The Screening Log - blogging film

Seen on: November 7, 2008

The players: Directors: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Writers: Eric Darnell, Tom McGrath, Etan Cohen, Voice cast: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett-Smith, David Schwimmer, Sacha Baron Cohen, Bernie Mac

Facts of interest: This is not the last "Madagascar." A third one is on the way already.

The plot: This time, Alex, Gloria, Melman and Marty try to fly back home to New York. Unfortunately, they end up crash-landing somewhere in Africa.

Our thoughts: “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa” feels more like a déjà vu than an all-new animated adventure starring familiar characters. The sequel to the 2005 DreamWorks Animation hit “Madagascar” lacks all the ingredients of an inventive sequel, offering instead a boring 89-minute show with a shallow story and plenty of rehashed gags.

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Friday

03Oct2008

Brand-new 'Madagascar 2' trailer hits!

Friday, October 3, 2008 at 9:03AM | By

A new trailer for Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath's upcoming sequel "Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa" recently debuted over at Yahoo!, and you can check it out just above. To me this looks just as monotonous as the first film, except for the change of the setting the African mainland. Anyway, Chris Rock, Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith and David Schimmer return as the voice cast. The film opens Nov. 7.

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Sunday

14Sep2008

'The Women' web reviews

Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 2:38PM | By

If you've already seen Diane English's comedy "The Women," I sure hope you liked it better than I did. You can check out my take on this right here. Anyway, starring Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Debra Messing and Jada Pinkett Smith, the film follows four best friends who support each other during tough times. Here is what some of the Web's critics had to say about the flick:

• Eric D. Snider at Cinematical: "It's all women, all the time. Which might sound empowering and feminist, except that the women are all shallow, vain, and petty, and their primary topic of conversation is, you guessed it, men."

• CinemaBlend's Mack Rawden: "This movie is without direction. It’s without purpose. And it’s beyond terrible in almost every conceivable way. It doesn’t advance a cause or even shed light on how to handle specific issues."

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Sunday

14Sep2008

Review: "The Women"

Sunday, September 14, 2008 at 2:26PM | By

Seen on: September 14, 2008

The players: Director: Diane English, Writer: Diane English, Cast: Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Debra Messing, Jada Pinkett-Smith

Facts of interest: Remake of the 1939 classic "The Women."

The plot: The film follows the adventures of four best friends who help support each other in times of misery.

Our quick thoughts: Diane English’s “The Women” is one huge and utterly boring mess. No, I don’t hate this film because I’m a guy or because you think I don’t understand the nature of its subject matter. I sure do appreciate plenty of chick flicks, I always enjoy a good Nancy Meyers film, and I even think quite positively about the two “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” movies.

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Thursday

31Jul2008

New ‘Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa’ trailer debuts!

Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 8:50AM | By

Today we have a brand-new trailer from Eric Darnell and Tom McGrath’s upcoming DreamWorks Animation adventure “Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa,” which is scheduled to hit theaters and IMAX Nov. 7, 2008.

Most what you see in the preview above is exactly the same as in the previous trailer, so don’t get too excited too soon. Ben Stiller, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith and Chris Rock all return to voice the central characters. In this sequel, the four zoo animals try to make it back home to New York City.