Friday roundup
Hey, the studios actually coughed up some good movies this weekend!
The best of the bunch is the tight little British horror thriller "The Descent," in which six female spelunkers find dangerous beasties within an unexplored cave. I was surprised with how funny "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" was, particularly because this NASCAR spoof starring Will Ferrell starts off badly - but picks up with the performances by Sacha Baron Cohen, Amy Adams, Jane Lynch and John C. Reilly. My colleague Brandon Griggs also recommends the thriller "The Night Listener," starring Robin Williams in serious mode.
I wish I could have enjoyed the animated "Barnyard" more than I did, but the laughs are too sparse and the plot too derivative of "The Lion King." (And the sight of male cows with udders was too weird, without being funny.) A milder disappointment awaits in the documentary "Favela Rising," whose filmmaking gimmicks get in the way of the fascinating story of its main subject, a Brazilian criminal-turned-musician trying to keep kids away from Rio's drug cartels.
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"Barnyard" reminded me of what should be a cardinal rule in animation: Don't pair off voice actors who you would never cast together in a live-action film.
In the case of "Barnyard," the main "romantic" couple are cows Otis and Daisy, who are voiced by Kevin James and Courteney Cox. You would never believe those two together in a live-action movie, and they don't sound convincing as a cow couple, either.
On the other hand, "Over the Hedge" paired Bruce Willis and Garry Shandling as a con-artist raccoon and a cautious turtle. Now, I could imagine Willis and Shandling paired up in an action-comedy buddy picture - Willis as the tough one, Shandling as the whiny one. (Unfortunately, it probably would get botched, like the Samuel L. Jackson/Eugene Levy pairing in "The Man.")
My favorite recent voice pairing is in "Cars," with Owen Wilson's Lightning McQueen making time with Radiator Springs’ pretty Porsche, Sally, voiced by Bonnie Hunt. After hearing those two together, I thought how much I would love to see Wilson and Hunt paired off in a romantic comedy - some humorous older woman/younger man scenario, like "Something's Gotta Give" (if Nora Ephron had the courage to let Diane Keaton go off with dreamy Keanu Reeves instead of hanging around with grumpy old Jack Nicholson). Now there's a movie I can't wait to see.
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You know it's bad for Mel Gibson when even Rob Schneider is scoring rimshots off of him.
And the "South Park" guys and Comedy Central pinky-swear that this ad was in the works well before Gibson's DUI arrest, and has nothing to do with the "Braveheart" star's alleged anti-Semitic diatribe. Either way, it's still pretty funny in that offensive "South Park" way - and a charming reminder of those halcyon days when Tom Cruise was our resident whackjob movie star. Ah, memories.
The best of the bunch is the tight little British horror thriller "The Descent," in which six female spelunkers find dangerous beasties within an unexplored cave. I was surprised with how funny "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby" was, particularly because this NASCAR spoof starring Will Ferrell starts off badly - but picks up with the performances by Sacha Baron Cohen, Amy Adams, Jane Lynch and John C. Reilly. My colleague Brandon Griggs also recommends the thriller "The Night Listener," starring Robin Williams in serious mode.
I wish I could have enjoyed the animated "Barnyard" more than I did, but the laughs are too sparse and the plot too derivative of "The Lion King." (And the sight of male cows with udders was too weird, without being funny.) A milder disappointment awaits in the documentary "Favela Rising," whose filmmaking gimmicks get in the way of the fascinating story of its main subject, a Brazilian criminal-turned-musician trying to keep kids away from Rio's drug cartels.
------
"Barnyard" reminded me of what should be a cardinal rule in animation: Don't pair off voice actors who you would never cast together in a live-action film.
In the case of "Barnyard," the main "romantic" couple are cows Otis and Daisy, who are voiced by Kevin James and Courteney Cox. You would never believe those two together in a live-action movie, and they don't sound convincing as a cow couple, either.
On the other hand, "Over the Hedge" paired Bruce Willis and Garry Shandling as a con-artist raccoon and a cautious turtle. Now, I could imagine Willis and Shandling paired up in an action-comedy buddy picture - Willis as the tough one, Shandling as the whiny one. (Unfortunately, it probably would get botched, like the Samuel L. Jackson/Eugene Levy pairing in "The Man.")
My favorite recent voice pairing is in "Cars," with Owen Wilson's Lightning McQueen making time with Radiator Springs’ pretty Porsche, Sally, voiced by Bonnie Hunt. After hearing those two together, I thought how much I would love to see Wilson and Hunt paired off in a romantic comedy - some humorous older woman/younger man scenario, like "Something's Gotta Give" (if Nora Ephron had the courage to let Diane Keaton go off with dreamy Keanu Reeves instead of hanging around with grumpy old Jack Nicholson). Now there's a movie I can't wait to see.
------
You know it's bad for Mel Gibson when even Rob Schneider is scoring rimshots off of him.
And the "South Park" guys and Comedy Central pinky-swear that this ad was in the works well before Gibson's DUI arrest, and has nothing to do with the "Braveheart" star's alleged anti-Semitic diatribe. Either way, it's still pretty funny in that offensive "South Park" way - and a charming reminder of those halcyon days when Tom Cruise was our resident whackjob movie star. Ah, memories.
10:18 AM
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