Movie reviews, for films new and old

There are many things that attract me to movies.  Surf's Up appealed to me because of its premise--when you're looking for something new and original, you can't beat a movie about surfing penguins.  Yes, there have been surfing movies and there have been penguin movies (any time something is a success, you can bet at least 5 movies will pop up to cash in on its success) but  never have the two been combined into such a compelling, heartwarming, and overall Oscar-worthy movie.

Okay, it's a dorky kids' movie with Shia LaBoeuf (Shia, I hope I spelled that right!) as the voice of Cody Maverick, an aspiring surfer who lands a spot in the "Big Z Memorial Surf Competition."  He learns all about surfing and friendship, and also the often-ignored lesson that winning isn't everything.  Seriously, more movies should tell kids that winning isn't everything.  In real life, the good guys sometimes lose, and it's not the end of the world.

But I digress.  The animation is fantastic, and the movie has some great scenes.  The one element I didn't like was the fact that the movie was shot like a "documentary," with characters occasionally talking to the camera, as well as brief "interview" scenes.  I was never a fan of reality TV.  On a side note, in this movie's reality, are there humans?  Why are they unaware of the vibrant surfing culture, and, indeed, the complex society that exists among the penguins?  If there are no humans, who ate Chicken Joe's father??

Hehe.  I've got too much time on my hands.  
Overall: 4 stars/5

Snap judgment on the previews (in 10 words)!
Ratatouille: Looks like it should be funny.  I always love Pixar.
Underdog: Maybe?  The cartoons were cute.  I'll wait for critics' reviews.
Evan Almighty: No chance in hell.  God-awful movie.  Pardon the puns!
Daddy Day Camp: Sequel; new actor in lead role.  Does not look promising.

Let me start out by saying that I liked this movie.  Kirsten Dunst and Tobey Maguire were fantastic, the special effects were top-notch, and there were some fantastic scenes.

Having said that, there were 2 big things about the movie that bugged me.  The first one: Peter Parker spent most of this movie being an insensitive, typical male, jerk.  Even before he was corrupted by the mysterious goo from outer space, he was not a likeable guy.  I can understand that he let fame and everything go to his head, but I hated seeing Peter being self-absorbed.  Tobey Maguire has this adorable embarrassed smile that we saw a lot of in the first 2 Spider-Man films, but we don't see that in the latest installment.  

The bigger problem was the story.  Spider-Man is fighting the Sandman (aka the guy who shot Uncle Ben), Green Goblin Jr (aka Harry Osborn), Venom (aka Peter's rival photographer), and his own dark side (brought about by this weird black stuff that came from a meteorite).  He wants to propose to MJ, but she thinks he's not listening to her.  Her acting career is in the toilet, she thinks he's cheating on her, Harry loses his memory, um, let's see, we need Sandman's backstory too...

There was just too much going on.  They had a lot of good ideas, but they tried to throw them all into the movie and none of them were really developed enough.  Too many stories, too many villains.  There was a nice payoff in the final showdown, but the very end left me feeling incredibly depressed.  I don't want to give anything away, but I will say that they could've ended it better.  Also, I'm sure a lot of the comic book fans were really looking forward to seeing Venom.  They must've been really disappointed.  Venom doesn't even appear until the last half of the movie, and won't return in any future movies (if they happen).  

Overall, the weakest installment of the three.  It's not a bad movie, but it could have been so much better.  

One comment, completely unrelated to Spider-Man 3: Cliffhangers are the best way to piss off the audience and get them to come back for more.  That is why I want to see PoTC 3.

As of today, all of my school projects are DONE!!  Completed, turned in, I don't have to worry anymore!!  And the weather is GORGEOUS.  Now I can kick back, relax, plan some field trips...

So I was actually doing research today (on the RTA website), trying to figure out how to get to all of the movie theaters.  I already know two of them--the Lake is close enough that I've gotten there on my bike before, and the York is right by EC.  I pass maybe a block away every day I take the bus out to school.  That leaves Navy Pier, Melrose Park, and North Riverside.  Navy Pier is fairly easy, I discovered--just a train and a bus--but Melrose Park may be more of a problem.  I don't think any buses go past (at least not ones I can easily transfer to), so I'll have to do more research on that.

And I'd better go, or I'm going to miss my bus home!

Holy schlamoly, this summer's gonna be huge.  Coming up:
-Spider-Man 3
I CANNOT WAIT!!!!!  Spidey, Spidey, Spidey!  Review coming as soon as I can get to the theater.
-Shrek 3
Eh, we'll see.  The first one was great, the second was still pretty good.  Can they keep it up for the third movie?
-Pirates of the Caribbean: The End of the World
Johnny Depp...Johnny Depp...He better not be dead.
-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I love the Harry Potter books, but I haven't gotten into the movies that much.  The fifth book, in my opinion, was the weakest because it was too darn long.  The movie should be good.
-Ratatouille
A rat living in the kitchen of a French restaurant.  The latest Disney-Pixar installment.  Obviously, I'm going to it.  You can count on me to be there for anything animated.

My brother and I are planning on going to each of those movies in a different theater, and getting to all of them on public transportation.  Theaters we're planning on visiting include:
-IMAX at Navy Pier
-York Theater in Elmhurst
-Cinemark in Melrose Park
-Lake Theater in Oak Park (if we're bored)
-North Riverside Mall theater (if we're REALLY bored)

So Netflix has this new "watch now" feature where you can watch movies on your computer.  Pretty cool.  Selection is also pretty limited.  Ah well.  So I actually watched 3 movies in the past two days, recapped here in less than a minute!

Johnny Dangerously: Mobster parody, could've been funnier.  Danny DeVito!  "Weird Al" song!
Dawn: Haunting, thought-provoking vampire movie.  Mediocre acting, otherwise good flick.
Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter: Dumber than it sounds.  Jesus does kung-fu (but not well).

Upcoming reviews (as in this summer):
Spider-Man 3!!!!  I'm pretty excited.  I also plan on seeing that one at the Navy Pier IMAX.  Whoa...

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.  I haven't seen any of the HP movies besides Sorcerer's Stone, but I figured I'd give them another chance.  Besides, OotP was my least favorite book--I thought it was too long--and I wonder if the movie will actually improve upon it.

Shrek the Third.  Yes, that's the actual title.  The original was awesome, and the sequel was okay.  I want to see how the third one fits in.

 

So I was thinking this morning about television.  Specifically, family TV programs and why aren't they around anymore?  There is no such thing as "family TV shows" anymore.  This is probably because the execs figure that families have 3 or 4 TVs so little Susie can watch SpongeBob while Mom and Dad watch The Sopranos.  And the execs are probably right.  But what's wrong with a show that appeals to the whole family?  I grew up watching TV with my parents.  Every Friday night we'd order pizza and sit down to watch TGIF on ABC.  The sitcoms were funny, and they appealed to families because they were about families. 

Remember "Full House"?  That was a great show!  You had the zany antics of the kids, and the adults trying to work everything out, and my whole family loved it.  I was very sad when it was canceled.  I LOVE "Full House."  And that wasn't the only one!  TGIF had "Family Matters" and "Step by Step" and "The Hughleys" and "Boy Meets World."  Then they starting getting weird shows ("You Wish" and "Teen Angel") and before long, TGIF was dead.  But I digress.  The point is, there used to be an assortment of family-friendly sitcoms.

Which, I guess, is the whole point.  They tried bringing TGIF back a few years ago, with an all-new lineup of different shows.  I watched it the first week, and it left me wondering, "Where did all the sex jokes come from?  Is that new, or were they always there and I never understood them?"  The answer is, of course, they were added to make them more "popular."  But the whole point of a family-centered show is that it's appropriate for the whole family.  And besides, the jokes weren't even that funny...

And today?  Not sure; maybe "Everybody Hates Chris."  Or stuff on the Disney Channel.

So...that short break went on a litle longer than I'd planned.  But Moni's Movie Reviews are back with a vengeance!  Or not.  No vengeance.

Let's see.  Here's a brief rundown of the movies I've seen recently that stuck out in my mind (in 10 words):

Meet the Robinsons: 3-D animation rocks.  Story is good too.  Lots of action.

Premonition: My head hurts from plot holes.  Skip this confusing flick.

UHF (DVD): Weird Al is my hero.  I bust a gut laughing.

The Stepford Wives (1978): Apparently much better than remake.  Very creepy, also very good.

Robin Hood: Men in Tights (DVD): Another laugh-out-loud movie.  Mel Brooks.  End of story.

Interview With the Vampire (DVD): Hot actors, bad acting.  Count the buildings set on fire.

This week's link: http://www.potterpuppetpals.com
A collection of short videos featuring Harry Potter characters, as done by puppets.  They have very little to do with the actual stories (meaning no spoilers) but they're hilarious!  Characters include Harry, Ron, Hermione, Dumbledore, Snape, and Voldemort.  Watch as they blow each other up, get naked, and burst into song!   Seriously.  If you've never seen these little cartoons, go check them out.  Now. 

Blah blah blah.

Moni's Movie Reviews are going on hiatus until after I'm done with my finals (December 15). In the meantime, go listen to Subject:Cinema.
www.subjectcinema.com

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN COMING TO DVD!!!!
:-D

Sorry...I have just been so busy this week. Ick. My teachers all decided this would be a good week to start preparing us for the end of the semester. So hopefully movie reviews will be back next week.

To make up for it, some movie-related links:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3500287172002918684&q=%22weird+al%22+beverly&hl=en 
This is Weird Al Yankovic's version of the Beverly Hillbillies theme song, done to the tune of Dire Strait's "Money For Nuthin" (I want my MTV...)  It cracked me up.  The animation is very cool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OKby8aXoO4
More Weird Al.  This one is a music video of his "Ode to a Superhero."  If you love Billy Joel, Weird Al, or Spiderman, watch this one.  The song is set to scenes from the actual movie.

http://www.nbc.com/Heroes/episodes 
The official website for my favorite new TV show, Heroes.  It's about normal people who wake up and discover they have superpowers.  There's the cheerleader, Claire, who's invincible; the Japanese comic book geek, Hiro, who can bend space and time (my favorite character!); single mom Nikki, who has an evil double named Jessica; and the list goes on.  It's a fantastic show.  There's action, and at the same time you get to know the characters and really care about them.  "Heroes" is a reason to not hate Mondays (as much).  Man, I wish I had a superpower.  

Anywho, I'll be back next week with a new movie review.