Tag: Animation

Coraline: Behind The Scenes

A Handmade Fairy Tale

‘Coraline’ is about a young girl that wanders through a secret door in her home and discovers “Other World,† a dangerous alternate reality that mimics her own life. When Other World threatens to take over, Coraline relies on her own bravery and determination to save her family and herself.

“I think kids today are out of touch with Grimm’s Fairy Tales,† says ‘Coraline’  director and writer, Henry Selick.

So, he made a film for what he calls, “brave children.†

Selick has crafted a remarkable, cautionary film that is imbued with the very best of Grimm’s sensibilities. It is also an animation milestone, being the first stop-motion animated feature to be conceived and filmed in 3-D.

Continue reading Coraline: Behind The Scenes

An Interesting Year for Animation at the Oscars

This is certainly shaping up to be an interesting year for the little golden guy. We have a very good chance that Heath ledger will win an Oscar post-mortem. We have the hearth-throb Aussie hosting the ceremony and an alleged renewed attempt to shorten the ceremony’s length and bring more “fun and excitement” back to the program.

With all that said, one of the more interesting elements to the 81st Annual Academy Awards is the significance that animated films will potentially play. Two films in particular have been getting a lot of attention, and for good reason. ‘WALL-E’ and ‘Waltz with Bashir’ are both incredible films, but the buzz is centered more around “how” they’re being recognized.

‘WALL-E’ will obviously be nominated for Best Animated Feature and it’s difficult to make any argument against it’s seemingly shoe-in status for the Oscar. However, the film is also looking to possibly be nominated for Best Screenplay as well. On top of this, and while it’s something of a long shot in my opinion, ‘WALL-E’ has even been getting some support for a nod as Best Picture. Personally, while I absolutely loved the film, I have a fundamental issue with an animated movie winning Best Picture. Now, I’m pretty sure I’m not just imagining this, but this has happened before with a Disney movie… I think. Even so, it’s been quite some time since we’ve seen this happen.

‘Waltz with Bashir’ is an Israeli documentary that happens to be animated. What’s fascinating to me about this one is that it’s not only eligible to be nominated for Best Animated Feature and Best Foreign Film, but it’s also eligible to be nominated for Best Documentary Feature. For the life of me, I cannot recall one single other situation where this scenario has come up. It would certainly be a first for it to be nominated in all three categories, but how cool would it be to win them too? Then again, it’s not likely to beat out ‘WALL-E’ for Best Animated Feature.

What do you think? Should these two films be getting the nominations being touted or are the voting members going too far? What are your picks? Let us know by leaving your comments on this post.

Reality Reels: ‘Monster Road’ looks at Bruce Bickford

‘Monster Road’ (2004) is an odd and fascinating documentary about an odd and fascinating claymation stop-motion animator named Bruce Bickford. His legendary art is one known primarily to the most determined of cult fans who seek out the more obscure art from the most obscure artists, but given the opportunity to view his work with an open mind and from a place of admiration for what he’s accomplished on his own with little more than his imagination and some clay, you may just become one of his biggest fans.

Animator and documentary filmmaker Brett Ingram directed this award-winning documentary, receiving honors from both the Boston Independent Film Festival and the Slamdance Film Festival. The film captures Bickford’s eccentric personality, detailing his child-like charm and the under-whelming demeanor of the quiet man living and working in quiet surroundings. ‘Monster Road’ features a great deal of Bickford’s work but also takes us into his mind as well as his father’s who plays an important part in Bickford’s life, his past and his work space, making it easier for us to understand what he does and why he chooses to work with themes and subject matter that may seem violent and disturbed on the surface.

Most of Bruce Bickford’s work has remained in the underground vault of cult status, but perhaps his most widely known work would be an animated film called ‘The Amazing Mr. Bickford’ written and co-directed by Frank Zappa with Bickford’s animations set to Zappa’s music. It’s (of course) only been released on VHS and is long out of print and a used copy online is going to set you back about $25, give or take. You can check out Bruce Bickford’s website here.

‘Monster Road’ is available on DVD with the following features:

  • Deleted Scenes
  • A Selection of Bruce Bickford’s Animations
  • Trailers and Music by Shark Quest from the Soundtrack

Here is a clip from The Amazing Mr. Bickford:

Here is a clip from the Monster Road documentary:

Review: ‘Star Wars: The Clone Wars’

Ram Man:

A Long Time Ago on a Sound stage far far away George Lucas came up with one of the Greatest film trilogies of all time. Since then he has marketed them into oblivion. The latest is the new animated film Star Wars: The Clone Wars. George has decided to fill everyone in on what actually took place in the three years that was the Clone Wars prior to the Empire take over in “Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith”.

The first disturbing thing was to have a Star Wars film open without the classic 20th Century Fox drum-roll and searchlights. Then to lead in with some average score ..not by the great John Williams, just has the true diehards in the crowd a bit confused. The Clone Wars is strictly a vehicle to get kids interested in the animated features that George will continue on Cartoon Network. The story is “dumbed” down for the kids. The Separatists led by Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) have gone to Tatooine and kidnapped Jabba the Hutt’s son. Who did he find to procreate with…yuk! Anyway. The young hutt who is a glorified slug is held by Dooku’s assassin Asajj Ventress, a combination of Grace Jones and Agelina Jolie, in an attempt to frame the Jedi for the abduction. This will be the final blow to the republic by bringing the Hutt clan into the fight and closing off the last of the supply routes through the outer rim.

The Jedi learn of the abduction and master Yoda and Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) send their two best Jedi to rescue the slug and return him back to Jabba. Anakin and Obiwan on the losing end of a battle on the planet Christophis are greated by a new padewan learner Ahsoka Tano, only to find out she is Anakin’s student. This begins and bickering session that would rival any married couple. ObiWan, Anakin and his student are sent to the planet Teth, a jungle world, when the clones discover the seperatists are holding the slug there in an old monastery. Jabba’s kid and the rest of his family remind me of the things I like least about the films. These creatures put in the stories so kids can relate to them (Jar-Jar, Ewoks). The worst is Jabba’s brother Zero (the name says it all!) and Truman Capote sounding Gay Hutt. George are you kidding me!!!!! A couple of good battles ensue. Obi-Wan takes on Ventress and returning the Hutt to Tattoine, Anakin squares of with Dooku again.

There is three years between Movies 2 & 3, so George has plenty to work with. Please keep them confined to the small screen. Don’t let me paint an entirely grim picture, The Clone Wars features some fantastic animation. The only thing I would add, It would have been nice to have everyone back to voice their characters. In addition to Jackson and Lee, Ian Abercrombie returns as Chancellor Pallpatine/Darth Sidious and Anthony Daniels as c-3PO. I’m sure with the success of Jumper (hahahahaha) Haden Christensen was too busy to talk into a mike. Also some folks from the original trilogy (Han Solo) have a hand in the wars and would be nice to see. Bottom line, Star Wars: Clone Warsis a fine family film geared to the kids under 12. True Star Wars geeks see it if you must but wait for the DVD. With Lucas you may want to wait til he puts it out a couple of times and compiles the entire war before you buy it.

(rating 3/5 deathstars)

Zac:

George Lucas has decided to keep the Star Wars franchise alive by producing two television series, the first of which to debut is, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. This film is the first story arc of the television show and introduces us to this fun and exciting new look into the Star Wars universe.

The film is loosely connected to the previously released Clone Wars series on Cartoon Network, and I believe will fill in the gaps that those 25 episodes painted for the infamous Clone Wars during the events of Episode II and III. The plot of this film follows the supposed kidnap of Jabba the Hutt’s son, Rotta, by a group of bandits and the implications it will have on the space routes of both the Separatists and Republic forces on the Outer Rim territories.

Obviously the plot thickens and there is more to the situation than meets the eye. Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker are assigned to the mission of saving Jabba’s son, but not before having to fight a battle on the planet Christophsis and Anakin’s assignment of a Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano. Ahsoka is ready to learn and immediately begins to be a pain in Anakin’s side as she is a bit of a child and has a lot of growing up to do. After some bonding and narrow victory on Christophsis, the duo of Anakin and Ahsoka head off to the planet Teth where the republic has followed the smugglers that kidnapped Rotta.

The plot I will go know further on but instead focus on the film itself as it is a generally good piece of entertainment. First off, the animation is solid and really quite exceptional at times. Is it Pixar caliber, no, but it looks as good as some DreamWorks material and TMNT did, and remember, this is a TV show we are watching. We are going to get 100 episodes of television at this level of production, which is something to be excited for. The 3-D animation captures some of the look of the original Clone Wars mini-series but also sets its own visual flavor as well.

Speaking of the original Clone Wars, all of the main villains show up in this series as well. Asajj Ventress returns as Dooku’s apprentice and has plenty of fighting to do in this film as the main antagonist besides Dooku. General Grievous makes a brief appearance, but sits this one out, for sure to be a major player in upcoming series. The film itself is fairly centered on Anakin and Ahsoka with quick glimpses into what Mace, Yoda, Obi-Wan, and the Sith are doing, but this is definitely the Master and Padwan’s bonding story. To note, the series will not be centered on these two, they might get their own episodes here and there, but the series, like its previous iteration, will have arcs and plot lines that focus on just the Clone Troopers, other Jedi Masters, or possibly even just the Sith. The bonding story works well for the most part, Ahsoka can be a bit childish and annoying, but her arc in the film got her heading in the right direction as things got more serious’ though maintaining that young adventure and playfulness to a degree.

In fact the younger, lighter, feel this film has will be the major complaint with many; outside the biggest atrocity to the Star Wars franchise ever but we will get to that later. But outside Ahsoka and the silliness of some of the battle droids, which I found pretty hilarious on a number of occasions and delivered the best laugh by far, the movie is brutal. The battle scenes are full of death and clones getting taken down and blow away. There are clones even getting executed point blank at times, it’s some rough stuff and really helped sell the battles. The purpose of this film and series is to show the Clone Wars and even though this one might have been a bit centered on the Star Wars heroes, what the show is doing when we are not focusing on them is pretty darn good and should make some exciting stories and plots where we don’t know the outcome. It would even be cool if Lucas plugged in some of the characters from the upcoming live action show and sneaked them in there.

Now, there were things that did kind of rub me the wrong way about the movie, but didn’t ruin my overall experience with this pretty great little piece of Star Wars lore. Ahsoka calls Anakin “Sky Guy” and R2 “artooie’ a few times and it just made me role my eyes every time it happened. Rotta the Hutt is a bit of a childish device, but he did make me laugh on a couple of occasions, though I could have done without Jabba’s pet name for him; he is supposed to be an evil bastard. Also, they sneak Padme into the third act and it was a bit unnecessary other then the inclusion of the other major character in the prequels.

But the biggest error of adding in her was that she had to deal with the absolute worst thing to ever happen to Star Wars. Now, I don’t mind Jar Jar, and would be accused by many Star Wars dorks to be an ‘apologist’, to which I say “go f**k yourself, excuse me for just sitting back and enjoying getting something new and fun in the Star Wars universe,” but I digress. I can not apologize for Ziro the Hutt, Jabba’s uncle. His character is so bad, annoying, and just plain wrong, that I can not believe that he made it into this movie. How does someone working on this film not stop and go, ‘This is shit! What are we doing? This is shit!’ He is terrible. He is like a transvestite Hutt, a man wearing make up, eye shadow, and body paint, talks like an effeminate gay man meets Truman Capote, and he loves Jazz. The instant he opens his mouth your jaw will drop and you will be in disbelief with his character. Luckily, we will never have to seem again most likely, and if the writers have the audacity to put him back in the show, they are complete morons. I will say, Ziro was so bad, I found it humorous and not rage inducing, and it allowed me to just laugh and go, wow, that sucked, but I am not going to let you ruin this great little piece of Star Wars.

So after the mess that is Ziro, what is left? Thankfully a lot of great action, plenty of humor and a great start to a promising TV series. The animation will be spectacular on the small screen and is pretty solid for a feature film. It’s fun to be back and be able to play in the Star Wars universe again, and will continue to be able to for years to come. This iteration of The Clone Wars right now sits a little below the superb series that was released between Episode II and III, but also show a lot of promise for its TV future for what could easily turn into one of the finer pieces of the Star Wars franchise. So if you like Star Wars, get out and see The Clone Wars, and start building excitement for the series this fall.

(4 ‘roger, roger’s’ out of 5)

Jeremy:

You really have to excuse the Star Wars fans that were more than a little skeptical about an all animated feature that takes place between Episodes II and III. Star Wars 2.5, or The Clone Wars, really should have been the second, live action film to be released in Lucas’ “New Trilogy.” The first film should have been Attack of the Clones. The Phantom Menace is a story that is absolutely useless and whose intricacies should have been relegated to fan fiction and message boards. But I digress. When it was announced that Lucas and company were releasing a completely animated feature in theaters called The Clone Wars, the one question on most people’s minds was simply, “Why?”

Well, if you know anything about Uncle George and his ever-expanding wallet, than the why really isn’t much of a question, now is it? Star Wars: The Clone Wars was made for one purpose and one purpose alone. The ever-weakening dollar. The story isn’t anything we don’t already know. The relationships established in Episode I and II don’t really need any more development. Lucas just believed there were more characters in the Star Wars universe that needed action figures to stock shelves in toy stores.

Now, look past all that, because, believe it or not, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is actually a good ride. Its not flawless by any means, but it provides a nicely paced adventure that holds your interest from the opening frame.

It has a Star Wars Lite feel early on, but that’s not hard to look past. There are several things to commend The Clone Wars for. The animation is solid. Director Dave Filoni moved nicely from supervising The Clone Wars animated series and a few episodes of Avatar: The Last Airbender to manning a feature film. The plot, a rather simply story involving the kidnapping of Jabba the Hutt’s son, unfolds at a nice speed with evenly paced action.

For the most part, the voice acting is decent. Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, Anthony Daniels as C-3P0, and Christopher Lee as Count Dooku are the only live action actors to reprise their roles. Everyone else has been recast, and the new voice for Anakin, Matt Lanter, makes you so glad you’re not hearing the incessant winings of one Hayden Christensen. Ashley Eckstein who play Ahsoka Tano, Anakin’s young Padawan, kind of grates on your nerves, but that’s more her character than anything.

With a run time of just under 100 minutes, there isn’t much time for the story to drag its feet, and that is what most fans will probably enjoy. There is very little in regards to the brooding love between Anakin and Princess Amidala. The comedy bits, particularly those revolving around the Droid soldiers, get somewhat tedious.

The Clone Wars is a good time to be had if you can look past the fact that its sole purpose is to make money. The R2-D2 with Baby the Hutt in Baby Bjorn figure is sure to be a hit. The kids are going to love this film. Fans of the series, whether they wine beforehand or not, will enjoy it. It’s a solid entry into the Star War franchise, and, if we are going to get that in return, who can blame Lucas for pocketing a few more million into his bank account?

(3.5 out of 5)

Michelle:

Which Brainiac over at the Cartoon Network had the idea of a Hutt family kidnapping as a main story plot? Jabba’s a daddy to a little slug with bulging eyes and has a queeny Uncle Ziro, unbelieveably made out to be Truman Capote, who are duped into believing that the Hutts are being betrayed by the Jedi. By that point, I was through….through I tell you!!!

It was jarring enough not to see the 20th Century Fox logo and hear the fanfare at the beginning of a Star Wars movie, but then to segue into a narration something out of the 1970’s “Superfriends” was bush league. Even the voices of Christopher Lee as Count Dooku, Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu didn’t help.

In the end, it’ll play out better on your T.V. before the “Clone Wars” series begins in October on the Cartoon Network. Maybe it’s just as well this cartoony mess shows up under the Warner Bros. logo and stays in a galaxy much farther away.

(1 out of 5)

Travis:

I’m not one to usually say I told you so, but after seeing this I couldn’t help myself. Unfortunately, I was unable to make the screening but did go see this on opening weekend. I had told a few friends of mine that the animation looked bad and had predicted that the movie was going to fail. In my opinion, I was dead on.

Here’s the problem… or, at least one of the problems with this new animated ‘Star Wars’ movie… with all the time and money put into creating a fully CGI film, the Lucas crew could made a truly kick-ass traditional animated film that I would have much rather watched than this version. Sure, it has detail and action to boot, but the execution is questionable. After seeing this movie, a friend of mine and I were conversing about the pros and cons of ‘Clone Wars’ and ended up watching some episodes of the animated series on YouTube. We both concluded we’d have rather watched that than what we saw.

I know many of you want an explanation, so here you go… first of all, what the Hell is with the Hutt story-line? The entire premise of this movie revolves around the kidnapping of Jabba the Hutt’s son. OK, I understand they need to gain favor with Jabba to access his territory as a strategic war advantage, but why the Hell would I care about Jabba’s son? I compare this to the similar formula of failure present in ‘The Phantom Menace’… the coolest parts of ‘TPM’ have minimal screen time, but what takes up the majority of the movie? The freakin’ pod racing! I mean, it was kinda cool… for the first few scenes, but why so much of it? Like wise, in ‘Clone Wars’ there is way to much time and attention put on the annoying and terribly rendered baby Huttlet.

Some of the action and saber battles were cool, but again I return to the major flaw in this movie. The fights were to constrained and mechanical. Jedi battles need the benefit of fluidity and grace, which this CGI production squanders. If you go back and watch some of the better saber duels from the animated series, you’ll notice that, despite the animation not being perfect, there was fluidity to the action that made the fights really cool. As far as the story goes, I have to say it was pretty weak. Nothing truly caught my attention strongly and I just sort of mindlessly drifted through the plot. As always, and reminiscent of ‘TPM’, Ventress had too little screen time and when she did battle, she was betrayed by the lousy CGI production. There was barely any backstory of any kind aside from the ridiculous Hutt element and there were a few disconcerting plot errors that don’t mesh with the live-action movies. For example, in the prequilogy, Anakin was made Jedi but denied the rank of master, but in ‘Clone Wars’ everyone and their grandmother clearly refer to him as Master.

On the whole, I am sure kids will love this movie and from what I understand it is intended to lead into the upcoming new animated series. However, I can only imagine that the vast empire of adult Star Wars fans found themselves sorely disappointed. I suppose this is worth a DVD rental, but I would caution anyone without kids to really consider whether they want to blow $9.00+ dollars on this sub-par addition to the Star Wars legacy. Oh, I almost forgot to ask… Lucas, what’s with Ziro and the Super Gay Al from ‘South Park’ voice?

(2 droids out of 5)

[rating: 3/5]

In case you missed it… ‘The Cat With Hands’

If you have never seen this marvelous and creepy little short, then seek it out. It is well worth the effort.

Clocking in at a scant four minutes, the narrative plays out like a sort of campfire story meant to invoke primal fears of the dark and of the inexplicable powers of nature. The plot concerns itself with a legend, one that tells the story of a cat that wants to become human.

The film was finished in 2001 and has gone on to play several major film festivals and win a handful of awards. Produced by Sylvie Bringas, ‘The Cat With Hands‘ was written, directed and animated by the very talented Robert Morgan, an obvious fan of the macabre. If Hammer Films had been in the business of making short films, then this surely would have been on their slate.

If you like “The Cat With Hands,’ then be sure to visit the filmmaker’s website…

www.animusfilms.co.uk

Review: ‘Kung-Fu Panda’

Travis:

Kung Fu Panda is the newest addition to DreamWorks’ collection of animated features, which now includes a total of twelve films. After the success of the Shrek trilogy (soon to be quadrilogy?), Kung Fu Panda is by far the best, followed closely by Over the Hedge. Kung Fu Panda tells the story of Po (voiced by Jack Black), a clumsy, lovable fat panda who reluctantly works in his father’s noodle restaurant. What his father doesn’t know is that Po dreams of being a Kung Fu master just like his heroes, the Furious Five. These five are Master Tigress (voiced by Anjelina Jolie), Master Viper (voiced by Lucy Liu), Master Crane (voiced by David Cross), Master Mantis (voiced by Seth Rogen) and Master Monkey (voiced by Jackie Chan).

These Furious Five are led by their trainer, Master Shifu (voiced by Dustin Hoffman). Master Oogway (voiced by Randall Duk Kim) has a vision and alerts Shifu of the inevitable return of the evil Tai Lung (voiced by Ian McShane). Shifu is especially concerned by this revelation and fears the worst from the imprisoned Kung Fu master, whom once threatened their peaceful land. Oogway decides it is time to choose who shall become the Dragon Warrior, the only person who can defeat Tai Lung. The entire valley gathers to witness which of the Furious Five will be chosen and given the honor of receiving the legendary Dragon Scroll, said to give its recipient great powers.

Upon hearing of this great event, Po struggles to reach the top of the great mountain at which the ceremony will be held. There are many, many steps … and for a fat panda, that’s a real pain in the rump. Kung Fu Panda is essentially another story of one unlikely character overcoming all odds to achieve his dreams. That’s great, but its also what virtually all of these animated kid’s movies are about. No, the real fun factor here is the casting, which make for an absolutely hilarious, while also slightly enlightening, movie for all ages. Jack Black is excellent, maintaining a healthy but not overdone flow of humor and heart as the story progresses. Hoffman also does a great job in the role of the Mr. Miyagi type teacher. Personally, I got a lot of joy out of the Oogway character, whose contributions were more philosophical than humorous. His scenes offer thoughtfully poignant moments, rarely seen in such movies.

The ending of Kung Fu Panda will serve as no surprise (NO, I’m still not going to give it away … when will you learn?), but its the journey that makes this adventure so enjoyable. For the more seasoned and eclectic viewers out there, Kung Fu Panda also offers a different kind of entertainment … despite being an animated kid’s movie, it actually has some great martial arts action. Those who have a history of indulging in the many great classics of the martial arts genre, will find this element of Kung Fu Panda rewarding as well.

(4 out of 5)

Zac:

The latest addition to the DreamWorks Animation catalog is one of their best, coming not far behind Shrek as one of their best efforts yet.
The film is about the training and ascension of a wannabe Kung Fu Master, Po, an overweight Panda that worships the Furious Five and the Masters of the Jade Temple that looms up an endless staircase above his town in the Valley of Peace. He dreams of fighting along side them defeating countless foes even though he is stuck making noodles with his “father,” a duck, called Mr. Ping. Ping dreams of Po taking over the business while Po dreams of Kung Fu.
Presiding over the Furious Five, Tigress, Viper, Crane, Monkey, and Mantis, is Shifu who trains and observes their everyday activities as they prepare to possibly be named chosen to be the Dragon Warrior who will get to look upon the Dragon Scroll and learn the secret to limitless power and ability. Shifu’s master, and the originator of the martial arts, is a turtle named Oogway, who has a vision of the return of Tai Lung, a rouge pupil of Shifu who was as masterful as any, but craved the power of being the Dragon Warrior. Tai Lung was imprisoned after ravaging the Valley of Peace and is under strict lock and key in a prison made for one.
Upon his vision, Oogway decides it is time to name the Dragon Warrior. Po accidentally is chosen and Shifu reluctantly begins to “train” him as he tries to get him to wash out of the process. The Furious Five have a mixed reception to the new student, with Tigress taking the greatest exception as she thought she was destined for the role of Dragon Warrior.
To say more would be a disservice as I have shared a lot, but nothing you couldn’t have found in the trailer. The film however has plenty you couldn’t find there as well. The film is consistently funny and Jack Black’s Po is just full of energy, spirit, will, and humor. Po is constantly entertaining, jokes rarely fall flat around him, and Jack Black captures the character wonderfully. The film focuses mainly on Shifu’s struggle with Oogway’s decisions and Po’s struggles with dealing and training with Shifu. We are given intriguing glimpses into the history of this world through excellent flashbacks and compelling back story of Shifu and Tai Lung as well as some real emotional pull. Shifu, voiced by the excellent Dustin Hoffman, is one of the more complex and deep characters in animated films in a while and is a joy to watch on screen.
The Furious Five cast does well for what they are given, and one of the let downs is that we didn’t get to see more of them. Many of them are constrained to just a few lines here and there, with Angelina Jolie getting the brunt of the work as the bitter Tigress. Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, and David Cross all get decent bits of humor throughout the film as Monkey, Mantis, and Crane, with Lucy Liu as Viper having little to nothing to say most of the time. Though the actors don’t have a lot to say, their characters have plenty to do, and kick some serious butt doing it. Their big action set piece on a bridge is fantastic and imaginative extended fight scene. The real stand out scene of the film, and is going to be tough to beat over the course of the summer, is the absolutely awe inspiring and breathtaking escape scene of Tai Lung, unbelievably awesome; worth of the price of admission alone. Thankfully so is the rest of the film, with some wicked action bits and training scenes and a story that isn’t really that original, but sends a good message to the target audience, kids, while also being extremely entertaining to all ages.
Lastly, all of the animation is superb with a cool blend of varying 2-d and 3-d styles and cool uses of slow mo in all of the right places. The Kung Fu action is also well choreographed and looks really great as the combatants fight and fly around some beautiful Chinese inspired scenery.
In the end, Kung Fu Panda is a great animated family film for all ages. Awesome action, great characters, and probably the coolest scene I have seen in a theater all year. Wall-E has some competition this month, but regardless how that one turns out, Kung Fu Panda will stand as an excellent work and one of the better animated films of the last few years, and probably the best non-Pixar animated products you will see in a while.

(4.25 out of 5)

Ram Man:

Jack Black has finally found his niche’ …find a role where we don’t have to look at you! I give you Kung-Fu Panda. This is the story of a slacker Panda who dreams of becoming a master in the art of Kung-Fu. Po the Panda (Jack Black) worships the town masters who go by the named the Furious Five. The “Furious Five” are made up of the voices from an A-List of actors: Tigress-Angelina Jolie, Viper- Lucy Liu, Monkey- Jackie Chan, Mantis- Seth Rogan and Crane-David Cross. Their leader, a small “yoda” type raccoon, named Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), must pick a new Dragon warrior from the five to defend the village from a Snow Leopard named Tai Lung (Ian McShane-Deadwood). Tai Lung is Shifu former student that turned bad and vowed revenge and to someday become the Dragon Warrior! All together now “VADER” !

Po, our slacker Panda, finds himself smack in the middle of the ceremony and ends up being chjosen as the new Dragon Warrior! Now he must train and fight the mighty Tai Lung. This doesn’t sit well with our furry friend or with the Furious Five! Po’s only gain to fame is an appetite that would put Fat Albert to shame!

Dreamworks animation has done a great job on Kung-Fu Panda. The characters facial expression remind you of the person who is voicing them. The first dream “action” sequence is fantastic and has Po as a master of Kung-Fu fighting thousands of ninja alligators. AWSOME! Plus we were lucky enought to catch the IMAX showing which really made the movie “pop”. The story was cute and funny enough to keep and adult entertained …but this one is for the kids (7-16)! Enjoy Kung-Fu Panda and beware his mighty Panda Belly Attack!!!!!

[rating: 4/5]

Review: ‘Ratatouille’

Zac:

Hands down the best animated film of the year (unless Persepolis blows me away whenever I get to see it) and probably the best since Brad Bird’s last film, the masterpiece that is The Incredibles, Ratatouille is a fantastic story about rats, cooking, and believing in anyone.
We follow two main characters in this film Remy the rat and who is a masterful chef who embraces humans and there ways. As well as Linguini, a wanna be chef without a chance to every be good. The two happen to fall in each others laps and are able to help one another out through a little fantasy twist and imagination.
This movie is just full of beautiful shots, exhilarating moments, great comedy, touching scenes, a fun villain, and is just a joy to watch every time you see. I’ve seen this 3-4 times and it is more rewarding with every experience. Remy’s first shot at cooking is a great beautiful cinema moment, the opening is does a great job of introducing us to the world without being at all boring, the sleepy Linguini scene is hilarious, and the ending is just about perfect even if it is a bit of a stretch.
The voice work is stellar through out with Brag Garrett doing some of his best as Gusteau, Patton Oswalt is perfect for Remy, Janeane Garofalo is unrecognizable as Colette but does the French accent superbly, but the best work belongs to Peter O’Toole who gives Anton Ego so much more life, if you could call it that, with his raspy and commanding voice.
The animation is also spectacular and continues to get better every time Pixar goes out and makes a new movie. Brad Bird gives us a wonderful view of Paris, and is one of three great looks at the City of Lights this year. The score by Michael Giacchino is also wonderful and he proves again that he is one of the best composers around today in film. Praises can not be said enough for Bird and his team, while Bird cements himself as one of the best directors ever, if he hadn’t already in most peoples eyes.
With Ratatouille Pixar is back at the top of its game, not that Cars was bad it was just a understandable step below the Incredibles, and while not quite topping Brad Bird’s last this is definitely just as good as, if not better, Finding Nemo and the Toy Story’s.

[rating: 5/5]

Review: ‘Bee Movie’

Zac:

What we have here is Dreamworks newest piece of animation that continues on a healthy run of quality, outside the atrocious Shrek 3, following Over the Hedge and Flushed Away. Bee Movie is equally as ridiculous as Flushed Away with the whole, Bee World, and it is just impossible to believe that the animals that exist in our world have this secret under lying society no one knows about.
(It’s just ridiculous to think that rats, or bees, or whatever animal they use have this world with tools and inventions and cars and stuff, it’s just silly. This is where Pixar excels over everyone else; it creates worlds that we can believe might actually exist and are not completely incomprehensible. Now I know Ratatouille might stretch this a bit, but the rats aren’t building cities, and the Remy and Linguine angle is believable because it is simple fantasy; and Pixar are superb story tellers. Enough ranting)
Luckily Bee Movie has one really great thing going for it and that is Jerry Seinfeld. His brand of humor is liked by most and it works great even in this kid environment. His humor keeps the movie going along and is almost constantly funny with some great one liners sprinkled throughout the film. Seinfeld also does some admirable voice work as Barry and the rest of the group is good as well.(special shout out to the great Patrick Warburton)
The story itself is at least mixed up and tries to be a lot of things, but sadly doesn’t do all those things well. There are about 5 acts to this movie and while it’s nice that it doesn’t really drag its feet in repetitive material, one of the acts really falls flat do to its inconceivableness. Luckily Seinfeld’s comedy saves the act in question from ruining a solid comedy family film. The final act is also appreciated for sending an environmental message without beating it over our heads; I’m looking at you Happy Feet.
All in all, this is fun family fair, and if you like Seinfeld at all there is plenty to enjoy. But I would really love to see Dreamworks make movies that don’t make the animals do human things (they did this to best effect with Over the Hedge and that is their best work outside the first Shrek). Anyways, if you got some youngling’s take them out and enjoy the show as there is plenty for both of you to enjoy, even if it is all quite ridiculous.

[rating: 3.5/5]