Toy Story 3

And pixar does it again. The Toy Story franchise is back with the third installment. This time Andy is grown and headed to college and faces the task of cleaning out his room. Through a series of events the toys that haven't been thrown out over the years make it to a box that gets donated to a day care. Everything seems perfect at first--the children will never outgrow or neglect the toys. A seedy underground of control quickly emerges and forces the toys into a terrible plight: three year olds. The story becomes one of escape and impending doom racing against the clock of Andy's college departure.

The third movie is not as tightly plotted as the first. The third movie is not as funny as the second. The third movie is still a brilliant instance of all the things that these films do better than any others. Rather than carefully including material to appeal to adults in a children's story these films understand that children and adults can enjoy the same material. Everyone can appreciate the bond between a child and a toy, and everyone can enjoy a great escape. Even the humor is classic and appealing to a broad audience. It's just good. There are many references to the earlier films, along with a really good homage to Cool Hand Luke. There are a few less toys in the group, but they are all developed a little more in this film. It's not just Woody and Buzz's story. The addition of fashion-obsessed Ken is absolutely brilliant.

Like the first film (which terrified me as a child), this film is pretty scary. For a glossy animated film about toys they manage to stir up some serious danger. Be aware.

This film is elegant. It is smart but simple. Like the other two Toy Stories, I think this one will be just as good 5, 10, or 15 years from now. It's not the cutting edge of animation because it's all a toy world, but it looks fantastic and consistent with the earlier films. The 3D is just a bonus. It hardly plays into the gimmick of the 3D, so it is far from necessary, but it does look great in 3D. The choice of paying those extra $3 is a matter of preference, but this is not a film you should let slip by.

Robin Hood

I'm very disappointed. Not by this film, but by all the reviews who claim this movie is no fun. The story is of Robin Longstride's return from the Crusades. I have very little knowledge of/attachment to the Robin Hood story, so I can't answer to any real changes from the general expectations from the name, but this film does serve as a kind of prequel to the other stories. Robin (Crowe) is finding out his history and fighting for liberty for the common people by trying to convince the new King John to sign the Magna Carta.

The action sequences are about what you'd expect, but they're very well done. There are explosions and flaming arrows and sword fights. It's violent but not excessively bloody. It's jumpy and fast-paced, but I didn't have much trouble keeping up with what was going on.

The characters are not particularly well developed. For the 2 1/2 hour length of the film there is a lot of plot, action, and scenery, but very little real internal struggle. This is not Robin Hood trying to find himself, nor is it an in-depth questioning of justice and rights. It's a summer blockbuster. I wouldn't call it shallow--the film gets into just enough of the underlying questions to make the audience care about and understand the motivations of the characters, but it doesn't linger there too long. Russel Crowe portrays a troubled Robin Hood (as he generally does with his characters). Marion (Blanchett) is no maid, but rather a feisty widow. I could have done with one less scene of the obligatory feminist fighting-with-the-boys, but it's about what I expected. I think the relationship between Robin and Marion is well-paced, and I enjoyed the interactions of many of the less central characters (Walter, Little John, Friar Tuck).

Without a wealth of Robin Hood expectations to fit this film into, I was quite pleased with the movie as an action film. It's beautifully shot and long enough to tell an epic story without dragging. It's all a little over-exaggerated. Characters yell when they should speak with confidence and it seems that each arrow fired is a major event, but the intensity helped me get into the epic spirit of things. I also think that parties in the 12th century look like more fun than parties now.

Shutter Island

It's an interesting idea to make a psychological thriller about psychology. The film opens on two US Marshals (DiCaprio and Ruffalo) on a boat in gray, threatening weather heading toward the foreboding Shutter Island--home of a prison for the criminally insane. The Marshals are there to investigate the disappearance of one of the inmates, Rachel Solando, who seems to have evaporated into thin air. Soon, however, it becomes apparent that there may be more going on. Marshall Teddy may have another reason for wanting to investigate the case, and visions of his horrific experiences liberating a Nazi prison camp and of his wife who died in a fire haunt his mind.

Everything screams horror film from the isolated location, to the color scheme, to the random chains hanging on walls. There is a moment early on when the characters enter the prison and the camera sits on the front of the truck so the experience is of being pushed through the imposing metal gates. There is no escape. As the last gate opens the camera pulls back a bit as if in hesitation. As the film progresses there are beautifully disturbing jump cuts, but the audio track remains perfectly synchronized. Scorcese masters the uncanny. The horror is really well done. That being said, it's more of a mystery thriller than a horror film.

The film is purposely disturbing, which I personally don't like in my film-going experience. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the mystery of the story. The writing is interesting and always seems to offer just a few details short of what would make everything make sense. The audience discovers the situation from the mindset of Teddy (DiCaprio), and the film does an excellent job of trapping the viewer in exactly his world of knowledge and experience.