The Lorax

I don't know what it is about hippie movies with hippie motivations that I find so annoying.  Could it be the dread-locks, the lack of bathing, the constant need to make every part of their lives a statement, or the odd obligation to swear off meat forever?  Whatever it is that they're smoking, I don't want any part of it. I am the kind of person that may (or may not) go out and plant a tree, come home to a nice shower, and then eat a nice ham instead, which is the product of a pig unwillingly sacrificing himself to the slaughter house for my benefit.  It's not that I hate hippies, it's just I find them as annoying as that awkward cousin who massages your shoulders with sexual energy every two minutes.  Now, in this literal tree-huger of a movie, we see a young Zac Efron who, in order to get into the long line of men to woo Taylor Swift, goes outside the city limits to fetch her a tree.  While on his search for the tree he happens upon a man who was close friendship with the Lorax, a magical creature who speaks on behalf of the trees, because the trees are too stupid for their own good; they usually just stand there and get chopped down like a nerd's esteem in middle school.  With the help of both the mysterious man and the Lorax, Zac Efron will not only embark on an adventure to find trees, and win Taylor Swift's affection, but maybe she'll eventually write a song about him as well.

The Good:
Even though the trees looked about as fake as Michael Jackson's nose, the whole movie was a visual feast!  Everywhere you looked there was an abundance of colors and great artistic ability bombarding the eyes.  As for the story, its been just a tiny while of around 15 years since I've read the Dr. Seuss classic, but from what I can remember the book wasn't that long, and the story was very A to B.  This is something the movie did well, much like how the Where the Wild Things Are filmmakers took the small book and expanded the story, the makers of the Lorax expanded and changed up the story a bit, while still keeping to the original spirit of the book.  Lorax was also quite funny, and as opposed to being a full blown educational video that forces you to learn like the School House Rock cartoons, this is an extremely witty/funny flick that just so happens to have words of wisdom regarding the environment.

The Bad:

My wife pointed out to me when the credits started rolling, that although Zac Efron and Taylor Swift were two of the main characters in the film, it seemed a little ironic that neither one of the sang!  What the Deuce?! How much sense does that make?!  I seem to remember noticing that every one of the characters had some sort of song, and even the magical-midget Lorax belted a rhyme here and there, but when it comes to the two actors who have something to do with singing, neither of them do.  But it's like I said, I didn't realize that they didn't sing in the entire movie until the credits started rolling, but now that I think about it, it makes me question everything.

The Ugly:
The Lorax is a wonderful family film, with very catchy music that won't leave your mind until the next day, and doesn't hold a knife to your throat, demanding that one day you become a hippie that can never be happy about anything in the world.  So if you're a fan of little furry mythical creatures, and you haven't had that thirst quenched since Labyrinth, then I highly recommend this surprisingly pleasant movie.

(4 out of 5)

Nightmares In Red White and Blue

No other movie genre in the world is more persecuted or misunderstood than the Horror genre.  Horror films are often blamed for violence in the youth of America, and are often held responsible for everything else that goes wrong (cop-out for either bad friends or bad parenting).  By interviewing some of the biggest names in the genre and scanning their movies, this documentary shows how the Horror film has evolved in America, and how those Horror films are closely tied to all kinds of Terror that befall the country.

The Good:
Some people like the smell of Folders in their cup (Product placement anyone?), some like "the smell of napalm in the morning", and then people (like me) love the smell of zombies enjoying a meal, while ghosts and killers continually terrorify the normal middle-class man trying to live the American dream.  okay, so I don't really smell that in the morning, I mean how would I finish my eggo waffles with the smell of rotting corpses?  It's not that I'm a naturally dark person, unless I'm standing in the dark, in that case you can barely see me, ga-der!  I'm a naturally happy person who has the hyperactivity of a squirrel with rabies, but I'm also a person who loves the unsettling/fearful feeling one gets from Horror films.  But this morbid genre isn't just to scare people, this documentary shows that each Horror film has a message it's trying to get across.  An Example would be the movie "Drag Me To Hell", because beneath the awesome B-Story it gives, it preaches there are bad consequences for bad choices you make.  So because she was selfish and shamed the gypsy, she got a whole butt-load of crohns coming her way.

The Bad:
I thought it was awesome to see how each horror film applied to something people were afraid of historically in their time, and it was very insightful to see how the genre has an ultimately positive effect on people psychologically.  There was a lot of talk on the psychological part of Horror, and personally I thought that was more interesting than the Historical aspect, but that's just me, so they should have included more.

The Ugly:
If you are a person who's skeptical about this morbid genre, or if you're already a fan, then I urge you to see this film.  I've always loved Horror films because they help me to face some of my own fears head-on, so little by little I live a more fearless life like Taylor Swift, but this documentary taught me more about the historical-importance these films hold.  This doesn't mean I'll watch any Horror film coming my way, because there are some films that cross lines that shouldn't be crossed, but the documentary did show me that beneath all the terror is a message that is worth being heard.

4 out of 5