August Movie #2: Planes

Starring the Voices of: Dane Cook, Teri Hatcher, Stacey Keech, Brad Garrett
Run Time: 1 hour 31 minutes
Directed By: Klay Hall

Planes is kind of like Cars, in that the vehicles have names, faces, thoughts, and act just like a person would. I think the next installments will be Boats, which is about a little tug boat who wants to be a cruise liner and see the world until he realizes that he performs a valuable service, and Trains, about a caboose who's tired of always being last. Just kidding.

Planes is about Dusty Crophopper (voiced by Cook) who is tired of flying in straight lines every day. Although he has flown thousands of miles, he's never left the state. His dream is to race, to compete with the jets. Chug (voiced by Garrett) is a refueling truck who eggs on Dusty's ambitions. Dottie (voiced by Hatcher) is a mechanic-type-car thingie who is the voice of reason, trying to gently deflate Dusty's wild dreams. Skipper (voiced by Keech) is an old military fighter that Dusty enlists to help him train to be a racing plane. They all come together in support when Dusty wins a spot in a race around the globe.

Eh. That's my summary: Eh. I wasn't a fan of Cars (I didn't hate it but I didn't love it) so I guess it stands to reason that I wouldn't be a fan of Planes. This movie was cute. It made me laugh. There were several bits (like Dusty having his sprayer removed) that they carried through to the end very well. They did a good job anthropomorphizing the vehicles. They moved like humans. They did very human-like things. All of the different planes from different countries was well done (although I was wondering if some of the designs/depictions of the planes wasn't a tad racist). The movie just didn't have that something extra that pushes into greatness. It was sweet. It did no harm. It was slightly funny. It was an enjoyable way to spend an hour and a half. And yet I didn't love it.

The story itself was sweet - dreaming of being something you're not and then putting it to reality. On one hand, the message that you can be anything you want to be (particularly if you have support from loved ones and good training) is a worthy message. However, in execution, it's a little starry-eyed, overly optimistic, and certainly naive. There is a difference between a crop duster and a jet. And that's okay. I wish the movie had made that point.

I spent a lot of the movie trying to figure out who was voicing Dusty. It had a lot of Owen Wilson (who is the voice of Lightning McQueen from Cars) overtones. I wonder if they cast with that in mind. I can almost hear the discussion around voice casting, "Hey, Owen's voice worked well as a car. Wouldn't it work well as a plane? Go get someone who sounds like him. But not him." I was also not a fan of Teri Hatcher's Dottie. Her voice quickly became grating.

So.... definitely one the kids will like. Not sure if even they will love it (unless they love planes). It held my attention. It's not one I'm going to buy (I don't own Cars either). It was cute. It had a good story. The message was a little naive but the undertones of the message were nice. A little predictable. Good movie. Not great. Good. Cute. Sweet.

August Movie #1: Red 2

Starring: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Mary Louise Parker, Helen Mirren, Anthony Hopkins, and Byung Hun Lee
Run Time: 1 hour 56 minutes
Directed By: Dean Parisot

The sequel picks up a short time (perhaps a year) after the first one ended. Frank (played by Willis) and Sarah (played by Parker) are still together. While the retired CIA operative Frank is embracing his quiet, suburban lifestyle, Sarah is finding that it's too quiet. After details about a 1979 mission are leaked on-line, Marvin (played by Malkovich) suddenly dies and the CIA nabs Frank for questioning about the leak. It soon becomes clear that in order to bring closure to the leak, Frank, Sarah, and Marvin (who faked his own death) must come out of retirement. Frank is worried about putting Sarah in danger; Sarah is thrilled about the possibility of danger.

I liked this one a bit more than I liked the first one. From the previews, the first one looked hilarious but the actually movie fell quite short of unrestrained laughter. I didn't go into the sequel thinking that it would be side splitting (it wasn't) but rather to watch some quirky, sweet, fun characters again. Al of the characters were complex, quirky, good hearted, and fun. Helen Mirren's tough yet incredibly elegant assassin character is just fun to watch. She has great comedic timing and is absolutely kick-ass fierce. I loved Mary Louise Parker's quirky, sweet, simple, and yet tough character. Byung Hun Lee was absolutely wonderful as ruthless - and yet not so ruthless assassin Han (for those who recognize him yet can't place him, he's Storm Shadow from G.I. Joe). I loved, loved, loved the scene with Victoria (played by Mirren) and Han in the blue sports car. Helen Mirren's a cool, tough broad!

It did not seem as though this movie was almost two hours long. Fast paced. Lots of little twists. Good plot. Fun characters. A lot of good action. A lot of funny action. And no gore. There was an amazing amount of conscience in these agents.

To sum up this movie: fun, good-hearted, and just plain enjoyable.

June Movie #5: This is the End

Starring: Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride
Run Time: 1 hour 47 minutes
Directed By: Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen

This is the End is about, well, the end of the world. The Apocalypse. The Rapture. This movie tries to break the barrier between reality and fiction. Everyone in this movie is playing "themselves" and yet they're really not. And all the 30something comedians are in this movie, even if it's just a bit part. Jason Segel, Michael Cera, Mindy Kaling, Kevin Hart,  Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Aziz Ansari, Paul Rudd (okay, so he's not 30something). Pretty much anyone who's ever worked with Seth Rogen... or anyone who's worked with someone who's worked with Seth Rogen. And then there's Emma Watson and Rhianna.

So.... with all these funny people in one movie I would have thought I would have laughed the entire time. I didn't. It was actually quite a long time into the movie before I even had a small, soft, "Ha!" Most of the humor was crude, which I'm fine with but isn't necessarily knee slapping funny. I did have to look away from several scenes (Satan with Jonah Hill made me squeamish).

This movie plays against the fourth wall, blending reality with Hollywood movies. It blurred the line... and I'm not sure I liked that. I think I spent far too much time wondering if these people really interact with each other as depicted in the movie or if it was just a story... using the names of real people. (Don't get me wrong, I totally get that the apocalypse was made up; I'm simply wondering if Jay and Seth hang out and if Jonah really acts that way around Jay, etc). It made me a little uneasy. Do these things (aside from the apocalypse) actually happen with this gang?

I must point out that it's been a few weeks since I've seen the movie so my thoughts aren't as clear as they should be. I will say these things about the movie: Not as funny as I thought it would be, a little longer than it needed to be, concept was amazing but the execution was faulty; loved Emma Watson, hated Rhianna. Died laughing at the end in Heaven with the Backstreet Boys. Good movie for a rainy, stormy day when you're bored and want a mindless diversion. Not a good movie for any other moments of your life. Eh.