MONSTERS VS. ALIENS

Up in the Berkshires for the holiday and went to see this kiddie movie with the kiddies.

Like most animated films these days, it was as much for the adults as the kids, so I guffawed a few times and chuckled a lot. Also like most animated films these days, the voices weren''t those of obscure voice actors, working actors, (quick, name one of the actors who voiced any character in LADY AND THE TRAMP—Peggy Lee was the only well known one at the time) but of major stars.

Because of the recession that began much earlier in the entertainment business (e.g. music CDs etc.) and the writers' strike over a year ago and the delay in SAG (Screen Actors Guild) finalizing their contract with the producers (it's months overdue with the threat of a strike still possible) there's been a lot less movie work so movie stars have less to do and earn.

Not that they don't earn more than their share to begin with (though like top athletes, they're worth it because they're the draw and fill the seats etc.). But there it is. The up side of this (not as the working film and TV actor I was for decades, because those days are over but if I were still depending on it for my living I'd be in bad shape like most non-stars these days) is that the characters in the film have a resonance to them, like the small but hysterical role Stephen Colbert plays as the voice of "The President"—worth watching the movie for that alone.

If you have kids, you might not mind seeing this one with them. Or even on your own when it comes out on DVD. (Or in a theater that has 3-D, which the Great Barrington triplex unfortunately doesn't—I think it would have been even more of a kick with that added dimension, literally.)