I love Raising Arizona, but it has built up enough of a cult status that I think only casual moviegoers have overlooked it at this point. It received its due, in my mind, when it was named the 31st funniest movie of all time on AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs list. I appreciate the suggestion, though.
The marvelous magic that molded 'Drowning Mona' together was, more or less, the malicious maneuvers that mend most Americans together... in a mute sort of way, you could argue. In other words, we're a little of this and a little of that, privately pawning off the things that position themselves into our lives somehow (most of these embarrassments are found throughout this particular jewel of a film). If you watch this film, firmly facing its floor, you'll furnish yourself with all sorts of fun that's subtly going on with its characters. As it was briefly mentioned, there's so many tiny tortures comedically connecting the centralized cast. The "Dearlys" come off as circus cons, costing you to cash in with laughter when they've behaved in a way that belittles your sense of importance. This can be remarkably humorous; like it or not. (Possibly why Jerry Springer became so successful)
I own this trailer-park odyssey of a picture because I can find ways to wander through the waste that the characters fight to subside. It's that joke of a journey that jolts my joints. I still can't stop laughing at how much of this film I'd seen before I'd ever watched it.
__________________ "Pork the pain past the point of pleasure; pen piss on a pink paw, for peace pours plain."
Aye, there is a tabloid-feel to the Dearlys. And poor Bobby feels a bit like the person backstage who has no idea what he's about to be brought out to.
Good post, though I must say:
"A lot of alliteration from anxious anchors placed in powerful posts!"
Aye, there is a tabloid-feel to the Dearlys. And poor Bobby feels a bit like the person backstage who has no idea what he's about to be brought out to.
Good post, though I must say:
"A lot of alliteration from anxious anchors placed in powerful posts!"
"Grandma, what big ears you have!" "All the better to hear your many criticisms with."
That was the line. Three minutes into the film, that was when I knew this wasn't going to be another formulaic, pleasant-enough-but-nothing-to-write-home-about all-CGI family film.
I hadn't heard much about Hoodwinked!, but was movie-starved at the time so my girlfriend and I decided to go see it. The only other people in the theater were a woman and her little boy, and I'd like to go back and apologize to them for laughing so loudly and most likely drowning out a third of the film.
For those who don't know, Hoodwinked! is a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. But it's approached as a detective story in that quasi-Rashômon style we all know so well. It's a pretty short story, after all, so why not retell it from four different perspectives? Those four would be: Red's (Anne Hathaway), The Wolf's (Patrick Warburton), Grandma's (Glenn Close), and The Woodman's (Jim Belushi).
We learn pretty quickly that none of these characters are the way we've come to think of them from other retellings. Red is hopelessly sarcastic, The Wolf is actually an investigative reporter, Grandma's an adrenaline junkie, and The Woodsman is a starving actor. If it all sounds a little gimmicky, well, it is...but it's a good gimmick, and the humor is crisp and surprisingly adult.
"What's with the handcuffs on a little girl? Her wrists can slip right out. How about a cage?" "Bring in the cage!" "I was being sarcastic." "Sarcasm. Strike the cage..."
Lines like this need great voice work and comedic timing to land properly, and everyone here is up to the task. Close and Belushi don't really sound anything like themselves as Grandma and The Woodsman; I was surprised to see both of their names in the credits.
Warburton, in particular, excels as the dry, sardonic Wolf W. Wolf who, as the name implies, is a bit of a takeoff on Fletch. He wears a number of disguises as the film goes along, and seems bored half the time.
"What do you do for a living, Mr. Wolf?" "I'm a shepherd."
The animation is, as you can see, not quite top-notch. It looks quite good in some places (there are some superb lighting effects at times), but it's all just a bit shy of first-tier. This, combined with the glut of such films, and the bizarre humor throughout, stopped Hoodwinked! from banking too much at the box office. Thankfully, it cost a miniscule $15 million, so it was plenty profitable, and a sequel's in production as we speak. Happy happy, joy joy.
The animation doesn't hurt the film too much, bcause it's passable, and the movie is hysterically funny. This is thanks in large part to the dialogue, and the bizarre secondary characters.
Far and away the most entertaining is Japeth, a mountain goat Red meets on her way to Grandma's. As weird as that sounds, he's also, uh...well, I'll let him tell you:
"I'm looking for Granny Puckett's house?" [singing] "Graaaaaaaanneeee Puckeeeet..." "Could you stop singing for one moment?" [singing] "No I can't, wish I could, but a mountain witch done put a spell on me, 37 years agoooooooo, and now I gotta sing every thing I saaaaaaaaayyyyyy..." "Everything?" [speaking] "That's right." "You just talked! Just now!" "Oh, did I?" [singing] "Did I? Dididididodadidididoooo..."
It's every bit as goofy as it sounds, but the voice work of Benjy Gaither is tremendous, and makes it work. But Japeth's mere appearance is pretty funny all by itself. Hats off to whoever devised and/or designed him.
Another, more serious supporting character is the detective interrogating the suspects, Nicky Flippers, voiced authoritatively by David Ogden Stiers. And in case you're wondering why he's called "Flippers," well, Red asks him the same question, and you'll just have to see the flick to find out.
"Ah, remember Ted, pieces of the puzzle make funny shapes, but they still fit together in the end." "Boy, you're just full o' those, aren'tcha?"
There's also a hyperactive squirrel named Twitchy. Most people will note that he's a good deal like Over the Hedge's Hammy, though Twitchy came along the year before. He's voiced by director Cory Edwards, who recorded his lines and then sped them up 150% to achieve the desired effect.
There's a lot more, as the entire incident is set within the larger context of finding a thief who's been stealing everyone's recipes. The revelation is just another excuse to keep going after the interrogations are complete, though, and to that end it works fine.
Hoodwinked! is best for those who have an innate appreciation for absurdity, or anyone who can enjoy the one-liners without being turned off by the occasionally poor animation. But seriously, how can you not love a fairy tale adaptation that uses the word "Eurotrash"?
Of all the CGI-based family films (and there are quite a few), this is among the funniest. And while all such films these days are smart enough to make themselves palpable to adults, this one seems practically targetted to them. I give it .
Last edited by Yoda; 03-20-08 at 12:39 PM.
Reason: Typos; the bane of my existence.
By the way, while walking down the hall to see Hoodwinked! (it was kinda tucked away in the back of the theater), my girlfriend and I came across a little boy; the same one we saw in the theater with his mother. He stopped when he got to us and asked:
"Ya'll going to see 'Hoodwinked!'?" "Yup." (pause) "There ain't nobody in there..."
He said this in an extremely high-pitched voice. I think this somehow added to the charm of the movie for me.
Last edited by Yoda; 03-20-08 at 12:39 PM.
Reason: Whoops, should've been "There"
Oh my god, that looks like something you'd see on a Saturday morning cartoon show. Or a video game. No wonder there's ain't nobody in there! I don't remember when this movie came out, and I vaguely remember the title. It's probably worth seeing just for Glenn Close, though.
Hoodwinked! is best for those who have an innate appreciation for absurdity, or anyone who can enjoy the one-liners without being turned off by the occasionally poor animation. But seriously, how can you not love a fairy tale adaptation that uses the word "Eurotrash"?
Sounds like a movie I'd like. I have picked this one up to rent a couple of times, then changed my mind at the last moment and went with something else. I'll make sure to actually rent it next time.
Well, the review is new, but the film is a couple years old.
Anyway, you're right about the animation; it's not that great. I just didn't care, though. I get my fill of crisp animation from any number of films; I find Hoodwinked!'s level of comedy to be far rarer than great visuals.
As for epic, well, it'd have to be an entirely different film to invoke that sort of feeling, and I'm not sure how epic the tale of Little Red Riding Hood can be, anyway. I think a lot of people who were disappointed by this flick were probably expecting another Pixar-style tale of scope and grandeur, rather than a witty, sarcastic laugh-fest. As much as I like the former, the latter is increasingly hard to find, which is probably why I loved Hoodwinked! so much.
Last edited by Yoda; 07-09-08 at 06:41 PM.
Reason: Fixed broken bbCode tag.
I found that they didn't use the settings as much as they could. They were in the woods, in the alps and the mine, but I wanted more. I wanted to know more about this world and everytime the book opened I wanted to be introduced to another part of the world they lived in. It seemed to small in scope for me.
But yeah, it does get a bad rap, I found it to be better then a lot of other animated films.
Overlooked by way too many: This Boy's Life -It's freakin' DeNiro, for cryin' out loud. Brainstorm- Early 80's C. Walken AND Natalie Wood's last flick The Dead Zone- Stephen King and Walken Mediterraneo- Best Foreign Film '90 (Italy) Outside Providence- Funny, classic scenes abound
Good question. I've got a list of other films I can use here somewhere. Still got a lot on my plate for the next few days, but hopefully I'll be able to track it down and get another review up. Thanks for the kick in the butt.
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