Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

[Mt. Doom]

I fondly remember reading the book all the time in first grade but this movie just looks like something completely different. I haven't been impressed with Sony Animation. I'm split though since I didn't really see enought to call out on whether it'll be good or not

[Mr Johannson]

A lot more information and a clip:
http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=57102

[NoOneFamous]

This looks like a new Disney CGI film without Pixar... in other words, completely generic, and filled with humor that you can tell is trying so hard to be "hip" and just fails because its obvious how hard they are trying.

^it's this style in 3D. Which apparently doesn't translate very well.

That animation style is pretty much the same trash that almost every show on Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Disney uses these days.

The character designs are a bunch of polygons with faces slapped on. When only a few shows did it it was ok, but now they all do it and its just lazy and annoying and just as effortless as the writing they put into it.

[StarskyMaxwell]

Told ya.

[Mt. Doom]

It's only six reviews, the 100 will change very soon.

Up started with 100% its first few days and eventually moved down to 97%

Not really a good example though considering it's Pixar we're talking about

[Disgruntled Goat]

http://www.metacritic.com/film/title...tballs#critics
3 reviews, average 67

at the very least, that proves that a tiny handful of reviews is not a reliable metric.

also, jonathon ross (uk critic) said last night it wasn't great

[Ryan]

Considering the only top critic is barely recommending it, that 100% is sure to fade soon. Remember, the Toronto Film Festival is occurring right now, so the real critics will have to wait until Friday to slide in their input on Cloudy.

The clip I saw on Conan was decently funny, but Bill Hader's reaction was funnier when Conan said he thought Anna Faris' character looked sexy as a cartoon.

[Steve]

Looking forward to this, I haven't seen a movie in a theater since Harry Potter two months ago.

[Semaj]

I'll still be seeing it.

[pecken]

all the trailers look ungodly bad. i will be skipping this one.

[Bella Drape 'er]

Another animation thing like Igor - looks crap, unappealing and that I am not going to watch it.

[Ryan]

Another animation thing like Igor - looks crap, unappealing and that I am not going to watch it.

Except unlike Igor, this one is being produced by a big-budget studio (Sony Pictures Animation, "Surf's Up", "Open Season"), written and directed by two great writers (Phil Lord, Chris Miller, "Clone High", "How I Met Your Mother") and starring truly funny talent (Bill Hader, Anna Faris, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T). And it's not the animation that's bad, but the style that's a little funky. (which, I don't care what Jamie says, is exactly like Clone High in CG, which Miller and Lord also designed)

Plus, an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes isn't bad at all. Most Dreamworks films can't even reach that, and it's better than Pixar's worst. (pretty obvious which one that is) The running consensus on it seems to be that it's cute and very, very likable, just not attaining the greatness that Pixar films usually do. That's much more than I ever expected from it.

I don't have time to see it this weekend, but I'll definetly netflix it on blu-ray next year...

[arii]

Saw it tonight with a friend who probably wouldn't have thought to watch it otherwise - we were both pleasantly surprised and really, really delighted with it when it was over.

It's a great movie. It's not epic or mindblowing like Pixar films are or anything, but it's just a really, really fun and sweet outing. The animation style fits in very nicely with the tone of the whole film and it's a perfect match. It's bright and bouncy and colourful and gorgeous to just watch. The 3D isn't bad either, it isn't terribly obnoxious and it was a great enhancement.

I found the humour to be very reminiscent of Clone High's, albeit directed towards a younger audience for the most part, but it was largely successful in those areas. I really did enjoy the pacing and it all felt like a natural build-up to me, though it does come off as a bunch of random scenes one after another, just moving along until a more direct sense of plot happens, but it was just... really fun to watch.

The characters were sweet and funny and they all had great interactions with one another (I wasn't expecting anything like the stuff between Flint and his dad, for example, but ended up loving it). Voice acting was brilliant and everything really fit together.

Some of the scenes with food were really gorgeous and awe-inspiring and just flat-out beautiful, and some were just... absolutely repulsive, but it went along perfectly with the story's progression, so that was fantastic and it was really well thought-out. Very creative and engaging and I just wanted to see what was going to happen next... It was a lovely little world they built for this movie.

I basically got pretty interested and engaged in the movie as a whole. It's not a masterpiece. It's just really, really fun. (So overly general review because I'm too lazy to use spoiler tags here. Just go see it, guys.)

[Steve]

Saw it tonight with two friends. My one friend, who is about my age, was actually really wanting to see it because it was his favorite book as a kid. Surprised the heck out of me that he would want to see a movie like this.


Anyway, I honestly can think of nothing remotely unpleasant to say about this movie. If I had to describe it in one word, I'd say "fun". I really enjoyed the animation style, it was very cute. They did a good job of nailing the facial expressions and making the characters feel real, especially in their interactions with each other. Flint's dad had a pretty distinct look, with his blocky nose and caterpillar eyebrow.

It was really, really funny. I laughed out loud a lot. They didn't cop out and go for a lot of cheap references. There were some great sight-gags (did anyone else notice the "welcome to moose port"?), like when everybody built boats out of food, and one of them had a mast made of a pretzel stick.

The animation was great. They went for a more classic, cartoony (almost anime-ish) look, but it worked with the whole whimsical feel of the film. We're pretty damned accustomed to CG films by now, but I still found myself marveling at certain scenes, like when it started raining cheeseburgers and the way they fell apart as they hit the ground; and then the food avalanche, MY GOD. The work that must have gone into rendering every little piece of food ... holy crap.

We saw it in 3D, and it was great, just like Up. They didn't do a whole lot of "in your face" gags, it was just very well done and pulled you into the atmosphere. I agree with iceiwynd/arii, it's a beautiful movie. Very bright and colorful.

Pretty great movie and experience, overall. I recommend it.


Oh, and it had a freakin' nice 3D trailer for Avatar beforehand, as well as A Christmas Carol.

[Disgruntled Goat]

Plus, an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes isn't bad at all. Most Dreamworks films can't even reach that, and it's better than Pixar's worst. (pretty obvious which one that is)

Actually, it wasn't to me, I had to check a few. I was surprised to see A Bug's Life at 91% and absolutely shocked to see Ratatouille at 96% - those two are Pixar's worst, IMO.

I can't believe Cars had 75%. I think critics compared it too much to its predecessor, The Incredibles, which was fantastic - Cars was a bit of a step down, but after rewatching it recently I can safely say it's a great effort from Pixar. One of their most beautiful-looking films, too.

[Mt. Doom]

Visual wise, yes
Story wise, no

I hope to God I never get the misfortune of watching Cars again....

[PreciousBodilyFluids]

http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2009/...meatballs.html

[Ryan]

http://johnkstuff.blogspot.com/2009/...meatballs.html

Nothing like a John K review to humble your own cynicism...

[Dark Homer]

No animated features have stories that work,

???

[Semaj]

What a surprise that most of his lackeys are only now thinking about seeing it, and will most likely come to the same conclusion as him.

[LuxFixxins]

Me and the Fiancee went and saw it last night.

It was really funny.

MR. T made that damn movie.

His delivery of "heck, I'm so mad at Flick I'm going to slap him across the face" was great and made me laugh out loud.

I loved how it wasn't afraid to be a cartoon. Particuarly when they show the machine that scoops up the left overs for the first time. The bounciness and animation was brilliant.

Bruce Campbell as the may was awesome.

I also loved how the move didnt take itself to seriously and go for the gag, like when the mayor was explaining how he was proud of Flick and ever sentence he would appear from a different angle even though there was no camera change on flicks face. It was simotaneously creepy, awkward and funny.

I also noticed the Welcome to Moose Port... which was quite an absurd and random reference that made a joke for the sake of making a joke.

It was great.... I still don't understand how Chicken Brent was possible, but that's an example of a cartoon just being a cartoon and being wacky.

Good times.

See it in 3D.

[TriforceBun]

Bump for DVD release.

Just caught this from the local Red Box--only a dollar!--and it was worth it for sure. Suddenly, Pixar isn't the only game in animated town, and I couldn't be happier.

That's not to say it was quite on the level of Pixar's efforts (for the most part), but it's regardless an extremely energetic, inventive, funny and charming film that's just fun from beginning to end. Everything about it was better than I expected--animation, music, characters, and heart. The food storms got progressively more interesting and surreal, and the final scenes were fairly unpredictable. Even better, many seemingly insignificant or funny sequences early on all end up playing into the plot in some fashion, which always gives stories a well-thought-out feel to them.

The only real gripes I have are that the pacing seems a little odd (around the middle in particular, when we're mainly seeing it rain food day to day) and a few aspects could've been developed more (such as the villain, who was kinda funny and kind of a jerk, but not particularly memorable). But the love story was sweet in a geeky kind of way, and the final scene is actually pretty touching.

So yeah, go find it and give it a watch. B+/A-

[Disgruntled Goat]

Who did this film? Dreamworks? Fox?

[troymclure17]

Who did this film? Dreamworks? Fox?

Neither, Columbia. They also did Open Season I believe

[rocio]

i this movie and anna farris and bill hader as the leads