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. ***
Little Children
September 23rd, 2006
Todd Field’s follow-up to In the Bedroom is based on a novel by Election author Tom Perrotta, and the mixture of satire and straight drama doesn’t sit quite right with Field’s earnest style. Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, and Patrick Wilson engage in some tame suburban version of Shortbus, but after Shortbus, every depiction of sex I’ve seen in the movies seems hollow and fake–and I don’t mean just the physical aspects. Some great moments though–full review forthcoming very soon. NYFF press conference with Todd Field and Kate Winslet was a bit of a letdown. Opens 10/6.
Little Children, Todd Field, 2006. ***
[tags]film, 3 stars, todd field, sex, suburbia, kate winslet, jennifer connelly, film[/tags]
