Family holiday reviews

Since many of us will be enjoying a long weekend in celebration of Thanksgiving, that means shopping, family time, and movies.  Here's a run down of the family friendly options at le cineplex.

Bee Movie:  Jerry Seinfeld's collaboration with Dreamworks centers around the life of the bee Barry Benson, and his "early life crisis" at not knowing where to take his life in the hive.  He manages to score a mission with the Pollen Jocks in an attempt to taste a non-monotonous life, during which he is saved by Vanessa Bloom, the florist who saves him from death by shoe.  After scaring the daylights out of her, they become friends and it is on an outing to the grocery store that Barry discovers a horrifying truth:  the humans are stealing the honey.  Determined to get at the bottom of this theft, Barry employs the help of Vanessa, his bee friend Adam, and a judge and jury to obtain justice for the bees.  But at what cost do they obtain this justice?

Bottom line- Exceptionally well done.  The animation was great, the writing was good, and for a kid's movie, surprisingly enjoyable.  With a lot of Seinfeld's trademark humor thrown in, plenty of big name voices (Chris Rock, Matthew Broderick, Oprah, Renee Zellweger), and an amusing story, this is probably the best bet for kids and adults to enjoy together. My only complaint is a joke about murder-suicide pacts, which is part of what nudged it to a PG rating (that and the ridiculous "brief depictions of smoking").

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium:  The titular owner of the flamboyantly magical toy store is making arrangements for his store to pass on to the hands of his manager, Molly Mahoney, store manager and talented pianist.  This requires hiring an accountant, the "mutant" Henry Weston, a stick-in-the-mud bean-counter who is oblivious to the magic around him.  The store also employs the quirky Eric, a little boy unable to make friends with his peers.  But with the surprise departure of the 243 year-old Mr. Magorium, Mahoney finds herself unable to keep the magic alive, which leads to important revelations for all.

Bottom-line:  Cute, but it tries too hard.  Magorium is essentially a friendlier, less intimidating Willy Wonka, and the rest of the characters are a bit flat.  Natalie Portman has performed better than she does here, and hopefully Jason Bateman brought things up a notch for the upcoming Juno.  Formatting the movie as chapters of a story was a good touch, and the credits were creative enough to merit watching them.  With the G rating, it's definitely safe for all audiences, but might provide too many ideas to fatten up children's wish lists for Christmas.

Fred Claus:  Santa's less successful brother Fred finds himself struggling to keep his head above water, and after being jailed, calls his brother to bail him out.  Through some negotiating, he agrees to come up and lend Santa a hand with making his deadlines whilst a holiday corporate agent is breathing down his neck, threatening to shut down the North Pole.  Sibling rivalry and family tensions rear their heads, and Fred finds himself stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Bottom LIne:  From the previews, this looked amazing, but unfortunately it falls a bit short.  While Vince Vaughn delivers a few good jokes, but nothing that stands out.  Likewise, Paul Giamatti could have done with a few more punchlines.  Aside from the elf dance party, nothing about this movie makes it stand amongst other holiday favorites, such as Home Alone, A Christmas Story, or even The Santa Clause.

Family-centric releases for today are:

This Christmas, starring Loretta Devine, Regina King, and singer Chris Brown, as a family faces the joy and drama of coming together for the holidays for the first time in years.

August Rush, with Freddie Highmore, Keri Russel, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, Terrence Howard, and Robin Williams, is about the power of music in the life of an orphan born of musicians forced to give him up, and his quest to find them.

Enchanted, with Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, and Susan Sarandon, sees the collision of Disney's prototypical fairy tales and the harsh realities of New York City, which sees the lives of a father and daughter, and a princess from the past intersect for an adventure.

Post-turkey and parade, I'll be posting on Love in the Time of Cholera and Beowulf.  Until then, a Happy Thanksgiving to y'all.