November at the Movies

Some thoughts on what i’ve seen lately:

Ray - Jamie Foxx does a great Ray Charles. The guy who played Booger from Revenge of the Nerds is Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun. He’s good in this too. The story seemed a little rushed at times. It’s strange because Ray’s running time is two and a half hours and skips over large periods of time in his life. The movie paints an unflattering picture of Charles, until, near the end, when he finds strength and redemption. It’s an interesting story, if not a wholly satisfying movie.

The Polar Express - I grew very restless while watching this. I’m not a big fan of the type of animation. I think that it’s the same style that the animated Final Fantasy movie used. It seemed inconsistent to me, some of the children looked life like, while others looked strange or disproportioned. This was distracting. The story, Santa-doubting children are taken to the North Pole on Christmas Eve via a train, is ho hum. It’s Tom Hanks overkill, as he does the voices of almost every adult character in the movie. Sitting through this was a very tiresome experience.

The Incredibles - On the other hand, I love Pixar animation. The team that works on these movies always seems to get it right. The Toy Story movies, Nemo, Monsters, Bugs Life, even the Pixar shorts have all been great. They find a near perfect tone. The casting of the voices, the stories, and the humor are always top notch. The Incredibles is my favorite of these movies. I grew up a comic book junkie who loved the super hero fantasy worlds. The Incredibles has fun with and at the same time pays tribute to the institution of comic book super heroes. It’s great.

Posted by chuck at November 19, 2004 11:13 AM