Several years ago, Dreamworks released Madagascar, and shortly thereafter, Disney released The Wild.
Both were computer-animated films about a ragtag group of animals who
escape a New York City zoo and are forced to fend for themselves in the
wild. Both groups included a lion and a giraffe. On the whole, the
premises looked so similar that they sort of canceled each other out in
my mind and I didn’t watch either of them, but I finally got around to
seeing The Wild recently. While I occasionally found it a bit manic for my tastes, for the most part, I thought it was a fun movie.
The Wild, directed by Steve Williams, is a quest story in which daddy issues play a major role. In that regard, it is rather like Finding Nemo,
but in this case, the father, a lion named Samson (Kiefer Sutherland),
has several plucky sidekicks aiding him in his search every step of the
way. Samson delights in regaling the other zoo animals with tales of his
early years in the wild, back when the ferocity of his roar sent the
most monstrous wildebeests running for cover.
His son Ryan
(Greg Cipes), who can’t produce anything more than a kittenish snarl,
does not appreciate the tales so much, and after a particularly
humiliating incident, he decides to run away and find his roar. By the
time he has a chance to rethink his plan, he’s already on a truck headed
out to the harbor. Neither he nor Samson, who dashes off to the rescue,
can imagine the perilous journey that lies ahead.
The movie’s
early scenes showing the rapid transformation the zoo undergoes at
night and the amusing ways in which Samson and his companions interact
with the big city in which they find themselves are entertaining. While
one scene involving a peculiar sport the zoo residents play dragged a
bit for me, I loved the homage to Star Wars that accompanies the
friends’ arrival in the city at large, and I also found the
incorporation of animals reflective of the escapees amusing. For
instance, the runaways catch a glimpse of Geoffrey, the Toys ‘R’ Us
giraffe, on a sign as they run through the city streets.
Joining Samson on his mission are four close friends. The closest is the
squirrel Benny (Jim Belushi), who is annoying but fiercely loyal. He
also harbors a not-so-secret crush on Bridget (Janeane Garofalo), a
dignified giraffe. I found this plot point pretty odd until I recalled
the romance between Donkey and Dragon in Shrek and figured that
if I could accept that, this wasn’t too much of a stretch. Ultimately I
enjoyed the way their interaction with each other changed over the
course of the movie. Many of the stand-alone comedic moments belong to
Nigel (Eddie Izzard), a koala from a London zoo who is plagued by the
popularity of a plush toy in his image. Of the four, the snake Larry
(Richard Kind) made the least impact on me, but he still gets a few good
gags in.
The movie includes several prominent nods to The Lion King,
from a glimpse of the marquee for the Broadway show in the city to the
general prevalence of wildebeests in the plot. The opening in particular
offers many visual parallels with that Disney classic, as does the
climax, revolving around a deranged wildebeest played by William Shatner
– the only voice actor, incidentally, who I recognized at once.
Meanwhile, another element of the climax reminded me of one of my
favorite scenes in Return of the Jedi, though I don’t think that was a direct homage.
The visuals in the movie are excellent, from the natural landscapes to
the bright lights of a New York City night, and most of the animals have
a very realistic look to them. The lions and wildebeests often seem as
if they were lifted out of The Lion King and given
computer-animated embellishment. Some of the smaller characters,
particularly the snake and the pigeons, look a bit cartoonish and silly,
but in most cases, the animation is impressive. I wasn’t particularly
fond of the soundtrack, mostly, I guess, because I tend to find it
distracting when songs designed for radio are deposited in animated
movies. I suppose I shouldn’t feel that way, since I often enjoy their
use in live-action films, but I generally didn’t feel like the songs
added much. The exception is the wildebeest song that is essential to
the plot, though frankly, I just found that one pretty weird.
Overall, I liked the themes of father-son understanding and
self-discovery, along with the importance of having friends who will
stick with you no matter what happens. Some of the humor gelled with me
and some of it didn’t; at times, I think there was a little too much
going on and the jokes got lost in the shuffle. Mostly, though, this is a
well-crafted movie whose characters complement one another well and
conquer their fears through the power of love. Factor in the top-notch
animation, and it’s easy to be wild about this family-friendly film.
Showing posts with label Richard Kind. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Richard Kind. Show all posts
Sunday, December 11, 2011
Monday, March 15, 2010
A Modern-Day Job Faces Crippling Uncertainty in A Serious Man
Last week, my brother came home for Spring Break, and one of the first
things on his agenda was seeing a couple more of the Oscar nominees
before the Academy Awards. The last one we squeezed in was the Coen
Brothers’ A Serious Man. I hadn’t heard much about this movie until Entertainment Weekly‘s Doc Jensen used it as a major point of reference in one of his recent LOST
columns. Naturally, that got me intrigued, and when I watched the movie
myself, I saw what he meant about all the connections between the dark
comedy and the soon-to-be-over fantastical drama.
A Serious Man stars Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry Gopnik, a mild-mannered Jewish physics professor whose life begins to unravel as disasters pile up. His wife (Sari Lennick) is having an affair. One of his students (David Tang) is failing his course and is not about to docilely accept an “F”. His brother (Richard Kind) has moved in with him and, on top of his many problems, has a tendency to monopolize the bathroom for hours at a time. His kids (Aaron Wolff and Jessica McManus) are both self-involved brats. And then people start dropping dead around him...
Larry is a meek mouse of a man who doesn’t understand why all of these terrible things are happening to him. Hoping for a little perspective, he consults a series of rabbis, who offer advice that is more baffling than helpful. He longs to be “a serious man” like Sy (Fred Melamed), his wife’s corpulent lover, but the more he ponders, the more nonsensical it all seems. To make matters worse, he frequently has disorientingly vivid dreams, making it increasingly difficult for him to discern between reality and the byproducts of his tortured mind.
As I mentioned in my review of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, this question of what is real and what isn’t pervades LOST. Indeed, many still hold to the theory that none of the events on the Island have actually happened - that they are all a dream. Head writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have promised that this will not be revealed to be the case. However, they also once promised that the series would never include time travel...
This is a movie steeped in Jewish culture, beginning with what looks like a folktale involving a Tevye-ish man, his Golde-ish wife and a mysterious visitor. This strange opening is never explained or even referenced again, and we’re left to ponder how it fits in, much as Larry must try to make sense of the rabbis’ words of wisdom. The cover of the DVD shows Larry on the roof, which again invites comparisons to Fiddler on the Roof, particularly Tevye’s remark that “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof!” Larry’s life is shaky indeed, and he’s hoping that the richness of those traditions will help to anchor him.
The first rabbi is the youthful Rabbi Scott, portrayed by Simon Helberg. As I’ve previously seen him as a lethargic sidekick to Dr. Horrible and a cheesy, girl-crazy scientist on The Big Bang Theory, I had to chuckle at the idea of him as a rabbi. Despite his relative inexperience, however, he seems fairly competent, and certainly passionate. He talks about the difficulty of seeing the divine at work in the world and the need for some perspective to make God’s presence clear. “You think, well, if I can't see Him, He isn't there any more, He's gone,” Scott says. “But that's not the case. You just need to remember how to see Him.”
On LOST, faith has been a prominent theme since the beginning, and now, partway into the final season, we’re seeing many characters wrestling with the very issue the young rabbi describes when it comes to the Island’s very own seemingly benevolent but aloof caretaker. The rabbi goes on to bring up the iconic Fate vs Free Will debate, and there’s a hint of John Locke in his assertion that everything that happens is an expression of God’s will. The bald boar-hunter would certainly agree that “You can't cut yourself off from the mystical or you'll be - you'll remain - completely lost.”
The second rabbi, Rabbi Nachter (George Wyner), is older and presumably more qualified to dole out sage advice. He decides to help out by telling Larry a long, convoluted story full of strange circumstances and presumed hidden meaning. But the tale ends with a series of questions to which he does not have any answers. He reminds me very much of Damon and Carlton, who have been fielding more angry inquiries than ever as to the meaning of this incredibly strange journey on which they’ve taken us. Many viewers fear that in the end, it’s not going to make any sense. Many threads will be left dangling, and like Larry, we’ll be left demanding, “It sounds like you don't know anything! Why even tell me the story?” What was the point of it all?
“Hashem doesn't owe us the answer,” the rabbi serenely advises him. LOST‘s Jacob isn’t big on distributing answers, which frustrates some and infuriates others. He generally prefers to leave the people under his dominion guessing, letting them work things out for themselves. He wants them to be “serious men,” to puzzle things out and to learn from the harrowing challenges they face. Like Larry, many of them seem to have Job-like misery inflicted upon them. How they respond to such tests is a mark of their resilience and their faith, however submerged it may be.
A Serious Man is a quiet kind of comedy, with plenty of dry laughs and even more room for rumination. It is less violent than No Country for Old Men but more profane, and arguably just as tragic. Nonetheless, there are uplifting moments, along with plenty of heady conversations, including a mention of Schrodinger’s Cat, which not only has LOST applicability but seems to have turned up in every bit of science fiction I’ve encountered in the past year. This thought experiment has to do with the possibility of multiple outcomes. As long as the box stays closed, one is free to assume that inside awaits a tranquil scene or a disaster. This is the type of uncertainty that pervades A Serious Man and LOST alike. Unsettling? Often. But also riveting.
A Serious Man stars Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry Gopnik, a mild-mannered Jewish physics professor whose life begins to unravel as disasters pile up. His wife (Sari Lennick) is having an affair. One of his students (David Tang) is failing his course and is not about to docilely accept an “F”. His brother (Richard Kind) has moved in with him and, on top of his many problems, has a tendency to monopolize the bathroom for hours at a time. His kids (Aaron Wolff and Jessica McManus) are both self-involved brats. And then people start dropping dead around him...
Larry is a meek mouse of a man who doesn’t understand why all of these terrible things are happening to him. Hoping for a little perspective, he consults a series of rabbis, who offer advice that is more baffling than helpful. He longs to be “a serious man” like Sy (Fred Melamed), his wife’s corpulent lover, but the more he ponders, the more nonsensical it all seems. To make matters worse, he frequently has disorientingly vivid dreams, making it increasingly difficult for him to discern between reality and the byproducts of his tortured mind.
As I mentioned in my review of Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, this question of what is real and what isn’t pervades LOST. Indeed, many still hold to the theory that none of the events on the Island have actually happened - that they are all a dream. Head writers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have promised that this will not be revealed to be the case. However, they also once promised that the series would never include time travel...
This is a movie steeped in Jewish culture, beginning with what looks like a folktale involving a Tevye-ish man, his Golde-ish wife and a mysterious visitor. This strange opening is never explained or even referenced again, and we’re left to ponder how it fits in, much as Larry must try to make sense of the rabbis’ words of wisdom. The cover of the DVD shows Larry on the roof, which again invites comparisons to Fiddler on the Roof, particularly Tevye’s remark that “Without our traditions, our lives would be as shaky as a fiddler on the roof!” Larry’s life is shaky indeed, and he’s hoping that the richness of those traditions will help to anchor him.
The first rabbi is the youthful Rabbi Scott, portrayed by Simon Helberg. As I’ve previously seen him as a lethargic sidekick to Dr. Horrible and a cheesy, girl-crazy scientist on The Big Bang Theory, I had to chuckle at the idea of him as a rabbi. Despite his relative inexperience, however, he seems fairly competent, and certainly passionate. He talks about the difficulty of seeing the divine at work in the world and the need for some perspective to make God’s presence clear. “You think, well, if I can't see Him, He isn't there any more, He's gone,” Scott says. “But that's not the case. You just need to remember how to see Him.”
On LOST, faith has been a prominent theme since the beginning, and now, partway into the final season, we’re seeing many characters wrestling with the very issue the young rabbi describes when it comes to the Island’s very own seemingly benevolent but aloof caretaker. The rabbi goes on to bring up the iconic Fate vs Free Will debate, and there’s a hint of John Locke in his assertion that everything that happens is an expression of God’s will. The bald boar-hunter would certainly agree that “You can't cut yourself off from the mystical or you'll be - you'll remain - completely lost.”
The second rabbi, Rabbi Nachter (George Wyner), is older and presumably more qualified to dole out sage advice. He decides to help out by telling Larry a long, convoluted story full of strange circumstances and presumed hidden meaning. But the tale ends with a series of questions to which he does not have any answers. He reminds me very much of Damon and Carlton, who have been fielding more angry inquiries than ever as to the meaning of this incredibly strange journey on which they’ve taken us. Many viewers fear that in the end, it’s not going to make any sense. Many threads will be left dangling, and like Larry, we’ll be left demanding, “It sounds like you don't know anything! Why even tell me the story?” What was the point of it all?
“Hashem doesn't owe us the answer,” the rabbi serenely advises him. LOST‘s Jacob isn’t big on distributing answers, which frustrates some and infuriates others. He generally prefers to leave the people under his dominion guessing, letting them work things out for themselves. He wants them to be “serious men,” to puzzle things out and to learn from the harrowing challenges they face. Like Larry, many of them seem to have Job-like misery inflicted upon them. How they respond to such tests is a mark of their resilience and their faith, however submerged it may be.
A Serious Man is a quiet kind of comedy, with plenty of dry laughs and even more room for rumination. It is less violent than No Country for Old Men but more profane, and arguably just as tragic. Nonetheless, there are uplifting moments, along with plenty of heady conversations, including a mention of Schrodinger’s Cat, which not only has LOST applicability but seems to have turned up in every bit of science fiction I’ve encountered in the past year. This thought experiment has to do with the possibility of multiple outcomes. As long as the box stays closed, one is free to assume that inside awaits a tranquil scene or a disaster. This is the type of uncertainty that pervades A Serious Man and LOST alike. Unsettling? Often. But also riveting.
Monday, February 5, 2007
It's Not Toy Story, But A Bug's Life Doesn't Bug Me
Reading Janell Cannon's Crickwing, a marvelous picture book involving a cockroach and two very different groups of ants, I was reminded of A Bug's Life, the Disney-Pixar follow-up to the hugely successful Toy Story.
I was surprised to realize that I'd never reviewed it. Upon reflection,
however, I think of all the films that pairing has produced, A Bug's Life
is the least memorable because bugs just aren't as versatile and rich
with creative possibilities as toys, monsters, cars or even fish.
Especially when the vast majority of the characters are the same type of
insect.
Flik (Dave Foley) is a clumsy inventor with a dream. He wants to make a difference to his fellow ants, and to make an impression on beautiful, feisty Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss), princess of his colony. But no one seems to appreciate him except her little sister Dot (Hayden Panattiere), and he only manages to alienate the others further when his attempts to speed up production go hopelessly awry. When he goes off to find warriors who will help defend his kind from the vicious grasshoppers who will be coming to collect the ants' regular offering of food, he thinks he's on a noble mission, but Atta just wants him out of the way. Little does she know that he will actually succeed in his quest - well, after a fashion...
The ants in this movie are quite cute, and though I find it odd that they boast shiny blue or purple bodies, I'm not complaining. The grasshoppers are big, mean-looking brutes, though without Hopper (Kevin Spacey) they probably wouldn't bother terrorizing the ants; his dopey brother Molt (Richard Kind) is especially unintimidating. What really livens the movie up is the arrival of the group of circus bugs Flik finds on his trip to town. This motley crew is good for a lot of comic relief thanks to their varied and unusual appearances and personality quirks and the lauded actors providing them with voices.
There's Heimlich (Joe Ranft), the jolly, ludicrously chubby caterpillar with a German accent; tough-talking (male) ladybug Francis (Denis Leary); classy couple Manny (Jonathan Harris), a praying mantis, and Gypsy Moth (Madeline Kahn), who are past their prime; black widow spider Rosie (Bonnie Hunt); good-natured and wimpy rhino beetle Dim (Brad Garrett); twin pills bugs Tuck and Roll (Michael McShane), who don't speak English; and my favorite, long-suffering fussbudget Slim (David Hyde Pierce), a stick bug.
This eclectic group adds color to A Bug's Life's intricate depiction of that strange world of creatures going on unnoticed amongst the blades of grass beneath our feet; without them, I suspect the film would not have captured my fancy nearly as much as it did. As it is, while A Bug's Life doesn't quite measure up to the likes of Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., it won't bug me at all to sit down and watch it.
Flik (Dave Foley) is a clumsy inventor with a dream. He wants to make a difference to his fellow ants, and to make an impression on beautiful, feisty Atta (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss), princess of his colony. But no one seems to appreciate him except her little sister Dot (Hayden Panattiere), and he only manages to alienate the others further when his attempts to speed up production go hopelessly awry. When he goes off to find warriors who will help defend his kind from the vicious grasshoppers who will be coming to collect the ants' regular offering of food, he thinks he's on a noble mission, but Atta just wants him out of the way. Little does she know that he will actually succeed in his quest - well, after a fashion...
The ants in this movie are quite cute, and though I find it odd that they boast shiny blue or purple bodies, I'm not complaining. The grasshoppers are big, mean-looking brutes, though without Hopper (Kevin Spacey) they probably wouldn't bother terrorizing the ants; his dopey brother Molt (Richard Kind) is especially unintimidating. What really livens the movie up is the arrival of the group of circus bugs Flik finds on his trip to town. This motley crew is good for a lot of comic relief thanks to their varied and unusual appearances and personality quirks and the lauded actors providing them with voices.
There's Heimlich (Joe Ranft), the jolly, ludicrously chubby caterpillar with a German accent; tough-talking (male) ladybug Francis (Denis Leary); classy couple Manny (Jonathan Harris), a praying mantis, and Gypsy Moth (Madeline Kahn), who are past their prime; black widow spider Rosie (Bonnie Hunt); good-natured and wimpy rhino beetle Dim (Brad Garrett); twin pills bugs Tuck and Roll (Michael McShane), who don't speak English; and my favorite, long-suffering fussbudget Slim (David Hyde Pierce), a stick bug.
This eclectic group adds color to A Bug's Life's intricate depiction of that strange world of creatures going on unnoticed amongst the blades of grass beneath our feet; without them, I suspect the film would not have captured my fancy nearly as much as it did. As it is, while A Bug's Life doesn't quite measure up to the likes of Toy Story and Monsters, Inc., it won't bug me at all to sit down and watch it.
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