“Dinosaur” Starring D.B. Sweeney, Julianna
Margulies and Alfre Woodard Directed by Ralph Zondag and Eric
Leighton
Ever since “The Lion King,” no summer at the movies
has been complete without a new cartoon from Walt Disney. But the
animated wizardry and intensity of “Dinosaur” is a far
cry from the tried-and-true Disney formula. No Broadway-esque show
tunes are crooned. No goofy sidekicks pop up in every scene for
comic relief. And no G rating (for once, a Disney cartoon got
stamped with PG). Unfortunately, there is also little emotional
thread to this life-and-death saga. One reason that past Disney
features earned blockbuster status was because the characters and
story held the attention of both adults and kids. While younger
children will no doubt be enthralled by the prehistoric adventures
of these very likeable dinosaurs, an older crowd might come away a
little disappointed. The story, which takes less than an hour and a
half to unfold on-screen, feels too short. As a result, movie fans
don’t really get to know any of the dinosaurs. Reminiscent of
the inter-species adoption in “Tarzan,” the story
begins when an orphaned baby Iguanodon named Aladar is raised by a
kind family of lemurs. Once he becomes an adult dinosaur, Aladar
(voiced by Sweeney) begins to wonder if there are others of his
kind. After a fireball annihilates Lemur Island, Aladar and his
lemur family ““ the only survivors ““ search for a new
home. It is then that Aladar meets up with a herd of various
dinosaurs. As the entire group looks for new nesting grounds,
Aladar’s loveable and altruistic nature clashes with the
survival-of-the-fittest philosophy of the other dinosaurs. Still,
Aladar and the lemurs show that working together is always the best
solution. Despite the lack of breakout characters,
“Dinosaur” is a visual and technical achievement. With
breathtaking and majestic vistas, the film often has the look and
feel of a National Geographic documentary. The craftspeople behind
“Dinosaur” use CG (computer graphics) with shots from
live-action backgrounds to create vivid imagery. The movie’s
stars are also mesmerizing to look at. Far from scrawny
caricatures, each dinosaur and lemur is a case study of how the
line between live-action and cartoon can blur. Each time the herd
encounters the ferocious and carnivorous Carnotaurs, one
can’t help but actually feel scared for Aladar and his
friends. Though it is a bit gritty at times in its re-creation of
the hunt-or-be-hunted nature, “Dinosaur” provides more
than sufficient enough eye candy. Even movie fans who had hoped for
some sentient depth will come out of the theater amazed. Terry Tang
Rating: 7
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“Small Time Crooks” Starring Woody Allen,
Tracey Ullman and Hugh Grant Directed by Woody Allen
It’s hard to imagine anyone not liking “Small Time
Crooks.” It’s also hard to imagine anyone ranking it
with Allen’s best works, but that’s the nature of this
light and delightful comedy that goes back to the tone of the
writer-director-actor’s early films, such as “Take the
Money and Run” and “Bananas.” “Small Time
Crooks” focuses on the efforts of Ray (Allen), his wife
Frenchie (Tracey Ullman) and Ray’s band of petty criminal
friends to make it rich. Their plan is a criminal tradition: bank
robbery. In this case, the crooks buy an empty store next to a bank
and have Frenchie run a cookie shop as a front, while they try to
drill into the bank from below. The drilling is a fiasco, but the
cookie shop is an astonishing success and newfound riches find Ray
and Frenchie learning that wealth can provide its own share of
problems. With endearing performances all around, an amiable plot
that recalls screwball comedies of more than a half-century ago and
moments of a decidedly mainstream-form hilarity sprinkled
throughout, “Small Time Crooks” may be the least
offensive movie Allen has ever made. It seems, in many respects, to
be an attempt at wider success than, say, the brilliant, but
confrontational “Deconstructing Harry” or the
jazz-heavy period piece “Sweet and Lowdown.”
That’s not really a complaint, but more of an observation;
there’s really not much to complain about when a film that,
from beginning to end (except for a slow opening 10 minutes), is
this well done and entertaining. Yet, for all its charm and
success, there is maybe just a touch of disappointment in finding
nothing beyond that pleasant exterior. Starting with “Annie
Hall,” Allen stopped making the “early, funny
films” that “Crooks” recalls and never looked
back ““ until now. It was a decision that brought us
“Manhattan,” “Stardust Memories,”
“Hannah and Her Sisters” and “Deconstructing
Harry,” just to name a few. While there’s certainly
nothing wrong with returning to that field of straight-up comedy
(and definitely not when the result is this much fun), great movies
offer more than one dimension. Allen has brought us so many great
movies that even when he presents us with one such as this that is
very, very good, there may be some of us who can’t help but
regret that it isn’t great. But try to ignore that part
because “Small Time Crooks” might be the most fun
you’ve had at the movies in a long time. Gideon Cross Rating:
8
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“Road Trip” Starring Breckin Meyer, Seann
William Scott and Amy Smart Directed by Todd Phillips
DreamWorks’ “Road Trip” is an “American
Pie” for the college set. Although entertaining in the way
that all mindless comedies are, the film unfortunately panders to a
fun-loving, yet, dumbed-down audience. “Road Trip”
offers the standard, cheap laughs based on tongue-in-cheek notions
of racism and sexism hidden under a kind of disingenuous
“being who you are” sentimentality that rings false.
But if you like this sort of thing, which the studios assume most
Americans do, this is a fine film. The story follows four college
students on a road trip in search of an illicit videotape. One of
the students, Josh (Breckin Meyer), has cheated on his girlfriend
and the results have ended up on this videotape. So Josh and his
three friends, the party animal, E.L. (Seann William Scott), the
good-hearted geek, Kyle (DJ Qualls) and smart-guy Rubin (Paulo
Costanzo), head out on a gag-filled road trip to save Josh’s
relationship. The plot of “Road Trip” is truly
contrived. The story smacks of something engineered by a couple of
writers and a movie executive in a movie studio office. The gags
seem to come from the discount comedy barrel. There is nothing
fresh in this movie; even Tom Green, who tells the story in
flashback, is somehow hollow and misused. Even the advertisement
poster simulates last year’s “American Pie.” Not
everyone goes to the movies for engaging, intelligent humor, so
“Road Trip” is perfect in that sense. And perhaps
audiences for this film are only seeking a reassuring regurgitation
of a formula. Jun Okada Rating: 4