Finding Nemo (2003)
Starring (voices) Albert Brooks, Ellen DeGeneres, and Alexander Gould.
Directed by Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich.
Kilgore rates it: 8 (out of 10)

Another gem from Pixar, the outfit that brought you Toy Story and... uh... Toy Story 2. The plot is formulaic -- father loses son and embarks on amazing journey to find him, along the way encountering a motley crew of crazy characters, with whom he engages in a series of wacky misadventures, and everybody learns something in the end -- but hugely entertaining anyway. Go ahead and let yourself get suckered in to caring about the characters, although you know everything's going to turn out all right in the end. Go ahead and laugh at the silly shenanigans pulled by various minor characters, because they really are hilarious. Go ahead and enjoy a brilliant voice performance by Ellen DeGeneres as the chronically forgetful Dory.

Go ahead. You've been hip and ironically detached all week. Treat yourself to two hours of sincerity, for chrissake.


The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
Starring Marilyn Burns and Gunnar Hansen.
Directed by Tobe Hooper.
Kilgore rates it: 5 (out of 10)

Classic slasher film, with several taut-skinned boys and girls running afoul of homicidal psychopaths. This movie has huge problems, though: endless boring exposition, random dialogue, whisper-thin characters, and lack of creativity in setting up the death scenes -- be prepared to shout, "Don't go into the house!" a lot.

I wanted to rate this movie much lower, but I couldn't ignore a powerful -- and mostly wasted -- performance by Gunnar Hansen as Leatherface, the chainsaw-wielding maniac. Hansen created a genuinely creepy and menacing character with almost no dialogue and while wearing a hideous mask -- it's too bad he wasn't given more to do. The film did manage to be chilling at times, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone except hardcore B-horror buffs.


The Iron Giant (1999)
Starring (voices) Eli Marienthal, Vin Diesel, Jennifer Aniston, Harry Connick Jr.
Directed by Brad Bird.
Kilgore rates it: 6 (out of 10)

If you decide to watch The Iron Giant, do it to see the giant. The rest of the movie is unremarkable: the animation is nothing you've never seen before, the writing is forgettable, and the voice acting is uninspired. (Question: why do so many big animated features star big-name actors as voice talent? This is okay when the actors really nail their parts -- think Tom Hanks and Tim Allen in Toy Story -- but mostly the results are no better than if no-name actors had performed, and I can't see Jennifer Aniston's tits when she's reading into a microphone.)

Anyway, the giant is wonderful. The animators did a fantastic job of putting expression into his face and gestures, without cheating by letting the metal parts bend when he smiles or recoils in surprise. The giant is easily the most complex and dynamic character in the movie -- in the end he's the only character you care about, and you care about him a lot.

Kudos also to the filmmakers for the unconventional ending and the hilarious "Duck and Cover" filmstrip showing 1950s kids how to survive a nuclear attack, (by kneeling under your desk with your arms over your head.) But for the most part the movie is humor-free and failed to capture the flavor of Cold War anti-Communist hysteria. It's too bad The Iron Giant was so diluted by mediocrity, because the giant himself was brilliant.

+posted by Lawrence @ 1/13/2004 10:20:00 PM