Review: Fantastic Mr. Fox (DVD)

I had been hesitant to see this movie, only because I loved "Up" a lot, and everybody said this movie rivaled "Up" in it's animated genius, and I didn't want to believe that and the only way to continue believing that was just to simply not see it.


Well curiosity got the best of me and it soon was at the top of my Netflix queue and the postmaster soon delivered it to my too small of a mailbox. Come to find out, I really really really liked this movie. So much as that I thought it did rival "Up" in its genius. Pixar movies always have that special something in them that makes  both the twenty something adult in me love and adore and the little 12 year old inside me squeal and laugh with delight. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" seemed to be aimed at adults. Don't get me wrong, I thought kids could enjoy the caper too as there are enough visual gags and silly business to keep them interested, but I had to shift perspective to see it as a kid. In any one of Pixar's movies the kid and the adult in me find simultaneous joy - "Mr. Fox" just appealed to the slightly cynical and grown up me, which is always why I will put Pixar's movies on a higher level, but I really liked "Fantastic Mr. Fox" for many reasons. Let me tell you some of them...now.


I get a kick out of Wes Anderson's movies. I appreciated "Rushmore," thought "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" was quirky and fun, but kind of boring, and I love "The Royal Tenenbaums," which remains one of my favorite movies. He has quite a distinct style to his films, trademarked by his simple framing devices, straight on shots and title cards - I think "quirky," though overused, it really the best way to describe his movies. I can see some people hating it, but I find it amusing. It makes me smile. So I was originally surprised to see that style lend itself so very well to animation, but the more I thought about it, the more sense it made. "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is unlike any other animated movie I've seen, maybe in my life. It was as if it was a real movie, with real people, directed by Wes Anderson, except that instead of real people they're animated animals. I can't describe it, you just have to see it for yourself.  The way the movie looked just kept a smile - maybe even more of an interested smirk on my face  - the entire time.


The voices (provided by the likes of George Clooney as Mr. Fox, Meryl Streep as Mrs. Fox, and Bill Murray as Badger) just added so much to the film, but unlike some movies by other animated companies (say Dreamworks for example - who's reliance on big name movie stars to voice characters that might not necessarily be the best choices but are the biggest names) the big named stars do not overpower their animated counterparts at all. Clooney's soothing, charming voice is perfect for the sly Mr. Fox and I could almost not tell it was Meryl Streep at all, but instead her voice just became the caring wife and mother Mrs. Fox.


And the movie was smart! It was so smart to watch. Things that I know would go right over a kid's head. Like a complicated discussion of the housing market, except as how it applies to holes in the ground as opposed to a tree, with pine trees being way out of Mr. Fox's price range. Or the mid-life crisis Mr. Fox is going through which gives him the itch to get back into a life a crime and how that crisis affects the rest of his family. And the brilliant use of the word "cuss" inserted many many times throughout the movies in the place of vulgar words that would have rated the movie a much higher rating. The first time it happened I thought nothing of it, but the second I went wait a minute. NO WAY! They are totally swearing in this movie! But not really. It's just so...smart! Like I said before, right? For example, a quote:

Mr. Fox: I understand what you're saying, and your comments are valuable, but I'm gonna ignore your advice.

Badger: The cuss you are. 

Mr. Fox: The cuss am I? Are you cussing with me? 

Badger: No, you cussing with me? 

Mr. Fox: Don't cussing point at me! 

Badger: If you're gonna cuss with somebody, you're not gonna cuss with me, you little cuss! 

Mr. Fox: You're not gonna cuss with me! 

I'm not sure how much of the original novel by Roald Dahl is retained in this adaptation by Anderson and co-writer Noah Baumbach, as I may have only read this book once and don't remember it at all, but I'm pretty sure they took a few liberties here and there, but those only add to the resonating power of the movie with today's audiences. The spirit had to have been kept at least, and I'm sure it was as I heard no complaints otherwise. We can add this to the canon of Roald Dahl movies that I love now along with "James and the Giant Peach" and "Matilda." But I'm glad Wes Anderson worked his magic with this one. It could've only enhanced this story.


I just really love animated movies and the power they have to do anything. There are no restrictions on them as they don't require real actors, and your sense of belief is already suspended as you know there is never a real person talking on screen, so it's not like watching an actor act with CGI all over or behind them, and I think the art of creating an entire world - the people in it, the settings, the noises, everything! - the fact it's all created from scratch is a mighty impressive feat to me. Which is why good animation has always been and will always be very special to me.




Patrick Approval Rating: 10/10




"Fantastic Mr. Fox" @ imdb

Review: Food, Inc. (DVD)

"You'll never look at dinner the same way again."

That's the tagline from this movie. If I knew how true that was I may have never watched it. I always figured, ignorance is bliss and what you don't know, can't hurt you - so if you are going to brave watching "Food, Inc." like I did, I'm going to warn you - that ignorance is going to give way to knowledge and take away all your bliss you get from food, and you will know things that will hurt your heart and change the way you think about all things food until you're old and have Alzheimer's and forget everything. When the time comes, please - let me eat anything I want to, but until then "Food Inc" has caused me to completely change my diet.

I knew what I was getting into with this. I knew documentaries can be pretty powerful and even as the movie berated me with these awful facts about food, I knew I needed to make sure to research the other side to get a balanced view before making any opinions. But when I ended up reading the ingredients, or going to the big company's websites and not reading denials of the awful things they do, but rather them simply stating they do in fact do these things and that they do it for the benefit of us, I was appalled and shocked.

I originally went into this movie wanting to know more about corn syrup, which, as I learned from watching the disappointing "The Informant!" with Matt Damon, is in everything. Literally most food we consume has some corn syrup, or some deviation of corn syrup in it. I'm not exactly sure why other than to put money into big corporation's pockets. I mean really, does orange juice need corn syrup to taste good? What about pasta sauce? Really? So I wanted to know more about this. What I got was also an in depth look at the food industry as a whole, which also includes the huge soy bean farms and of course, the atrocious meat industry. It really digs deep into the industries, providing factual information to prove their point. It's quite a film, and an impressive one if it is able to have the effect it did on me to every viewer, than that's the power of a good film.

I'm not going to use this review as a soap box to stand on to discuss all the things they do in the film. Watch the movie yourself. Or don't. Make a decision to either want to gain the knowledge about the food we eat and be disgusted, or don't watch and eat in happiness enjoying all your favorites. To me, it's a lose - lose. You either become aware and angry or stay blind and happy. I won't blame you for either, but as I begin a change in my life to become a vegetarian and to read the labels of all the food I buy, just know if you watch "Food, Inc." there is no going back.


Patrick Approval Rating: 9/10


"Food, Inc." @ imdb

Review: (500) Days of Summer (DVD)

This was one of those movies that I had heard so much about and piqued my curiosity, but somehow got lost in the shuffle of 2009. Finally Netflix delivered the goods and I mean that in more way than one.

I had heard about the comparisons between this and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is one of my favorite movies ever, and the only thing they have in common is the way the stories are told out of order. But whereas Eternal Sunshine should have multiple viewings to fully understand which piece goes where and how they all fit together, (500) Days of Summer has it laid out for all in title cards that come up in between scenes saying which part of the relationship the scene takes place in.

Having an out of sequence plot certainly makes it Not-Your-By-The-Numbers-Romantic-Comedy. Between that and the fact they tell you right from the beginning that the movie is NOT a love story, makes this a romcom for everybody, not just the swoony ladies. And even though it's an indie movie, the film doesn't feel too "indie" like The Science of Sleep, a movie I couldn't even get all the through because it was so WAH? But this movie is smartly written, well acted, wonderfully directed, and walks a tight line between comedy and drama, hipster flick and classic love story.

Basic plot rundown: Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, obviously of 3rd Rock from the Sun fame) and Summer (Zooey Deschanel, who has too many O's in her first name) work at a greeting card company (a plot point I found very funny since I think greeting cards tend to be a bit ridiculous) and Tom's love for Summer lasts 500 days right from the moment they meet until he meets someone new. They breakup right at the beginning of the movie, but then go to the moment they meet at work. See? Out of order.

The most inventive pieces of filmmaking in the movie was the splitscreen for a good 5 minutes between Tom's expectations and reality when he attended a party thrown by Summer around day 440 or so. This was after they had broken up, and Tom had all these ideas of what will happen, as opposed to what did happen. I couldn't decide which one to watch - the happy scene where he sweeps her off her feet and they fall back in love, or the real life scene where Tom spends most of the evening alone and depressed. But how true is something like this to real life? I know I've had expectations and reality is something totally different. That's why I enjoyed the movie as much as I did, because despite all its gimmicks, which didn't even feel like gimmicks, it felt real. I know I've felt like Tom before, and I've felt like Summer before, and I related very much to the characters and the situations.

Plus, any movie that features any sort of musical number makes me giddy, especially a musical number set to Hall & Oates "You're Makin My Dreams Come True" featuring Tom and a bunch of random people wearing blue dancing through a park. It was very "That's How You Know" from Enchanted. But way more hipster-y.

Patrick Approval Rating: 10/10

(500) Days of Summer @ imdb

Review: Invitcus (Theatrical)

I was hoping for something extraordinary to see for my first movie of 2010. I started 2009 off with Slumdog Millionaire, which was just a little known movie that nobody saw or cared about. I wanted to see Invictus, but felt sort of ho-hum about the film. I've always appreciated seeing those feel good losers become winners "sports" movies, a la Friday Night Lights or Remember The Titans or hell, even The Big Green. ( I think The Mighty Ducks fits in there too, actually. Anyways, Invictus falls right in the same category, but possibly because it's directed by Clint Eastwood and stars Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon and is getting all sorts of buzz for those three people, the film is supposedly elevated to above those other movies that fall into the inspiration sport movie film.

Don't get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed it, but the movie was absolutely nothing special, and not even anything I hadn't seen before. Granted those movies didn't involve Nelson Mandela, or rugby for that matter, a sport which I know NOTHING about except that it's super violent and involved a lot of grunting. Morgan Freeman as Mandela was very good. I mean

1) who doesn't love anything with Morgan Freeman in it? He could narrate a documentary about penguins walking on ice and make it entertaining. Wait a second...

And 2) Who other than Morgan Freeman could play Nelson Mandela? Nobody. He was perfect for the part, and suprisingly funny!

Matt Damon, an actor who I've never fully appreciated probably because I don't really like the Bourne movies and I associate him with them, got to show off some mad rugby skills. Talk of an Oscar nom for him for this? Seriously? He was way better in The Informant!, a movie I hated (and fell asleep during in the theater) but thought he was excellent in it. But whatever.

The movie plays out exactly like you'd expect an inspirational sports movie to play out, except because it's directed by Clint Eastwood, the cinematography has a slightly blue/dark tone to the film. It's definitely a departure for him, though he did do a sports movie with Million Dollar Baby, but that was also way more of a drama and character study than Invictus. At least I thought so.

I'm glad I saw the movie as it will probably be nominated for some Oscars and I like seeing all the Oscar nominated movies, but it would otherwise be a movie I'd rather rent on DVD and watch in my own home and wipe my misty eyes at the end when, OBVIOUS SPOILER ALERT, the team wins.

Patrick Approval Rating: 7/10

Invictus @ imdb