Cars 3

I was hesitant going in to this viewing. After watching the first two in this series, I was ready to pump the brakes, if you will. Mostly, I pressed play to get the movie out of the way and off my to-be-watched list. And early returns—the first hour or so of the story—were not promising, offering only what seemed to be a litany of sports show cliches about the veteran player on the verge of being washed up. And then...something unexpected happened: a payoff came at the climax that was surprising and turned the story into something fresh and, dare I say it, downright noble. Part of the early hang-up comes from the movie’s focus, which is much more tightly fixed upon the milieu of stock car racing in this outing versus the previous installments. That’s not my territory, personally, so the start can be a bit boring here; it gets a little too deep into the weeds, as it were. Speaking of weeds, that is actually another of this film’s strengths: the visuals are beautifully rendered, right down to the blades of grass during Lightning’s backwoods training sequences. The world of the cars has never seemed more real than in the minute details that are shown here. And while the adversaries in this plot are not especially memorable, the characters on the protagonist side are exceptionally well played, including the memories of the late Paul Newman (who voiced Lightning's mentor Doc Hudson) and Chris Cooper filling a similar role as Smokey. It’s hardly perfect, but the ending feels so right that you can’t help but appreciate it. Not exactly an epic trip, but not a wrong turn, either.

Cars

Pixar goes full redneck. One suspects this might have originally been titled “Cars Story” in keeping with its studio forebear, but that extra term in the name might have strained its target audience’s literacy level. For sure, I avoided this movie for a very long time, as I deduced from its upfront story elements—a thinly disguised NASCAR theme served up with a high degree of local yokel hi-jinx in a lot of the plot—that much about this work would not appeal to me from a baseline perspective. On top of that, viewing the film reveals another issue: a protagonist who is so relentlessly unappealing that it is hard to believe through most of the running time that the viewer will ever come about and actually root for him. Add to that some cookie cutter characters—including a few who would today probably fall under the baleful eyes of the identity crowd—and any number of predictable story elements, and it seems like this movie was just destined not to be my cup of tea, or motor oil as the case may be. No matter—the film found a gigantic audience anyway. And, I will admit, given all the above, it comes across as something of a miracle when, in the end, even the most disinterested viewer finds some redemption (and at least a bit of surprise) in the denouement. Add to that another welcome element—the movie gets the history of the impact of the interstate highways on small-town America 100% right—and there’s enough here for this film to earn a qualified recommendation. It’s no work of genius, to be sure, and in stretches it’s even a bit boring, but you don’t have to be ashamed of watching it, either. That’s about the the maximum praise this piece can get from this decidedly citified driver.

Men In Black II

Well, it's not the utter waste of time it could have been. And what it lacks in originality it certainly makes up for in brevity (gotta love a movie that barely clocks in at 90 minutes, especially in these overblown days). Mostly, it supplies a decent number of smirk-worthy moments, and if you expect no more than that, you'll do fine.

Galaxy Quest

Even though I don't particularly like Tim Allen, this one was still enough fun to overcome that obstacle. The presence of more appealing cast mates, including Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman, helps immensely.

A Life Less Ordinary

Almost awful, and unnecessary.

Big Night

Very entertaining. And a must see if you like Italian cuisine.