DALLAS BUYERS CLUB

It's hard to remember the fear, mistrust, and misinformation that floated around at the beginning of the AIDS crisis in America.  Dallas Buyers Club is an entertaining and engrossing look at an unlikely hero from that time.

Ron Woodroof (Matthew McConaughey) is a piece of work.  Living in Texas in 1985, Ron was an electrician by trade, a hustler by nature, and a trailer park good ol' boy with plenty of homophobia and racism.  He loves drinking, cocaine, and unprotected sex -- the last of which led him to a diagnosis of being HIV-positive, and a predicted lifespan of 30 days.  But Ron outlived his (literal) deadline, learned about alternative medicines to the AZT being pushed as the only cure for AIDS, and even found a way to make a buck: He'd smuggle AIDS drugs in from Mexico (and soon other countries), charge people membership to be in his club (called the Dallas Buyers Club), and give members the drugs it was illegal to sell.

While Ron's motives begin selfish, soon he begins to feel for others.  He partners with Rayon (Jared Leto), a gay transvestite, to get customers from the gay community.  He reads everything he can on AIDS and its treatments, which leads him all over the world to collect new drugs the FDA will not approve.  He becomes an expert on medicine, from knowing what holds promise to using the information from his group to create his own informal drug trials.  He battles the authorities out to shut him down.   He even romances Eve (Jennifer Garner), a doctor who has her own questions about prescribing AZT for every AIDS patient.  And Ron never loses his spirit, foul mouth, or sense of rebellion

Dallas Buyers Club is a thoroughly entertaining movie.  Matthew McConaughey delivers a great bad-boy performance as Ron, letting the character grow without losing his acerbic, coarse, charming-obnoxious roots.  Jared Leto is amazing as Rayon, a part of the community Ron initially hates yet who's willing to work with him for both money and improving the lives of others.  Rayon isn't perfect by any means, but the character will stay with you long after the movie ends.  Garner is decent (but without a lot to do) as a doctor suffering under the system; and the movie may be a bit too simplistic by portraying every medical authority as bad and the "clinical trial" approach as fundamentally flawed.  That said, Dallas Buyer's Club is intelligent, original, and quite touching as a look back at what was a real American health crisis and its surprising champion..

Overall grade: A-
Reviewed by James Lynch

MONSTER FLUXX

Few games have reminded me so much of the song "The Monster Mash" as Monster Fluxx.  This game, the latest Fluxx offering from Looney Labs, uses the Fluxx rules for classic movie monsters.

Monster Fluxx follows the same rules as previous Fluxx games.  Players play Keepers (people, monsters, and items), Goals (which let someone with the right combination of Keepers win), Actions (which do everything from let someone play more cards to steal or discard Keepers), and Rules (which affect how many cards players can draw, play, or have).  Since Monster Fluxx is a Target exclusive (disclaimer: I work for Target -- but I don't twerk for them), the slightly more complex Creepers and Surprise cards are absent.

Monster Fluxx uses classic movie and cartoon monsters and themes, from the Werewolf and Zombies to the Teenage Detectives and the Spooky Door.  The artwork isn't too scary, which keeps with the family feel of the game; and there's even bits of humor, like the Goal "Cereal Mascots," which gives victory to anyone with two of the following: Franken-Monster, the Vampire, or the Ghost.  Anyone who's played Fluxx before will have zero trouble playing this version, and it's easy to teach new people.  Monster Fluxx is a nice game for fans of not-too-scary monsters.

Overall grade: B
Reviewed by James Lynch

CYANIDE AND HAPPINESS: PUNCHING ZOO

 Evil, funny stick figures from the Internet invade the world of print with Punching Zoo, the third collection of comics from the online cartoon strip Cyanide and Happiness.   Kris, Rob, Matt and Dave deliver numerous inappropriate comics from their website, along with 30 new comics and a "Chew Your Own Adventure" feature.

As with the last two collections (and the regular online strip), the comics here are offensive, covering death, rape, stupidity, superheroes, Jesus, suicide, kids, and more.  In his introduction, reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian credits the comics' offensiveness, arguing that newspaper comics are designed to be benign and not offend anyone; he finishes the thought by wondering about all the jokes we never heard from twisted minds like Gary Larson because censors wouldn't print them -- and C&H has no such censorship.

 Does that mean the comics here are brilliant?  No, they frequently go for an evil punchline or plain ol' violence.  But they have a twisted sense of humor that often pays off, giving laughs at the same time they make you wonder if they could really just do and say that.  (They did.  Every time.)  Even the twist-a-plot "Chew Your Own Adventure" starts with a guy getting ready for a hot date and veers into him making dinner for his obnoxious son and fighting terrorists, often with less-than-stellar results.  ("You set the over to 350 and the timer for 30 minutes.  A chandelier falls on your head.  You die.  The End.")

Punching Zoo straddles the Internet and print by being "in murdered tree form" by being a physical book, but only available through the Cyanide and Happiness store.  For people with a sick sense of humor, it's definitely worth picking up.

Overall grade: B
Reviewed by James Lynch

her

Computers and the internet have certainly changed how people date and interact, from Facebook to dating sites, but what happens when people can get emotionally involved with the technology itself?  her, written and directed by Spike Jonze, is a intelligent and delicate romance story in the near future that demonstrates that that even with amazing technology, the more things change the more they stay the same.

Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lonely guy.  He makes a living taking information from people and writing emotional letters to their loved ones (which a computer writes in the client's handwriting).  He's been separated from his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara) for months, but he can't bring himself to sign the divorce papers.  He spends time with his friend Amy (Amy Adams) and her critical husband Charles (Matt Letscher), spends a lot of time playing a videogame alone in his apartment, rarely dates, and has a humorously horrible experience with online sex.

Things change -- or do they? -- when Ted gets Samantha (voice of Scarlett Johansson), an operating system designed to learn, to be intuitive, and to grow.  Ted finds Samantha to be funny, smart, challenging, helpful, and it's not long before the two are dating, having sex (handled tastefully), and sharing their thoughts and dreams.  But along with the joy of new love comes the challenges of a long-term relationship: Ted's panic when he can't get touch with Samantha (usually omnipresent, thanks to Ted's earbud); worries about having less sex (and an attempt to spice things up that falls flat); fears one person is outgrowing the other; one verbal slip-up leading to a big argument,; and, of course, "we need to talk."

It would have been easy for her to be a treatise on technology, but while the movie has a lot to say about tech and people (Ted's job involves artificial creations; almost everyone walks around with a smartphone or earbud) it's more about relationships and emotions, as real for Ted and Samantha as for regular humans.  Joaquin Phoenix plays Ted perfectly, as a sensitive and sad guy who wants love and romance but always manages to get in his own way.  Scarlett Johansson's vocal performance is touching, as her character grows from a friend to lover to someone finding that there's more in the world beyond her boyfriend; it's very easy to forget that her character is a disembodied computer (or, as she'd say, an operating system).  There's lots of humor here -- the goofy early dating, Ted's co-worker Paul (Chris Pratt) having a man-crush on Ted -- but also a lot of the elation and heartache of love.  her may seem about a human-program relationship, but it's a moving look at how we interact with each other, for better and worse.

Overall grade: A
Reviewed by James Lynch

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE dvd

Tradition and religion can be a dangerous combination when allowed to continue long after they were necessary.  We Are What We Are, a remake of a 2010 dark comedy, approaches a horrific family ritual with a Gothic feel.

Heavy storms in Delaware prove tragic for the Parker family.  When the mother Emma Parker (Kassie DePavia) has an accident and drowns, the rest of the Parkers grieve -- and continue.  Patriarch Frank Parker (Bill Sage) insists that their ways continue, with older teen daughter Iris (Ambyr Childers) taking over the role of her deceased mother.  14-year old Rose (Julia Garner) wants to rebel and just stop the tradition, while little boy Rory (Jack Gore) keeps complaining that he's hungry.  The traditions seem to stem from a late-18th century family journal, which describes what early settlers did to survive when starvation was rampant in winter.

Meanwhile, the elderly Doc Barrow (Michael Parks) thinks the storm has washed up a small human bone -- and notes three people a year have gone missing for 30 years -- including his daughter -- but the sheriff won't take him seriously.  Barrow turns to Deputy Anders (Wyatt Russell) for help, but Anders is sweet on Rose.  And more people keep disappearing.

We Are What We Are goes for more atmosphere than shock, which is both a strength and weakness.  Most of the movie skips the more common horror movie shocks and gore (which makes the brutality at the end even more surprising) in favor of a quiet build-up of the small-town horror.  This creates an atmosphere of dread, but also makes the movie a bit boring at times.  The conflict between older tradition and the rebellion of the young is put in a horrifying contrast here, though it's not explored too much.  And the "surprise" of the family tradition isn't that surprising, given all the hints and signs.  We Are What We Are isn't the greatest treatment of this topic, but its restraint and development make it a decent descent into horror.  (DVD extras are very sparse, consisting of interviews, commentary, and a behind-the-scenes feature.)

Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET

Did you know that folks at Wall Street can be greedy, hedonistic, and criminals?  If you didn't know that, you've probably been living under a rock for a few decades.  If you did know that, there won't be much new for you in The Wolf of Wall Street, which tells a story so familiar even Martin Scorcese can't add much to it.

Based on the biography of the title character, The Wolf of Wall Street follows Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio), a Wall Street titan of industry and of appetite.  Belfort simply wanted to be rich, and he had the misfortune of getting his broker's license on the day the stock market crashed; this also led to his Manhattan employer going under.  Belfort wound up working from a brokerage in a Long Island strip mall, where he sold penny stocks (cheap stocks for barely-existing companies, sold to lower- and middle-class people) at an amazing rate.

Belfort became so successful he started his own company.  His employees were mostly drug dealers, along with his odd neighbor Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill), who quit his job to work for Belfort as soon as he heard how much Belfort made in a month.  With Belfort's script and never-take-no-for-an-answer approach, soon Belfort made so much he moved to a Manhattan office, then a bigger Manhattan office.  He also turned work into a circus of excess, with everything from hookers to midget tossing to truly massive amount of drugs.  Belfort also "upgraded" from his wife Teresa (Cristin Miloti) to a hot blonde named Naomi (Margot Robbie).  And there was plenty of insider trading, getting the attention of everyone from the SEC to honest F.B.I. agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler).

The Wolf of Wall Street is surprisingly flat, given its director and star power.  DiCaprio does what he can with the role -- the scene where he motivates his staff to pitch the IPO his company controls is inspiring -- but a lot of the movie is just him talking about how much he spends and how great his life is.  The movie may not endorse greed, but it certainly wallows in showing off the excesses of Wall Street, from conspicuous consumption (Belfort's mansion and yacht) to obscene amounts of sex (this movie has the most female nudity you'll see outside of porn) and drugs, to the reckless partying that killed many of the players and kept the others entertained.  Given the movie's almost three hour running time, a lot of this should have been cut.  The Wolf of Wall Street has its moments -- especially and oddly primal scene where Belfort and Azoff, high on drugs, crawl around and slur-yell at each other -- but we've seen it all before, often done better.

Overall grade: C-
Reviewed by James Lynch

AMERICAN HUSTLE

The movie about the elaborate con is pretty routine in Hollywood, but American Hustle elevates this type of film with not only layer upon layer of deception and double-crosses, but also commentary on the corruption that comes with power.

Set in 1978 and loosely based on real events, American Hustle follows an unlikely collusion between confidence men and the U.S. government.  Irvin Rosenfelt (Christian Bale, unrecognizable with his extra weight and giant comb-over) runs all sorts of scams, from forged art to fictitious lines of credit for desperate people.  His partner and lover is Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), a meticulous con artist who uses a British accent to add a foreign element to their schemes.  Irvin's biggest weakness is his wife Rosalyn (Jennifer Lawrence), a foul-mouthed and unstable woman who uses her sex appeal and her son, who Irvin adopted, as leverage to keep him with her.

Irvin and Sydney wind up busted by FBI agent Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), an ambitious agent.  He initially agrees to let the two go after they help him make four busts with their cons.  But Richie's hopes grow -- along with Irvin's fears -- as a con involving a rich sheik and millions of dollars gets the interest of New Jersey Mayor Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner).  Polito wants to use the sheik's money to build up Atlantic City, and soon congressmen, senators, and even the mob are getting involved.  And as Irvin gets more and more nervous, no one is really sure who's using who. Is the tension between Irvin and Sydney real?  Is Sydney falling for Richie -- or just playing him?  And will Rosalyn make everything fall to pieces?

It's hard to think of any way that American Hustle could be any better.  The cast is stellar from top to bottom, and director David O. Russell brings out an intensity and realism from everyone that propels the film from start to finish.  While the movie is gripping and dramatic, there's also plenty of comedy, from the opening shot of Irvin putting together his elaborate comb-over to Louis C.K.'s role as Richie's boss whose concerns are ignored more and more at the prospect of big takedowns.  American Hustle is intelligent, entertaining, and a great example of what a movie can be.

Overall grade: A+
Reviewed by James Lynch

NO HEROICS

Superhero shows can be expensive to keep going, what with the cost of showing super-powers and fantasy battles, but superhero comedies are easier to do, as powers are rarely if ever used and most of the action is verbal instead of physical.  This is certainly the case with No Heroics, an acerbic and amusing British comedy about a world where super heroes (or "capes") are real and have to deal with mundane issues.

No Heroics revolves around four lesser superheroes, who usually hang out in a bar called the Fortress (whose rules are "No capes, no powers, no heroics.")  The Hotness/Alex (Nicholas Burns) has heat powers and wants to be a famous superhero, but he winds up either unknown or a laughingstock; he's also mocked by Excelsior/Devlin (Patrick Baladi), an arrogant, sexist jerk who gets all the fame, fortune, and women that elude the Hotness.  Electroclash/Sarah (Claire Keelan) can control machines with her voice, but she'd rather steal money from ATMs than help people; she also used to date the Hotness, though the two have trouble not insulting each other.  Timebomb/Don (James Lance) can see 60 seconds into the future and is an expert on torture, but he's an alcoholic and drug addict who has sex with strange men in public toilets.  She-Force/Jenny (Rebekah Staton) is "the third strongest female in the world" but is quite desperate for romance.  Oh, and the bounces at the Fortress is Thundermonkey/Simon (Jim Howick), who can summon and control monkeys -- but he has to wait for them to get to where he is, which usually takes 45 minutes.

There are a couple of comic book references here and there through the series -- drinks like "V for Vodka," the Paradise Island strip club where the women all wear Wonder Woman costumes -- but No Heroics revolves mainly around the four dysfunctional friends.  And the show manages to be damn funny with them, dealing with everything from cape-rape to pathetic fans (when one lonely guy tells Electroclash "You were seminal," she replies, "You smell seminal") to trading cards to superhero therapy (shown below).  There's even some pretty hilarious dark humor in the final episode, "Monkey Gone to Heaven."

No Heroics only has six episodes and wasn't released in the U.S. on dvd (though all the episodes are currently on YouTube) but it's definitely worth watching for any comic book fan with a slightly dark sense of humor.

Overall grade: A-
Reviewed by James Lynch


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ANCHORMAN 2: THE LEGEND CONTINUES

They got the band, er, news team, back together!  Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues brings almost all of the original cast from the first movie -- and several of the jokes -- for more relentless stupidity that's often pretty funny.

Anchorman 2 is about the ups and downs of Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), the dim-wittes, self-important television newsman, in 1980.  The movie stars with Ron in the dumps, as his wife Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate) gets a lead anchor position while Ron gets fired; they also separate, with Veronica getting their 7-year-old son Walter (Judah Nelson).

Ron is down in the dumps until he gets an offer from producer Freddie Shapp (Dylan Baker) to join the new 24-hour news network GNN.  Ron agrees, reassembling his old news team: investigative reporter and would-be ladies' man Brian Fontana (Paul Rudd); sportscaster who knows nothing about sports and everything about racism Champ Kind (David Koechner); and thoroughly idiotic weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell, stealing every scene he's in just like in the first movie).  Together they plan to take cable news and New York by storm.

There are obstacles and new characters, of course.  Jack Lime (James Marsden) is the pretty-boy anchor who's an immediate rival to Ron.  Linda Jackson (Meagan Good) is Ron's new boss who is put off by his racism (when he first meets her he can't stop saying "black") but falls for him anyway.  Kench Allenby (Josh Lawson) is the Australian owner of GNN who wants to kill a story that could hurt his Koala Airlines.  And Chani (Kristen Wiig) is Brick's intellectual equal and love interest.  Along the way there's a bottle-fed baby shark, the world's worst blind man, a near-catfight, and the invention of the news people want to hear instead of the news they need to hear.

Anchorman 2 follows very closely in the footsteps of the original (and towards the end, the sequel has many of the same jokes as the original).  Will Ferrell's Ron Burgundy may make a journey of self-discovery, but he spends most of the movie blurting out inappropriate things, and occasionally making an accurate comment on how ridiculous something is.  The cast is good, but they haven't really changed anything since the first movie.  And even though the sequel moves the action from the 1970s to the 1980s, the only change in time is in the soundtrack music.  There are plenty of funny moments in Anchorman 2, from the big battle at the end to Ferrell's over-the-top character; but in the end, Anchorman 2 sticks a little too closely to the original.

Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch

7 WONDERS

Plenty of games have players building the most productive, mightiest empires -- but few do it with such deceptively simple rules mechanics and advanced planning as 7 Wonders.  This card game from Asmodee Games has players working against each other (while often helping each other) to pursue several paths to victory.

7 Wonders takes place over three ages.  In each age, each player has seven cards.  During each turn a player can buy a card (some are free, some cost gold, and some cost resources), sell a card for three gold, or build their empire's wonders, from left to right.  Cards can provide victory points (which ultimately determine the victor), resources (to buy more cards), scientific discoveries (which give victory points at the game's end), military strength (which give points at the end of each age), gold, letting them buy a building in the next age for free, or other benefits.  Players can also buy resources from the players to their left or right for two gold each -- and the other players can' refuse to sell them.  Each player's first and third wonder give victory points, while the middle wonder gives them a unique benefit, from building once per turn for free, to military strength, to even more victory points.

After each turn, players pass their remaining cards to the next player; clockwise during the first and third age, counter-clockwise during the second age.  When players have two cards left, they choose one to use and discard the final one.   And at the end of the third age, the victory points are totaled up and whoever has the highest score wins!

7 Wonders does numerous things very well.  First, the game is easy to learn (with only three options each turn) and very fast (average games are 30-40 minutes).  Second, there are several paths to victory: Players can focus solely on points, or scientific discoveries, or military strength, or getting enough resources that they don't have to buy from other players.  Third, passing cards around the table means players have to adjust their strategy on the fly: They can't focus on using several cards from their hand, since other players could wind up using the other card themselves.  In fact, a large part of the game's strategy is keeping adjacent players from getting the cards they need, while still getting the cards you need.  And fourth, the unique ability from everyone's second wonder adds to the game's diversity, as each player has their own unique edge they can pursue or ignore.  Finally, the third age has several special buildings that give points based on types of cards players have -- but these special buildings are picked at random, so you can't plan based on getting on, as it may not come into play (or another player could keep you from getting it).

I really enjoy playing 7 Wonders: It's easy to learn, teach, and play.  It keeps everyone involved.  There's no one path to victory.  The artwork on the cards is beautiful.  And you can play several times in a fairly short time.

Overall grade: A
Reviewed by James Lynch

VICTORIA'S SECRET FASHION SHOW 2013

December is a mix of the good and the bad.  Unfortunately, more and more radio stations get taken over by Christmas carols.  Fortunately, some of the most beautiful women in the world strut their stuff down a runway in lingerie.  The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2013 brings the annual 43-minute commercial back to television.  Life is good.

The show features the Victoria's Secret Angels modeling everything from lingerie to costumes to borderline haute couture, with a variety of themes (Birds of Paradise, Shipwrecked) and behind-the-scenes features (such as how they stay in shape, or the Angel who fell and hurt herself at last year's show).  The actual outfits worn aren't sold in the stores, but are often the inspiration for future clothing.

Music is prevalent through the special.  Live acts included Taylor Swift (shown below), Fall Out Boy, Neon Jungle, and A Great Big World.  Current pop, rock, and rap songs played in the background the rest of the show (which also had the weirdest censoring I've ever heard, as Miley Cyrus' song "FU" had the letters "f" and "u" bleeped out over two different lines).

Another tradition is the Fantasy Bra.  If you thought that Victoria's Secret merchandise is expensive, the Fantasy Bra is bejeweled and valued at millions.  This year's Fantasy Bra (shown belo) was modeled by Candice Swanepoel, made of diamonds and rubies, and costs $10 million.  If any readers get one for Christmas, kudos!

The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2013 continues this shamelessly commercial, prurient, and fun showing-off of amazing lingerie and the amazing models who get to wear it for us.  As long as they don't start playing Christmas carols in the background, I'll keep tuning in.

Written by James Lynch

Britney Spears, BRITNEY JEAN (deluxe version)

Britney Spears had states that her latest album would be her most personal -- but that must have been before the producers decided to go in a more club-oriented direction.  Britney Jean (deluxe version) feel like more of the same standard pop that Spears had been delivering for years.

Britney Jean seems to start off more personally, as the song "Alien" has Spears talking about her isolation ("there was a time/I was one of a kind/lost in the world of me, myself and I") and finding companionship.  But then the electronics and beats kick in, whether making working hard a club anthem ("Work B**ch") or synthesizing her voice until it's almost unrecognizable ("It Should Be Easy").  After that, the songs fall into the usual Spears topics: sex ("Tik Tik Boom"0, partying ("Body Ache," "Chillin'"), breakups ("'Til It's Gone," "Don't Cry") and romance ("Brightest Morning Star").  The overproduction removes most of the emotion or uniqueness from the songs; and as for the lyrics, well, did we really need Britney Spears telling us "I'm gonna mark my territory"?  It's with perfume, but still...

The bonus track "Now That I Found You" has a fun, bouncy guitar riff that didn't get overdone, and "Work B**ch" is a catchy guilty pleasure.  Overall, though, Britney Jean (deluxe version) feels like it lost Spears' appeal in far too much studio production, getting away from letting her do her thing.

Overall grade: C-
Reviewed by James Lynch

RIFFTRAX: SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS

There are plenty of holiday classic movies that warm the heart and remind us of the true meaning of Christmas.  Then there's the amazingly low-budget one about Martians kidnapping Santa Claus and a couple of kids.  The latter may be thoroughly awful -- but it's perfect comic fodder for Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett in Rifftrax Live: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

 This latest Rifftrax feature has the trio taking on an awful movie that they first tack\led back on Mystery Science Theater 3000.  And there's plenty to make fun of here, from the aliens' cheap helmets (or are they their heads?) to the "comic" relief of the lasziest Martian to the stock footage of the military to Alex Trebek's funeral march.  Sometimes the jokes can be a little juvenile -- one villain's bushy mustache leads to numerous There Will Be Blood quotes -- but there are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments.  And before the feature there are funny movie cards (such as Rejected Christmas Gifts, which include "Blitzen Scat" and "Google Plus Account") and the equally-bad short Santa Claus and the Fairy Snow Queen.

Christmas may not be about green men with plumbing on their heads (as least not the last time I checked), but it's the perfect time of year for Rifftrax Live: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

Overall grade: A-
Reviewed by James Lynch

HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA dvd

What if monsters were actually lovable, harmless, and fun?  You'd have Hotel Transylvania, a movie with classic monsters aimed squarely at little kids.

Dracula (Adam Sandler, doing a continual Bela Lugosi imitation) built the Hotel Transylvania as a refuge for monsters to come out of the darkness, relax, and hang out.  He also built it keep his daughter Mavis (Selena Gomez) safe, after her mother was killed by humans.  Mavis wants to explore the world, but Dracula wants to keep her safe from humans; he even creates a fake village to scare her from leaving.

To celebrate Mavis' 118th birthday (the monster equivalent of turning 18, apparently), Dracula has all of their monster friends over to celebrate: Frankenstein and his wife Eunice (Kevin James and Fran Drescher), the wolfman Wayne and his wife Wanda (Steve Buscemi and Molly Shannon), Murray the mummy (CeeLo Green), and Griffin the invisible man (David Spade).

Then there's the uninvited guest: Jonathan (Andy Samberg), a young man who loves to travel and who stumbled across the hotel by accident.  Dracula wants him gone, both to keep him from scaring the monstrous guests and for his safety ("Are these monsters gonna kill me?"  "Not as long as they think you're a monster."  "That's kinda racist.") but every time Johnathan tries to leave, something brings him back.  He also has an instant romantic connection with Mavis, and everyone but Dracula love his free-spirited approach to holding a party.

With all these classic movie monsters, I wish Hotel Transylvania had a bit more humor for adults.  There are some jabs at Twilight and a few jokes blue enough to move the movie from G to PG, but the monsters are basically silly, probably to keep from scaring the kids.  The actors all do decently with their voices (though Samberg stands out as the surfer dude-type who just wants to have fun), but the story is a pretty straightforward one about a parent learning to stop controlling/protecting his daughter.  There are plenty of cute moments through the movie -- and a creative chase involving flying tables -- but this doesn't succeed in appealing to grown-ups as much as to the kids.  (Dvd extras include a mini-movie, some storyboards of deleted scenes, and interviews).

Overall grade: B-
Reviewed by James Lynch