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)

Culver City, CA (January 7, 2010) – To coincide with the rollout of 3D electronics hardware from Sony Electronics, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) today announced the studio will begin releasing 3D content on Blu-ray Disc™ worldwide in 2010.

The first planned SPHE Blu-ray 3D release will be the recent animated blockbuster “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs,” timed to the availability of Sony Electronics’ 3D compatible BRAVIA® LCD TVs and 3D compatible Blu-ray disc players in the summer of 2010. More information about the upcoming Blu-ray 3D edition of “Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs,” as well as other future SPHE Blu-ray 3D releases, will be announced in the Spring of 2010.

“3D entertainment on Blu-ray is poised to revolutionize the home viewing experience in much the same way that high-definition televisions and Blu-ray Disc have over the past several years,” said SPHE worldwide president David Bishop. “SPHE is proud to lead the way in providing compelling 3D entertainment to complement the new hardware entering the marketplace.”

About Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company. SPE is a division of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in 67 countries.

Source(s):
Press Release [Sony Pictures]

It’s been a very eventful week highlighted by ridiculous amounts of virtual food being tossed about in attempts at securing the newly released Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Blu-ray/DVD.  Today one person will walk away as the ultimate food fighting champion.

Before we announce the winner, we just want to take the time to give a huge gooey thanks to everyone who participated.  You all didn’t just participate, you took the contest way above and beyond what we could have possibly imagined.  Much appreciated.  Your level of interaction made for a really great time, and could lead to some great contests in the near future.

Now…on to the meat and potatoes (sorry, couldn’t resist).  It was a very, very close competition.  We truly wish we could choose multiple winners.  But alas, there can only be one…

The undisputed winner of the DTW Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Giveaway is…

Ian!

Commenter Ian used all methods of food warfare early and often, and although he tended to spiral into some weird tangents…he managed to come out on top with his sheer volume of food and overall creativity.

Congratulations Ian!  An email requesting your shipping info is on its way.

Again, thanks for a great first (official) contest.  I hope to see you all stick around for what we have in store for the rest of the year.  You were all awesome.

Oh, and did I mention that the runners-up have to clean up all this mess!?  Have fun with that.

As you can imagine, the film looks gorgeous in Blu-ray. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is an exceptionally colorful film, and it feels made for this kind of home viewing format. For those who don’t own a Blu-ray player but think they may take the plunge in the near future, the Blu-ray is packaged with a regular DVD as well, which features a full and widescreen version in addition to a downloadable copy of the film. It’s a great bang-for-your-buck if you want don’t want to double-dip in the future. If you have a Blu-ray player, this is the ideal package to grab. The digital copy is the only downer, however. While most other releases with a digital copy offer a Windows Media and iTunes friendly download, this digital copy is only workable with a Playstation 3 or PSP. If you have a PS3, you won’t really need the downloadable copy unless you absolutely want to store this on the player (which just uses up hard drive space). Otherwise, it’s really only a bonus if you’re a PSP user as well.

The Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs Special Features include some pretty fun little additions. For starters, there’s a “Splat-Mode” to enable when viewing the film. Basically, it’s a pop-up feature that allows you to literally hurl a slice of pie, egg, meatball, or cream pie at the screen at the mere push of a button. While in the Splat-Mode, you can also squeegee the screen clean at a click, or turn it off entirely. I can’t imagine it being something you’d want to keep on for the duration of the movie (and I’m sure it would get old quickly for anyone watching it while someone is playing with the feature). “Flint’s Food Fight Game” is a pretty fun little game in the same vein as the classic arcade game Galaga, where you are a little ship firing forks at food spiraling around a giant meatball.

In addition to the games, there are several behind-the-scenes featurettes. The first, besides a feature commentary by the directors (and the voice of Flint, Bill Hader), is “A Recipe for Success: The Making of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.” It’s the perfect glance into what went into making the movie, including interviews with the voice actors, directors, producers, and animators. Details from colorization and set design to even planning out how the food might fall and land in a given scene are covered in this revealing featurette. The next featurette is “Key Ingredients: The Voices of Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs.” Personally, when it comes to animated films I’ve enjoyed like this one, I’m often interested in learning more about the voice acting and even getting to see some footage from the recording sessions with the actors. “Key Ingredients” is a satisfying look into this, as Anna Faris, Hader, Andy Samberg, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, and even Mr. T and Al Roker all get to talk about their roles. It’s definitely the highlight of the special features.

Miranda Cosgrove singing "Raining Sunshine"

To round out the features, Two alternate/extended scenes are included, the best of which is the completed footage of a food fight between Flint and the Mayor. Two animated storyboard “Early Development” scenes are also included with audio to give a rough idea of some initial scene concepts. Another cool feature breaks down the lighting and visual effects of the film, giving art concepts versus final art scenes, and we see the layers of lighting used in several examples get peeled away to show how the scene was constructed. Miranda Cosgrove’s “Raining Sunshine” video is also included. Surprisingly, it’s the only feature that seems to not be in HD, and looks rather terrible compared to the rest of the HD features (the behind-the-scenes video doesn’t look any better either). It’s a rather corny video, but it’s something younger viewers will probably enjoy most. Lastly, the “Make It Rain Food” spot is a brief commerical for feedingamerica.org urging viewers to join the the fight against hunger.

In the end, Sony does a great job wrapping up Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs for fans of the film to take home and enjoy time and time again. It’s a fun animated film for the whole family and a great addition to your home video collection.

As we mentioned during last week’s impromptu giveaway, we are celebrating the Blu-ray/DVD release of Sony’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs — one of our faves here at DTW — by offering our readers a chance to win the Oscar-nominated film.  The winner will receive the 2-disc Blu-ray/DVD combo version.

Special Features:

• Directors’ Commentary with Bill Hader
• Interactive “Splat” Button (Throw Food at the Screen While You Watch the Movie!)
• A Recipe for Success: The Making of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
• Key Ingredients: The Voices of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
• Flint’s Food Fight Game – Enhanced for Blu-ray
• Extended Scenes
• Early Development Scenes
• Progression Reels with Introductions by Visual Effects Supervisor Rob Bredow
• Interactive “Raining Sunshine” Sing-A-Long
• “Raining Sunshine” Music Video by iCarly’s Miranda Cosgrove
• Make It Rain Food

Within the next few days, prior to its release, we will have our review of the special features. So keep an eye out for that.

As for the contest?  We’re instigating a food fight!

There will be 3 different methods of participation:

1. Comment on this post with the food item you are tossing. Your tasty (or not-so-tasty) morsel of choice can be directed toward another commenter, or you can just go in buns a’ blazin’
2. Twitter users can re-tweet the following message:  Throwing [enter food item here] @[enter target here] for a shot to win Cloudy w/Chance of Meatballs DVD #foodfight http://cli.gs/17WnbV In order to track entries properly the tweet needs to be copied and pasted as-is, editing only your action, food choice and target/recipient.
3. If you are not already, become a fan on our Facebook page and wage a grub war by commenting with your food item under the contest announcement.

Those are the battlefields.  You can choose whichever method you wish, but the winner will be awarded based on factors such as the amount of food thrown (number of comments), the types of food being splattered about (be creative) and in some cases, the target throughout the duration of the contest. So you would definitely benefit from commenting as often as you’d like from any or all options numbered above.

The competition is only open to U.S. residents and will run through to 1:00 PM EST on January 5. The winner will be announced and contacted immediately with the disc shipping out that same day. So remember to provide a valid email address when commenting so we can get your shipping information.

That’s it for now.  Enough chit-chat!  FOOD FIGHT!

*Congratulations to commenter ‘brenda’ who won last week’s Surf’s Up DVD contest. We hope you and your family enjoyed it.

Welcome to the very first DTW contest/giveaway!  We are happy to be snowed in with nothing better to do than to award a lucky winner with some free swag.  We are offering up a special edition Surf’s Up DVD which includes a pair of boxer shorts and features the animated short The ChubbChubbs Save XMAS.  Just spreading some holiday cheer.

DVD Special Features:

• All-New “The ChubbChubbs Save XMAS” Animated Short
• Games: Make Your Own Surfboard, Whale Hopping, Lava Surf
• Lost Scenes with optional Filmmaker Intros
• “Lose Myself” Music Video by Ms. Lauryn Hill
• Meet the Penguins with Mario Cantone
• All Together Now: The Surf’s Up Voice Sessions
• Arnold’s Zurfinary
• Not a Drop of Real Water: 1. Surf Cam 2. Making Waves 3. Storyboard to Surfboard Multi-Angle Sequence
• Progression Reels
• Filmmaker Commentary
• The ChubbChubbs! (2002 Academy Award Winner, Best Short Animated Film)
• Photo Galleries
• DVD-Rom Links

So how do you earn a chance to win?  Very simple…

All you need to do is add a comment to this post, but it has to include the word “dude” — in some way, shape or form — in order to qualify (please keep it clean, of course…and multiple posts do not increase your chances of winning). All qualifying entries will be gathered and a winner will be selected at random using Random.org.  The contest will end on Monday, Dec. 21 at 5:30 PM EST and the winner will be announced the following day.  The contest is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada.  Be sure to include a valid email address so we can contact you if you are selected as the prize recipient.

We look forward to your comments!  We will be having another contest shortly to coincide with the release of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs on DVD.  So you may want to sign up for email updates (scroll to the bottom of the page) or RSS feeds to stay up to date.  Also, follow us on twitter and Facebook.  We hope to have several interesting interactions.

Happy Holidays!

ASIFA has released their list of nominations for its February 6 Annual Annie Awards ceremony to be held in Los Angeles, CA.  Walt Disney Animation Studios leads the way by garnering 17 total nominations.

BURBANK, CA (December 1, 2009) – The International Animated Film
Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announced nominations today for its 37th Annual Annie
Awards recognizing the year’s best animated features, television productions,
commercials, short subjects and outstanding individual achievements in the field of
animation. Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “The Princess and the Frog” received
eight nominations, including Best Animated Feature and individual nominations for
animated effects, character animation, production design and voice acting, while its
“Prep and Landing” received nine nominations including Best Animated Television
Production and individual nominations for character animation, character design, music,
production design, storyboarding and writing.

DreamWorks Animation received 11 nominations, including Best Animated
Television Production for “Merry Madagascar.” Laika received a total of 10 nominations
including Best Animated Feature “Coraline” and Pixar Animation Studios received a
total of nine nominations including Best Animated Feature “Up.” Completing the list of
Best Animated Features nominated are: “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” Sony
Pictures Animation, “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” 20th Century Fox and “The Secret of Kells,”
Cartoon Saloon.

Nickelodeon leads the field in television with 12 nominations, including three
for Best Animated Television Production Produced for Children: “SpongeBob
SquarePants,” “The Mighty B!,” and “The Penguins of Madagascar.” Completing
the nominations in this category are Disney Television’s “Mickey Mouse
Clubhouse” and Cartoon Network Studio’s “The Marvelous Misadventures of
Flapjack.” Nominees for the Best Animated Television Production are “Glenn
Martin, DDS,” Torante, Cuppa Coffee Studios & Rogers Communications, “Merry
Madagascar,” DreamWorks Animation, “Prep and Landing,” ABC Family/Walt
Disney Animation Studios, and “The Simpsons,” Gracie Films.
Winners will be announced at the 37th Annual Annie Awards ceremony on Saturday,
February 6, 2010, at UCLA’s Royce Hall, in Los Angeles, CA. For a complete listing
of Annie Award nominations and event information, please go to
www.annieawards.org.

Special juried awards honoring career achievement and exceptional
contributions to animation will also be awarded: Winsor McCay award – Tim
Burton, Bruce Timm and Jeffrey Katzenberg for career contributions to the art of
animation; June Foray award – Tom Sito for significant and benevolent or
charitable impact on the art and industry of animation; Ub Iwerks award –
William T. Reeves for the development of particle systems for computer
animation. This system has led to the ability to simulate such effects as fire,
explosions, smoke, moving water, sparks, falling leaves, clouds, fog, snow, dust,
meteor trails, hair, fur, grass and abstract visual effects such as glowing trails
and magic spells; Special Achievement Annie award – Martin Meunier and
Brian McLean for the development and use of the Rapid Prototyping (RP)
process for stop motion animation. Starting with hand crafted sculpts as a guide,
CG artists built the characters in the computer and animate key expressions. The
RP system then builds 3-dimentional objects that are finished by hand and
placed on the stop motion figures; and Certificate of Merit award – Myles
Mikulic, Danny Young, Michael Woodside for their service to the art, craft and
industry of animation.

“I congratulate all of the 2009 Annie Award nominees and award recipients for
their outstanding work,” said ASIFA-Hollywood President Antran Manoogian.
“This has been an unprecedented year for animation and I look forward to an
exciting ceremony in February.”

The Annie Awards’ black-tie ceremony will feature a lively mix of animation
luminaries, celebrity presenters and comedic talent to celebrate this year’s best
of the best. A pre-reception begins at 5:00 pm with the awards ceremony
following 7:00 pm. A post-show celebration immediately follows at UCLA’s
Royce Hall. More than 1,500 entertainment industry insiders are expected to
attend the annual Annie Awards.

ASIFA-Hollywood is the largest of an international network of chapters and
supports a range of animation initiatives through its membership. Current
projects include an animation archive, library and museum, classes and
screenings, and animated film preservation efforts.

The industry’s oldest and most prestigious award, The Annie Award is
considered an important industry benchmark and an annual predictor of the
Academy Award for best animated feature.

Source(s):
The Annie Awards (Official Site) via StitchKingdom

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs was a hilarious welcome addition to the growing list of impressive animated feature films making their way into our pop culture.  Sony Pictures’ slap-stick virtual food apocalypse arrives on DVD and Blu-ray disc January, 5 2010.

CULVER CITY, CALIF. (November 8, 2009) – Sony Pictures Animation’s smash hit Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs serves up a hilarious, mouth-watering food storm of epic portions on Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack, 2-Disc super-size DVD, 1-Disc DVD, and PSP January 5 from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.  Based on the beloved bestselling children’s book, the CG  animated film features the all-star voice talents of Bill Hader (Night At The Museum: Battle Of The Smithsonian), Anna Faris (House Bunny, Scary Movie franchise), James Caan (Get Smart, TV’s “Las Vegas”), Andy Samberg (TV’s “SNL”), Mr. T (Rocky 3, TV’s “The A-Team”), and Neil Patrick Harris (TV’s “How I Met Your Mother”) in the story of Flint, an outcast inventor who creates a machine that rains down food on his hungry town.

The 1-Disc DVD includes both widescreen and full-frame presentations of the feature, plus director’s commentary with actor Bill Hader. The 2-Disc super-size DVD includes everything from the single disc, plus a second disc loaded with scrumptious bonus materials including the behind-the-scenes featurettes “How Food Falls: The Making of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs,” and “Voice Off,” a look at the voice cast and characters. Also included are a hilarious selection of deleted scenes with an introduction by the visual effects supervisor, a music video and interactive sing-a-long for “Raining Sunshine” performed by Miranda Cosgrove (TV’s “iCarly”)   and an exciting “Food Fight” game, where players can help Flint battle against rogue food by navigating his spaceship and avoiding hits from flying pizzas and gummy bears.

The Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack includes all features from the 2-Disc DVD collection, plus a Blu-ray enhanced version of the “Food Fight” game, a DVD copy of the film and a unique “Splat Mode!” feature which allows viewers to throw food at the screen while they watch the film.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs will be available on Blu-ray for $39.95 SRP, on 2-Disc super-size DVD for $34.95 SRP, on 1-Disc DVD for $28.96 SRP, and on UMD for PSP for $24.94 SRP.

In addition, children and their parents will be able to go deeper into the Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs experience by beginning their journey at www.sonywonder.com.  Once there, they will have an opportunity to receive exciting special offers from Sony sister divisions including Sony Music, Free Realms, Sony Electronics, Little Big Planet and more!

Synopsis:

When Flint Lockwood’s (Bill Hader) latest contraption accidentally destroys the town square and rockets up into the clouds, he thinks his inventing career is over. Then, something amazing happens as delicious cheeseburgers start raining from the sky. His machine actually works! But when people greedily ask for more and more food, the machine starts to run amok, unleashing spaghetti tornadoes and giant meatballs that threaten the world! Now it’s up to Flint with the help of weather girl Sam Sparks (Anna Faris) and Steve, his talking monkey assistant, to find some way to shut down the machine before the world is covered in super-sized meatballs!

Directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs was based on the book by Judi Barrett and Ron Barrett. The film was produced by Pam Marsden.

1-Disc DVD Bonus Features Include:

Full frame and Widescreen presentation of the feature

Commentary

Feeding America PSA

Trailers

2-Disc DVD Bonus Features Include:

All the material from the 1-Disc DVD, plus:

Featurette: “How Food Falls: The Making of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”

Featurette: “Voice Off”

Deleted Scenes

Miranda Cosgrove “Raining Sunshine: Music Video

Interactive “Raining Sunshine” Sing-a-Long

Food Fight Game

Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Bonus Features Include:

All the material from the 1-Disc and 2-disc DVDs, plus:

A DVD of the film

PSP Digital Copy of the film included on the Blu-ray Disc, transferable exclusively via the PlayStation®3

“Splat Mode!”

5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio

BD-Live Enabled

Information courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Director: Phil Lord, Chris Miller Starring: voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T Running Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes Theatrical Release: September 18, 2009 Shop for Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Merchandise

Plot Summary

When hard times hit Swallow Falls, its townspeople can only afford to eat sardines. Flint Lockwood, a failed inventor, thinks he has the answer to the town’s crisis. He builds a machine that converts water into food, and becomes a local hero when tasty treats fall from the sky like rain. But when the machine spins out of control and threatens to bury the whole world under giant mounds of food, Flint finds he may have bitten off more than he can chew. (from Fandango.com)

Film Review

“Random” humor is an acquired taste. While I more often than not appreciate a good random and intentionally silly shot at humor, there are some who not only don’t understand it or appreciate it, but in turn are almost offended by the very attempt at random and silly humor. One of my favorite animated movies of all-time was Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove, released in 2000. Entirely random, while done in a classic hand-drawn animated style, the Disney feature felt more like a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon than something released by the famous family entertainment studio. Being a Sony Pictures animated flick (and based on a childrens book), Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs doesn’t need to feel like a Disney film in any way, opting for more of the DreamWorks formula than anything. The end result is a gloriously random and awfully funny animated adventure.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs bears one of those unconventional titles that sums up the movie well despite at the same time threatening to just being a completely forgettable animated B-movie. Thankfully, Cloudy… is anything but, and feels like a quality venture from beginning to end. Sony’s previous animated features, which started with 2006′s Open Season, are decent outings, but lack a bit of the longetivity that the Disney (including Pixar) and DreamWorks efforts often offer. The voice cast of Cloudy… is also especially modest, which actually allows for the characters to not be overshadowed by the star power. Instead, sharp writing and unique, stylized animation allow for the film to succeed in the areas that count most.

SNL talent Bill Hader’s voicing of Flint Lockwood is a solid effort and Anna Faris (of whom I’m not very fond of) does a fantastic job bringing enough spunk, charm, and irresistible nerdiness to her role of Weather News Network intern Sam Sparks. Flint and Sam have a great chemistry as well, and the film takes plenty of time to let their relationship develop naturally. The rest of the voice cast does a swell job as well, including James Caan as Flint’s impossible to please father, Bruce Campbell as the town’s twisted mayor, and the famous Mr. T as policeman Earl Devereaux. The story is pretty swift moving and original from start to finish, with very few moments that can be predicted. And just when you think you might know where the story’s headed, there are a few surprises tossed in to keep it fun and fresh.

When it comes to content, the film earns its PG rating by being just a bit more abrasive than most animated family features. The town’s mayor uses the phrase “H*ll hole,” while Flint mutters a “cr*p” later on in the film. Aside from that, a couple of the gags can be a bit violent, with the most obvious one also being one of the film’s funniest moments. When it comes to kids wanting to imitate something they see, it’ll for sure be a moment where Sam explains what a snowball fight is to Flint, which inspires him to go on a rampage, smashing random people in the face with snowballs of ice cream in rough and violent ways. Most of his victims sit up and smile, but it’s the kind of thing that wouldn’t be smiled upon in a real life situation (especially by the parents of said kids who might imitate this action). Also, there’s A LOT of food in this movie, and while it does eventually cast a shadow upon the idea that gorging yourself on any kind of food you want isn’t healthy for you, the movie does make junk food and large quantities of food look like a blast. Definitely don’t see this one on an empty stomach!

The film’s greatest strength — its randomness and originality — may also be its biggest weakness. The film’s finale is not only a series of some of the most random (albeit food-related) series of events, but it may be so unexpected for this story that it just feels maybe too preposterous (and for a movie like this one, that’s saying a lot)? If anything, the ending takes a few too many cues from sci-fi disaster films (like Wars Of The Worlds or Independence Day), but it’s all executed in a fairly unique way. It’s the kind of premise that allows for the absurdity of it all to only seem expected and natural to the story, so in the end, you can’t help but feel like it still works as a whole. I do have a feeling, however, that with repeat viewings, I’ll be able to appreciate such an outcome, but upon first viewing, I was surprised by the sci-fi-ish direction they decided to take it.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs is an entertaining outing that thrives on originality and creativity to put together a truly enjoyable animated feature experience. Some viewers will have trouble getting past just how ridiculous and silly most of it really is, but there’s something endearing about these characters… and some kind of guilty pleasure in seeing it rain down free food from the sky. If you’re looking for a light comedy with lots of laughs and an exercising of the imagination, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs serves up just the right forecast for fun.

Also See – DTW Blu-ray/DVD Review: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

Director: Roger Allers, Jill Culton, Anthony Stacchi Starring: voices of Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Gary Sinise, Debra Messing, Billy Connolly Running Time: 1 hour, 27 minutes Theatrical Release: September 29, 2006 Shop for Open Season Merchandise

Plot Summary

In Columbia Pictures’ new action-adventure comedy Open Season, the first feature-length animated film from Sony Pictures Animation, Boog (Martin Lawrence), a grizzly bear with no survival skills, has his perfect world in the tranquil town of Timberline turned upside-down when he meets Elliot (Ashton Kutcher), a scrawny, fast-talking wild mule deer. Elliot arrives in Timberline missing an antler and strapped to the hood of a truck, courtesy of the paranoid über-hunter Shaw (Gary Sinise). Against his better judgment, Boog frees Elliot. Elliot attempts to return the favor by “freeing” Boog from his idyllic existence with his beloved Park Ranger Beth (Debra Messing), who raised him since he was a cub. Things quickly spiral out of control. The two troublemakers are relocated together to the wild… just three days before open season! With hunting season upon them and Shaw in hot pursuit, Boog and Elliot must learn to work together and unite the woodland creatures…(from MovieWeb.com)

Film Review

Open Season is just one of the many animated films hitting big screens this year. The film takes a domesticated bear out of his element as he teams up with an outcast deer in his first experiences in the wild.

Familiarity runs amuck in Open Season. From the teaming of a big fish-out-of-water character and an unwelcomed talkative sidekick (a la Shrek) to the release of domesticated animals to the wild (Madagascar, The Wild), you may constantly feel like Open Season is something you’ve seen before. However, its execution and main plot points are unique to this story. For instance, Boog is the film’s central character – a bear that was adopted by a park ranger and kept as a pet in her garage. He doesn’t know anything else to life except being with his owner and performing tricks for the local townspeople. Boog is released to the wild against his wishes when the town begins to feel he could be a threat – an idea put in their minds from his newfound encounters with a mischievous little buck named Elliot. Also, the film’s chief villain isn’t another animal, but a mullet-wearing redneck hunter named Shaw, who simply views all animals as future meals or wall decor. Before the film’s end, all hunters are painted as the villains and Open Season becomes a poster ad against hunting.

Although I’ve never been a fan of either of the leads, Martin Lawrence is perfect as Boog while Ashton Kutcher does a fine job bringing a healthy amount of delirium to Elliot. Both main characters are sweet hearted and genuine which adds to their likability. The humor is random and fast-paced, but is broken up by some slower moments when the film will pause for a sentimental moment or sad spot. Most of the jokes are spot-on in an Emperor’s New Groove meets Over The Hedge kind of way. But standout moments include when Elliot coerces Boog to raid a convenience store together after hours, they argue over who is the bigger loser, or fight behind a curtain in front of an audience in such a way that unintentionally looks like Boog is mauling Elliot. Sometimes the envelope is pushed just a tad to earn its PG-rating, but it never goes too far like Shrek might.

Open Season also earns its PG rating for some of the more intense moments involving the hunter, Shaw. Although his scenes probably aren’t more intense than the über-creepy misfit toy scenes in the first, G-rated Toy Story, he’s out for the animals’ blood, and the chase is often more on the darker side. In one particular scene, Boog finds himself in Shaw’s cabin and surrounded by animal heads mounted on the wall. He even knocks a rabbit head off the wall by accident, causing its eyes to roll out (it’s not as gross as it sounds, but the whole scene is rather creepy). Apart from a few brief moments like this, the film is pretty upbeat. Other objectionable content is a few bits of crude humor (including Boog throwing up onto a window), and 1 instance of the word “cr*p.”

The animation in Open Season is really beautiful. The animators take the stylized cartoony approach instead of going for realism, and it really adds to the fun of the film. Bearing more of a resemblance to Monsters, Inc. than something like The Wild, the nature scenes are detailed and the animal fur, lifelike. I thought it all fit the mood of the film quite wonderfully.

Overall, I enjoyed Open Season. While it suffers a bit from unoriginality at times, as well as a bit too heavy-handed of an anti-hunter message, it’s a fun outing. Often funny, often enjoyable, and even touching, Open Season is one of this year’s better animated offerings.