Adventure Time

It's been two months since The Croods sauntered into theaters and became the first major children's hit of 2013 (Escape From Planet Earth might have technically been first, but just try and find somebody who actually remembers it). Now, just as the Dreamworks picture's theatrical run is just about wound down, who do you expect to pick up the slack? It's not Pixar, or Sony Animation, and certainly not Aardman. So who takes the reigns of children's animated theatrical showings now? Well, it's the blandly-named Epic, coming to us from Greenwich, Connecticut's own Blue Sky Studios (the makers of Rio and the Ice Age franchise). While animated movies that feature mainly action and adventure don't often do that well at the box office (Blue Sky's parent company 20'th Century Fox found that out the hard way thirteen years ago with Titan A.E.), Epic still had a couple of things going for it this past weekend. One - as I said - is that with the Croods effectively out of the way, the family film has no serious competition until the end of June. The second is director Chris Wedge, whose experience perhaps is not all that extensive (in this millennium he has only directed the first Ice Age and Robots), but he's still a talented filmmaker who can deliver impressive results. Sure, his name will never be featured among the likes of modern animation legends like Lee Unkrich or Brad Bird, but if he's going to make a movie, It doesn't hurt to take a look.

My, what a long neck you have...

M.K. (Amanda Seyfried) is a normal teen who moves in with her father Professer Bomba (Jason Sudeikis) after the death of her mother. Professor Bomba is an eccentric, constantly searching the forest to try and find evidence of a small, advanced society whose existence keeps nature alive and the forces of evil and decay in check. While M.K. scoffs at these theories, Bomba is in fact correct, as a war has long been raged between the destructive Boggans and their leader Mandrake (Christoph Waltz) and the noble Leafmen, led in battle by the noble Ronin (Colin Farrell) and ruled by the good Queen Tara (Beyonce Knowles). But the time is coming to name an heir, and an accident finds the skeptic M.K. shrunk down and joining the Leafmen in helping keep the balance in the forest, as Mandrake and his followers push to make the forest theirs once and for all.

The Three Amigos!

Epic has all the makings of a second-tier animated film, and it's not just because it comes to us from a second-tier production studio... actually, that might be the reason, so why don't I just move on? The animation is actually quite crisp... when the characters you're supposed to focus on are right in front of you. Character models are well-animated, with fluid movements, and look like they might have come off of the Disney or Pixar lots. The backgrounds as well are quite lovely, the lushness of the forest and the dark, Burton-esque bleakness of the Boggans' territory beautiful to behold. But when the "camera" pans back and we see characters moving at a distance, it's obvious where the animation budget was cut. Background characters or main characters moving at a distance appear to have jerky, simplified movements, completely distracting you from the rest of the world and marking the low-point of 3D animation. It pulls you out of the movie, and when the animation is this good, that's a shame.

Yes, he uses that sword. It's pretty awesome.

The story is another point of contention, not in that it's bad but in that the heroine-transforming, nature-saving tale it weaves cribs from bigger, oftentimes better fare. Obvious comparisons are James Cameron's Avatar and Fox's animated FernGully: The Last Rainforest, but the film also borrows heavily from epic adventures such as Star Wars and The Wizard of Oz with impunity. In fact, Josh Hutcherson's young Leafman Nod is almost an exact copy of Han Solo, right down to owing money to a crime lord. The characters are certainly a problem, as most of the talented cast can bring nothing new beyond the archetypes they are shoehorned into. They do the best they can, though some (such as Chris O'Dowd's snail who openly pines to join the Leafmen) are better than others (I'm looking at you, Aziz Ansari). Most of them, especially Seyfried and Waltz, manage do a great job regardless of the material. Still, there are a few question marks among the cast, most notably why they cast so many musicians in support roles. I mean, I get that Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler does the film's one (albeit truncated) musical number, and Beyonce of course provides a track for the closing credits (while doing a decent job acting-wise). But how did rapper Pitbull get in here? Especially when he couldn't even handle the half-dozen lines he was given? Was he supposed to provide something musically too? And if he did, what happened to it?

Christoph Waltz has never looked better!

But while there's absolutely nothing top-notch about Blue Sky's latest effort, it does enough, well enough, and prettily enough to be entertaining for families with nothing better to do. The story itself does solidly enough, and even picks up in the last act to provide sufficient entertainment for all ages. Throughout it is sweet and elaborate with it's message without getting too preachy for its own good, proof that the filmmakers didn't try to do too much with their decent idea. It's a shame that most people will forget completely about Epic  before long, as there's just nothing really memorable about the sub-two hours you spend in the theater. It's certainly good enough to take your kids to on a hot summer day as you await the arrival of Monsters University in a month, but by the same token it won't be something you'll need to see again, even when it eventually becomes available on DVD. Once again, this is a Chris Wedge production that is good enough, but not quite great. Never great.

A Mr. Anderson Double Feature: Silent House & Friends With Kids

I took this past week off from work, tired and worn down from the stresses of a job that sucks forty hours of life from you on a good week. I'm sure you all know the feelings that can sometimes accompany that, even if it's a job you absolutely love. Sometimes you just need to take time off, even if you don't plan to go anywhere or see anyone. Since this is me we're talking about, that meant watching movies. Some TV and video games, certainly, but mostly movies. Because I DID see so much, and because I don't need (or want) a two week buffer for potential reviews, I thought I'd take this opportunity to look at two of the titles I saw last week: the supernatural horror film Silent House and the romantic comedy Friends With Kids.

Silent House is a remake of the Uruguayan horror film La Casa Muda, originally released in 2010. Olsen Twins reject Elizabeth Olsen plays Sarah, a young woman who is helping her father repair their worn down old lakeside summer home in hopes of selling it. While exploring the house, Sarah hears something making noise upstairs, and her father disappears while investigating. What follows is Sarah doing being hunted by something in the house, and her trying to escape whatever it might be. But the closer she gets to freedom, the closer the house's secrets get to revealing themselves to the world.

One of the main draws for seeing Silent House is of course Olsen, who impressed many with her debut in last year's Martha Marcy May Marlene to the tune of several industry awards and nominations. While Silent House does have multiple characters, they do little but provide a backdrop for Olsen, who really proves that her success last year was no fluke. While there's little at first for Sarah to do besides creep from room to room, it is that steady deliberation that makes you fully appreciate Olsen's performance as a modern-day scream queen. And as her character slowly develops over the course of the film, you garner respect for just how deep her role really is.

That tank top is otherworldly.

Unfortunately, directors Chris Kentis and Laura Lau (who were the creators of the popular 2003 film Open Water) can't seem to make this great short story idea run properly over the length of a full feature film. The film's main gimmick (and it IS a gimmick) is that it is meant to look like the entire tale is shot in one continuous take, with no breaks or sudden shot changes. The fact that much of the film actually looks like it easily follows this formula is impressive, though in the mostly-dark house there are several times when the directors could have stopped the cameras without anyone noticing. More impressive is during the film's many slow moments, when it is far more difficult to get away with cutting off your shots. I don't know how much the directors had to get JUST RIGHT, but their technical prowess is all but unquestioned when you consider the impressive look of the final product.

Okay, NOW she looks a bit more like her sisters...

The story however... Kentis and Lau do an amazing job building tension as Sarah moves from room to room, but all that work is worthless if you don't let some of that out from time to time. True to the film's slow pacing, the tale doesn't feel as though it's going anywhere, and when it does, we've seen it coming a mile away. With the exception of a few small scares, there's also not much frightening going on, with the film in the end taking on a more psychological thriller aspect that changes the whole makeup of what I thought I was watching. Silent House is utterly a disappointment; an excellent performance by Olsen utterly sabotaged by a predictable script and a distinct lack of scares.

On the flip side of that equation is Friends with Kids, my new #1 film for 2012. I feel kind of bad cramming this film into a double feature review, and I hope this doesn't go unnoticed down here as the film likely will be in the outside world. Written and directed by Jennifer Westfeldt (who also co-wrote and acted in 2001's Kissing Jessica Stein, but is probably best known for her relationship with John Hamm), the film tells the story of best friends Julie and Jason (played by Westfeldt and Piranha 3D and Parks and Recreations star Adam Scott) who, in their thirties and wanting children, don't want to fall into the traps that have befallen their married friends. After stating that having children would not change things, their friends seem eternally miserable with their lives and marriages after having their kids. As neither Julie nor Jason have found "The One", they decide they will have a baby themselves, sharing equal responsibilities for raising their child while dating other people, thus avoiding the relationship drain from which their friends suffer.

"So, there are no cameras, right?" "Sure."

A lot of the marketing buzz surrounding this release focused on a reunion of sorts, with much of the cast of last year's sensation Bridesmaids returning together to the big screen once again. Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Hamm and Chris O'Dowd all do excellent work together as couples who go from happy-go-lucky to miserable with the difficulties of child rearing introduced to their lives, but any going to see this film with the expressed intention of seeing these actors in action will be disappointed: this is Westfeldt and Scott's show all the way. Jason and Julie are those friends you know (or maybe have been part of): they live in the same apartment building, they've been friends with one another since just about forever, know everything there is to know about one another, have secret games they play constantly, and mesh on just about every level you can imagine with perfect ease. They're also the friends who aren't attracted to one another in the slightest and you CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHY, since it's obvious that together they'd make the perfect couple. For their part, Westfeldt and Scott put forth two of the best performances I've seen so far in 2012, their motivations and characteristics feeling more like those of living, breathing, and thinking human beings than you ever see in typical Hollywood fare. Westfeldt is incredibly sweet and brilliant as Julie, and Scott is roguish and charming as Jason, the actors succeeding in making both characters impeccably likable and easy for the audience to relate to.

They're just angry that I ended a sentence with a preposition.

The secondary cast does get some opportunities to hog screen time, but anyone hoping for the hilarity of Bridesmaids should be reminded that Melissa McCarthy was one of the main reasons that film's humor margin was set so highly, and she's nowhere to be found in Friends With Kids. Also missing from this film is the low-brow level of smart humor that made Bridesmaids a widely-revered modern classic. Instead Friends with Kids prides itself on being merely incredibly smart, with only a few poop jokes present (there are diapers, after all) while the main focus of the film is the dialogue concerning adult relationships and how children affect that dynamic. Both couples (consisting of Wiig with Hamm and Rudolph with O'Dowd) have their issues, but Wiig and Hamm seem eternally miserable being around one another, while Rudolph and O'Dowd still seem affectionate even while they're shouting at each other. The few times the film actually focuses on these pairs are wonderful moments; it's a shame the filmmakers couldn't fit them in a bit more to diversify the story a tad. Other notable performances come from Edward Burns as a divorcee and Megan Fox (!) as a modern dancer, both of whom are considered "The Ones" by Julie and Jason respectively. Burns does some of his best work in years, and while Fox really only manages to play herself, she is still tons better than anything else in which I've actually seen her.

Scarier than any part of Silent House.

The only detraction I can come up with for Friends With Kids is that the romantic comedy storyline is still too normal and predictable to fully get behind. If it wasn't for the excellent performance of the cast, especially Westfeldt and Scott, this could easily have flopped into forgettable territory, even in a year when great films seem to be a true rarity. Instead, this is a success for first time director Westfeldt, who creates a nice twist for a classic story, much like the one by the late Adrienne Shelly in 2007's Waitress. It might not be as raunchy as Bridesmaids before it, but Kids With Friends would be well worth hunting down even if there were viable alternatives in the world of cinema right now.

Bridesmaids of Frankenstein

Of all the movies released this summer, perhaps the one from which I knew the least of what to expect was Bridesmaids. Produced by Judd Apatow, Bridesmaids on the surface appears to differ from his usual brand of comedy. With a story focusing on women and marriage that would seem more at home in a traditional romantic setting, it's a huge leap from the usual guy-centered gross-out humor of Superbad and The 40-Year Old Virgin that we usually associate with the Apatow name. Director Paul Feig was another unknown, as his career to this point has been mostly in television, with episodes of The Office, Arrested Development and Nurse Jackie bearing his name. Tack on a cast of unproven talents, and Bridesmaids had every chance to be an underachieving Sex and the City knockoff, with less charm than the HBO show's best moments. Still, word of mouth and and humorous trailers paved the way for a my most anticipated May release, which reunited two former SNL cast-mates, current star Kristen Wiig and alumni Maya Rudolph as the maid of honor of her best friend, the bride.

Sketchy part of town? Perfect place for six white women

When her best friend is engaged to be married, Annie Walker (Wiig) is happy to accept the duties as maid of honor for her childhood friend Lillian (Rudolph). Having known each other since just about forever, Annie wants to be there for her best friend's big moment. However, Annie is going through a rough patch in her life; stuck in a dead-end job she hates, sharing an apartment with a weird British brother/sister combination, and in a loveless relationship with raging asshat Ted (Jon Hamm), the wedding (and all the celebratory events associated with it) is a scary change for someone who's near rock-bottom in their life, but one she's looking forward to. Things begin to spiral out of control, however, especially with the interference of bridesmaid Helen (Rose Byrne), who has it in her head that she's really Lillian's best friend and tries to take over the planning. Annie's low self-esteem due to all this threatens not only to ruin Lillian's wedding, but also their lifelong friendship in the process.

Shhhh... I'm trying to murder you with my heat vision...

The plot itself seems reliably mundane, which really lowers your guard to the laughs and amusement that accompany it. The gross humor you can expect in an Apatow production does make itself known, especially in a scene where the bridesmaids get food poisoning from a restaurant Annie chooses. But while that brand of scatalogical humor is expected in a film like this, it thankfully doesn't overpower the "other" funny bits that pop up throughout. Sure, the female anatomy jokes could be seen as a little uncomfortable and a lot of the dialogue can be vulgar, but the "vagina jokes" (as opposed to "dick jokes") feel authentic and foul language is also represented in a realistic fashion. It's all funny anyways, and you'll find something to laugh at no matter your gender, whether it be snickering at wry wit or howling at the raw physical humor..

Wiig re-negotiating her SNL contract

That level of funny is in part thanks to the stars and especially Wiig, who co-wrote the screenplay and provides many of the film's best-acted scenes. An every-woman, Annie has to show several sides, from the loving side around Lillian and general snarkiness to her wounded vulnerabilities and rock-bottom depression. Bridesmaids represents Wiig's best on-screen performance, and it does so partially because she doesn't try to play one of her usual eccentric-yet-entertaining personas. Annie's charm is in her likeness to the everyday single woman, and she comes off as honest and sympathetic to any viewers. Rudolph plays well off of Wiig's energies, and the two come off believably as best friends. Rudolph, who is a better actress than most people give credit, flows between the wedding jubilation and nervousness flawlessly. Byrne completes the Big Three with a great performance as the underhanded Helen, especially rewarding as the character doesn't play like a typical catty housewife. Despite being lauded as the film's "villain", Helen is no such thing, and the complexity of the character does so much to let the film go forward. Byrne has had a string of luck with roles this year, as she'll be aiming to be in her third major 2011 film when X-Men First Class comes out later this summer.

No, I didn't eat your Ring Pop; why do you ask?

It's a shame the secondary characters don't get quite as much love as the main trio of stars. Reno 911's Wendy McLendon-Covey and The Office's Ellie Kemper play other bridesmaids but despite getting some quality dialogue and depth, nothing is really done with them. I wouldn't think it was so bad if they hadn't started to go down some interesting roads with these two parts, only to fizzle out about halfway through. The guys of the film also don't get much attention, though that is done intentionally and in a positive way that focuses on the women's characters. Though the roles of Hamm as Annie's dickhead lover and Chris O'Dowd as her speculative beau are relatively small, both put on good shows with what they have. O'Dowd is an underrated performer who may garner more attention from this film, but I'm especially impressed with Hamm, who continually chooses varying roles to increase his range as an actor. Who knows how long Mad Men will remain on television, and it's obvious that he's getting ready to make it on his own. Jill Clayburgh is another underutilized actress, as I thought her role as Annie's mom also had potential but didn't do much overall. The best of the secondary characters however is played by Melissa McCarthy. McCarthy plays Megan, sister of the groom and the most hilarious of the bridesmaids, and brings with her the best and raunchiest dialogue and laughs. She also shows herself to be remarkably sensitive, and in this way her character doesn't overpower the film, as she is never overused to the point of boredom.

If not Fab Four... Significant Six? Doesn't quite feel the same...

I was a little annoyed that several scenes presented in the trailer never made their way into the movie's finished product, a sin every major film commits to some degree but one that in this case left me mercifully unprepared for the jokes when they hit. Bridesmaids manages to feel like it left a lot out while still coming in at over two hours, but for not one moment during the runtime was I bored or unamused while sitting in the theater. A truly wonderful film about friendship that takes a more blue-collar approach to the same ideas put forth by SatC, Bridesmaids places at #5 for 2011. I really, really, REALLY liked this film, and while some might be surprised that I'd even be interested in seeing it, I would recommend it to any choosing to abstain from the big-budget visual porn that comes to theaters this summer, but don't want the rampant stupidity of the Something Borrowed set.