Theater Review: Monsters University

For the first time that I can remember, I was actually late to a film. I read the times wrong and I showed up for the wrong showing. Luckily, I don't believe we missed much - but still, I definitely hate missing anything. Heck, I don't even like missing previews.

Anyway, onto the film.

Monsters University is the Pixar release of the year. It's sort of been a rough going for Pixar the past few years since the amazing Toy Story 3.

In 2011, they released Cars 2 which I can totally understand why. A lot of critics and adults seem to hate the Cars films, but kids love them. It's probably the most kid-centric of the Pixar films. My son loves them both and I have seen it a ton of times - I don't hate them. In fact, I still enjoy them. But, it isn't the best of the Pixar bunch.

Last year they released Brave, which was a pretty decent, fun film. But, even it wasn't quite up to the standards that we have come to expect from Pixar. It did win the Oscar, but I don't think it deserved it. Disney's own Wreck-It Ralph was a much better film than Brave, in my opinion.

So, we head back in time. Literally.

We return to the world of monsters that we loved in Monters, Inc. and our fiends Mike (Billy Crystal) and Sully (John Goodman).

But, we already know their story at Monsters, Inc. - so we are brought back in time for this prequel, to the time that Mike and Sully meet at Monsters University.

Mike is the quintessential over-achiever - and he has to be. He is going to try and become a scarer - and quite frankly he isn't scary. So, he studies and studies to get good grades and try to stand out.

Sully, meanwhile, is a legacy. And, he doesn't study at all - he parties and plays tricks on people, the perfect frat boy.

At first, of course, Mike and Sully despise each other. And, during a test, they are cornered by Dean Abigail Hardscrabble (Helen Mirren) to pass the test, and both fail and are kicked out of the scaring program.

Heartbroken, Mike makes a deal with the Dean - if he wins the annual Scare Games he can get back into the scare program. Unfortunately, he must be in a Fraternity - and must have at least six members. So, he has to do it with Oozma Kappa - a Fraternity of castoffs - Don Carlton (Joel Murray), Squishy Squibbles (Peter Sohn), Art (Charlie Day) and Terry/Teri Perry (Dave Foley/Sean Hayes).

He also has another issue, including himself Oozma Kappa only has five members - as Terry/Terri only count as one. That is until Sully himself gets wind of the deal and looks to join - against Mike's wishes, he must allow his enemy in so that he can fulfill his dreams.

A pretty fun and decent origins story of Sully and Mike's current relationship that we see in Monsters, Inc. I feel it was better than the Cars sequel and even Brave - but doesn't live up to the Toy Story sequels, and probably not even the original Monsters, Inc.

It was cool to see some of the other monsters that we see in the original in the background throughout the film. And, we get the return of Randall (Steve Buscemi), who apparently started out as Mike's roommate, and not such a bad guy.

The new characters, other than the Oozma Kappa gang, really didn't stand out. I loved Oozma Kappa though. Art was hilarious and the other members each bring something fun to the table.

The film is still carried by Mike and Sully, however, and Goodman and Crystal work so well together, which is why this film works again. And, you get to see how the two are such a good team in the future, as together they work much better than when they are apart.

Grade:

47/50: Reservoir Dogs

This is the second to last film in the Quentin Tarantino pictures that I had on my list. The only one remaining is the newest - Inglourious Basterds.

Like I mentioned in my Kill Bill post, Tarantino has a way of telling a story in flashbacks and language so well that we understand everything without actually seeing it.

Reservoir Dogs is a film about a heist - a heist that we never actually see.

Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) has pieced together a crew of individuals to pull off a heist. In case anything goes wrong, the individuals had been instructed to not divulge anything personal about themselves - including their names.

So, they are given the aliases of Mr. Blonde (Mark Madsen), Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), Mr. Blue (Eddie Bunker) and Mr. Brown (Tarantino).

Of course, something goes wrong. The police are clued into the heist by a mole somewhere in the organization, and Mr. Blonde goes on a shooting rampage.

(BEST TO NOT READ MORE IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN IT)

Anyway, during the shootout Mr. Brown is killed during the getaway and Mr. Blue is killed at the scene. Mr. Orange is shot in the stomach and Mr. White is able to get him back to the gang's hideout. Mr. Pink also makes it back to the hideout - and with the loot in tow as well.

The rest of the film is trying to weed out the mole and figure out what exactly they are going to do now.

Again, it is so amazing that I was able to go this long without anything important being revealed to me. Sure, I knew all about the ear cutting scene, and Mr. Pink complaining about being called Mr. Pink, but the actual plot and all of the important spoilers I was able to stay away from - and I am glad I did. I think it made me enjoy the film even more.

Grade:

37/50: Fargo

Have you ever seen a movie without actually seeing it?

I have never actually sat down to watch Fargo but it as like I had seen the entire film before.

Anyway, Jerry Lundegaard (William H. Macy) has a money making idea, but needs a bunch of money to get it started - so he decides to have his wife kidnapped in order for his rich father-in-law to pay the fake ransom and therefore, front the money for his idea.

He hires a pair of crazy criminals, Carl Showalter (Steve Buscemi) and Gaear Grimsrud (Peter Stormare) to kidnap his wife - in return he would give them a small fee and a car.

Of course, everything goes wrong. The pair of criminals go on a sudden killing spree and all hell basically breaks loose.

Everything would be fine for the group of criminals if it wasn't for small-town cop Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand), who takes it upon herself to solve the murders of the town, and leads her to Jerry and the kidnapping.

Like I said, I felt as if I had seen all of this before, I knew basically everything that was going to happen - but still it was great to finally see it.

Buscemi was, as always, amazing. And McDormand, who has never really resonated with me before, was brilliant in this role.

Grade:

G-Force

The last new film we watched over the weekend was G-Force. This was the movie that my wife tried to take my son to in the theater. It was his first time ever going to a movie.

He apparently made it through about half of the movie before wanting to leave. But, he was very attentive to the final part of the movie this time around.

G-Force is a secret side project for the FBI led by Ben (Zach Galifianakis). He has managed to train animals to become FBI agents as well as a chip that allows animals and humans to speak to each other.

It was fun trying to figure out who was voicing each of the animals, but unfortunately I was only able to figure out two of them. The main G-Force animals are guinea pigs, Darwin (Sam Rockwell), Juarez (Penelope Cruz) and Blaster (Tracy Morgan), as well as a mole, Speckles (Nicolas Cage). I was only able to pick out Morgan out of that group, I mistook Cruz for Salma Hayek. Along the way the meet up with another guinea pig, Hurley (Jon Favreau) and a hamster, Bucky (Steve Buscemi). Now I was able to pick out Buscemi, that was not too hard.

This was actually a pretty cute film that had a pretty decent premise. I was not too excited about the twist ending, I felt that something else could have been better, but I will take it.

The film had some comedy and loads of action, and kept the family entertained throughout which is always a plus.

Grade:

LWITM: Con Air

I haven't written anything in two days, and for that I am sorry. My life has been pretty busy, and yet I haven't really had anything to write about. The start of the NFL season has gotten me excited for football - but I didn't want to have yet another NFL blog post, so I wrote nothing instead.

So, I thought I had better write something before the weekend - so here is my fourth installment of the LWITM (Look Who's In That Movie).

Fletch over at Blog Cabins is having himself a Cagefest for Nicolas Cage movies. Fletch doesn't hide his hatred for all things Nic Cage, and I respect that. But, I have no ill feelings of the actor - he doesn't bother me, and yet he doesn't get me running out to see a movie either - so I guess "I nothing him" (extra points for what show that comes from).

So, I have decided to 'gel' with his Cagefest and make my fourth LWITM be about Con Air.

The movie obviously stars Nicolas Cage as Cameron Poe, a military man who is tossed in jail for killing a man while protecting his wife.

The movie's premise is simple, Poe is parrolled and on his way home to see his wife and his daughter - who he has never met. To get there, however, he is tossed on a plane that happens to also be transporting every known badass possible.

So, of course, the plane is taken over by these mad men - and it's up to Poe to be the vigilante in the sky.

The bad boys are as follows:

• John Malkovich: Plays the leader Cyrus Grissom, who is the brains behind taking over of the plane.
  
• Ving Rhames: Plays Nathan Jones, Crissom's second-hand man.
  
• Nick Chinlund: Plays Billy Bedford, the third major criminal on the plane.
  
• Dave Chappelle: Plays Pinball. A druggy, who gets everything started by setting his seat partner on fire and releasing Cyrus.
  
• Danny Trejo: A rapist known as Johnny 23.
  
• M.C. Gainey: Is picked up in Carson City and is known as Swamp Thing. He takes over as the pilot.
  
• Steve Buscemi: Garland Greene, the most feared of all of the inmates, even the other inmates fear him - but seems to be the most well behaved.
  
• Mykelti Williamson: Mike O'Dell, Poe's best friend in prison who goes into diabetic shock when his insulin isn't administered.

Not bad, and that's just the inmates. The movie also has a few of the good guys, including:

• John Cusack: U.S. Marshall Vince Larkin, who is in charge of the plane before it gets taken over - and becomes an ally on the ground for Poe.
• Colm Meaney: DEA Agent Duncan Malloy. Not a total good guy as he ends up getting one of his men shot on board, and gives Grissom a gun in the process.
• Monica Potter: Plays Tricia Poe, Cameron's wife.

Not a bad hall of well-known actors for a movie. Most of these actors have gotten even bigger since Con Air was filmed. Although for the most part I think you could get most of them together in a single movie again. Chappelle, despite having a small part, might be the most difficult to get on - without a large pay raise.

Grade:

Top 10: Secondary Actors

Well, after a week off (thanks to my absent-mindedness) the Top 10 Tuesdays have officially returned.

This week, I have come up with my Top 10: Secondary Actors. This is a list of talented actors, who possibly, but probably not, could carry a film in a starring role. They are best known as the sidekick, the villain, the best friend.

So here is my list of the week (in reverse order as always):

10) Stephen Tobolowsky
Notable Films: Thelma & Louise, Basic Instinct, Sneakers, Single White Female, Groundhog Day, Memento, Adaptation, Freaky Friday, Robots, Wild Hogs.

9) Brent Spiner
Notable Films: Star Trek, Phenomenon, Dude Where's My Car?, I Am Sam, Independence Day, The Aviator, Material Girls, Superhero Movie.

8) Bruce McGill
Notable Films: Animal House, Wildcats, Three Fugitives, Little Vegas, My Cousin Vinny, Cliffhanger, Black Sheep, Courage Under Fire, Ali, Shallow Hal, Runaway Jury, Vantage Point, Recount.

7) Jason Bateman
Notable Films: Necessary Roughness, Breaking the Rules, Love Stinks, The Sweetest Thing, Starsky & Hutch, Dodgeball, The Break Up, Smokin' Aces, The Kingdom, Hancock, Juno.

6) Stephen Root
Notable Films: Ghost, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dave, Office Space, Bicentennial Man, O Brother Where Art Though?, Ice Age, Finding Nemo, Jersey Girl, Idiocracy, No Country For Old Men.

5) Eugene Levy
Notable Films: Vacation, Splash, American Pie films, Armed & Dangerous, Father of the Bride, Multiplicity, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, Cheaper By The Dozen 2, Bringing Down the House.

4) James Cromwell
Notable Films: The Man with Two Brains, Revenge of the Nerds, Pink Cadillac, Babe, Eraser, L.A. Confidential, Deep Impact, The Green Mile, Space Cowboys, The Sum of All Fears, I Robot, Spiderman 3.

3) Gary Cole
Notable Films: Lucas, In the Line of Fire, A Simple Plan, Office Space, The Gift, Dodgeball, The Ring Two, Talladega Nights, Breach, Conspiracy, Pineapple Express.

2) Joe Pantoliano
Notable Films: Risky Business, The Goonies, Running Scared, La Bamba, The Fugitive, Bad Boys, Congo, Bound, U.S. Marshals, The Matrix, Memento, Daredevil, Majestic.

1) Steve Buscemi
Notable Films: Reservoir Dogs, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, Rising Sun, Pulp Fiction, Airheads, Big Daddy, Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead, Con Air, Armageddon, Ghost World, Big Fish, The Island.

That's my list. I may try to do Secondary Actresses next week, but will need some ideas - so please post some. Thanks.