Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) - Hollow 3D entertainment for the whole family

10/12/2021

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) - Hollow 3D entertainment for the whole family

♥♥

Strange characters lure on this colorful poster for Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon's Monsters vs. Aliens

A newly-wed woman, who is immediately disappointed gravely by her husband, becomes infected with an alien substance, which makes her a giant, and along with three other monsters she attempts to create harmony in the galaxy.

Monsters vs. Aliens is written by Maya Forbes, Wallace Wolodarsky (The Rocker (2008), both) and co-writer/co-director Rob Letterman (Shark Tale (2004)), who directed it with great Texan filmmaker Conrad Vernon (Shrek 2 (2004)).

The outline above is crudely put the premise of this lovely, loud 3D-focused animation, which undoubtedly won some when seen in 3D in a cinema. For in spite of the many talents involved, the story of Monsters vs. Aliens doesn't have the heart of a Toy Story (1995) or the humor of a Kung Fu Panda (2008).

One doesn't stop to get much out of the monster characters, inspired by 1950s and 60s monster movie creatures. Monsters vs. Aliens is fast forgotten but alright as harmless entertainment, - SPOILER right up until the point when the heroine finally throws her husband to the end of the world for being a douche! - That's one way to do it!

Rob Letterman: Goosebumps (2015) - Enthusiastic cast carry Letterman's CGI adventure

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess

Gulliver's Travels (2010) or, Gulliver's Travesty

Conrad Vernon: Sausage Party (2016) - One outrageous, funny, horny adult animation (co-director)

Shrek 2 (2004) - Fun and adventure reign supreme in tremendous family animation romp (co-writer/co-director)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 175 mil. $

Box office: 381.5 mil. $

= Flop (returned 2.18 times its cost)

[Monsters vs. Aliens premiered 9 March (Berlin, Germany) and runs 94 minutes. It is DreamWorks Animation's first film produced in stereoscopic 3D - rather than converting the film into 3D in post production - which added 15 mil. $ to its cost. The film opened #1 to a 59.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 5 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3-#3-#4-X-#5), grossing 198.3 mil. $ (52 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 34.9 mil. $ (9.1 %) and Australia with 16.2 mil. $ (5.1 %). It was the 2nd highest-grossing animated movie of the year behind Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Roger Ebert gave the film a 2.5/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Letterman returned with Gulliver's Travels (2010); Vernon with Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted (2012). Reese Witherspoon (Big Little Lies (2017-19)), who voices Ginormica, returned in How Do You Know (2010). Monsters vs. Aliens is fresh at 73 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Monsters vs. Aliens?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Roger Corman has passed away

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

William Friedkin has died

Born in Chicago, Friedkin accrued TV credits prior to his advance to the big screen as the director of Good TImes (1967), The Birthday Party (1968), The Night They Raided Minsky's (1968) and The Boys in the Band (1970) before his major breakthrough, The French Connection (1971), for which he won his only Oscar. He followed it up with the even bigger smash, The Exorcist (1973), arguably the best horror film of all time, for which he was Oscar-nominated. Later credits include Sorcerer (1977), Cruising (1980), To Live and Die in L.A. (1985), Rampage (1987), Rules of Engagement (2000), Killer Joe (2011) and The Devil and Father Amorth (2017, documentary). Friedkin passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Louise Fletcher has passed away

Born in Alabama to deaf parents, Fletcher got her first credits in late-1950s TV-series.She took a 10 year-long sabbatical to devote her time to motherhood after the release of A Gathering of Eagles, but then came back and soon saw her career's most important part, as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), for which she won her sole Oscar. Later credits include Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Lucky Star (1980), Brainstorm (1983), Two Moon Junction (1988), Cruel Intentions (1999), A Perfect Man (2013) and many more. Fletcher passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

Born in Paris, France, Godard lived much of his life in Switzerland. He wrote for French film criticism magazine Cahiers du Cinema and became foundational for the New French Wave that inspired new waves in scores of other countries across the world with his Breathless (1960). Later credits include A Woman Is A Woman (1961), Vivre Sa Vie (1962), Le Petit Soldat (1962), Contempt (1963), Alphaville (1965), Pierrot le Fou (1965), 2 or 3 Things I Know About Her (1967), Weekend (1967), Every Man for Himself (1980), King Lear (1987), Century of Cinema (1995, documentary), Goodbye to Language (2014) and many more. Godard died of assisted suicide at age 91. R.I.P.

Wolfgang Petersen has died

James Caan has died

Caan was born the son of Jewish immigrants from Germany in New York. He got his start on TV in the early 1960s. His credits include El Dorado (1966), The Rain People (1969), Brian's Song (1971, TV movie), The Godfather (1972), - for which he earned his only Oscar nomination, - Slither (1973), The Gambler (1974), Funny Lady (1975), Rollerball (1975), Silent Movie (1976), Hide in Plain Sight (1980), - the only film he also directed, - Thief (1981), Misery (1990), Honeymoon in Vegas (1992), Bottle Rocket (1996), Eraser (1996), Dogville (2003), Elf (2003), Las Vegas (2003-07), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) and many more. Caan passed away at age 82. R.I.P.

Jean-Louis Trintignant has died

Born in Vaucluse, France, Trintignant's theatrical debut as an actor was in If All the Guys in the World... (1955). Later credits include ...And God Created Woman (1956), The Seven Deadly Sins (1961), Inferno (1964), A Man and A Woman (1966), My Love, My Love (1967), A Man to Kill (1967), The Great Silence (1968), Z (1969), The Assassination (1972), Three Colors: Red (1994), Amour (2012), Happy End (2017) and many more. He also wrote and directed two films in the 1970s. Trintignant passed away at age 91. R.I.P.

Ray Liotta has died

Adopted from an orphenage at a young age, Liotta got hooked on acting in high school. He had various TV credits in the late 1970s and early 80s, with his film debut in The Lonely Lady (1983). Later credits include Something Wild (1986), Field of Dreams (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Cop Land (1997), Hannibal (2001), Blow (2001), Narc (2002), John Q (2002), Identity (2003), Observe and Report (2009), Youth in Revolt (2009), The Details (2011), Killing THem Softly (2012), The Place Beyond the Pines (2012), Shades of Blue (2016-18), The Simpsons (2018, TV-series), Marriage Story (2019), The Many Saints of Newark (2021), Black Bird (2022, TV-series) and many more. Liotta passed away at age 67 in his sleep while on production in the Dominican Republic. R.I.P.

Philip Baker Hall has died

Born in Ohio, Hall didn't start acting until he was 30. His long list of credits include Zabriskie Point (1970), Miami Vice (1987, TV-series), Midnight Run (1988), Ghostbusters II (1989), Cheers (1993, TV-series), Hard Eight (1996), The Rock (1996), Air Force One (1997), Boogie Nights (1997), Seinfeld (1991-98), Rush Hour (1998), The Insider (1999), Magnolia (1999), The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Bruce Almighty (2003), Dogville (2003), The Zodiac (2005), Zodiac (2007), Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004-09), Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011), Modern Family (2011-12) and many more. Hall passed away at age 90. R.I.P.

Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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10/12/2021

Monsters vs. Aliens (2009) - Hollow 3D entertainment for the whole family

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