THE ATL. A generic teen love story! By Christopher Young
Part ‘Roll Bounce’ mixed in with a little bit of ‘The Wood’ comes ATL. ATL is a generic teen love story / comedy / drama saved by genuine charming performances and some very good humor. Southern hip-hop star Tip ‘T.I.’ Harris plays Rashad, an earnest, hard working high school senior trying
ICE AGE 2 More of the same! By Burton Carlson III
Images courtesy of 20th Century Fox.
Ice Age 2 continues the story of Manny the Mammoth (Ray Romano), Diego the sabertooth tiger (Dennis Leary) and Sid the Sloth (John Leguizamo). As the ice age is coming to an end the ensuing flood is threatening to kill everyone and everything in the valley. The gang has to make it to this mysterious boat at the end of the valley
desperately to keep his precocious little brother on a straight path, and maintain the household after their parents untimely death a few years back (as opposed to a ‘timely’ death). He is ‘assisted’ in this task by his lazy uncle George (Mykelti Williamson) who is also the boys’ legal guardian. Rashad also has three best friends, the upwardly mobile, Ivy league bound Esquire Jackie Brooklyn (Albert Daniels) and the ghetto fabulous, gold teeth sporting Teddy (Jason Weaver). Together they hang out at the diner, holler at the honeys, and practice their skating routines at the roller rink. When Rashad meets the super cute but super ghettofied New New, his life is starting to finally look up. But alas New New has a big secret. Add to that his brother Ant (Evan Ross Naess) is now starting to do some work for a local dope dealer Marcus (Big Boi from the super group Image courtesy of Warner Brothers.
to escape the flood. Manny, pretty much convinced he’s the last wooly mammoth in existence, can’t believe his good luck when on their journey he meets a female wooly named Ellie (Queen Latifah) who, unfortunately, was raised by possums and thus believes she is one too. It’s a perilous journey replete with adventures, pitfalls, and bad creatures along the way. The HUGE problem with ‘Meltdown’ is that it’s loaded with jokes that just aren’t funny. It could be that the jokes are poor, or maybe it’s the timing and delivery, but I think the main problem is that voice acting is flat and uninspired. Ray Romano’s signature deadpan delivery adds lifelessness to an already dull situation and Dennis Leary delivers his lines as if he’d much rather be somewhere else. Leguizamo is as lively as ever, but alas he’s getting very little support. Toss in a pair extreme sporting possums that provide more