Coraline

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Rating:  A-

Premise:  Coraline Jones is ignored by her parents and is very bored at her new home.  She discovers a secret door in her living room that takes her to an “other” alternate life.  Things seems dreamy until her other mom gets a little needy.  Then it gets creepy.

I love this book.  It is creepy and scary but doesn’t back down like most children’s books.  The movie is a good adaptation of the book and really brings the characters and images to life almost exactly how  I imagined them.  There is this great sense of creepiness from frame 1.  The animation is fantastic and so seamless that I forgot it wasn’t computer animation but stop motion.  The story drags a little but overall I liked this a lot.  Got an A- for the quality of the animation.  I saw this in 2-D but may have to go find a 3-D showing.

Technorati Tags: Coraline,Neil Gaiman,Henry Selick,Dakota Fanning,Ian McShane,Teri Hatcher,Keith David

WALL-E

Rating:  A+

WALL-E is the last robot on earth, doing his job picking up the trash.  His happy little life is disrupted when another robot, Eve, comes to town.

I had no idea what to expect out of this movie.  The last two Pixar films I thought were good but not the greatest.  This little movie is WONDERFUL!!!   More than a robot movie, it’s a love story.  I would see it again and again.  It is definitely for all ages.

Oh, and there is no dialog for the first 45 minutes.  You don’t miss it.

The short they play prior to the movie, Presto, is genius.  LOL funny.

Technorati Tags: WALL-E, Pixar, John Ratzenberger, Andrew Stanton, Presto

Persepolis

Rating: A

Animated movie that depics the life of Marjane Satrapi's life from her childhood in Iran during the Islamic Revolution to her adulthood in Europe.

This is a beautiful movie.  A must-see.

Technorati Tags: Persepolis,Marjane Satrapi

The Simpsons Movie

Rating: B

Springfield is an eco-disaster so the EPA and President Schwarzeneger (?) decide to put a huge dome over it.   The Simpsons manage to escape and move to Alaska (which is apparently walking distance from Springfield) but go back to help their friends and neighbors when the EPA goes a little psycho on them (the friends and neighbors).

I thought this was just so-so.  It was worth watching until the end but I never need to see it again.

Technorati Tags: The Simpsons, Homer, Bart, Lisa, Maggie, Marge

Ratatouille

Grade:  B

Premise:  A rat named Remy hooks up with a wanna be chef, Linguini, and cook up some food.

Recommend:  I want to say "YES"!  But I can't .  The first 1/2 of this movie is SO BORING.  I love all things Pixar and I was wondering if I should leave or stick with it.  Fortunately, I decided to stick with it because the second half of the movie was fantastic!  I can actually remember the scene in the movie where I noticed that I was enjoying it.   The kids in the audience were laughing through the whole movie but, if you are an adult, rent it.  Hate to say it.  I will still buy it but it really isn't that great.   I must say that the Pixar short "Lifted" that shows prior to the movie is genius.  The animation, of course, is unbelievable.

Technorati Tags: Ratatouille, Disney, Pixar, Remy

Shrek the Third

Grade: B

Premise: The king of Far Far Away dies and leaves the keys to the kingdom to Shrek and Fiona. They just want to go back to their swamp so Shrek picks up the next heir, Prince Artie to take his place. Prince Charming strikes a deal with the fairy tale losers to take over Far Far Away.

Recommend?:Rent it if you are an adult and want to see it but take the kids to the theater. It hasn't gotten strong reviews, and I'll admit to wishing I had a TIVO like remote control during parts of it, but overall it really wasn't that bad. This does need to be the end of the Shrek franchise though. There is a part with the Princesses towards the end that is HYSTERICAL!!! Almost worth the price of admission.

Shrek Mike Myers Cameron Diaz

Cars

Grade:B+

Premise: Race Car gets stuck in a town full of hicks on Route 66.

Recommend?: Not my favorite of the Disney/Pixar films but I did enjoy it. Probably on par with "A Bugs Life". The racing sequences are fantastic and some of the animation looks real until you see the faces on the cars.

Howl's Moving Castle

Grade: A

Premise: A young woman gets turned into an old lady by a witch and has to go to the wizard Howl for help.

Recommend?: This movie was a little slow at times but it was really beautiful. Might be a little over the heads of little ones but there are some cool characters. I might have to buy this one.


Howl's Moving Castle Movie Review miyazaki

Wallace and Grommit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Grade: F

Premise: Wallace & Grommit go in search of the were-rabbit

Recommend?: Only for anglophiles. I made it through a 1/2 hour before I was bored to tears. I know that I'm in the serious minority on this one.


wallace
grommit

Madagascar

Grade: C

Premise: 4 animals from the Central Park Zoo end up in the "wild"

Recommend?: Sure, if you have time to spare. It wasn't that great but I wasn't pissed off that I watched it. The penguins were a disappointment - the best scenes were all in the movie trailer. The one thing that really bugs me about Dreamworks animation is that they put all sorts of modern references into their movies. These movies won't stand the test of time - the funny jokes won't be so funny when no one can identify the reference.

Madagascar

The Corpse Bride

Grade: A

Premise: A young man about to be married in an arranged social marriage accidentally says "I Do" to a distraught Corpse Bride.

Recommend?: Yes. Although for those looking at this movie to "out-do" Nightmare before Christmas - you will be disappointed. It's a totally different kind of story. The animation is exceptional and the story is sweet and a bit dark. Out of two couples that went - the women liked it a lot and the men liked the ending but not the whole movie.

Corpse Bride
Tim Burton
Johnny Depp

The Spongebob Squarepants Movie

Grade: B

Premise: Spongebob and Patrick go on a mission to find King Neptune's crown.

Are you ready kids? (AY AY CAPTAIN!) I liked this movie. It's not a must own but it kept me entertained for 1.5 hours. Warning: If you can't handle the cartoon (too silly, spastic) there is no way you can get through the movie. It is very silly. Better done than I expected although the Nickelodeon cartoons-to-movies usually aren't bad. Everyone in my office hated this although their kids liked it. I'm sure this says something about me...

Shark Tale

Grade: C

Premise: Will Smith's fish alter ego pretends to kill Jack Black's shark alter ego. Robert DeNiro's shark alter ego gets pissy.

I didn't love this movie but I can see why kids would like it. I really REALLY can't stand it when animated movies do the following: 1) make animals look like humans and do human things instead of animal things and 2) make animal habitats resemble human habitats (reef becomes NYC). If you have to rely on these gimmicks - you have no movie. Or rather, you have no movie with any kind of lasting power. Shark Tale does both of these things. I was bored through most of it but managed to stick it out. Giving it a C because if you have to watch it with your kids - you will make it and they will like it.

The Polar Express

Grade: B

Premise: Skeptical boy gets to go on a trip aboard the "Polar Express".

Well...this is my favorite book of all time and so I was interested to see how they were going to stretch a 32 page book into 1.5 hours. Not very well, unfortunately. They could have easily shaved 1/2 hour off this movie. Whenever they fell short of story - they'd move to gratuitous "How cool is our animation?" scenes that got tiresome. The story holds up and the ending is great. Gave it a "B" because the animation is outstanding. If you want to see it - see it at a matinee showing.

Brother Bear

Grade: B-

Premise: Native American boy loses his brother to a bear - then becomes a bear.

This was on cable and, being the Disney fan that I am, decided to suck it up and watch it. I expected it to be terrible. Surprisingly - it wasn't. I even got a little teary eyed at the end. If you've been on the fence about this one - check it out...you may be pleasantly surprised!

The Incredibles

Grade: A

Premise: Family of retired superheroes come out of hiding to save the day.

The movie starts out slow (could have shaved off 15 minutes of the first 1/2 hour) but the rest of the movie just flys by. The animation is Pixar's best. The story is great - a LOT of laugh out loud moments. I would rate this up with Toy Story. It has a PG rating for the following (that I could figure out): some sexual overtones (light), lots of guns, characters dying. I think that you could still take a young kid to see this.

Spirited Away

Grade: C

Premise: Anime film. Little girl works in a bathhouse to the spirits in order to rescue her parents who have turned into pigs.

This movie is beautiful. The animation is wonderful. The story is a little strange but you get used to it...some scary characters. Definitely a must see....maybe not a must own though...doubtful that I would sit through it again.

The Triplets of Belleville

Grade: B
Premise: French cyclist raised by his grandma is kidnapped by the French Mafia. Grandma, dog and the frog eating Triplets of Belleville go find him.

I had been wanting to see this movie since I heard about it last year. Hand drawn animation from France. Was a pleasure to see after the wreck that was Home on the Range. The best part about this movie is that there is no dialogue. The writers relied on action to establish relationships and story...truly interesting to watch.