I watched Prey For Rock and Roll today. Avoid it unless you A) have a thing for Gina Gershon, B) can't tell good music if it bites you in the ass, or C) can believe in a Marc Blucas with tattoos, a crew cut, and just-released-from-prison-goatee. Named ANIMAL.
It's like Grace Of My Heart gone horribly, horribly wrong.
I don't think I've ever seen him in anything, but I'll take your word for it.
Everything I've ever seen him in had him playing essentially the same vain, pompous moron. I gather this is perfect for taking on the Ricky Gervais character?
A) have a thing for Gina Gershon
Are there people who don't?
C) can believe in a Marc Blucas with tattoos, a crew cut, and just-released-from-prison-goatee. Named ANIMAL.
To be fair, his character was named after the Muppet.
Heh. Many people I know and trust found Prey for Rock and Roll to be quite enjoyable.
Of course, I think one of them was named "David" last name starting with "S", but there are other people who gave the same opinion.
I'll give mine after the send it to me on Netflix.
And Nick and Nora lose a few points because of the alcohol abuse.
Nuh-uh! I love their hard-drinking ways.
Robots
review:
story:
Leaves a fair amount to be desired - certainly no Pixar tale, more in line with the Non-Shrek Dreamwork movies I think. Haven't seen
Ice Age
so can't compare with that. It's a little more hit-you-over-the-head with the morals than I like my animated movies, like something aimed at really young kids, though there are a fair number of adult-focused, subtle jokes that make it fun to see as a grown-up. The story is, generally, pretty basic, and the overall feeling is rather disconnected, sadly. It's not a masterwork of storytelling by any means.
Voices:
Robin Williams is very over-the-top, but I always feel that works for him in this kind of thing - I loved his genie in
Aladdin
- so I think that works quite nicely. Ewan McGregor is fine, though the only times he really stood out and seemed really interesting were the times he sounded a lot like his character in
Big Fish,
which may have just been me extrapolating the goodness, especially since the characters actually have some similarities. Greg Kinnear voices a great villain, but Jim Broadbent was even better at it, voicing a woman. Mel Brooks was very good, though his character was one of the most annoying (he gave all those hit-you-over-the-head morals I was talkking about earlier), and Amanda Bynes was fantastic for what little voice time she got. That girl has comedic timing DOWN (as anybody who watched
All That/The Amanda Bynes Show
on Nickelodean knows quite well.) Finally, when I was watching the credits, I commented out loud "Oh, THAT'S why I felt no emotional attachment to Cappy at all - she was voiced by Halle Berry!"
Visuals:
It's high-quality 3D animation of robots on an IMAX screen, rendered by an efficient raytracing process (which means, basically, things are shiny, though that doesn't quite capture the different looks of the raytracing algorithm versus the scanline rendering used in Pixar/Dreamworks films). The beauty of the visuals is somewhat degraded by the fact that the direction is not really great - nothing like the fantastic direction of
The Incredibles
- but it still looks extremely, lusciously pretty at times. There are a couple of scenes where the weirdness of the robot world allows strange situations that are simply mesmerizing in their gorgeousity. If you like seeing movies for the pretty CG, this is definitely one to see. The only problem I ever had was actually, I think, with the IMAX transfer - there were times I briefly caught artifacting almost like interlacing lines, which I think probably came from blowing it up to such high resolutions. Nobody else noticed them, probably.
Other:
The movie is funny. Often
very
funny. There were definitely times I was laughing so hard I missed ensuing dialogue, and these times were different from the times my companion laughed that hard, which were in turn different from the times others laughed. There's humor for all in this film. My favorite jokes were usually very, very subtle - tiny flashes of a scene in a montage, for example, that were hilarious. Reminded me of that short scene in
Shrek 2
where the people in the
Farbucks flee the gingerbread man by going across the street to another Farbucks.
There were also, as mentioned above, some really cool moments that were made possible by the intricate details of a world consisting entirely of robots that led to neat, action-packed scenes of "Whoa that was awesome!" without any actual plot power. Plenty of jokes that only adults would get, too - for example, at the beginning of the film
the parent robots are building a baby, and the wife says "making the baby is the fun part!" Then,
when the
baby is almost built, she says "what's that piece?" and the
husband says "oh!
We did want a boy, right? Well, then
..." and then attaches the piece. Silly, but pretty funny.
Overall, I really liked the world and the general sense of humor, except for the requisite fart jokes, and the plot, though nothing special, is not so bad as to detract from (continued...)
( continues...) the good time. I recommend seeing the flick, it's fun.
ION: There was a Willy Wonka trailer before it. Want in IMAX NOW. Also want Sin City in IMAX, but no trailer, so probably not happening. Sad.
Many people I know and trust found Prey for Rock and Roll to be quite enjoyable
Me! But then, I definitely fall into the "thinking Gina Gershon is super hot" category, so that may negate it.
Ryan Reynolds confirmed to play the Flash.
Blade: Trinity writer/director and Batman Begins writer David Goyer has committed to write, produce and direct the feature adaptation of DC Comics' The Flash.