Eagerly anticipating this month ... (6-25)

Eagerly anticipating this month ... (6-25)
Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value (2025)
Showing posts with label alien. Show all posts
Showing posts with label alien. Show all posts

9/29/2024

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008) - Lucas, Spielberg and Ford go grave-digging

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Beloved characters, some new ones and a wealth of exciting situations and elements are teased on this classical poster for Steven Spielberg's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
 

Archeological doctor Jones is in trouble with the vexatious Russians in the 1950s, when he gets a whiff of an ancient crystal skull in South America, SPOILER which turns out to stem from an alien. 


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is written by David Koepp (Inferno (2016)), with George Lucas (Radioland Murders (1994)) and Jeff Nathanson (Rush Hour 2 (2001)) contributing story elements, and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Firelight (1964)), whose 25th feature it is. It is the 4th film in the Indiana Jones franchise (1981-).

As a boyhood fan of the Indiana Jones movies, I so wanted to see one last great Indiana Jones film that the production of the 4th film made me genuinely excited. And so it was with great sorrow that I had to face the fact that my dream would not come to fruition. Crystal Skull should have never been made. Despite inordinate testaments to the opposite (promotional interviews stressing the live stunt work and old-time honoring crafts involved in the production), the adventure here obviously now mostly takes place in front of green screens with more or less fantastical animations later conjured up as backgrounds. The feelings of wonder and awe at the physical sets, props, special effects and stunts of the original three films here vanish along with any sense of cinema magic.

With what remains, it is hard not to think that Harrison Ford (Firewall (2006)) has aged too much, although he tries tenaciously to appear sprightly, along with his recommissioned love bird Karen Allen (Bad Hurt (2015)), - and that Shia LaBeouf (Bobby (2006)), despite sometimes looking quite cute with his 1950s duck rump hairdo, doesn't really liven up his big adventure scenes. Cate Blanchett (Borderlands (2024)) embellishes her Ukrainian, power-mad Communist villain. But however way you turn things, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull should have remained an idea game between old friends, or a script in a dusty drawer somewhere.

 

Related posts:

Indiana Jones franchise: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) - The ultimate thrill ride for a child (and many adults too!) 

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Spielberg reasserts himself with tremendous boyish adventure
Steven Spielberg: The Fabelmans (2022) or, My Wonderful Upbringing

2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The Post (2017) - Spielberg returns to mastery with a thrilling salute to the virtues of real, critical, brave journalism
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]

Lincoln (2012) - Spielberg's inspiring presidential portrait stands tall 
War Horse (2011) - Spielberg visits WWI with problematic horse drama  

The Adventures of Tintin/The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) - Affinities for Tintin, earlier Spielberg and film will decide your experience of this 3D mo-cap adventure
Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser (producer)

The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Munich (2005) - Spielberg wrings a brilliant spy thriller from fraught real-life massacre and its aftermath

Top 10: Best HBO titles 

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Band of Brothers - TV mini-series (2001) - WWII-sacrifice and -comradeship portrayed with skill and integrity (producer) 

Top 10: Best future-set movies 
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairy tale with both heart and mind
Amistad (1997) or, Must... Free... Slaves! 

Hook (1991) - Arr, Spielbergian folly 

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989) - The nostalgic last of the 'original' Indy movies 
Empire of the Sun (1987) - Spielberg's grand production of boy-in-China-during-WWII is a misfire

The Goonies (1985) - Sweet child performances drive Donner's beloved, uneven adventure (story)  

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) - The ultimate thrill ride for a child (and many adults too!)
Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology

Top 10: Best family movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Spielberg's greatest accomplishment

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) - Spielberg reasserts himself with tremendous boyish adventure 
1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock  

Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Duel (1971) - Spielberg's truck terror is ideal afternoon fare

 


 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 185 mil. $

Box office: 786.6 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.25 times its cost)

[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull premiered 18 May (Cannes Film Festival, out of competition) and runs 122 minutes. Lucas' ideas and wishes for a 4th film were brushed off by Spielberg and Ford for many years, allegedly until Spielberg's children demanded another Indy movie, when development began more seriously. Shooting took place from June - October 2007 in New Mexico, California, including in Los Angeles, Connecticut, Hawaii, Brazil and Argentina. The film was shrouded in heavily guarded secrecy, and a 37 year-old who was found to be in possession of stolen photos and budget papers from the production was sentenced to 2 years and 4 months prison time for the offense. Paramount reportedly spent 150 mil. $ promoting the film. Ford, Spielberg and Lucas forewent salaries in favor of a profit participation payment, reportedly beginning their payment once the film crossed 400 mil. $. - Ford eventually had made 65 mil. $ from the film. It opened #1 to a 100.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 3 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3-#5), grossing 317.1 mil. $ (40.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Japan with 53 mil. $ (6.7 %) and the UK with 50.7 mil. $ (6.4 %). It was the year's 2nd highest-grossing over-all, behind The Dark Knight, and the 3rd highest-grossing in North America, behind The Dark Knight and Iron Man. The film was nominated for a BAFTA and a Grammy, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 3 notches over this one. The film made in excess of 117.2 mil. $ on its home video releases in North America. LaBeouf stopped defending the film at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival and was criticized publicly by Ford for it. He later said he regretted this, but probably only made things worse when he elaborated about Spielberg; "He told me there's a time to be a human being and have an opinion, and there's a time to sell cars. It brought me freedom, but it also killed my spirits because this was a dude I looked up to like a sensei." Ford returned as Jones in James Mangold's massive flop Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). Spielberg returned with A Timeless Call (2008, short) and theatrically with The Adventures of Tintin (2011). Ford first returned in Crossing Over (2009). Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is certified fresh at 77 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]


What do you think of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull?

5/26/2024

The Ice Pirates (1984) - MGM chaos results in space nonsense

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Several merits of Stewart Raffill's The Ice Pirates are pointed out in tiny lettering on this teen-targeting poster for it

A 'space pirate' knocks out a farting alien.

 

The Ice Pirates is written by Stanford Sherman (Shalimar (1978)) and co-writer/director Stewart Raffill (The Tender Warrior (1971)).

The purple outline above gives a sense of the small and bewildering plot of The Ice Pirates, which is hard to recount as something that makes sense, (probably because it doesn't), but which also includes such elements as a factory that castrates men, an evil, fat dictator who is surrounded by women in bikinis, a beheading, (and the head then tickled under his nose with a feather.) Also a sort of sex scene with the line spoken; "It's so stiff. Your belt I mean". 

Popular sci-fi originals Mad Max (1979), Alien (1979) and Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) are here attempted copied in a haphazard way without much in the way of ideas or skills involved, and the result is the (colorful, sure, but little else) disaster that is The Ice Pirates. 

 



 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 9 mil. $

Box office: 14.2 mil. $ (North America alone); projected 19.2 mil. $ total gross

= Uncertain but likely a flop (projected return of 2.13 times its cost)

[The Ice Pirates was released 16 March (USA) and runs 91 minutes. It was reportedly envisioned first as a serious sci-fi movie with a 20 mil. $ budget. The indebted studio lowered this to 8 mil. $ (apparently it went over-budget by a million), and it was turned into a sci-fi comedy. Shooting took place around March 1983 in California, including in Los Angeles. The film opened #3, behind holdover hits Splash and Footloose, to a 4.3 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent one more weekend in the top 5 (#4), grossing 14.2 mil. $. Its performance in a small list of foreign markets that only counts West Germany, Spain and Australia is not listed online and may likely have been limited, perhaps to 5 mil. $, which would result in a total gross of 19.2 mil. $, which would make the film a flop. Raffill returned with The Philadelphia Experiment (1984). Robert Urich (Clover Bend (2002)) returned in 4 TV credits prior to his theatrical return in Turk 182 (1985); Mary Crosby (Queen of the Lot (2010)) in 12 TV credits prior to her theatrical return in Johann Strauss: The King Without a Crown/Johann Strauss - Der König ohne Krone (1987). The Ice Pirates is rotten at 17 % with a 4.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of The Ice Pirates? 

7/03/2023

Asteroid City (2023) - Enjoy Anderson's crisp star parade desert adventure from the comfort of a theater seat

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Post-card-like, pleasant, warm-colored poster high-lighting the long star cast for Wes Anderson's Asteroid City

In a tiny desert town in Arizona that's centered around its asteroid crater sight, an astronomical star-gazing event attracts a father of four and his off-spring, among other people, when an unforeseen occurrence forces them to share a week there together. Also, a story about the creation of this desert-plot, which is the material of a New York play.

 

Asteroid City is written by Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom (2012)) and Texan master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/directer Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket (1996)), whose 11th feature it is.

For the veteran Anderson-lover, the film is like a vintage serving of the singular American's style, universe and sensibilities, a delicious return to a peculiar world that most will be very pleased to spend some time in any day of the week. This time Anderson and Coppola's story is probably their most convoluted of plots to date due to its meta-textual layer: Edward Norton (Fight Club (1999)) is the playwright and Adrien Brody (The Pianist (2002)) the restless director of the desert-set play in the film's B/W framing story, with Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad (2008-13)) an amusing narrator. It is curious and has its strange attraction, but the main attraction, the spry, crisply colorful play reality in itself, that is the real dish in Asteroid City.

And a succulent one it is: Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore (1998)) is the recently widowed father grappling with his new role and relaying it to his children and father-in-law Tom Hanks (Philadelphia (1993)), also amusing. His role is in no way up to what is normally to be expected from a Hanks performance, but then Steve Carell (The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005)) gets even slighter bones to pick, and ditto for Willem Dafoe (The Lighthouse (2019)) and Margot Robbie (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)). It is somehow alright, since Anderson pics are like visits to a strange and privileged playhouse, where the creator's favorite friends usually are found, and many are they indeed.

As before, the focus is often on the adolescent formative age teenagers, but here also on the themes of the surrounding universe; space and the awareness of intelligent life elsewhere. The stylish panache, both in terms of production design, costumes, hair and Robert Yeoman's (Spy (2015)) striking images, are crowned in this film by Scarlett Johansson's (Lost in Translation (2003)) lovely performance as a 1950s movie star, (the clear referential connection is to Marilyn Monroe, and Johansson's brown hair color here is likely chosen for the connect not to be overly clear) , who also gets stuck in Asteroid City.

The emotions and depth don't reach the heights of Anderson's best films here, but Asteroid City is still a magical visit and very worth the prize of admission.

 

Related posts: 

Wes Anderson: 2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III] 

2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2014 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
Top 10: The best adventure films reviewed by Film Excess to date
2014 in films - according to Film Excess
The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) - A very very good dream 
Moonrise Kingdom (2012) - A 1960s island youth romance present 

Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) - Anderson's technically, visually admirable but a bit tiring animation 
The Darjeeling Limited (2007) - Anderson beautifies but still wins with India-journey favorite  

 







 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 25 mil. $

Box office: 29.4 mil. $ and counting

= Too early to say

[Asteroid City premiered 23 May (Cannes Film Festival, main competition) and runs 105 minutes. Shooting took place from August - October 2021 in Arizona and in Madrid, Spain. The film opened #10 to an 853k $ first weekend in 6 theaters in North America, where it still plays. It has yet to open in several big markets that are set for August and September. It lost the Palme D'Or to Anatomy of a Fall. Anderson returns with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023). Schwartzman has returned in a TV-series and a voice performance and is set to return with a physical theatrical performance in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes (2023); Johansson has 6 upcoming films. Asteroid City is certified fresh at 73 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Asteroid City? 

8/20/2022

Species (1995) - Hokey fun in Donaldson's erotic alien actioner

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A great tag-line, which starts over the freaky alien fetus image and ends underneath the title, resounds on this poster for Roger Donaldson's Species

DNA from an alien organism is combined with human DNA, and a very attractive blond alien monster, - who will do anything for sex, - results! Naturally she must be killed!

 

Species is written by Dennis Feldman (The Golden Child (1986)) and directed by Australian master filmmaker Roger Donaldson (Sleeping Dogs (1977)).

The film revolves around an exceedingly silly Hollywood-nurtured plot, but unfortunately the comical opportunities inherent in it are far from explored enough. Generally Feldman instead has taken his own wacky idea a bit too seriously here.

A standardized score and clichés are to be found, - but also entertainment value, secured with Michael Madsen's (The Hateful Eight (2015)) badass hitman character with all kinds of cool lines, such as; "Let's go, motherfucker!" Species also has special effects that are at times frightening and at other times hilarious.

 

Related posts:

Roger Donaldson:
2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

The Recruit (2003) - Farrell and other factors buoy Donaldson's uninspired CIA thriller 

2000 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Thirteen Days (2000) - Electrifying Cuban Missile Crisis thriller 
Cocktail (1988) - Cruise an iconic stand-out in Donaldson's masterful drama

 



 

Watch a trailer for the movie here

 

Cost: 35 mil. $

Box office: 113.3 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 3.23 times its cost)

[Species was released 7 July (North America) and runs 108 minutes. Natasha Henstridge (The Christmas Switch (2014)) was paid 100k $ for her performance. Shooting took place from August - November 1994 in Puerto Rico, Utah and in California, including in Los Angeles. Creature design artist H.R. Giger paid 100k $ of his own money to shoot the 'nightmare train' sequence, which would otherwise have been cut to lower costs. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Apollo 13, to a 17.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#4-#5), grossing 60 mil. $ (53 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch under this one. Sequel Species II was released in 1998, and 2 TV movie sequels followed, none by Donaldson, who returned with Dante's Peak (1997). Henstridge returned in Adrenalin: Fear the Rush (1996); Madsen in Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home (1995). Species is rotten at 43 % with a 5.30/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]


What do you think of Species?

6/15/2022

Contact (1997) - Zemeckis helms one of the all-time worst sci-fi pics

[ZERO]

 

+ Worst Movie of the Year

+ Most Deserved Flop of the Year + Most Overrated Movie of the Year 

 

Two Hollywood stars line up in front of a row of giant satellites on this poster for Robert Zemeckis' Contact
 

Dr. Ellie Arroway has always been preoccupied with the possibility of life in space, so that when the day comes when strange sounds arrive to earth from somewhere out there, she becomes central for the US response to the news.


Contact is written by James V. Hart (Hook (1991)) and Michael Goldenberg (Bed of Roses (1996)), adapting the same-titled 1985 novel by Carl Sagan, and directed by Illinoisan master filmmaker Robert Zemeckis (I Wanna Hold Your Hand (1978)), whose 11th feature it is.

After a very long space intro using CGI, - the film also later has fair CGI effects, - the absolute nightmare that is Contact begins. Harmlessly at first, but soon it becomes clear that Jodie Foster (Flight Plan (2005)) is here trapped in an insufferable abomination of a film in a non-character, who gets a bit of nonsense to spout to mark that she represents 'science', whereupon she has to confront apathy, stupidity, lack of curiosity and braindead 'religious' examinations throughout the film.

Contact is enormously tiring in every aspect: Among them are Matthew McConaughey (Sahara (2005)), who here looks like a surfer and talks like a Texan farmhand, - but is a Christian philosopher (!!), who waxes on. 

We never get to the aliens or anything eye-opening, provocative or exciting. Rarely has a big-budget studio epic been this modest, empty and insufferable. Contact is terrible on every level.

 

Related posts:

Robert Zemeckis: Top 10: Best dramas reviewed by Film Excess to date

The 2010s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess  

2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II] 

2012 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
2012 in films - according to Film Excess

Flight (2012) - Character study masterpiece from Zemeckis and Washington 


1997 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Back to the Future Part III (1990) or, The DeLorean Time Traveler's Last Adventure 

Top 10: Best future-set movies

Top 10: The best adventure films reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Back to the Future Part II (1989) or, The DeLorean Time Traveler Returns 

Top 10: Best first-of-franchise movies 

Top 10: Best fantasy movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
Back to the Future (1985) or, The DeLorean Time Traveler

1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock (co-writer) 




Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 90 mil. $

Box office: 171.1 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.90 times its cost)

[Contact was released 11 July (North America) and runs 150 minutes. Contact was first envisioned as a film by Sagan and his then girlfriend Ann Druyan but then written as a novel first instead. It was developed as a movie with Roland Joffé and then George Miller attached as director: The former quit, and the latter was fired, before the project landed with Zemeckis. Foster was paid 9 mil. $ for her performance. Shooting took place from September 1996 - February 1997 in Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, California, including in Los Angeles, Virginia, Washington DC, Fiji, Canada and in Puerto Rico. The film opened #2, behind holdover hit Men in Black, to a 20.5 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#3-#4), grossing 100.9 mil. $ (59 % of the total gross). The film's international gross numbers are regrettably not made public. The film was nominated for the Best Sound Oscar, lost to Titanic. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, among other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 3.5/4 star review, translating to 5 notches over this one. The White House were unhappy with the film's use of Bill Clinton quotes (about other matters) as part of its narrative; CNN were unhappy with their participation in the film; and George Miller and Francis Ford Coppola both unsuccessfully sued Warner Bros. over the film. Zemeckis returned with Robert Zemeckis on Smoking, Drinking and Drugging in the 20th Century: In Pursuit of Happiness (1999, TV documentary) and theatrically with What Lies Beneath (2000). Foster returned in Anna and the King (1999); McConaughey in Amistad (1997). Contact is fresh at 67 % with a 6.90/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]


What do you think of Contact?

5/24/2022

Home (2015) - Not much sense to DreamWorks' silly alien romp

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An instantly likable, cute, purple alien character with a snug housecat on its head makes up this poster for Tim Johnson's Home


An unpopular alien, who has made problems for his equals, bands up with a little girl, who has gotten lost from her mother here on earth.

 

Home is written by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember (Get Smart (2008), both), based on the children's book The True Meaning of Smekday (2007) by Adam Rex (Smek for President (2015)), and directed by great Chicagoan filmmaker Tim Johnson (Antz (1998)).

The silly Boov alien race has somehow overtaken earth here in Home, and that is just one of the many things that aren't explained in it. The film is more invested in being a colorful mix of bright eye candy with patches of comedy and up-tempo music, where inquisitive questions are barred at the door; just brainless good times here. The film embraces the time it is made in for better and worse, so that when it still attempts to straddle a well of themes, it comes off as both superficial and dishonest. The questions can't be bridled by the thinking mind: Why this and why that, one can't help but wonder, - SPOILER and in particular; why do the entire Boov race suddenly go nuts for our ill-faring purple friend towards the end? Their conversion from unsympathetic bullies in the beginning is also unexplained.

Home conjures up a utopian, harmonious, multi-cultural world, - but it is actually funny along the silly way, - Jim Parsons (A Kid Like Jake (2018)) voicing is inspired, - and that is its saving grace.



Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 135 mil. $

Box office: 386 mil. $

= Box office success (returned 2.85 times its cost)

[Home premiered 7 March (Boulder International Film Festival, Colorado) and runs 94 minutes. Production took place in California. The film opened #1 to a 52.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 5 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#2-#4-#4-#5). grossing 177.3 mil. $ (45.9 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 38.8 mil. $ (10.1 %) and China with 27.7 mil. $ (7.2 %). It was reported that DreamWorks spent an amount similar to the cost of the film for prints and advertising it. A hand-drawn spin-off series, Home: Adventures with Tip and Oh (2016-18) was produced without the voice stars for Netflix by DreamWorks Animation. Johnson returned with 2 shorts but has not returned with a feature yet; instead he has turned to executive producing. Parsons returned in Visions (2015). Home is rotten at 52 % with a 5.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Home?

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!

 

Related posts:

 

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? 

Eagerly anticipating this month ... (5-25)

Eagerly anticipating this month ... (5-25)
Kleber Mendonca Filho's The Secret Agent (2025)