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 »
Posted on January 16, 2011 by Darren
Disney’s 50th animated feature film is something of a return to traditional values. Despite the surrounding discussion about whether this would be Disney’s last “princess” fairytale film or whether boys would respond to the story of Rapunzel, the movie is assuredly old school in its style. Although the way that it has been handled by the studio betrays a stunning insecurity about it, it’s self-assured a good old fashioned fairytale at heart. Though it moves away from hand-drawn animation to computer-generated imagery (though it’s reportedly heavily influenced by the old-school approach to animation), it couldn’t be more of a traditional Disney film if it tried. After so many attempts to update, subvert, revise, deconstruct or play with that classic formula, sometimes it’s nice to be served a traditional film, straight-up.
Go on, let your hair down!
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, cgi, Computer-generated imagery, deconstruction, disney, disney's tangled, fairytale, Little Red Riding Hood, non-review review, princess, rapunzel, review, shrek, tangled, the princess and the frog, The Walt Disney Company | 2 Comments »
Posted on December 8, 2010 by Darren
I admired the original Tron perhaps because of what it attempted rather than because of what it accomplished. It was brave and bold, and it demonstrated more than any other film of its time what was possible with computer-generated imagery – it was a statement of intent and a proof of concept. However, it was also somewhat awkward and clunky – to the point that several sequences in the movie had to hand-animated rather than digitally modelled, because time and technology worked against the crew. It was very much a movie of its time, held back by the status of the industry at the time – and yet inspiring a whole new generation of film-goers and film-makers as to the possibilities. It seems only fitting, perhaps, that Tron: Legacy took so long to make it to the screen – those impressionable young future movie-makers have come of age in the thirty years since the original. In many ways, the sequel feels like a debt is being repaid – here’s a chance to see the original and daring vision as it was imagined all those years ago.
I haven't got a Clu...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: 3d, cgi, Computer-generated imagery, Daft Punk, dark knight, disney, film, film review, Filmmaking, jeff bridges, michael sheen, Movie, non-review review, tr0n, tron, tron legacy review, tron: legacy | 115 Comments »
Posted on September 14, 2010 by Darren
Tron is a cult classic, and one which truly earns its strips. Unlike, say, Blade Runner, which is frequently identified as a “cult classic”, I don’t think it’s possible to make a strong argument that Tron is simply a masterpiece which underperformed upon its release. As much as modern movies are seriously indebted to Tron and the way it redefined what computers could offer a movie-making experience, it’s still a deeply flawed movie which will only really appeal to a very select bunch of filmgoers. Thankfully, I discovered, I am one of them.
Seeing red (and other primary colours)...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: animation, arts, blade runner, cgi, film, flynn, jeff bridges, Movie, non-review review, review, sarn, tr0n, tron, tron: legacy, Video game | 6 Comments »
Posted on May 8, 2010 by Darren
This is one of my entries on the latest cross-blogging event, tracking down some of the most overrated movies of all time. It’s being run by Mike over at You Talking to Me. I can’t spoil the list by giving you any of the other titles, but I did take a quick look at Spider-Man‘s legacy earlier in the week.
I love Toy Story. I love Toy Story II even more. I am anticipating Toy Story III with baited breath. I adore Pixar. The only two films they’ve produced that fall short of excellence (in my opinion) are Cars and A Bug’s Life and both are still above average as films go. So it may seem odd to critique the legacy of perhaps the first great computer animated film – but this is a strange world we live in. Think about it, though. Pixar have essentially killed conventional animated films – at least in this part of the world.
Computer-generated animation spreads its wings...
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Filed under: Movies | Tagged: animation, cgi, computer animation, conventional animation, disney, dreamworks, films, Movies, pixar, toy story, toy story 2, toy story 3 | 8 Comments »
Posted on April 21, 2010 by Darren
Planet 51 is an enjoyable little animated film. It mostly skirts by on it’s rather interesting premise (what if an astronaut landed on an alien world exactly like fifties America?) and razor-sharp pop culture references (I wonder how many kids are going to get the references to E.T. let alone Alien or 2001: A Space Odyssey), but it’s ultimately let down by the fact that nobody involved seems to be trying too hard… or at all, really. The film relies on its intriguing premise to carry it, which it just about does, but it’s hard to feel that there isn’t so much more that could have been done.
I'm not sure if Chuck demonstrates to Planet 51 that there's intelligent life out there...
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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: aliens, animation, cgi, film, jessica biel, justin long, Movies, non-review review, planet 51, pop culture, review, the rock | 6 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...
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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...
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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!
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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 »
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