Monsters vs Aliens contains an interesting mix of contradictions. It’s shot and animated using up-to-the-minute technology but in the service of a decidedly old-fashioned story; it’s steeped in the 1950s B-movie tradition, but its premise is decidedly feminist. Even the use of 3-D technology is complex, simultaneously reaching back to the gimmicky 3-D films of the 50s while hoping to pull modern audiences away from their computer screens and back into theaters.
Those juxtapositions are the most challenging and interesting thing about the film, which is mostly a paint-by-numbers action yukfest. This level of harmless fun and limited ambition is par for the course for a non-Pixar animated film these days (Kung-Fu Panda was a recent exception).
My first thought coming out of I Love You, Man was premature disgust with the motion picture Academy for snubbing Paul Rudd in next year’s nominations. There’s no doubt in my mind he won’t even be considered a long shot for any acting awards, just as there’s no doubt in my mind that he deserves a boatload of them.
Part spy caper, part romantic comedy, Duplicity is one of the smartest and most satisfying movies I’ve seen in a long time. Sure, it’s rather lightweight, but I really can’t find a thing wrong with this film. Writer/director Tony Gilroy, who penned the Bourne trilogy and helmed the acclaimed Michael Clayton, has emerged as one of the brightest new talents in Hollywood today.
Here’s a movie so feathery light I almost don’t want to bother reviewing it. It’s cut from the same cloth as a thousand romantic comedies before it — chick lit made celluloid (literally, as the film is based on a popular book series).
Meet Me In Montauk 