![]() When recently separated filmmaker Dean (Dean Fleischer-Camp, who directs and co-created Marcel with Slate) and his curious dog move in, Marcel finds a friend and collaborator. Marcel and his grandmother Connie (Isabella Rossellini) remain, finding resourceful and often hilarious ways to survive and thrive in the mostly empty house. When they split, Marcel’s extended family disappeared, possibly taken accidentally in the couple’s rush to leave the house and their relationship behind. In this shell’s eye view, we learn that Marcel lives in an Airbnb, once the home of an unhappily married couple, now a stop-over for tourists. Marcel may be a one-inch mollusk, but his experience of loss, grief and joy feels more human and authentic than most films starring, you know, actual humans. In the new film, now playing in theatres, the resourceful, one-googly-eyed sea shell with a pink pair of shoes, voiced by Jenny Slate, searches to find community after a family upheaval. “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On” is part poignant, part absurd and all wonderful. This image released by A24 shows a scene from "Marcel the Shell with Shoes On," releasing June 24. More zesty than arty, it’s made for kids, who I’m sure will gobble it up while parents sit patiently through the 85-minute runtime. Or, as Gru says, “Find your tribe and never let them go.” There is a denouement, a resolution to the story, but why overthink this? It’s short, fast and stupid with an easily digested message of, as Armistead Maupin always says, finding your logical, not biological family. ![]() But this isn’t a movie with layers of subtext or loads of diegetic elements. If you want to get all film critic-y about this, I suppose you could say the leitmotif is that of sweetly-inspired mayhem that follows the Minions wherever they go. “The Minions: The Rise of Gru” provides fans of the franchise exactly what they want - no deep thoughts, just sublime silliness. “This is going to be a great opportunity if you don’t kill me.” “My favourite villain is also my kidnapper,” marvels Gru. With the mad, bad and dangerous Vicious 6 on their tail, Gru is kidnapped by Wild Knuckles. Instead of impressing Belle Bottom, the theft turns her against Gru and his loyal Minions. To prove he’s got what it takes to be a supervillain, Gru steals something near and dear to the peach-pit sized hearts of the Vicious 6, their prized Zodiac Stone. “Not for tubby little punks who should be at school learning, taking a recess and sucking his thumb! Come back when you’ve done something evil to impress me!” Henson), the newly-appointed head of the Vicious 6, who took over from the former, recently deposed Wild Knuckles (Alan Arkin). “Evil is for adults who steal powerful ancient stones and wreak havoc,” says Belle Bottom (Taraji P. “I am pretty despicable,” Gru says proudly. ![]() To make his evil wish come true, he interviews to become a member of the world’s top outlaw team, the Vicious 6. “There are a lot of villains in the world,” he says. Set in 1976 San Francisco, the story begins with awkward 12-year-old Gru and his dream. Their new movie, “Minions: The Rise of Gru,” now playing in theatres, sets a new standard for silliness. Over five movies, the frantic, Tic Tac-shaped Minions, the silly sidekicks to former supervillain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell), have brought the most kid friendly anarchy to the screen since Curly said, “Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk,” for the first time. Not since the Three Stooges has nonsense been this much fun. This image released by Universal Pictures shows characters, from left, Kevin, Bob, Stuart, and Gru, voiced by Steve Carell, in a scene from "Minions: The Rise of Gru." (Illumination Entertainment/Universal Pictures via AP)
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