Reviews

As usual, the animation was leading-edge. I loved the colors and perfect blend of underwater softness with up-close crispness. Sadly, the people are always the hardest to make CG realistic and again the humans in FN are rather unconvincing.

What troubled me the most was Marlin. This dad was protective of his only remaining son... but was he over-protective? I'm a dad and trust me, fun becomes danger in the blink of an eye. I found that most of Marlin's perceived fears were completely justified! Marlin was not imagining monsters around every corner but only in places where there was a legitimate possibility. The fact that Marlin had experienced a horrifying tragedy and that perhaps this memory and painful loss was the cause of his protectiveness was never put on the witness stand. No supporting character ever pitied him and used this as a starting place for their advice- they all started in on him like he was the big bad guy, treating him like he needed therapy. The school teacher promised that little Nemo would be carefully supervised, but it took only 2 seconds and that kid was gone and in another 10 seconds and he was "shark-bait".

Likewise, Nemo was always portrayed as a normal kid with normal interests and curiosity. This kid was normal all right- normally undiscerning, normally foolish, normally empty-headed and normally disrespectful. Sure, all kids have feelings and are sensitive and need understanding, but the story never developed this line realistically.

It was so unfortunate that Nemo was continually being taught the street-wisdom he desperately lacked by someone other than his Dad-- a theme that made Dad even look worse than over-protective, perhaps even abusive in a passive sense for his negligence in properly educating Nemo.

The "gang" style initiation and misfit/outcast bonding that takes place among the tank prisoners almost seems to favor psudo-family relationships above true-blood family ties.

I loved the heroic adventure and human, male/female foibles and weaknesses highlighted in each danger situation.

Dory's need/love/longings explosion against Marlin in the final give-up scene didn't play well since her dependence on Marlin wasn't even a sub-plot at any earlier point in the movie. This outburst didn't even get another frame later to help tie it up better.

I liked Dory's character and the way here marble-challenged personality was used in the humor, but the "life is smoother for the low of IQ" theme was stretched too thin. Brains are standard equipment on all models.

Don't get me wrong, tho... I didn't miss the point. I just wanted to weigh-in on the Dad side. The final family resolution does finally paint the family as it should have been all along without the crisis. My only beef is that Dad was more justified for his paranoia than he was ever given credit for and the child had more attitude, ignorance and disobedience than was portrayed.

Not a bad film... the three central characters are played by talented, convincing actors. The plot focus is on Mickey Rooney's character Bill Coy who follows in his father's footsteps for good and for bad. No other characters are developed- all the emotion and story energy is on the cocky, proud star racer/mechanic who does some mellowing under life's hard knocks... the final indy race is an exciting high-point in the action. This picture recently became available on DVD in a MADACY Mickey Rooney Triple Feature Movie Marathon series...

How many mountains can a man climb in one lifetime? How many mountains can one climb in one movie? Racial bias, pride, loss, hurt, pregnancy, corporate success, painful past, family dysfunction, unreached dreams... after watching this gospel presentation you'll understand how God can use each problem we face in life as a part of the climb home. Next time, take the high road.

Miffed in a simple childhood squabble, Lucien releases his pain through that ageless game of "tease the little kid"-- only this tease, like so many others, results in serious hurt to Dani, the "little kid". What follows is a unique portrayal of healing. The viewer is constantly called to wonder just what hurt is being healed: Dani's limp? Lucien's broken spirit? an old father's family or Marie's unforgiving attitude? With an heroic climax aided by providential intervention, the cold snowy heart is melted; a believable finale plays, well orchestrated, through he lives of all involved; children and adults come to grips with the power of divine forgiveness... Good drama, excellent theme, marvelous setting and natural scenery make this one highly recommended.

How should a single woman respond when propositioned? That's the whole premise of this flick. All the women know you just say "No". They talk about saying "No" and replay uncomfortable situations where they stood up tall and said "No", but when the masher is rich, suave, handsome and gives away minks, should you still say "No"? Smart and Right, she says "No"... however, when accused of being a dropout from the playboy school of thought, a flunky with a backward conscience and outdated morals, her pride is hurt so she says "Yes". Beep! Wrong Answer... Shredded by her own good sense and regretting her hasty choice, providence saves the day and she breaks out in a rash just before hitting the silk. Relieved, but still trying to appear as a modern free-willed fornicator, she tries again to be a politically correct centerfold, drinking herself into a stupor to shut-up the voice of common decency. Providence saves the day again, leaving her too drunk to play around. Through madcaps and screwballs the two finally realize that this kind of behavior is only blessed in marriage.

The movie appears at first to take a swipe at conservative morals, which will grate at you for most of the film, but the plot clearly ends up with both feet planted on the traditional family and marriage side.

The best line in the film comes after the genteel millionaire propositions, offering a new wardrobe and a trip around the world. She replies, "I think you just asked me to marry you". Nice answer.

I love Cary Grant and Doris Day, but the characters are shallow and the plot is thin... The humor is all from uncomfortable social mal-assumption, mis-communication tangles and sexual innuendo. You spend the whole drama scanning for societal messages and filtering out the loose and crude. Most funny places you just hate to laugh at since the comedy is so base. Pick a different film. Try "The Philadelphia Story" for a class act.

French Catholic boarding house school children meet political war *and* racial war first hand.

Low budget, but high on content, this film takes on racial hatred not with guns, but with a strike-force of touching personal engagements. Children must come to grips with their own stereotypes and bigotry and how better than through other children under the hopeless oppression of Nazi genocide. They win!

Add to the personal touch the sense of Christmas spirit when one of the children, forced to answer the German officer's question, "Where are the Jews?", retorts "Right there!" (pointing to Mary and Joseph in the Christmas play they were rehearsing).

A nice story for families who want to get a fresh perspective on Holocaust suffering from a child's eye. I recommend it.

A tough life gets tougher when the three children of a single mom are scheduled to be sent to separate foster homes after her untimely passing.

To stay together, the older boy plans a daring, high risk escape to find a distant lost uncle- their only remaining next of kin.

Their trek takes the three fearful runaways on a chase through the desert in a classic beetle, penniless, hungry, desperate, terrorized by delinquents and too young to drive, hunted by the ever threatening civil authorities.

What the movie lacks in acting and plot realism, it makes up for in the honest human need to be a part of a fulfilled and complete family- even if that family is cobbled together with spare parts of broken lives.

Sure, the ending is forced and too over-dramatic for the critical movie goer, but every heart beats the same cry for family togetherness and belonging.

With all its weaknesses, I still give this movie a strong recommendation.

As a true-blue Wallace and Gromit fan (my office workstation is named gromit and my other box is named preston), Nick Park can do no wrong. This flick is loaded with some excellent animation, tough shots and angles that take you into uncharted perspectives. More than once I found myself awed by the superb technical detail.

At the same time tho, this was another one of the same... a smart chick (Gromit), dozens of dim-witted hens (Wallace), the mostly dark motif of both "A Close Shave" and "The Wrong Trousers", and the chicken-pie mechanical foe ("knit-o-matic").

The adversaries were too normal- I'll take a robot-gone-wrong cur or a scheming penguin any day over a money-hungry matriarch and a hen-pecked hubby.

Then there's the minor flaw pointed out elsewhere of how the heroes un-escaped back into the barracks so easily after monkey wrenching the pie-o-matic.

But don't get me wrong, this is entertainment every moment and worth every buck. See it just for the well-placed allusions to pop culture (well 20 to 30 years ago pop culture 8-) that had me in tears.

I've seen the others and this version of that classic tale comes very close to passing the true Dickens message and at the same time providing the also classic Muppet entertainment value. Excellent acting by Michael Caine. I didn't like the Muppet ending or the twin Marleys, but the rest of the film places the whole Muppet cast in perfect roles. "When Love is Gone" is an excellent, deep and moving moment for a comedy film. This is an inspired balance between comedy and the Christmas Spirit.

Clearly this film comes off as an epoch. Magnitude, grandeur and dignity drip from every scene. Being personally familiar with the biblical account of the life of Jesus, I was at times quite impressed with the almost-inspired interpretation of many hard-to-picture moments in the gospel narratives brought to the screen. Yet on the other hand, I had painful difficulty agreeing with other scenes.

For example, Jesus heals a hopelessly bitter cripple in a dark synagogue: of course the biblical story is very brief, leaving a lot of room for the imagination to color in details- however, the scene seems to cheapen christ's awesome power and divinity. As Jesus leaves the synagogue, the camera zooms in on a facial expression so quizzical the viewer is left feeling that perhaps even Jesus himself didn't believe the healing was possible either...

Although "personifying" the devil was a very workable technique throughout the entire film, dropping available details about tempting a starving savior to eat bread and omitting christ's excellent response left me disappointed.

Another valiant and worthy attempt, but again the novel was better 8)