Posted on March 30, 2010 by Darren
I think you could argue that Who Framed Roger Rabbit (which doesn’t have a question mark at the end, because apparently marketing demonstrated audiences don’t respond to question marks) sits at the perfect midpoint on the Zemickis spectrum, balancing the fine and fun storytelling of the Back to the Future series with the early forefathers of the technical wizardry which would so fascinate the director in the years to come. However, Who Framed Roger Rabbit finds a way to match its technical wizardry with a genuinely fun and entertaining story.
Saw VII: Would Bob Hoskins rather saw his own arm off or spend the rest of the movie as the straight guy to Roger's plucky comic relief? Jigsaw, you fiend!
Continue reading →
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, cartoons, disney, film, jessica rabbit, live action, looney tunes, Movie, non-review review, review, robert zemeckis, roger rabbit, who framed roger rabbit | 1 Comment »
Posted on March 16, 2010 by Darren
I watched the Platinum Anniversary Edition of Pinocchio over the weekend. aside from the revelation of how ridiculously Disney manipulate the market to keep their movies out of constant circulation and creating false scarcity, what really struck me about the movie was how ridiculously (and gloriously) dark it was. As a 23-year-old adult, I felt more than a little uncomfortable watching the movie, so I can only imagine how it would have terrified me as a kid. Turning kids into donkeys and selling them to the circus! Threatening to chop up the lead character for firewood (and showing a similar puppet with an axe in his back)! The lead character lying limp, face-down in a puddle! It occurred to me that you’d never get a film like that made for kids these days. Why are we afraid to scare children?
He's a jackass! Geddit? Seriously, this gave me nightmares.
Continue reading →
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: animation, bambi, children, children's films, disney, fairy tales, family movies, happily ever after, morals, Movies, pinochio, stories | 17 Comments »
Posted on March 11, 2010 by Darren
Disney: It’s not for boys.
It emerged earlier in the week that Disney changed the name of their next almost-conventionally-animated movie from Rapunzel, which makes sense, to Tangled, which doesn’t. People were a little confused, since Disney has traditionally been fairly straightforward in making its adaptations – Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, The Princess and the Frog, Snow White, The Little Mermaid and so on are all named for the myths and stories which form their basis. Why the sudden name change? Apparently because boys won’t go to see Disney movies. Apparently they are more likely to go and see a movie called Tangled.
All tangled up...
Continue reading →
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: animation, cartoons, disney, male audience, Movies, rapunzel, sexism, tangled, the princess and the frog | 19 Comments »
Posted on January 21, 2010 by Darren
Looks like Tim Burton is getting quite comfortable at Disney – apparently he plans to follow his 3D spectacular Alice in Wonderland with a reboot of the classic Sleeping Beauty. Don’t worry (or do worry, depending on your opinion of the director), he’s not going to be offering a straight-forward adaptation – that would be much too straightforward. Instead, Burton is going to rework the story from the perspective of the evil queen: Maleficent. It seems that revisiting classic stories from the villain’s perspective is Hollywood’s new business plan, and – being honest – I’m equally worried and excited about it. Which, at the very least, means it is in someway daring.
Evil or misunderstood? It is going be a Burton film after all...
Continue reading →
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: alice in wonderland, animation, childhood, children, deconstruction, disney, fairy tales, maleficent, Movies, myths, sleeping beauty, snow white, tim burton | 4 Comments »
Posted on November 14, 2009 by Darren
Do you remember when Robert Zemeckis used to make accessible films starring actual human beings? Films that were no less magical because filming was constrained by reality rather than computer generated imagery. Well, apparently that Zemeckis is long gone at this stage, as he’s announced that he’s going to be following up A Christmas Carol with The Nutcracker, a similar CGI adaptation.
So many inappropriate jokes, so little time...
Continue reading →
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: a christmas carol, animation, cgi, films, live action, Movies, robert zemeckis, the nutcracker, toy story | Leave a comment »
Posted on September 15, 2009 by Darren
Hmm… I bet Robert Zemickas was expecting a somewhat bigger reaction for the release of the first trailer for his version of A Christmas Carol (aka Jim Carrey plays almost everyone), the follow-up to The Polar Express (aka Tom Hanks plays everyone), than the collective ‘meh’ that it received. I’ve watched the trailer and it looks technically magnificent (and I’m sure it’ll be even more technically impressive in 3D) – but why should I care? If I’m going to put on a pair of glasses and look at something beautiful until it give me a mild headache, shouldn’t I at least be looking at something interesting and intriguing of itself? Are we past the point where technical wonders alone are enough to lure the geeks out in droves?
Here's hoping Santa can bring Zemickis a 150% return on his investment...
Continue reading →
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 3d, a christmas carol, animation, audiences, avatar, box office, cgi, digital, films, final fantasy, final fantasy: the spirits within, first, groundbreaking, heaven's gate, imax, james cameron, jim carrey, pioneering, pixar, robert zemickis, star trek, technical, technical wizardry, the final destination, the polar express, toy story | 1 Comment »
Posted on September 8, 2009 by Darren
Yes, I can’t resist the urge to post every bit of awesome Pixar-related news that comes to my attention. This week it’s the potential payoff on the humongous (yes, I’ve been waiting to use that word a while now) Marvel-Disney deal that broke last week and sent ripples through the geeksphere. I was less-than-interested because I knew it would be years before we say any payoff (given the long Hollywood development cycle) and even more years before Disney got its hands on the movie rights to any ‘big hitters’ (as all the big franchises are tied up with other studios at the moment). There was the thought at the back of my mind that I dared not articulate, but it has happened: Pixar are apparently doing a comic book movie. An Ant-Man movie!
Wait, who?
Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na, Antman!
Continue reading →
Filed under: Comics, Movies | Tagged: animated movies, animation, ant-man, antman, cgi, comic books, Comics, disney, disney-marvel deal, edgar wright, hank pym, marvel, marvel-disney deal, pixar, superhero, the avengers, the ultimates | Leave a comment »
Posted on August 26, 2009 by Darren
Apparently Terry Gilliam wants to work at Pixar. How incredibly awesome would that be? Even the concept is intriguing. I’m not as head-over-heels in love with Gilliam as most film fans seem to be (his output tends to fluctuate wildly in quality), but Brazil is quite possibly my favourite science fiction film ever. And I love science fiction. Anyway, I would have thought a major studio that is a subsidiary of possibly the largest and most influential entertainment conglomerate in the world would be the last place an auteur like Gilliam would be found.
Evidently, I was wrong.
Rawr! Gilliam's Gonna Get Ya!
Continue reading →
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: animation, artist, auteur, director, film, gilliam, monty python, Movies, pixar, terry gilliam | Leave a comment »
Posted on July 31, 2009 by Darren
We live in the era of 3D and CGI. I remember back in they day there were worries and complaints by all the unions in Hollywood that the advent of perfect CGI would mean the end of actors in Hollywood – why pay Jim Carrey $20m a film when you can create a character for a fraction of that? Needless to say it hasn’t happened yet and I doubt it will. Hollywood and movies have always been the land of personalities. Get rid of those personalities and you have very little. It isn’t the antics of directors and writers that fuel the tabloid industry. So it’s logical that the part of the industry that has been most threatened by the marching on of science is the one where there is already minimal personality. I speak of course of the death of 2D animation. Although I hope I’m being premature – there have been two stories in the past 24 hours that indicated that old-fashioned non-live action films may not be quite dead.
Just a fraction less sophisticated than the animation Wes Anderson employs...
Continue reading →
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 2D, 3d, animation, cartoons, cgi, conventional animation, disney, films, illustrated, Movies, pixar, rapunzel, the fantastic mister fox, the fantastic mr. fox, the frog princess, the princess and the frog, traditional animation, wes anderson | 1 Comment »
Posted on July 29, 2009 by Darren
There’s nothing like a nice relaxing movie that you can cuddle up on the couch and just enjoy. Another testament to what was a fantastic summer last year, Kung Fu Panda may not have been the best animated film of the year – that honour goes to Wall-E – but it was still a fun, enjoyable and lively romp which should leave you smiling for most of the runtime.
Everybody was Kung-Fu fighting...
Continue reading →
Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: angelina jolie, animated, animation, cgi, dreamworks, dustin hoffman, films, ian mcshane, jack black, kung-fu, kung-fu panda, Movies, non-review review, panda, po, review | 1 Comment »
the m0vie blog 