Time Bandits (1981)

Ever since it came out, Time Bandits has been one of my all-time favorite movies. Its Pythonesque DNA is evident throughout, which makes for encounters with fun and whimsy around every corner. Our story begins as Kevin (Craig Warnock) endures life as a child in suburban London, where his parents ignore him or send him to bed early as they stare vacuously at TV game shows and prattle on about the latest domestic appliances. Meanwhile, Kevin's bedroom poster of a knight on a horse comes sinuously alive and gallops into a forest that used to be (and then again is) his closet door. The next night, prepared with a flashlight and pack of supplies, he surprises a ragamuffin band of little people (on the run from the Supreme Being after tiring of their bit parts in maintaining Creation) and joins them on their adventure. They are enterprising vagabonds who have "borrowed" the Supreme Being's map of all time-space portals so they can go hop-skipping across fable and history looking for unstoried treasure. Their episodic antics are droll and hilarious -- imdb.com lists pages of memorable quotes -- as if The Princess Bride met Robin Hood: Little People in Tights. Eventually, the band runs afoul of the maleficent Evil (David Warner), who desperately wants the map so he can dominate the universe. Evil is admittedly cartoonish in his soundstage-sized lair with his doddering assistant Benson (whom he briefly turns into a dog) but that's part of his appeal -- his patter is a stitch. During the ultimate confrontation, Evil sneers, "If I were the Supreme Being, I wouldn't have wasted my time creating flowers and butterflies! I would have invented computers and digital watches!" Kevin and friends make their stand (in mawkish fashion with huns and barbarians, hootin'-an'-hollerin' cowboys, and bobbing starfighters) until the final resolution, thanks to the Supreme Being (Ralph Richardson). Time Bandits is a fantasy tale to beat the band that pleasingly takes in, over the centuries, Sean Connery as Alexander the Great, John Cleese as Robin Hood, Ian Holm as Napoleon, and much more. Even the ending blurs the line between fantasy and suburbia as Kevin warns his parents "Don't touch it! It's Evil!" before the story comes full-circle to leave us looking down at Earth from the heavens. All the soundtrack needs to close is Monty Python tune "The Galaxy Song (Lighten Up)"! 5 stars. (4-8-09 posted 7-31-09)

Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

Terminator 2 (T2) is the best and best-known classic Arnold Schwarzenegger movie where He of the Chiseled Physique, iron jaw, steely stare, and robotic monotone (again all literally so) must do his best to thwart an even more unstoppable killbot from the future -- this time a bloodless, mercurial shapeshifter (Robert Patrick) that can flow through a crevice, pierce objects, and imitate voices or persons. T2 embodied state-of-the-art special effects at the time so that the hospital guard's comeuppance and the killbot's splaying like so much shotgunned nougat remain industry milestones as well as supremely memorable scenes. In T2, the ante has been raised: Linda Hamilton has gotten her survivalist ice-queen sh-t together, however, she's unfortunately been locked up in a mental hospital. Even worse, she knows (and Ahnuld later confirms) that Judgment Day (with its ensuing extermination of humankind) has not been stopped, only delayed. It is up to her to save her son (Edward Furlong, now a young punk who has yet to get his act together) so that he can survive to save mankind. If you enjoy action or sci-fi movies, seeing Terminator and Terminator 2 is simply a must. I own and enjoy seeing all three Terminator movies whenever the mood or occasion arises. 5 stars. (3-18-09 posted 7-31-09)

The Terminator (1984)

Terminator is the second-best and second-best-known classic Arnold Schwarzenegger movie where He of the Chiseled Physique, iron jaw, steely stare, and robotic monotone (this time all literally so) gets to do his worst as the unstoppable killer robot from the future. (His best and best-known movie is, of course, Terminator 2, where I don't think it's a spoiler 20 years later to merely murmur that Ahnuld plays for the other team.) The premise of time travel is a bit shopworn in Terminator but the manner of travel from the future was groundbreaking (literally) in its naked glory! The menace builds as one realizes this robohulk will stop at nothing to kill his target (plus anyone who gets in the way). Now and then time folds as neatly as a towel (back on and over itself) so that we come to see the salvation of Linda Hamilton (and the future of humanity) as well as the inception of the Terminator timeline. Like Star Trek, the technology and physiology of the future evolves and becomes more impressive with each generation but the myth and the wonder of what we found at the beginning of the story remains gritty and golden. 5 stars. (3-18-09 posted 7-31-09)

The Deal (2003)

Stephen Frears' previous movie, the Oscar-winning The Queen, told the more interesting story of how incoming Prime Minister Tony Blair (one of the "moderns") coached an ossified Royal Family (and Queen Elizabeth in particular) through Britain's need as a nation to publicly mourn the loss of Princess Diana. Tony Blair was expertly played by Michael Sheen, who returns in The Deal to portray a younger Tony Blair from the start of his political career up to his imminent campaign as prime minister. The titular "deal" refers to Blair's introduction to and six-year friendship with Gordon Brown (masterfully portrayed by David Morrissey) and how closely they worked together to build the Labor Party under a tacit agreement that Brown, as the stronger candidate, should run for the top post first. The Deal is the admittedly dry story of how two young British politicians blazed a path through Margaret Thatcher's conservative political landscape towards the highest elective office in the land. Even if you follow global news, you might get lost from time to time but if so, a second viewing should help to iron out all the details. The Deal is largely historical if partly fictionalized but its appeal is seeing British politics up close and personal. You'll be glad Gordon Brown is facing in another direction as he stumps a speech because you can see the spittle flying; in other scenes, you can see stiff upper lips literally quiver. You might not like The Deal unless you're a fan of British history or politics but if you are, don't miss this movie. 3.5 stars. (7-23-09 posted 7-31-09)

Ghost (1990)

It's no secret that Ghost is on many couples' lists of most romantic movies -- no doubt because of the incredibly sensuous opening scenes of Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze embracing each other while having sex with their hands caressing the clay at the potter's wheel. (The scenes are so iconic and wedded to the tune "Unchained Melody" that they could almost explain a baby boomlet in 1990.) Back when Demi was acting, these two showed some of the deepest chemistry seen on the modern theater screen -- and while Demi carried more than her weight during Patrick's posthumous pursuit of his true love in life, the real magic was how Patrick passed from being a man in corporeal life who couldn't say "I love you" (preferring "Ditto" after Demi said the words) to an incorporeal man who so longed to be reunited with his beloved that he could freely confess his love for her and would do anything to defend her from harm. Ghost has plenty of comic charm after Patrick finds and urgently cajoles faux medium Whoopi Goldberg to help him warn and reassure Demi. Ghost also evinced a surprising cache of spirituality since it shows that good people approach a heavenly light after they die while bad people are snagged by dark dimensionless beings and dragged screaming into a black subterranean pit. (Actions have consequences that reach beyond this life.) Ghost was my introduction to Vince Schiavelli's unforgettably gaunt wraith of a face and I enjoyed his character's angst in the afterlife -- since it helped Patrick learn how to reach (however ethereally) into the material world. Ghost is one of the most memorable and romantic ghost stories ever told. 5 stars.

Independence Day (1996)

Independence Day is a solidly America-centric sci-fi/blockbuster hybrid -- with all the goodies and groaners that implies. First, giant spaceships begin appearing over the cities of the Earth and blowing them away in spectacular gouts of cinema-searing flames, vaulting vehicles and so on -- and even then a golden retriever outruns a crispy demise! Second, Bill Pullman plays the President of the United States -- with more moxie than Kevin Kline in Dave, equal nonchalance as Michael Douglas in American President, but less grit than Harrison Ford in Air Force One. He's reunited through crisis some years after a falling-out with former best bud Jeff Goldblum, the science geek who outthinks the government's top-secret nerd force to discover what the aliens are up to and how to stop them -- and yes, it involves infecting them with a computer virus. (What sci-fi blockbuster ignores that little chestnut?) Goldblum's Jewish grandfather tags along and provides a schmutz of humor and faith during tough times. The trailers show the White House and Capitol buildings going massively kablooey but -- does the President survive -- or his wife and daughter? Will Smith as an ace fighter pilot brings an invigorating can-do and (literal) kick-ass attitude to the mix. ("I have got to get me one of these!") Brent Spiner plays the government's top-secret ubernerd to a tee. ("They don't let us get out much.") Humans go mano-a-mano against the aliens a few times and things get sticky. (Area 51 xenobiology lab: Come for the alien autopsy, stay for the carnage!) The plans for a counterattack are not foolproof either, however, a screw-loose cropdusting pilot proves his patriotism. ("I'm ba-ack!") America's Independence Day becomes Planet Earth's Independence Day because humanity (cue the prez's pep talk) "will not go quietly into the night!" Independence Day rallies America's heroes and common folk as in Space Cowboys and Armageddon but thankfully it's not as cheesy and overblown as Armageddon. (I didn't say it's not cheesy or overblown, it just has more good moments than groans.) Independence Day mostly succeeds as a sci-fi movie as well as a blockbuster -- pleasing fans from both camps in my opinion (since I straddle them myself). I'm always happy to catch it. 4 stars.

Babe (1995)

I absolutely *love* Babe and always will! This wonderful and utterly family-friendly movie has a pastoral setting (filmed in New South Wales), affably sweet farm animals (save one grouchy sheepdog), the taciturn Farmer Arthur Hoggett (James Cromwell) and his butterball wife Mrs. Esme Hoggett (Magda Szubanski) -- and Babe himself (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh), who is more polite, spirited, and enterprising than Charlotte's own Wilbur the pig. The movie's Oscar-winning animatronics were groundbreaking and remain so while its six other Oscar nominations and more than a dozen international film award wins attest to director Chris Noonan's devotion to detail. Babe's story begins "This is the story of an unprejudiced heart and how it changed our valley forever" and advances -- while framed by animated vignettes (each with a too-cute chorus of mice) and brief narrative snippets -- to depict how Babe came to live on the farm and discover his unique gift. Babe is the humble star though every farm animal around Babe has a personality and voice characterization and I love each one: Fly the female sheepdog (Miriam Margolyes), Rex the male sheepdog (Hugo Weaving), Maa the very old ewe (Miriam Flynn), and dozens more. Esme Hoggett may be a caricature but she conveys an amiable groundedness. Farmer Hoggett is iconic in his laconic propensity to eschew speech so his body language and facial expressions all the more powerfully convey an earthy rootedness -- esp. when crowned by his smile and closing words "That'll do, pig." Perhaps you will come to love "Babe, the Gallant Pig" as well as the Camille Saint-Saëns excerpt from "Carnival of the Animals" adapted to folk song and fanfare: "If I had words to make a day for you ... I would make this day last for all time ..." I know I have fallen in love with this sentimental favorite! 5 stars.

Dilbert: Seasons 1-2 (1999)

(Part 1 of 2 reviews Season 1) TV. As a huge fan of Scott Adams’ cartoon strip, mailing list, and humor books, I warmed up to Dilbert (from 4 to 4.5 stars) as I watched the TV show, one DVD at a time. At first Dilbert seemed a bit diffuse but my sustained look found a script packed with nerdy nuggets and solid voice talent (esp. Larry Miller as the Pointy-Haired Boss). Not only do we get standbys such as worker bee Dilbert (Daniel Stern), lazy Wally (Gordon Hunt), bitter Alice (Kathy Griffin), sadistic Catbert (Jason Alexander), and esp. cynical Dogbert (Chris Elliott) but cameo characters (such as “Judge ‘Stone Cold’” Steve Austin) and many transitory characters too. We also see Dilbertian examples of the duplicity of upper management, the stupidity of middle management, the integrity and unpopularity of engineers, the vapidity and conceit of marketing weasels, the promise of technology, and the gullibility of humanity at large. Season 1 has 13 episodes on two discs: Episode 1, The Name (Tasked with naming a product he hasn’t designed yet, Dilbert heeds Dogbert’s advice for a successful launch of the Gruntmaster 6000), 2, The Competition (Dilbert is wrongly fired as a spy, then hired by the leading competitor, where his workplace nirvana slides into chaos after he introduces marketing), 3, The Prototype (Dilbert and Alice must join forces to stop their ideas from being stolen by the legendary Lena), 4, The Takeover (Dilbert and Wally join the corporate board after Dogbert manipulates the stock), 5, Testing (Wily masked engineer Bob Bastard product-tests the Gruntmaster 6000 as Alice falls in love), 6, Elbonian Trip (Alice and Dilbert try to free left-handed Elbonians from right-handed sway as Wally becomes a prophet), 7, Tower of Babel (A shopworn cold bug in Dilbert's office mutates, also mutating his coworkers, and Dilbert must design a new office), 8, Little People (Dilbert discovers a tiny race of literally "downsized" former employees with a dry-erase marker addiction), 9, The Knack (Perhaps the most classic episode, Dilbert loses "the knack" for technology when he ingests management DNA and consigns the world to the Dark Ages), 10, Y2K (Dilbert is tasked with Y2K-proofing the company’s ancient mainframe), 11, Charity (Dilbert is forced to coordinate the Associated Way charity drive), 12, Holiday (Dilbert hates unproductive holidays so Dogbert lobbies Congress to replace all holidays with Dogbert Day), 13, The Infomercial (Dilbert must save a hapless Texas family from the untested Gruntmaster 6000). (Part 2 of 2) Season 2 has 17 episodes on two discs (not presented in the order they aired): Episode 14, The Gift (Dilbert learns his long-lost father has been living in the mall’s food court for ten years), 15, The Shroud of Wally (Dilbert’s near-death experience affects a multilevel marketing audience, turning Wally into an object of worship), 16, Art (Dilbert creates a digital work of art and destroys all appreciation for the classical works), 17, The Trial (Dilbert is framed and sent to prison by his boss, where his engineering smarts help him take over his cell block), 18, The Dupey (Dilbert designs a toy that becomes sentient and seeks independence), 19, The Security Guard (Dilbert swaps jobs with the security guard), 20, The Merger (The PHB decides to merge the company with another but chooses one run by brain-sucking aliens), 21, Hunger (Dilbert creates an artificial food to solve world hunger but not even starving people will eat it), 22, The Off-Site Meeting (After a treelover sues the company, the PHB selects Dilbert's home for an off-site meeting but the home is destroyed then replaced thanks to obnoxious neighbors), 23, The Assistant (Dilbert is made a manager and given an assistant so Alice takes Asok as her own), 24, The Return (Dilbert buys a top-shelf computer online but can’t find a human behind the company; Jerry Seinfeld is Comp-U-Comp and Eugene Levy is the guard), 25, The Virtual Employee (To claim an empty cubicle for storage, Dilbert and gang create the mythical employee Tod, who all speak of as reverently as God), 26, Pregnancy (Dilbert's customized model rocket collects, um, DNA from space aliens, cows, hillbillies, nanobots, and a sperm bank for engineers then returns to rectally impregnate Dilbert, who cozens up to maternity), 27, The Delivery (Dilbert defends his fetus till birth; Steve Austin is a custody judge; Citizen Kane and Superman references abound), 28, Company Picnic (At the annual company picnic, Dilbert and Juliet are awash in Romeo and Juliet references during the Marketing [Montague] and Crapulate [Capulet] softball game), 29, The Fact (Dogbert builds rumors of Chronic Cubicle Syndrome into a book franchise), 30, Ethics (Dilbert is tasked to create the national Internet voting network and falls in love with a female “lobbyist”; meanwhile everyone drinks and votes as the powers that be select their candidate). 4.5 stars.

The Snake (2008)

The director sent me a screening copy of this, his premiere movie, set in San Francisco. Although The Snake's subject matter and lead character may make it a difficult movie to stomach for some, I appreciated it and would recommend it to indie film fans who enjoyed Film Geek or Lost in Oblivion. Adam Goldstein as a scuzzier Steve Buscemi is the perpetual horndog "Ken" (real name David). After being kidded for being a "chubby chaser" during his nightly predatory rounds at the closest watering hole, he takes to stalking a bulimic girl by worming his way into her body image support group at the local women's center. Try to imagine a chauvinistic pig with the gall to not only lie straight-faced to a half-dozen scarred women in emotional recovery but to slyly manipulate each one's weakness and then play them off each other -- or just watch this guy at work -- and he only goes downhill from there. This man is pure slime -- but slippery slime, always weaseling out of every new way he gives you to hate him. The ending was sudden and a puzzler, however, if I understood it then I think he did the right thing. 3.5 stars.

Leverage: Season 2 (2009)

I've greatly enjoyed Leverage since the first episode I saw last year. I'll update this review as the season progresses but five episodes are out so far and available via streaming video: The Beantown Bailout Job (Charles Martin Smith plays a crooked Boston banker who's pushing for a government bailout), The Tap Out Job (Brian Goodman plays a nasty Nebraska fight promoter who almost outsmarts our heroes), The Order 23 Job (the team has two hours to swindle a convicted hedge fund manager by staging a mass contagion), The Fairy Godparents Job (a Ponzi con artist has hidden $20 million that could save a community hospital), The Three Days for the Hunter Job (Beth Broderick plays a self-righteous fearmongering TV reporter who must be brought down by a fake coverup of secret underground bunkers), The Top Hat Job (the team stages a corporate magic act as a distraction while breaking into a tight security system), The Two Live Crew Job (the team goes toe to toe, each member taking the challenge personally, to steal back two famous paintings from and outwit another team led by Griffin Dunn, including Wil Wheaton as hacker Chaos and Israeli hottie Noa Tishby as a hard-hitting ex-Mossad agent), The Iceman Job (the team, with its grifter taking time off, has to scramble to outwit an inside job of an inside job of a jewel heist), and The Lost Heir Job (Jeri Ryan plays the attorney for an adoption agency director who was bequeathed an inheritance contested by an ex-mob-enforcer's lawyer). (Episodes 10-15 have yet to be posted on IW.). Leverage has a super-cool premise and a talented ensemble. Think of it as Ocean's Eleven (but with five) meets Robin Hood. As Timothy Hutton riffs in the intro: "The rich and powerful take what they want. We steal it back for you. Sometimes bad guys are the best good guys. We provide ... leverage." Hutton is rumpled and cheeky as "the Brains" of a team that goes to bat for widows and orphans (basically). Gina Bellman is "the Grifter," Christian Kane is "the Hitter," Aldis Hodge is "the Hacker," and Beth Riesgraf is "the Thief." Each of these actors completely owns their characters, make no mistake; each has incorporated quirky little mannerisms and emotional cues into their roles which more than suggest how good they are at their talents and how much they love to ply their trade. (They are con men -- "confidence men" -- and women, after all.) I love to see Beth cockily spin and waggle her torso when she has an automatic weapon at the ready -- or Christian as he relishes taking on three street thugs armed with crowbars and tire irons -- or Aldis as he salivates over cutting through encrypted files like a hot knife through cold butter. The fight and chase scenes are quite believable -- or at least a tad better than Burn Notice, for what it's worth. As much as I enjoy Burn Notice and In Plain Sight, I dig Leverage best of all. Enjoy! 5 stars. (7-31-09 updated 8-7, 8-15, 8-21, 8-28, 9-3, and 12-14-09)

A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)

Artificial Intelligence (AI) held my attention and riveted my imagination so thoroughly from start to finish that I had to own it. AI is undeniably a sci-fi epic, full of moving and memorable scenes touching on human creation, purpose, and mortality. Our story begins as preeminent roboticist Prof. Hobby (William Hurt) gives a long-grieving couple the chance to have a second son. They meet David -- Joel Haley Osment is stellar in the role -- "a perfect child caught in a freezeframe. Always loving, never ill, never changing." David's home life is at first sardonic and nearly idyllic, however, parents and children must be warned that AI contains a heartwrenching scene of outright child abandonment. As David attempts to make his own way, he is captured with his mecha bear Teddy (Jack Angel) as well as Gigolo Joe (a glib Jude Law) by riff-raff who viciously destroy mechas in a carnival atmosphere. David manages to escape and pursue his obsession to meet "the Blue Fairy" and become a "real boy" so his mother (Frances O'Connor) will love him. He encounters his epilog eons in the future. Being drawn from Kubrick's storyboards, AI is a complex sci-fi art film. As such, it has drawn soaring praise and scathing contempt in equal measure. I can only surmise from the large body of negative comments I've read that complaints fall into three camps: too long, too boring, or too confusing. While some detractors admit they can't grasp this grand ouevre from two of cinema's maestros, for the most part their intelligence cannot be suspect (though how a film can be called both cheesy and impenetrable is beyond me). To be perfectly honest, AI is long, convoluted, and at times obtuse -- yet it is also soaring and sublime. It is not intended as mainstream entertainment for the unwashed masses with a linear story, tidy resolution, and happy ending. It is science fiction -- a speculative exploration of future ideas and implications -- and a dystopian one at that and full of Kubrickian trademarks. AI is ultimately a moral warning about what we might become tomorrow if we are not more wise today. AI says three things: every journey has its own rewards though payment is a two-sided coin, since every tragedy contains a kernel of joy and every kernel of joy contains tragedy. 5 stars.

Tin Men (1987)

I saw Tin Men back when the movie reached the theaters and I still think of it as a memorable vehicle for Richard Dreyfus and Danny DeVito. In the 1960s, "tin men" sold the first residential aluminum siding but were little better than car salesmen -- their job was to hang out together whether there was a sale in the offing or not -- and it seems like most of the time they were out playing pool, out drinking, out pulling pranks, or even out shtupping a competitor's wife. If you like movies about an earlier America, Tin Men may not be as nostalgic as Radio Days but it's about as ribald and definitely more raucous. Enjoy! 3.5 stars.

Under the Sea 3D (2009)

Under the Sea 3D is an excellent IMAX movie but it is an awesome 3D movie. You get to see numerous underwater coral-reef species -- many translucent and undulating -- close up and in 3D. They may be solitary lurkers or traveling in hypnotically shifting schools. They may be predator or prey. Whether gossamer and ghostly or fleshy and alien, they are close enough to show an otherworldly beauty (esp. the cuttlefish). Thanks to your 3D glasses, you may also feel inclined to pet or chin-chuck the daintiest undersea denizens -- or swat at the scariest! The sound quality is exceptional too -- you hear every swirl and shiver of a school of swimmers and every snap and crunch of a predator's jaws. In fact, the only warning I would give about this wonderfully educational movie is that the first 20 minutes are predator-rich -- with in-your-face snaps and chomps in fast and slow motion -- that they might be too scary for some kids under age 10. (My youngest son kept covering his eyes and pleading to leave until we got to the halfway mark.) No more than a total of 5 minutes of discussion spread throughout the second half of the movie addresses the serious implications of global warming but that is hardly a cause for complaint from some since global warming -- denied for decades by lobbyists and vested interests -- has visibly begun to destroy such beautiful and essential ecospheres even as we are finally beginning to admit our responsibility to solve the problem. (Without an end to global warming, we won't have coral reefs to film much less to subsist on.) I saw Under the Sea 3D at Houston's Museum of Natural Science and highly recommend it. 4.5 stars.

Giggle, Giggle, Quack (2004)

The second story in my newest favorite children's storybook trilogy is Giggle, Giggle, Quack, now on DVD from Scholastic. Our story resumes on the farm of Farmer Brown, who is leaving on a vacation after putting his brother Bob in charge of the animals. "Keep an eye on Duck," he warns. "He's trouble." (Duck finagled custody of the typewriter from the cows as well as Farmer Brown when we last saw him in Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type.) Too late -- Duck has already cadged Farmer Brown's pencil and proceeds to substitute his own animal-care directions for the real ones! 5 stars. Written and illustrated by Helme Heine, The Most Wonderful Egg in the World reminds us that a competition needn't select one arbitary winner since everyone has something beautiful to contribute. 3 stars. In James Marshall's Wings: A Tale of Two Chickens, wise and book-loving Harriet must rescue her airhead friend Winnie from a sly fox in a hot-air balloon. 4 stars. The Foolish Frog is a rollicking Pete Seeger banjo tune that can carry a whole roomful of kids into singalong euphoria with its parade of whimsical verses and jubilant chorus. 4 stars. Written and illustrated by Emily Arnold McCully, Picnic is an infectiously delightful if wordless tale of a mouse family's picnic down the road and by the shore. 4.5 stars. Written and illustrated by Margaret Mahy, The Three-Legged Cat is a memorable tale about a fussy dowager sister who wishes for an even quieter cat than her three-legged bundle of fluff while her world-roving brother (who stops by annually for "a spot of tea and a bit of a chin wag") wishes for a warmer Russian fur hat than the thinning one that's warmed his bald pate for years. 4 stars. Overall 4 stars.

Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type (1977)

Scholastic has enticingly adapted for DVD the first two stories from my favorite children's storybook trilogy, written by Doreen Cronin and illustrated by Betsy Lewin. Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type (a Caldecott Honor Book) is the leading animated story with a downhome musical accompaniment and narration by Randy Travis. To paraphrase the story itself: "Cows that type? Hens on strike? How can Farmer Brown run a farm with no milk and no eggs?" Not only is this book affectionate and humorous but it's a pint-sized introduction to the essentials of capitalism and labor unions. 5 stars. Another delightful story written by Trinka Hakes Noble and illustrated by Steven Kellogg, The Day Jimmy's Boa Ate the Wash relates a daughter's school field trip in Rube Goldberg fashion with everything that ought to happen at a farm getting turned on its ear. 4.5 stars. Written and illustrated by Helme Heine, The Pigs' Wedding gives us a parade of porcine puckishness as pigs paint themselves fashionably to celebrate Porker and Curleytail's wedding. 3 stars. Nicely written by Phyllis Krasilovsky and illustrated by Peter Spier, The Cow Who Fell in the Canal tells how Hendrika the Dutch cow took an adventure into town. (I'm almost certain I read this book when I was young.) 4 stars. Finally, written and illustrated by Tomie de Paola, Charlie Needs a Cloak shows how a shepherd shears, cards, spins, dyes, and weaves wool to make a colorful new cloak. 3.5 stars. The disc includes a Spanish version of Click, Clack, Moo and runs 52 min. Overall 4 stars.

Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)

Ice Age 3: The Dawn of the Dinosaurs is a fun addition to the Ice Age franchise and a fine enough movie in its own right. While perhaps not as good across all counts as its two predecessors, it is exceptional in its use of 3D esp. during chase scenes. See Ice Age 3 in 3D if at all possible! Our story begins as two mammoths, Mannie (Ray Romano with his beleaguered everyman's voice) and Ellie (Queen Latifah with her ghettolicious mama's voice) are seeking a home for the delivery of their bun in the oven -- with the company of their friends, saber-tooth tiger Diego (Denis Leary) as an aging alpha male and bug-eyed sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) as the resident lisp-sputtering nerd. They discover a subterranean world of dinosaurs; threats, chases, and fights ensue; cloyingly cute, cooing babies are born (T-rex and mammoth) and a cozy family vibe is affirmed with a happy ending. Ice Age 3 is basically Jurassic Park 3 stripped halfway down to The Land That Time Forgot. It's a family movie that virtually defangs several large and lethal dinosaur breeds because of how they are drawn (caricatured) and how they never actually manage to catch the heroes they're madly chasing. If you have a four- or five-year-old who can handle such implied perils so long as no one gets caught or killed, Ice Age 3 should be a no-brainer esp. for the dinosaur lovers of your clan. (My 11-year-old son felt sorrow at the demise of the biggest, baddest dinosaur though as we soon learned, he needn't have worried.) My favorite new character in this movie is Buck (Simon Pegg), a jaunty one-eyed vine-swinging Aussie weasel (though in any other context all those things together might be a bad thing), who almost steals the show. And joy of joys, Scrat the psycho squirrel is back, pursuing his beloved acorn as well as the girl squirrel Scratte -- their story-in-a-story is hilarious esp. during the song "Alone Again (Naturally)"! In summary, Ice Age 3 is for families and will leave you with big grins on your faces. 4 stars.

Moon (2009)

For more reasons than the obvious, Moon looks and feels like 2001: A Space Odyssey meets Outland (with a touch of Solaris). It is the most intelligent and realistic space movie to come along in years. Moon hauntingly depicts the isolated existence of Sam Bell (Sam Rockwell), two weeks from the end of a three-year contract as the solitary operator of an automated mining operation -- not just on the moon but on the dark side of the moon! To make matters even more lonely, because the mining corporation's communications satellite has been broken, video messages to and from Earth are relayed over the course of hours via Jupiter (or so he's told). Well, three years alone is a long time and Sam is beginning to see things -- until he has a face-to-face encounter he cannot ignore. What he ultimately discovers about the truth of his existence strips bare a psychological tightrope -- an unraveling skein that leads to multiple loose ends -- that is not as taut as Gattaca but certainly more visceral. The Houston Chronicle pronounced Moon "boring" but it is not entertainment like Die Hard, it is science fiction -- a speculative narrative about the what-ifs of technology as well as the human spirit: Why are we here? What can we accomplish? What will we leave behind as a personal legacy? For being the only person on the screen for 98% of the movie, Sam Rockwell carries the whole of Moon on his shoulders like Atlas. I found myself caring about what happens to him in every possible fashion. Kevin Spacey as the soporific voice of the mining base's computer, Gerty, gets a HAL-like moment with the words "I can only attest to what happens on the base" -- yet even this character evolves as it confronts reality and rethinks its loyalties. Moon has a lot of food for thought for those who are willing to explore its numerous implicit threads. 4 stars.

Cherry 2000 (1988)

Miss the 1980s with its frizzed hair and cheesed plot lines? Watched every Bruce Campbell movie ten times and need a break? Cherry 2000 is Mad Max meets The Stepford Wives -- with a bit of Blade Runner -- or maybe Tank Girl meets Romancing the Stone (with gender roles reversed). David Andrews is Sam Treadwell, a future-day nebbish who loves robot women -- specifically the Cherry 2000 product line. After he shorts out his vapidly cooing vixen during a frolic in wet soapsuds, two dunderheads from the office convince him to go out and find some "real women." (Don't miss Laurence Fishburne as an attorney in a scene that is a supreme critique of today's sexual mores extrapolated into the future -- where every aspect of an evening's encounter is contractually haggled out like fishmongers turned corporate sharks.) Melanie Griffith is E. Johnson, a tough-as-nails tracker (yes, even with her monotone baby voice) who agrees to take him through the wastelands to find a replacement robot. Her rocket-fueled Mustang is to die for (if you don't chuckle to death first). Secondary characters such as the rumored-dead tracker Six-Fingered Jake (Ben Johnson) and the creepy survivalist alpha-male Lester (Tim Thomerson) are colorful and aptly played. The nightclub and Sky Ranch locations show an inventiveness -- arguably either derivative or original but still inventive and therefore preferable to formulaic -- too rarely seen in 1980s celluloid. And if you're wondering about the turkey sandwiches, I think they're an indictment of the robot women's vapidity -- because of what is said after Lester "meets up with" another woman. The moral of the story is that real women drive hard, shoot hard, and love hard. Yes, Melanie Griffith is miscast as just such a woman -- but it's also good cheesy fun to watch. I liked Cherry 2000 as much as Robocop, Repo Man, or Buckaroo Banzai and would watch it again if I caught it on cable -- and might even rescue it from a discount DVD table. 4 stars.

The Prophecy (1995)

Christopher Walken is supremely creepy in The Prophecy as an archangel running amok -- you've got to respect (though grudgingly so) a character whose powers include causing spontaneous human combustion. Walken chews through and owns every scene in this movie but Viggo Mortenson steals it back towards the end as a chillingly threatening Lucifer. Alex Koteas is a priest-turned-detective who lost his faith for a season but in the end can say "I have my soul and my faith." His and all the other performances are good. The special effects are acceptable for mid-nineties mainstream horror movies; this was not Jurassic Park, you know. The plot and directing are a bit uneven -- even supporting the charge of occasional cheesiness -- but this is a movie with heart: Its sheer earnestness is enough to carry the day esp. to cover over any rough patches. Pay attention to how some scenes are framed and give the baddies all the credit they are due -- it's only a movie after all. I like The Prophecy better than The Fallen because it tries harder though overall The Fallen is a better movie (just more psychological). The Prophecy caused me to bump the puckish Dogma up to 4.5 stars -- though The Devil's Advocate at 5 stars tops this topic for me. So because 3.5 stars wouldn't do justice to The Prophecy -- 4 stars.

Strega Nona ... and More Folk Tales (2004)

Strega Nona (and More Caldecott Award-Winning Folk Tales) contains four classic storybook adaptations (plus two versions in Spanish) from the last quarter-century of the second millenium: Strega Nona by Tomie dePaolo (an Italian crone with healing powers finds her magic pasta-cooking pot has gone awry at the hands of a dim-witted assistant, 3 stars), Joseph Had a Little Overcoat by Simms Taback (a Yiddish man converts an aging overcoat to a jacket then a vest then a tie and so on, 2.5 stars), Stone Soup by Marcia Brown (three hungry soldiers cajole an uncooperative village into helping concoct a delicious soup starting with just three stones, 3 stars), and The Tale of the Mandarin Ducks by Katherine Paterson (a wrongfully disgraced ex-samurai finds love and happiness through mutual mercies exchanged with a mandarin duck and his mate, 3.5 stars). Each story is mildly animated and accompanied by music. Joseph Had a Little Overcoat includes a musical version after the story -- I found both to be overlong though they are colorful. Overall 3 stars.

Noisy Nora (2007)

One of my favorite children's TV shows when my oldest sons were tykes was Reading Rainbow. Like many of Scholastic's mildly animated storybook titles, Noisy Nora (...and More Stories About Mischief) comes close to the look and feel of that show with capable narrators (sometimes the authors themselves) and slow-motion animation of portions of the illustrated page. Noisy Nora by Rosemary Wells (6 min, narrated by Mary Beth Hurt, 4 stars) is the charming lead story of this collection; very much in the vein of Wells' Ruby and Max series, Nora is the middle child who has to make a clatter to get any attention in her family -- cute! T Is For Terrible by Peter McCarty (6 min, narrated by David de Vries, 4.5 stars) is the tale of a T-rex who "can't help it" that he's so big and terrifying -- excellent! Cannonball is a live-action movie (28 min, based on the book Cannonball Simp by John Burningham, 3 stars) about a circus clown who's to be fired until a stray dog joins his act -- family friendly! Goggles! by Ezra Jack Keats (3.5 stars) deals with two inner-city young boys who need to find safe passage around the projects -- interesting! And last but not least, the bonus story Munro by Jules Feiffer (9 min, narrated by Howard Morris, 5 stars) is a marvelous military satire (and Academy Award winner in 1961) about a 4-year-old boy who gets drafted into the army -- classic! Overall 4 stars.

A Life Less Ordinary (1997)

I absolutely love A Life Less Ordinary! It's quirky and original and always a pleasure to watch. Our story begins as the self-centered daughter (Cameron Diaz) of a cold-hearted corporate mogul (Ian Holm) throws a snit in daddy's office just as a disgruntled janitor (Ewan McGregor) bursts in protest his employer's indignities. Words and actions escalate until the daughter engineers her own abduction -- all to get back at daddy (who refuses to give a whit). Ewan does very well at playing such a sincere, um, putz that Cameron realizes she has to teach him how to phone in a ransom demand much less act like an alpha male. Better still, two angels in human form (Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo, who could pass for Morgan Freeman) have been banished from heaven until they can cause this hapless road-tripping couple to fall in love. Delroy is the steady head but Holly has an attitude -- plus, as the stress gets to her, she starts to become unhinged. My favorite scene is when she breaks out a sniper rifle, determined to do whatever it takes to finish the job and get back to heaven -- as if! Ewan and Cameron evince an easy chemistry -- flashing in anger but eventually warming in affection. This is just a sweet, loopy love story that's extremely fun to watch -- so much so that I had to own it. 5 stars.