Archive for the ‘Family’ Category

Little Big League

Posted by will on June 10, 2011

Seeing as we are ankle-deep in the 2011 version of our National Pastime, what is more appropriate than looking back on one of the many baseball-centric films of the early to mid 90s? In 1993 – 1994 our nation was plagued by baseball fever at the box office. In the span of two years we were inundated by the family-friendly likes of Rookie of the Year, The Sandlot, and  Angels in the Outfield. That doesn’t even include more mature titles such as The Scout, Major League II, The Man from Left Field, A League of Their Own, The Babe, and Cobb.

Little Big League came at a time of fevered passion for baseball. Yet, it also came at the end of a golden era. Baseball had a very strong following and fan base … That is, until the 1994-95 season was lost to baseball’s eight work stoppage and fan interest in our beloved sport waned. Outraged and shaken fans quit attending games and baseball suffered (although, popularity metrics and the actual decline of the love of the game can be infinitely argued upon, this is more from my personal experience).

Growing up, kids of my generation played baseball, religiously followed their team, collected baseball, had their favorite players, and savored visits to the ballpark to see the pros go to work. Baseball, then, was indeed American as apple pie and the Fourth of July. So, what is the state of baseball with American youth now? It’s hard for me to say but I do know I haven’t seen a movie focused on baseball in awhile (sorry, Fever Pitch … which was really a remake on a British film revolving around the game of soccer).

Little Big League manages to play to our childhood fantasies but it also raised the stakes. Whereas Rookie of the Year put a kid in a big league uniform, Little Big League put the a kid in control of a whole team. The premise is simple; the owner of the Minnesota Twins suddenly passes away and leaves the team to his 12 year old grandson, Billy Heywood, who has a prodigious baseball database for a brain. After kicking the unforgiving scuzzball manager to the curb, Heywood installs himself at the team’s helm. The rest of the movie centers around Billy’s attempts to win the respect of the proud and rugged team as they attempt to turn their season around. With every step, Billy must also face the scrutiny of the media, fans, and his friends.

It’s been 17 years since this film was initially released and I am pleased to write that it holds up. The premise is simple but the movie is still a pretty entertaining 119 minutes. While the story is formulaic, there is enough substance for the film to leg out a double. Sure, there are a lot of cornball moments and logic was thrown out of the game in the first inning, but this movie isn’t trying to be an accurate portrayal (a 12 year old is negotiating the rights for Ricky Henderson at one point!).

An added bonus to watching this movie is the nostalgia. Plenty of real life players make cameos, from the legendary (Ken Griffey Jr., Randy Johnson), familiar (Paul O’Neill, Sandy Alomar Jr., Iván Rodriguez, Tim Raines), and the Oh-Yeah-That-Guy (Dave Magadan, Wally Joyner, Carlos Baerga). For those of us Millennials growing up in the late 80′s and early 90′s, Little Big League is a nice memory trip to when baseball was king.

The Verdict:

Comments on this post | Published in Comedy, Family, Sport

Multi Movie Review

Posted by benjamin on December 24, 2010

With the holidays comes a great time for friends, family, and movies. Well, here’s my gift to all of you with my reviews for several past Netflix viewings that I haven’t shared. These reviews will be as short as the predicted snowfall will be in the southeast of the US.

Enjoy these quick reviews and the holidays.

I really need to stop focusing on the trailers for films as they will always let you down. This movie had promise but then fell apart when the “villain” went from out smarting everyone to making a stupid mistake. I hate that.

The Verdict:

A documentary on an interesting subject that just falls flat. I think of LARPs as just nerds doing nerdy things instead of people doing something interested to them.

The Verdict:

After only one day removed from Toy Story 2′s disappointment, I found Monsters, Inc. to help return my trust in Pixar. Here was a film that was beautifully made that carried a very sweet story and lovable characters. Maybe at this point I should continue with the Pixar “marathon.”

The Verdict:

This is not your father or grandfather’s paper based Sherlock Holmes but RDJ and Jude Law create a great buddy tandem that works in the movie, just not well enough. This movie fell short but maybe with a potential sequel the true Holmes villain will thrust the film and franchise further.

The Verdict:

Alice in Wonderland meets Wizard of Oz. Truly a beautiful movie with sweet characters, great art, and an interesting story. Even those that are normally negative towards anime will find enjoyment within this film.

The Verdict:

Sure, I’m probably the last person in the world to see Toy Story 2, but at least I finally did. Of course, it turned out to be my least favorite Pixar movie. Too many characters, too many jokes that seemed out of place. Overall it was a film that seemed to only return for money. Here’s hoping Toy Story 3 turns me around.

The Verdict:

Comments on this post | Published in Action, Adventure & Epic, Documentary, Family, Mystery & Thriller

Cars

Posted by benjamin on December 21, 2010

When I tell people that I had not seen Cars yet, I’m given the look as if I hadn’t watched the birth of my first born. I’ve always loved the Pixar films but Cars previously slipped through my viewing eyes until now.

Cars is a great story of a car that wanted to be the best but didn’t realize that it takes a team sometimes to make everyone excel. Its a sweet story and Pixar nails it with their wit, sincerity, and flashy visuals. With each film from the Emoryville studio, it seems that the animators, actors, and directors become closer to the characters they are placing on the screen for everyone to enjoy.

I really wouldn’t expect anything less from Pixar’s crown champion, John Lasseter. John has provided us with Toy Story, Toy Story 2, and A Bug’s Life and many more. He’s primarily known as the man behind Pixar as he was one man who always believed that great 3D animated films could be produced. He has succeeded before and here with Cars and we can only hope he will succeed again with whatever his next movie will be.

Before Cars, only The Incredibles sat atop my Pixar list but now that spot is shared by the two films. I loved the subtle car puns (VW bugs as…bugs, gas can beer hat, etc.) as well as the multitude of racing cameos. From NASCAR to Formula 1, Cars nails the racing genre with the little kid spin. Only knowing the real life racers enhances your experience during the movie. It reminds me of the same way the models were used in Zoolander. Sure the movie was making fun of the profession but it was also trying to push it into the mainstream even more.

With the sequel on the horizon for next summer, I’m hoping that Cars 2 will be able to live up to the original. Though, it won’t be easy.

The Verdict:

1 Comment on this post | Published in Action, Adventure & Epic, Comedy, Family

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1

Posted by benjamin on November 20, 2010

In order to give you an adequate review, then I need to at least read the Potter books. Check on that one and just let me say that the Deathly Hallows was easily my least favorite of the series. Would the movie follow suit? Let’s see.

These days when watching a Potter film, I find myself more interested in the actors portraying the characters than the characters in the story. Harry Potter, a coming of age story, has essentially become a real life coming of age event for Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint. These kids were around 12 years old when the first film was released and here they are today in front of us on the screen as 20 somethings. As the characters have grown, so have the actors who have portrayed each of them. However, it is this growth that can make certain scenes still awkward for us. Sure, Harry and Ginny are a couple. Sure, Hermione and Ron are a couple, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t still think of them as just kids on screen. The worst occurrence of this is for one scene in the woods where we are shown Harry and Hermione as…more…than friends. Like I said, awkward. (You’ll know the scene when you see it.)

But beyond the coming of age story, there is a family and heart and humor. It is the last of these three that I was most shocked at seeing because this is the point of the Potter series were all hope and happiness is lost as it seems they are facing an unbeatable opponent. But it is this humor that the writers use to keep things interesting and presented in a way that kids would and maybe should face these harsh realities. For a movie that is quite dark, there is a great deal of humor to help you enjoy the long journey and find some hope that everyone will make it in the end.

Visually, the movie is quite stunning. It is probably easy to do so when a franchise makes as much money as the Potter films but there are scenes were I was marvelling at the “magic” of cinema. One in particular is another wooded scene where Ron is facing off against a horcrux. If Lost had that kind of CGI, then maybe many people would not have laughed upon seeing the Black Smoke Monster.

Overall, I wasn’t thrilled with this movie. I realize that more now as I have to see it as a part of the journey and some of the better scenes will await us in Part 2. I’m just hoping in Part 2 that people such as Bill Nighy (Pirates of the Caribbean, Hot Fuzz, Love Actually) and Alan Rickman will be given a chance to shine alongside their dark companions, Helena Bonham Carter and Ralph Fiennes. Here’s waiting until July 2011 to finish the series.

The Verdict:

1 Comment on this post | Published in Action, Adventure & Epic, Family, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Uncategorized

How to Train Your Dragon

Posted by christopher on November 9, 2010

How to Train Your Dragon. This is one of those movies that makes you want to own movies. It succeeds on so many levels, which I will now go into…

Hiccup is a viking. Hiccup is the son of the Viking king. Hiccup has a crush on Astrid. Hiccup is a runt. Hiccup is understandably a bit down on himself, wanting to both please his father, impress Astrid, and live up to his Viking heritage. So he must, of course, slay a dragon, which attack Hiccup’s village on a regular basis taking lemming-like sheep for food. Toothless is a dragon of the infamous Night Fury variety: fast, precise, and seemingly only motivated by destruction for destruction’s sake. Hiccup, in his own dumb luck, sacks Toothless during a raid and in a failed attempt to prove his Viking prowess, he can’t help but fall for that punum and so the conflict begins.

Any animal lover will instantly melt upon the first scene between Hiccup and Toothless. This is truly the success of the film: the animators have, with such precision through facial and body expressions, turned what should be a violent dragon into a house cat or lap dog. And they delve into and develop the relationship between Toothless and Hiccup, translating that which anyone who has had a pet has experienced.

As an animated film, the graphics are superb. Perhaps more nuanced than most would be impressed by, I was blown away at the realism of the textures. Hiccup’s father, Stoick, understandably has a Viking-sized beard that truly looks rough, scraggly, and dreaded like you would expect in a live-action feature. The dragon’s scales are leathery, their flames splash, more akin to magma that pure fire; the resulting smoke, fog, and clouds are voluminous and misty.

The voice acting is rather on-point. Jay Baruchel (“The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” “Tropic Thunder”) is himself a scrawny, nerdy character and so it’s none too much of a stretch for him to portray those characteristics to Hiccup. Gerard Butler is his rough, meaty father which again isn’t much of a stretch. Craig Ferguson, playing Hiccup’s mentor, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse, playing Hiccup’s peer, both add a fun, geeky (if you’ve played an RPG or D&D) element which lightens the dialog to the heart warming tale.

Overall I think HtTYD is one of the top, if not the top (I’ve yet to see “Toy Story 3”) movies of 2010. It’s an incredible showing for DreamWorks and has earned a spot on my movie shelf.

The Verdict:

Comments on this post | Published in Family