Flushed Away
March 12th, 2007
Most of the recent computer-animated movies feel like endless remakes of Toy Story. This one, about the adventures of a bunch of mice in the London sewers, is produced by Aardman of Wallace & Gromit, and it’s more inventive and, for my money, funnier than your regular Pixar flick. We’ve all come to expect the winking references that are supposed to fly over the kids’ heads (like the cockroach reading Kafka) — but Flushed Away also has visual quotes from Akira. Voices by Hugh Jackman, Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen, Bill Nighy, and Jean Reno as “Le Frog.” Fun.
Flushed Away. David Bowers and Sam Fell, 2006. ***
Crimson Rivers
April 15th, 2006
Vincent Cassel and Jean Reno solve grisly murders in a remote mountain town. One of the better thrillers I’ve seen in a good long while.
