Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 5th, 2009
Ace Ventura’s back, sort of. It’s a new day. A new cast and crew. A new movie. And, unfortunately, a new Ace Ventura. This is Ace Ventura, Jr. Emphasis is on the junior. Without Jim Carrey, this thing was doomed from the start. Still, if you’re going to do it, I would have hoped that at least some kind of an effort would be in order. Alas, it seems that everyone involved knew this one wasn’t going anywhere so they just decided to have a great time and not worry so much what actually made it on to the film.
Director David Evans is best known for killing the Beethoven franchise with its third and fourth direct to video films. He did the same with the abysmally bad Sandlot 2. Evans is the place where mediocre comedy franchises go to die, or at least end up in direct to video cheap imitations of their former selves. If he had torn himself away from playing with the kids and animals long enough, he might have realized that he was killing yet another franchise. In the previous cases, I’d say he had a shot at 2nd degree murder, or negligent homicide. This time it’s a clear case of premeditation. He needs to be sentenced to life…away from a movie set.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on March 4th, 2009
Is it me, or have we been getting a lot of talking animal movies of late? I suspect the use of the CG technology that exists today lends itself to this kind of film. You might even make the argument that it hasn’t really been any different than the talking animal cartoons that have been with us forever. It’s just that now we can make live action dogs, or any other creature, for that matter, appear to be talking in a fairly realistic way. And as far as the use of that technology, Beverly Hills Chihuahua certainly blends the CG and live action footage seamlessly enough. And while I can’t really find much fault with this movie, it just seems like I’ve seen and heard it all before, a little too often as of late.
The plot is one of those affairs that’s filled with holes and giant leaps of logic. It’s obviously intended for kids, but it’s a mistake to think that even the under 11 crowd doesn’t notice these incredibly unbelievable things. I don’t have kids, but I would worry if you have a kid that doesn’t let these unanswered questions go by without demanding an explanation. Of course, Disney doesn’t have to field those questions, like why does a rat want a diamond necklace so much. You’re the one who has to do the explaining. For what it’s worth, here’s the general plot:
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 20th, 2009
There’s another Holiday on the horizon, and I’ll bet you know what that means. It means that we’ll be in for more Chipmunk adventure tied to the season. For the last year or so Paramount has been hard at work filling your Chipmunks addiction with these holiday themed releases. Easter will be no different as we get The Mystery Of The Easter Chipmunk. It’s no Great Pumpkin, but you can be sure to sink those buck teeth into more revved up Chipmunk mischief and trouble.
The Chipmunks began life oddly enough as a singing group, of sorts. They were the brainchild of struggling songwriter Ross Bagdasarian and were named after the three chief executives at Liberty records. His own alter ego David Seville’s name came from his World War II Army station in Spain. The Chipmunks first appeared in a 1958 record called The Witch Doctor, but wouldn’t officially become The Chipmunks until later that year when The Chipmunks Christmas Song was released. It is for that Christmas music that I most remember the group. They first appeared as puppets on The Ed Sullivan Show. Alvin and the boys got their own television show in 1961. When Ross died in 1972, the Chipmunks would continue on under the guidance of his son. In 1983 The Chipmunks had yet another popular cartoon show and had appeared in countless specials and films. Today they are pretty much a hallmark at the holidays, and a Christmas song collection just wouldn’t be complete without them.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 18th, 2009
Everything you loved from the first film is back again. Dreamworks took the high road and brought all of the voice cast back. That means the wonderful chemistry these characters developed in the first film gets to continue. We don’t have to waste time setting up new bonds. We can get right to the adventure. Dreamworks also retained pretty much the entire animation team and added even more talent. The quality of this animation actually improves upon that of the original. Water, in particular, is startling on this film. It is as photo real as I’ve seen it in any animation feature to date. The characters are a little blocky, evidenced by Alex’s paws, but that’s really a style decision and not an animation flaw. Another stand-out rendering is the dust factor. Throughout the film dust plays an important role in the overall look of the picture. Again, you get incredibly photo real particles or clouds of dust in this film. Both of these achievements are milestones in animation technology. Of course, technology is only as good as what you do with it. We get lovable characters in very interesting situations. If you even liked the first film, I think you’ll love this film even more….Except for that pesky “Move It Move It” nonsense.
The film opens up with a quick recap of the events of the first feature. We also get to go further into the past for a very brief encounter with our zoo friends as babies. (Do I smell a cartoon series or prequel film coming our way?) After that quick recap, we join the zoo gang where we last saw them, in the wilds of Madagascar. The Penguins have repaired an old aircraft and set it up on a huge slingshot in preparation for a flight back to the New York Zoo. There’s tearful goodbyes all around, but unfortunately, King Julien decides to join the gang on their return home. The Air Penguin has a successful takeoff, but makes it only as far as the African mainland before it crash lands. Once in Africa, the zoo gang gets to meet wild members of their own kind. Alex (Stiller) discovers his parents and learns how it was that he came to be at the zoo. Gloria (Smith) finds that the African plains are just “raining” male hippos. She hooks up with the continent’s resident stud, Moto Moto (Am). Of course, that’s going to bring out the jealousy in Melman (Schwimmer). Melman also discovers that all giraffes are by nature hypochondriacs and usually crawl off to die at the first sign of illness. His vast knowledge of medicine earns him the rank of herd witch doctor. Mart (Rock) discovers that all zebra look and sound exactly alike. He gets depressed by his perceived lack of uniqueness. Zuba (Mac), Alex’s father, is the ruler of this particular part of Africa. His reign has been plagued by the conniving of fellow lion, Makunga (Baldwin). He’ll use the return of Alex to gain control of the crown. When Alex fails a coming of age ritual, Zuba abdicates and Makunga is in control. Unfortunately, his reign is soon threatened by the dry up of the watering hole. Alex, intent on proving himself, sets out to return the flow of water to the hole. With Marty by his side, they trace the problem to a dam, built by New York tourists that include the old lady who gave Alex a whoopin’ in the first film. Ninja Nana has organized the tourists who have been stranded by the penguins’ commando raids to salvage parts to repair the plane. While Alex and Marty set out to fix the problem, King Julien has another plan. He wants to sacrifice someone to the mighty volcano to please the “water gods”. Thinking he’s dying anyway, and has lost Gloria, Melman volunteers to be fed to the volcano. These events all converge into an ending very much a Madagascar adventure. For a running time less than an hour and a half, there is no wasted time at all here. If anything, the story all seems to happen so fast that it’s over before you start to sink your teeth into it.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 16th, 2009
When a film is successful enough, it’s a relatively natural assumption today that a sequel will follow. In that sequel we expect more of the same and hopefully something new as well. Unfortunately there is a disturbing sideline for the animation sequel. Because the actors aren’t really on camera at all, there is the temptation to replace them so that you can do a much cheaper, often direct to video sequel. The folks who did Madagascar didn’t go that route, but the folks who did Open Season did. Gone are the likes of Martin Lawrence, Gary Sinise, Ashton Kutcher, and Debra Messing. These voices are replaced by Joel McHale, Mike Epps, and Jane Krakowski. Who? You might ask. That’s the problem. In an attempt to bridge the two films, Billy Connolly remains as the voice of McSquizzy. Crispin Glover is the biggest name actor in the new voice cast, playing the somewhat villainous Fifi. The result is a decidedly inferior film that was relegated to the Wal-Mart bins instead of the box office.
Just as Elliot and Giselle are about to get hitched, Weenie is discovered by his former masters and taken away. When Elliot sees the event he decides that Weenie has been captured and is being tortured. So the wedding is suspended and the gang sets off to rescue Weenie. They arrive at a pet campground where pets and their owners are pampered in a resort community for a week or two vacation. There is a prejudice among the domesticated pets against the animals of the wild. Our forest friends must infiltrate the resort compound and face down the domesticated pets in order to pull off their rescue. The pets are led by a conniving poodle named Fifi who is particularly hateful of the wilds. After a few slightly amusing sight gags and a predictable story and outcome, the wilds defeat Fifi and find that they and the pets have more in common than not. “Why can’t we just all get along” is the message of the day.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2009
“Once upon a time in New York City…”
Walt Disney might well have been the storyteller of more than one generation of kids. Is it any wonder that when we think of such characters as Winnie The Pooh or Peter Pan our minds conjure the images wrought by Disney animators and not necessarily the classic literature descriptions? That might not be the case with this Charles Dickens story, retold through Disney’s trademark animal point of view. Oliver & Company doesn’t appear to have had the staying power of films both before and after its time. After watching the film again, perhaps for the first time since its 20 years ago release, I can’t imagine why it has never quite caught on. From a popular culture standpoint the film has all of the elements that have led to other more beloved Disney classics. The Dickens story is a familiar one, read by most literature students as a matter of course. Many of the era’s biggest names lent their voice talents to the characters, including Billy Joel and Bette Midler. The songs are about as catchy as anyone might have hoped for. Just what was it that relegated this little seen Disney adventure to the bargain bin of animation classics?
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Athena on February 13th, 2009
Athena, here again sub “woofin’” for Gino. For those who don’t remember me, I’m a 13 year old Siberian Husky, and Gino lets me watch and review some of the movies for you guys. Times like these you need a dog’s eye view, and I happen to have two of them, a blue one and a brown one. Who says dogs are colorblind? I don’t get to go into the theater here a whole lot, something about fur in the equipment. I thought I was bein’ helpful because Gino’s always saying he doesn’t get enough software for his PS3. Hey, I got the softest wear around here. Well, Gino let me in again a couple of nights ago to watch the latest in the “Buddies” films. You might remember that I told you about Snow Buddies about 7 years ago. (That’s 1 year in human years). That was the first “Buddies” films I got to see, and I liked it a lot. Of course, that might have something to do with the star, Shasta, who’s about the cutest dog this side of…well…me. She was a cute little Siberian Husky puppy. I’m sorry to say that Shasta isn’t in this one. But before you start to decide you don’t want to watch this movie, let me give you my rulin’.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on February 13th, 2009
“The Magic Gourd has magical powers. He can carry you high up to the sky, right up to the clouds, where they feel just like cotton candy. Stick out your tongue and they taste like cotton candy. That’s the power of The Magic Gourd. If you become the Gourd’s master, he can grant you anything you wish for…”
Disney films have always had a world wide appeal. Children everywhere on the planet have grown up with the same classic images that we have in the United States. The language might not be the same, but the message and the magic has always been there to discover. So I guess it makes some sense that the studio might begin to do some international joint projects intended originally for children of another country and culture. Would the wide appeal translate in reverse? Could a film based on a Chinese story, made in China with Chinese actors, be able to bring the magic to American audiences as well? After watching The Secret Of The Magic Gourd, I don’t think I’ve found my answer, at least I hope not.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Michael Durr on February 11th, 2009
My initial reaction to most kid shows that have references to the bible are a mixture of sarcasm and skepticism. There is one exception to that rule: Veggie Tales. Veggie Tales was started in 1993 when VHS was still strong and kids were still highly impressionable under the influence of a weathered old videotape. They bring together a wonderful blend of a fun children’s show (under the guise of a bunch of talking vegetables) and have very good values to live one’s life by. So in my first title to review from the people at Big Idea, I receive a DVD about Abe and his Amazing Promise. Hopefully this Abe character has a promise about some cookies, I’m hungry.
Bob the Tomato receives a fan’s letter and decides to read it. He is joined by Junior filling in for Larry (the Cucumber). The fan’s letter is about “waiting” for something special. Bob relates his answers to the ancient biblical tale of Abraham and Sarah. This tale tells the story of how Abraham asked for a child and how it took fifteen years for them to receive that child. However, despite the hard pressures and substantial turmoil for Abe and his wife, God kept his promise and delivered them a child as a reward for their faith.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on January 28th, 2009
Mary Poppins was the subject of a series of books by P.L. Travers. Long before Harry Potter came on the scene, Mary was delighting children all over the world with her spectacular magical abilities. At the time Walt Disney was making a name for himself and his studio by bringing many of the children’s classics to the big screen. From fairy tales to Winnie The Pooh, the studio was providing the look and the soundtrack to the imaginative worlds already known and beloved by millions. It was a magnificent strategy, and it would pay off huge for the company. The problem with Mary Poppins was that it needed to be a live action film. Mary and her pals needed to appear as real people. The worlds themselves could be animated, of course, but Mary and Bert and the children had to be real. Walt insisted upon it. And so a painstaking effort was begun to bring the story to life on screen in a way no film had yet done before. The results were as magical as Mary herself and have captivated children of all ages ever since.
In the 1960’s Walt Disney was the center of some of the most groundbreaking f/x technology in Hollywood. Disney was that era’s Industrial Light & Magic. Even films not produced by the Mouse Factory went to their f/x wizards for their high end work. Films like Forbidden Planet made use of the Disney magic for a few of their trickier sequences. Mary Poppins is a wonderful example of the magic that Disney was capable of at the time. The film is a wonderful blend of live action and hand drawn animation work. The two worlds interface seamlessly even by today’s standards.
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