Cartoon Star.

Don't you love when famous people are turned into cartoons? I know I do and this lovely lady up there is none other than Estrella Morente (of Pé's singing voice in Volver fame) who gets to play herself in the lovely Chico & Rita. I saw it, as well with three other Animated Feature nominees over the weekend, head over to The Film Experience to see how it went.

Short Take: "The Muppets", "The Adventures of Tintin".

Appealing to nostalgia might not be the best angle to use in a society where history is constantly relegated to a previous, usually inferior, level of existence, however this is exactly what The Muppets does and it does it magically. Based on the beloved characters made famous by Jim Henson in the late 1970s, the film tries to rekindle the memories of those who loved the Muppets, while introducing them to a whole new generation.
Injected with the fresh blood of director James Bobin and musical composer Bret McKenzie (two of the men behind the amazing Flight of the Conchords) and writer/actor Jason Segel, the movie is a pure labor of love, done by the people who grew up with these characters and who wanted younger people to get to know them.
The movie in a way is a fictitious version of its creation. When it starts we meet Gary (Segel) and Walter, two brothers who live in Smalltown, USA and who grew up loving the Muppets (one of the first scenes has them watching the show together in an episode with Steve Martin as a guest). Walter has a special reason for loving them more: he is a Muppet himself.
Gary and his girlfriend Mary (Adams) take Walter to Los Angeles so he can make his dream come true and visit The Muppets' studio, however once there, Walter is appalled to find out that not only is the lot practically deserted, but an evil businessman (Cooper) has decided to steal it and turn it into an oil refinery.
Walter sets out on a mission to get all the Muppets back together and raise the money to save the studio.
Call it a mix between a telethon (moviethon?), an old fashioned "let's put a show together" spectacle and a trip down memory lane.
The film goes the extra mile to put a smile on audience faces while paying tribute to the enormous legacy The Muppets have had in pop culture but more than that it works as a superb exercise in postmodern theories regarding memory and its direct relation with mass entertainment.
Many people may not remember when they took their first step or when their first tooth fell out but they're more than likely to remember the first time they watched their favorite movie or their favorite TV show. Why and how media has developed parallel to our sensory is perhaps a matter best left to anthropologists and sociologists, however the issue with this film is that it taps onto something similar to an imagined collective consciousness; its pleasures exclusive to those who feel at home watching The Muppets.
The film's meta elements wonderfully convey the nature of filmmaking and interestingly enough lead us to question the prevalence of film as a medium, for example how will future generations feel about the use of current celebrities as "stars"? The film itself makes a point - in some truly outrageous jokes - about the ups and downs of star power. If people fifty years from now think of Jack Black as a movie star, then the movie will have huge nostalgic power, however if they wonder who the hell the fat guy with the weird smile is, the film will prove a point. Either way The Muppets come out winners.

The Adventures of Tintin might very well be the best movie Steven Spielberg has made in a decade. Unlike his "live action" projects which suffer from his excessive use of sentimentality and his need to tie everything up with a lovely bow, this graphic novel adaptation is served from its source material's no-bullshit approach to entertaining, which is something Spielberg has truly excelled at.
Tintin reminds you of the Indiana Jones movies and some of his family classics like E.T.: The Extra-terrestrial because you can feel how the director is loving every minute of it. Motion capture seems to have opened up a door that he's kept shut in favor of more "serious" films. From its lovingly detailed opening sequence, to its wonderful homage to Lawrence of Arabia the film thrives with a restlessness that becomes truly addictive. The work of the actors is superb and the film has one of the most exciting sequences Spielberg has ever shot.
It's refreshing to see how medium experts are finding new life in modern techniques.

Grades:
The Muppets ***½
The Adventures of Tintin ***

Arthur Christmas ***½

Director: Sarah Smith

Leave it to the Brits to make a film so good and unique that Americans almost had to spoil by way of terrible marketing. The ad campaign and trailers for Arthur Christmas made it seem like it would be one of those "hip" animated comedies that rely on cheap jokes about modern issues to attract the masses, but then are all but remembered three hours after they've over. The truth is in fact, that Arthur Christmas has all the elements of a timeless classic in the making.
Few movies feel the need to feel audiences with joy - they're usually more concerned about pleasing themselves - this one however reaches out to you with such sincerity that you have to wonder how Pixar didn't make it.
The simple answer is because it was made by Aardman Animations (in collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation), the people responsible for Wallace & Gromit.  
Arthur Christmas might not be claymation, but its computer generated images contain such beauty that you might want to revisit it just to admire the great detail with which the animators created every single character and setting.
The film opens with a gorgeous vista of a small English town, where a little girl carefully deposits a letter for Santa Claus in the mailbox. When Christmas arrives we see how the once quaint and rustic North Pole, has become almost militarized and Santa's big mission is a task worthy of an army.
Thousands of elves behind computers check and see that nothing goes wrong, while Santa's older son Steve, supervises the entire operation. We see how Santa's sleigh has been replaced by a modern spaceship that can camouflage itself in the night sky to help the delivery.
The elves enter people's houses using all sorts of spy techniques and we are told, more than once, how important it is that nobody discovers them. Back in the North Pole, Santa's younger son, Arthur, watches the entire operation with admiration and a deep desire to be part of it all. His job is less important, nobody thinks he'll amount to much.
When Santa returns, Arthur realizes one present wasn't delivered and he makes it his mission to deliver it himself. After this setup, we are treated with a lovely take on the "black sheep" story as the courageous Arthur overcomes all obstacles - including genre stereotypes - to become a man and gain his father's respect.
The superb screenplay (written by director Smith and Peter Baynham) could've easily relied on complicated setpieces to keep us entertained, instead they devote such care to developing every character that we could see entire movies dedicated to each of them.
From Arthur's own brand of meek heroism, to Steve's brand of creepy perfectionism (there's a Margaret Thatcher book in his room!), the film is more interested in reveling in these characters' humanity than in their comedic skills. A feisty elf named Bryony and a scene-stealing Grandsanta, round up the film's most memorable characters.
Best of all must be the joy that emanates from every single scene in the movie. Where it could've been moralizing and trite, instead it delivers a unique brand of existentialist thinking, leading us to wonder whether we've corrupted the spirit of Christmas or if it has corrupted us in a way.
The film thrives with clever dialogues, stunning action sequences and pierces your heart in the most unexpected of ways. It will move you to tears and leave you yearning for the times when you too believed Santa was real.
Kudos to director Smith for finding the perfect balance between originality and homage (there are several sequences that can only be called Spielberg-ian, a la E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters, mind you...) don't let phony advertising fool you, Arthur Christmas is truly a present you'll love to unwrap.

Cars 2 **

Director: John Lasseter, Brad Lewis

The adage implies that if it ain't broken, you shouldn't be fixing it right? Well, they should add "or messing with it" in order to describe the history of Pixar and Cars. The original movie is now mostly remembered for being Paul Newman's last fiction motion picture and for breaking Pixar's streak of perfect critical scores. It was received without much fanfare and never really achieved the transcendence of other films by the studio (how often do you hear anyone quote Mater the tow truck?). Apparently though, the film and its characters were deeply loved within the company and in order to atone for previous sins (or critical head-scratches) they decided to give Cars a twist, precisely be relieving it of everything that made the first installment endearing, if not completely successful.

The problem with Cars was never that it was a bad movie, because it's not. The "problem" was that it was a big fluffy piece of good old fashioned Americana. Obviously this love for purely American mythical figures (Route 66 and such) made it impossible to connect from coming from an international perspective (heck even immigrants must've felt alienated by it).

Pixar failed to see that the international response didn't really spell "failure", it just meant that they had crafted a specifically American art piece which failed to resonate with foreigners (and even more progressive audiences within the country) in the way that country music, Norman Rockwell and Westerns do.

Instead of actually grabbing on to this patriotic fervor (Cars is unarguably propagandistic in post 9/11 terms) the studio wanted everyone to love it and Cars 2 commits the cardinal sin of misunderstood local ideals: it transports and experiments with them in different locales.

Like the proverbial fish out of water, Cars 2 takes Mater the tow truck and turns him into an accidental spy (think If Looks Could Kill) trying to solve a mysterious set of car murders (carders?) during the first World Grand Prix, organized by extravagant billionaire Miles Axlerod (think Sir Richard Branson as a talking Range Rover which he kinda is, no?)

Mater not only will prove he's no redneck truck (which he is) he also will help save his dear friend, race-car, Lighting McQueen from the evil forces trying to destroy him.

In a nutshell the film is a James Bond spoof by way of anthropomorphic vehicles that fails to elicit any actual emotional connection with audiences but delivers exciting chase sequences and some of the most beautiful animation that has graced the screen so far.

There is so much going on in this film, plot-wise, that it's pretty safe to say that most children won't even know what's going on, much less will they understand the sly humor, which in delicious Austin Powers tradition names a female car Hollwy Shiftwell. That her colleague is the sexy spy Finn McMissile does little to prevent double entendres from forming in older audience members' minds.

The film features clever little jokes, the reference to Ratatouille's restaurant in a Paris sequence is especially endearing as is the entire part of the movie set in Japan, but overall it's pretty much child's play that might get a bit too complicated for kids.

Most troubling of all is perhaps the film's message which precisely contradicts the entire existence of this installment other than financial reasons. After almost two hours of endless activity, flashy animation (fortunately no seizures were reported) and obnoxiousness by way of extreme cuteness, the film tells us that we should be who we are, wherever we are.

As if to continue the Born This Way manifesto of most 2011 blockbusters, Cars 2 shouts out loud that you should be proud of who you are, after making you spend your hard earned money in a shallow, mildly entertaining ride.

A Felicidade.

Head over to The Costa Rica News by clicking here and read my review for Rio.

Then come back here and let's samba!

The Illusionist ***½

Director: Sylvain Chomet

Jacques Tati had a cunning eye for finding humanity through the use of complicated setpieces and quietly heartbreaking humor. Whether he was at the beach, the city or on the highway, he had a way to make us laugh about the senselessness we allow to rule our lives.

When he died in 1982 he had been at work on a story about a magician who befriends a young woman and finds hope in a world where he's no longer needed.

Years later, the extraordinary Sylvain Chomet adapted this screenplay to bid adieu to Tati with The Illusionist.

Chomet, best known for his quirky work in The Triplets of Belleville, took Tati and literally turned him into the animated figure he played in his movies.

The main character here is Tatischeff, a French magician trying to find audiences to entertain as rock bands and pop artists take over the world.

In the opening scene we see him struggle with his hat-rabbit and the lack of an audience, who leave the theater once the musical group stops playing (the group is a wonderful hybrid of Elvis Presley and The Beatles). We understand that Tatischeff has become a second rate act.

Later when he loses his rabbit, a theater employer brings over a rat. Tatischeff explains to him that this particular rodent doesn't belong to him but Chomet has told us all we need to know about this man.

Few working directors have the lyrical economy of Chomet. With a mere strokes, and usually without dialog, he is able to encompass such a large array of emotions that it's no wonder he took onto this project.

Like Tati, and to a certain degree like Chaplin (who Tati arguably paid homage to), Chomet creates entire worlds in tiny episodes. The stylized work of the animators in The Illusionist have precious qualities that could border on caricature (which they technically are) but usually as seen as mature embodiments of more transcendental elements.

It's impossible not to see the smoky decadence of Edith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich in a chanteuse we only get a glimpse of and once we learn about the autobiographical nature of the film we are just left in awe of Tati's great intellect and heart.

We see how Tatischeff has to travel all over looking for audiences that will let themselves be enchanted by his tricks.

During one of these travels to a remote Scottish pub, he meets a young girl named Alice who becomes enthralled by what she considers to be real magic.

Alice becomes the magician's loyal follower and travels with him to Edinburgh where during the day, he presents her with lavish presents-by way of his magic-and at night tries to earn a living by doing "regular" jobs.

The sequences where he works as an advertising painter and a car parking guard are sensational and provide us with little gags that particularly recall Playtime.

Tatischeff is a combination of Tati himself and Mr. Hulot and through him the film talks to us in a subtle meta language that carefully leads us to ask ourselves where does the man end and the artist begins.

This is perhaps the central theme of the movie given that the screenplay was supposed to be an apology to one of Tati's estranged daughters.

Seeing the way in which Tatischeff tries hard to please Alice but finds himself unable to keep up the charade for too long speaks not only of Tati's real life or even of a father and daughter, it has something deeper to say about the magic of movies themselves.

Too often movies try hard to mimic reality and become projections of our world that seem all too real and identifiable.

The Illusionist however reminds us that movies are the ultimate illusion; as hard as they try they will always be shadows of a universe we only think we know. The movie then offers sequences where we see the process of movie making in miniature.

During one scene Alice stares out a window while outside an old lady has an accident with feathers which fly through the air creating the impression of snow. Alice rushes to light a fire to keep warm and only later realizes her mistake.

The truth is however that she fails to see that for a minute the phenomenon was real because she saw it. This leads us to yet another important part of film making which is taking into consideration the things the audience never sees. The behind the cameras process if you like, which we also see here in a hilarious moment when Alice fails to get water when she opens the faucet (take notice of how Chomet frames these moments using mirrors, windows or doors that recall movie screens).

This willing ignorance on our part makes us not gullible but naively enthralled by things that seem to have escaped from our wildest dreams.

However what happens when these illusions disappoint us? We see this in Tatischeff himself who comes to realize that, hard as he tries, there's only so much magic the world is willing to take.

The Illusionist is a heartbreaking work of art that deals with melancholy and the artistic process, yet pulls off the ultimate trick: through its nostalgic palette and carefully constructed characters it reminds us that magic is real for as long as we wish to believe in it.

Despicable Me **

Director: Pierre Coffin, Chris Renaud

It's probably quite lame to bring Pixar up into every discussion about digitally animated films; however, movies like Despicable Me make it impossible to ignore how the vastly superior studio has spoiled audiences with the top notch quality of their work and probably has terrified the competition into thinking that in order to achieve some of their success, they must make thinly disguised versions of Pixar movies.
This one borrows from The Incredibles and Toy Story to tell the story of Gru (voiced by Steve Carrell) a world class villain with big issues.
Threatened by the arrival of a hipper villain named Vector (voiced by Jason Segel) and his lifelong desire to please his mother (voiced by Julie Andrews) he decides to show 'em all once and for all that he's the ultimate badass by stealing the moon.
For this he adopts three cute, little orphaned girls, don't ask, because they're the only way for him to steal a shrinking laser, again don't ask.
Soon we have established several archetypes that will obviously be fulfilled by the film's eventual positive message and give the filmmakers enough wacky situations to make the most out of 3D technology.
But that's it. Oh and there's Gru's minions, a lazy copy of the Toy Story aliens who ooh, aaah and are shown doing cute things whenever the plot doesn't know where to go. The movie is comprised of a series of situations during which we're either supposed to laugh, go "awww" or, well that's pretty much it.
The action sequences have a Loony Tunes meets Spy vs. Spy feel to them that might steal a giggle now and then but get tiresome after a while, the more emotional scenes are made out of sweet moments where the awkward Gru begins to love the little girls (and who can blame him when one of the kids has the same eyes as the cat from Shrek?)
What the movie lacks is complete character development. Just because we know Gru had a father-less childhood (his dad might be the Russell Brand voiced Dr. Nefario but this is never made clear) doesn't mean that all his problems will be solved by becoming a father himself.
It's this kind of facile way out that makes the movie almost instantly forgettable.
Also, who's there to protect people from these villains? Doesn't comic book style evil and good appear at the same time?
What are Vector and Gru gaining from being villainous? In the end don't they become each other's antithesis and therefore a hero/villain dichotomy develops?
Perhaps not, the filmmakers don't intend for you to question this because...ZOMG look at how cute those minions are!

Shrek Forever After **

Director: Mike Mitchell
Cast: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Eddie Murphy
Jon Hamm, Julie Andrews, John Cleese

The best thing that can be said about the seeming last installment in the Shrek series is that nothing in it is cringe worthy.
More of an excuse to get cash out of children and their unwilling parents, than an actual movie, this chapter concentrates on Shrek's midlife crisis.
Despite having a perfect life, a loving wife, babies and loving friends he misses the days when he was just an ogre having fun and wreaking havoc.
The major issue with the film is that, well so do us.
After the refreshing experience that was the first one almost a decade ago, each subsequent film has been a painful pastiche of pop culture references, annoying scatological jokes and a ridiculous attempt to make fun of Disney movies while choosing to respect their parameters and actually accommodating to them.
In this one, when Shrek gets offered a whole day of old fashioned goodness by the conniving Rumpelstiltskin and while he injects the movie with the kind of madcap hilarity last seen in the original movie, nothing in this one justifies its existence.
Shrek discovers that the alternate universe he's in just makes him want to have his old life back and while trying to seduce Fiona all over again and trying to befriend Donkey for the first time only makes it obvious that those of us looking for great entertainment would be better off watching the DVD of the first movie.

How to Train Your Dragon **

Director: Dean DeBlois, Chris Sanders

Once again disregarding time accurate conceptions in favor of contemporary behavior and any trace of verisimilitude within the time and characters, Dreamworks Animation Studios delivers what might be one of their most successful attempts at maturing.
In How to Train Your Dragon we meet Hiccup (voiced somewhat annoyingly by Jay Baruchel) a young viking who's the shame of his town.
While everyone else in town-including other kids his age-indulge in the tradition of dragon slaying, Hiccup pretty much messes up every time he leaves the house.
His father Stoick (voiced by Gerard Butler in an unimaginative 300 way) the village leader leaves for battle and expects his son to have achieved something when he returns.
Fortunately for Hiccup he meets Toothless, a young dragon (of a race nobody has seen before!) who befriends him and soon enough he's not only taming all the other dragons but becomes the village's favorite son.
For all the Oedipal and quasi-environmental issues at its center, there is really nothing in this movie you haven't seen before.
It indulges itself with cliché after cliché; from the characters' names to the things they do. Really what is it with Dreamworks insistence of disregarding everything in favor of contemporary personalities children will enjoy? Don't they have the slightest sense of historical conscience?
The film is somewhat entertaining though and visually it's beautiful to behold (Roger Deakins acted as visual consultant) but it puffs more often than it soars.

The Secret of Kells ***

Director: Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey

There was a time when hand drawn animation had the power to take our breath away and remind us of the lengthy artistic history encompassed in pen, ink and paper.
Disney once was a master of this craft with every new movie becoming a landmark of beauty and perpetuation of creative power.
As the years went by the studio reduced its interest in pushing itself and settled for a definite animation style. Other studios could've taken advantage of this opportunity to pave their own ways but chose to imitate Disney animation.
With the advent of computers and CGI animation audiences all but gave their backs to hand drawn animation and succumbed to the real qualities and three dimensions that could be achieved with this technology.
As this kind of animation reaches its own limits (the biggest difference between movies of this kind now lies in the screenplays) a little gem comes along to remind us that sometimes the greatest things come from our past.
In "The Secret of Kells" directors Moore and Twomey take us to the Middle Ages to meet Brendan (voiced by Evan McGuire) a little boy living inside the Abbey of Kells with his uncle, Abbot Cellach (Brendan Gleeson).
As the abbot oversees the construction of a fortified wall to protect them from Vikings, Brendan, who has never left the Abbey or the village around it, dreams of what lies beyond the great forests.
He gets his thrills from stories he hears from the other monks. He suddenly sees the possibility to satiate his thirst for knowledge with the arrival of Brother Aidan (Mick Lally) a monk from the Ilsand of Iona carrying with him an unfinished book of which powers have been talked about for ages.
While the Abbey forbids his nephew from getting involved with Aidan, Brendan disobeys enthralled by the temptation of creation. Based on the legends surrounding the creation of the legendary Book of Kells, the filmmakers come up with a beautiful, simple metaphor to narrate the way in which knowledge has always been a threat.
Brendan becomes the symbol of enlightenment fighting the dark forces of barbarians and the Church itself.
While the movie makes for a lovely crash course of Midle Ages' history it must be said that its ideas-perhaps because they're addressed to children-are filtered into simple ways, such that the evil Vikings become amorphous figures with horns and the Church's interest in keeping the masses ignorant is processed as extreme paternal worry on part of the Abbey towards Brendan.
Therefore the characters might not be that developed and mature, but the movie more than makes up for it with its relentless aesthetic power.
The character animation perhaps recalls the style of Craig McCracken (just to mention a contemporary animator) with the use of simple lines and elementary figures to create each feature.
The animation for the characters is particularly effective. The Abbot for example is drawn with sturdy, severe lines that evoke his firmness, while Brendan is made out of circles that seem to juggle upon each other as the character moves.
One of the most beautiful creations is the fairy Aisling (voiced by Christen Mooney) a pale impish being that seems to materialize out of nowhere in every scene she's featured, she's drawn with long curves that give the impression of a misty aftereffect.
The expressionist animation does much more for each character than any line of dialogue can and sometimes the filmmakers seem to forget this, stuffing the plot with Celtic legends and unnecessary conversations.
For more serious film buffs and art lovers the most appealing element in "The Secret of Kells", might not be its exploration of what brought forth Illumination theoretically, but what graphic arts contributed when words were such a luxury.
The central Book of Kells is among the most famous versions of the gospels before Gutenberg and the film sometimes feels like watching Medieval arts spring to life.
More than that, the movie is done mixing animation styles that not only look magnificent put together but might very well narrate a history of art.
From Mayan creatures with feathers and child like chalk drawings that function as maps, to Medieval tableaux combined with Gothic frames and Chinese shadow theater.
The lavish backgrounds done in pale watercolors and gold motives recall Klimt's greatest work and by the time the animators let us see the influence the Russian Soyuzdetmultfilm-Studio has on their work, we will probably be enthralled by the way they borrow from Eisenstein and Tarkovsky to frame each scene.
"The Secret of Kells", like the best of books, hypnotizes us with every turn of the page and its beauty is such that the lack of a better story, is minimized by the jaw-dropping marvel of its history.

The Princess and the Frog **

Director: Ron Clements, John Musker

The differences between "usual" Disney princesses and the new multi-cultural approach they want to take is expressed quite clearly to us in the first scene of "The Princess and the Frog".
New Orleans seamstress Eudora (voiced by Oprah Winfrey) works on a dress for little Charlotte La Bouff (Breanna Brooks) while she tells her and her daughter Tiana (Elizabeth M. Dampier) a fairy tale.
While the perky, and white, Charlotte glows at the idea of frogs that turn into magical princes, Tiana yuks and proclaims there's no way she would ever kiss a frog.
Her dreams involve opening her very own restaurant with her father (Terrence Howard) and Disney love is something foreign to her system.
Flash forward a few years and Tiana (voiced later by Anika Noni Rose) is working as a waitress while saving to make the first down payment on her restaurant. Charlotte (voiced as an adult by Jennifer Cody) is still the same and has set her eye on the upcoming arrival of Prince Naveen of Maldovia (voiced by Bruno Campos) to become the princess she always wanted to be.
The fact that during these first few scenes we're actually suggested to think of Charlotte as some sort of antagonist- making life impossible for girls who want to work hard like Tiana- is ironic considering how the whole plot turns against itself later on.
Free spirited Naveen is transformed into a frog by evil witch doctor Facilier (Keith David) A.K.A "the Shadow Man" who has a plan to get Charlotte's father (John Goodman) wealth.
Naveen, who obviously read the fairy tale, confuses Tiana for a princess and asks her to kiss him in exchange of being granted anything she wishes for.
She does, ending up a frog herself. It's impossible not to question here if she's being punished for going against her integrity (and expecting to make her wishes come true out of magic) or because she dared think of herself as a fairy tale princess.
Soon Naveen and Tiana find themselves crossing the bayou to find Mama Odie, a witch (Jenifer Lewis) that might know how to turn them back into humans.
Along the way they befriend anthropomorphic creatures that show us-by way of Randy Newman's catchy but repetivie songs- not all reptiles and insects are nasty creatures.
Large part of the plot is shaped around the idea that we shouldn't want to be something we're not. Giant alligator Louis (Michael-Leon Wooley) wishes he could be a jazz trumpet player, while Cajun firefly Ray (Jim Cummings) is in love with a star he calls Evangeline.
Half the movie we endure a debate going on between what the film is saying literally and what it's revealing in a sub-level.

We come to understand that dreams like the one Ray has not only are impossible to achieve but are slightly delusional and it might be said that by stressing out how these predominantly African American characters endure all kinds of trouble to reach things the heroine doesn't even believe in, the filmmakers are not evolving as they suppose, but retaining traditional characteristics to assure young audiences that maybe Disney's status quo isn't so bad as it seems.
The twists have more smug-self-indulgence than wonder and while handsomely drawn and animated the film never haves the magic of 2D classics the studio delivered so proficiently during its golden age.
"It serves me right for wishing on a star" sighs Tiana, when "the only way to get what you want in this world is to work hard for it".
This might come off as a positive message on Disney's part but the movie takes such great lengths to take us to Charlotte's side, that children might just assume old studio princesses who merely wait for a prince to solve their lives are better off than poor Tiana.

Fantastic Mr. Fox ***1/2

Director: Wes Anderson

Few working directors have such a recognizable visual style as Wes Anderson (if that is good or bad is another matter). In "Fantastic Mr. Fox" his first foray into animation (if you don't count the strange sea creatures from "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou") he transports his unique aesthetics to a world populated by furry, anthropomorphic puppets.
Particularly Mr. Fox (George Clooney playing Danny Ocean) a former chicken thief who chose the right path and became a newspaperman after his wife Mrs. Felicity Fox (a sly Meryl Streep) became pregnant.
When his son Ash (a brilliant Jason Schwartzman) is twelve fox years old, Mr. Fox decides he's had enough of his quiet domestic life and sets to pull off one last heist.
He recruits Kylie (Wallace Wolodarsky) the superintendent opossum, and Felicity's athletic nephew Kristofferson (Eric Anderon) to rob the farms of Boggis (Robin Hurlstone), Bunce (Hugo Guinness) and Bean (Michael Gambon).
The job goes as planned but the angry farmers retaliate and plan to get rid of Mr. Fox, his family and all the neighboring animals.
This forces the charming hero to make things right and solve the sort of existential -crises-hiding-behind-entertaining-facades that Anderson has become known for.
But "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is more than "The Royal Tenenbaums" in stop motion, based on Roald Dahl's novel, the movie actually digs deeper than Anderson ever reaches with live action.
It's as if this micro world was invented just for him as he populates it with an assortment of characters, quirks and details that are a pleasure to behold.
The puppets' little coats and accessories have textures that we could stare at for hours and the stilted way of some of their movements is a shocking contrast to the relentless need of CGI to imitate real life.
Watching this movie we're supposed to know we're watching something unreal, perhaps Anderson's actual intention was to have us wonder throughout the film "how did they do that?". This is an interesting proposition because it immediately forces us to experience the wonders of childhood where even thunder was a mystery (it might be no coincidence again that Mrs. Fox is obsessed with painting thunderstorms).
The film's surrealistic nature serves Anderson because he is finally able to explore the absurdities of his characters without the selfconsciousness of actors.
He's at such balance with the animation technique that we recognize several visual keys (like Kylie's insanely funny blank eyes) from his live action films, but if he went and gave the real Bill Murray (who voices a real estate Badger here) a furry coat, the result might be just weird.
Anderson's detachment from keeping an equilibrium between what we see and how we respond gives him the chance to create one of his greatest characters in the shape of Ash; a son trying to live up to what he thinks his father expects from him.
The droll characterization of Ash-who wears a weird cape and underwear that makes his father think he's "different"-offers enough fantasy and truthfulness to make us laugh while blushing because at some level we might recognize ourselves in him.
Forget about the zany dialogues (although Anderson and Noah Baumbach made a witty adaptation), the Jarvis Cocker cameo or the intricate production design, the real wonder in "Fantastic Mr. Fox" is that when we see a puppet shed a tear we too might be getting misty eyed.

Ponyo ***

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Very few living directors can convey such a sense of wonder in film as Hayao Miyazaki. Having never given up on hand drawn animation, the Japanese genius comes up with things you can only try to imagine.
Every frame in his movies is filled with a delicate, exciting balance and every element is a wonder to watch.
In his latest film he takes Hans Christian Andersen's tale of "The Little Mermaid" and turns it into a simple story with a green message.
Sosuke is a five year old who one day finds a curious goldfish in the sea. He names her Ponyo without knowing that she is in fact an ocean princess. When he cuts his finger, she licks it and gains the power to become human.
However, in crossing this threshold Ponyo unleashes a natural imbalance which threatens to destroy the world. It's up to Sosuke and Ponyo to fix this, by making the ultimate choice of love.
Much more simplistic than anything else he's done, Miyazaki seems interested in making little children understand what he wants to say.
This often leaves more mature viewers stuckwith plot holes, lack of dramatic tension and a rushed climax that underwhelms.
Despite of this Miyazaki still embeds his movie with complex themes which remain mostly ignored by the dialogues and tease the audience.
Like the inverse situations we see with Ponyo and Sosuke's familiar statuses. Sosuke lives with his mother, while his father works in a ship.
Ponyo thinks her father keeps her "prisoner", but he's just trying to keep the planet safe, while her mother-a giant goddess called Granmammaren-maintains the seas in peace.
In this way Ponyo becomes Sosuke's oceanic compensation for a missing father figure (think Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-terrestrial").
There's also the lovely balance between the fantastical and the realistic. Miyazaki for instance imagines tsunamis to be provoked by giant fish-waves on a mission.
He deftly sets the two in a single frame, where they remain separate, yet together, as human characters only see the water and not the fish.
This makes for a fascinating dialectic between how mythology and modern life have been able to survive side by side.
In cultures, like the Japanese, this is stronger than in the Western world and rarely has a movie comprised this state in such a beautiful way.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs ***

Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Just when it seemed that the computer animated market had been divided between the brilliant, timeless masterpieces of Pixar and the moneymaking, ludicrous pop exploitations of Dreamworks Animations here comes Sony Pictures with a movie that's quite a treat.
Based on the children's book by Judi Barrett and Don Barrett, "Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" is a delightful satire that takes the best from both animated moguls' visions.
It tells the story of Flint Lockwood (voiced by Bill Hader) a scientist living in a tiny island in the middle of the Atlantic known for its sardine industry.
All of his life he tried hard to create things that would make people's lives easier, but after failing constantly he finds his opportunity when the sardine industry dies.
People are left eating the remains of their unsold production and the whole town becomes sad and dull, "life became gray" as one of the characters say.
Flint comes up with a machine that transforms water molecules into any food you want (everyone wants junk food of course) and accidentally he aims at the sky causing a hamburger rain to come down and put smiles on people's faces.
Soon he's the town celebrity and he takes requests from everyone to fill the sky menu, but as it usually happens with excess, things get bad before long.
The clever plot works as a satire in two remarkable ways; children will notice that none of the foods featured include liver, soup or Brussels sprouts, instead the town becomes flooded with ice cream, pizza and giant meatballs.
They might not understand the nods to extreme consumerism and world hunger that adults undoubtedly will, but they might think after the movie that maybe living in a house made out of cake isn't as good an idea as they thought...
Grownups on the other side will have a feast with all the movie references (which are not particularly about current pop culture events, but about B movies, Irving Allen disaster flicks and "The Wizard of Oz"), the intelligent take on how it's not so easy to fix world hunger and above all with the brilliant voice cast.
Hader headlines an ensemble that includes the wonderful Anna Faris, the incomparable James Caan and even Mr. T. They all deliver splendid work that creates characters instead of just lending their voices to them.
It's in their everyman-and woman-ness that the film strikes its most tuned chord. Sure it's also insanely funny, sweet and even features a very complex Oedipal, well, complex at the center of it all.
Most interesting of all is the depiction of a colorful world filled with perky TV hosts, ambitious politicians that rely on charisma to gain power, people without food and jobs and governments that distract their people with shiny attractions...
Not so far from the world we live in huh?

Happy Birthday to...

He's ten this year!

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs **1/2

Director: Carlos Saldanha

Unlike the era they take their title from, each of the "Ice age" sequels proves to be more inconsequential than the previous one. This time around, family is the word as woolly mammoths Manny and Ellie (voiced by Ray Romano and Queen Latifah respectively) are expecting their first child.
Meanwhile saber toothed tiger Diego (voiced by Denis Leary) wonders if he fits with this unorthodox herd as he feels he's losing his instincts. Sid the sloth begins to feel lonely and "adopts" three dinosaur eggs to feel safe.
When the dinosaur's mother, an angry Tyrannosaurus Rex, comes to the rescue of her children she takes Sid with them down to an underground world, preserved under the ice, where dinosaurs roam in the free and lava waterfalls are as common as gigantic animal eating plants.
The whole herd comes to the rescue and are aided by Buck (voiced by Simon Pegg) a crazy weasel with a Captain Ahab complex.
This is one of those movies where the search is always filled with troubles and adventure, while getting back home takes under ten seconds (obviously it would take forever if they found inconveniences on both ways, but it would be awesome if sometime they tried this...), you know how the film will end after the first five minutes.
They will have epiphanies, near death encounters (but how do you kill a cute, fuzzy prehistoric animal?) and as many sentimental moments and speeches as they see fit to include.
But the truth is that there's nothing inherently wrong with "Ice Age", even this predictability seems to be an asset, especially because the main plot is often balanced by the film's real stars: saber toothed squirrel Scrat who is now torn between the love for his acorn and Scratte, a femme-fatale with killer eyelashes and concealed abilities.
Every time the plot begins to drag, and it often does, the filmmakers wisely take us to one of Scrat's misadventures which erupt instantaneous laughter (even if some of the best were spoiled in the trailer).
It's a shame that the story with the herd is never as involving and exciting as the one with Scrat, especially because technique wise, the film shows clear evolution from its predecessors.
However they use too many anachronistic references and the "Moby Dick" reference is plain screenwriting laziness.
But just as you're thinking how dumb the movie feels, you start humming Lou Rawls' "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine", which becomes Scrat's theme song, and the film feels a little less like a fossil...

Up ****

Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

At first glance "Up" seems deceptively simple. Lonely widower Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) decides to fulfill a promise he made to his wife - while escaping a retirement home appropriately called "Shady Oaks"- and travels to Venezuela's, fictitious, Paradise Falls. He uses his house, which is propelled by thousands of balloons, as transportation.
He ignores that there is a stowaway on board; little boy scout Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai), who was hoping to get his "Help the Elderly" badge by assisting Mr. Fredricksen.
With this premise you immediately wonder how the hell will the filmmakers keep afloat an entire feature length film using this.
But once again the miracle workers at Pixar succeed and deliver yet another landmark of animated filmmaking.
Working with a marvelous screenplay by Docter, Peterson and Thomas McCarthy, "Up" is an example of storytelling economics. There isn't a single scene, line or character that isn't necessary. The opening sequence, which could've made an entire movie on its own, has Carl as a kid, his jaw dropping to the floor in a movie theater as he watches a newsreel featuring famed adventurer Charles Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer).
After leaving the theater and reenacting Muntz's quests he meets a fellow adventurer named Ellie. After that moment they become inseparable, until the very end.
In under ten minutes or so we watch entire lives unfold before our eyes. This sequence is done with such care, attention to detail, and guts (there is a small bit with a doctor that's perhaps up there with Bambi's mom's death in terms of emotional pain) that it's incredible how visually the filmmakers are able to convey so much.
We really don't need to listen to extensive dialogues to know when these characters are happy, sad, worried and mostly we never doubt why they are together.
But for every ounce of sentimentality and simplicity in the story, there is a deeper, slightly darker aspect that gives it equilibrium and makes it more human.
Because even if "Up" starts out as a tale of boundless love, it evolves into a melancholic ode to a feeling of incompleteness.
Every character in the film is missing something or someone, all of them are trying to get to someone who's out of reach.
Carl talks to his house and refers to her as Ellie, little Russell often talks about how he misses his dad (we can assume his parents are divorced), Muntz, is looking for the recognition he was denied during his prime.
There's also an exotic bird named Kevin in search of her babies and a talking dog named Dug (voiced by Bob Peterson) who is in constant search of someone to call master (his line of "I just met you and I love you" is one of the most heartwarming dialogue creations in recent memory).
In this way, the images of the film compliment the feeling of void within the characters. The landscapes in "Up" obviously had to be epic, and the animators (both in the 2D and 3D versions) make sure we feel like the young Carl watching newsreels.
But within all the beauty, detail (the textures have to be seen to be believed) and vibrancy they also infuse every frame with different codes and symbolisms.
From the very first scene when the house takes off we are overwhelmed by the magic of it all, but something also tugs at our hearts when we watch it hover above the city and into the clouds completely alone.
As the house first approaches an immense thunderstorm it transforms into a metaphor for each of the characters we will meet; all by themselves, going head on into the unknown.
The feeling of desolation and regret in the film feels Bergmanian in a way. Carl might as well be Professor Borg from "Wild Strawberries" looking back to his life to see where he went wrong and why he is where he is at the moment.
This is of course a Disney film, that perhaps doesn't mean for little children to be all existential on their way back home, and Carl achieves the redemption he needed to, literally, turn the pages of his own book forward.
There is also a Bergman sense of dualism in two of the main characters. It's suggested that Carl and Charles are two sides of the same coin (even their names come from the same etymological root which simply means "man"). Not only do they "meet" through cinema and media, which now more than ever have achieved postmodernist going on metaphysical ways of bonding complete strangers.
But they also share their old age and regret. Charles begins as a role model for Carl, but as the plot advances and we look back into their respective lives we find that they might have been influencing each other all the time (at least in our minds).
For all the adventures Charles has with exotic lands and far off places, Carl is also living "adventures" of his own in his life. Things that none of them will get to experience in the same way.
Ironically they both look at their lives with a sense of loss and with this we are reminded that life is about priorities. We can never live it all, but we have to make the most out of what we get.
"Up" is all about how life constantly drags us down, but nobody will leave the cinema walking on anything but clouds.

Is that a fox-squirrel in your pocket?

Monsters vs. Aliens **

Director: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon

"Monsters vs. Aliens" presents some kind of a marketing conundrum: to whom do you sell a film that parodies classic cult movies with humor meant to be funny only for six year-olds?
The clever people at Dreamworks Animation chose to sell it to anyone who'd buy a ticket and while trying to please all demographics, have come up with a pastiche made up of one part parody, one part 3-D novelty and a lot of crammed jokes, pop culture references and dashes of a moral story.
The plot centers on an alien invasion started by Gallaxhar, a deranged lord who wants to take over Earth and fill it with his clones.
Under such a threat, the United States government decides that the best way to fight these invaders is using monsters which they have been keeping secret for more than fifty years.
The team is formed by Dr. Cockroach, a mad scientist who ended up with the head of the insect as he looked for a way to obtain their immortality.
The Missing Link; a half ape, half fish creature found frozen and thawed by scientists who behaves like a jock despite his obvious physical shortcomings.
B.O.B (Bicarbonate Ostylezene Benzonate); a gelatinous mass with no brain and one eye who acts innocently and confuses his personality with that of the other monsters.
Insectosaurus is a cute looking 350 foot grub transformed by nuclear radiation who doesn't speak, but is fascinated by lights.
And the newest addition is Susan Murphy; a California girl struck by a meteorite on her wedding day who grew up to 49' 11 feet, obtained great strength and becomes known as Ginormica.
If all the monsters and their names sound familiar, it's because in fact they're versions of some famous creatures that starred in 50's B films.
Therefore Ginormica's peculiar height makes her just a little bit short of being the "50 Foot Woman", B.O.B is one murderous drive away of being "The Blob" and Insectosaurus' name could as well be Mothra.
People familiar with the inspiration for the characters will obviously enjoy the film more on levels other audience members won't, but they will also expect more references to the original films which sadly never happen here.
Those who have no idea this is supposed to be a spoof, partly, won't mind the plot's real cleverness and will have to face corny dialogues, silly moral discourses and humor of the lowest kind.
The animation is impressive, even if everything screams "designed for 3-D", and the flashy colors and action sequences often keep the film entertaining at a basic level.
The problem, other than Dreamworks' insistence in squeezing even the last possible drop out of pop culture references (don't these people have aspirations of timelessness?), is that the film sometimes becomes unconsciously selfconscious.
Like the films it drew ideas from, it should've embraced its B-movie-ness and create a sort of unexpected cheapness. Even little kids would've been entertained by a sort of drive-in humor as opposed to the formulaic "friends are the greatest thing" and "believe in yourself" paths this ends up taking.
Kids will have a blast, more mature audiences will come out wishing the next feature in the double bill does better.