Rockin' the Suburbs

I couldn't go a whole three day weekend without seeing a movie, but I've seen three of the movies playing across the street, which left: "The Da Vinci Code" (not really interested), "X-Men" (even less interested), and "Over the Hedge." Guess which won out? Yes, "Over the Hedge," 90 minutes of animated fun. Now, I haven't seen most of the animated films that have come out, oh, since the 60's. I saw "Shrek" because my niece made me watch the DVD with her, but never "Toy Story" or any of the newer Disney films ("Little Mermaid" or "Lion King" or any of that.) So you can gauge the level of my desire for air conditioning and popcorn this afternoon. Red Alert.

So, it was cute. Funny. Whatever. Didn't knock my socks off, but was pleasant enough. I spent too much time trying to identify the actors who voiced the characters. I didn't get Avril Lavigne, but then again, I've never gotten her. (Rim shot!) And William Shatner was her possum father? Didn't recognize him, either.

Not having a familiarity with recent animated films, I was thrown when suddenly a maudlin song broke the action so we could moon with the characters while some bloke crooned something obviously designed for the Oscar song category. Sadly, it was Ben Folds, who I love, so now he's joined Jack Johnson in the world of cartoon crooners. Maybe he has kids? But, wait, it gets worse. One of the tracks, a bouncy little ditty called "Rockin' the Suburbs" (it sounds exactly as you'd imagine) is a duet between Ben and William Shatner.

Sigh.