I can report that the newest iteration of the Heroes on a Half-Shell, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, is exactly what it needs to be, namely, fun. Since it seems we’ve all resigned ourselves to an entertainment future populated solely by established corporate franchise IP – as much as I loved Barbie, it does make me chuckle that it’s considered an original concept, even though it’s based on one of the most instantly recognizable bits of IP in American history – a fun time seems like the least that the Hollywood franchise machine can give us.
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If you have, or want to have, children, and you think that there is something wrong with any grown person who isn’t interested in doing the same, then Juliet, Naked is the movie for you. Of course, that’s not a ground breaking or particularly challenging stance for a movie to take. There is an overabundance of movies (and books, and magazine articles, etc., etc.) that reinforces the idea that becoming a parent is the pinnacle of maturity.
Movies about the subject – an overwhelming majority of which are romantic comedies – have thoroughly exhausted one particular “becoming a parent” subgenre. It’s what I’ll call “The Man-child Matures” subgenre. Knocked Up, Nine Months, and About a Boy all focus on emotionally stunted men who grow into responsible adults only when they realize that, yes, becoming a parent is what they really wanted all along. Having parenthood thrust upon them makes them finally grow up.
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