Escape from Planet Earth

ACTION/ADVENTURE, ANIMATED, COMEDY, FAMILY, SCI-FI/FANTASY

Earth's Greatest Secrets Break Out

8.25 out of 10 | MOVIE - DVD

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Rated: PG Some mild rude humor and action.
Release Date: February 14, 2013
Runtime: 1 hour 29 minutes

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Director: Cal Brunker
Writers: Tony Leech, Cory Edwards, Cal Brunker, Bob Barlen
Cast: Brendan Fraser, Rob Corddry, Ricky Gervais, Jonathan Morgan Heit, jessica Alba, Sofia Vergara, Sarah Jessica Parker, William Shatner

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SYNOPSIS:  Astronaut Scorch Supernova finds himself caught in a trap when he responds to an SOS from a notoriously dangerous alien planet. His nerdy brother Gary from Mission Control may be his only hope.

REVIEW: Cal Brunker, storyboard artist on films like Despicable Me and Horton Hears a Who!, takes direction to new heights as the director of the new Weinstein Company animation Escape from Planet Earth. A cadre of writers bring this cosmic cartoon to life, including Hoodwinked! screenwriters Tony Leech and Cory Edwards, director Brunker, and Push and Turn writer Bob Barlen.

Scorch Supernova (voiced by Brendan Fraser, Furry Vengeance) is a home world hero to the citizens of Baab. He goes out on various missions rescuing babies from baby-eating savage aliens, and more. Always trying to prep and prepare scorch for every mission is his older brother Gary (voiced by Rob Corddry, Warm Bodies), considered a nerd who rattles his fingers on keyboards at mission control by his brawny dimwitted brother and the rest of the workers. When Scorch is told to answer a distress call on the 'Dark Planet' and his eagerness works against his brother's preparedness, Gary quits and Scorch is left to his own devices. When Scorch is captured by the 'Dark Planet's' government's military, Gary must sum up the courage to go after Scorch on a rescue mission of his own. In his attempts to rescue his brother, Gary is captured by the men of General Shanker (William Shatner, Boston Legal) at Area 51 who is using other captured aliens - including a three-eyed slug named Thurman (George Lopez, The Smurfs), a solar brute librarian named Io (Jane Lynch, Wreck-It Ralph), and a psycho-therapist personality Doc (Voiced by Craig Robinson, Hot Tub Time Machine) - to build a defense weapon before they are allowed to return to their respective planets. But as Gary tries to break his brother out of Area 51, they uncover more than they bargained for.

The Weinstein Company and Kaleidoscope bring out their big galactic guns for a space odyssey that centers around two orbiting brothers. Gary is the older brother that tries to look after his younger, bolder and reckless brother and hero Scorch. Looked down by Scorch, and even his own son Kipper (voiced by Jonathan Morgan Heit, Date Night) who idolizes the planetary explorer, Gary is forced to face the prospect of having to step light years outside his comfort zone to save his captured family. But as with every tale that included Area 51, a deeper conspiracy is afoot, making this personal tale more galactic.

General Shanker is the typical steely eyed military leader obsessed with taking advantage of the secrets and technology the aliens who have been captured have to offer. But his terrestrial trappings does not limit his malice to his own planet. He may even have corrupt allies on other planets!

Escape from Planet Earth is a silly animated tale that should delight children and parents alike. The voice com in mission control and on board the escape pod Mr. James Bing (Ricky Gervais, The Invention of Lying) belts out a variety of quick throw-away one-liners that only adults will catch and appreciate. Lopez's Thurman provides slimy and sticky comic relief for the kids. Even a janitor and his nemesis, a broom handle, add to the yucks. It's screw ball animated comedy that the whole family can enjoy.

The animation is reminiscent of Monsters Vs, Aliens and Planet 51. Cartoony, detailed, and pleasing to the eye, Escape from Planet Earth will give you something fun to look at - at the very least! The 3D is cool, but not critical to the enjoyment of the film. If you need to save some dollars in favor of more concessions for the kids, skip the cost for the 3D glasses.

Escape from Planet Earth offers a fun family comedy. It's clever, without the need to be overbearing. Just the right amount of silly galactic goodness for the whole family to enjoy.

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I Don't Know How She Does It

Sassy and Silly

Director: Douglas McGrath
Writers: Aline Bropsh McKenna, Allison Pearson
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Kelsey Grammer, Chrstina Hendricks, Olivia Munn

SYNOPSIS: Kate Reddy is a busy and bustling business woman with a ambitious career and hectic home life. When both she and her husband get major projects at work, Kate is forced to make hard choices between work and family.

REVIEW: Douglas McGrath, writer and director of Infamous and Nicholas Nickleby, takes a script from 27 Dresses and The Devil Wears Prada scribe Aline Brosh McKenna by the novel from Allison Pearson to bring us a funny and heartfelt look at the perils of working mothers.

Kate Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker) is a mother of two and a banking executive who juggles her work and home life so that neither side suffers - too much. Her husband Richard (Greg Kinnear) supports her decision to continue her career as a financial executive while he struggles to get his own architectural firm new business and profitable. Enter Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan), a financial market powerhouse interested in both Kate's proposal and in Kate. Working long and late hours on numerous business trips out of town, the delicate juggling act that Kate has perfected to keep all of her projects suspended in the air starts to falter causing facets of her life to start dropping through the cracks, mostly notably her husband and children. Can Kate make the right choices to keep both work, family and friends fulfilled?

Sarah Jessica Parker, McGrath and McKenna break the fourth wall of the silver screen to allow Kate to speak to herself and to the audience directly throughout the film. From hand-written lists projected on Kate's bedroom walls at 3:30 in the morning, to Kate stopping the film to speak to the filmgoer directly, to having other characters talk to the camera in a documentary format, I Don't Know How She Does It is a funny, but real look at working mothers everywhere, two-income families, and the limits of what one person can achieve before spreading herself too thin to the detriment of those she cares about.

Sarah Jessica Parker exudes a more mature version of her Sex in the City counterpart, Kate being sassy, funny and compassionate. At her side at home is Greg Kinnear's Richard, at once supportive and obvious to all that his wife gets done in a mere 24 hours in a day. Adding to the cast are the always dapper Pierce Brosnan as the executive Jack Abelhammer that Kate starts working closely with, Mad Men's Christina Hendricks as Kate's best friend Allison Henderson, and Olivia Munn as Kate's hard-working, but stoic co-worker Momo Hahn. Lastly, you have Seth Meyers as opportunistic co-worker Chris Bunce and Busy Philipps as Wendy Best, head of the rich, stay-at-home Momsters who feign friendship while hating everything that a working mother stands for.

From a daughter disappointment in her mother's broken promises because of work, to the ultra-vigilance by Kate to keep her emails to her boss as professional as possible, I Don't Know How She Does It is sweet, funny and a real look at the trials and tribulations of women with careers and families. I know many women know how they personally juggle family and careers, and will appreciate what they see.

SPOILER NOTE: Two major distractions I had with the sneak peek of the film were the overly obvious sound stage car trip scene between Kate and Jack, and the snowflake bubbles used at the end of the film between Kate and Richard that clumped in Kate's hair during their reunion dialogue.

WORTH: Matinee or Rental