Posted on December 8, 2011 by Darren
To celebrate the release of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn in the United States later this month, I’ll be taking a look at some of nineties animated television show. Check back daily!
Note: This is our review of the animated episode, check out our review of the book here.
I like The Shooting Star. It’s one of the stranger entries in the series, and so it tends to divide fans – much like the equally surreal Flight 714. Part of the reason I enjoy it so much is the wonderful atmosphere Hergé generates early in the story, as if channeling his own fears and uncertainties about a Europe that was (at the time) on the brink of war. I also enjoy the way that the adventure allowed Hergé to cut loose with his imagination – the final few pages allowing the artist to indulge his own zany imagery in a manner similar to the wonderfully odd dream sequences in Cigars of the Pharaoh and The Crab With the Golden Claws. The animated adaptation does a decent job of translating the story from one medium to another, but I can’t help but feel a little disappointed with it.
Magic mushroom...
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Filed under: Television | Tagged: animation, Hergé, the adventures of tintin: the shooting star, the shooting star, tintin: the shooting star | 2 Comments »
Posted on December 8, 2011 by Darren
I caught Shrek again at the weekend, and I’m surprised how well it still holds up. Of course, part of my concern was that the sequels might have somehow retroactively impacted on my opinion of the original film, but I’m always a little hesitant to return to films I greatly enjoyed when I was younger – afraid that they might have been superseded by movies I’ve seen in the years since, or perhaps victim to slightly changing tastes. To be honest, it help up very well, and I was genuinely reminded of why I enjoyed it so much over a decade ago.
A fairy tale romance?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, disney, dreamworks, Fairy tale, film, Movie, non-review review, review, shrek, shrek (2000) | 4 Comments »
Posted on October 19, 2011 by Darren
It’s hard to fault The Illusionist on a technical level. The film is truly beautiful, not only capturing the beauty of its surroundings in wonderful animation, but also produced with a magical sense of artistry and genuine romanticism. Although one can readily spot the hints of CGI used to help realise director Sylvain Chomet’s vision, the animation feels remarkably and endearingly old-fashioned. The limited use of dialogue throughout adds a strange and ethereal (almost fairy tale) quality to the whole thing. Still, there’s something that feels a bit strange about the whole thing, as if the story – although trying to distract us with flair and bright colours and a clever wit – is a truly depressing saga. Some might suggest that it is “bittersweet”, but I couldn’t help but find the outer “sweetness”nothing but a superficial attempt to distract from a truly bitter core.
It's a kind of magic...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, arts, Edinburgh, Jacque Tati, magic, paris, Scotland, Sylvain Chomet, The Illusionist, The Illusionist (2010) | 2 Comments »
Posted on August 10, 2011 by Darren
I really enjoyed Bolt. Being entirely honest, Disney’s track record with its own CGI was hardly encouraging, with Chicken Little and Meet the Robinsons hardly measuring up to the work of the company’s other animation division. Bolt might not be quite as good as Tangled, but – at its very best – it manages to hit on those big, shared emotions and themes that have helped Pixar set the standard for modern animation. For most of its run, it’s a solidly entertaining and diverting family film, but it also has moments of powerful emotional connection.
His bark's worse than his bite...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, arts, Bolt, cgi, Chicken Little, Ellen DeGeneres, films, finding nemo, john travolta, Meet the Robinsons, Movies, non-review review, review, Susie Essman | 3 Comments »
Posted on July 7, 2011 by Darren
I do quite like Monsters vs. Aliens, even if it feels like it’s trying to do too many vastly different things are once. It’s too goofy and silly to be a genuinely emotional morality tale about appreciating those different than us, while also being too sentimental to work as a sort of a goofy hokey monster mash nostalgia trip. One gets the sense that it could have been a much better film had it opted for one approach rather than the other, instead of trying to straddle the middle ground between them. It’s a shame, because it has some genuinely impressive sequences and warm sense of respect and good humour for all those classic creature features, but it just ends up feeling too much like a standard cookie-cutter modern animated film.
It's a Monster Mash!
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: Amazing Colossal Man, animation, arts, dr. strangelove, dreamworks, films, hugh laurie, Monsters Vs Aliens, Movies, non-review review, paul rudd, Reese Witherspoon, review, Seth Rogen | Leave a comment »
Posted on June 2, 2011 by Darren
How To Train Your Dragon is, at its core, the story of a boy and his dog. Except his dog happens to be a dragon. It is a well-cast, well-made and well-written little film that actually manages to have a lot more emotional depth than the majority of Dreamworks films, even if it doesn’t quite approach the wonderful sophistication that Pixar manage to produce about once a year. It’s big, it’s bold and it’s fun – a wonderfully crafted piece of family entertainment.
An all-time high for Dreamworks?
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, art, cgi, david tennant, Dragon, dragons, dreamworks, film, films, gerard butler, How to Train Your Dragon, Jay Baruchel, Movies, non-review review, review, toothless, Viking, Vikings | Leave a comment »
Posted on May 31, 2011 by Darren
I think the original Kung-Fu Panda might be my favourite Dreamworks animated film. A lot of people go on and on and on about how that particular studio’s animation can be measured against that of their competitor Pixar, with arguments about intellectual and emotional maturity and sincerity. Some argue that the reason Pixar dominates their field is because they don’t treat animation as something just for children. Others suggest that they have a mathematical formula devised to break human hearts. Personally, the feeling I always got from Pixar films that I only fleetingly sensed in the work of Dreamworks, was that those creators were essentially making their dream movie – each and every Pixar film seems lovingly crafted according to a creative vision not based around the “rules” of the industry, but around good ideas and the kinds of stories those people like to tell (and like to hear). I think that is why the original Kung-Fu Panda worked so well, and also why Kung-Fu Panda 2 does such a great job as a follow-up.
They know kung-fu...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, cgi, computer generated, dreamworks, film, gary oldman, jack black, jack block, James Hong, Jean-Claude Van Damme, kung-fu, kung-fu panda, kung-fu panda 2, martial arts, Movie, non-review review, panda, pixar, po, Po (Kung Fu Panda), review | 4 Comments »
Posted on May 26, 2011 by Darren
I watched Tangled again this weekend with the family, and was quite impressed about how well it held together. It genuinely is the best animated picture that Disney has produced in quite some time, and I honestly hope that it is remembered fondly. As I was watching it, I noted that I really, genuinely disliked Mother Gothel. Gothel is hardly either the most quantifiably evil, nor violent, nor ruthless character in Disney lore, but she was still a great villain. That’s something I’ve always admired about Disney. While still maintaining a G-rating, the company is able to produce some of the most genuinely disgusting individuals ever put on film.
One evil mother...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: animation, Claude Frollo, disney, Disney Villains, inglourious basterds, Lion King, List of The Lion King characters, mother gothel, scar, The Walt Disney Company | 9 Comments »
Posted on March 15, 2011 by Darren
Mars Needs Moms bombed at the box office. Badly. Really badly. Ignoring the fact that Disney is in need of another hit, the failure of the Seth-Green-starring Robert-Zemeckis-produced motion-capture 3D CGI films raises serious questions about the future of that particular animation style. However, I wonder if it’s playing across the minds of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson as they add the finishing touches to their Tintin adaptation.
All at sea?
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 3d, actors, animation, avatar, cgi, Charles Dickens, films, jim carrey, motion capture, Movies, peter jackson, Polar Express, robert zemeckis, steven spielberg, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn, tintin, tom hanks | 10 Comments »
Posted on March 3, 2011 by Darren
I quite enjoyed Gore Verbinski’s Rango, even though I was never quite sure what to make of it. While it isn’t quite as strong as the typical Pixar fare, the film compares rather well with some of Dreamworks’ better output over the last number of years.
A prickly customer...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, bill nighy, cgi, Ennio Morricone, films, Gore Verbinski, Jack Sparrow, johnny depp, Movies, non-review review, Rango, Raoul Duke, rattlesnake jake, review, sergio leone, western | 8 Comments »
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