Let's start with the presumably delightful Cat in the Hat (animated version). This one quickly brought me to the point I would've expected to be at while watching the live-action Mike Myers version. That is to say, disappointed, and praying for the end credits. It had the Dr. Seuss animated characters, and the basic storyline, but done in an entirely annoying way, complete with highly annoying songs that were simple and practically ground into dust before they relented and moved on. The kids were ok with it but not excited...maybe if they were much younger it would've been more enjoyable for them.
I had the good fortune to work through Barbie: Fairytopia, and am still amazed at the number of people who actually work on that line of films. Our 6-year-old daughter of course loved it.
The Mask is great for a first viewing (and assuming you like Jim Carrey films). The second viewing I did get a chuckle out of a handful of the jokes, but this really isn't a multiple-view movie in my opinion. I'd certainly recommend renting it when you're in a silly mood, as it is quite funny, but wait on buying it until you give it a thorough assessment. The story revolves around Jim Carrey's mild-mannered bank employee stumbling across a mask that, when worn, seriously amplifies his innermost desires and gives him abilities heretofore confined to cartoons. All of this, of course, with zany results.
Film as art is highly subjective. The New World is film posing as art. It's visually beautiful. The story, by itself, is beautiful. The music, by itself, is beautiful. The way in which it was all put together was a lot more hit and miss. It's the story, reasonably accurately told, about John Smith, Pocahontas, and some other guy. There is the establishment of Jamestown, ships coming and going from England, friendly and violent contact with the Native Americans, etc. Where I had problems with it were the loud musical score paired with low near-mumbling speaking from the characters. Also of issue were scenes where the settlers are bartering with natives, no, wait, they're fighting with them, no, hang on a second, they're bartering again, no, wait... It almost felt like they accidentally spliced the film the wrong way and flip-flopped some parts of some of the scenes. This was presumably intentional, and therefore I assume it was supposed to feel artsy or something. What I felt like it actually did was to keep me from getting immersed in the story. I kept getting yanked back out to scratch my head and wonder what they were thinking. My recommendation, if you go in with low enough expectations, it's an interesting movie.
This brings us to Hot Fuzz, our gem of the week. This one's the story of a seriously over-achieving cop in London's elite police division. How good is he? So good he gets transferred to the safest little dinky community in all of England because, well, he's making the rest of the London unit look bad, and frankly, they just can't have that. But then shortly after his arrival, questions about the safety of this little town start to surface. The humor here is unmistakably British, and it's very well written and performed. It was hilarious and just plain good. This one's a must-see!
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