The Emperor (Penguin) Has No Clothes
For the sake of those unaccustomed with my peculiar sense of humor, I just thought I should mention that the previous entry complaining about my f-list's failings was meant as a joke. In no way do I regard the members of my esteemed f-list as minions. For one thing, that would be arrogant in the extreme; and for another, it would make the winged monkeys terribly jealous.
Now that's cleared up, I just want to mention that I watched Happy Feet for the first time last night and was surprised to find it tedious. Not because it was anti-religious or militantly environmentalist, which were a couple of the criticisms I'd heard levelled at the film by the (very few) critics who disparaged it -- I didn't think either of those criticisms particularly valid. No, I just thought the plot wasn't up to much, and there was way too much singing and dancing and not enough actual stuff happening, considering the length of the movie. Proof of this, I think, is that both my seven-year-old and my five-year-old got bored and walked away halfway through, before coming back some twenty minutes later and asking without much enthusiasm, "Did I miss anything?" To which the answer was, "Not really."
Sure, the film had lots of funny moments, but I'd seen them all before in previews, and many of them were aimed at adults rather than kids. Overall, I think we made the right choice when we took our kids to see Flushed Away in the theatre instead, and saved this one for the DVD release. Visually impressive on a technical level, yes; a great family film, not so much.
I wouldn't mind seeing March of the Penguins one of these days, though.
Now that's cleared up, I just want to mention that I watched Happy Feet for the first time last night and was surprised to find it tedious. Not because it was anti-religious or militantly environmentalist, which were a couple of the criticisms I'd heard levelled at the film by the (very few) critics who disparaged it -- I didn't think either of those criticisms particularly valid. No, I just thought the plot wasn't up to much, and there was way too much singing and dancing and not enough actual stuff happening, considering the length of the movie. Proof of this, I think, is that both my seven-year-old and my five-year-old got bored and walked away halfway through, before coming back some twenty minutes later and asking without much enthusiasm, "Did I miss anything?" To which the answer was, "Not really."
Sure, the film had lots of funny moments, but I'd seen them all before in previews, and many of them were aimed at adults rather than kids. Overall, I think we made the right choice when we took our kids to see Flushed Away in the theatre instead, and saved this one for the DVD release. Visually impressive on a technical level, yes; a great family film, not so much.
I wouldn't mind seeing March of the Penguins one of these days, though.