Phil Lord and Chris Miller (aka: The LEGO Movie Thread)

Eryn

So how 'bout those emerging comedy auteurs, eh?

Loved Clone High back in the day, and since then, I've felt that everything they've directed together has been consistently strong. Their work is always fun, smart, energetic, weird, colourful, pop-culture-iffic, and (most importantly) heartfelt. I think they've got a long and awesome career ahead of them in comedy and animation, and I will follow their work until it sucks.

Thoughts? Love 'em? Hate 'em? Mixed bag? More importantly, what do you think of their latest, The LEGO Movie?

I'm heading out to see LEGO now, so I'll probably be back here later with my thoughts.

Daikun

Clone High: Hated it.

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs: Liked it (haven't seen the sequel, though, and I don't think I will).

The LEGO Movie: I've personally never cared for LEGO, even as a kid. This movie looks entertaining, though.

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee)

Daikun said:

Clone High: Hated it.

There are people who don't like Clone High? I don't understand.

Rochelle

I enjoyed The Lego Movie just as much as I enjoyed Wreck-It Ralph. Both movies have a lot of similarities in regards to nostalgic characters/elements. It didn't detract from the movie, but only added to it. There are also a lot of subtle humor that I had many laughs from. Both movies have a strong lesson/theme as well. Good voice acting and great dialog.

MATATAT

Linkigi(Link-ee-jee) said:

Daikun said:

Clone High: Hated it.

There are people who don't like Clone High? I don't understand.

Also never cared for Legos, probably just hated fun.

Coldguy

A spoiler free review of the Lego Movie.

Warning: May contain pseudo inside jokes but still entertaining none the less.

HMTKSteve

Coldguy said:

A spoiler free review of the Lego Movie.

Warning: May contain pseudo inside jokes but still entertaining none the less.

How about a text review? I read faster than I watch.

Eryn

Just got back from LEGO. Fun times, for sure! It wasn't perfect: I was a little thrown off in the beginning, because the pacing felt too fast, even for these guys. The pace mostly evened out after they got out of Brickville, though, and the last third or so of the movie especially was just perfectly tight and on point. Even during the parts that felt oddly paced, it was never boring. The movie's always bursting with creativity and colour, and there's always cool worldbuilding going on in the foreground and background. As for that last third: definitely the best section of the movie. It's the most creative, the most well-written, has some of the best jokes, and it's where the real heart of the movie's message gets laid out. Not gonna lie: I teared up towards the end. It's rare when every element of a movie comes together that well. Guess I shouldn't be surprised, considering it's Lego -- stuff going together is kind of their thing.

One more nitpick: I honestly wasn't feeling Lego Batman, much as everyone else seems to love him. He was mostly just kind of obnoxious and "HEY LOOK IT'S INTERNET BATMAN!1!!" to me. The bits between Lego Superman and Lego Green Lantern, tho? Loved 'em. Moar plz. :B

Also: Unikitty for president.

EDIT: The Wreck-It Ralph comparison above is accurate. I enjoyed it about as much as I enjoyed that movie, possibly a bit more. The mix of nostalgic and original elements is just as well-done. Also: the ending credits struck me as reminiscent of that movie.

GroverBomb

LEGO movie was certainly worth the matinee price this weekend, which is when we usually go see animated films of this nature and budget. There were some really interesting, fun, and, at times, psychedelic visuals and we walked away with lots to talk and laugh about.

I agree with Ro - it's in a similar place in my book as Wreck-It-Ralph. I'm also a fan of Chris Pratt, and his voice acting for the main character, Emmett, was spot on. Morgan Freeman didn't hurt either.

During the credits there is a country rendition of Everything is Awesome. We've been doubling down on that for a couple of days.

Eryn

HMTKSteve said:

How about a text review? I read faster than I watch.

The Badass Digest review is pretty thorough and also spoiler-free.

Nukerjsr

Never really got into Clone High, only seeing bits and pieces of it.

I actually just re-watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, which is their first movie. That movie is great and deserves more credit than it got. It came out in a year of great animated movies, but it's probably the biggest surprise that it managed to be based on a mostly-wordless children's book and be so compelling. You start to see where most of their humor comes from with puns, smart visual gags, and a lot of the jokes are about building people up rather than knocking them down. I think they have a pretty good eye for set design when it comes to big spectacles or giving an actor/actress their moment to shine. (Like the big T shape that comes from when the cop runs through a Tortilla Chip)

I want to give the LEGO movie another watch before comparing to Wreck-It-Ralph. It's a very apt comparison, but I may say the LEGO movie is better in the way it moves from scene to scene and celebrates how we used to play with Legos. Ralph spends a little too much time on their new original properties, but I loved it even more the second time I saw it knowing what the build up is for. And boy, the LEGO movie has such a build-up...I'm thinking of seeing it in 3D next time.

Lord and Miller are an incredible duo. The success of 21 Jump Street also being an example of how they can take absurd ideas and turn them into gold. They are the anti-Seltzerburg.

Coldguy

The one thing that gets me every time is the leak in the boat. *scream*

Blattus

Saw this last night - the movie was definitely entertaining but for me the nostalgia from Wreck-It Ralph hit home a bit more. There were some amazingly witty bits though, including the names of the relics and the Siri bit toward the end. I laughed more than I expected going in.

Also this will be forever stuck in my head.

chaosof99

Supposedly the movie will be released here in early April, which sucks ass. I want to see it now but don't want to see it on some shitty pirated cam capture.

Rochelle

I loved the naming/pronunciation of the relics. It is very akin to how I like to mispronounce thing. Now I will pronounce those relics how Business did.

P_TOG

Lord/Miller are going on the same shelf as Neveldine/Taylor. That shelf being the shelf for directing duos who make frenetic comedy films that I love with all of my heart. I prefer the LEGO Movie over every movie I saw last year, and I loved the HECK out of a ton of movies last year so that's a big statement coming from my typing hands. I haven't seen Cloudy since it came out, but I remember it being a blast and loving ever second of it. As for 21 Jump Street, almost all of my enjoyment came from how it was directed. These guys are my jam.

Eryn

Eryn

The hits just keep on comin' from Badass Digest. This time, Film Crit Hulk has one of his trademark essays to share about how The LEGO Movie subverts the Hero's Journey, schools audiences on methods of creativity and storytelling, and constructs some surprisingly deep metaphors about the nature of childhood and adulthood.

Warning, here be spoilers: The Real Awesomeness of The LEGO Movie: Everything is Meaningful

Key section about the themes of the ending, for those who want to read but remain spoiler-free:

THINK ABOUT THE WAY SOCIETY OPERATES. THE REAL PROBLEM IS THAT ADULTS BUILD A WORLD WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING WHY THEY'RE PLAYING THE GAME IN THE FIRST PLACE. BUSINESS. POLITICS. THESE ARE DESPERATELY IMPORTANT THINGS THAT NEED TO FUNCTION AND BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY IN ORDER FOR SOCIETY TO FUNCTION, BUT EVERY DAMN DAY WE FORGET THAT THE REASON WE DO THEM IS BECAUSE WE ACTUALLY CRAVE THE SIMPLEST THINGS IN LIFE: FUN. PEACE OF MIND. LOVE. TOGETHERNESS. DESPITE HOW THOSE WORDS SOUND, HULK SWEARS TO YOU THAT THESE ARE NOT FLOWERY IDEAS. THESE THINGS ARE THE REAL CURRENCY OF LIFE. AND THEY ARE PART OF ALL THE THINGS ADULTS CLAIM THEY ARE FIGHTING FOR.

THE PROBLEM IS THAT WE BUILD ADULT SYSTEMS AND VALUES THAT SO READILY EXCLUDE IT. THAT FEED INTO OUR DESIRE TO OVERWORK. THAT GET US TO MISS ALL THAT OTHER GOOD STUFF IN OUR LIVES. THAT MINE IT FOR MAXIMUM BUSINESS AND FEED INTO THE SAME SYSTEM THAT DOESN'T ACTUALLY WANT YOU TO HAVE HAPPINESS, BUT MERELY CONTINUED CONSUMPTION. IT IS ESSENTIALLY "OBJECTIFYING" ALL OUR SIMPLE THINGS. [ . . . ]

MEANING DAY AFTER DAY, ADULTHOOD FAILS US.

AND REALLY, THEY ARE FAILING THEMSELVES.

AND ALL THIS PARENT / KID METAPHOR MUMBO-JUMBO IS THE REASON THE CLIMAX TO THE LEGO MOVIE WORKS. IT IS THE SIMPLE ACT OF TELLING ADULTHOOD THAT THEY ARE WASTING IT. [ . . . ] SURE, THEY HAVE ALL THE RESPONSIBILITY AND THAT IS A HEAVY LOAD TO BEAR, BUT THEY ALSO HAVE ALL THE POWER. AS THE MOVIE ARGUES, THEY ARE THE MOST SPECIAL PEOPLE IN THE WORLD. THEY HAVE ALL THE RESOURCES. ALL THE HEART. AND SO EVERY ADULT HAS THE UTTER CAPACITY TO BE HEROES, NOT JUST TO THEIR CHILDREN, BUT TO THE SCORES OF PEOPLE THEY CAN POTENTIALLY LEAD EVERY DAY.

Eryn

This video came up again recently for me. Never will not love it.

HMTKSteve

Three weeks at number one in the US.

Daikun

Daikun

So, has anyone seen 22 Jump Street (or its predecessor) yet?

Daikun

WB greenlights Lego Batman movie.

Please get Lord and Miller on this, WB.

Victor Frost

Oh. My. God. YES!

Daikun

Now the duo is making a new Spider-Man movie (and it's a comedy).

Daikun

Another Lego Movie spinoff announced: The Billion Brick Race.

Lord and Miller are attached, but only as producers.

Daikun

Now they're making a Star Wars movie.

Daikun

Daikun

Now they're working on a Scooby-Doo movie.