Up, Up And Away!

Let me start by saying Pixar's latest animated film "UP" contains some of the most beautiful sequences I've seen in any movie this year.

An old man- Voiced by Ed Asner- decides to escape the big city by attaching balloons to his house and floating away to the South American paradise he and his late wife had aways dreamed about. But an overenthusiastic wilderness explorer in need of a merit badge inadvertantly hops along for the ride.

The first third of the film gives a perfectly executed snapshot of a life from boyhood to old age with true love, marriage, and then heartbreaking loss in between.
Its tender and sweet without being sappy, and as long at the film stays in the air, it soars to heights few films can match.

Once he actually gets to his destination though, I found the story got bogged down, and the plot went from exceptional to ordinary. A team of talking dogs with translators literally steals the show in the meantime.

That helps lighten the mood until UP gains altitude again for its thrilling conclusion.

"UP":B+

Curses! Broiled Again!- "Drag Me To Hell"

A young bank loan officer has a problem no bailout can solve in the new Sam Raimi horror flick "Drag Me To Hell."
When a comically gnarled old gypsy woman comes into her bank pleading for help to stop the foreclosure on her home, Allison Lohman lets career ambition trump her conscience and refuses to help.
The old hag puts a curse on her and then everything goes to hell.
Then she enlists a storefront psychic to help her escape eternal damnation.
Director Sam Raimi knows his way around the horror genre.
In one scene I noticed creaking floorboards, rustling wind chimes, unexplained wind gusts, a creaking gate, and the flashlight that's always on the fritz.
But as anyone who's seen the Evil Dead trilogy knows, Raimi knows how to milk uncomfortable situations for laughs.
One of the funniest sequences uses animal sacrifice as a demented punchline.
And I particularly liked her somewhat ed woodian struggle with a hanky from hell inside a moving car.
But for me the film always seemed to be on the verge of becoming a real hoot, but it never quite got there.
For one, Allison Lohman is too weak a heroine to make much of an impact. And when the script calls for her to get tough near the end it feels forced and fake.
The ooga booga shocks start to get repetitive after a while.
And the film rams some of its sequences right down our throat.
This all leads up to a conclusion I found strangely unsatisfying. I laughed yes. But what should have been a diabolical good time ended up a little disappointing.
"Drag Me To Hell": C+

Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian

IT'S LIGHTS OUT AGAIN FOR BEN STILLER.
THE EXHIBITS COME BACK TO LIFE BUT THE SCRIPT IS DEAD ON ARRIVAL IN "NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM- BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN."
This time, Stiller's ex night guard must find a way to rescue his favorite historical exhibits from deep storage at the Smithsonian.
With an entire museum at their disposal, the filmmakers throw in everything but the kitchen sink.
But the film is just dumb, dull, and devoid of inspiration.
They simply can't think of anything interesting for them to do.
Hank Azaria- sounding like an effeminate Boris Karlof- forms a new axis of evil with some of history's greatest villains such as Al Capone and Napoleon.
But all they do is stand around and make short jokes.
The dated slang, and moldy pop culture references are completely at odds with the historical figures spouting them, and worst of all they're not funny. Soon I started to ask myself questions like, How does Einstein know the words to KC And The Sunshine Band?
And where did Abraham Lincoln here the phrase blah blah blah?
Take your kids to the Field Museum instead of this epic waste of talent.
"Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian": D+

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Hugh Jackman scowls, Liev Schreiber snarls, and the audience snoozes in this uninvolving superhero tale. Much like Boba Fett in the Star Wars saga, Wolverine is one of those characters who deserves to be shrouded in mystery. But the less we know about him, the better.
In the end his angst ridden back story just makes him and his sharp claws dreadfully dull.

"X-Men Origins: Wolvernine: D-