Movie reviews from the weekend

I got to sit with my sweetest niece and most handsome nephew Sunday night, so it was an opportunity to chow down on pizza and Skittles and watch some movies!

First we watched Robots by the same folks who brought you Ice Age (which I had found quite enjoyable).

Now, this movie is no Finding Nemo or Monsters, Inc. or The Incredibles (three of my favorite animated features), but it was still a wonderful little surprise. The story takes place in a robot world, where the big corporation has moved from a philosophy of "You can shine whatever you're made of" to "Why be YOU when you can be NEW?" Parts for older robots will no longer be made. They'll either have to upgrade or be sent to the chop shop to be ground up. In steps the young robot, Rodney Copperbottom, voiced by Ewan McGregor, who makes it to the robot equivalent of NYC only to find that his kind are no longer wanted. He starts fixing the old robots (he's a tinkerer and inventor) and runs afoul of the new power structure. What happens next is predictable but still fun.

The visuals are complex and amusing. It is a very "retro" future--everything looks like it was made out of 1950's toasters and ovens. There are way too many attempts at low humor (fart jokes and the like), but that aside, it was a mild mannered movie.

I wouldn't mind adding this one to our collection.

We also watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the odd, but talented, Johnny Depp.

I think it's a generational thing. While there were many things to like in this newest version, I just didn't like it as much as I did the old version. However, the 2 kiddos liked this version much, MUCH better than the old one. They didn't find the Oompa Loompas as menacing as the bigger ones in the Gene Wilder version.

I very much liked the ending of the new film, though. The importance of family was so sweetly demonstrated. And the kid playing Charlie Bucket? GREAT!

So a mixed review of this one: The kids said Yay! And I said OK.