Movie Review

Norm of the North gives animated movies a bad name

One of the more frustrating aspects of being a film critic is hearing people refer to all animated movies as “cartoons that are just for kids.” When animated movies are at their best, as in the case of 2015’s Inside Out, they are as affecting and artful as any live action movie.

On the opposite end of the spectrum lies dreck like Norm of the North, which is an insult to kids and adults alike. A very poor man’s version of Happy Feet, the film follows polar bear Norm (Rob Schneider), who just can't seem to fit in with his friends and family. When he discovers that a group of humans is planning to build homes in the Arctic, thereby displacing the animals that live there, he sets out on a quest to stop them.

Director Trevor Wall and writers Daniel Altiere, Steven Altiere, and Malcolm T. Goldman bring out all the standard animated movie tricks to try to elicit any kind of reaction. These include cute sidekicks in the form of a trio of lemmings, an over-the-top villain, and jokes involving bodily functions.

What they forgot to bring was any kind of intelligence or heart. The story is inane from the very start and it only gets worse from there. The filmmakers seem to think that simply attaching a pseudo-environmental message to the film will make it work, when in reality it serves as a reminder of the crassness of the whole endeavor.

You might be able to give the filmmakers some credit for the animation itself, which is generally high quality. But it’s hard to separate the dreadful story from any of the visuals, and when they make the villain, Mr. Greene (Ken Jeong), act in ways that are completely unnatural from any of the other characters, they lose the benefit of the doubt.

Once again, a variety of well-known actors are used as voice talent for no good reason at all. Schneider, who at this point should be known as an anti-comedian, is joined by Jeong, Heather Graham, Bill Nighy, Colm Meaney, and Loretta Devine, none of whom improve the movie in the slightest.

For movie lovers, it should come as no surprise that a movie released in January is bad. But even by the standards of January movies, Norm of the North is atrocious and should be boycotted by moviegoers of all ages out of sheer principle.

Rob Schneider plays Norm in Norm of the North.

Norm in Norm of the North

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Rob Schneider plays Norm in Norm of the North.

Vinyl Record News

Dallas record store chain Josey Records spins new location in Garland

Josey Records

Josey Records

Vinyl at Josey Records

Dallas music maker Josey Records has extended its reach east: The record store chain, whose empire includes one of the largest single independent record stores in the U.S., has opened a location in Garland, at 1005 Northwest Hwy., at the intersection of Centerville Road, where it's selling its trademark assortment of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, turntables, music posters, new releases, and music accessories.

This is the sixth location and the third in the Dallas area, joining the original in Farmers Branch which owners Waric Cameron and Luke Sardello opened in November 2014. They've since opened locations in Plano, Tulsa, Kansas City, and Vidalia, Missouri.

The original location is a giant place with 16,000 square feet devoted to vinyl, 45s, CDs, turntables, and T-shirts. They do a good job showcasing new releases and collector vinyl — they made CultureMap's list of 5 best places in Dallas to buy vinyl records — and are known to host album release and listening parties such as a recent blockbuster celebrating Linkin Park.

They made headlines in June 2020 when they acquired the vast musical inventory of Bill’s Records following the death of owner Bill Wisener; Cameron and Sardello both worked at Bill’s, and knew the sprawling collection first-hand.

"It has taken us years to even start going through it, but in last two years, we've made some headway," Cameron says. "Bill's has its own audience, so we created a specific Instagram account, just for Bill's Records merchandise called @billsrecordsvault."

They chose Garland because they saw it as an area that was under-served.

"There are very few record stores in that area of northeast Dallas, Casa View, Garland, Rockwall, Mesquite," Cameron says. "We have customers who live over there, so it seemed like a good place for a store."

The storefront they're in was most recently The Music Store, which sold and rented musical instruments and accessories; but coincidentally, it's next to an address that was once RPM Records, a hip record store from the '90s.

The Garland store follows the same model as their others: selling new and used records and merchandise, and buying used goods, as well.

"One thing that's cool is that each location takes on its own identity," he says. "We buy used CDs, vinyl records, cassettes — we're a used resale business — and what we buy from our customers dictates what that store becomes. For example, our Plano store has a lot of classic rock. So we're looking forward to seeing what Garland gravitates to."

Garland does have one thing that the other locations do not.

"Right now, Garland has this incredible collection of jazz," Cameron says. "We bought a great collection of jazz records — someone called and wanted to sell it. We get that a lot, we buy major collections from all over the U.S., we even make house calls. So we saved it for the Garland store."

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