Amazon Blogs: Armchair Commentary Daily Digest

Check out these Updates from Armchair Commentary for July 8, 2010.

"Despicable Me": The Amazon.com Review, Plus Movie Cash, Stills, and More July 8, 2010 Despicable Me is a compelling animated comedy about an aging supervillain's falling popularity at the hands of a younger supervillain and three young orphan girls. Gru is a true, bad-to-the-core evildoer who's earned the title of the world's No. 1 supervillain. But when young upstart Vector steels the Pyramid of Giza, Gru's status suddenly sinks to No. 2. Gru counters his fall by speeding up his plan to shrink and steal the moon, enlisting the help of his army of minions and the elderly Dr. Nefario, but a lack of funding and the difficulties involved in stealing the needed shrink-ray gun threaten to derail everything. Adopting three young orphan girls is an unlikely, but seemingly effective means to further Gru's evil mission, but Gru quickly discovers that caring for three young girls is more work, and distraction, than he could ever have anticipated. What unfolds is an unexpected shift in attitude that will forever change the lives of Gru, Vector, and all three young girls. A visually appealing film produced by Chris Meledandri (Ice Age, Ice Age 2: The Meltdown, and Horton Hears a Who), Despicable Me is full of weirdly shaped characters and settings that are somehow a perfect fit for Sergio Pablos's story. What's especially refreshing is that in this film, 3-D effects are used skillfully and effectively: even when the effects are exploited for comic reasons, they don't become a distraction, as is all too common in many recent movies. The film is full of corny banter and silly antics that inspire plenty of spontaneous laughter, and the minions, while not the best-developed characters, sure are comical. Ultimately, there's also a wholesome message about following one's heart. Steve Carell is the perfect villain-gone-soft in his role as Gru, Jason Segal is quite funny as Vector, and Julie Andrews makes a surprising appearance as Gru's very un-motherly mom. The story isn't new, the humor is relatively juvenile and somewhat forgettable, and it's no Toy Story 3, but Despicable Me celebrates silliness in a way that's satisfying and highly entertaining. (Ages 6 and older) --Tami Horiuchi Get Movie Cash to See "Despicable Me" in Theaters Purchase at least one title from a list of 31 DVD and Blu-ray movies and receive a promotional code which you can redeem for a certificate valid for one admission to see "Despicable Me". See the full list of titles.  Stills from Despicable Me: View the trailer for Despicable Me: Emmy Nominees: Who's In, Who's Out July 8, 2010 The Emmy nominations were announced this morning, and some pleasant shakeups brought some new faces into the fold. Here's a rundown of major nominees. You can see the list of major nominations here and shop for past winners at Emmy Central . Outstanding Drama Series Breaking... read more Exclusive sneak peek at "Batman: Under the Red Hood" July 8, 2010 Bruce Greenwood, the voice of Batman in Batman: Under the Red Hood , introduces an Amazon-exclusive sneak peek at the new animated movie, available July 27 in numerous editions, including Amazon exclusive Blu-ray and two-disc DVD versions that include a 3" x 5"... read more

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