DVD Reviews: Monsters vs Aliens, Afterwards, & I Love You Man

Monsters vs Aliens

Voices Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen, Kiefer Sutherland, Hugh Laurie
Directors Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
Genre Animation
Rating PG

On her wedding day, a meteorite lands near Susan Murphy (Witherspoon) and makes her an ineligible spinster: suddenly she grows taller than the church where she was supposed to say "I Do". Next she finds herself in a hidden prison for mutants, with Dr Cockroach (Laurie), the gelatinous B.O.B. (Rogen), The Missing Link (Will Arnett) and Insectosaurus for company. They are a friendly lot who have given up hope of freedom. One day a large bullet-shaped robot lands on earth to confirm the presence of quantonium on the planet. This is an element his master Gallaxhar is looking for. As the humans are helpless against this giant, prison chief General W.R. Monger (Sutherland) releases the mutants, aka monsters, to eliminate it. They succeed, but then Gallaxhar and his cohorts come to town. This is a nice, fun movie for the whole family.

Afterwards

Cast Evangeline Lilly Romain Duris, John Malkovich,
Director Gilles Bourdos
Genre Drama
Rating 15

A small boy runs across the road, is knocked down by a speeding car and given up for dead. He survives and we soon come to know him as Nathan, a New York lawyer. It seems there is a reason for him not to have crossed the portal to the next dimension. But Nathan doesn't know what it is and he doesn't care. There are other things that trouble him: the sudden inexplicable death of his son and the divorce from his wife. Then Dr Kay, head of the department at St Louis Hospital, walks into his life. This man can see a glow around people who will be dying shortly. His work, he says is to give them a chance to reconcile with their loved ones before they die. But why is he telling Nathan this? Are Nathan's days numbered?

I Love You Man

Cast Paul Rudd, Jason Segel, Rashida Jones
Directors John Hamburg, Ivan Reitman
Genre Comedy/Romance
Rating R

Not having best friends is a bad thing. But not everyone is as lucky as Paris Hilton, who has more BFFs than she can count. Well, our hero Peter Klaven (Rudd), a real estate agent who has been coasting along with an uncomplicated lifestyle, suddenly realises that existence wouldn't be meaningful without friends. And why this sudden realisation? He has just proposed to Zooey (Rashida Jones), and with the wedding day looming, he must find a best man. Frantically he goes on man-dates and at last finds Sydney Fife (Segal). The male bonding succeeds, with Peter even providing Fife with juicy tidbits. Zooey comes to know about this and declares that she will not be tying the knot.