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I’m forecasting big things for this tasty morsel, which converts junk food into nourishing cinema, as it subtly serves up relevant and timely messages about financially strapped cities and glutinous Americans growing fat on genetically altered sustenance.
Pretty heady stuff for a movie inspired by a 1978 children’s book penned and illustrated by Judi and Ron Barrett. But first-time filmmakers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, a couple of staff writers from TV’s “How I Met Your Mother,” have taken the Barrett’s beloved little tale well beyond the page by indulging their imaginations in creating a silly-serious story sure to whet the appetites of kids and adults alike...
Have you ever seen the damage a spaghetti tornado can do? How about a "food-alanche?” ...
That includes his father, a bait shop proprietor with limited sight (his bushy brows fully cover his peepers) and an even more limited vocabulary that rarely ventures beyond spouting fishing metaphors.
He’s voiced with curmudgeonly gusto by James Caan, who, like the rest of the cast brings depth and complexity to what easy could have been a stock role...
Their [Flint and Sam] sweet and smoldering romance is a delight to behold, as are the plethora of beautifully drawn 3-D scenes, like the aftermath of an ice cream snowstorm and a highly inventive set piece in which Flint surprises Sam with a life-size castle molded out of Jell-O...
There are also a couple of clever running gags involving the town’s self-serving mayor (voiced with perfect pompousness by Bruce Campbell from the hilarious “Evil Dead” series) and his diaper-wearing adult son, Brent (Andy Samberg), who hangs on desperately to his one accomplishment in life: serving as the face of the town’s “eat sardines” ad campaign when he was a baby...
Equally intriguing is the satirical slant Lord and Miller place on the food industry’s push toward defying Mother Nature by artificially enhancing their products. And as we all know, it's not nice to fool with Mother Nature...
Excerpts from:
http://www.tauntongazette.com/entertainment/x593041356/Movie-review-Meatballs-is-mouth-watering-fun
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"Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs" is a breezy, witty, fun little 3-D animated fantasy about a young scientist who invents a machine that can convert water into food and has it rain from the sky over his town...
"Cloudy" was directed by screenwriters Chris Miller and Phil Lord, who keep the many action sequences crisp and exciting, and put plenty of zingers into the dialogue.
The main cast is rounded out by Mr. T as a local cop, Earl, who's seen way too many 1970s blaxploitation kung-fu movies and goes bouncing around town with zealous pride in his job.
Kids will love the fantastic creations that Flint conjures up, especially the jiggly castle made of Jell-O.
My only misgiving about "Cloudy" is that while it talks the talk about intelligence being a good quality, its plot argues the opposite: that intelligence only gets you into trouble, causes damage, endangers lives and makes women want to look like cliched bookworms.
Even though Flint's intelligence eventually solves the problems, that doesn't make up for the destruction and emotional stress it caused in the first place.
To me, that's not very smart.
Excerpts from:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=321593
[EDitor: I disagree. There should always be consequences to actions, even when the intentions are good. They're teaching kids some bits of real life, and I'm in favor of it.]
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1 comment:
go Cloudy!
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