Wednesday, January 20, 2016

The Quick and Dirties: Kid Stuff


Yup, it's time for another edition of The Quick and Dirties. This is the feature where I do really short reviews on multiple movies. I like to make a theme of these. This time around, we're taking a look at some films aimed at the little ones. Let's get to it.


Inside Out
(2015)
We meet Riley (Kaitlyn Dias) on the day she is born. At the same time we meet her first emotion, Joy (Amy Poehler). A few moments later we meet the rest of her feelings. There’s Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Anger (Lewis Black), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), and Fear (Bill Hader). As Riley grows and develops we hang with these guys inside her head. The big crisis comes shortly after Riley and her family move from Michigan to San Francisco. She’s having trouble adjusting and decides to run away from home, throwing all of her emotions out of wack. Joy and Sadness find themselves a long way from headquarters and embark on a wild trek to get back there before Riley does something she’ll really regret. It sounds complicated, but it is really crystal clear as you watch. It’s also something most movies can’t claim to be these days: original. It takes what could be a simple, straight-forward story, adds layers, raises stakes, and delivers a heartfelt, often overlooked message. It builds a tremendous world between the ears of a chile. It’s built upon the backs of things most, if not, all of us experienced growing up (or are still experiencing, depending on our age). These things are supported with visual inventiveness. To go along with that we get an entire roster full of great voice-over work. A phenomenal effort, to be sure, but one that falls just a bit shy of Pixar’s loftiest heights. The reason is the many attempts at humor are rather hit and miss. That’s a small knock on an otherwise excellent effort. Besides, not quite being one of Pixar’s very best still puts it far ahead of most other animated flicks.


The Peanuts Movie
(2015)
There’s a new girl in school, The Little Red Haired Girl (Francesca Capaldi). Not surprisingly, Charlie Brown (Noah Schnapp) immediately falls head-over-heels for her. He sets out to do anything he or anyone else can think of in an effort to impress her. Meanwhile, Snoopy (Bill Melendez) finds himself locked in yet another battle with his arch-nemesis, The Red Baron. The filmmakers put themselves in a difficult situation just by choosing to tackle this property. The nostalgia factor is off the charts for both parents and grandparents that might watch it. Conversely, many of the kids who watch will have never seen any Charlie Brown. Even if they have, it’s not likely to be among their favorites as they’re coming up in an era of much more frenetic kiddie fare saturated with overly zany adventures and fart jokes. Director Steve Martino and company definitely went for the nostalgia factor and made a film that fits perfectly into The Peanuts canon. Almost all of the franchise’s familiar tenets are present just the way us old fogeys remember them. The drawback is that while we’re busy giddily reminiscing when Snoopy types “It was a dark and stormy night,” youngsters might be bored. This is a much calmer production than they’re used to. If they’re not bored this still isn’t likely to be one of their favorites. It hums along very smoothly, but lacks a wow factor and feels overly safe. It’s a perfectly fine film that I enjoyed, but it didn’t leave me clamoring for a sequel.



Hotel for Dogs
(2009)
Andi (Emma Roberts) and Bruce (Jake T. Astin) are a sister and brother who've bounced around from one foster home to another and now live with Carl and Lois Scudder (Kevin Dillon and Lisa Kudrow, respectively) who are despicable human beings who want to be rock stars. When Friday, the stray dog the kids pal around with, is put into the pound, they rescue him and in looking for a safe home for him, discover an abandoned hotel where other strays have taken refuge. With the help of a few friends they begin to care for these dogs and bring other strays in as well. Now, add in their social worker, Bernie (Don Cheadle) and his wife Carol (Robinne Lee), who are incredibly nice people but have no kids. Oh, don't forget the "e-e-evil" dog catchers. Next take out a pen and paper and write down how you think it would play out if it were made by Nickelodeon, which it is. You'll probably end up with pretty much the same movie that actually plays out before our eyes. Pre-teens will love it. You'll either think it's cute or check your watch numerous times waiting for it to end while wondering how much money it took for Don Cheadle to agree to this and thanking the superior being of your preference that these dogs don't talk.



The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water
(2015)
As is often the case, Plankton (Mr. Lawrence) is trying desperately to steal the secret formula for Krabby Patties. However, it seems someone has beaten him to the punch. We follow the gang on their underwater exploits while also following those of the pirate known as Burger Beard (Antonio Banderas) above the water. The stuff with SpongeBob (Tom Kelly) and company is okay, playing like an episode of the TV series that goes on entirely too long. The parts with the pirate are mostly tedious, generic during its very best moments. It adds up to a movie for which there seems to be no real reason for its existence. I take that back, there does seem to be one reason: to make the good folks at Nickelodeon at least a little richer. It really does feel like it's here to wring a few more dollars out of the franchise rather than to tell a good SpongeBob story.


The Game Plan
(2007)
Joe King (The Rock) is a superstar quarterback who suddenly finds out he has an 8 year-old daughter when she shows up at his door one day. He must then re-arrange his life to care for her while trying to maintain his high-profile lifestyle and chase the championship ring that has thus far eluded him. The Rock has a natural charm and willingness to poke fun at himself that serves him well unlike the unrelenting brutishness that hampered fellow action-star Vin Diesel in The Pacifier. He seems more at ease and therefore more believable in a kiddie-flick than Diesel. As expected, I got all the pratfalls and cuteness I expected. Nothing exceptional happens but it still elicits some laughs. The interaction between The Rock and Roselyn Sanchez is just adult enough to keep the kiddies giggling and the grown-ups paying attention. Being an assembly-line Disney comedy means even a movie with a slightly more mature plot than normal for the Mickey Mouse crew still maintains a paint-by-numbers feel. That means you pretty much sit there and say 'Oh, this is the part where he asserts his authority', or 'this is the part she breaks, ruins or spills something', or 'this is the part he realizes how great it is to be a dad.' Yes, you can spot them all a mile away. Also in typical Disney fashion, the adults are stupid with the exception of the love-interest who wants to help, Sanchez, and the wise friend who gives sage advice. In this instance, the latter is played by Morris Chestnut. You know exactly what you're getting when you go into this one. So use your prior experience of live-action Disney kids movies and whether or not you have children to decide if you want to see this or not.


Flipped
(2010)
The moment he and his family move into a new neighborhood, Bryce (Callan McAuliffe) meets Juli (Madeline Carroll) who lives across the street and comes on way too strong. She remains socially awkward while he becomes one of the cool kids. Bryce is the boy of her dreams, but he despises her. We chronicle the relationship of these tweens for a number of years, but focus mostly on their eighth grade year. The film does a wonderful job showing the constantly changing dynamics between adolescents and the social hierarchy they form without militarizing it the way so many others do. This helps it exist in what appears to be reality rather than a fictionalized heightened sense of it. The verisimilitude is aided by the fact we get to know the families of both kids pretty well. This includes their private views of one another. We see the difference between perception and reality from both sides of the fence. Along with that comes lots of insight into the circumstances of each youngster’s father and why they feel the way they do about one another. The result is a thickly layered and emotional film that manages to avoid being convoluted. Key to this is the absolutely brilliant story-telling device in play. Bryce and Juli act as co-narrators, taking turns telling the tale from their own point of view. I’m generally against narration as it is often used to tell the audience things rather than showing them. Showing is almost always a more powerful way to go. However, the telling is done to perfection, here. This is a wonderful little movie for whom I have my youngest daughter to thank. I never heard of it before she brought it to my attention and insisted that I watch it with her. I’m glad she did.

14 comments:

  1. My family liked Inside Out although, as you said, it wasn't Pixar's best. I totally agree with your assessment of The Game Plan too. It was neatly packaged cuteness -- nothing surprising. We watched Hotel for Dogs during a phase when I was renting every dog movie ever made to entertain my kids, but I don't remember it. :-) It didn't stick in my mind. Great post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not Pixar's best, but I'll gladly watch it again. Neatly packaged cuteness perfectly sums up The Game Plan. Hotel For Dogs...sigh.

      Delete
  2. Inside Out is one of my favorite films of 2015. I liked The Game Plan a lot because of the Rock as I just found him hilarious doing ballerina. It still makes him the Most Electrifying Man in All of Entertainment. I'll even watch his bad films over anything starring John Cena, except for that one movie he did with Mark Wahlberg directed by Michael Bay. That's where I'll draw the line.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So far Inside Out is one of my favorites of 2015, too. Lol, John Cena movies.

      Delete
  3. The Peanuts movie was really enjoyable; I'm familiar with most of the characters but haven't read much of the comic strips. Inside Out is one of my favorite Pixar films, definitely breaking into my top 5. I'm glad you liked Flipped; it's a nice movie, nothing grand but adorable just the same.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had a lot of fun with The Peanuts Movie. Not sure if Inside Out cracks my top 5. I'll find out soon since I plan on doing a list ranking Pixar's movies, soon.

      Delete
  4. I wasn't crazy about Inside Out. It was very original, I give it that, but I was so worried my kid was going to start bawling during it.

    I think I saw the Game Plan years ago but I don't remember much from it, the rest I haven't seen.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Weirdly, I think I appreciated Inside Out more than I actually liked/enjoyed it. Not that I didn't LOVE it, I did, but there was so much going on on every level. It was like this barrage of incredible ideas that just went by in a flash. I loved the pieces more than the whole, but WHAT pieces! I haven't been able to get it out of my head since I saw it over the summer. And it is firmly in my Top Ten of the year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is an interesting way to look at Inside Out that makes total sense. Asof now it's also in my top 10.

      Delete
  6. I love Flipped! It's so adorable and I think I've picked it before for one of the TMPs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is very adorable. I had a great time with it.

      Delete
  7. I think the standout in this list is Inside Out - that scene with Bing Bong still makes me cry those sweet Pixar tears. I enjoyed the other movies too, with The Game Plan being particularly fun if I remember correctly. I did watch it with a friend and we made countless side comments so that might be why. I'm also a huge fan of The Rock and am so glad he managed to turn these silly, obligated roles into major hollywood stardom. As you said, he was willing to poke fun at himself and I think this really helped his career because it kept him working - albeit in teen films like this - and eventually people noticed the charisma and entertainment value he brings.

    I like the new header image on the site btw.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree that Inside Out is the standout, here. And that scene with Bing Bong is heart-wrenching. The Rock has tons of charisma and is a much better actor than often given credit for.

      Glad you like the header. For that, I have Rodney @ Fernby Films to thank. He designed it, unsolicited, and offered it up to me. He did a great job and I can't thank him enough.

      Delete