Now Very Bad…

Category: #WWMD

Watching With My Daughter – reviews (hopefully) tempered by the fact that I’m watching the movie with my girl…

  • It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)

    It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown (1966)

    140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

    Have you ever had a Halloween in which you failed to watch this? Feels kind of incomplete, doesn’t it? 3rd Peanuts special is 1 of the best.

    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

    Spoiler-free Movie Review of It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown:

    Best piece of trivia I came across when researching this review? It was mentioned in the 20th anniversary Peanuts documentary and is also mentioned on imdb: “After this special originally aired, children all over the country sent candy to Charlie Brown out of sympathy.” I just love that…

    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

    I know I certainly always identified with Charlie Brown as a character growing up. I remember telling my dad during one of these specials that one of the kids at school said that I reminded them of Charlie Brown. I think Dad was offended on my behalf, but I didn’t really take it as an insult. I think all of us have moments of feeling like good ol’ Chuck. I don’t think I want to know a person who can’t empathize with Charlie Brown.

    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

    I’m not sure I could pin down which of the Peanuts specials is my favorite. A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first and greatest – a show that transcends a simple tv program – but this one really remains special.

    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

    So much about the program has entered popular culture that it’s hard to really see it with fresh eyes unless you watch it with a child (highly recommended). Then you can see the complete delight in watching Lucy yank away the football, getting kissed with dog lips, and the pure and beautiful conviction of Linus that the Great Pumpkin will rise out of the pumpkin patch, if only he can find the most sincere one…

    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

    It’s a real testament to Charles Schultz’s writing that these stand up as well as they do, despite the fact that they don’t shy away from dating themselves. Think of Snoopy’s antics as a World War I flying ace; this was a dated reference even when the show aired in 1966. And the Peanuts strips and animated specials are full of references that may be completely lost on modern audiences. It’s irrelevant – Schultz’s work remains about a boy named Charlie Brown. You don’t need to pick up the references to athletes of the day or anything to get the jokes or to understand his world.

    (Actually, I was a real fan of the early days of air warfare as a kid; I actually had paintings of famous WWI battles on my walls, showing the last flight of Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), his Fokker Dr. I being shot down by a Sopwith Camel near the Somme River, among others. So I was the exception, but it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. This is great comedy.)

    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

    Happy Halloween, Now Very Bad readers! I hope your pumpkin patch contains not a sign of hypocrisy.

    [Cue fade out credits…]

    Just wait till next year, Charlie Brown. You’ll see! Next year at this same time, I’ll find a pumpkin patch that is *real* sincere and I’ll sit in that pumpkin patch until the Great Pumpkin appears. He’ll rise out of that pumpkin patch and he’ll fly through the air with his bag of toys. The Great Pumpkin will appear and I’ll be waiting for him! I’ll be there! I’ll be sitting there in that pumpkin patch… and I’ll see the Great Pumpkin. Just wait and see, Charlie Brown. I’ll see that Great Pumpkin. I’ll SEE the Great Pumpkin! Just you wait, Charlie Brown. The Great Pumpkin will appear, and I’ll be waiting for him…I’ll be there! I’ll be sitting there in that pumpkin patch… and I’ll see the Great Pumpkin. Just wait and see…

    Poster:

    It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown

    Trailer:

    Bechdel Test:

    Pass

    The Representation Test Score:

    Yeah, I’m not doing this for a Charlie Brown cartoon…

    [schema type=”movie” url=”http://www.peanuts.com/” name=”It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” description=”The Peanuts gang celebrates Halloween while Linus waits for the Great Pumpkin.” director=”Bill Melendez” actor_1=”Peter Robbins” ]

    Main Cast Peter Robbins Charlie Brown (voice), Christopher Shea (as Chris Shea) Linus Van Pelt (voice), Sally Dryer Lucy Van Pelt (voice), Kathy Steinberg (as Cathy Steinberg) Sally Brown (voice)
    Rating Atp
    Release Date Thu 27 Oct 1966 UTC
    Director Bill Melendez
    Genres Animation, Short, Comedy, Family
    Plot The Peanuts gang celebrates Halloween while Linus waits for the Great Pumpkin.
    Poster It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
    Runtime 25
    Tagline Peanuts, pumpkins, and pleasure for the whole family! (2008 DVD re-release)
    Writers Charles M. Schulz (written by)
    Year 1966
  • Addams Family Values (1993)

    Addams Family Values (1993)

    140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

    Less of a fully realized picture than a series of gags, there’s nothing particularly wrong with this one – it just lacks any real purpose…

    Addams Family Values

    Spoiler-free Movie Review of Addams Family Values:

    It’s fine. Really, it is. It’s not bad. It just isn’t really good, either.

    Addams Family Values

    The first Addams Family film was really well done and made a boatload of money, so of course there was going to be a sequel. They even set it up at the end of the first picture with the tease that Morticia (Anjelica Huston) was pregnant. So the new movie was certain to be about the Addams baby. That storyline is ok, even if it doesn’t have much stamina.

    Addams Family Values

    No, the problem, if there is one is in the sameness of the script. Writer Paul Rudnick did extensive rewrites on the original before taking over sole credit on this picture, and the whole thing just seems a little too familiar. The plot once again revolves around Fester (Christopher Lloyd) and the family is once again separated from him by manipulative outside forces. It’s just kind of lazy.

    Addams Family Values

    I suppose another way to look at it is Addams 2.0, taking all the things that went right in the first film and honing them further. And if that was a tv program that would be fine. I guess I just hoped for more.

    Addams Family Values

    There is a fantastic subplot about the kids being sent to a summer camp for privileged kids that very nearly makes the entire film worthwhile. Wednesday (Christina Ricci) takes center stage, which is entirely correct, and the cast of campers includes David Krumholtz, Christine Baranski & Peter MacNicol – all wonderful here. The musical production is enough fun to make you forget how lifeless the rest of the picture is.

    Addams Family Values

    Definitely worth a watch, Addams Family Values was a bit of a disappointment to me, in no small part due to the fact that so many critics insisted that the sequel was superior to the original. Nonsense…

    Poster:

    Trailer:

    Bechdel Test:

    Pass

    The Representation Test Score: C (6 pts)

    (http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

    Addams Family Values Representation Test

    [schema type=”movie” name=”Addams Family Values” description=”A comical Gothic horror-movie-type family tries to rescue their beloved uncle from his gold-digging new love.” director=”Barry Sonnenfeld” actor_1=”Anjelica Huston” actor_2=”Raul Julia” actor_3=”Christopher Lloyd”]

    Main Cast Anjelica Huston Morticia Addams, Raul Julia Gomez Addams, Christopher Lloyd Uncle Fester Addams, Joan Cusack Debbie Jellinsky
    Rating PG-13
    Release Date Fri 19 Nov 1993 UTC
    Director Barry Sonnenfeld
    Genres Comedy, Fantasy
    Plot A comical Gothic horror-movie-type family tries to rescue their beloved uncle from his gold-digging new love.
    Poster Addams Family Values
    Runtime 94
    Tagline The Family Just Got A Little Stranger.
    Writers Charles Addams (characters), Paul Rudnick (written by)
    Year 1993
  • The Addams Family (1991)

    The Addams Family (1991)

    140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

    Wonderful realization of Charles Addams characters with near perfect casting in Sonnenfeld’s directorial debut. Creepy. Kooky. Spooky. Ooky.

    The Addams Family

    Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Addams Family:

    My dad had this old book of Charles Addams’ illustrations. As I recall, the book looked like a third-hand copy from someone who possibly had three hands, all of them clumsy. It was tattered, with a damaged binding and smelled old. To this day I don’t know if it was actually supposed to be like this or was just a poorly cared for yard sale prize. Either would be fitting, because The Addams Family has always felt like some bizarre foundling, while simultaneously being the product of the well-established studio system.

    The Addams Family

    Addams, a cartoonist (often for The New Yorker), based his most famous creations on the old mansions in his childhood home of Westfield, New Jersey and that such a morbid bunch of cartoons should become so popular is a testament to his unique talent. I may never fully understand why television executives thought “hey, this would make a great family tv show”, but I’m glad they did.

    The Addams Family

    In fact, not only did the characters make for a tv show, they made for several, including an animated series, guest appearances on shows as subversive as Scooby-Doo and The Flintstones, as well as having a comeback or two. I guess with that track record that a feature film was inevitable and not as odd as it would be if you pitched the idea today. I strongly doubt that even Tim Burton (originally tapped to direct this film) could walk into a major studio with an idea about a gruesome & possibly supernatural family of arguable sadists and leave with a contract.

    Fortunately, in the late 1980’s producer Scott Rudin was able to get a greenlight for The Addams Family from Orion Pictures based on the show’s lasting appeal. Paramount would end up releasing the picture due to Orion’s money problems, but it’s unclear exactly who is to blame for the inclusion of music by MC Hammer…

    The Addams Family

    I wasn’t able to find out why Burton ended up not directing (Batman Returns conflict? Just a guess.) but it left the door open for the incredibly talented cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld, who made his directorial debut here. His work with filmmakers like the Coen brothers surely provided the experience in making a quirky and dark comedy, but he really takes embraces it here with a fun-loving style that would go on to serve him well in films like Get Shorty & Men In Black. Sonnenfeld was an outstanding DP and even retained that role (if not the title) on The Addams Family when his first two cinematographers left the project. It shows – the irreverent camera work is one of the best features of the film.

    The Addams Family

    Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands) & Larry Wilson (Beetlejuice) put together a nice script that preserves the spirit of the show and the cartoons. It really is surprisingly faithful. Enough so that there was a bit of a problem with rights, as the filmmakers had obtained clearances from the Addams estate but not the show directly; the show’s executive producer, David Levy sued for compensation for his ideas from the tv program.

    The casting is one of those perfect ensembles that you’re lucky to get once in a blue moon. Raul Julia inhabits Gomez Addams with all the humor that tv actor John Astin once displayed, but with twice the passion. Anjelica Huston absolutely is Morticia, and Christopher Lloyd energetically portrays Uncle Fester. And of course, young Christina Ricci makes Wednesday the most enjoyable character of all.

    The Addams Family

    The plot is fairly good, as far as it goes, providing the characters with something to do while getting on with the real business of being creepy, kooky, mysterious & spooky. Recommended…

    Poster:

    Trailer:

    Bechdel Test:

    Pass

    The Representation Test Score: C (6 pts)

    (http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

    The Addams Family Representation Test
    [schema type=”movie” name=”The Addams Family” description=”Con artists plan to fleece the eccentric family using an accomplice who claims to be their long lost Uncle Fester.” director=”Barry Sonnenfeld” actor_1=”Anjelica Huston” ]

    Main Cast Anjelica Huston Morticia Addams, Raul Julia Gomez Addams, Christopher Lloyd Uncle Fester Addams/Gordon Craven, Dan Hedaya Tully Alford
    Rating PG-13
    Release Date Fri 22 Nov 1991 UTC
    Director Barry Sonnenfeld
    Genres Comedy, Fantasy
    Plot Con artists plan to fleece the eccentric family using an accomplice who claims to be their long lost Uncle Fester.
    Poster The Addams Family
    Runtime 99
    Tagline It’s not the same old Thing.
    Writers Charles Addams (characters), Caroline Thompson (written by) …
    Year 1991
  • Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989)

    Honey, I Shrunk The Kids (1989)

    140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

    Joe Johnston’s directorial debut sure takes a long time to get going; feels like 20 minutes of exposition. Pity, cause payoff’s pretty good.

    Honey I Shrunk The Kids

    Spoiler-free Movie Review of Honey, I Shrunk The Kids:

    Let’s be clear: I’m reviewing this solely because it’s the 25th anniversary of the movie (I’m sort of a slave to this anniversary thing – may need to do something about that). Because previously I wouldn’t have been caught dead watching this movie. It came out when I was 16 and an opinionated jerk who probably would have classified this as the nadir of film. Which just further illustrates my snobbery and the perils of same – because Honey, I Shrunk the Kids was not bad at all. In fact, as a 41 year old opinionated jerk, I fully appreciated it for the solid family adventure it is.

    Honey I Shrunk The Kids

    The movie starts off really slowly. It really does – the setup for the actual shrinking event must be 20 minutes of not very interesting exposition. It certainly feels that way, anyways.

    Rick Moranis plays the absent-minded professor, in this movie named Wayne Szalinski. I hardly need tell you what kind of character he is, since this is a standard archetype. The film feels it is necessary, though, so we spend a ton of time learning that his wife is considering leaving him, his colleagues don’t respect him, his inventions are buggy, his relationship with his kids borders on absenteeism, and he fights with his neighbor. The neighbors are similarly over-written as Russ Thompson Sr (Matt Frewer) struggles with his sons, particularly Russ Jr (Thomas Wilson Brown), who doesn’t want anything to do with his father’s interests. Both men are married – to Diane (Marcia Strassman) & Mae (Kristine Sutherland), respectively – but it barely matters since neither woman is given much to do.

    Honey I Shrunk The Kids

    Wayne has built a machine to shrink items but it doesn’t work until a freak accident causes, blah, blah, blah. You get the picture. After a career spent as the technical talent behind some major productions, director Joe Johnston would eventually become quite a good director. With this first foray, however, he needed to learn from the adage “don’t bore us, get to the chorus”. Once we’re actually into the plot, however, the movie picks up nicely and his roots as an effects artist and art director on some of the biggest adventure pictures of all time make for a great foray into fun fantasy, if a bit limited by budget in this instance.

    The four kids – Russ Jr & Ron Thompson (Jared Rushton), Amy (Amy O’Neill) & Nick Szalinski (Robert Oliveri) – must navigate the back yard to get back to the house, all while shrunk to ¼“. This, of course, is where the movie finds its footing and becomes the kind of movie that kids love. Seeing it for the first time, now an adult (ehh, sort of) it didn’t hit me the same way my daughter enjoyed it, but I could absolutely see the quality and the appeal. I’m not going to outline all of the adventures or gags, but it’s good stuff that still works on today’s youth, even though the effects show their age.

    Honey I Shrunk The Kids

    Yes, it’s a Disney movie, with all that implies, but Honey, I Shrunk the Kids is a solid, well-made family film that ages better than I would have expected. Might have been more enjoyable with a ten-minute haircut, but that also would have probably reduced the screen time of Matt Frewer, whom I love, so let’s call it square. Recommended.

    Poster:

    Trailer:

    Bechdel Test:

    Pass

    The Representation Test Score: B (7 pts)

    Honey I Shrunk The Kids Representation Test

    (http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/) [schema type=”movie” url=”http://movies.disney.com/honey-i-shrunk-the-kids” name=”Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” description=”The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.” director=”Joe Johnston” actor_1=”Rick Moranis” actor_2=”Matt Frewer” ]

    Main Cast Rick Moranis Wayne Szalinski, Matt Frewer Big Russ Thompson, Marcia Strassman Diane Szalinski, Kristine Sutherland Mae Thompson
    Rating PG
    Release Date Fri 23 Jun 1989 UTC
    Director Joe Johnston
    Genres Adventure, Comedy, Family, Sci-Fi
    Plot The scientist father of a teenage girl and boy accidentally shrinks his and two other neighborhood teens to the size of insects. Now the teens must fight diminutive dangers as the father searches for them.
    Poster Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
    Runtime 93
    Tagline The most astonishing, innovative, backyard adventure of all time!
    Writers Stuart Gordon (story) &, Brian Yuzna (story) …
    Year 1989
  • Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion (2014) – Series Premiere

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion (2014) – Series Premiere

    140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW

    If you sat out The Clone Wars, drop your principled stand or risk missing a new series with the timeline & spirit of the Original Trilogy…

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    Spoiler-free Movie Review of Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion:

    For all of the great things about Star Wars fans, they can be seriously stubborn. Many will not partake of anything Star Wars except the 6 feature films – and many of those would stop at the original 3. I have met serious fans who will not watch this or any other animated show, and it’s entirely their loss…

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    A very gifted group of individuals poured their heart and soul into creating Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a CG-animated series that ran for 5 seasons on Cartoon Network. After the purchase of Lucasfilm by Disney in 2012, all thoughts were turned toward returning to the timeline of the Original Trilogy and the planned sequels. The show was dumped to another time slot before being unceremoniously and unwisely cancelled in 2013. Fans of the show, aware (thanks to the fantastic communication of show-runner Dave Filoni) of a backlog of content already in production, wondered if any of the material would see the light of day. Filoni and his team were allowed to cobble together what they could finish with reasonable effort and expense, and fans had to wait until March 2014 for the abbreviated 13-episode 6th season (“The Lost Missions”) to be put out exclusively on Netflix.

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    The output of the show was 125 episodes and a feature film – that’s approximately 48 hours of new content set in the SW galaxy! That’s not counting the 25 mini episodes of the first Clone Wars 2D-animated micro-series by Genndy Tartakovsky from 2003-2005, which would bring the total to 150 episodes and 50 hours. That’s almost four times as much Star Wars content as the feature films provided – but since these weren’t the original films, some weren’t interested. That’s just very silly to me. Don’t make the same mistake by skipping Rebels.

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    For the kick-off of this new series, they tied what would have been the first two episodes together for a tv movie event titled Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion. Disney actually screened the movie one week early for users of it’s WATCHDisneyXD.com service prior to the television debut on Friday, October 3. I caught the show early, but due to the twin roadblocks of a regular job and a rather verbose writing style, I’m not getting my review out until the day after the official premiere. Sigh…

    Interestingly, the show premiered on the same day that the Star Wars: The Clone Wars animated series debuted in the US six years earlier in 2008. Rebels has already been renewed for a second season by Disney, and it’s likely to be be a big part of the lead-up to the future films.

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    Star Wars Rebels is set five years before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, when the few remaining Jedi are scattered and the Empire is in full swing. It’s an awesome time in the saga, full of potential and depicts what it was like before Luke and company started wrecking the place. Knowing more about the height of the Empire is fantastic, and I suspect I wasn’t the only kid wondering what happened in the years leading up to the original movie. I’ve always considered this era the most fascinating and I can understand why Disney wanted to quit the Clone Wars and get back into the Tie Fighters.

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    The promise of this time still needs to be backed up with good stories, and they seem to be on the right track. The series opens by following the exploits of an orphan named Ezra who scratches out a living on the streets before running across the path of a team of semi-criminals out to steal the same cargo of the Empire. The group of malcontents make up the crew of the starship Ghost and contain a diverse set of personality traits that seem to have been picked by focus group for maximum interest. That’s not really a bad thing, just be aware that you may experience sensations of déjà vu with some of this. The parallels to Firefly and other stories are unavoidable.

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    It is undeniably a kids show; I’m not sure why that’s supposed to be a problem. The original films were for kids, no matter how many fanboys insist otherwise. The Clone Wars was a kids show, albeit one that covered terrorism, suicide and torture at times. Depending on your perspective, being “for kids” is either a tremendous insult or a promise. Being “for kids” can certainly imply a dumbing-down, but it also hopefully carries the suggestion that you’re in for a good time; that the work in question will be meant to be enjoyable. That’s really important.

    And Rebels fulfills on that promise. Watching the premiere event was like watching a movie and a fun one at that. As much as I loved The Clone Wars series and admired the skill involved, it never really was able to completely capture the spirit of the 1st film. That’s not a criticism – it was depicting a different, more complex time and a sensibility to match. Of course the subject matter of the original films was never soft – they do have the word wars in the title after all – but the spirit of adventure made it all seem more fun and carefree than it really was.

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    From the moment you see Stormtroopers march on screen you can’t help but be transported to that time and feeling. I can’t overstate how enjoyable it was to see Tie Fighters streaking across the skies and hearing the familiar sounds of their cannons and the troopers blasters.

    The story is good, not great, and I’m absolutely certain that the show will have a cartoonish feel at times. The previous series certainly did and so did the films – yes, even the OT. The Clone Wars series seemed to alternate at times between adult stories too dark to let my daughter watch and ridiculously silly stories too goofy for me to watch. But most of the episodes lived in the comfortable middle ground where everyone could enjoy the wonder of the this galaxy and I expect Rebels to do the same.

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    I really shouldn’t have to sell you on this series – the images of Stormtroopers and Star Destroyers ought to do that. If you’ve complained in the past that nothing since Return of the Jedi has made you feel like you did when you played with your Kenner figures, give this a try. Don’t sleep on Star Wars Rebels; it’s going to be very good…

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    Poster:

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion

    Trailer:

    Bechdel Test:

    Pass

    The Representation Test Score: C (5 pts)

    (http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)

    Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion Representation Test

    [schema type=”movie” url=”http://www.starwars.com/tv-shows/star-wars-rebels” name=”Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion” description=”Star Wars Rebels, set five years before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope, tells the story of the Rebellion’s beginnings while the Empire spreads tyranny through the galaxy. Five years before the events of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the reigning evil Empire continues to tighten its grip of power and fear throughout the cosmos. But even amidst the tyranny and oppression of these dark days, a glimmer of light emerges. Meet the ragtag crew of the starship Ghost : Twi’lek pilot Hera, street-smart pickpocket Ezra, team leader Kanan, alien enforcer Zeb, explosives expert Sabine, and Chopper, the cantankerous Droid. Together, they embark on action-packed adventures, battle ruthless villains, and ignite the very first Spark Of Rebellion against a surging tide of Stormtroopers, TIE fighters and the mysterious Inquisitor.” director=”Steward Lee” ]

    Main Cast Taylor Gray Ezra Bridger (voice), Vanessa Marshall Hera Syndulla (voice), Tiya Sircar Sabine Wren (voice), Steve Blum Zeb Orrelios/Alton Kastle/Stormtrooper (voice)
    Rating PG
    Release Date Fri 03 Oct 2014 UTC
    Director Steward Lee
    Genres Animation, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
    Plot
    Poster
    Runtime 60
    Tagline
    Writers Dave Filoni (created by) &, Simon Kinberg (created by) …
    Year 2014