Arthur & Rango

Arthur

There wasn’t much that’s terribly original or special about Arthur. But I really liked it anyway. Russell Brand did a great job, pretty much playing himself, but he’s the best at it, and I find him and his fast quips entertaining. Helen Mirren shined as well. Maybe she’s too good an actress to be in movies like Arthur, but I’m glad she doesn’t think so, or at least didn’t let any thought like that stop her from being in it. There’s a great chemistry there with Brand, and it was able to provide for some really touching moments. Again, not terribly original or special, and definitely not perfect, but I was more than satisfied with it. I’d love to see more films with the Mirren/Brand tandem.

Also, Arthur makes me believe Brand could be a good fit doing something with the director of 500 Days of Summer. I don’t know if that would happen, with demand for Brand possibly having waned considerably--as Arthur likely underperformed at the box office--but maybe such “failure” will give Brand a sort of openness to seek out smaller budget films with filmmakers who shine in such films, allowing Brand to stretch out even more, dramatically.

Brand really does have a side of him that makes me believe he can go there and do it well. Certainly, his could be an interesting career to track, and I do hope that it is. I’d consider Arthur a good one on his resume.

Rango

I liked this. I fell asleep somewhere in the middle, but not really due to the film. It didn’t last long, and what I saw from that point until the end was pretty nice. I wish they had really were able to have Clint Eastwood work on this. But as it stands, it’s really good. The music was great. Liked the humor, and the animation was top notch.