More Movies

More movies. It's that time of year when all the summer movies I missed are now coming out on DVD for the holidays. I'm sad Red Box is uping their prices, but it still beats going to the theater...

Anyway...

Tree of Life (Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, etc) - I can see why this movie you either loved or hated. I think there's a middle ground (I fall into it), but it's more to do with "Wow, that was an interesting style of a movie to watch and good acting, but boy I am never seeing this again." It does help if you learn what the movie is about beforehand because this movie is very much a movie of artistry about life. There is very little dialogue in it and when there is, it's sometimes (not always) floaty and ethereal in some sense. More like someone watching the scene and making comments/questions during it, rather than within it. There is some actual dialogue, but not much. In addition, its time line is a little skewed, but as bad as some people made it out to be. The movie has a 20 minute sequence of watching Earth come into being (that took me a little while to understand) in the beginning. It's all imagery of space, the sun, volcanic eruptions, moment of dinosaurs, ocean being populated, etc. At the end, there is about 5 minutes of Earth being consumed by the sun. The movie starts in a place that sets the tone for the adult Jack (Sean Penn) and where he is in life, but the majority of the movie is him remembering his childhood. That I did not know. I knew it was about, well, life, but I thought it centered more on the adult and it doesn't. The adult basically sets it up and finishes it, but that's about it. The acting was good, especially for a movie with little dialogue and the dialogue that was said was pretty important. I can't say I'd recommend it to everyone. It's a 2:18 hour movie that is, as I said, very artsy. I've read some places that it's considered very impressionistic and it is. It's pretty slow paced and it's not a movie you can just casually watch. You really need to sit and have your attention on it at all times or you might miss something and the movie, as a whole, is the point. The point of it, though, seems mostly to be grace vs nature and which side we as humans decide to embrace and, in the end, coming to terms (or I guess for Penn's character, forgiveness and understanding) with the the two. If it sounds like your cup of tea, go for it. If not, I wouldn't bother unless you're curious as I was. It definitely wins, hands down, for artistry in a movie this year that I've seen. However, I can't say I loved or hated it. I am glad I watched it, but there is no way I'm watching it again. :)  Grade: B

Cars 2 (Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine) - Dawwww....I liked Cars 2! Not to say I was thinking I wouldn't like it beforehand, but sequels can always be questionable (even if it is Pixar). My only complaint is sometimes Mater annoyed me because he is just soooo obtuse. I know it's Mater, but there was a minute where I was just, "Gah! Why does he have to be so obtuse?!" And then it kind of goes away later. I can't say I particularly liked Cars 2 more than Cars, but it's close. I liked how Pixar managed to get in the eco thing again, but without bashing anyone's head over with it. I wasn't sure about the whole spy thing either, but I liked the way they did it. I also liked the little "mystery" they threw in there too. With that said, if a Cars 3 came out, I'd go see it. Though, next is Brave (2012) and then Planes (2013). Chris almost fainted when we were watching the DVD preview of Planes and we had no clue what it was yet (the animation for some of it looks real) until we finally figured out it WAS an animated film and Chris says, "What? Is this a new film about planes...? *pause for 30 seconds to watch the trailer* And it's called "Planes"?" End of the preview...It goes "PLANES 2013" Chris was appalled he was right and they'd be that cheesy. :P It'll be interesting, though! Now back to Cars 2... Grade: B+/A-

With that...Animated films of the year I've seen have come to...

Rio
Rango
Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs Evil
Kung Fu Panda 2
Gnomeo & Juliet
Cars 2

The only animation I maybe will not see before the Academy Awards is Puss in Boots ('cause of money woes). Hopefully the DVD will come out before the AA. With that said, I think Rio (Twentieth Century Fox), Cars 2 (Pixar), and Puss in Boots (Dreamworks) will be the three pictures up for the award. So, yes, I really want to see Puss in Boots! Plus, I want to see Kitty Softpaws. :P There is a chance Kung Fu Panda 2 might make the list over Puss in Boots (both by Dreamworks), but I don't think it's likely. There is also the chance they will pick another foreign film animation like last year (The Illusionist) and one of them won't get nominated. Gnomeo & Juliet (Touchstone) was also pretty good, but it's hard to go up against Dreamworks and Pixar and Twentieth Century Fox did an excellent job with Rio and I do like their Ice Age series too. In fact, I'm almost inclined to say that Rio might have been my favorite animation this year -- just barely. Cars 2 is close on its heels. Animation wise, Rango and Hoodwinked were both excellent, but Hoodwinked was not great and Rango (to me) just doesn't quite live up to the others. Though, in ways, I think Rango had the most realistic animation of the group. Anyway, I guess we'll see in a few months if I'm right or not. :)

With that...Time to head off!