Movie grab-bag

My wife went on holiday for a couple weeks, so what's a fella to do?! Well, in my case, I really paint the town red and rent a truckload of movies so that I don't have to expend any mental energy entertaining myself. As you will soon witness, I only rent sophisticated independent art house flicks. Was it worth it? Let's see.

First up was one for the adult in the house. Tropic Thunder firmly establishes for me that there is something peculiar to a movie once Ben Stiller has been injected into it. In this case, he wrote, starred, and directed which makes for a perfect storm of uncomfortableness. This movie takes a South Park-esque approach to the movie industry, poking fingers squarely in the eyes of the action, drama, and comedy dreck that is churned out today. It's a movie about the making of a war movie that really isn't going well. The big surprise for me was Tom Cruise coming in and stealing the show with his characterization of a big studio executive. There were a fair number of other laughs to be had, and plenty of uncomfortable moments, but at the end, Tom's character was the stand-out.

Would I recommend it? Honestly, I'm not sure. I'm a fan of most of the actors in it, the actors certainly seemed to be in their element, and it was certainly an interesting experience, but be prepared for full-on Ben Stiller-style humor.

With The Simpsons Movie, the review is a bit more straight forward. If you like the show, you'll like the movie. The film isn't much more than an extended version of the TV show, with the exception (addition?) of minor bits of language that would probably get crossed out by the censors.

The plot's fairly standard. Thanks to Homer's thoughtless ineptitude, the citizens of Springfield are endangered, but they are ultimately saved by Homer's extremely dumb luck. You don't have to be a religious follower of the TV show to watch the movie, but it does help with some of the in-jokes. In particular, the town of Springfield has often been a source of speculation for fans. What actual town are they referring to?! Ned Flanders gives a good indication when he says, on a hill outside of town, that you can clearly see the bordering states of Nevada, Ohio, Kentucky, and Maine. Funny stuff indeed! So, if you like the Simpsons, check out the movie. If not, your mileage may vary.

Martian Child is a sweet drama/comedy about a sci-fi writer (John Cusack) who, a couple years after his wife's passing has sort of decided to adopt a child. The agency he deals with has a particular child in mind. A roughly six or seven year old boy who seems thoroughly convinced he is in fact from Mars.

Cusack is tentative about the adoption and about putting himself out there emotionally but ultimately decides to go ahead and give it a try.

The resulting film is often sweet and funny yet sprinkled with dashes of sadness and heart. It's an entertaining and enjoyable film for the whole family and it carries some really nice messages about love and family.

For more Jack Black goodness, we watched Kung Fu Panda. This movie was a good step for the DreamWorks animation folks in my opinion. It relies less on pop-culture references for joke material and I think overall it'll weather better as a result.

Black is the main character Po, a noodle soup maker by trade who has flights of fancy about being an amazing kung fu master. His portly physique and athletic deficits make this an unlikely prospect, but through an unlikely twist of fate he finds himself being trained by an impatient teacher for an insurmountable challenge.

It's a cute film and comes through with the message of believing in yourself and in your dreams. The humor has good stuff for kids and adults alike, and I'd recommend giving this a watch.