I didn't think too much of the trailer for Horton Hears A Who, it didn't make it look like a particularly good film. And I abhor the uber-celebrity casting for these animated films, it usually ends up being more distracting than anything, as I always imagine these stars behind the mic, instead of getting involved in their characters. I honestly haven't been that impressed with the latest crop of computer-animated films outside of Pixar's work and the inspired Surf's Up; the magic has worn off, and most of them have become as bland as any standard Hollywood production. But it had been a few months since anything kid friendly had been released, and we wanted to take our son to see something, and this was the only thing that fit the bill.

Like every American kid I grew up on Dr. Suess books, I love everything about them and still do; they are my favorite thing to read to my son. Sadly we haven't had a good Dr. Suess film adaptation, since the original animated Christmas classic, How the Grinch Who Stole Christmas; the two live action adaptations, The Grinch and The Cat and the Hat both landed somewhere between slightly bearable and putrid. So I didn't have great expectations for Horton Hears A Who, but as soon as the first scene started to roll, they started to rise. The film gorgeously creates the great adventure of a drop of dew rolling and falling through the entire jungle of Nool, before it knocks loose a tiny speck, that is in fact the world of Whoville.

The speck is sent floating by Horton, a happy, go-lucky elephant, who is swimming in a nearby stream. With his huge ears, Horton is able to hear the quiet screams of the Who's as their tiny world goes floating by; he manages to save them, just before they're dunked in the water. Jim Carrey is really wonderful as Horton, I thought he might get to crazy with the role, but the filmmakers keep him mostly reigned in and in character. Steve Carrell is also good as the Mayor of Whoville, who Horton communicates with, and promises to save their world by placing their speck on a protected flower at the top of the tallest mountain in Nool. Carol Burnett plays Kangaroo, a cranky WASP of woman, who doesn't like Horton's large heart and imagination influencing the jungle's children. Unable to keep her prejudices to herself, she sicks a nasty Vulture on Horton; and then to really make sure he doesn't complete his quest, organizes a huge rally of animals, by playing with their fears.

I was really surprised by how caught up in it all that I got. The way they present this children's story, translates so well to so many aspects of our real life issues, that it took it to a whole new level. I guess the anti-abortionists have grabbed on to Horton's saying "A person 's a person, no matter how small they are."; which fits for their purposes, but I took it to mean, that a person is a person, no matter the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, their religion, whether they have disabilities or not; meaning that no one should be discriminated against, no matter what, and that's a wonderful message to convey to kids, and it's done in a very entertaining way.

The film is beautifully animated, the opening scene as they fly through the jungle is so luscious that it looks more real than real; all the characters are very nicely created and done in a true Suess style. The narrator reading lines directly from the book, is a very nice touch. They don't ham up the story with all kinds of pop-culture references, keeping it timeless. I felt there was only one small misstep in the entire film; when the characters all break into song for a few minutes, but it was brief, mostly the film stays very classic. If every Dr. Suess book could be as faithfully adapted as Horton Hears A Who, I'd tell Hollywood to bring on as many as they can make. Unfortunately I don't think that's realistic. - Grade: B+

By all reasoning I should be sick of quirky, coming-of-age indie-comedies. There's been a glut of them the last decade, every year a couple more are released, usually at Sundance; Juno being the most popular of the bunch, most are released on DVD and quickly forgotten. But I seek out all of them, I have some sort of an unknown affinity towards them; even though they're all starting to blur together; one large mess of awkward teenagers, smart-ass dialogue, symmetrical photography, over-done set design, obscure rock song soundtracks and dry, all-knowing narrators.

Rocket Science really takes the cake in the quirk department; there's very little here that rings true. I mean, who really plays The Violent Femmes' Blister in the Sun on cello? But movies don't have to be real, that's the whole point, to produce an alternate universe of your own design. Writer/Director Jeffrey Blitz, who made the excellent documentary Spellbound, has created a fairly well-made and funny ride through the embarrassing teenage years.

Hal Hefner,an uneasy high school freshmen, stutters his way through life, his parents have just split-up, and his big brother is a bully and a kleptomaniac; nothing seems to be going his way until Ginny Ryerson the bright, cute captain of the school's debate team decides that he'd be perfect as her new partner. She thinks that those with disabilities make the best debaters, because they have a deep seeded sense of anger. He's willing to give it his best shot as long as he gets to be near Ginny; he has a major crush on her, since she's the only girl that's ever given him a second glance. When they make-out in the closet at school one day, he's done for, completely obsessed.

When he fails her by badly, by stuttering his way through their first debate together, she quickly gives up on him. Even going so far as to switch to a private school, to team up with the best debater in the city. Hal is crushed. After purging his anger in a destructive and humorous manner, he decides to get revenge. He does so by tracking down Ginny's old partner Ben, who had a public meltdown in the opening scene of the film. They make a goofy team, learn some valuable life lessons, and Hal figures a bit about who he really is.

There's nothing new about Rocket Science, every character has some weird tendency, from the Mom who's become some sort of nymphomaniac to Hal's Asian friend who follows him around like a lost puppy, none of the side characters seem more than a set of movie quirks. The entire film is like that, every cliche' of the genre is thrown in. The narrator even sounds like Alec Baldwin, a Wes Anderson alum; the entire film feels like Anderson light, but director Blitz makes it work. It's all so goofy and over-the-top unrealistic that it meshes together nicely, creating a sort of comic book world. While not as good as Rushmore or Juno; if you enjoy films of this sort it's worth checking out. - - Grade: B