Laggies

Laggies - Dir. Lynn Shelton (2014)

As many indie directors do, Lynn Shelton became a recognizable name following the heralded debut at Sundance of her first film Humpday. She avoided the sophomore slump with her next (and best) picture, Your Sister's Sister, though she stumbled with her third feature Touchy Feely, which received a tepid response from critics. Shelton finds her stride once again with Laggies, which is the first film she did not also write. The screenplay is credited to Andrea Seigel, a YA author now trying her hand in the movie business.

Laggies is Shelton's version of the man-child comedy that Judd Apatow and Adam McKay have mastered with a feminist touch. Keira Knightley stars as Megan Burch, a highly educated 28-year old who lacks any ambition. She hasn't changed much since high school. Megan still hangs out with the same circle of friends, dates the same guy, and retains the same puerile sense of humor. She earns a quick buck by occasionally twirling a sign for her dad's accounting firm.

Megan's world is rocked during the wedding of her best friend, Allison (Ellie Kemper). Her nice, but bland, boyfriend Anthony (Mark Webber) proposes to her just before Megan catches her father (Jeff Garlin) receiving a handjob from another woman. Megan feels the scene and winds up at a convenience store where she agrees to purchase alcohol for Annika (Chloe Grace Moretz) and her friends. Next thing you know, Megan decides to lay low at Annika's house after telling everyone she's going away to a career counseling retreat. In an improbable turn of events, Annika's single father, Craig (Sam Rockwell), seems all right with this stranger staying at his home. Romance predictably blossoms between the unlikely housemates.

The central plot of Laggies strains credibility with a premise straight out of a hackneyed sitcom. It's quite the jump in logic for a dad to be so blasé about an adult sleeping in his teenage daughter's bedroom. Everything wraps up in a neat little bow though it takes longer than half an hour and it's left in the air if the protagonist learned any valuable life lessons. Credit goes to Shelton for treating her characters with such a gentle hand that you become invested in their stunted emotional journey.

A winning cast also helps. Keira Knightley's American accent is a bit off-putting and it requires a leap of faith to imagine the British beauty as a slacker on a street corner spinning a sign. Still, she throws herself into the part and it's satisfying to see her in something so light after the heavy duty lifting in A Dangerous Method or the overwhelming schlock of Pirates of the Caribbean. Knightley's casting is doubly ironic since actresses of her age are generally cast in the Chloe Moretz role. Moretz herself is a natural. She and Gretchen Mol, as the mother who abandoned her, share a low-key scene that is simultaneously tender and heartbreaking. It's one of the best moments of Laggies alongside just about anything with Sam Rockwell, who shines as the glib and somewhat awkward father.

Laggies is such a slight film that you are bound to forget it just as soon as the end credits roll. Yet, Shelton gives us enough of a refreshing take on the romantic comedy to consider this worth a rent.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

ParaNorman

ParaNorman - Dirs. Chris Butler & Sam Fell (2012)

2012 has been a strong year for animated films. While computer animation rules the roost, it’s good to know that older forms like stop-motion are still being kept alive. Disney released Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie and Universal produced Paranorman from Laika Studios, the same animators that brought us Coraline. Despite being stronger pictures, neither of those pictures did as well as Sony’s Hotel Transylvania, which boasted garish CG-animation and a big-name voice cast with Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez. Out of all three horror themed films, ParaNorman, is undoubtedly the cream of the crop.

Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) lives in the sleepy New England burg of Blithe Hollow and suffers from the same problem as the boy from The Sixth Sense. He sees dead people, all the time. In fact, they’re his only friends, from his late grandmother sitting on the living room couch to the female aviator whose parachute is tangled up in a tree. The people who are still living either openly mock Norman or avoid him like a leper. His mother (Leslie Mann) tries to understand, but his exasperated father (Jeff Garlin) seems like he wants to put Norman in an institution.

Norman’s gifts are called upon when he is visited by the spirit of his crazy Uncle Prenderghast (John Goodman). 300 years ago an evil witch placed a curse on the Puritans who burned her at the stake.  For centuries, a chosen few have kept the witch at bay by reading from a book. With Prenderghast gone, the burden is placed on Norman. When he fails, the dead rise from the grave to plague Blithe Hollow.

Right away, you are struck by the incredible set designs and puppet work of ParaNorman. The hardworking folks of Laika painstakingly crafted the film over a two-year period. The animation alone would win it style points, but there’s substance thanks to a script by storyboard artist Chris Butler, who also made his directorial debut here alongside Sam Fell (Flushed Away, The Tales of Despereaux). They’ve boldly made a kid-friendly zombie movie imbued with a palpable sense of pathos. A second act twist turns ParaNorman right on its ear when we learn that intolerance and mob mentality are far more frightening and tangible than a horde of the ravenous undead. The plot thickens in the third act when Norman learns the heart-wrenching truth about the legend of the witch. The filmmakers never forget to bring the humor with the funniest gag involving a slow moving race between the zombies and a vending machine.

The voice acting is superb with youngsters Kodi Smit-McPhee and Tucker Albrizzi portraying Norman and his overweight pal, Neil. They’ve bonded over their shared status as social outcasts. Anna Kendrick is terrific as Norman’s cheerleader sister, Courtney, and Casey Affleck is hilarious as Neil’s older lunkhead brother, Mitch. There’s also Christopher Mintz-Plasse as school bully Alvin, Tempestt Bledsoe as the sassy town sheriff, and Elaine Stritch as Norman’s granny.

ParaNorman draws inspiration from a variety of classic horror tales ranging from the works of George Romero to Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.  There’s an amusing gag with a hockey mask ala Jason Vorhees and an opening prologue parodying the type of scary movies shown on late-night TV. The score by Jon Brion is a mix melancholy and suspense with the retro-synth sounds of John Carpenter.

ParaNorman is a remarkable achievement in storytelling and stop-motion animation. It conveys a powerful message about acceptance and forgiveness without being preachy or pandering. Recommended without hesitation for movie fans young and old.

Rating: *** (*****)

Cars 2

Cars 2 - Dirs. Brad Lewis & John Lasseter (2011)

Pixar stands as one of the few certainties in this topsy-turvy world. They consistently churn out some of the highest quality pictures out there. Their films always find themselves on numerous critics' year-end lists and have earned the studio 26 Academy Awards. Yet, there always seems to be some doomsayer just waiting for Pixar to slip up. These cynics are likely sitting in the back of the theater (next to Armond White) waiting for the moment when the credits roll so they can finally stand and give a round of slow, sarcastic applause to Pixar's first failure. Everyone seems to be pegging Cars 2, as the first misstep. It's received the worst reviews of any Pixar film thus far. Why should Pixar sequelize one of their weakest efforts, when something like The Incredibles is far more deserving of a second installment? As Spaceballs' guru, Yogurt, would say, "Merchandising, merchandising, merchandising." Hot Wheels toys based on the characters sell like hot cakes to kids and adult collectors alike, but the movies don't share the appeal to a wide range of age groups. Most Pixar productions feel like movies made for adults, but enjoyed by kids. Cars 2 feels like a movie made for kids that will be enjoyed solely by kids.

As all sequels tend to do, Cars 2 goes global as Lightning McQueen (Owen Wilson) enters the World Grand Prix, a three-pronged race sponsored by former oil tycoon Sir Miles Axelrod (Eddie Izzard). Axelrod is now an advocate for alternative fuels and is using the race to promote his newly invented, Allinol. McQueen takes along his best buddy, Mater (Larry the Cable Guy), who proves you can take the redneck out of Radiator Springs, but you can't take the Radiator Springs out of the redneck. Mater's slack-jawed yokel act winds up being an embarrassment for McQueen.

Meanwhile, British super spy Finn McMissile (Michael Caine) is investigating the notorious Professor Zundapp (Thomas Kretschmann), who is attempting to sabotage the Grand Prix in order to protect big oil's interests. The two storylines intersect due to a Hitchcockian case of mistaken identity when Mater comes into possession of photographic evidence that could reveal the identity of the evil mastermind. Mater teams with McMissile and his assistant Holley Shiftwell (Emily Mortimer) to save the life of Lightning McQueen and stop the villains.

Cars 2 continues the themes of its progenitor by extolling the virtues of small town values and folksy Americana. The sequel keeps the spirit alive and places it on an expansive, international scale. The stakes are raised immensely by the new element of espionage, which allows Pixar to further delve into this world of cars. It's clear the Cars franchise is a passion project of noted auto enthusiast John Lasseter (who co-directed with Brad Lewis) due to the attention to detail. Pixar remains the gold standard when it comes to gorgeous animation. Every shot is vividly rendered, especially the scenes set in Tokyo, which is shown as a neon metropolis full of cutesy anime-style characters. Much like the third Toy Story, the majority of the 3D effects in Cars 2 are rather subtle and aren't worth either the extra price or the dulling of the bright animation.

Cars 2 might be the most action-packed Pixar flick yet. There are enough car chases through European streets to make the late-John Frankenheimer drool. The movie opens with a spectacular sequence as McMissile battles an army of henchmen on an oil rig. There's also an exciting climax in Italy on a race track clearly modeled after Monaco. Parents should be warned that several cars meet unfortunate demises, but never in a graphic manner.

While Pixar may have put it into neutral for Cars 2, they are hardly deserving of all the critical drubbing. The screenplay by Ben Queen (with story credits by Lasseter, Lewis, and Dan Fogelman) tosses in a few clever gags. The best joke revolves around an alliance of disgruntled Pacers, Gremlins, and Yugos, who serve as the car versions of the mob as well as the muscle for Prof. Zundapp.

The voice acting is sold with Owen Wilson returning as the affable Lightning McQueen, no longer the jerk he was in the first film. The denizens of Radiator Springs are also back in much smaller roles though three cast members have sadly passed away in the intervening years, Joe Ranft, George Carlin, and Paul Newman. Red the fire engine appears, but has no lines while Carlin's Fillmore the hippie dippie van has been recast (Lloyd Sherr). Newman's Doc Hudson receives a poignant remembrance. Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer are welcome additions, but the most memorable is John Turturro as formula one racer Francesco Bernoulli. Turturro is wonderfully over-the-top as McQueen's arrogant rival. The funny accent turns him into a G-rated version of The Jesus from The Big Lebowski. Pixar even finds a way to work in the legendary Bruce Campbell as American muscle car spy Rod "Torque" Redline. The one question mark that hovers over the film does so above one Larry the Cable Guy. The buck-toothed Mater graduates from comic relief sidekick to main protagonist. His backwoods persona does grow tiresome and a little annoying as Cars 2 zooms towards the finish line.

There's good and then there's Pixar good. Cars 2 is merely good, simply lacking the emotional depth of triumphs such as Toy Story and Up. Still, it's no lemon like the henchcars it features. Cars 2 is a lightweight, lighthearted, and candy-colored adventure that possesses just enough charm to appeal to younger audiences and the occasional adult.

Rating: ** ½ (*****)

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3 - Dir. Lee Unkrich (2010)


Pixar set a new gold standard in animation with their first feature-length film, Toy Story. Since then, they’ve established a track record like no other. They’ve made ten films and not a single one of them is a stinker. Even Cars, the most mediocre of Pixar’s oeuvre, is stronger than everyone else’s best. Now, Pixar releases their 11th film in Toy Story 3 and the bar has been set even higher than before. Despite the critical acclaim and box office success of all their pictures, Toy Story has been the only film that Pixar has spun off into a franchise. A Cars sequel is planned for next year, likely because it became a merchandising cash cow.

It’s been 15 years since the original Toy Story hit theaters with the even better sequel following four years later. Both films dealt with the toys worrying about abandonment by their owner Andy (John Morris). With Toy Story 3 that day seems to have finally come. Andy is now 18, too old to play with toys, and heading off to college.

Our gang of toys has grown smaller and small over the years. Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen) are still around along with Jessie (Joan Cusack), Bullseye, Mr. & Mrs. Potato Head (Don Rickles & Estelle Harris), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Hamm (John Ratzenberger), and Slinky Dog (Blake Clark taking over for the late-Jim Varney). The other toys, such as Wheezy and Bo Peep, have sadly been broken, lost, or given away. The survivors have only an uncertain future to look forward to. Andy decides he’ll take Woody with him to college, but the others are headed for storage in the attic.

After a series of unfortunate incidents, the toys go from the trash heap to the Sunnyside Day Care Center. There, Andy’s toys are greeted by another group of toys led by the folksy Lots-O-Huggin’ Bear (Ned Beatty). He tells the new arrivals that they’ll never have to worry about being abandoned or outgrown. The center sees a constant stream of children coming in and out. All seems well except for Woody who wishes to return to Andy. He heads off and eventually winds up in the hands of Bonnie (Emily Hahn), a cute little tyke whose toys treat playtime like improv theater. Meanwhile, Buzz and the gang find Sunnyside isn’t so sunny when they’re left to fend for themselves against a classroom full of hyperactive toddlers.

It should go without saying that Pixar seems incapable of making a bad film. So it should come as no surprise that Toy Story 3 is another winner. The real question is: Does it live up to the lofty Pixar standards? The answer is a resounding yes.

John Lasseter, the head honcho of Pixar, directed the first Toy Story and co-directed the second with Lee Unkrich, who also co-directed Monsters, Inc. and Finding Nemo. This is Unkrich’s first solo effort and he works off a script by Michael Arndt who earned an Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine. These guys are master manipulators. They know all the right notes to hit to tug at your heart strings.

The work done here is incredible. Pixar has a real knack for characters. The toys aren’t just chunks of plastic, but fully formed and realistic characters. We’ve become completely invested in their journey and it’s a heartbreaker to hear we’ve lost a few along the way.

That journey brings us full circle with a wonderful opening sequence that calls back to the original film. It’s an action-packed prologue with runaway trains, exploding bridges, dinosaurs, monkeys, and a pig-shaped spaceship. It’s a set piece that rivals the Buzz Lightyear opening of the second film. The ending (which I won’t spoil) is a wonderfully touching resolution that caps off the trilogy at just the right note.

Technology has improved by leaps and bounds since we first met Woody and Buzz. As such, the animation in Toy Story 3 blows the other films out of the water. The third film is far more epic in scope, dealing with heady issues of toy existentialism. It doesn’t go into Jean-Paul Sartre territory (this is a kids’ movie), yet it does touch a tiny bit on the mortality of these toys. TS3 is also a little more mature with some dark moments, including a rather creepy baby doll with a wonky eye and an edge-of-your-seat trip to the landfill.

Toy Story 3 isn’t without its light moments. There are plenty of hilarious gags, most of which involve Michael Keaton who voices a metrosexual Ken doll (”I’m not a girls’ toy! I’m not!”). Have I mentioned Mr. Tortilla Head or Spanish Buzz? Pixar has also thrown in a few pop culture references on the sly, including a funny Return of the Jedi joke to go along with the Empire Strikes Back gag from the second picture. Also watch out for a quick cameo from the sadistic Sid as a garbageman.

Creating a sequel is a tricky proposition. Attempting a third film is an increasingly difficult task. It’s difficult to think of a great number three, aside from Indiana Jones & the Last Crusade and The Prisoner of Azkaban. I can think of plenty of bad number threes like Superman 3, Spider-Man 3, and Shrek the Third. Thankfully, Toy Story 3 is not among those poorly conceived productions. It doesn’t necessarily feel like a story that needed to be told, but it was told and told with amazing skill. Pixar will run you through an emotional gauntlet full of adventure, thrills, laughs, fears, and tears. Toy Story 3 will assuredly find its way onto numerous year-end lists.

P.S. – The short which played before the film, Night & Day, is definitely one of the best and most clever ones Pixar has produced. Also, the 3D effects are so subtle that I’d recommend you save the extra bucks and see it in 2D.

Rating: ****

The Bounty Hunter

The Bounty Hunter - Dir. Andy Tennant (2010)


If there was ever a genre that needed serious reinvention, it is the modern romantic comedy. Aside from (500) Days of Summer, the rom-com has been a squalid and stagnant cesspool not unlike the putrid sump in Kurosawa’s Drunken Angel (pardon the film geek reference). While I’m all for change, I don’t think the sudden emergence of the rom-com/action movie hybrid is the way to go. This summer we’ll see Knight and Day (with Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz) and Killers (with Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl), both of which feature a ‘girl meets boy, boy turns out to be highly trained assassin’ plots. April sees the release of Date Night this complete failure of a film, The Bounty Hunter.

Jennifer Aniston is Nicole Hurley, a newspaper reporter, and Gerard Butler is Milo Boyd, a former cop turned bounty hunter following their messy divorce. They hate each other so much that it takes them about an hour and a half to realize how much they really love each other. Sorry, did I forget to mention spoiler alert?

Anyways, Nicole is working on a riveting story about parking tickets. Through a series of contrived events this leads her onto the trail of dirty cops and stolen evidence. She winds up skipping a court date for a traffic violation. Milo gleefully accepts the job and their romance is rekindled while the bad guys shoot at them. The paper thin story is filled out by a few subplots involving Jason Sudeikis as an overly amorous co-worker of Nicole’s, Milo’s gambling addiction, and the loan sharks he owes.

The Bounty Hunter is basically a poor man’s version of Midnight Run, except Butler is no Robert DeNiro and Jennifer Aniston is way hotter than Charles Grodin. But, that’s not nearly enough to elevate the film above it formulaic rom-com trappings. The action isn’t good enough to keep things interesting for the guys dragged to the theaters by their dates. Director Andy Tennant (Hitch) just doesn’t have a handle on how to shoot action sequences in a competent manner. The dialogue is purely functional meant to do nothing more than advance the plot and explain everything in great detail, as if the Byzantine screenplay by Sarah Thorp was too much for anyone of below average intelligence to grasp. The comedy consists mainly of Gerard Butler being tasered and punched in the balls.

There are absolutely no redeeming qualities about The Bounty Hunter.

Rating: DUD