NOT A HOLIDAY SPECIAL WITH RUSSELL BRAND

Arthur Christmas

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Review by Paul Preston

If you’ve never seen a Wallace & Gromit short or their feature “Curse of the Were-Rabbit”, then you’re missing a signature style of storytelling. One that is on fine display in Aardman Animation’s new film “Arthur Christmas”.

Arthur is Santa Claus’ son, one of two Santa has (there seem to be no daughters in the bloodline that goes back hundreds of years). Arthur is the purest believer in the spirit of Christmas you can find, and his brother Steve is a strict leader, guiding Santa through a gift-delivering expedition with military precision every Christmas Eve. This is a very clever, unique tale about how Santa delivers so many presents in one night, involving a little more cynicism than the Wallace & Gromit shorts, but the cynicism is purposefully set up only to be gleefully knocked down by an authentic sense of holiday magic, embodied 100% by Arthur.

Christmas is delivered every year by Santa acting mainly as a figurehead, while Steve coordinates an army of elves who get the job done in a giant sleigh that travels up to 150,000 miles per hour. During this operation, Arthur is roundly dismissed as a harmless but unskilled goof. There’s also a GrandSanta, who at one point did the same job with fewer tools, who wants to show up Steve’s overblown procedural. So as you can see, as with any holiday film, there are plenty of people here who stand to learn something.

There are virtually no flaws with Arthur, who is easy to follow as a main character. One kid’s present is forgotten on Christmas Eve, and it’s up to Arthur to make sure no child is left behind. As voiced by James McAvoy, Arthur speaks from a place of wonder with nearly every line. Also well cast are Hugh Laurie as the order-barking Steve and Bill Nighy bypassing his usual authoritative voice to play the loopy, damn-near-senile GrandSanta. The best work is Jim Broadbent’s, as a befuddled but sincere Santa Claus.

Outside of an annoying Justin Bieber song that’s more annoyingly present in an annoying pre-film music video, there’s little glomming on to pop culture drops, and more finding the comedy in every moment. This preserves the movie’s originality and prevents it from becoming another “Smurfs”/”Alvin and the Chipmunks”/You-name-it knockoff.

Aardman, in all the previously-mentioned projects as well as “Creature Comforts”, get laughs out of the well-mannered behavior of the British. So even though Santa and the gang are Icelandic or Greenlandian in location, they’re all perfectly British in speech and behavior. I don’t think Aardman has the means or desire to American-ize one of their projects, and we’re all better off for that.

Directed by: Sarah Smith
Release Date: November 23, 2011
Run Time: 97 Minutes
Country: UK
Rated: PG
Company: Aardman Animation

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THE MOVIE GUYS’ SEPTEMBER MOVIE PREVIEW – “NO MORE SUPERHERO MOVIES”

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THE MOVIE GUYS’ MAY MOVIE PREVIEW, PART II

Movie Guys Paul Preston and Lee Kias give you the lowdown and their thoughts on what’s happening movie-wise in May. “The Movie Guys’ May Movie Preview, Part II” covers the sequels of May 2011, including: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES, THE HANGOVER, PART II and KUNG FU PANDA 2.

THE MOVIE GUYS’ MAY MOVIE PREVIEW – “SAVE THE DATES”

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THE MOVIE GUYS’ MAY MOVIE PREVIEW – “HERO COMPLEX”

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APRIL MOVIE PREVIEW – “THEY’VE GOT TO BE KIDDING”

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Movie Guys Paul Preston and Steven Lewis give you the lowdown and their thoughts on what’s happening movie-wise in February. “3D or Not 3D” covers the major film releases of February 25, 2011: THE LION OF JUDAH, HALL PASS & DRIVE ANGRY 3D.

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FEB. MOVIE PREVIEW – “FUCK THESE MOVIES”

Movie Guys Paul Preston and Lee Kias give you the lowdown and their thoughts on what’s happening movie-wise in December. “Fuck These Movies” covers the major film releases of February 11, 2010, GNOMEO & JULIET, JUST GO WITH IT, THE EAGLE and JUSTIN BIEBER: NEVER SAY NEVER.

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DON’T GO BREAKING MY HEART

Gnomeo & Juliet

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Review by Patrick Garland

So you’re telling me you want a new twist on Shakespeare? Fine, but first you must ask yourself some basic questions. What hasn’t been done already? Where does your story take place? And most importantly…how do you avoid creating a terrible Baz Luhrmann version that does nothing but confuse the mind and fill the theater with the stench of over-the-top acting. It’s been fifteen years and I can still smell it…horrible. Hey, here’s an idea. How about a bunch of garden gnomes having a backyard feud because one group wears blue and the other wears red? If you’re thinking to yourself “Yeah right, that would never work”, then I say guess again. It can and does work in the film “Gnomeo & Juliet”. This highly entertaining animated film is exactly what Shakespeare geeks who also happen to love animation have been waiting for. If that doesn’t describe you, don’t worry, you’ll enjoy it as well.

The story is basically a loose retelling of William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet”, which is pretty obvious by the title of the film. Gnomeo, played by James McAvoy, is a blue gnome who lives in Mrs. Montague’s back yard with the rest of his blue gnome buddies. The yard is ruled by Gnomeo’s mother Lady Blueberry. On the other side of the fence is the back yard of Mr. Capulet. That’s where Juliet, played by Emily Blunt, lives with her overprotective father Lord Redbrick and the rest of the red gnomes. Every day when the two homeowners leave, the gnomes come to life and the feuding begins. One of the main contests between the gnomes is lawnmower racing with Gnomeo racing for the blues and the fiery Tybalt leading the reds. Of course, just like in the original story, one thing leads to another and Gnomeo and Juliet fall in love. They are told their bliss is doomed since a blue and a red would never be allowed to marry. The gnomes love is so strong they must find a way to be together and since this is a cartoon, wackiness obviously ensues.

“Gnomeo & Juliet” is filled with an eclectic cast that includes Michael Caine, Maggie Smith, Jason Statham, Ozzy Osbourne, Dolly Parton, Patrick Stewart, Jim Cummings, Julie Walters, and Hulk Hogan. Everyone does a fine job and gets a chance at a few clever one-liners. “Gnomeo & Juliet” also does a nice job with its use of cultural references past and present. If you watch closely, you’ll notice a clever homage to Shakespeare’s other works throughout. The film’s music, which is made up of classic songs by Elton John, is also impressive. The use of “Bennie and the Jets” is particularly cute and gave me a good chuckle.

One thing you should be aware of when going to see “Gnomeo & Juliet” is that a lot of the humor skews towards older audiences. Little ones in the audience might become bored or lose interest quickly. But for older kids and adults, “Gnomeo and Juliet” is good clean backyard fun. Anyway, that’s the way I see it.

Directed by: Kelly Asbury
Release Date: February 11, 2011
Run Time: 84 minutes
Country: USA/UK
Rated: G
Distributor: Miramax Films

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