A Favorite Getting a Sequel

Family Movie Night

By Karyn Bowman

One of my most favorite movies of all time in The Incredibles.

Image from IMDb.com

I don’t mean favorite animated movie or favorite family movie.

I meant what I said that this is one of my favorite movies of all time.

It is almost a perfect movie. You could ask me next week and I might say it is a perfect movie.

The story is about a family who are secretly supers. They each have special powers and abilities. Super strength, super stretchiness, super speed, and super energy control. They have to hide their super powers after various lawsuits against supers go badly.

Bob works in an insurance company as a claims adjuster who tries to hard to make claims go through. The problem is his boss wants them to not go through and save money for the shareholders.

It doesn’t help that life, after being a super, is kinda boring. Go to work, have supper, clean up, go to bed, do it all over again. You can wait for something exciting to happen or make it happen. Bob makes a decision that will cause excitement in his life. But it is a decision that will fully impact his family.

What makes this movie one of the greats is that nearly every scene is capable of being a stand alone moment. These are perfectly captured moments of human emotion. The feeling of being left behind, of not being able to use your skills to their full abilities, of loving life in the moment, of being afraid or happy or joyful.

It doesn’t hurt that the action scenes are well choreographed and interesting. How a super can move, depending on their abilities, is fascinating. From the Fro-zone to the baby’s developing skills, we see just one these suits can do to protect the wear. What is more interesting is seeing the children discover their power and abilities.

It is also the comic touches that make this movie great. The heaviness of the movie is lightened time and again which keeps an audience engaged. The scene in which Bob visits the superhero costume designer is classic for the character’s persona. Her subsequent visit from Helen is another exercise of comic explanation of super suits.

I find myself laughing and crying and smiling within each scene. There are many times that I marvel at the ease and beauty of the animation and the music that accompanies each scene to set the emotion. I like that we know each character really well, that we understand their motivations.

We don’t always get that in a movie like this. We barely learn a person’s reasoning for doing their actions or hiding rational reasons. Some characters remain a mystery. But not in this movie.

I would watch it whenever it showed up on TV, because it is just that good. And with the new sequels about to show up, it is always good to have back up information about the new movie.

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.

Advertisement

The Great Gob Smack

Family Movie Night

by Karyn Bowman

Today I am going to share the big secret I rediscovered in the last few weeks. Every now and again this one has to smack me upside the head. But every time it does, I swear I have the same shocked reaction.

Time moves on, kids grow up, and I keep getting older.

It hit me seeing pictures of Mallory Boomsma’s wedding from a few weeks back. Our family know Mallory from 4H and I remember when she loved to hold the new baby in our house. That baby is now 13-years-old and doing the same as Mallory. She loves to play with babies.

When did that happen? How did Mallory get old enough to marry and my girl old enough to be as Mallory was way back when? And why do I keep finding gray hairs mixed in my dark locks?

Well, this realization really smacked me in the face, again, when my youngest did not want to watch The Incredibles with me. There was a time when I could bring home the latest animation flick and be called a hero. Nights on the couch with popcorn was the norm and everyone was happy.

Image from IMDb.com

But when I brought home that movie recently, I got snarky comments and rolled eyes. A few days later, I brought home a Goosebumps movie and was a hero once more.

Except, I wasn’t going to watch that movie with them. I was not the least bit interested. This series is poorly made and watching PG horror flicks is not in my wheel house at all.

The pushing of Mom away with youngest child has started. Time is moving on.

Well, at least I can watch The Incredibles if I want and I do.

This is one of those movies that borders on perfection. It lands on my list of perfect movies because the characters mix well together, the angst/conflict is something all of us can relate to (have I settled in my day-to-day life as a grown-up), and the action scenes are, well, incredible.

The story is about how superheroes are put into hiding because of fear and financial damages. It is not easy to go into a 9-5 life when you are used to saving the day.

But that is what Bob and Helen (Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl) do with their three children in a nice quiet suburb of a large metropolitan area somewhere in the USA. A job loss and a potential new sideline throws the family, going through normal isolation issues, into something more serious, more dangerous and potentially bringing the family closer.

I love the dialogue of this movie, the way the family interacts and gives conflicting messages. I enjoy the active discussion about what makes people special and what makes us all ordinary. I love how, for once, the villain is done in by his own callous behavior. And the actions scenes really pump me up whether it is in a burning building or with a giant robot.

It is a movie that I will watch again. Until grand kids show up, I guess I am watching it alone.

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.

Just Another List: 30 Animated Movies

A few weeks ago, I got into a dust-up on IMDb.com with someone who stated he could name 30 better animated movies that Despicable Me 2.

Normally, this would not bother me until the idiot put up a list. A list that was very incomplete and did not even include anything from Studio Ghibli.

So I am starting my own list of animated movies that are some of the best in regards to being a complete package type of movie coupled with animation style/techniques.  This list is subjective and based on what I have actually watched. I wish I could say they are in order of what I think is the best But I know some of the ones at the bottom should be closer to the top. But the next dilemma is who goes lower and that is not a question I want to answer today.

I am not explaining or defending any choice until the comment section, should anyone want to have that discussion.

Image from IMDb.com

1. The Incredibles

2. Spirited Away

3. Toy Story Series

4. The Iron Giant

5. My Neighbor Totoro

6. Snow White

7. Cinderella

8. Beauty and the Beast

9. The Jungle Book

10. Shrek

11. The Adventures of Tin-Tin

12. Howl’s Moving Castle

13. The Lion King

14.  Fantasia

15. Tarzan

16. Up

17. Sleeping Beauty

18. Kung Fu Panda

19.  Ponyo

20. Aladdin

Image from IMDb.com

21. Dumbo

22. Wallace and Gromit

23. Monsters, Inc.

24. The Nightmare Before Christmas

25. Coraline

26. James and the Giant Peach

27. Lilo and Stitch

28. The Rescuers

29. Monsters Vs. Aliens

30. Finding Nemo

What movies do you rank as some of the best in animation?

Lovin’ that Animation

Family Movie Night

When it comes to animated movies, I am a real sucker.

But like any other movie, I want it to be good. I have gone to the theater to see bad Winnie the Pooh movies or other movies directed at kids that I could not understand how they ever got the green light to be made.

I have a few favorites that I will watch over and over again with my kids. Or maybe without them.

Movie Poster for My Neighbor Totoro, picture from IMDb.com

I first found Studio Ghibli when I was searching for a movie to watch with my oldest when he was sick one afternoon. I picked up My Neighbor Totoro and fell in love with Japanese folk tales and creatures later that day.

The story is about a father and his two daughters who move into a home in the country. It may or may not be haunted but it is definitely near the home of a giant Totoro, king of the forest.  The girls are also missing their mother who must stay in a hospital for the time being.

Hayao Miyazaki directed this film, giving it emotional depth and artistic beauty with the hand drawn animation. If you like this movie, you may also like some of his other films including Ponyo (with a little girl that looks like Mai from Totoro) and Spirited Away. Howl’s Moving Castle and Princess Mononoke are titles that may be better suited for pre-teen and teenagers.

Buzz and Woody racing to the moving van in Toy Story, picture from IMDb.com

 This year, I was enamored with Toy Story 3, a sequel that was as good as the original. In the running for Best Picture at the Oscars, the story follows the gang of toys as Andy prepares to go to college.  Bad things happen Andy’s bag does not go to the attic as intended but to the donation box to a day care center.

What should be a great second life for toys turns into something else when the toys run afoul of Lotso, the ruler of the toys in the daycare center. We know that an escape plan will be hatched. But what happens after that takes things farther than most ‘cute kids films’ are willing to go.

Go for the whole series, appropriate for all family members, because we get nothing but solid story telling from producers who respect the audience enough to give them the goods without sitting on their laurels.  

Tarzan (1999) , picture from IMDb.cm

My last pick is two movies that I love for being great family films that are exciting and wonderful in their story telling. If either of these two movies happens to appear on regular TV, chances are I will stop what I am doing and watch them. The Incredibles and Tarzan get me every time.

Each has style and a certain elegance in the artwork that draws me in every time. There are plenty of quirky characters and real affection between the leads that make me want to watch them again and again and again.

Until next week, see you in the rental aisle.

Let the world know about your latest pick for Family Movie Night and drop a note below.