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Friday, April 2, 2010

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Sometimes you just miss a movie, you know? I mean the whole appeal of it just eludes you. Clearly there must be some reason this stop-motion animated, dry-humor infused quirk fest was received warmly by critics. I just can't for the life of me figure it out.

It's surreal that this isn't so very different from Wes Anderson's other movies, which I actually enjoy very much (esp. Rushmore and Royal Tenenbaums.) There's family tension and quirky characters, but it just isn't as funny or compelling. I think the limitations of dolls as actors comes into play.

Fantastic Mr. Fox's 87 minutes felt a lot longer. I was almost in pain waiting for it to end. See it if you want, if you dare to, and if you like it, could you let me in on the secret? Until then, 0.2 out of 10. Just because I smirked at one joke.

The Informant!

Note: We're backed up a bit around here, because I've been ignoring my duties. The next few posts are going to be short and to the point.


Steven Soderbergh's The Informant! really earns that potentially-aggravating exclamation point. Everything here is so outlandish, off-the-wall, and ridiculous that it's kind of amazing it's based on a real story, especially one set in the highly exciting corn byproducts industry.

Matt Damon plays the central character, a goofy, mustachioed executive who puts his own job at risk for uncertain motives when he alerts the FBI to a price-fixing scheme at his company. Damon really sells the eccentricity of the character, and it's a joy to try and figure out what's really going on with him. The movie finally lets you in on the whole story, and it's so delightfully bizarre that it will keep you laughing, and keep you from omitting that exclamation mark at the end of the title. 8.6 out of 10.