Screen
Tuesday 13 January 2009
Corpse Bride
An enjoyable stop-motion movie from Tim Burton with a very wicked dark humour throughout.
— Andy
Tags: animation, fantasy, musical, tim burton, uk
Thursday 08 January 2009
Wall-E
Wall-E is superb; a truly mature offering from the geniuses of Pixar. The minimal amount of dialogue seems a daring move for a family film but works brilliantly, allowing one to really take in the beautiful visuals. The characters have real heart and emotion making them extremely likeable (Pixar have a real talent for this)!
— Andy
Tags: animation, hollywood, pixar, recommended, sci-fi
Comment [1]
Thursday 20 November 2008
Renaissance
Artistically Renaissance looks stunning; almost the entire film is animated in solid black and white images, apart from the very occasional use of colour. However, the plot, whilst interesting, is perhaps a little average for the genre. It did manage to keep my attention but required a significant amount of attention to follow the story. I felt that the voices—in English—which included Daniel Craig were a little lifeless which didn’t help. This is more a film about style than substance, but if you like animation then the visual aspect of Renaissance is beautiful and the futuristic look of Paris is very cool.
— Andy
Tags: 2006, animation, b&w, daniel craig, france, paris, sci-fi
Thursday 06 November 2008
Belleville Rendez-vous
An excellent film; a beautifully rich and original animation with a Stomp-like soundtrack. Belleville Rendez-vous is a very funny movie playing on French and American stereotypes such as the French love of frogs legs and Le Tour de France, and American’s obesity and poor manners. I just love the dog whose characteristics are so real.
Director Sylvain Chomet’s second animated feature, The Illusionist, should be out next year and is based on an unproduced Jacques Tati script.
— Andy
Thursday 30 October 2008
A Scanner Darkly
This is a weird film that to be honest did very little for me. My main draw to watching A Scanner Darkly was its rotoscope animation, but even that didn’t really do much for me.
— Andy
Saturday 21 June 2008
Finding Nemo
Beautiful colours, great characters (particularly the minor characters), but perhaps a little let down by the plot which seems to try too hard. Finding Nemo is a good Pixar animation, but having returned to it after watching Ratatouille and The Incredibles it doesn’t stand up quite so well as I remembered.
— Andy
Sunday 01 June 2008
The Incredibles
The Incredibles is a very funny film that takes the superhero concept to a whole new level, looking at what becomes of those with super-powers when they settle down to normal family life. Not only is it unique in terms of the superhero genre, it also feels very different from the majority of the CGI-animations out there; perhaps an indication of the industry’s new found confidence with the medium. There are some superb characters in this movie, but for me I really like Frozone and Edna ‘E’ Mode. Just as entertaining the second time round.
— Andy
Tags: animation, comedy, hollywood, pixar, sci-fi, superheroes
Thursday 22 May 2008
Ratatouille
A superb film from Pixar about a rat who loves to cook in Paris. I’m not a big fan of CGI-animation, but Ratatouille is beautiful looking, Paris is really brought to life. The story feels original and is very funny without having to rely on loads of cultural references for laughs. Possibly one of the best from the studio that really got the ball rolling with Toy Story.
— Andy
Sunday 04 May 2008
Persepolis
A funny, and at times sad, true story of an Iranian girl growing up through the Revolution and wars in Tehran, and attending French school in Vienna. The animation, mostly in black-and-white, is beautiful and a refreshing change from the usual Disney/Pixar look of animated films these days. Persepolis challenges ones perceptions of life in Iran and highlights some of the unpleasant attitudes of religion, particularly towards women. It is well worth a trip to the cinema to see it (if it sounds too serious don’t fear as it really does have many laugh-out-loud moments).
— Andy
Tags: animation, france, in cinemas, iran, recommended
Comment [1]