Flickering Sound Waves

The first one has something to celebrate, seeing as it just made the Academy's shorlist of Animated Feature contenders. That's right: Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore has an outside shot at making it to the Kodak. Oh, what a world. As far as I'm concerned, this is a film that doesn't even enter the critical discussion. It's like Saw 3D – yes, it's one of the worst movies of the year, but it doesn't warrant the energy of placing it on a “Worst of” list. For adults without rugrats, the only logical reason I can think of to see Cats & Dogs 2 is a self-punishing desire to fret over the current state of Bette Midler's film career.

Moving on, we have Lottery Ticket, an urban comedy about greedy friends and neighbors which, like Cats & Dogs 2, I never got around to seeing. If this film musters any of the freewheeling spirit of Friday, whose community-wide mayhem it seems to be aiming for, it may generate some scattered laughs. It certainly has enough noteworthy African American comics to deliver the jokes, namely Mike Epps, Charlie Murphy and '09 buzz-maker Brandon T. Jackson. Really though, this movie seems little more than an experiment to see if Bow Wow (née Lil') can actually act. And I don't think we need to scratch off any tickets to know how that's gonna turn out.

In the plus column, there's Lisa Cholodenko's The Kids Are All Right, one of the very best films of 2010. I'm reeeaally looking forward to watching this one again, to laugh and smile and revel in it, of course, but also to reassess whether or not I was right the first time 'round in thinking that Cholodenko was too tough on Ruffalo's character. Did y'all feel that way, too? I ultimately let it slide, and accepted it as a necessary part of the family unit's progress and Cholodenko's feminist sensibilities. I basically refused to let it tarnish my full approval of the film, so wonderful 'twas.

Ironic that in the same week one of the year's best hits home video, so does what is quite possibly the year's worst. Anyone who's sat through M. Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender (in muddy, after-the-fact 3D, no less) knows full well it's a disaster of epic proportions, and by no means the success this foolish moviegoer thought would come from Shyamalan being behind the camera but not dreaming up the story. At this point, there's not a doubt in my mind that Shyamalan's at least half crazy, for the sheer fact that he felt this unwatchable hogwash was the best product to present to the public. I'm avoiding details and examples because there are too, too many. I'll just say I was actually pleased when the drama of a mother and her screaming child one row behind me averted my attention.