Date: Sunday, February 9, 2014
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Time: 2:15pm
Party: 3 (mom & sister)
Directors: Phil Lord, Christopher Miller
Type: animation
Music: Mark Mothersbaugh
Cast:
Emmet- Chris Patt
President Business- Will Ferrell
Wyldstyle- Elizabeth Banks
Batman- Will Arnett
Vitruvius- Morgan Freeman
Good Cop/Bad Cop- Liam Neeson
Unikitty- Alison Brie
The Astronaut- Charlie Day
Superman- Channing Tatum
Green Lantern- Jonah Hill
Wonder Woman- Cobie Smulders
Metal Beard- Nick Offerman
Finn- Jadon Sand
[Opening Remarks]
With all the big movies out right now, all the Oscar contenders, you'd think my first review of the year would be one of them...
WRONG!
My first review goes to an animated movie that as soon as I heard about it, I wrote off. My exact words were:
"They're definitely playing to a younger demographic with this one, between the animation style and the cultural references. I'm a sucker for all those things, but I doubt it's something I'd pay to go see."
Technically, my mom paid for the tickets, but I ended up eating my words. Considering how often I pick out the movie, it seemed only right to let my sister suggest this one. We are suckers for cultural references and goofy animation, after all...
Not to say that I came in with zero expectations, but what little expectations I had... the payout was two-fold.
[Coming Attractions]
We came in a little later than we should have, so during the remainder of the "Mr. Peabody" preview, we spent most of it trying to find seats.
This was the second showing on a cold Sunday when we were expecting some snow. To which I say, never underestimate the power of kids dying to see an animated movie.
By this point, I'd grown a little tiresome of "Mr. Peabody"... DreamWorks is promoting it like crazy under the tutelage of it being a studio that released the Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda franchises... taking my resentment of the 4th Shrek movie out of the picture, they have done well with the others.
...admittedly, I'm still kinda pissed that Robert Downey Jr. pulled out of this movie because Marvel has kept him too busy to do much else. Not to mention the role went to the dude that insults oranges on the Minute Maid commercials. Yes, I know it's Ty Burrell from "Modern Family." That's just my inside joke .
On the other hand, I guess I can't be too upset. The movie looks so silly that he might have been better off.
Other previews include a teaser of the "Muppets" sequel and the Morgan Freeman narrated IMAX movie, "Island of Lemurs: Madagascar"...
When I saw the title months ago, I was afraid it was an unnecessary reboot of the DreamWorks franchise... but it looks pretty spectacular. All those years of seeing "Zoboomafoo," I had no idea lemurs actually leaped like that :-P
[Review]
Here's the tag-line that'll accompany my postings of this review on social media.
"Shut up... you had me at 'double-decker couch.'"
Seriously, that was the one joke in the first trailer that kept me completely dismissing this movie. Some ideas are just too crazy for me not to appreciate and latch onto. That's the kind of person I am.
For the record, I was a Lego kid... not in the same big way as "The Man Upstairs" (that's an actual character in the movie and I'm not gonna spoil who that is... I'll let Google take care of that), but I did do some Legos.
Namely, there was a Christmas where I asked for a Lego pirate ship. I don't remember how much help I had with putting it together, but it took a couple months. It looked pretty awesome on our dining room table 8-)
What's kinda amazing about this movie is that it has something for all ages. You have all the bright colors and imagines for the kids. During some action sequences, it's easy to see the amazing 3D animation potential. The jokes rang from so-so to ha-ha funny to even LMAO funny (for me, there were 2-3 scenes that had me laughing that hard).
For the boys, they had an astronaut, a pirate and DC superheroes. For the girls, they had a kick-ass female character called Wyldstyle, who supposedly had issues with picking a name, and Unikitty, who lived in this chaotic realm called Cloudy Cuckoo Land.
And for the adults who got dragged to this movie by their kids, there's some interesting political commentary to take into account as well.
The movie follow everyman, Emmett, a construction worker among 1,000's who follows "the instruction" to a tee. We're led to believe he does the same thing every day because that's just the way it is in Bricksenberg.
By accident, he stumbles across "the piece of resistance," the only thing that can stop Bricksenberg president, President Business from unleashing the dreaded "Kragle" on TACO Tuesday.
(The "Kragle" is actually tube of Krazy Glue with some letters scratched out and the evil plot is encasing the Lego Universe in Krazy Glue so nobody will be able to defy the instructions again).
Emmett is then recruited by blind wizard Virtruvius and his top student, Wyldstyle to save the world. Supposedly because whoever finds "the piece of resistance" must be "The special", a Master Builder, the most important person in the universe.
But they and their allies, which include Batman and Unikitty, quickly learn he might not be the most qualified person. Apparently he'd spent his life following the instructions so well that he has nothing else going for him to set him apart. Plus the "double-decker couch" was the only original idea he could come up with... and everyone else seems to think it's the dumbest idea ever.
On the plus side, it goes make a couple appearances and actually saves their lives in one scene. After head of the Secret Police, Bad Cop sinks their ship, the only wreckage he and the micro-managers left behind was the double-decker couch... in which the heroes hid and eluded capture.
Even as a Marvel fangirl, I couldn't help but love how they used the DC superheroes in this movie. On the comedic side, we had this side-plot of Green Lantern dying to hang out with Superman, who wants nothing to do with him... and when they're captured by the bad guys, they end up in neighboring cells.
It's even funnier that their voices belong to Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill, now known for their collaboration on the 21/22 Jump Street films...
Easily, the scene-stealer for me was Batman. It's interesting because he's played by Will Arnett, an actor I don't really take seriously, who plays the character in that phony deep-voice Christian Bale used to ruin the character for me... with him, it just works because this movie needed someone with a dry sense of humor.
There's also a love triangle involving him, his girlfriend Wyldstyle and Emmett... all kinds of hilarity, but the tops is the Star Wars cameo. As if it wasn't funny enough that Batman asks aloud where they'd get a hyperdrive and he gets called on it... he appears to jump ship for a couple minutes, only to come back and ruin a moment Emmett and Wyldstyle are about to have...
And just when you think you know what's going to happen, there are substantial curveballs...
[Political Commentary and (Possibly) Overthinking Things]
The commentary makes this movie out to be a statement against socialism and the utopian model... speaking out against conformity and all that. I've experienced it in "The Giver" and "Fahrenheit 451"... no matter how perfect you can make something, there's always room for anomaly and that one thing can cause a whole system to collapse. President Business spent years doing away with the Master Builders because they're individuals that create new things outside the instructions. No matter what they are, he sees them as a threat because going outside the instructions can only be perceived as chaos.
For a number of reasons, my favorite of the Lego worlds shown in the movie was the Cuckoo one. Batman might not like it ("I hate this place") and President Business did send Bad Cop to destroy it... it's crazy, but everyone was happy and it was just one big nerdgasm, something I can totally appreciate.
At the same time, the demeanor of Unikitty hints that not even that world is paradise. She spends the movie trying to stay positive, trying to keep her other emotions inside until she finally snaps. Kinda reminded me of the Amity section in the "Divergent" series... everyone is pleasant, kind and loving, but deep down their biggest flaw is that they're a little dumb in their being too trusting of other people.
Then I also got to thinking about how I think of Legos. I was never a master builder. I got as far as building that pirate ship with the instructions and I didn't feel up to doing more than that. Either because I wasn't creative enough or I was the kind of kid who preferred coloring between the lines than setting outside of them.
Nowadays, that's not quite as true, but remains an inherent flaw. Deep down, I do crave conformity because it would at least give me a place to fit in, but I have more fun when I write beyond the realm of possibility and listen to music outside the tastes of people in my age group.
[Remaining Comments]
I can't get through the rest of this without addressing the theme song.
In this conformist society, everyone does the same thing every day, everyone watches this show "Where's my Pants?" and everyone listens to the same song "Everything is Awesome!"
...based on the trailers, I was afraid it was going to be a brainwashing anthem of some kind. Instead, it became nothing more than the only song the radio plays and everyone is conditioned to never get tired of it :-P to my relief, they only played it through maybe 3-4 times throughout the entire movie. It might not catch on in household with young children the way "Let it go" has, but it still has that potential.
Taking Batman out of the equation temporarily (gotta face it, he had most of the best lines in the entire movie, lol), the biggest laugh I got out of it was when they finally let the 80's astronaut guy build his spaceship... and he proceeded to shoot everything across the realms while screaming "Spaceship!"
He was having so much fun with it, I couldn't help getting as much a kick out of it as I did :-P
In general, the cast was pretty good. It was more about the characters than the actors. Liam Neeson plays a pretty good Good Cop/Bad Cop character who actually has the two personalities... that is until President Business has his way and :gasp: erases the Good Cop face with a Q-Tip and Nail Polish remover.
Morgan Freeman is great in everything he does.
And Will Ferrell returns to play another pretty good bad guy. I enjoyed his voiceover work in "Mega-Mind"... which to me felt like it got diminished by the fact "Desipicable ME" got a sequel (an amazing sequel at that)... but he plays a pretty good baddie in this one too.
A control-freak dictator on the rise with very pronounced OCD. Seriously, only Will Ferrell could have played this guy... yet another idiot with a sense of entitlement, but yeah... coming out of the movie, I just felt bad that I didn't bother to see the "Anchorman" sequel.
If I'm lucky, my dad will see it in-flight on the way back from a trip overseas and can determine if it's worth picking up a copy... when it comes out.
Grade: B+
[Coming Soon]
#40 on my countdown:
A Universal animated film based on a true story that has a notable impact on my childhood.
Code-name: Brit X-mas
Writer/Director: Richard Curtis
Type: British Christmas rom-com
Music: Craig Armstrong
Notable Nominations:
Golden Globe- Best Film (Comedy/Musical)
Golden Globe- Best Original Screenplay- Richard Curtis
Cast:
[The Music Circuit]
Billy Mack- Bill Nighy
Billy Mack's manager, Joe- Gregor Fisher
[Parliament]
David, the Prime Minister- Hugh Grant
Natalie- Martine McCutcheon
U.S. President- Billy Bob Thorton
[The Office]
Harry- Alan Rickman
Mia, Harry's secretary- Heike Makatsch
Sarah- Laura Linney
Karl- Rodrigo Santoro
[The Cabin in the Woods]
Jamie- Colin Firth
Aurelia- Lucia Moniz
[The Porn-Film Shoot]
John- Martin Freeman
Just Judy- Joanna Page
[The Wedding]
Juliet- Keira Knightley
Mark- Andrew Lincoln
Peter- Chiwetel Ejiofor
[The Funeral and the Christmas Show]
Daniel- Liam Neeson
Sam- Thomas Sangster
Karen- Emma Thompson
Joanna- Olivia Olson
Carol- Claudia Schiffer
[Coming to America]
Colin Frissel- Kris Marshall
Tony- Abdul Salis
Stacey "American Dreamgirl"- Ivana Milicevic
Jeanine "American Angel"- January Jones
Carol-Anne "American Goddess"- Elisha Cuthbert
Harriet ("She's the 'sexy' one")- Shannon Elizabeth
Carla ("She's real friendly")- Denise Richards
Rufus, the Jeweler- Rowan Atkinson
Write-up:
Caution: Spoilers ahead
In the introduction of the "Glee"ksmas episode, "Glee, Actually," Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) hinted that the show would pay homage to "Love Actually" with its plot structure. She then added it's "a movie that I don't think anyone cares for but is constantly on cable"
http://glee.wikia.com/wiki/Glee,_Actually
Yes, the fact this movie is in my top 101 says it all, but I just wanted to take this moment tos say: "Yes, Sue Sylvester, people do care about this movie. Particularly me, my mom and her side of the family."
It's not so much that we live and breathe this movie as it's become a Christmas tradition in recent years. Simply cannot go a season without seeing it at least once.
It doesn't just have a great cast, but they play characters all of us can see ourselves in. Throughout the movie, no matter what's going on, you find yourselves pulling for them to get their happy ending. However realistic some of them are... who cares, really? That's what movies are for. Making impossibilities, like Colin's American dream coming true or Sam reaching the gate to tell Joanna that he loves her, possible because they make us warm and fuzzy. Heck, those are rom-coms in a nutshell, really.
If I remember right, this was one of many movies my mom talked me into... not that I needed much convincing. I already loved Hugh Grant. Plus the chance to see Alan Rickman, Professor Snape himself, play a normal person... hard to resist.
As it usually happens, I find more to love about certain movies with time either because I can understand the circumstances better with my own experiences or, in this case, the names have become more familiar.
I didn't recognize Bill Nighy until he appeared as Minister of Magic Rufus Scrimgour in the 7th Harry Potter movie. Or Rodrigo Santono until I saw him in "Post-Grad" alongside Alexis Biedel.
But the most notable connection I made, roughly an hour ago, Chiwetel Ejiofor (yeah, the guy who's up for an Oscar for "12 years a slave") was the guy who married Keira Knightley in this movie... my mind's still picking up the pieces from that explosion.
Another cool tidbit I found out a couple years ago, in the heat of my newfound crazy love for this movie, the actors who play Sam and Joanna went on to do voiceover work in the Disney Channel series "Phineas & Ferb."
Sam plays Ferb, Phineas's "man of few words" step-brother and Joanna plays Vanessa, the daughter of Perry the Platypus's nemesis Dr. Doofenshmirtz. They even wrote a story arc where Ferb has a crush on Vanessa.
Say what you will... "Phineas & Ferb" was the last great show Disney Channel put out (coming from someone who grew up with "LIzzie McGuire" and "That's So Raven"... well, I grew up with them as soon as our cable provider carried the Disney Channel).
Zooey Deschanel's website HelloGiggles.com had a great article someone wrote the other month, ranking the relationships featured throughout "Love Actually" from least to most romantic.
http://hellogiggles.com/ranking-the-love-actually-couples-from-least-to-most-romantic
I love how Santina Muhi broke each relationship down, what made them work, what didn't and being blunt where bluntness was absolutely needed. The rest of this entry will be my 2 cents on each relationship, but I recommend giving this article a read 8-) especially if you love this movie as much as we do.
One storyline that falls by the wayside, particularly on cable but also in conversation, is John and Just Judy. I didn't even know until I saw the Extras on the DVD that they weren't porn stars, but STAND-INS. What they were doing all over the art studio, being the naïve person I am, I didn't understand it. I thought it was part of this odd infatuation some British filmmakers have with commonplace nudity. As if there had to be a story arc with notable nudity because they're not as uptight about it as Americans are.
(Strangely enough, writer/director Richard Curtis isn't British, but a Kiwi [New Zealander]).
Ultimately, the two of them do hit it off and decide to go out, come the end of the shoot, to see what happens.
I'm not following Santini's rankings exactly, but I plan on getting the awkward, blunt and negative moments out of the way before getting to the really good stuff.
Sarah is probably the character I can relate to the most. She's been suffering from the pangs of unrequited love for two years, pining for the office hottie, Karl. There's one notable scene where she's racking up the courage to talk to him, waiting until the end of the day with her face all dolled-up, only to let the moment slip through her fingers out of shyness.
Been there, done that...
Thanks to the magic of movies. she does get her chance with him. Then it goes to hell and never comes back.
Throughout the movie, you see Sarah's phone ring off the hook. Only at this pivotal, the most awkward of all, moments do they reveal the caller is her brother who is less than well. I don't know if he's mentally ill or he's schizophrenic (because it's mentioned he hears voices in his head), but I cringe whenever I get to this part.
I really want to say I wish that problem didn't exist for her, that she just put herself first for a change and stop picking up the goddam phone, but deep down, I know I would have made the same choices. You're compelled by blood to be there for your family, however bad their timing may be.
Another cringe-worthy storyline is Alan Rickman's flirtation with his secretary. I don't care if the dude could hex me to death with the Avada Kedavra curse or that she was practically asking for it like the office skank she is. He was being a jerk and should have known better.
Which makes his scene with Rowan Atkinson even sweeter. He picks out a necklace for his would-be "mistress" (they never officially get together) and Rowan Atkinson takes forever, putting all kinds of flourishes in the gift-wrapping process. Couldn't have cast that part better.
Supposedly, Rufus the Jeweler was meant to be a Christmas angel, explaining his intervention at the airport scene... taking that into account, his scene at the jewelry counter has a secondary purpose as well. By taking so long with the gift-wrapping, it allowed time for Emma Thompson to see her husband by the jewelry, gave her the idea to sneak a peak at her gift and allowed her to experience the residual disappointment. Ultimately, this allows her to catch onto his cheating and brings their martial problems to the forefront, something they obviously needed.
They never did explain what happened to their marriage after that. Did they spend time apart to take a break? Or did they end up divorcing?
On a different note, we have the unconventional relationship between fading rock star Billy Mack and his "fat manager," Joe. The movie begins with his cockamamie Christmas song where they simply changed the lyric "love is all around" to "Christmas is all around"... cannot hear the original without bursting out laughing :-P
Billy Mack knows how stupid it is, yet the song somehow gains enough steam throughout December to become the #1 song of the season... go figure, right?
But even after getting back on top, getting invites from Elton John to party, he goes back to his "fat manager" and declares his love for him. An interesting twist for sure, but I guess it makes sense we had to have one sprinkle of "same love" here.
Interestingly, one of the people at the wedding reception (I think it was Sarah) mistakenly deduces that Mark is sad because he was in love with his newly married friend Peter... when, in fact, it was Juliet. In the time they've known one another, Juliet had been under the impression that Mark didn't like her because he never talked to her. But it was the opposite. I don't know which scene makes me tear up more: when Juliet sees her face at the focus of her wedding video (one of many examples of Craig Armstrong's beautiful score) or when Mark tells her the truth with cue cards and "Silent Night" playing in the background.
So sweet... :-P
Probably my favorite storyline is the one with Colin. It's a shame that Kris Marshall hasn't done any mainstream movies since this one because he's a good looking guy. A bit of a dork, yeah, but cute.
He has this grand scheme to go to America to find love since American girls go crazy for guys with British accents. Well... duh, of course. And like I said, only in the movies would that prove to be true.
The main criticism about this part is that all the American girls that he "hooks up with" at the bar are played by models... funny how January Jones and Elisha Cuthbert became big names far after this movie came out.
As a whole, this movie has one of the best soundtracks. Lots of great artists sprinkled throughout the album. In addition to "Christmas is all around," we have
- "The Trouble with Love is" by Kelly Clarkson
- "Bye Bye Baby" by Bay City Roller (which I will always associate with the funeral scene... a great way to remember a loved one)
- "All you need is love" (before the "Forever (on the dance floor)" wedding went viral on YouTube, this was the first pop culture instant of a marriage ceremony with a twist... word is that puppeteers did it for Jim Henson when he passed)
- a couple selections from Joni Mitchell (whom Emma Thompson had said was her emotional education... I first heard about her in a Prince song but nowadays, "River" and "A Case of You" jump to mind automatically)
Colin's storyline has my favorite soundtrack selections because they were current. "Sweetest Goodbye" by Maroon 5, "Smooth" by Rob Thomas & Santana and "Wherever you will go" by The Calling.
Of course, the one part of the soundtrack everyone who's seen this movie remembers coincides with the storyline everyone who's seen this movie remembers...
Daniel was married to Sam's mom, who'd just passed away. He's been distant so he asks him if something is troubling him. Apparently the trouble is that he's in love with a girl in his class.
I take it back. THIS is my favorite storyline because Liam Neeson goes on to prove he's the coolest stepdad ever. I have my own reservations about "Titanic," but I always love how they used it in this movie.
When the two of them are moping, Daniel says "we need Kate and Leo and we need them now" and they go on to reenact the "King of the World" scene... they talk about Jack and Rose as if they were soulmates, how they knew they were the only one for each other. Sam is absolutely positive that Joanna was "the one".
He then gets the idea to get good at the drums because girls like musicians. This translates to the play the kids are putting on at school, which includes an unorthodox Nativity scene (with Barney as the baby Jesus, a whale, an octopus and some lobsters) and Joanna singing Mariah Carey's synonymous Christmas anthem "All I Want for Christmas is You."
My dad's almost never into rom-coms, but that caught his attention enough where he had to look up Olivia Olson. And when it plays at Christmastime, he refers to it as "that Mariah Carey song"... definitely a candidate for the most current Christmas classic we have.
(Ironically, not a single Christmas album we own includes it)
Granted, the scene where Sam rushes through the airport to catch up with Joanna (who's going back with her family to America) wouldn't have happened in this day and age with all the 9/11 precautions... and this movie does take place post-9/11. Chalk it up to movie magic or paying homage to "The Graduate"... either way, Sam does what he set out to do. Joanna does know his name and she likes him back.
It's a tough call... who I'd rather end up with, Colin Firth or Hugh Grant in this movie. And this is discounting the fact Hugh Grant is the freaking Prime Minister :-P
Hugh Grant's the better looking one, but I feel a kinship with Colin Firth because he's playing a struggling writer.
His storyline starts rather horribly... he finds out his girlfriend had been cheating on him with his brother. So he retreats to a cabin in France for relaxation and to get some writing done. There, he slowly falls for his Portuguese housekeeper Aurelia. Despite their language barrier, they get along famously. Even more romantic, both of them learn each other's language and the season ends with him proposing to her.
I don't know if that's romantic or the fact Hugh Grant literally went door to door to declare his feelings for Natalie, a new member of his household staff.
One scene I can never get over is seeing his dance throughout his headquarters to "Jump (For My Love)" by the Pointer Sisters... if you haven't seen it, you gotta YouTube it. It's super cute, if not extremely hilarious. Either way, great for a smile.
Their love story hits a brick wall when the American President comes to town.
First of all, Billy Bob Thorton is our president? In addition to the models playing the American girls Colin gets together with, what does this guy playing our president say about us?
That the office of U.S. President is a joke to the Brits?
I'll let the politically inclined folks debate about that one.
But because of this newfound friction with our President, with Natalie caught in the middle, Hugh Grant decides to "redistribute" her so they don't have to see each other again.
Her Christmas card ultimately gives him enough incentive to look her up where she lives. "At the dodgy end." Only in the movies would a Prime Minister go door to door to find the girl of his dreams... not to mention Hugh Grant, probably one of the best looking British actors, actually getting elected to such a prestigious station.
Aside from getting to the end, the coolest highlight is when a couple girls ask him to sing carols and he does "Ol' King Wenceslas" with his chauffer.
Just great fun, this movie. I discovered "The Holiday" as the perfect holiday movie to cozy up with with a hot beverage. "Love Actually" is even better... kinda like a soapy TV Show you and your girlfriends would watch together and enjoy with ample drinks and sweets.
