posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 1:00 PM



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Should I see it.
No.

Yes, I've seen it and I'm gonna review it.

Uninspired, aimless cinematic muck. There's a reason why Judge Reinhold and Fred Savage's careers didn't make it out of the 80's. Even taking this thing on its own terms, it fails. The acting is on par with the writing, which keeps pace with the direction which is simply awful. This is the cinematic equivalent to being stuck on a long car ride with a hyperactive, socially needy and chatty kid who just bought himself a new knock-knock joke book.

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Nanny McPhee (2005)
Evan Almighty (2007)


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Labels: family film, Fred Savage, Judge Reignhold, movie review

posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 9:00 AM



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Should I see it?
Sure, but only if you’re a kid.

It is a kid's movie that doesn't have scatological jokes (pee and poop humor), sex references or a political agenda - in other words, it probably deserves a Best Picture Oscar.

This inoffensive film is hardly perfect. The central plot following orphaned inventor Lewis as he travels through time to search for his birth mother is quite solid. The animation is passable. The acting is good. The problem with the film comes with the somewhat irritating series of absurd (and unfunny) jokes that come a mile a minute and distract from the story. Most kids will probably enjoy the movie, most parents will probably have to leave the room and find something else to do.


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Labels: Angela Bassett, animated, family film, movie review

posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 9:00 AM



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posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 9:10 PM



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posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 2:59 PM



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posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 9:26 PM



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Should I see it?
No.

Short Review: …and neither does the plot.


I’ll get the family portion of this review out of the way up front. The main question most parents want answered is “Will my kid like this movie?” The answer is yes, most likely your little urchin will like this movie. It is bright, colorful and silly. It doesn’t contain any harmful content, it is completely benign. Mothers will like this movie as well, provided they keep their standards medium low.

Alright, now on to the film geek stuff.

You’ll hear plenty of pleasant things from Christian and family sites extolling the wonderful virtues of this little movie and of Veggie Tales in general. It’s cute and it promotes good values, and it avoids almost all of the pitfalls of modern children’s faire (sex jokes, scatological humor, questionable morality, etc.) While these things are true, it is also true that this film just isn’t very good. Like its predecessor Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie, this production is poorly constructed and shockingly low on cleverness. Like with Jonah, screenwriter (and Veggie Tales co-creator) Phil Vischer strangely decided that his period piece story couldn’t exist on its own but required a modern day jumping off point. This leaves the story with an obtuse and wholly unnecessary modern day introduction and a forced time travel scheme to get his narrative moving. We saw this with Jonah as well, and like that previous piece the modern day setting unbalances the whole story. This bad structure may be the result of a down time in his writing career since the scripts for production reportedly originated near the same time. Regardless of the timeline, this poor writing judgment is evidence that Vischer may simply not be capable of writing larger pieces for his beloved characters.

Defenders of Veggie Tales may respond by pointing out that this is a kid’s movie and shouldn’t be dissected. I disagree. Children’s films should be held to the same standards as films made for adults in regards to quality and artistic achievement. I certainly understand that Veggie Tales is little more than a puppet show. It’s a bunch of vegetables with some guys making silly voices – I get it. Unlike other children’s entertainment, Vischer and company specifically market their work as being “Christian” – with the announced intent of teaching Biblical truths. As far as “Christian” children’s entertainment is concerned, Veggie Tales is the central brand and effectively defines its genre (even though Christ is rarely directly mentioned – the series tends to rely mostly on the Old Testament). While their work has never been high quality stuff, this movie is notably hollow even by the brand’s standards. For a brand that assumes the role of glorifying God – I don’t think mediocre cuts it.

What’s notable is that this film doesn’t have the same overtly Biblical message of the usual Veggie Tales lot. Those days appear to be over following the bankruptcy and sale of Big Ideas. Now the Veggie Tales brand appears to have traded in open Biblical faith for a move pluralistic tone where the message is more hidden – or in this case of this piece fully buried. I normally highly support, filmmakers who make pieces where Biblical messages are interwoven in the narrative instead of being overtly tacked on. In this case, where the makers of the film have actually distinguished themselves by being open about their Biblical messages, it seems a little shallow when they mask their message. Again, with the larger corporate goals of the Veggie Tales brand on display, it is clear this will be something we may have to get used to.

Alright, stepping away from the film geek stuff.

So, to wrap this up, kids will enjoy this film. Most people will find it to be harmless and cute. If you have any knowledge of narrative, or filmmaking you’ll probably find this piece to be yet another poorly made and irritating kids movie that has little to offer other than its’ not trying to corrupt your kids.

Click here to view the trailer

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Labels: animated, family film, Veggie Tales

posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 6:27 PM



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My friend Leticia over at CAUSE FOR OUR JOY has posted a review of the new film An Arctic Tale.

She raises some red flags about the film. Check out her review by clicking on the poster below.

Labels: animated, family film, links

posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 4:21 PM



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Should I see it?

Nope.

Evan Baxter (Steve Carell) begins his new position as a Senator. After moving his family into a posh development he gets visited by God (Morgan Freeman). God asks him to build an ark and to warn the world of an impending flood. The remainder of the piece focuses on Evan building his ark while also deciding if he should sign piece of environmental legislation being pushed by the senior senator from his state (John Goodman). Evan begins to take on the physical appearance of Noah while animals begin to swarm around him and his ark.

This is simply a bad movie.

This is the costliest comedy ever made with a budget upwards to $175,000,000.00. This proves that all of the money in the world can’t fix bad ideas. This piece is poorly written, poorly constructed and poorly directed. Even as a simple distraction, a cinematic bauble, it fails to please. I’ve seen screen savers with more narrative punch than this tone-deaf waste.

The premises are interesting but left relatively untouched. Instead of playing off of the comedy that is inherent in a materialist being confronted by God, the film delves into poop humor and groin shots. Its not that I’m completely against a good, solid groin shot gag or a poop joke for that matter. These things do have their places. In this instance however, its just too much salt for the soup. Furthermore, they make strange decisions such as Evan taking on the physical appearance of Noah as he continues to work on the ark. There’s no reason given for this transformation and it comes across as a forced gag that doesn't resonate. It’s a hollow joke which doesn’t play – in other words it matches the rest of the piece.


Worldview: The central question posed is how one can find happiness. In the beginning, Evan is consumed by his position and material goods (including his looks). Under the gentle coaxing by God, Evan reconnects with his family and nature and finds real happiness.

This overarching concept is then buttressed by an environmental subplot involving Evan signing a piece of legislation that would open portions of the national parks to developers. All of this is handled with some caution until the final act.

***SPOILER WARNING - the ending is given here***

In the end, the ark is built just as a damn breaks and floods the valley where Evan lives. The ark is then shuttled by the flood to a balcony of the Senate where the questionable bill is about to be signed. God allows the flood to occur to stop bad law making. It is important to note the flood is not one of vengeance but one made by man. This of course then puts the question of how far does our free will extend into play.

Jesus is not present in this piece nor is he referenced. Given the story and how it is expressed, this is not a “Christian” movie. This is more of a “Jewish” one. There are Biblical elements at play but they are not fully realized and come across as concessions more than lessons. This is a “spiritual” film, meaning it wants to appear Biblical without the commitment.

This film has caused quite a stink in Christian circles because of the presence of God (Morgan Freeman) on screen. Many have quickly dismissed this film based on the low brow humor of its predecessor Bruce Almighty. Others have claimed this piece runs afoul of the Second Commandment:

Exodus 20:4-6 “You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand {generations} of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

While having Morgan Freeman on screen portraying God in a dumb comedy may make some uncomfortable, I don’t believe it breaks the law. We are not asked to worship this image. While he imparts wisdom not spoken by God, we understand he is Morgan Freeman and not actually the real deal.

Another concern is the revisiting of God being involved in a flood when he promised not produce another one. In the context of this film he doesn’t make the flood, we do through our actions. Problem solved.


Cautions: Given their lack of depth combined with their need to be completely family friendly, the filmmakers go wall-to-wall poop jokes in this film. Why is it that family films always have to have poop and fart jokes these days? This goes hand in hand with the sexual innuendos that most family fare now has to contain in order to amuse the adults. While this film avoids sexual humor, you will gag on all of the feces gags.

The language is tame and there isn’t a butt or nipple to be found. This film is safe for all ages but certainly not all sets of I.Q.s, Children will probably become bored, as will the adults, with the long spans of needless talking (without being funny).


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More Steve Carrell Movies:
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Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Labels: comedy, Evan Almighty, family film, Morgan Freeman, movie review, Steve Carell

posted by Michelle Obama's Left Nut at 7:33 AM



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