Author Malcolm Gladwell has became known as a man whose words are often treated as gospel — whether he's churning out a piece for The New Yorker or dropping another soon-to-be-best-selling book or speaking his words on the Revisionist History podcast.
Gladwell, who usually delves into researching the social sciences and coming up with inventive theories on how people — from adults to children — can live a better existence, has a knack for making even the most cynical, skeptical person think a little differently after consuming something he's done.
Brazos Bookstore will bring the acclaimed Canadian author/journalist, the man behind such New York Times bestsellers as The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking and Outliers: The Story of Success, around these parts in October.
Here in Houston, Gladwell will discuss and sign copies of his latest book Talking to Strangers, which is scheduled for release in September.
This book has Gladwell revisiting the deceptions of Bernie Madoff, the trial of Amanda Knox, the suicide of Sylvia Plath, the Jerry Sandusky pedophilia scandal at Penn State University and the death of Sandra Bland — throwing our understanding of these and other stories into doubt.
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Gladwell will visit Houston on Tuesday, October 8 at 7 pm at the Ballroom at Bayou Place, 500 Texas St. Tickets are $30. For more information, visit Brazos Bookstore.
Photo courtesy of Illumination & Universal Pictures
Henry and James in Minions & Monsters.
The Despicable Me franchise is one of the most enduring of the 21st century, now reaching its seventh film in the past 16 years with the release of Minions & Monsters. The Minions, which were originally mere sidekicks to the supervillain Gru, have now arguably become the face of the franchise, even more so when they get their own movie.
Minions & Monsters purports to give even more history for the little yellow pill-shaped beings who want nothing more than to serve bad guys. Instead of fan favorites like Kevin, Stuart, and Bob leading the way, this film features James, a Minion who can’t stop causing chaos, and his best friend, Henry (all Minions are voiced by series creator Pierre Coffin).
After a prologue showing the Minions teaming up with various baddies over centuries, the group shows up in early 20th century Hollywood, gaining attention from filmmakers like Max (Christoph Waltz) and producer brothers Frank and Edward (both voiced by Jeff Bridges). They quickly rise up the ranks, with adventures coming to involve actress Debbie (Zoey Deutch), robot Dort (Jesse Eisenberg), and a Cthulhu named Goomi (Trey Parker).
Co-directed by Coffin and Patrick Delage and co-written by Coffin and Brian Lynch, the film is the loosest one of the franchise to date, using a barely-there story as an excuse to have the Minions engage in as much mayhem as possible. The prologue is the most successful part of the film, as they meet a cyclops, wizard, bank robber, and more, with each sequence getting wilder and funnier.
The 90-minute film is just as interested in entertaining kids with its craziness as it is in giving adults references to early film history. Among the films and actors that get shout-outs are the first-ever movie, The Horse in Motion, Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and more. Whether including those historical relics will have kids wanting to seek out the real deals is questionable, but at least it shows the filmmakers know they owe a debt to the greats of the past.
The second half of the film becomes less coherent as the Minions split into different factions. James, Henry, and a hard-of-hearing Minion named Ed go in one direction to make a monster movie, while a larger group led by their antagonist named Dick goes in another. There’s no real purpose to either side’s journey other than to serve up laughs through the Minionese language (which seems to lean toward Spanish, as one scene acknowledges) and their antics.
Anyone purposefully going to a Minions movie likely enjoys Coffin’s performance of each character, each of which is subtly different. The rest of the cast, while star-laden, never truly sounds like the actors portraying them, which is strange when you have distinctive voices like Waltz, Bridges, and Eisenberg. The only people who stand out are Allison Janney as the narrator, Bobby Moynihan, and a cameo by George Lucas.
While Minions & Monsters doesn’t offer up an overly compelling reason for existing, it’s also harmless fun that has the side benefit of exposing kids to bits of film history that they might not have known existed. It also tries something different from the tried-and-true format of previous films, and experimentation should be appreciated even if it’s not fully successful.
