Those critics that keep writing that this or that new film from Woody Allen has brought the famed director back to form is living in the past. Yes, during the late ’90s and early 2000s, Allen was not making his best work, but it’s been six years since MATCH POINT (his best since 1989’s CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS) and in between that and now we got VICKY CRISTINA BARCELONA. With this film, Allen has returned to his whimsical comedy work like THE PURPLE ROSE OF CAIRO.

Gil (Owen Wilson, BOTTLE ROCKET) is a successful screenwriter, who works on hack material. He has always wanted to write a novel, but has never had the guts. On vacation in Paris, he finds inspiration to start. His fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams, THE NOTEBOOK) worries that he’s throwing away his lucrative career on a gamble. This would also throw away their house in Malibu. Tired of hanging out with Inez’s pseudo-intellectual friend Paul (Michael Sheen, FROST/NIXON) and his clueless wife Carol (Nina Arianda, WIN WIN), Gil takes late-night walks and gets teleported back to the 1920s.

This fantastic journey is everything Gil could hope for because as he says, he was born too late. On his first night, he visits a party where Cole Porter (Yves Heck) is playing. Then he runs into F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald (Tom Hiddleston, THOR & Alison Pill, MILK), who turn out to be the lively and volatile couple he always imagined them to be. Later that evening, they introduce him to their friend Ernest Hemingway (Corey Stoll, SALT). Gil asks him to read his novel and Hemingway says he hates it before he even reads it, because if it is terrible he will hate it and if it is good, he’ll be jealous and he’ll hate it. So he recommends that his friend Gertrude Stein (Kathy Bates, MISERY) read it.

At Stein’s home, Gil meets Pablo Picasso (Marcial Di Fonzo Bo, THE MAN I LOVE), who is having an affair with the beautiful Adriana (Marion Cotillard, INCEPTION), who moved to Paris to design clothes with Coco Chanel. Gil finds her fascinating, but so does Hemingway. What does a guy do? Sit down in a café with surrealists Salvador Dali (Adrien Brody, THE PIANIST), Luis Bunuel (Adrien de Van, IN MY SKIN) and Man Ray (Tom Cordier) perhaps?

Gil finds inspiration in the past, but will he get trapped there… literally? He is always inexplicably brought back to the present where his strange behavior is questioned by Inez, who seems only interested in one thing from the past   expensive antique furniture – and not Gil’s silly manuscript about an owner of a nostalgia shop. Inez’s father John (Kurt Fuller, WAYNE’S WORLD) actually hires a private investigator to follow Gil to see where he goes at night. This could be trouble because he’s falling in love with a possible figment of his imagination.

This comedy certainly provides more laughs to those that are fans of literature and film. I’m not sure the average viewer would get the bit where Gil tells Luis Bunuel to make a film about rich people not being able to leave a dinner party and Bunuel not getting why they just don’t walk out the door. But what makes this film so good is that it doesn’t matter. It certainly rewards fans of art, but the characters are relatable. It’s not uncommon for many people to believe that they would have been better suited living in an earlier “golden” age. Gil allows the viewer to live out that fantasy and experience the joys and pitfalls that it brings. As an artist Gil’s trips to the past are inspiring, because great artists of the past are always inspiring to new artists. We live in their era every time we read their books or see their films or gaze upon their paintings.

This is certainly a lighter work from Allen, but it’s one of his best lighter films. He finds another good conduit for his “Woody Allen” character in Wilson, who, whether conscious or not, takes on Allen tics in his performance. Allen, like Gil, might love the 1920s, but he’s still making films that people of the early 21st century can relate to.

This site is a member of Animation blogspot, part of the Animation World Network

What I love about so many Chinese historical epics is how they blend history and myth. Now famed director Hark Tsui, who created the ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA series, brings the real life story of Chinese historical icons Detective Dee and Empress Wu to the screen in a big budget, vfx-driven spectacle that includes spontaneous human combustion, high flying kung fu and a talking deer.

Detective Dee (Andy Lau, HOUSE OF FLYING DAGGERS) was exiled after engaging in a revolt against regent Wu (Carina Lau, 2046), who he believed was murdering her way into becoming the first empress of China. On the eve of her coronation, a series of mysterious murders have occurred where people have been bursting into flames. Wu decides to bring back Dee in order to prove that she is not involved and partners him with her top officer Shangguan Jing’er (Bingbing Li, THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM).

But he doesn’t know who to trust, so he seeks the advice of the arrogant albino detective Pei Donglai (Chao Deng, ASSEMBLY), who is also a suspect. At the site of one of the murders, the construction site of the giant Buddha created in the likeness of Wu, he meets one of his former conspirators, the foreman Shatuo Zhong (Tony Leung Ka Fai, ELECTION), who leads the investigation into a supernatural direction and adds the powerful and mysterious chaplain into the growing possible murderer list.

Detective Dee uses keen observation like Sherlock Holmes in a movie that has the vibe of a 7th century James Bond flick. If a top sleuth has to have a cool weapon what would be cooler than one that can determine weaknesses? Dee’s mace can find the flaw in an opponent’s weapon and then destroy it. That’s a gadget that 007 never had. Like HERO, this tale has very Chinese themes. Dee is more interested in the greater good than revenge. He is determined to find the murderer, but not if it costs innocent people their lives. As a result he comes off as a noble, selfless figure.

Visually alone this film is worth seeing. The action set pieces, costumes and fight choreography are rich and exciting. The sky-scraper-high Buddha is a magnificent construction. I’d vote for it to be the eighth wonder of the world. The Phantom city is an underground black market where six-armed men play instruments, mechanical puppets attack and boat rides are inspired by the River Styx. Looking at Empress Wu’s elaborate gowns, one wonders how long it takes her to get dressed in the morning. The chaplain’s retreat is guarded by evocative stone statues that suggest movement and a herd of deer that aren’t afraid to use their antlers.

The real Detective Dee was Di Renjie, an official who served in the Chinese Tang Dynasty and Wu Zetian’s Zhou Dynasty and was a key figure in transforming Wu’s reign from terror to honesty. You won’t see the real version of his story here. But when you’re making a fantastical epic detective tale use the legend instead of the truth every time.

Support the Site

Buy “Detective Dee” on DVD Here!

Support the Site

Buy “Detective Dee” on Blu-ray Here!

This site is a member of Animation blogspot, part of the Animation World Network

What could a 3-D family film from Martin Scorsese be like? With HUGO now as an example, the answer is magical. And it’s a magic that Scorsese is best suited to bring to life — the magic of the movies. At one point, a young boy visits a movie studio and the director leans down to him and tells him if he’s ever wondered where his dreams come from this is where they are made.

Based on Brian Selznick’s celebrated illustrated novel THE INVENTION OF HUGO CABRET, the story follows its title character (Asa Butterfield, THE BOY WITH THE STRIPED PAJAMAS) as he survives as an orphan in the clockworks of a Paris train station. After his father (Jude Law, A.I.), a clock maker, died, he has been trying to finish a project they were working on together — fixing an automaton. This mechanical human is a complex one that seems to be designed to write something and Hugo believes it will give him a message from his dad. But the boy loses his notebook filled with calculations to Papa Georges (Ben Kingsley, GANDHI) after the toyshop owner catches him trying to steal. What Hugo doesn’t know is that Georges is Georges Melies, the once famed filmmaker who is best known for A TRIP TO THE MOON, where a rocket sticks into the eye of the man on the moon.

In order to get his book back, Hugo befriends Georges’ goddaughter Isabelle (Chloe Grace Moretz, KICK-ASS), who loves secrets and adventures. Their friendship soon grows around fixing the automaton, which they discover has connections to Isabelle’s heart shaped key, Papa Georges and his wife Mama Jeanne (Helen McCrory, INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE). Hugo shares his philosophy that the world is one big machine and because no machine has extra parts, everyone must have a purpose. He is struggling to find his though. Isabelle suggests that he is meant to fix things.

Every moment is filled with the joy of filmmaking. Leave it to a master filmmaker like Scorsese to transform the novelty of 3-D into something more. We’ve seen dozens of versions of epic clockworks, but never with this kind of tension. The heights and whirling gears seem far more threatening. Take the Lumiere brothers’ pioneering 1897 film ARRIVAL OF A TRAIN AT LA CIOTAT. It was just a train arriving in the station approaching the camera, but when it was screened for the first time people were frightened as the locomotive came toward them. Using 21st century 3-D filmmaking techniques, Scorsese recreates this sensation for an audience with film in their DNA.

For the film buffs, Scorsese works in references to a great deal of Melies’ work, as well as another famous clock scene from Harold Lloyd’s SAFETY LAST to stick with the theme of time. When the automaton isn’t working, Hugo says that it is just waiting to do what it was meant to do and we can’t help but believe this also refers to Melies. Before cinema, he was a magician and he brought his talent for illusion to film as a profound innovator in special effects. After WWI, tastes changed and his films weren’t popular anymore. Desperate for money, he sold most of his films to a company that melted them down to make shoe heals. Preservationist Scorsese comes through loud and clear.

But this isn’t just a history lesson about film — it captures the joy of film from the creator to the spectator. The surreal version of Paris glows electric and has a touch of steam punk to it too. Films bring people together to share experiences. In this film, Hugo brings people together. He watches stories unfold in his station. Monsieur Frick (Richard Griffiths, WITHNAIL & I) can’t seem to get a moment with Madame Emilie (France de la Tour, HARRY POTTER) because of her snippy dog. The station inspector, played by Sacha Baron Cohen (BORAT) in full on Peter Sellers mode, is obsessed with catching thieves, but can the sweet flower girl Lisette (Emily Mortimer, MATCH POINT) make him smile? Can Hugo make Georges accept his past and do what he is meant to do?

Now that I’ve seen this film I couldn’t think of a better filmmaker to have made it. Scorsese has recreated past worlds in films like THE AGE OF INNOCENCE and GANGS OF NEW YORK, but not like he’s done with 1930s Paris. He’s done comedy before in AFTER HOURS, but not like the classic slapstick and word play as he does here. He’s dealt with real life figures in films like RAGING BULL and THE AVIATOR, but not like the loving tribute he pays to Melies, whose work is the reason we have a film like HUGO. This film leaves no doubt what Martin Scorsese was meant to do.

This site is a member of Animation blogspot, part of the Animation World Network

The holidays have different meanings to everyone. For better or worse it’s usually a time for family. Now from Aardman Animations, the creator of WALLACE & GROMIT, comes a modern look at Santa and his family. What we find out is that even good ole Saint Nick has a dysfunctional family.

Being the big guy in the red suit is a Claus family tradition that has been passed down for generations. The current Santa (Jim Broadbent, IRIS), however, is more of a figurehead these days. The one-night present delivery enterprise has been streamlined by his heir apparent, his oldest son Steve (Hugh Lurie, TV’s HOUSE), a military type hunk with a Christmas-tree-shaped goatee. Steve has the elves working like special ops soldiers who can get a package in and under the tree in a matter of seconds.

Santa’s other son Arthur (James McAvoy, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) is the opposite of his older sibling. He loves Christmas like a child, but his clumsiness has relegated him to the letter response division. After the gifts have been delivered, he tries to get his family to play Christmas the board game and the fight over who will get the Santa player piece underlines the resentments between fathers and sons… and grandfathers. Grandsanta (Bill Nighy, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST) is over 130 years old and turns up his nose to the giant rocketship that passes for a sleigh these days. Mrs. Santa (Imelda Staunton, VERA DRAKE) calmly watches it all from a distance with the ability to take charge when called on.

When the elf Bryony (Ashley Jensen, GNOMEO & JULIET) finds a missed present during clean-up, she alerts Steve, who seems unfazed because one missed gift out of the millions of gifts properly delivered is a great success rate. But when Arthur finds out he is aghast. One little girl will wake up on Christmas day believing that Santa doesn’t love her. Grandsanta decides to break out the old sleigh named Eve and the reindeer and get that present under the tree with Arthur and Bryony along for the ride.

At its core the film addresses the loss of the Christmas spirit in the holidays, but it is never made too obvious or maudlin. Arthur is the one who keeps it alive and his simple joy is all we need. The others have other motivations. Santa likes being Santa because  of the status, even though he has long handed over the day-to-day operations to a younger guy. Steve is that younger guy who has lost the point of the family business at some point while patting himself on the back for being so much better than the older, out of touch guys. Grandsanta just wants to prove that the old ways are better. Arthur has to battle against these family conflicts and his own self doubts, but he gets some help from the plucky Bryony, who is the best gift wrap elf around. Her belief that there is always time for a bow is unflappable.

Coming from Aardman there is certainly a dose cheeky British humor, but this isn’t just for those who say happy Christmas. This is a film about the awe of gift giving and family.  For those who don’t even celebrate Christmas, they can relate to the family dynamics and how they come to a head during holidays. Humor is mined from this conflict much like A CHRISTMAS STORY or HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS.

As a new take on the Santa myth, Sarah Smith’s film does take ideas we have seen before, but does so in a fresh way. The elves slick operation and skills are unmatched in their ingenuousness. They really have a plan for noisy toys and their battery removal when a child is stirring and could blow the entire mission. The contrast of the modern military like operation and the magic-infused way of the past doesn’t seem more obvious then when you find out what Grandsanta used as primitive stealth mode in his time.

With a perfect voice cast, this animated adventure comes to life with characters we love and relate to. To its great credit, there is no bad guy here. There are only three men who have lost sight of the meaning of the season and need to start seeing it through the haze-free eyes of Arthur. As an unsentimental, and yet joyous, celebration of Christmas, this smile-inducing comedy has the ability to become a perennial must-see for the holiday season.

This site is a member of Animation blogspot, part of the Animation World Network

This film won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. Director Apichatpong Weerasethakul is from Thailand and the story deals with a dying man recollecting his life. This includes living, dead and missing relatives and past lives that include a shepherd, futuristic soldiers, pet apes, a princess and a frisky catfish. The whimsical title fits the mood of this surprisingly touching and humorous film.

Boonmee (Thanapat Saisaymar) is suffering from kidney disease and has a Lao nurse caring for him. His sister-in-law Jen (Jenjira Pongpas) and nephew Tong (Sakda Kaewbuadee) come to visit and help out around his farm. Boonmee proposes that if he dies Jen could leave the city and take over the farm, but she’s scared of wild animals and all those smelly foreigners in the area. As we get to know them, we find that despite his health problems Boonmee is eternally optimistic, while Jen is nervous and caring. Then one night out of the blue during dinner, the ghost of Boonmee’s dead wife Huay (Natthakarn Aphaiwonk) appears. And this will be the least strange appearance of the evening.

The handling of the supernatural events is unique. There is shock to begin with, but shock in the way an unexpected guest surprises. Ghosts of all kinds are believed to be part of the world as naturally as the living. Some are more unusual than others. The monkey ghosts are like black-haired Big Foots with glowing red eyes. They creep around corners and through the jungle like slowly moving shadows. Huay comes back exactly as Boonmee remembered her when she died, while his long lost son Boonsong (Geerasak Kulhong) comes back completely different.

As the living interact with the dead, we get to look into the thoughts of Boonmee and the way he lived his life. When Huay died, he followed through with a promise to start a bee farm in her honor. While he hasn’t shown grief over her passing, he has missed her dearly and wonders if he dies whether they will be together in heaven. She tells him that heaven is boring because there is nothing there. Boonmee tells of how much he searched for Boonsong after he disappeared, but his son had to follow his heart. In the end, Boonmee travels to a cave where the rock sparkles in the sunlight. It looks like a womb he says and remembers being born there in one of his lives. Like so many of this film, it is otherworldly and captivating.

This dramedy presents a life, blending reality and illusion. An epilogue helps define the line a bit more for the audience. What is real or not is of no matter because it is real enough for Boonmee. It is the way he sees the world and we can forgive the indulgences of a dying man. Watch how he sees people differently then they are. Is it a skewed perception, a dream or a wish? In seeing his life unfold for us, we look at our own loves and losses and wonder how many truths in our lives are based on spirits or hopes.

Support the Site

Buy “Uncle Boonmee” on DVD Here!

Support the Site

Buy “Uncle Boonmee” on Blu-ray Here!

This site is a member of Animation blogspot, part of the Animation World Network

This is a movie for fans. While I haven’t read the books it feels like every detail is here, because it’s a slog to move through. If you don’t care about these characters going in, it’s not really going to change your opinion. For non-fans it really is like getting invited to a stranger’s wedding.

An exorbitant amount of time is spent at the beginning preparing and celebrating the wedding of Bella (Kristen Stewart, THE RUNAWAYS) and Edward (Robert Pattinson, WATER FOR ELEPHANTS). We are introduced to a host of new and old characters that have no meaning to those who have not memorized Stephenie Meyer sacred tome. Hey why is Shannon from LOST or The Ice Truck Killer from DEXTER on the guest list? But I guess this will make more sense in PART 2. Or maybe not because this isn’t a series interested in developing the enormous amount of supporting characters.

Then the film spends an exorbitant amount of time on Bella and Edward’s honeymoon. From the rage-filled reaction of Bella’s adoring werewolf admirer Jacob (Taylor Lautner, ABDUCTION), sex between a human and vampire is a dangerous experience. So the tension of the entire honeymoon sequence is whether Edward will hurt Bella during sex. Their rental place gets trashed a few times in the process.

The real drama sets in when Bella discovers that she is pregnant and that the mutant baby is killing her as it rapidly grows and steals all her nutrients. Edward wants to get rid of the “thing,” but Bella is determined to have the child of the love of her life whether it kills her or not. The child, who the vampires didn’t even think was possible, scares the wolf pack, which set out to kill it. Jacob must now choose between his family and Bella.

The plot is straight up soup opera material. It’s like the time characters got possessed by demons on DAYS OF OUR LIVES. I have a very good reason for knowing this happened if you care to ask. What this film does have going for it is that Bill Condon (KINSEY) is the best director the series has seen. He doesn’t dwell on the most salacious moments. He plays some melodramatic moments for mild laughs. He strikes a balance between sudsy, camp and genuine that serves the material as best as it can.

The problem really is that with so much detail it drags. Minor conflicts seem silly compared to the bigger issues swirling around. Should I or shouldn’t I wear the sexy nighty or worrying if your breath stinks seems ridiculous compared to could an Edward orgasm send me rocketing into space. And even that conflict seems ridiculous.

The baby presents a real conflict. Meyer’s anti-abortion theme stays intact, but is down played. While this section is certainly better than the first two, there is no tension. They say Bella’s life is in danger but you don’t believe it. The chance Edward can turn her into a vampire at the last second kills any real threat. The wolves are in a holding pattern outside the Cullen house. What are they pussycats or wolves? If the demon child is such a threat why aren’t they storming the castle? They don’t take it as an imminent threat so we don’t. And does anyone believe that Jacob would kill Bella’s newborn whether it has fangs or not?

Even though the film is based on only part of the final book, it does feel like a full story with a beginning, middle and end. That’s one thing is has on HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS - PART 1. But trap me in a tent with Harry, Ron and Hermione any day over being stuck in a house with these sappy, mopey glittery blood lovers. I felt like taking Jacob’s advice when he said, “I know how this ends and I’m not sticking around to watch.”

This site is a member of Animation blogspot, part of the Animation World Network

Tarsem Singh brings his unique visual style from his previous films THE CELL and THE FALL to this Greek myth epic. Within his surreal CG landscapes and strange, but beautiful, costumes, he gives us a classic hero and a maniacal villain. These elements worked for me. If you allow the simple man vs. man story and the visuals to sweep you along, you will find enjoyment in this 300-inspired actioner.

Theseus (Henry Cavill, TV’s THE TUTORS) is a peasant who lives in a village that is built on a sheer cliff. Beside the inherent tension of living in such a place, I’m not sure why people would settle here. King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke, THE WRESTLER) is laying siege to city after city, angry with the gods for allowing his family to die. He is in search of the Epirus Bow, a magic weapon that sends unlimited arrows with the power to blow up impenetrable walls. His goal is to free the Titans, the only beings known to be able to kill gods. While Theseus doesn’t believe in the gods, Zeus (Luke Evans, CLASH OF THE TITANS) believes in him and so does the virgin oracle Phaedra (Freida Pinto, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE).

So I’d like to get out of the way the things that don’t work. The gods. Zeus commands that the other gods not help the humans against Hyperion in order to keep their free will in tact. But he seems to have been influencing Theseus his whole life, but just in human form. Oh so that doesn’t break the rules I guess. But the other gods can’t help but break the rules. Poseidon (Kellan Lutz, TWILIGHT) sends a giant tidal wave to kill Theseus’ enemies when they are outnumbered, but how does the wave know who are the good guys and the bad guys? And there is another wrinkle to this whole no helping rule too. If the Titans are unleashed, the gods will help. So what’s the big threat with these Titans for Theseus? If they enter the game, Zeus is calling in the ringers. It made me realize why people stopped believing in the Greek gods, their stories are just not as dramatically satisfying as other deity out there.

The film is certainly influenced by 300 in its R-rated blood letting, which is even more gruesome as heads smash and bodies are dissected in 3-D. And if you’re going with the R you might as well put some tasteful nudity in there as well.  Tarsem even borrows the copious use of slow motion that Zack Snyder loves. Charley and Vlas Parlapanides’ script even uses the military strategy of funneling the enemy through a tight tunnel in order to minimize the effects of their overwhelming numbers. The problem here is that the enemy creates the tunnel, so why not just knock down the whole wall? But then you wouldn’t get Theseus running through one enemy after another down a long hall OLDBOY style. But take the scene where Theseus takes on the Minotaur. Tarsem frames and edits the sequence in a way that is disorienting, which creates a great deal of tension.

So why should you see this you might be asking now? Tarsem’s visual genius for starters. The Titans looking like mud crusted warriors locked away in a marble cube strung together with each other with one long metal bit in their mouths. A devastated Theseus receiving life saving water poured into his mouth from the gorgeous lips of Phaedra. The golden headdresses of the gods as they lounge on the marble slab in the heavens. The barbwired head of the Minotaur. The flowing red dresses of the oracle and her decoy sisters. Phaedra and Theseus covered in dark oil from the polluted sea. The sliver torture device in the shape of a giant bull. The savage looking masks of Hyperion and his army. The illogical but haunting locations. The list goes on and on.

The second is Hyperion. Rourke is perfect as this worn-down, bitter, scarred ancient king. He is cruel, but for a reason. His motivation is revenge. Theseus is his opposite. He fights for the poor and weak. Because the gods see his noble heart, they watch over him. These are the gods that Hyperion believes forsake him and his family. This clash between good vs. evil works, because the actors fit the roles and the landscape they perform against is fresh. If you think gods are fair, just ask Hyperion, he’ll tell you all about it. It’s easy to have faith when the gods have your back, just look at Theseus.

Some have complained that the film doesn’t make much sense. In actuality the plot is simple. Hyperion wants to take over and Theseus is destined to stop him. I’ll admit the gods just muddy everything up, but isn’t that always the case with Greek gods? For me they weaken the story, but don’t destroy it. If you’re going to deal with Greek gods and not change the myths completely, there are inherent dramatic problems. But I’ll take those dramatic problems any day if they are brought to the screen by Tarsem and Rourke.

This site is a member of Animation blogspot, part of the Animation World Network

Part of what made SHREK 2 work was the addition of Puss in Boots to the franchise. It’s not surprising that he would get his own film. Unfortunately some of the sharpness the character brought to that film has been declawed for this one. The irreverent take on fairy tales is gone. In its place — cat jokes.

Don’t get me wrong the cat gags are the funniest bits, but they don’t have the layers that made the first two SHREK films special. In this origin story, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas, DESPERADO) is cast as an orphan who becomes blood brothers with fellow orphan outcast Humpty Dumpty (Zack Galifianakis, THE HANGOVER). They are in search of the magic beans of legend. The duo continuously get in trouble until one day Puss gets a taste of being a hero and vows to go straight. Bad blood forms and Puss is wrongfully believed an outlaw. Years later he is reunited with Humpty, who now has a female feline thief sidekick named Kitty Softpaws (Selma Hayek, DESPERADO). Humpty wants to put their past behind them and work together to steal the magic beans from the notorious murderers Jack and Jill (Billy Bob Thonrton, SLINGBLADE & Amy Sedaris, STRANGERS WITH CANDY).

The story kicks off with an exciting action sequence where Puss races across rooftops that really injects the film with energy and fun. For about half the film, the characters and gags are engaging, but then it falls into a conventional plot structure, leaving the rest predictable at every step. The plot borrows a great deal from Sergio Leone type films. There is also a reveal to start the third act that makes a lot that came before seem unbelievably complex. It’ll make you believe that Bond villains’ plots are sensible.

The repairing of the DESPERADO duo of Banderas and Hayek is one of the bright spots. The playful relationship that develops between Puss and Kitty is reminiscent of classic adversarial romances of the Golden Age of Hollywood. It’s like having a Spanish Bob Hope comedy… but with cats. Unfortunately again, their story takes a back seat to the relationship between Puss and Humpty. As the egg, Galifianakis sounds a great deal like Patton Oswald in RATATOUILLE. Where there is some spark between Puss and Kitty, there is a mismatch between Puss and Humpty. You know exactly how things will turn out the second the flashback to how the adopted brothers met ends.

Some of the fairy tale elements, like the combination of the Humpty and the golden goose tale, have some cleverness, but none of it has the edge that the early SHREK films have. Where those films felt like they were skewering sacred cows, this film, like the latter SHREK sequels, seems content with puns and easy gags. With great timing, the jokes so often do work. For the less discerning or younger viewer this might be enough. But the more familiar the plot gets the less fresh everything seems and I found myself laughing less and wanting more. It’s more of a disappointment than a failure. The production is as handsome as its lead character thinks he is, but the hairballs of an origin story get caught in his throat too often.

This site is a member of Animation blogspot, part of the Animation World Network

The economy of storytelling is the most impressive element of this slight animated feature. Following the poor performances of PINOCCHIO, BAMBI and FANTASIA, the lavish production values were toned down. Less spectacle but not less character. This story of an elephant with jumbo ears fills the big top with emotion in only 64 minutes.

When the stork delivers Mrs. Jumbo’s baby son, her fellow elephants label him with the name Dumbo, because of his giant ears. The ridicule he receives only makes the shy little pachyderm even more bashful. Like any good mother, Mrs. Jumbo defends her child from tormentors, but her actions are not taken favorably by the circus management. Dumbo, whose real name in Jumbo Jr., is now left to fend for himself as the circus decides to put the silly looking animal in the clown act, so people can laugh at him more.

The story is instantly recognizable to the inner awkward child in all of us. The naive elephant is presented as eager and inquisitive, but also clumsy. Those ears do get in the way. He gains a guardian in the tough Timothy Q. Mouse (Edward Brophy, FREAKS), who serves as the film’s Jiminy Cricket. As is the case with many awkward children, Dumbo needs to find his talent. For those who know isn’t his talent a nice dose of ironic justice?

The character animation is such an essential part because two of its primary characters do not talk. But much is communicated in the body language between Mrs. Jumbo and her son. The trunk touching scene is full of emotion and we only see Mrs. Jumbo’s trunk. We’ve seen countless numbers of similar scenes in live-action films set at prisons where a parent is separated from their child, but do any of them carry the same emotional charge as this scene from DUMBO?

There is overblown controversy associated with the film as well. The crows Dumbo and Timothy encounter have been looked upon as offensive depictions of black people. They’re stereotypes at worst, but not blackface buffoons like some would make them out to be. In the end, they serve a key role in giving Dumbo the courage to embrace his unique gift (that they know something about) and get the best song in the film, “When I See an Elephant Fly.”

While one might have to bare through the dated music of the now cliche stork delivery scenes that start the film, once Jumbo Jr. arrives the film hits its stride. The pink elephant parade (a sequence that wouldn’t fly in children’s entertainment today) seems a bit like padding, but it does allow for some nice experimental animation to creep in. It’s this kind of free-form fantasy that animation does best.

Who hasn’t been self conscious about something in their appearance at some point in their lives? This universal emotion is what is at the core of this simple story. Those big ears are a big metaphor for a big part of the human condition.

This site is a member of Animation blogspot, part of the Animation World Network

This is one of those movies that baffles the mind. Based on the visual excitement in the previews and track record of director Zack Snyder, I eagerly anticipated his first original enterprise. After seeing it, one hopes he sticks to faithful adaptations of other people’s work. It’s epic for sure. An epic fail.

The film beats us over the head right from the start. Baby Doll (Emily Browning, LEMONY SNICKET’S) is a 20 year old woman living at home with her mother and stepfather (Gerard Plunkett, EIGHT BELOW). When her mother dies under suspicious circumstances, she fears for her and her young sister’s life at the hands of their stepfather, who doesn’t inherit the family wealth unless the girls are dead. A series of events transpire that leads the stepfather to have Baby Doll institutionalized and set up for a lobotomy. One has to give it to Snyder to tell his entire first act without dialogue, but it’s done like an aggressive music video and robs the viewer of any emotional connection with the characters and their plight.

The asylum is run by the corrupt orderly Blue Jones (Oscar Isaac, ROBIN HOOD). Dr. Vera Gorski (Carla Gugino, SIN CITY) runs play acting exercises for the patients in order to help free them from their problems. Baby Doll takes to the therapy very well and delves into rich fantasy worlds to escape from her “prison.”

The film presents two layers of fantasy and with each layer the film gets less engaging to the audience. In the first layer, Baby Doll casts herself and her fellow patients as striptease artists. Her dances are so provocative and raw that the men get mesmerized by them. This allows her fellow patients to steal the items they need to escape. So you might be thinking, well let me see these dances, but we never see them. When Baby Doll begins to dance, we enter the second and more pointless layer of fantasy.

If having his beautiful young cast dressed up in lingerie and leather in one fantasy world isn’t fetish-like enough, Snyder has them dressed that way and fighting giant metal samurai, zombie WWI soldiers and a dragon in the second layer. Each layer distances us from the reality of what is happening to the characters in the real world. For a good portion of the film there is no sense that anything in the fantasy worlds has any real impact on reality. Thus these extended action sequence drag as Snyder throws every random idea from his Id at the screen.

Trapped in these adventures with Baby Doll is a host of scantily dressed and thinly developed young women. Sweet Pea (Abbie Cornish, BRIGHT STAR) is the mother hen of the girls who doesn’t like the risky escape plan of the new girl. Rocket (Jena Malone, SAVED!) is Sweet Pea’s sister who is a trouble magnet. Blondie (Vanessa Hudgens, HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL) isn’t blonde. Amber (Jamie Chung, THE HANGOVER PART II) is the sexy Asian. The girl’s mentor in the action fantasy sequences is a wise man, played by Scott Glenn (THE RIGHT STUFF), who must be the alternative to David Carradine as the go-to actor to play white guy Asian-like fortune cookie philosophy spiritual masters.

The substance of the story is secondary to the style. This is never more apparent than in cheating the audience of seeing a key plot point. Not seeing Baby Doll’s dances is a sick tease. The big action sequences are fueled by testosterone not character or emotion or logic. In getting a chance to put his own ideas on the screen, Snyder tried to cram every idea he’s ever had into one film. But all these ideas don’t gel or make a compelling singular story. After being punched in the head with this feature length music video, I’m the one that feels like the sucker.

This site is a member of Animation blogspot, part of the Animation World Network