Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water Review

February 7, 2015February 13, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

I have to admit when writing this review I’m a bit stumped. This is a really hard movie to write about without spoiling the movie. It’s just such a strange movie but I will do my best!

Let me start off with a couple of asides to this review- Spongebob Squarepants started in 1999 when I was a freshman in college, so I was definitely too old to like it as a child, and I didn’t have a TV at that time to like it as a young adult. So, I kind of missed the Spongebob wave but had a lot of cousins and friends that loved it. Over the years I have caught episodes and even watched the first season in its entirety and really enjoyed it, but I do not have any emotional attachment like those who grew up with it.

The other thing I want to point out is the trailers totally undersell the movie. When I first saw the trailer my eyes rolled and I thought ‘oh boy here is another Smurf movie’. Smurfs is one of my personal worst movies I’ve ever seen. I hate Smurfs because they are crass, unfunny, stupid and full of constant product placement. The trailer makes Spongebob look like it is going to be such a CG live action monstrosity like we’ve gotten over the last few years. And the trailer is WRONG!!!!

Even the title is WRONG!!!!

It should read The Spongebob Movie: Sponge Out of Water For 1/3rd of Movie (maybe only 15-20 minutes of the movie!). Yes, believe it or not it is only the last act that the characters are in the human world as 3D characters. The rest looks great in hand drawn animation! It is definitely the most hand drawn animation in a mainstream movie in a long time.

I loved the 2D hand drawn segment and when they do get to 3D it looks pretty cute, certainly better than the Smurfs.

The plot is completely wacko. And it is one that will either entertain you or make you nuts. It’s just so weird it will not please everyone. I’ll do my best to explain it without spoilers but I really did laugh my head off.

Basically we are back at Bikini Bottom with our old absorbent, yellow, and porous friend, Spongebob (voiced by Tom Kenny of course). As any fan of the show knows he works at the Krusty Krab flipping their famous krabby patties to the addicted patrons. His boss is Eugene H Krabs (the great Clancy Brown) who is the type of greedy capitalist who is usually the villain in movies. Their rival Sheldon J Plankton (Doug Lawrence) tries to steal the secret recipe for the krabby patties and is kind of successful but he’s not. There is also a live action pirate mostly narrating played by Antonio Banderas.

Squidward (Rodger Bumpass) works at the restaurant to his chagrin, Sandy (Carolyn Lawrence) the squirrel lives in a dome of air and Spongebob’s best friend Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke) is ruled by his gut.

the-spongebob-movie-sponge-out-of-water apocolypse — Apocalyptic Bikini Bottoms.

They then have to go on a crazy journey to find the secret formula which involves time travel, land travel, turning into super heroes, a near sacrifice to the Krabby Patty Gods, a hilarious dolphin and more madness.

There is a cameo voice that was bizarre but hilarious I won’t give away. It is just an anything goes approach to storytelling and I was thoroughly entertained. The script is funny and it kept surprising me along the way.

All the voice performers were great and it was just so creative I had to smile. It is definitely not for everyone and it was out there but I was charmed by it and it kept me engaged.

I loved the animation throughout especially the 2D and made me laugh a lot which is what I look for in a comedy. It’s definitely trippy and strange but I feel like that is appropriate homage to the original show. In fact, I think some of the original team from the show worked on the movie and it shows. It is also quickly paced so you never go more than a few seconds without some kind of gag and it looks great at the same time. Very well done!

I hope that gives you some idea of what the movie is like. One minute you are in the future, next Spongebob is being offered up as a sacrifice, then there are battles with potatoes , a prophetic dolphin, plankton torture, and finally the live action events with Banderas. You will just have to ask yourself if you like things that are strange and off-kelter and if you do than you will enjoy it.

If that sounds like your cup of tea give it a shot . I would love it to be successful because I think it could show Hollywood that kids still like 2D animation. That everything doesn’t have to be CG.

It and Paddington certainly show with a good script and the right creative team anything can be good. Even a time traveling sponge with square pants. :). This is a bright, colorful, fun, and creative movie.

At one point all of the characters are superheroes and that is charming for just long enough and then they are off to the next phase. They get some good jabs at Marvel and other franchises out there.

I think fans of the original show will especially like it. Seems like it hits all the nostalgia buttons while still providing something current in the 3D.

As far as content a guy on twitter told me he banned the show for innuendo so I paid attention and honestly didn’t hear anything like that. There are some definite trippy moments that don’t make complete sense but other than that it is bright, cheerful and has a nice message about teamwork.

To all my parent friends I really don’t think you will have a terrible time at this movie with your kids. There is definitely enough to entertain adults and kids without it being tawdry but just know it is kind of out there.

Overall Grade- B Content Grade- A

Theory of Everything: A Review

February 5, 2015February 5, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

I finally got to the theater to see the Oscar nominated film The Theory of Everything. It tells the story of Stephen and Jane Hawking’s marriage and life together.

They meet before Stephen’s ALS diagnosis and everything is shot through sepia tones with dew filled lighting, very picturesque. (That technique is called upon far too often in the movie…). I wish they had let us know why Jane falls in love with Stephen. She just says kind of out of the blue that she is in love with him but I would have liked to have gotten more into her heart.

Then the film chronicles his diagnosis, their marriage, his progress on The Brief History of Time and his physics theories. They do a good job making the theories accessible and easy enough for the viewer to understand. You might not really get them but enough to see why they are so important. (I mean it is black holes after all!). There is also a continuing theme of Stephen’s atheism conflicting with his theories which was interesting.

There is an extended section where Jane meets a choir director named Jonathan and that was a snoozefest. I never felt like I got to know Jane well enough. I found myself anxious in her sections to get on to Stephen because more concrete things were happening to him and the performance by Eddie Redmayne is very good. Felicity Jones is just ok but the script doesn’t give her a ton to work with.

The movie also has constant twirling which I guess was supposed to mimic the universe but got annoying after a while (seriously even the coffee twirls).

My feelings at the end of the movie is- it is fine. It’s a perfectly standard adequate satisfying biopic about a very unique man. I found myself getting anxious for the story to move along and all the dew filled picturesque cinematography got on my nerves. It kept the two main characters at a distance. I rarely felt I got in their hearts or who they really were.

But I still enjoyed it. It’s competently made and a good story. I liked it. I just didn’t LOVE it. It’s such an interesting life that it may work almost in spite of itself.

I liked they didn’t try to give it more of a perfect ending than was deserved. From what I understand they stuck to real life events pretty well.

I couldn’t help but think of A Beautiful Mind while watching A Theory of Everything. Both are shot with a similar style about women married to geniuses who become ill. I think A Beautiful Mind is better because it gets a little more into both characters heads and I liked the twist (and the script is tighter). But they are very similar.

So if you liked Beautiful Mind than you will probably enjoy A Theory of Everything. I’m certainly glad I saw it. It’s always great to watch stories of people who defy the odds and do incredible things. A Theory of Everything gives us such a story and I enjoyed it even if I didn’t think it was spectacular. I was inspired by the events of the movie more than the movie itself.

This would be a good movie to watch on a Sunday when you are looking to be inspired and it would certainly be a good way to introduce students to Hawking’s life and ideas. Like I said it doesn’t reinvent the wheel but I liked it.

As far as content there is hints of affairs but it is kept very PG and a brief but very tame penthouse magazine. Maybe a little language and a scene where a trachea is installed that was tough to watch.

Overall Grade- B-

Content Grade- A

Would You Rather Movie Tag

February 5, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

I had fun on my youtube channel today. I was tagged by a youtuber called LondonCityGirlTV with a post called ‘Would You Rather Movie Tag’. I think it turned out kind of fun. Let me know what your answers would be!

Here is LondonCityGirlTV’s post

Wrinkles: A Review

February 2, 2015February 2, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Is your greatest fear growing old and getting put in a home to wither away isolated from the world? If you answered yes than I have the movie for you. The Spanish animated film Wrinkles is one of the saddest movies I’ve ever seen. That’s not a knock against it. There is absolutely a place and even necessity for tragedies in cinema. And I was moved by it and terrified and cried my eyes out…

Here’s the trailer.

Wrinkles has an interesting story. It is animated using hand drawings by the Spanish artist Paco Roca. It was released in Spain in 2011 and was nominated for an Annie in 2012 Nevertheless, it was the short list of possible Oscar nominees in 2014 because of finally getting an American cast dubbing and release in April 2014 (they certainly took their time!). It cost only $2 million euros to make (2.2 mil dollars). That’s astonishing when you see how lovely the animation is and even a low budget film like Secret of the Kells cost 6.5 million euros. It shows how cheaply animation can be done and achieve something beautiful.

Wrinkles is about a man named Emilio who is put into a nursing home by his kids and given a man named Miguel as his roommate. In the English dubbing these parts are played by Martin Sheen and Matthew Modine respectively. And basically the movie is about the deadening day to day life at the home and Emilio’s descent into Alzheimers.

Miguel is a bright light even if he cheats a few people out of money at the home. He does everything he can to make people happy in their delusions and it is sweet to see. For instance, there is a woman who fantasizes she is on a train to Turkey and he brings her a menthol cigarette she doesn’t light and they talk about how the journey is going.

Miguel is also very sweet with Emilio who grows paranoid as he loses one thing after another. Emilio’s family comes to visit on Christmas (only on Christmas) and he can’t remember his grandson or why they are there. He hates it at the home but it is where he needs to be at the moment.

There is a swimming pool at the home which taunts the residents who are not mobile enough to get in the water . However, it is very appealing to the younger generation putting their father in the home because ‘we remembered how you used to love to swim’. That is the so sad…There is one triumphant scene where Emilio decides to swim anyway and it is tense and joyous and completely lovely.

The ending with a prison break from the home seemed a little far-fetched but still lovingly done. Everything about the movie is lovingly done. It is heartbreaking but with love and it profiles an issue we don’t want to talk about. We want to hide it away like we hide the people away. As someone who doesn’t have children I will probably end up in some place like that. It’s so sad.

There is some humor mixed in and the dialogue is very well done. Miguel gets most of the jokes and like I said he is the light in the home.

Wrinkles is definitely grown up animation but I think it is an important message for kids to learn too. Life is still life even if they can’t remember and are hidden away. There is 2 uses of the F word but it is pretty clean story. It is definitely a heart breaker but in Miguel’s case there is a thin shred of hope throughout the film. I was really moved by it. Since when did every story have to be a comedy? Tragedies are important so we can absorb our own tragedies better.

It’s tough to watch but sometimes that is the most profound.

Overall Grade- A, Content Grade- B

Movies I Saw Youtube Videos

February 2, 2015February 2, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Today I tried something different and made 2 videos for my channel. One that summarized the movies I saw in the theater in January and another the movies I saw at home. If you read my reviews you already know my opinion but this is a summary. I would love if you took a look and subscribed to my channel.

Thanks!

Gone Girl Review

February 2, 2015February 2, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Definitely going to ruffle feathers on this review. When I got home from Comicon I decided to watch a movie last night and put on Gone Girl (trying to catch up). Gone Girl is a very well made completely preposterous movie that I just couldn’t get behind. I realize I’m in the minority on this one and I’m ok with that.

It’s very hard to talk about Gone Girl without giving away spoilers. Basically it is about a man named Nick played by Ben Affleck who’s wife played by Rosamund Pike is missing. A detective named Rhonda begins to suspect Nick of murdering his wife.

All the performances are good in Gone Girl. It is well directed by David Fincher using his typical harsh lighting and overall style.

I really loved the commentary it gives on our 24 hour news cycle although I’m not sure we needed two TV women in Missi Pyle and Sela Ward. Carrie Coon, Neal Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry are all good in their various roles. Of the entire cast I actually thought Pike was the weakest performance-wise. Again, I know I’m in minority on that one. It was very predictable and one note.

All that said, the movie requires the viewer to accept a character makes and executes a plan with perfect precision, never making mistakes. To me it was a preposterous twist I just couldn’t buy. Nobody is that perfect. It made the character a lot less interesting because he or she could do no wrong. And then the ending was bizarre and impossible to believe. It made no sense given everything we have been told about either characters. There is no way. I was left thinking again and again throughout the movie ‘you’ve got to be kidding me’.

Because this particular character twist is so over-the-top their actions and story became very predictable. They are the psychopaths we’ve seen a million times in a million other movies (and law and order episodes for that matter).

Occasionally I will like a predictable movie that does what it’s trying to do well but usually that is because I bond with a character or it has special effects or other unique appeal. I didn’t have that in Gone Girl. It reminded me of a movie like The Village or Signs (not that bad) but slickly made, good performances but a plot that defies credibility and made me groan.

I just didn’t buy the plot so despite good performances and interesting commentary, the movie was in the end a frustrating experience. I really didn’t care for it.

I’d also say it is a hard R definitely adults only for sexuality, violence, blood, gore and language.

That said, I can see if you can go with the scheming and plan than you’d like the movie. I just couldn’t. Sorry…

Content Grade- D, Overall Grade- C

I have not read the book it was based and so don’t know how it relates to the story in the book.

Oscars 2014: Annie Awards

February 1, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

Big night at Annie awards for How to Train Your Dragon 2. It’s certainly an entertaining movie and hopefully these awards will help keep Dreamworks afloat.

Put Dragon on your Oscar ballot!

Very happy to see Gravity Falls and my beloved Simpsons win in tv sections. Go Annies!

Film review: Big Hero 6

February 1, 2015 | Rachel's Reviews

My friend from England finally got to see Big Hero 6 and loved it as much as I did. Great review!

Comicon 2015

February 1, 2015May 28, 2025 | Rachel's Reviews

Today I had a fun new experience. Since 2013 they have had one of the most successful local comicon’s here in Salt Lake and I’ve wanted to attend but since I don’t read comic books I wasn’t sure it would be worth it. Well, this year it happened to fall on the week after my birthday so I thought why not? and I decided to go to Comicon.

It started today and it was a mixture of fun and not so much fun. Luckily I think next time I will know what not to do and have more fun. When I arrived I didn’t know which part of the Salt Palace Convention Center the Con was on so I parked on the West Side. Big mistake. I wish the organizers had put a sign or something because I had to walk to the very most East side through 3 other convention halls. I should have brought my cane but I figured I could rest. Big mistake.

Anyway, I got to the festivities and I had a good time shopping for about an hour and a half. I got some hair chalk, a necklace made of scrabble pieces and a t-shirt inked with a wood lithograph with a cool design of Elsa.

I also got a picture taken with the delorean from Back to the Future and got to donate to Parkinson’s research. Win-win.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I got my picture taken with R2D2 which was pretty cool

And a glitter tattoo

Then I headed over for my photo op with Carrie Fisher. It was $70 and I had paid for an autograph. The website had said to not arrive early. 15 minutes tops. I got there at 23 minutes before the session and the line was a mile long. It took me nearly 2 hours waiting. The whole thing was so disorganized and frustrating and then when I got there I had to take the photo on the floor with her dog.

I really don’t care that we were sitting on the floor or that her dog was there it was just the whole process was very frustrating. Why not give groups of people 10 minute windows to get their photos or make them more expensive so there is less interest. Anything rather than have me on my feet waiting in line for 2 hours. With my feet and knee problems standing like that is the worst thing and it was very frustrating. I also never got my autograph because we had to wait in another line for that. Forget it.

It was also incredibly hard to find any staff and just a general aura of confusion. I think there were only two small booths that were tough to find and I thought it was strange that nobody greeted me with a map and guide when I arrived. For the prices they are charging and attendance they are getting they need to step it up for next time.

Anyway, next time I will just save my money and go to the celebrity row they had and no lines and were much cheaper. I met lots of cool people including Ralph Macchio from Karate Kid. He was very nice.

Next time I go I will bring a lunch because the food concessions were small in number and long in lines. I got some pecans to hold me over (and luckily had eaten a fairly big breakfast).

Well, then I did a little more shopping and got to say hi to Olaf and Elsa.

Then the highlight of the day was a panel with Jess Arnell, Jim Cummings and Rob Paulsen. They are all amazing voice actors and they spent about an hour reading script from Harry Potter in tons of voices. It was hilarious and brilliant and amazing. It made the day! (Sorry it is shaky in spots).

I’m making it sound like I had a terrible time which isn’t true. I really did have fun and if I go again I will have way more fun because I will know what to avoid. As for the moment it’s late, my feet are killing and I am ready to zonk out. Happy Comicon!