Fourth Row Center

It seems as if there are a rash of space-themed CG animated films out. We’ ve already covered WALL-E and the yet-to-be-released Terra in this blog. Then there is the forthcoming Flyboys , about a trio of houseflies who travel in a space capsule, a movie I hope never to have to review. In the mean time there is Space Chimps , an uninspired idea so poorly developed and executed that I realized I was not the only adult snoozing in the Cineplex . It's from Starz Animation (the cable & satellite TV channel?) and the Weinsteins. It’s about a trio of chimpanzees who travel in a space capsule. They go to a strange planet. Stuff happens. They return home as heroes, each having grown a bit in the process. The script, animation and performances are so mediocre that I won’t bother to mention them further. So is there anything good about Space Chimps , you ask? My reply: yes, and it's this: it’s clean, G-rated fun for the little ones. And they will love it. * out of 5

Hellboy II: The Golden Army was a fun movie, and on top of that, was extremly interesting to look at. I guess you really should go and see the first movie because I felt like I could have used a refresher. Guillermo Del Toro has created a world that blends live action, animatronics and a bit of CGI along with a really cool story. The movie opens with a prologue that sets the history. A war between humans and elves (and other non-human creatures) results in defeat for the elves. The king employs the goblins to create an army golden mechanical warriors. The humans are nearly decimated and the king realizes the danger of the army. He divides the crown used to control the mechanical fighter into three pieces, giving one to the humans, one to himself and one to his daugther. The princesses twin brother disagrees with this action and leaves. Years pass. The Prince returns and he wants to bring the three pieces of the crown back together and control the army so that he can finish the job tha

There was something about the trailer for Hancock that made me want to see this movie. The idea of a bum with superhero powers, drinking a big bottle of Jim Beam while fighting crime, really spoke to this comic book guy. And, Hancock delivered. To a point. Will Smith is Hancock a street bum with superhero powers: he can fly, bullets bounce off of him, and, oh yea, he doesn't age. Everyone in LA hates him because everytime Hancock helps, millions of dollars in damages occur. Jason Bateman play Ray Embry, a PR rep who is saved by Hancock from an oncoming train and takes Hancock on as a pro-bono case. Charlize Theron plays Bateman's wife, Mary, who is more than skeptical of Hancock and warns her husband that this will end badly. For the damages that he has done, Ray convinces Hancock to turn himself in and go to prison. The plan is that the crime rate will rise so high that they will beg Hancock to come back and save the day. In the meanwhile, Hancock attends a twelve step progra

Earlier tonight I shuffled off to a late showing of The Incredible Hulk , not particularly looking forward to it but it was the one film that started at the Cineplex when I arrived. I thought with director Ang Lee at the helm of 2003’s Hulk that perhaps Marvel could get it right with everyone’s favorite jolly green giant. I was wrong. Eric Bana was barely okay in the role of Bruce Banner, and costar Nick Nolte provided some interesting moments. But when the Hulk-dogs appeared on the scene, I though the film had jumped the shark. Besides, the CG Hulk was too much like, well, a CG Hulk. So why do it again? And with another CG Hulk who is too much like, well, another CG Hulk? The Incredible Hulk is wholly unrelated to the 2003 movie Hulk , and has a couple of things going for it. It appears Marvel had more control over the material. It had an A-list star as Bruce Banner, one Edward Norton, an Oscar-nominated performer who is no slouch when it comes to acting. (Marvel Studios scored well

Pixar Animation continues to reaffirm itself as the preeminent animation studio by telling good, compelling stories. WALL-E , about a solitary robot whose purpose it seems is to clean up the long-abandoned Earth, uses a strongly visual storytelling technique to establish character and place. WALL-E’s interaction with his environment, his possessions and a cockroach, his one companion, establishes his character and sums up his existence without the use of any dialogue. When a space ship lands and leaves behind another robot, WALL-E’s desire for companionship becomes a real possibility. But nothing in Pixar ’s worlds is so easy, and WALL-E ends up accompanying Eve, his sleek new robot friend, into the far reaches of outer space for adventures WALL-E could never have dreamed of. Thematically it is a lot like a full-length animated indie flick floating around out there called Terra , in which the short-sighted humans destroyed their earth and were forced into space. In Terra , which featu