Home Alone 2: Lost in New York

 Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992)

Starring Macauley Culkin, Joe Pesci, Daniel Stern, John Heard, Tim Curry, Brenda Blethyn, and Catherine O'Hara

Directed by Christopher Columbus

Written by John Hughes

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D

Surviving Christmas

 Surviving Christmas (2004)

Starring Ben Affleck, James Gandolfini, Christina Applegate, and Catherine O'Hara

Directed by Mike Mitchell

Written by Harry Elfont, Deborah Kaplan, Jeffrey Ventimilia, and Joshua Sternin

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

For Your Consideration

 For Your Consideration (2006)

Starring Bob Balaban, Jennifer Coolidge, Ricky Gervais, Christopher Guest, Rachel Harris, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Don Lake, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Christopher Moynihan, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, and Fred Willard 

Directed by Christopher Guest

Written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: D

A Mighty Wind

A Mighty Wind (2003)

Starring Bob Balaban, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Harry Shearer, and Fred Willard

Directed by Christopher Guest 

Written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Waiting for Guffman

Waiting for Guffman (1997)

Starring Lewis Arquette, Bob Balaban, Christopher Guest, Matt Keesler, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, and Fred Willard

Directed by Christopher Guest

Written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating: B

Best in Show

Best in Show (2000)

Starring Jennifer Coolidge, Christopher Guest, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Eugene Levy, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O'Hara, and Fred Willard

Directed by Christopher Guest

Written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy 

Click here for my Letterboxd review

The RyMickey Rating:  A-

Movie Review - Frankenweenie

Frankenweenie (2012)

Featuring the voice talents of Charlie Tahan, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Atticus Shaffer, and Winona Ryder 

Directed by Tim Burton

I had seen the original live action Frankenweenie short film years ago and remember thinking that it didn't have enough story to pad its thirty minute running time.  So, admittedly, I went into the new animated version a little reluctantly doubting that Tim Burton could make it work with even more time. Somehow, though, this black-and-white stop-motion animated flick fares a bit better than its predecessor likely thanks to an amusing climax full of homages to classic horror films like Godzilla, The Mummy, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon that ends the film on a positive note.

Borrowing heavily from Frankenstein for inspiration, Frankenweenie tells the tale of young Victor Frankenstein and his lovable pet dog Sparky.  Together, they're a great pair and the shy loner Victor finds great comfort in his pet.  Unfortunately, one afternoon a horrible tragedy befalls Sparky as he has an untimely meeting with the front bumper of a car.  Depressed, Victor wallows through his everyday life until one day during science class, his new teacher Mr. Rzykruski (Martin Landau) displays that despite the fact that living things die, their muscles and nerves can still react to electric stimulus.  With the school science fair on the horizon, Victor sets out to reanimate his beloved Sparky.

Unlike this year's previous stop-motion entries -- Paranorman and The Pirates! Band of Misfits -- Frankenweenie's animation is charmingly more herky-jerky in nature.  Whereas the aforementioned films had a fluidity that had me wondering if I was watching a computer-animated version of stop motion, Tim Burton's film was lovingly "old school" and it worked to great effect considering this is Burton's homage to classic horror films.  Both styles prove that stop-motion animation is still a wonderful format...it's simply unfortunate that the general public doesn't seem to feel that way as none of the three films proved to be overly successful at the box office.

With some nice vocal turns from Catherine O'Hara, Martin Short, and Martin Landau and a beautiful black-and-white landscape to feast upon, I'd love to say that Frankenweenie is completely successful.  Unfortunately, this animated film falls into the same trap as the short that preceded it -- there's just not enough story here.  Granted, the animated film does adequately fluff out the basic story and while it is more successful in that department than the short, it still doesn't quite achieve success.  For a film with a eighty-minute runtime, I shouldn't find myself staring frequently at a watch.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-

Movie Review - The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)

Featuring the voice talent of Chris Sarandon, Danny Elfman, and Catherine O'Hara

Directed by Henry Selick

I'm not gonna rehash some review here, nor am I going to say much except to say that I absolutely loved this movie when it came out in theaters.  I still have vivid memories of my aunt taking me to see it and simply being enthralled at age thirteen by the music, the visuals, and the story of Jack Skellington and his Halloweentown friends attempting to take over Christmas without much success.

Nowadays, this film just doesn't work for me at all and despite attempts nearly every other year to try and make it end up back on my Favorites List, it's a movie that simply has fallen out of favor.  What bothers me the most is I can't quite pinpoint why that's the case.  I still greatly admire the stop motion animation and very much appreciate the old school look it creates.  I still enjoy the songs which certainly help to move the story along and reveal many of the characters' innermost thoughts.  Despite that, I find the whole thing a drag to sit through now.  

When I watched the 3D re-release in theaters a few years back, I felt the same way -- the film lacks drive for me now and I find it much too one-note in terms of momentum with lull after lull and no highs in between.  The dreariness of the whole affair takes its toll rather early and it makes everything very heavy.  As corny as it sounds, the movie simply lacks joy and while that's certainly fine in some movies, I can't help but think that Nightmare's ultimate goal despite its oddness is to be a joyful flick.

As I said, I can't quite determine my qualms with the film as a whole, but what I had hoped was a fluke dislike in theaters two years ago has now turned into something that I genuinely can't deny -- I simply don't care for this movie anymore...and it kind of makes me sad that I feel that way.

The RyMickey Rating:  C-

Movie Review - Killers

Killers (2010)

Starring Ashton Kutcher, Katherine Heigl, Tom Selleck, and Catherine O'Hara

Directed by Robert Luketic

Good Lord...Movies this awful don't come along too often.

Seeing as how I'm not a fan of either of the two leading actors in Killers, I'm not quite sure why I rented it, but I did and I forced myself to sit through the dreck.

Honestly, it's not even really worth talking about.  The characters are poorly developed, the script is paint-by-numbers bland, and the the direction is tv Movie of the Week style.  The whole thing is a mess.  The only thing saving this from a complete and epic failure is that I was moderately entertained by Tom Selleck and Catherine O'Hara as Katherine Heigl's parents.  That said, even they were saddled with a ridiculously bad subplot by the film's end.

I mean, let's face it.  Look at the poster to the left...is there anyone who actually thinks that the movie could be good based on that?  You've got Heigl going "This is a gun...I'm a woman...How do you work this darn thing?  Teeheehee...giggle giggle."  And then you've got Kutcher going, "Who is this prissy chick?  Why am I saddled with her?  Why am I even in movies?  Doesn't anyone know I can't act?"

Avoid at all costs.

The RyMickey Rating:  D-

Movie Review - Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

Starring Max Records, Catherine Keener, Mark Ruffalo, and the voices of James Gandolfini, Lauren Ambrose, Catherine O'Hara, Chris Cooper, Paul Dano, and Forrest Whitaker
Directed by Spike Jonze

I can't even begin to tell you how much I want to like this movie. It has so many positive things going for it...unfortunately, a story is not one of them. And the lack of any type of strong narrative really manages to bring this movie down. I tried my hardest not to be bored, but the screenwriters need to give me a little something to keep me engaged.

Young Max isn't happy. His older sister is abandoning him for friends of a similar age. His mom is either working or spending time dating. One night, he flips out, bites his mother, and then runs away "into his imagination" to a land inhabited by larger than life monsters and animals. Max befriends these monsters, becomes their king, and realizes that their problems are similar to humankind.

I guess the problem with adapting a small children's picture book to the big screen is that you're inevitably going to have to add stuff in order to pad the running time into a feature film. There were little vignettes here and there in the film that worked, but it didn't really feel like a cohesive story.

And it's incredibly unfortunate because everything else on display here is top notch. I was quite impressed with young Max Records as Max. I don't think his role as a rambunctious youth was an easy one to play (mainly because the story doesn't really give him a whole lot of motivation or reasoning behind the things he does), but he's onscreen for nearly every scene and I was quite impressed with his work. Catherine Keener's role as his mom is very minimal, but she surprisingly made an impression on me (in a good way) despite her limited screen time.

Let's discuss the monsters now...there's some great puppetry/costumes going on here. Stunning stuff. Each monster manages to have their own distinct personality thanks to some great voice work and some amazing movements. I can't get over how "real" the facial reactions and arm movements and stances of the puppeteers felt to me...like watching a person onscreen instead of a furry creature. Like I said, the voices matched the monsters perfectly. James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, Chris Cooper, Lauren Ambrose, and Forrest Whitaker all deserve kudos for creating believable monsters via their voicework.

And despite the fact that his screenplay was weak, as a director, Spike Jonze is something special. The film looked exquisite. Even in the opening scenes at Max's house, I was surprised by how much I liked the visuals. I like that Jonze doesn't rush things and he lets scenes sit there for a while (I know...kind of opposite to the fact that I said the movie was boring, but that's the fault of the script). I can see how some would watch the final scene of this movie - a perfect example of what I mention above -- and go, "What the heck was that?," but I looked at it and was pleased with it.

With so many things to love about this movie (I didn't even mention the odd soundtrack which absolutely added to the film, even if I wasn't head-over-heels in love with it), it pains me to give this the rating I'm going to give it. If only there was something story-wise here, this could've been one of my favorite movies of the year without a doubt.

The RyMickey Rating: C

Movie Review - Away We Go (2009)

Starring John Krasinksi, Maya Rudolph, Allison Janney, Jim Gaffigan, Catherine O'Hara, Jeff Daniels, and Maggie Gyllenhaal
Written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida
Directed by Sam Mendes

I've said before that I admit that indie films have to work harder for me to like them for the simple reason that I don't like films that shout "I'm hip and edgy" which many low budget flicks scream to me. Your film can be "hip" or "edgy," but not obnoxiously so.

The weird thing about Away We Go is that despite that folk-pop soundtrack, and that thrift store-style "hip" costuming, and certain requisite indie camera shots (like following a couple down a moving airport sidewalk...saw that in Garden State and several movies after that, Mr. Mendes), the film is anything but edgy. It's not filled with Juno-esque dialogue (thank God), but it is filled with quirky characters who make the film completely lose any "realness," and who, in turn, make the film fall from good to below average.

Burt and Verona (Krasinski and Rudolph) are a loving couple, making a living (barely), who are expecting a baby in three months. Once they are given the news that Burt's parents (O'Hara and Daniels) are leaving the country, the couple decides to visit friends and relatives to try and find a place to settle down so that their newborn baby will be around a loving familial community. Through the episodic pacing of the film, we travel to Arizona and meet Verona's zany friend Lily (Janney) and her downtrodden hubby, Lowell (Gaffigan). Soon, we travel to the midwest and meet Burt's friend, LN (Gyllenhaal), a weirdo liberal professor. These three characters Burt and Verona meet up with, in particular, were the sole reasons the film fell apart. Yes, they provided laughter, but they were awful caricatures of stereotypical people. Gyllenhaal's LN, in particular, was horrendously bad. Her flowing arm movements and her flowing clothing and the flowing random verbiage ("Peace! Love! Have sex in front of your kids...It's natural!") that spewed from her mouth were all ridiculous. Yes, she was funny (as was Janney and Daniels and O'Hara), but she was completley a "character" and not a "real person." (Oddly enough, I felt that in screenwriter Dave Eggers' book -- A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius -- that the problem was in his inability to get me to care for the side peripheral characters...similar problem here.)

The supporting cast issue is unfortunate because Krasinski and Rudolph both are as real as it gets. Both of these actors, neither of which are "stars" by any means, really had me glued to the screen. There wasn't a doubt in my mind when I was watching this flick that these two characters really loved each other. One scene that I loved was when Burt and Verona visited their friends, Tom and Munch (Chris Messina and Melanie Lynsky), in Montreal. Tom and Munch are the proud parents of a brood of adopted kids, but one evening, Tom emotionally reveals to Burt that Munch has had five miscarriages and doesn't understand why such a loving mother would be unable to have kids of her own. The look on Burt's face after hearing the story really got to me -- and showed me what a good actor Krasinski can be. Similarly, Rudolph (who was definitely a favorite of mine on Saturday Night Live) has a scene in bed with Krasinski where Burt tells Verona that he loves her and she starts to cry. It felt so right on and real. There were many more scenes like these that worked wonderfully.

I loved nearly every scene with Burt and Verona, so it was such a shame that nearly every side character (with the exception of the absolutely touching and beautifully portrayed aforementioned Montreal couple) seemed so fake. Overall, Sam Mendes' new effort couldn't match up to his modern-day masterpiece, Revolutionary Road, despite the fact that the two leads were great.

The RyMickey Rating: C