Monster House is a pretty good flick. (No real spoilers).

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

It was in the triple digits yesterday, and to break the heat we decided we'd sit in an air-conditioned theater for a couple of hours. It was either Monster House or Little Man. We picked the former and we didn't regret it.

The animation for this one was from the same people that did the so-so "Polar Express." In a sort of computer animated take on roto-scoping, they filmed live actors and then animated over them. But, unlike Polar Express, it wasn't obvious or strangely creepy. It also wasn't nearly as pretty as "Cars" but it didn't need to be to tell the story.

There isn't a lot of star power in this one, which is fine with me. There's no good reason why a currently popular celebrity should make a good voice actor. I don't pay money for a cartoon because I want to see cartoon versions of Robin Williams and Robert Deniro and Woody Allen. Occasionally there are exceptions. Ellen Degeneres turned out to be a great voice actor in "Finding Nemo." The biggest star in Monster House is Steven Buscemi, who does a remarkably good job as the creepy, old, haunted homeowner. The guy who did Napoleon Dynamite also has a small role and he's perfect for it. Which is good for him, because I don't think poor Jon Heder's going to be getting a lot of work in the coming years.

The plot, as you've probably seen from the commercials, revolves around a group of kids and their investigation of the neighborhood's haunted house. The plot twists and back story actually turn out more interesting than the last half dozen "adult" horror movies that Hollywood's come up with recently. It plays like some Roald Dahl or Beverley Cleary novel. I was reminded of a popular kids book "The House with a Clock in its Walls." In fact, it was quite close in a number of ways to Stephen King's "It," group of kids investigate local terror, chubby kid with a crush on the little red headed girl, absensce of intelligent adults, etc. Only its for kids, i.e. "It" without the violence and orgies.

Speaking of which, the fiveish year old boy sitting next to me spent half the movie nervously jumping up and down on his seat or looking at the screen from between his eyes. But then again, he spent the other half of the movie parroting the movie's numerous gags (some really good ones too) and ended it with a "Wow! That was fun!"

I agree with the kid.

[yellowdogintexas]

1. saw it yesterday and liked it too. Very entertaining.

I bet the five year old was as entertaining as the flick.