It’s like an IMAX movie that you walk around in. That was the very clumsy way in which I tried to describe Illuminarium to a friend before actually going to experience it. That initial description is kind of accurate, but Illuminarium is so much more. Illuminarium’s SPACE: A Journey to the Moon & Beyond is an interactive marvel that simultaneously makes you want to photograph and video everything, all the while ignoring your smartphone so that you can experience the exhibit as thoroughly as possible. The exhibit is the intersection of actual recorded NASA footage, aromas, thousands of speakers, and the creative use of projection that utilizes all of the walls and the floor.
There is a cute, undeniable charm that those yellow Minions have. They’re optimistic and seem like they’d be fun at a party. Minions: The Rise of Gru aims to take that spirit to its second Despicable Me prequel as the yellows and a young Gru come to terms with things in the mid-1970s. There is a lot that’s wrong with The Rise of Gru, however, it’s challenging to fully dislike it because you know exactly what you’re in for, or at least you should be. The Rise of Gru is in your face, pigeon Spanish, Minion-centric, off-key singing yellow happiness for 90 minutes. If you’re seven through 10 this will be your jam. If you’re older than that, then you’ve drawn the short straw and were tasked with seeing the film with the kids.
(from left) Minion Stuart, Gru (Steve Carell) and Minions
There’s a reason why Urkel, as a television character, never had his own show. If a major component of your entertainment vehicle straddles the line as precariously as the ripeness of an avocado, then proceed with caution. The Rise of Gru has many of the elements that made the first four films that starred Minions entertaining, although on a sliding scale from most to least. In this film, it brings in those things, adds some cool villains and a nice soundtrack (although most of the songs were covers, even if they were well done), but scuttles the ship when it adds in too many baby Muppets.
Baby Muppets is a personal thing that I refer to when intellectual property has run out of gas by taking the main characters and simply imagining them as children. In 2015’s Minion, as that film was ending, audiences met Gru, as a child. The Minions and Gru would seemingly go on to have a beautiful partnership as that film’s credits started to roll.
The Rise of Gru takes that ending and makes Steve Carrel’s voice higher because his character is now a child, then amps up the silly. Minions was silly when compared to the three Despicable Me movies. Minions: The Rise of Gru is lobotomized when compared to Minions. The Rise of Gru was originally supposed to be released in the summer of 2020, ie, the summer of Covid. The ensuing two years haven’t made the jokes in the film age poorly. If anything it’s just made the tolerance level of some audience members less patient and forgiving of films that waste their time.
The plot to The Rise of Gru centers on a group of super villains and their quest for a mysterious jeweled necklace. When this group has an opening for a villain they ask Gru to apply but are aghast when they realize that he’s just a kid. Gru decides to impress them by stealing said object, which is then complicated by a minion or two.
The good news is that the film is loaded to the gills with fast-moving yellow action sequences, set against songs from the 1970s.
The bad news is that the film is loaded to the gills with fast-moving yellow action sequences, set against cover songs from the 1970s.
Again, you know what you’re getting when you pay to see this film. It will either entertain you or it won’t, and you’ve got a gut feeling as to which camp you are in now. It won’t surprise you and is not in the business of offering up something new to people looking to blaze humor or animation trails.
Minions: The Rise of Gru is a reminder to audiences who’ve become used to being entertained by animated features that sometimes those movies are just there to be fun for the kids. The fact that a film has its key target as stoners or elementary school-aged kids seven to 10 years old is simply the way they want to do things. That first key demographic was new to me after speaking with a college student who was really into Minions, I put two pineapple things together and figured it out. The Rise of Gru will keep those two groups entertained, while those not in their league would’ve wished that they’d taken the red pill.
Minions is rated PG for action sequences that involve yellow oval blobs and other animated characters.
It starts in late June for us. The department stores start to display their back-to-school supplies, I’ll jokingly call it my favorite time of year, and my kids will roll their eyes in dad joke disdain. There’s also a wave of books that come out to comfort kids as to the new schedules, expectations and routines that many of them will experience for the first time. Puppy Bus is a silly picture book that pokes fun at the changes or new routines that those younger ages will go through by imagining that the human student gets on the dog school bus.
Protest! How People Have Come Together to Change the World takes a wide-angle look at protests over the course of history. It’s by Alice & Emily Haworth-Booth and it’s not as divisive as it could be, but is also not a reference book on what to do if things aren’t going your way or you’re being legitimately repressed. In short, if you’ve protested about more than one topic over the past 25 years then this book will be speaking to the choir, if not, it’ll provide an interesting overview on how discourse started.
The cover of this book is annoying, and that is the point. My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! Is an illustrated book that channels the impatience, imagination, panicked exaggeration, and manic mood swings that kids can have like few books before it. When you read it you’ll remember when you were a kid and your parents would not stop talking. The family was out for a walk, they’d see somehow they know and talk for what seemed like hours. My Parents Won’t Stop Talking! is from the viewpoint of a possibly impatient child as that exact thing happens.
The other day I heard on the radio that Touch of Grey was released on this date in 1987. They then went on to chat about Jerry Garcia and I immediately regretted not seeing them on tour with my friend in 1988. However, now I’m all about reading, children’s literature, and introducing kids to great books, which bring us to The Sweetest Scoop, Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Revolution. This is a picture book that examines the rise of the duo in the world of frozen treats and corporate responsibility. Don’t read too much into that last series of words because the book is entertaining, has a great narrative, and will make readers smile, in addition to giving them something to learn.
I spent most of the 2022 school year in a classroom where “Yet” was in large poster board letters on the wall. Then surrounding that word were several short statements encouraging students like “I can’t do that”, which led directly to that large word. ThePower of Yet is a picture book by Maryann Cocca-Leffler for pre-K through second graders that primes them to the power of that simple, three-letter word.
Granga. Magic novel. I’m looking over those two Frankenstein words in my head whilst trying to describe Sorceline. They’re words that I made up because thinking of the audience that’s best for Sorceline constantly got my head moving. It’s a graphic novel with spooky sensibilities. It’s a manga with graphic novel touches and hooks in it that’ll make the book a slam dunk for Potterheads. Sorceline is all of those things, it just depends on what fandom or delivery, that you prefer as to how you’ll describe the book.
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