelessly repressed and facing eventual certain death at the chicken farm where they are held, Rocky the rooster and Ginger the chicken decide to rebel against the evil Mr. and Mrs. Tweedy, the farm’s owners. Rocky and Ginger lead their fellow chickens in a great escape from the murderous farmers and their farm of doom.

My Thoughts:
I love this movie! The animation is fantastic, the story is unique and engaging…and the characters are just hilariously perfect! I love the Wallace and Gromit animated shorts and this one puts them all to shame…it’s so good. It was a welcomed change of pace from the Hannibal series.

Mel Gibson was an odd, but perfect choice to play the American chicken in a house of British hens. I’ll be honest, I was skeptical of that choice the first time I saw it, but it totally worked.

All in all this is a fun movie the entire family can watch. I really don’t have much else to say. Great story, characters, animation, music and voice work. It’s a great flick. 4.5 stars out of 5.

Day 78: Muppets from Space

Muppets from Space
Director: Tim Hill
Starring: Jeffrey Tambor, Frank Oz, Dave Goelz, Bill Barretta, Rob Schneider, Andie MacDowell, Kathy Griffin & Josh Charles
Rated: G
Length: 87 min.
Released: July 14, 1999
Trailer

IMDB.com Synopsis:
When adopted Gonzo and his rat pal Rizzo embarks on a quest to find Gonzo’s real family, Gonzo discovers that his long-lost relatives are actually aliens from a distant planet. After announcing to the world on Miss Piggy’s talk show, “UFO Mania,” that he plans to find his family and prove once and for all that life on other planets exists, he becomes the target of the evil paranoid government operative K. Edgar Singer. After a daring escape from the Singer compound, Gonzo tracks down his mother’s ship and faces the most difficult question of his life: does he climb aboard and joined the family he has always wanted or does he stay on Earth with the family and friends that he has always known and loved?

My Thoughts:
By far, one of the best Muppet movies ever made! Excellent story with a fantastic array of hilarious pop culture one liners. Plain and simple it’s comedic genius all the way through.

I always thought it would be fun to address Gonzo’s “whatever-ness.” He’s an alien…of course!!!

Just watch it…that’s all I got to say. If you are even remotely a Muppets fan you won’t be disappointed.

5 stars out of 5!!!

Day 49: Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc.
Directed by: Pete Docter & David Silverman
Starring: John Goodman, Billy Crystal & Steve Buscemi
Rated: G
Length: 92 min.
Released: November 2, 2001
Trailer

IMDB.com Synopsis:
In the world behind our closet doors, monsters like Mike and Sulley work hard for their income. To be exact, the monster world depends on our children’s screams: It is their energy that makes lightbulbs glow and cars drive. Big companies like Monsters, Inc. collect the scream energy, and many monsters work there in shifts. In these times, it is getting harder and harder to shock the kids properly, since they’re so spoiled by television, so that there’s an energy shortage in the monster world. Sulley, the number one frightener, one day accidentally lets a human child into the monster world. Since kids are supposed to be poisonous and carry loads of diseases, pandemonium ensues. After Mike and Sulley discover that the girl they named Boo actually seems quite harmless, they decide to bring her back through her door into her room. But Boo’s presence is more than just a mere accident. Now, Mike and Sulley have to face an enemy within their own ranks.

My Thoughts:
It’s hard to believe that this movie is now almost a decade old. I only have good stuff to say about this one. It has a great message, Crystal and Goodman are perfect and it has the perfect level of scare, adventure and comedy for the kids as well as the adults. Just the concept of kids scaring monsters is awesome. An idea that parents needed “proof” of for their kids for a long time. Thanks to Disney and Pixar…they have it.

That’s really all I have to say. I just love it. From beginning to end the film is a perfect family animated movie. You’ll just have to watch it for yourself and find out what I mean. I’m giving this one 5 stars out of 5. It’s an animated masterpiece.

Day 42: Jumanji

Jumanji
Directed by: Joe Johnston
Starring: Robin Williams, Jonathan Hyde, Kirsten Dunst & Bonnie Hunt
Rated: PG
Length: 104 min.
Released: December 15, 1995
Trailer

IMDB.com Synopsis:
When young Alan Parrish discovers a mysterious board game, he doesn’t realize its unimaginable powers until he is magically transported–before the startled eyes of his friend Sarah–into the untamed jungles of Jumanji! There he remains for 26 years until he is freed from the game’s spell by two unsuspecting children. Now a grown man, Alan reunites with Sarah and, together with Judy and Peter, tries to outwit the game’s powerful forces.

My Thoughts:
This is by far one of my favorite family adventure movies! It has such a great cast and a perfect blend of comedy, suspense and action along with a great lesson or two thrown in there.

In addition to Robin Williams and Bonnie Hunt being perfect together on screen, there are other performances that are spectacular to watch. Like, David Alan Grier and Jonathan Hyde.

The concept for the movie is taken from one of my favorite children’s books with the same title. This came out right around the time when special effects were really taking it to the next level with CG animation. Though it’s not “perfect” it’s pretty good and gets the job done nicely.

Simply put this one brings the kid out in me. I’m giving it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Day 34: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Directed by: Tim Burton
Starring: Johnny Depp & Freddie Highmore
Rated: PG
Length: 115 min.
Released: July 15, 2005
Trailer

IMDB.com Synopsis:
Charlie Bucket is a young boy who comes from a poor but loving family and would love nothing more than to find a golden ticket to enter the amazing chocolate factory run by inventor and owner Willy Wonka. As luck would have it, Charlie finds the last golden ticket and goes on this once-in-a-lifetime adventure with his grandpa Joe. Among the other four winners are Veruca Salt, a spoiled rich girl; Augustus Gloop, a gluttonous kid who stuffs his face with sweets; Violet Beuragarde, a champion trophy gum chewer; and Mike Teavee, a kid who spends more time watching TV and playing video games than anything else. Most fascinating is the mysterious Willy Wonka who in turn had a troubled childhood and has a special grand prize at the end for one of the kids. Also along the tour are Wonka’s staff the singing, working Oommpa Loompas.

My Thoughts:
Yet again, Tim Burton. My luck I’ve picked three Tim Burton films in the last 30 days. What fun. Though, this time it’s not apes on a strange planet he’s bringing back to life…it’s spoiled brats, Oompa-Loompas, and an incredible candy factory (and just released in theaters…his update of Alice and her Wonderland).

Obviously this film will be forever compared to the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolat Factory. Because of that, there are some things that work well in this updated version…and some things that don’t. The one thing I can say for sure is that I enjoyed this movie for, if nothing else, Johnny Depp’s performance of Mr. Willy Wonka. His fantasticly odd performance of a rather disturbed candy loving man gives the audience everything the old Willy Wonka was missing…depth. Credit should be given to both Depp, Burton and the screen writer John August. Together they do a great job diving into the story of Wonka more. It worked wonderfully. Nothing against the old one played by Gene Wilder, but this one just had that extra touch of odd that made him impossible to take your eyes off of. The special effects and art design were great and the modernization of the problem children and their “problems” due to terrible parents were perfect.

In fact, the only thing I really had a problem with were the Oompa-Loomas. They werre handled WAY better in the original. Now, Burton decides to use one short Indian guy to play all of them…okay? Sure, I’ll go with that, I guess. But then the musical numbers and dance routines just didn’t work…at all! This guy Deep Roy, God bless him, couldn’t dance, or sing, or do most anything that was required of him for the terribly bad musical numbers! The music score…phenomenal. The Oompa-Loompa dance number songs… horrendous. And let’s be honest…they wouldn’t have been that hard to do well! The original Oompa-Loompa song was great, all it needed was some jazzing up! Stick with what worked people! If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!…just step it up a notch!

Anyway, with all of that said I’m giving this one 3 stars out of 5. The whole picture was great, with the exception of how the Oompa-Loompas were handled. Unfortunately they were in it a lot and it hurt the film.

Day 30: Dudley Do Right

Dudley Do Right
Directed by: Hugh Wilson
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Sarah Jessica Parker, Alfred Molina & Eric Idle
Rated: PG
Length: 77 min.
Trailer

IMDB.com Synopsis:
Based on the 60′s-era cartoon of the same name. Royal Canadian Mountie Dudley Do-right is busy keeping the peace in his small mountain town when his old rival, Snidely Whiplash, comes up with a plot to buy all the property in town, then start a phony gold rush by seeding the river with nuggets. Can this well-meaning (though completely incompetent) Mountie stop Whiplash’s evil plan?

My Thoughts:
Anyone who has seen and loved the original cartoon will totally understand the humor in this movie. If not, you may find it a bit over the top (or as my wife calls it…dumb). I use to watch the cartoon growing up and I loved them! Right alongside George of the Jungle, Underdog and Super Chicken. Personally Dudley Do Right was always my favorite. I was a little apprehensive when this movie first came out because I wasn’t a huge fan of the way they handled the George of the Jungle re-make. However, this one is FAR more true the original feel of the cartoons…and for that I love it.

Fraser does a much better job as Dudley than he did George, and though I’m not a fan of Sarah Jessica Parker I didn’t find her all that bad in this movie. To be honest I almost forgot it was her. Then, of course, there is the man who would latter be known for his role as Doctor Octopus in Spider-man 2 Mr. Alfred Molina who plays Snidely Whiplash to a tee. He’s absolutely perfect. There is also a funny minor role by Monty Python cast member Eric Idle.

The humor is over the top, random and occasionally immature but it fits the cartoon perfectly and on the whole…it all just really works. It’s not a monumental or groundbreaking piece of film history, but it was never meant to be so stop your whining. I’m giving this one 3 stars out of 5.