20110430:
I recall reading the book for class in elementary school. I don't, however, remember a thing.
The animation took some getting used to. The animation is a little different than some of the other stop-motion films I've seen. However, towards the end, I find the movie charming. It's sort of quirky and its humor is decent.
I think my enjoyment is largely due in part to George Clooney voicing Mr. Fox. Clooney's film personality just works perfectly.
With this movie, I started wondering, maybe some of the stop-motion movies I've seen aren't claymation, but just puppet stop-motion. I tried to look for answers with google but I would take my findings with a grain of salt:
Mary and Max (2009)
Mary and Max is a 2009 Australian clay-animated feature film directed and written by Adam Elliot and produced by Melanie Coombs. (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_and_Max)
James and the Giant Peach (1996)
The movie James and the Giant Peach is created using clay for animation, known as claymation. Thanks for using ChaCha! (Source: http://www.chacha.com/question/is-the-movie-james-and-the-giant-peach-claymation-or-animation)
Coraline (2009)
Neither! Coraline was made through the labor-intensive technique of stop-action animation, using puppets and miniature sets. (Source: http://www.chacha.com/question/is-coraline-claymation-or-computer-generated)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
Fantastic Mr. Fox is considered stop-motion animation, since it uses both clay models and puppets. ChaCha! (Source: http://www.chacha.com/question/is-fantastic-mr.-fox-claymation-or-puppets)
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
The Nightmare Before Christmas is not listed as using claymation, but used puppets. The filmmakers constructed 227 puppets to represent the characters in the movie. ChaCha! (Source: http://www.chacha.com/question/is-coraline-claymation-or-computer-generated)
The soundtrack was interesting. Variety of music.
The use of the word "cuss" in place of where bad words usually go. Example: "What the cuss."
Memorable:
Mr. Fox's trademark: whistle and two clicks.
Recommendation:
If you love George Clooney, you should consider watching this movie.
I watched all the specials:
From Script to Screen. Mostly talks about the various aspects of the director getting his vision onto the screen. This includes careful planning and having all the scenes planned out, since stop-motion takes so long.
Still Life (Puppet Animation). Talks about some of the particulars to stop-motion animation. For example the fur on the puppets.
A Beginner's Guide to Whack-Bat. This really reiterates what was said and shown in the movie. It's not that illuminating.
Theatrical Trailer. The trailer uses many of the jokes from the movie, and some parts of the trailer are clips from the movie played out of order to create jokes that aren't really there.
Sneak Peek. "Whip It"<-I want to watch. Family favorites consists of "Alvin and the Chipmunks," "Horton Hears a Who," "Robots," "Garfield," "Dr. Dolittle," and some others I don't recognize. Ten dvd cases show at the end of the minute long clip.
Watched 20110430 (McNaughton Plan from Eisenhower Library)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) Wes Anderson. 87 min [botnotsn (1970) by Roald Dahl]
Relevant Links:
Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wikipedia.org)
Fantastic Mr. Fox (IMDb.com)
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
Seven Pounds (2008)
Watched 20110429 (McNaughton Plan from Eisenhower Library) (Widescreen)
Seven Pounds (2008) Gabriele Muccino. 123 min.
Relevant Links:
I recommend seeing this movie without reading any synopses/summaries and without watching any trailers. Note that movie credits might also give away the plot. For these reasons I do not provide links to the movie's IMDb page, Wikipedia page, or RottenTomatoes.com page.
20110429:
I loved the way the movie was told. It was mysterious and kept me engaged. This method of storytelling gives the movie a Momento (2000) feel.
Will Smith is a great actor. He brings to this movie the range of emotions he had in Pursuit of Happyness (2006).
This movie has similarities to the movie Crash (2004). The two movies share the general mood and interaction among several characters. They also share a similar type of ending.
I'm not completely fond of the ending. I don't want to ruin the ending, so I won't say why. I will say there will be many people who will dislike the ending, because of the message or implications it carries. I don't exactly fall into that category. Like I said, I'm just not fond of it.
Overall, I enjoyed watching the movie. If you're looking for the type of drama Will Smith brought to Pursuit of Happyness you might enjoy this movie. However, I'd recommend you be in the mood to get an ending similar to Crash.
Most Memorable Dialogue:
Larry: Hey, how much longer are you gonna stay in my hotel?
Ben Thomas: Motel.
Larry: How much longer?
Ben Thomas: Actually, I was planning on dying here.
Larry: Well, then you need to pay in advance.
[20110429 Assumed Post Date][20190911 Edit]
Instant Comments:
This movie starts off so intensely.
Very mysterious.
The character, nicely portrayed, has a way with words.
So mysterious. (Elevator) Haha briefcase.
I like the use of Will Smith's worried facial expression, very powerful. The same facial expression I remember from The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), when he's in the restroom blocking the door with his foot.
It partially stops being confusing here (his brother finds him). But not entirely.
The discordant music during this next scene was interesting.
Intense.
Also Watched:
DON'T WATCH "The Box Jellyfish" BEFORE SEEING THE MOVIE.
Deleted Scenes. There are four. The third and fourth are short and don't have any real impact on the movie.
The Box Jellyfish: World's Deadliest Co-Star. This special feature has a aquarium director talking about the box jellyfish. It starts with the scene where Will Smith character describes the box jellyfish. Goes to the aquarium director. The special feature cuts to the climax of the movie, and the director begins to talk about the pain that survivors describe with respect to the sting.
Emily's Passion: The Art of the Printing Press. This special feature goes through some of the presses found at a museum that is said to have basically the entire history of the printing press. A man talks about six or seven different machines throughout the history, including the two in the movie, and one that was suppose to be "The Beast" but wasn't because it worked inconsistently.
Seven Pounds (2008) Gabriele Muccino. 123 min.
Relevant Links:
I recommend seeing this movie without reading any synopses/summaries and without watching any trailers. Note that movie credits might also give away the plot. For these reasons I do not provide links to the movie's IMDb page, Wikipedia page, or RottenTomatoes.com page.
20110429:
I loved the way the movie was told. It was mysterious and kept me engaged. This method of storytelling gives the movie a Momento (2000) feel.
Will Smith is a great actor. He brings to this movie the range of emotions he had in Pursuit of Happyness (2006).
This movie has similarities to the movie Crash (2004). The two movies share the general mood and interaction among several characters. They also share a similar type of ending.
I'm not completely fond of the ending. I don't want to ruin the ending, so I won't say why. I will say there will be many people who will dislike the ending, because of the message or implications it carries. I don't exactly fall into that category. Like I said, I'm just not fond of it.
Overall, I enjoyed watching the movie. If you're looking for the type of drama Will Smith brought to Pursuit of Happyness you might enjoy this movie. However, I'd recommend you be in the mood to get an ending similar to Crash.
Most Memorable Dialogue:
Larry: Hey, how much longer are you gonna stay in my hotel?
Ben Thomas: Motel.
Larry: How much longer?
Ben Thomas: Actually, I was planning on dying here.
Larry: Well, then you need to pay in advance.
[20110429 Assumed Post Date][20190911 Edit]
Instant Comments:
This movie starts off so intensely.
Very mysterious.
The character, nicely portrayed, has a way with words.
So mysterious. (Elevator) Haha briefcase.
I like the use of Will Smith's worried facial expression, very powerful. The same facial expression I remember from The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), when he's in the restroom blocking the door with his foot.
It partially stops being confusing here (his brother finds him). But not entirely.
The discordant music during this next scene was interesting.
Intense.
Also Watched:
DON'T WATCH "The Box Jellyfish" BEFORE SEEING THE MOVIE.
Deleted Scenes. There are four. The third and fourth are short and don't have any real impact on the movie.
The Box Jellyfish: World's Deadliest Co-Star. This special feature has a aquarium director talking about the box jellyfish. It starts with the scene where Will Smith character describes the box jellyfish. Goes to the aquarium director. The special feature cuts to the climax of the movie, and the director begins to talk about the pain that survivors describe with respect to the sting.
Emily's Passion: The Art of the Printing Press. This special feature goes through some of the presses found at a museum that is said to have basically the entire history of the printing press. A man talks about six or seven different machines throughout the history, including the two in the movie, and one that was suppose to be "The Beast" but wasn't because it worked inconsistently.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Rio (2011)
20110424:
Overall, this movie is good, but not great. Particular parts of the movie are done well. Namely, the music and how cute and beautiful the birds can be. Actually, I thought the movie was a little above good, since I've been slightly exposed to the Brazilian culture through capoeira and so occasionally I would understand various cultural tidbits. Unfortunately, a lot of the jokes ended up flat.
The plot was pretty good. Of course, the basic plot was quite standard: boy and girl are matched, girl doesn't like boy, boy tries to impress girl, girl comes around, girl gets kidnapped, boy saves the day. Movies that follow similar basic plots include Disney's Aladdin (1992), The Princess and the Frog (2009), and Beauty and the Beast (1991).
How does Rio compare to those three movies? Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast are both at a different level than Rio musically. Musically The Princess and the Frog was in the style of classic Disney, but didn't quite reach these two classics. Then comes Rio whose music is more current, more cultural, and less in the style of a musical. The use of music in this film reminds me more of the music from Shark Tale (2004). Another difference that Rio has from the mentioned Disney movies and similarity with Shark Tale is that Rio is computer animated.
Related to the theater: I love the theater chairs, because they were easy to lean back on. Bouncing to the music was also fun.
Great Line:
"I have beautiful eyes."
The Voices:
Because of the opening credits I was able to recognize Jesse Eisenberg, Jemaine Clement, and George Lopez. I knew which characters were voiced by Anne Hathaway, will.i.am, and Tracy Morgan, but didn't recognize the voices as belonging to the respective persons. I didn't know Jamie Foxx was Nico until the ending credits. I also didn't know Leslie Mann was Linda, Blu's owner. From IMDb today (20110425) I found out that Wanda Sykes and Jane Lynch voiced the two geese who were mocking Blu in Minnesota.
I definitely know Jamie Foxx, will.i.am, and Jemaine sang songs for the movie.
Trailers: Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) Release Date: 20110526 | Hoodwinked Too! Hood VS. Evil (2011) Release Date: 20110429 | Zookeeper (2011) [Teaser] Release Date: 20110708 | Monte Carlo (2011) Release Date: 20110701 | Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011) Release Date: 20110617
[20110425]
20110825:
I wrote: "Credits to Rio not shown at all. Rio Rio song." 20110826 1:05 AM
[20120125]
Released 20110415.
Watched 20110424 Theatre. AMC White Marsh [RIO] 7:30 PM $10.50
Watched 20110825 In-flight movie
Rio (2011) Carlos Saldahna. 96 min.
Relevant Links:
Rio (IMDb.com)
Overall, this movie is good, but not great. Particular parts of the movie are done well. Namely, the music and how cute and beautiful the birds can be. Actually, I thought the movie was a little above good, since I've been slightly exposed to the Brazilian culture through capoeira and so occasionally I would understand various cultural tidbits. Unfortunately, a lot of the jokes ended up flat.
The plot was pretty good. Of course, the basic plot was quite standard: boy and girl are matched, girl doesn't like boy, boy tries to impress girl, girl comes around, girl gets kidnapped, boy saves the day. Movies that follow similar basic plots include Disney's Aladdin (1992), The Princess and the Frog (2009), and Beauty and the Beast (1991).
How does Rio compare to those three movies? Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast are both at a different level than Rio musically. Musically The Princess and the Frog was in the style of classic Disney, but didn't quite reach these two classics. Then comes Rio whose music is more current, more cultural, and less in the style of a musical. The use of music in this film reminds me more of the music from Shark Tale (2004). Another difference that Rio has from the mentioned Disney movies and similarity with Shark Tale is that Rio is computer animated.
Related to the theater: I love the theater chairs, because they were easy to lean back on. Bouncing to the music was also fun.
Great Line:
"I have beautiful eyes."
The Voices:
Because of the opening credits I was able to recognize Jesse Eisenberg, Jemaine Clement, and George Lopez. I knew which characters were voiced by Anne Hathaway, will.i.am, and Tracy Morgan, but didn't recognize the voices as belonging to the respective persons. I didn't know Jamie Foxx was Nico until the ending credits. I also didn't know Leslie Mann was Linda, Blu's owner. From IMDb today (20110425) I found out that Wanda Sykes and Jane Lynch voiced the two geese who were mocking Blu in Minnesota.
I definitely know Jamie Foxx, will.i.am, and Jemaine sang songs for the movie.
Trailers: Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011) Release Date: 20110526 | Hoodwinked Too! Hood VS. Evil (2011) Release Date: 20110429 | Zookeeper (2011) [Teaser] Release Date: 20110708 | Monte Carlo (2011) Release Date: 20110701 | Mr. Popper's Penguins (2011) Release Date: 20110617
[20110425]
20110825:
I wrote: "Credits to Rio not shown at all. Rio Rio song." 20110826 1:05 AM
[20120125]
Released 20110415.
Watched 20110424 Theatre. AMC White Marsh [RIO] 7:30 PM $10.50
Watched 20110825 In-flight movie
Rio (2011) Carlos Saldahna. 96 min.
Relevant Links:
Rio (IMDb.com)