THE FILM:

Your favorite heroes from the previous computer animated hits, Ice Age and Ice Age 2: The Meltdown are back.

The third installment of the Ice Age films, Ice Ace: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, finds wooly mammoths, Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah), embarking on their biggest adventure yet—preparing the world for the birth of a baby mammoth!  Their new family outlook leaves old pals Diego, a saber-toothed tiger (Denis Leary), and Sid, a sloth (John Leguizamo), feeling all alone in the big, bad, frozen world.  Like always, Sid is fast to find trouble, this time in the way of three dinosaur eggs he discovers in an underground cave.  He takes the tots in as a family of his own.  Little does he know, the adorable baby t-rexes come with a mad momma who steals her three babies and their “mother,” Sid, taking them into a hidden, underground world!  Manny, Ellie, and Diego must team up to save the day!  Also along for the ride are Eddie and Crash (Josh Peck and Sean William Scott, respectively), Ellie’s possum brothers, and a new character, Buck (Simon Pegg), an Aussie that guides the gang through this mysterious world.  Meanwhile, Scrat, the luckless saber-toothed squirrel, and his foxy female friend are fighting over that same pesky acorn.

I thoroughly enjoyed both Ice Age and The Meltdown.  Dawn of the Dinosaurs is not as funny as its predecessors, though.  In fact, it is not super funny at all.  It had its moments.  That is about all I can say for it.

The Scrat/Scratte miniature story arch is easily my favorite thing about the movie.  Scrat is still your “every man,” goofy character.  Scratte is everything he is not:  smart and sizzling!  This story line is too cute and so enjoyable.

The theme of the third Ice Age was straightforward and simple:  true family may extend beyond blood and onto the people who are always around to support you.  It is the perfect message for a great family oriented film.  Although the characters are not your average herd of animals, their dysfunctional relationship is heart-warming and realistic.

THE BLU-RAY:

Audio/Video: The audio was great, especially for the score of the comedic crash and chase scenes.  I also appreciated it with the roar of the dinosaur!  The video was just average for me, nothing special to comment on.

Director’s Commentary: Boring…

Ice Age Story Book Maker: This interactive story book maker allows viewers to pick scenes from the film and tell a tale of their own.  Its only downside is the amount of effort it takes to play… not exactly what I want to spend all day doing, but I’m sure my favorite munchkins will be entertained.

Exploration Expedition: They could not resist adding some educational importance for kiddos.  An expert on animals of the Ice Age takes a look at the qualities of each character from a scientific stand-point.

Buck: From Weasel to Easel: This feature examines the new addition to the Ice Age cast, Buck, the weasel, with interviews from the voices of characters.

Unearthing the Lost World: How are dinosaurs roaming around in the Ice Age?  Find out how the people in charge made that connection, as well as all the new projects involved in making the jump from the land of the ice and snow to the steamy jungle.

Walk the Dinosaur: Music Video: Fun song!

Scrat Shorts: Since Scrat is my favorite character, I’m all about these mini stories starring Scrat.  Way to put a smile on my face!

Scrat Featurettes: There are 5 featurettes, and while the first two were, to me, boring beyond belief (a “how-to” draw the character and a little informative clip on the saber-toothed squirrel), the “Breaking News” report on the dangers of finding the flash-frozen Scat was indeed fun to watch.

Fox Movie Channel Specials: There are five Fox Movie Channel features on the Blu-Ray disc.  “Making A Scene” made me realize that computer animation is DIFFICULT. It’s not like this feature was super entertaining, but I now know I don’t have the patience or energy to be a computer cartoonist!  Also on the disc as a Fox Movie Channel Special are “Getting Into Character” with John Leguizamo, Ray Romano, and Queen Latifah.  I really enjoyed these.  All three actors have such great personalities which make for entertaining interviews.

The Film: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Here are the newest members:

Josh Hutcherson will play Robert (originated by C. Thomas Howell) and become the group’s tech geek. You’ll remember Hutcherson from Journey to the Center of the Earth and Bridge to Terabithia.

Isabel Lucas will play Lea Thompson‘s Erica, the head cheerleader and Peck’s character’s girlfriend whom he desperately wants to rescue from an internment camp. Lucas most recently appeared in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Connor Cruise, who recently played the young Will Smith character in Seven Pounds, will play Daryl, the mayor’s son and best friend of Robert. He is also the real-life son of Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman. Daryl was originally played by Darren Dalton.

Edwin Hodge will play Danny (Brad Savage‘s role), “the coolest kid in school” and star wide receiver who helps establish the resistance. Hodge has a recurring role on Fox‘s Mental and recently appeared in the film All the Boys Love Mandy Lane.

The new script, written by Carl Ellsworth and Jeremy Passmore, will stay close to the original film. Along with a few casting alterations, the main difference will be that the bad guy invaders are China and Russia instead of the Soviet Union. The film will be directed by Dan Bradley (Quantum of Solace and Bourne Ultimatum).

The actors will spend a few weeks in military training before filming begins next month in Detroit. The film is scheduled for a Sept. 24, 2010 release.

SOURCES: Cinema Blend, Hollywood Reporter, Yahoo! Movies, Beyond Hollywood & Cinema Suicide

The Film

The Wackness earned a standing ovation at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and it is easy to see why. The film is a winner; it plays to the coming-of-age genre and its conventions perfectly. You’ll laugh and cry in all of the appropriate ways. Now that doesn’t make the film original but sometimes who cares. A well-made film is a well-made film, despite it having a typical approach to youth angst.

There’s a sequence in the later half of the film in which the director uses a fast paced shot across various streets in broad daylight while having the main character’s middle finger being blasted into everyone’s face. It’s clever and interesting. Jonathan Levine once in a while lets lead, Luke’s (Josh Peck), imagination run wild. Or maybe it’s his feelings. That scene I described comes right after his first girlfriend breaks his heart. It seems loud and rude, but what 17 year old wouldn’t feel that way when a heart gets broken?

Despite the familiarity with this coming-of-age story, I still found a lot of interesting ideas going through it, and not just the visuals. Each character is missing something and they all have a trouble with connecting. Luke cannot connect to his classmates or the beautiful Stephanie. His shrink cannot connect to his wife or the younger generation, no matter how hard he tries and Stephanie seems capable, but gets bored easily. The shrink, played by Ben Kingsley is a great performance, one to almost rid our current memory of Mr. Kingsley in some junk he has been in as of late. He’s wacky and perfectly casts that ex-druggie persona. It’s kind of fun seeing Gandhi smoking from the bong.

Another aspect I enjoyed from this film is the use of hip-hop music in the film. Personally, I find most films using rap as a soundtrack to either seem cool or sell a soundtrack, but ‘The Wackness’ uses the music as a backdrop to a time of change the characters and New York City are facing; Giuliani is ‘cracking down’ on crime and drugs. The film places this within its narrative almost like its Prohibition. While the drugs don’t make the characters connect, it’s a way to the means of connection. But getting back to the music, this is a time when Biggie was breaking out, A Tribe Called Quest ruled, and Wu Tang channeled intelligence and youthful feelings. Think a hip hop version of ‘Dazed and Confused’, but that sounds bad. It works wonderfully within the narrative, as an almost character itself that helps out saving people and bringing them together.

Josh Peck plays the typical white boy listening to rap, but there’s such depth to his character, you’ll look past that perception. Olivia Thirbly is perfect as the desirable Stephanie; she’s the typical girl we all wanted in high school. ‘I see the dopeness in everything, and you just see the wackness’ she tells Luke. It’s true of the film too. ‘The Wackness’ is dope as it’s all about people learning and connecting, with cool visuals and a great soundtrack. Now, can I see the director’s first film, ‘All the Boys Love Mandy Lane’ now?

The Blu Ray

Special Features

While I really dig this flick, the special features are pretty weak.

Commentary: Jonathan Levine and Josh Peck provide an interesting track, sharing stories and technical bits of information.

Time in a Bottle: The cast and crew wax nostalgic about New York, the production design of the movie, and talk about the ever evolving music scene.

Deleted Scenes: This feature is pretty weak.  Just four scenes is all we get, and they really aren’t anything special.

Keeping it Real: Director Jonathan Levine discusses the life of the film, and talks about taking it to film festivals.  This is a really cool feature, but at eight minutes it’s just to short.

There are also Trailers, and another feature called Luke Shapiro’s Dope Show, but they weren’t anything amazing.  Also I should note that the trailers were the only things in the special features that were 1080p.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars