Frozen (2013)

The cold never bothered me, either.  That line will make more sense after you see Frozen.  Despite being a California native, I've often wondered if I was meant for colder climates.  Then again, spending much of my youth stocking a cooler for hours at a time might have thickened my hide a bit.

Before I get started, allow me to rant for a second.  Dear parents, if your kids cannot get through even a two minute trailer without screaming out loud several times (and not even necessarily at the images on the screen), perhaps you should wait a few more years before bringing them to the movies.  It's not fair or courteous to the people sitting around you.

Before Frozen began, we're treated to a clever, "meta" short film framed around a classic Mickey Mouse cartoon.  It develops slowly, but once its 'twist' is revealed it was a lot of fun to watch.  It's no Paperman, but still a good short.

In just the opening scene of Frozen I realized I was in for a much different movie than I thought.  Based on the trailer, I expected some corny movie about a snowman and a reindeer (it's interesting to note that neither character shows up until around the halfway point).  Instead, Frozen is a classic story about a princess and true love.  It's a familiar and somewhat cliched story.  You could call this a weakness, but the classic versus cliched debate is splitting hairs in this case.  Both written and directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee, they've added some twists and updates that worked very well and kept it fresh.  Frozen also has very strong central themes that make this the kind of film that parents will actually encourage their kids to watch.

Frozen is about two sisters, Elsa and Anna, who've grown apart over the years, and have been isolated from the outside world.  There's much more to their relationship, but I don't want to spoil anything since I was so pleasantly surprised by how the story developed.  I want you to be able to enjoy it the way I did.  I'll give you this one little tease to go on though.  If your favorite character from the X-Men is Iceman, with maybe a little bit of Emma Frost thrown in, then you're going to be in for a treat.  During many scenes in Frozen my mind would wander thinking about why they haven't been able to accurately portray Iceman in an X-Men film yet.  Future X-Men films may want to use Frozen as a template, because they really nailed it.

While I'm not exactly the biggest fan of musicals, I really loved the songs in Frozen and it's one of the best aspects of the film  They were cute, clever and funny.  By the second song, I was already in love with Frozen.  Yes, you could say that Frozen managed to thaw my icy heart.  Elsa's (Idina Menzel) defining song "Let it Go" is a highlight of the film, and the animation was perfect for it.  I can still hear the song in my head.  I wouldn't be surprised to see Oscar nominations for Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez for their original songs.  I expect that many copies of the soundtrack will be purchased this holiday season.

The animation is fantastic and some of the designs and scenery will likely evoke thoughts of things like Lord of the Rings or even Game of Thrones.  The character's look was also very appealing.  Despite all the ice and snow, it's still very vivid and colorful.  I actually thought the 3D was very good as well, and it doesn't get in the way.  I still don't think you need to make huge effort to see it in 3D, but it's not a complete waste if that's all that's available to you.

Frozen also features great voice acting.  I couldn't place the voice for Anna for much of the film, and was surprised to see it was Kristen Bell.  I never really noticed her voice before, but was impressed with how warm and effortless it was, and it turns out she's a great singer, too.  The entire cast is excellent and I applaud the filmmakers for not going with a bunch of big name actors, but rather ones whose voices fit the parts better.  I was very impressed with Jonathan Groff and Santino Fontana, as Kristoff and Hans respectively.  Josh Gad is perfect as Olaf the snowman.  I was surprised to see Alan Tudyk's name in the credits, and he's proving to be quite the chameleon as a voice actor.  However, the prize goes to Idina Menzel as the hidden gem here.  He voice is absolutely amazing!

Frozen is a classic Disney musical that everyone can enjoy.  It features gorgeous animation, great songs and wonderful voice acting.  It's clever, funny, energetic, and has the kind of heart I normally would expect from a Pixar film.  Disney has really stepped up it's game with their animated films in the past few years.  This is my favorite animated film of 2013 and was an absolute joy to watch.

4.5 (out of 5) Death Stars

Hit & Run (2012) - Movie Review

It's been a while since I've seen a good, old-school, car chase movie. I wasn't quite sure what to expect before I saw Hit & Run, but a good, old-school, car chase movie is exactly what I got.  I guess with a title like Hit & Run, I shouldn't have been surprised.

Annie (Kristen Bell) and Charlie Bronson (Dax Shepard, and yes, named after that Charles Bronson) have a fairly simple life living in the middle of nowhere. Annie is a professor at a local college and is offered a huge opportunity in Los Angeles.  The problem is that Charlie is living in witness protection and can't exactly leave, and worse yet, LA is the scene of the crime.  However, time is of the essence and love trumps the risk, so he decides to drive her down there.

Unfortunately, a jealous ex-boyfriend (Michael Rosenbaum) figures out who Charlie really is and lets the criminals he ratted on (led by Bradley Cooper) know where he is.  The chase is on now between Charlie and his ex-gang, the ex-boyfriend that doesn't want Annie to leave, and the bumbling U.S. Marshall (Tom Arnold) assigned to protect Charlie. Annie isn't clear on all the details of why Charlie is in witness protection, but it doesn't take long to figure out what his particular skill set is.

Sometimes simplicity is a good thing, and that works for Hit & Run.  It's not bogged down with too many characters, cumbersome dialog or needless plot points.  Once the chase starts, there's very little rest until the movie is over.  However, you still get enough personality from the characters to care about what's going on.

If you're a car lover, you get to see a variety tearing it up.  I'm sure Adam Carolla or Jay Leno would appreciate this.  I'm not a huge car guy, so don't ask me what the makes and models were, but seeing some of these cars race around made me we want get a old muscle car and take it for a spin.  The car chases are fun and fast paced.  In fact, the whole movie just raced by.  I was shocked when I checked my watch and realized I was well past the halfway point in the movie. The chases are shot well too, as you're never confused about the action or what is going on.  I heard an interview with Shepard a few weeks back where he talked about how they made this with a very low budget.  If that's the case, then you can't tell by what's on the screen.  This looks better than a lot of big budget action films I've seen this summer.

One thing I liked about Hit & Run is how natural the dialog felt.  The dialog between Annie and Charlie is very cute and flirty, and the chemistry between the two is obvious.  I guess it should be though, since Shepard and Bell have been a couple for about five years.  They really are adorable together.  When you first meet Bradley Cooper's character, you think he's going to be a certain way, but then ends up being pretty level headed for someone that wants to get back at Charlie. People don't talk over each other or shout.  It felt very rational despite all the craziness of what was going on.  There's some raunchy stuff in here and much of the humor skews that direction, but there's plenty of funny moments throughout.  Much of the comedy relief is provided by Tom Arnold, and this is the best I've seen him since True Lies.

It's odd that I watched True Romance (R.I.P., Tony Scott) over the weekend as that's the movie Hit & Run reminded me the most of.  Not because of the car chases, but more just the general vibe. At times the original score sounded like something pulled right out of True Romance.

I've always liked Dax Shepard.  He has a casual charm about him and can be hilarious.  He's an avid car buff, so in addition to doing his own stunt driving, he also wrote and co-directed Hit & Run, (with David Palmer).  I'm impressed with his work here and hope he continues making films.  To keep the budget low, Shepard called in some favors based on some the cameos, but that's not a knock on the cast as it's a fun group.  Bradley Cooper was great as the bad guy.  He's played some asshole characters in the past, but this is a different look for him.  Kristen Bell really came out of this looking great, too.   I've always enjoyed Michael Rosenbaum, and have never figured out why he hasn't taken off since Smallville, but I always think he's funny doing comedy.  The always adorable Kristin Chenoweth has a small, but funny role, as well.

Hit & Run is a simple, charming and funny movie.  It has some high octane car chases that should please the car lovers out there and the pace of the movie never lets up.  If you were someone that was annoyed by the fact that last year's Drive didn't have enough actual driving in it, then you should enjoy this.  I really recommend checking it out.

4 (out of 5) Death Stars