UGLY DOLLS

Voices of:  Kelly Clarkson     Nick Jonas     Janelle Monae     Emma Roberts

Wanda Sykes     Gabriel Iglesias     Blake Shelton     Leehon Wang

     UglyDolls is not really about being ugly; it’s about being different or outside the mold.  The message is worthwhile, but it takes a long time to get there, and the means of delivering it simply doesn’t measure up in terms of being interesting, entertaining, or inspiring.  On the contrary, it seemed to me that I was enduring an extended commercial made by advertising executives trying to sell the concept of inclusiveness (including messages like “Satisfaction guaranteed” along the way). The film has catchy tunes, but the story itself is without much creativity.  

     The “ugly” dolls are actually appealing, and Moxy (Clarkson) stands out for her perseverance and “we can do it” attitude.  It is rewarding to see her actively ignore naysayers—even among her friends and mentor, Ox (Shelton)—and press on towards her dream of going to the “big world” (being chosen to be a real child’s doll).  Her ever-loyal friends—Babo (Iglesia), Mandy (Monae), Wage (Sykes), and Lucky Bat (Wang)—stay with her all the way, even when they’re puzzled and questioning of her.

     Moxy’s main adversary in her endeavor—when she and her pals finally make it to the “Institute of Perfection”—is Lou (Jonas), the trainer of dolls, who claims they have to be perfect so they will be chosen and loved by a child in the “big world” and never be discarded—or in Lou’s terms, “recycled.”  Lou is the narcissistic idol of the dolls in perfection land who is impeccably coifed and dressed and always ready with a cutting remark about how others could improve their appearance.  (The focus is, of course, on physical appearance.) He refers to Moxy and her friends as “a little band of sock puppets” who could never “pass through the gauntlet;” that is, be accepted as a lovable doll.  He fits the idol mold in that all the dolls in his realm constantly look for his approval and attention.  Everyone wants to be special, of course.  And he can make that happen—unless, of course, the doll is hopeless.  Then it should be sent to recycling.  

     Director Kelly Asbury and her creative team perhaps aspired to the likes of Pinocchio,  Ratatouille, or Ponyo, but this production doesn’t measure up to the creative genius in those earlier works, primarily because the principles of inclusion are presented in such simplistic terms (i.e., focusing primarily on physical appearance).  Not as much was highlighted about how much quality of life was so much better in Uglytown before they lost confidence in themselves, than it was in the Perfection Institute.    

     The actors, Clarkson, Jonas, Monae, Sykes, Iglesias, Wang, Shelton, and Roberts are delightful in their renditions of the characters, and that is truly enjoyable, along with the artistic animations and sets.

There are much better movies for children than UglyDolls.

Grade:  D                                    By Donna R. Copeland

SNATCHED

Amy Schumer     Goldie Hawn   Wanda Sykes     Joan Cusack     Ike Barinholtz     Christopher Meloni

     The general audience is likely to get a big kick out of Amy Schumer’s new movie, although it is already being criticized for being racist, just based on the previews, and its damaging the travel business in South America by implying that it’s dangerous to go there.  I’m not a big fan of Schumer’s movies or TV shows, except for Trainwreck, but the same themes pretty much carry through all her work: Playing up sexy and trying for laughs from drunkenness, being cheeky, and shocking pronouncements.  Many people enjoy that kind of humor, but it leaves me neutral or even cold (as in the case of alcohol).  There were only about four incidents in Snatched that made me laugh.  One was a shot of Linda’s (Hawn) sculpture of a cat.  Another was when Ruth (Sykes, a gifted comedienne) is warning Emily (Schumer) about traveling in South America with her mother.  Ruth doesn’t believe it’s safe to walk anywhere outside the resort, and cites a statistic that one in four tourists is kidnapped, saying, “See, one, two, three (Ruth, Emily, Linda); someone’s missing!”  Still another was Amy doing a somersault to knock down a really bad guy who deserved it.  This slapstick kind of humor can make me laugh, but like many jokes on TV and in movies, they’re repeated not just once, not twice, but three times. 

     The fourth good-comedy moment was when watching the Meloni character, Roger, a “tour guide”, leading the two kidnapped women out of the Amazon Jungle.  These scenes are some of the best written in Snatched by Katie Dippold.  He is a three-dimensional character created by Dippold, and Meloni makes him come to life with subtlety and comedic timing.  I can also say that Cusack’s character of an ex-special ops agent who never speaks a word, is stunning in her actions—some acrobatic.

     As you could see from the preview of this movie, Emily is dumped by her musician boyfriend after booking a vacation in Ecuador with him.  None of her friends can go with her, and since she has a nonrefundable ticket, she’s so desperate she insists that her phobic mother (Hawn as Linda) go with her, arguing that it will do Linda good.  Emily throws caution to the winds when a handsome man (Bateman) flirts with her in a bar and she spends a drunken (of course!) evening with him, heedless of any cautionary information she’s been given. 

     Soon after, Emily and Linda get kidnapped while touring outside the resort.  Even worse, Colombian cartel men become involved, making it even more dangerous.  Schumer and Hawn put their dramatic and comedic skills into these scenes, and they are good; it’s just that the material they’re working from is formulaic for this genre.  It’s often over the top and just plain silly. 

     Music by Chris Bacon and Theodore Shapiro and cinematography by Florian Ballhaus enhance the beauty and cultural richness of the production, directed well by Jonathan Levine.

A movie that, despite its humor, alarms the South American tour industry.

Grade:  D+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

ICE AGE: COLLISION COURSE

Voices of:  Ray Romano   Queen Latifah   Keke Palmer   Adam Devine   John Leguizamo  

Denis Leary   Simon Pegg   Jennifer Lopez   Wanda Sykes   Neil DeGrasse Tyson

          This is the seventh in a series of Ice Age films, and is largely empty animation and special effects without much of a story.  My interest was piqued when I saw that Neil DeGrasse Tyson was going to be one of the voices in the film, in hopes that it would have some educational value; but alas, it is a hodge-podge of story lines with tired themes like broken hearts, forgetting an anniversary, and a father reluctant to let his daughter grow up and forge her own path.  There was only one scene that went against stereotype, and that was the father-daughter (it’s usually a son) competition on an ice hockey rink.  Manny (Romano) is certain he can best his daughter Peaches (Palmer) handily—and tries to make out like he actually did, but she is the clear winner.

        A bit of novelty is seen in the efforts to avert a killer meteor coming to destroy the animals’ home, and Tyson as Neil deBuck Weasel (I like the play on his name) explains in scientific terms how to use magnetic forces to throw it off course.  It’s too bad the filmmakers didn’t expand this sequence and make it the heart of the movie instead of silly love stories. 

       As in all the Ice Age films I have seen, the squirrel creature Scrat (Chris Wedge) appears in the beginning and reappears periodically hugging and chasing his acorn, swarming all around space to introduce and supplement the animation and special effects.  Next we hear about the mammoth family [Manny, Ellie (Queen Latifah), and Peaches] and get the update that Peaches is engaged to Julian (Devine), who is eager to join the family and impress the reluctant Manny.  They’re friends with lions Diego (Leary) and Shira (Lopez), who are wanting to be parents. 

      There is a digression to a yoga fitness community, Geotopia, where Shangri Lama (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) is in charge and where Granny (Sykes) is discovered to be enjoying yoga and massages. 

        But Sid (Leguizamo) as the local scientist is giving fair warning that a meteor that will obliterate them is coming.  After Neil deBuck Weasel instructs them about what they need to do, the animals band together to avert the strike.

        Not much of anything is new and fresh in this production, which should be a message to the writers (Michael J. Wilson, Michael Berg, Yoni Brenner), directors Galen T. Chu and Mike Thurmeier, and producer Lori Forte to hang up the franchise.

Uninspired 7^th iteration of the Ice Age franchise.

Grade:  D-                                    By Donna R. Copeland