Surfin' Bird

Film: Surf’s Up
Format: DVD from Sycamore Public Library on laptop.

My local public library is undergoing a massive expansion and renovation. It’s close for the next month, which means that a couple of movies I had ordered through interlibrary loan were instead shunted to the public library one town over. When I went to pick them up, I discovered that I have the ability to check out anything from that library using my regular library card. Well, it was a nice surprise, as was finding Surf’s Up, the last nominee for Best Animated Feature I had left to watch…at least until the next Oscar nominations are announced.

In a more perfect world, I’d have left Song of the Sea until the end so that I could wrap up this category on a high note. Instead, I’m wrapping it up not on a sour one, but on a mediocre one. Surf’s Up isn’t a bad movie; it’s just a movie I’ve seen before. This is, beat for beat, the same thing as Cars except with surfing penguins instead of with NASCAR vehicles. It’s as if Sony took the money-making potential of the previous year’s Pixar film (the aforementioned Cars) and combined it with the previous year’s Best Animated Feature winner (dancing penguin extravaganza Happy Feet) in a quest for the best of both worlds.

Frozen

Format: Carmike Market Square 10.

My older daughter has been obsessed with Frozen since the first time she saw it a few weeks ago. Since today was a snow day all around, I decided it was time that I saw it, too. So we went to an afternoon matinee, my two girls and me. Aside from the three teenage girls who sat behind us and talked through the first 20 minutes or so, it was a completely pleasurable time in the theater.

I didn’t see Tangled, which most people said was a return to form for Disney. If it hadn’t been, Frozen would be, because it’s about as good as the classic Disney films that everyone loves. It’s also very smart, which is even better than it just being good. There are plenty of good children’s films that don’t do anything terribly new or exciting, but Frozen stores up a brilliant curve ball at the end. The conclusion is very different from what we’re led to expect, and that’s a slice of brilliance.