Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs

[Sean]

Just saw a screening of this last night, and it was fantastic! Easily one of the funniest films I've seen in a while, great characters, and a totally original story concept. And how often are you ever going to get the chance to enjoy an ensemble cast like Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Andy Samberg, Bruce Campbell, Mr. T, Neil Patrick Harris, and Al freakin' Roker? Anyway, highly recommended. Even the people I know who pretty much hate everything they go see loved it.

[Deckard]

My nephew mentioned this to me just last night. Will definitely try and catch it.

[grady]

Funny. A friend of mine who works for a local paper in town saw it last week and can't stop raving about it.

[Sean]

That's what I'm sayin'. One slightly back-handed compliment we've been hearing frequently here is that it's "the best non-Pixar animated film" reviewers have seen. And if I'm being totally honest, it's the first animated film we've put out at Sony that I think is a really fantastic movie. I liked Open Season okay, but I think you could tell it was our first film. Surf's Up, our second film (that I didn't work on at all incidentally), was beautiful looking with a few good moments, but a crap story overall in my opinion. But Cloudy, I have no real complaints about. It flows nicely to where you're constantly eager to see what'll happen next, there are big laughs throughout, the characters are super-entertaining and likable, and it looks great. And I think it'll appeal to adults more than many other animated films too, mainly because the sense of humor of Chris and Phil, the Directors, is pretty tweaked in a Cartoon Network "Adult Swim" kind of way.

So trust me on this one - you'll like it.

[Sean]

Yee-haw! Studio expectations were for a $25-$30 million opening weekend, and we came in at $30.3. And we're carrying an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which I rarely see! I guess I'm just excited that we get to keep our jobs....

[viddy]

Sony's been puttin out some really excellent films lately. District 9, Julie and Julia, Moon, Taking of Pelham 123 (not a bad flick), Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Zombieland (which is not out yet).

[viddy]

Just saw this. I haven't enjoyed a movie this much in quite a while. The whole film has a really funny sense of humor too it. The characters are really entertaining to watch. The animation is AWESOME. The quality is really on par with Pixar.

I just have to get my friends to see it, most of them aren't interested after seeing the trailer.

[Sean]

Originally Posted by viddy

Just saw this. I haven't enjoyed a movie this much in quite a while. The whole film has a really funny sense of humor too it. The characters are really entertaining to watch. The animation is AWESOME. The quality is really on par with Pixar.

I just have to get my friends to see it, most of them aren't interested after seeing the trailer.

Maybe try showing your friends this for it that was done with Andy Samberg. It probably gets across the humor of the movie more accurately than the actual trailer does.

[Sean]

A new "50 greatest animated films" list has come out, with commentary provided by Terry Gilliam. Amazingly, after only three weeks in theaters, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs has come in at number 49, with this from Gilliam:

Too soon? Perhaps, but we’re convinced that this maddeningly ingenious and wildly original smart kids’ adventure will one day take its rightful place in the animated pantheon. In time-honoured cartoon fashion, ‘Cloudy… ’ takes a simple idea – scientist creates machine that turns water into food – and milks it for all its worth: you want spaghetti tornadoes? Ice-cream snowfalls? Palaces made of jelly? Killer Gummi-Bears? ‘Cloudy… ’ has it all.

But perhaps the film’s most notable characteristic is it’s absolute refusal to fall prey to this century’s most annoying cartoon bugbear: cultural referencing. From the industry in-jokes of ‘Shrek’ to the soul-searching self-help psychology of the ‘Ice Age’ movies, animators seem to have forgotten how to make movies for kids without patronising their parents. ‘Cloudy… ’ gets the balance just right, with a winning parade of witty asides, outrageous sight gags and beautifully judged character moments.

[Sean]

Yeah, I know - I'm pushing this film pretty hard here. But after working for years on a project that's ultimately only going to be in theaters for a few weeks, you would push it pretty hard for that short payoff time too.

Anyway, great article about Cloudy, and animated films in general here:

"I didn't manage to motivate myself to the theater for the blockbuster Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs until this weekend, when friends with kids invited me along on a family outing. Had that not happened, I might have missed one of the most visually interesting and genuinely funny comedies I've seen in a long time.

It made me wonder: Adults read Harry Potter books and Twilight, both of which are nominally aimed at young adults (at the oldest). Why doesn't it feel as likely that they'll go to purported kids' movies?"