For those of us in the Northeast, it’s been a long; frigid winter. Our collective cabin fever hit a boiling point. But here we are just a few days from Daylight Savings Time followed by the official start of spring! As such, I would like to provide a list of springtime movie suggestions to get you and your family in the right mood to get outside for some long-awaited adventure!

This list is presented in alphabetical order and is not intended to be a ranking system.

A Bug’s Life

On behalf of “oppressed bugs everywhere,” an inventive ant named Flik (voiced by Dave Foley) hires a troupe of warrior bugs to defend his bustling colony from a horde of freeloading grasshoppers led by the evil-minded Hopper (Kevin Spacey). Little does Flik know that his tough “warriors” are really circus performers who have no clue when it comes to combat. Pixar takes you inside the miniature world of insects for this larger-than-life adventure. (from Netflix.com)

Antz

In this animated hit, a neurotic worker ant (Woody Allen) in love with a rebellious princess (Sharon Stone) rises to unlikely stardom when he switches places with a soldier (Sylvester Stallone). Signing up to march in a parade, he ends up under the command of a bloodthirsty general (Gene Hackman) who’s leading a war against a termite army. The all-star cast includes the voices of Anne Bancroft, Jennifer Lopez, Christopher Walken and Danny Glover. (from Netflix.com)

Bee Movie

Jerry Seinfeld stars in this animated comedy as recent college grad Barry B. Benson, a worker bee stuck in a dead-end job making honey who files a lawsuit against humans when he learns they’ve been stealing bees’ nectar all along. Co-written by Seinfeld, the film features an all-star voice cast, including Renée Zellweger, John Goodman, Matthew Broderick and Chris Rock, as well as “Seinfeld” alumni Michael Richards and Patrick Warburton. (from Netflix.com)

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Inventor Flint Lockwood creates a machine that makes clouds rain food, enabling the down-and-out citizens of Chewandswallow to feed themselves. But when the falling food reaches gargantuan proportions, Flint must scramble to avert disaster. Can he regain control of the machine and put an end to the wild weather before the town is destroyed? Bill Hader and Anna Faris lend their vocal talents to this Golden Globe-nominated animated adventure. (from Netflix.com)

Everyone’s Hero

Inspired by executive producer Christopher Reeve’s indomitable perseverance, this animated fable chronicles the story of young ballplayer Yankee Irving (voiced by Jake T. Austin), who journeys a thousand miles to help Babe Ruth and the Bronx Bombers win the World Series. A host of stars lend their voices, including Brian Dennehy, William H. Macy, Whoopi Goldberg, Rob Reiner, Robert Wagner and Dana Reeve. (from Netflix.com)

James and the Giant Peach

When young orphan James spills a magic bag of crocodile tongues, he finds himself in possession of the world’s biggest peach — a massive fruit that rolls, floats and flies him away to strange and distant lands. But that’s not half as odd as the inhabitants James finds living inside its juicy flesh: a talking centipede (Richard Dreyfuss), a ladybug (Jane Leeves) and a spider (Susan Sarandon) who want to help the boy escape his wicked aunts. (from Netflix.com)

Open Season

After saving a mule deer from a hunter’s clutches, a domesticated grizzly finds himself relocated to the wild — and unprepared for the real world. Can the furry pals make it to safety before open season starts, or will they end up mounted on a wall? Ashton Kutcher, Gary Sinise, Martin Lawrence, Billy Connolly, Debra Messing and Jon Favreau lend their voices to this animated adventure that’s perfect for the whole family. (from Netflix.com)

Over The Hedge

Awakening from a long winter nap to find a subdivision in their backyard, a colony of critters, led by a gun-shy tortoise (Garry Shandling), is forced to face its worst fear — humans — with help from an opportunistic raccoon (Bruce Willis). This animated comedy’s star-studded voice cast includes Thomas Haden Church, Nick Nolte, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Avril Lavigne, William Shatner and Wanda Sykes. (from Netflix.com)

The Ant Bully

Fed up with being targeted by the neighborhood bully, 10-year-old Lucas Nickle (voiced by Zach Tyler) vents his frustrations on the anthill in his front yard … until the insects shrink him to the size of a bug with a magic elixir. Convicted of “crimes against the colony,” Lucas can only regain his freedom by living with the ants and learning their ways. This animated film’s all-star voice cast includes Nicolas Cage and Julia Roberts. (from Netflix.com)

Winnie the Pooh: Springtime with Roo

Spring has sprung, and baby Roo is excited to get out and explore and make new friends. But Rabbit seems preoccupied with spring cleaning. Leave it to Roo to show Rabbit — through love — that it’s more important who you love and not who’s in charge. Winnie the Pooh, Tigger and all of A.A. Milne’s cherished characters are on hand to celebrate the season and the blessings of friendship. (from Netflix.com)

Director: Simon J. Smith, Steve Hickner Starring: voices of Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger Running Time: 1 hour, 38 minutes Theatrical Release: November 2, 2007 Shop for Bee Movie Merchandise

Plot Summary

Bee Movie is a comedy that will change everything you think you know about bees. Having just graduated from college, a bee by the name of Barry B. Benson (Jerry Seinfeld) finds himself disillusioned with the prospect of having only one career choice – honey. As he ventures outside of the hive for the first time, he breaks one of the cardinal rules of the bee world and talks to a human, a New York City florist named Vanessa (Renée Zellweger). He is shocked to discover that the humans have been stealing and eating the bees’ honey for centuries, and ultimately realizes that his true calling in life is to set the world right by suing the human race for stealing their precious honey. (from MovieWeb.com)

Film Review

Upon the completion of the smash hit television sitcom Seinfeld nine years ago, comedian Jerry Seinfeld decided to hang up his stand-up career soon after as well and lay low for awhile. Seinfeld had successfully settled down, married, and started a family, before deciding to reignite his stand-up career and begin penning his first feature family film, the animated production Bee Movie. It’s exciting to think of the humor and wit of Jerry Seinfeld being channeled into a DreamWorks Animation project, and since learning of its process over three years ago, it’s a movie I’ve been looking forward to.

Admittedly, as a fan of Seinfeld’s shtick, Bee Movie is a bit weak at times but is overall a fun cinematic outing. The animation style is a bit different from your usual affair. A lot of the detail is concentrated on the little insects and their world, with some of the humans’ animation ending up a little stiff and rigid, but it works out given the fact that this is all about the bees, and a lot of thought has been put into fleshing these little guys out. In fact, the bees are portrayed in such a way that you’re likely to think about them a lot more differently now – even to the point of liking them if you never had before. But the animation as a whole is on par with other DreamWorks projects like Madagascar or Shrek, and is just as uniquely stylized. So even if the humor isn’t hitting the mark as often as you’d like, there are plenty of beautiful visuals to keep the viewer’s interest.

And the kind of occasionally tasteless humor is right in line with that of Shrek or even Fox Animation Studios’ Ice Age films. While there isn’t really any language (aside from a play on words as Barry lists bee versions of celebrities and says “Bee Buddha, Bee Ghandi, and even a Bee-Jesus!”), there are a few suggestive references. These potentially off-color moments include the bees all being “cousins” when it comes to dating each other, a queen bee that was really a male bee disguised as a queen (for a joke about a “drag queen”), and the biggest surprise was in a courtroom scene where the lawyer tries to imply that Barry’s relationship with Vanessa – a human – is more than just a friendship, even going as far as calling him a “bed bug.” It was a bit of an awkward moment for a family cartoon, but it’s also likely that this would buzz right over kids’ heads. Aside from a couple instances of borderline humor, there are some surprisingly violent moments as well. When Barry starts talking to Vanessa (he’s a bee, she’s a human), she stabs her hand with a fork quite hard to make sure she’s not dreaming. Later, when Barry fantasizes about hanging out with Vanessa (they share a picnic and go flying together), she suddenly accidentally crashes her plane into the side of a mountain and explodes in a ball of fire. Its shock value is likely to elicit some laughs, but it seemed edgy for a family comedy.

Although there is a peppering of violence and a few off-color jokes, the majority of Bee Movie is a fun animated comedy. Seinfeld’s signature observational comedy works well inside the world of bees, but it seems he holds back from the potential of cracking one-liners all throughout the movie. One of the best Seinfeld moments comes in his confrontation with “Bee Larry King” and he starts riffing about there being a real-life human Larry King just like him. It’s the kind of humor you’d find in the comedian’s popular TV show or even in his stand-up routine, and it made for one of the funniest scenes in the film. Of course, his signature touches are felt all across Bee Movie – particularly each time a real life observation is made about insect life. In addition to Jerry being the ringleader, Matthew Broderick is a great choice for the best friend of Seinfeld’s Barry B. Benson. Patrick Warburton, also a Seinfeld alumnus, is fun as a sort of villain to Barry, being a bee-hating jock boyfriend of Vanessa’s. Renee Zellweger adds a nice sweetness to Vanessa, while other recognizable voices from Michael Richards (Kramer on Seinfeld) to Rip Torn, to John Goodman and Chris Rock all make notable appearances (and it’s fun to try to pick out who’s voicing whom if you know who to look for ahead of time).

Bee Movie may live up just a slight bit too closely to its bold play-on-words title, but in the end remains to be a fun animated feature. The film’s finest moments are clearly not when Barry is taking on the human race to fight the stealing of their honey (although an interesting little twist happens because of this), but the look into the intriguing hive-life of honey bees as well as Barry’s fish-out-of-water experiences in the human world of New York City are all ingredients for making one sweet little film. It may not be Shrek 2 or Over The Hedge, but Bee Movie is a highlight of the 2007 animated choices and a welcomed break from a Fall season riddled with unwatchable horror films and adult Oscar contenders. If you have any questions or comments about the film before you see it (if you decide to), feel free to contact me.