The majority of Dreamworks' animated films are second rate to those of Pixar. For every Antz, there's a much better A Bug's Life. In a year dominated by the brilliance of Pixar's Ratatouille, Dreamworks' Bee Movie plays out more like a B-movie (pun intended) than an A-list competitor.
Bee Movie is the brainchild of comedian Jerry Seinfeld. With Seinfeld, Dreamworks had the perfect opportunity to produce an animated feature about insects that could swim in the same genome pool as the bugs of Life. Instead, there's very little sting to this movie, and aside from a few select moments of brilliance, Seinfeld's film about the lives of bees is largely inconsistent, unfunny, and visually uninspiring.
In the film, Barry Benson (Seinfeld) and his buddy Adam (Matthew Broderick) have just finished their schooling and are ready to enter the adult bee working world. In their hive, there's only one place to work, Honex. There, Barry and Adam will perform the same mundane job of making honey everyday for the rest of their lives. Of all the different types of jobs at Honex, Barry aspires to be a pollen jock. The most glamorous and least routine job, pollen jocks work outside the hive, pollinating flowers and gather nectar.
As part of a trial run, Barry is allowed to fly with the pollen jocks as long as he does not talk to humans and retreats to the hive when it rains. Barry does neither. He gets caught up in a rain storm and is rescued by a bee friendly florist named Vanessa Bloome (Ren�e Zellweger). Vanessa harbors him safely inside her apartment, and the two talk for hours sharing coffee and crumb cake. They find that their lives are very similar despite their physical differences. Barry instantly falls in love.
But Bee Movie is not a love story, though the concept might make the film more appealing. Instead, Movie is a commentary on the importance bees play in our ecosystem. When Barry finds that humans are perpetrating a major injustice on his fellow bees, he enlists Vanessa's help to make things right.
The final third of Movie deals with Barry's attempt at correcting the ills he perceives and the resulting consequences of his actions. Movie is successful at making its point about bees and our ecosystem, but it achieves it so hastily in a final act that it is completely muddled and nonsensical. The message also begs the question: Will small children even care about what bees do? All they care about is not getting stung. Now that they know more about bees, will they really want to get closer to them? I find that hard to believe.
The DVD includes deleted scenes and six(!) alternate endings, commentary from Seinfeld, and making-of featurettes. A second DVD offers more extras, including a music video, more making-of footage, and a video game for the kids.
Go ahead, he won't bite.
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Appearing for the first time together on each of the major networks' morning programs
to promote a Stand Up to Cancer telethon in September, Katie Couric, Charles Gibson,
and Brian Williams defended themselves against claims in a new book by former White Ho
use spokesman Scott McClellan that they fell for administration propaganda in the
lead-up to the invasion of Iraq. Although none of the three was anchoring a network
newscast at the time, each acknowledged that they felt pressure from the White House
to present the administration's policy on Iraq in a favorable way. CBS's Couric appeared
to echo previous statements by her predecessor Dan Rather that newsmen did not put
hard questions to administration policy makers, a point McClellan also makes in his
upcoming book, What Happened? Appearing at her old stomping grounds on the
Today show, Couric said, "I know when we were covering it -- and granted the
spirit of 9/11 people were unified and upset and angry and frustrated -- I do think
we were remiss in not asking some of the right questions." Gibson said that he disagreed.
"I think the questions were asked," he said, but the response was "just a drumbeat
of support from the administration. It is not our job to debate them." Williams said
that he was in Kuwait at the time and that he received calls on his cell phone from
the the Pentagon "the minute they heard us report something that they didn't like.
The tone of that time was quite extraordinary." He did not identify the Pentagon
personnel who contacted him. Couric said that one unidentified press secretary called
the executive producer of the Today show after an interview she conducted,
"and they said, if you keep it up, we're gonna block access to you during the war."
She added that anyone who questioned the administration's policies was "considered unpatriotic"
and that public opinion affected "the level of aggressiveness that was exercised
by the media."
29/05/2008
UNIVERSAL CITY, California -- You saw the big stars, enjoyed the musical performances and were reminded once again that the MTV Movie Awards are a whole different kind of party. But once the show ended, and the sun went down, Hollywood's biggest names made sure the evening was just getting started.
"I'm really a man of the people," grinned "Office" star Rainn Wilson, surveying the scene. "I'll meet the fans, have a hamburger. Then I'll shoot heroin into my eye and pass-out in my own vomit. Let's get this party started!"
(Check out what went down backstage and what you didn't see on the gold carpet!)
This year's MTV afterparty was held in front of the Gibson Amphitheatre, under the stars. As a JumboTron-size screen replayed the show, the latest hits pumped over the loudspeakers, and everything from sushi to hamburger sliders were served. Behind a velvet rope, Paris Hilton and Tila Tequila kept the party going strong.
"I'm taking it in stride," "Twilight" star Robert Pattinson said, somewhat amazed that his still-seven-months-away movie unveiled an action clip that overshadowed many of the evening's biggest stars. "[The scene] was a pretty intense moment. Cam [Gigandet] won Best Fight, and I in reality don't have a single muscle in my entire body ... but I won [in the clip], and that's the great thing about being the lead."
"There were a lot of successes," "Project Runway" winner Christian Siriano dished between drinks, discussing the best and worst fashion he had seen throughout the day. "Paris looked flawless. Sarah Jessica Parker: flawless. Anne Hathaway was a little bondage for me -- very leather, dominatrix. I was surprised that the guys didn't really go there for me. They were kind of boring. I was like, 'T-shirt and jeans on everyone?' "
Host Mike Myers, Brody Jenner, Anna Faris, and Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt from "The Hills" were just a few of the stars who roamed the grounds, capping off a massive evening with an equally big nightcap.
"Sarah Jessica Parker -- did you see her legs?" Fonzworth Bentley marveled after the show. "Her legs looked better than Christmas!"
Seth Rogen and Jonah Hill shared some laughs as they mingled with the assembled guests, while Verne "Mini-Me" Troyer proved a big hit with the crowd. "Hairspray" star Nikki Blonsky and "Speed Racer" actor Emile Hirsch partied in various corners, and the talk of the evening was the "OMG!" moments everyone had just witnessed onstage.
"I thought the Jabbawockeez crushed it," JC Chasez said of "America's Best Dance Crew." "That was amazing dude, the way they came out of the ceiling. That, I thought, was great. So were the Pussycat Dolls, they were amazing. [Coldplay] did a phenomenal job, but they're pros. This is, like, their third or fourth record, and they've got it down to a science.
"I also loved seeing 'Wayne's World' again," he added. "That was a very nostalgic moment."
"Adam Sandler's song," Pattinson countered as his favorite moment, citing a mix of comedy and music. "He was amazing. He's an amazing singer."
It's a wrap! Now that you've watched the MTV Movie Awards, find winners, red-carpet photos, videos, movie exclusives and much more at MovieAwards.MTV.com. And check out Movies.MTV.com for the latest movie news, trailers, photos and more!
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