Ratchet & Clank

Ratchet & Clank

Focus Features etc.

April 29, 2016

Children's, Sci-Fi, Comedy
DVD
C-

Considering it's based on a video-game, not bad.  Kevin Munroe and Jericca Cleland co-directed.

Monsters, Inc.

Monsters, Inc.

Disney/Pixar

November 2, 2001

Animation, Children's, Sci-Fi, Comedy

DVD
C

Watching this for the first time since the original release, I still like the world-building and somewhat the characterization, but I found the child more annoying than cute.  I tuned out somewhere between a third and halfway through.  Pete Docter co-wrote, and co-directed with David Silverman and Lee Unkrich.  

Masked and Anonymous

Masked and Anonymous

BBC Films etc.

22 January 2003

Sci-Fi?, Dramedy?

DVD
C-

Odd but not interesting enough.  Bob Dylan stars as the has-been rock star and he co-wrote the script with director Larry Charles.

Love the Coopers

Love the Coopers

Lionsgate

November 13, 2015

Dramedy?
DVD
D+

Both pretentious (with the Steve Martin narration) and simplistic, like a woman literally shattered with emotion.  Jessie Nelson directed.

Kronk's New Groove

Kronk's New Groove

Disney

December 13, 2005 (Direct-to-Video/DVD)

Children's, Fantasy, Historical Comedy

DVD
D+

Surprisingly flat sequel to The Emperor's New Groove.  Saul Blinkoff and Elliot M. Bour co-directed.

Borrowers (1997)

Borrowers (1997)
PolyGram
5 December 1997
Children's, Fantasy
DVD
C-

For Harry Potter fans, the main interest here is in seeing "Professor Slughorn" as the father of "Draco Malfoy."  (Tom Felton was ten but looks tiny, I mean even for a Borrower.)  This is very loosely based on the Mary Norton books, which I believe were set in the Victorian period, while this looks like the 1940s or '50s.  Peter Hewitt directed.

The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski
Working Title Films
March 6, 1998
Comedy
DVD
C

I gave this Coen Brothers movie a half hour because I just honestly didn't know how I felt about it.  I'd heard about it for years but I think that's part of why I hesitated to watch it, that it wouldn't live up to the the cult status.  I can see why people like it, and certainly I had high hopes with this cast.  The opening narration by Sam Elliott was fun, but I just couldn't connect with this particular form of quirkiness.  Note that it's technically a historical comedy, being set around the time of the Gulf War I, but that was also the '90s, so I'm tagging it as just comedy.