Just wanted to share with you guys this video I made looking at the recent Captain America 2: Civil War and Batman v Superman trailers.
What did you guys think of the trailers? What is your excitement level for both of these films?
Author: Rachel's Reviews
Rankin/Bass 1: The Hobbit
So we are starting off Rankin/Bass month off oddly enough by looking at a non-holiday TV special they made. It was the first attempt to translate JRR Tolkien’s epic fantasy novels to either big or small screen and while imperfect I enjoyed watching it.
I should state out front a couple of biases I have. First, I love the Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings movies. They are in the running for films I’d take with me on a desert island. Second, I hate his Hobbit movies. I found them deadly dull and without the moral weight of the LOTR movies. Third, I like the LOTR books, but do not like The Hobbit, which I have never been able to get through. There are no stakes in The Hobbit. It’s just an adventure and that’s not enough to draw me in (I’ve never been that into fantasy especially as a kid). I probably would have liked the Peter Jackson Hobbit films if he had made one or at most two.
All that out of the way, let’s talk about this film. It is traditional sketch style animation and aired on NBC in 1977. I’d say for a made for TV movie the production values are top notch. Everything from the voice talent of people like John Huston and Paul Frees to the wonderful music by Jules Bass and Maury Laws is done at a feature film level. There is also not as much rotoscoping as the Ralph Bakshi LOTR film, which I also see some value in and don’t hate.
The Hobbit of course tells the story of Bilbo Baggins, a Hobbit in Middle Earth who goes on an adventure to help his friend Gandalf, the wizard, Thorin and the dwarfs to burgle his way into the Lonely Mountain. The goal is to confront the dragon Smaug and get the treasure in the mountain that belongs to the dwarfs. Along the way they meet elves, a creature known as Gollum, a race of giant spiders, and have a Battle of Five Armies.
Amazingly enough what took Peter Jackson nearly 9 hours and 3 movies to tell, this film tells us in 1 hr 17 minutes! That’s a huge win in this films column for me! That said, there are times when if I hadn’t seen the Peter Jackson films I might be confused. The Gollum scene, for instance, makes sense because I know the book and live action films. If I didn’t I might wonder what the heck this strange creature was doing? It seemed to me this film assumes a cursory understanding of the Tolkein world for all of its viewers which may not be unreasonable given the popularity of the book.
There are also large sections of the book that are left out or are compressed into just a few minutes when I could have used a little bit longer. Particularly towards the end with the battle it felt very rushed.
The music is wonderful with much of it coming from lyrics in the novel. Folk singer Glenn Yarbrough has a beautiful tamber to his voice and it was really quite calming whenever his singing would come on screen. I particularly like The Greatest Adventure.
I will say if you don’t like this kind of folk music you won’t enjoy this film. It’s very predominant but luckily I do so I enjoyed it.
I appreciated some of the touches that were different than the Jackson films like the take on Gollum voiced by Brother Theodore was totally different than the Andy Serkis version. This is more like a monster with riddles than the more human-like characters we get with Serkis.
I guess enjoyment of this The Hobbit depends on how open you are to something different than the version you are used too. As I don’t care for the recent Hobbit films I was more than open to this different telling of the story. It’s very sweet and more like a fairytale than an epic quest of good vs evil in LOTR.
That said, there are some scary scenes for very small children such as when they are caught by the giant spiders. But in general if your kid is dying to see LOTR this may not be a bad option.
Like I said it is sometimes too jam packed and certain elements in the animation feel a little dated but for a made for TV movie from the 70’s I was impressed. It’s different and overall I liked it.
What about you? Have you seen this version of The Hobbit? What’d you think? Please put in the comments section.
Annie Awards Nominations 2015
Tonight they put out the nominations for the latest Annie Awards for greatness in animation. Pixar was the big winner with 21 nominations between Good Dinosaur and Inside Out. This year they divided the best feature nominations into an independent and best category which seems strange to me. I personally would have included When Marnie was There in the all-out best category but they put it in Independent. That movie seemed to resonate more with me than other people so I get it (what else is new!). Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet also got a nomination which despite issues I think was deserved for the quality of the shorts.
I would be shocked if the 5 for Best Animated Feature are not the Oscar nominees. Shaun the Sheep is certainly deserving. The Peanuts Movie is fantastic and Anomalisa I’ve heard nothing but great things about (it doesn’t get released by me till 2016).
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
“Anomalisa”
Paramount Pictures
“Inside Out”
Pixar Animation Studios
“Shaun the Sheep Movie”
Aardman Animations
“The Good Dinosaur”
Pixar Animation Studios
“The Peanuts Movie”
Blue Sky Studios, Twentieth Century Fox Animation
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE-INDEPENDENT
“Boy and the World”
Filme de Papel
“Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet”
Ventanarosa
“The Boy and the Beast”
Studio Chizu
“When Marnie Was There”
Studio Ghibli
For television we have some worthy nominations but nothing too unexpected. It might have been nice to see Star Wars Rebels or Rick and Morty get some nominations but hard to argue with what they picked. Wander Over Yonder and Gravity Falls particularly deserve the shout-out.
BEST GENERAL AUDIENCE ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION
“Bob’s Burgers”
Episode: “Can’t Buy Me Math”
Twentieth Century Fox Television / Bento Box Entertainment
“BoJack Horseman”
Episode: “Brand New Couch”
The Tornante Company
“Moonbeam City”
Episode: “Quest for Aquatica”
Titmouse, Inc. / Comedy Central
“The Simpsons”
Episode: “Halloween of Horror ”
Gracie Films in Association with 20th Century Fox Television
BEST ANIMATED TELEVISION/BROADCAST PRODUCTION FOR CHILDREN
“Clarence”
Episode: “Turtle Hats ”
Cartoon Network
“Gravity Falls”
Episode: “Not What He Seems”
Disney Television Animation
“Harvey Beaks”
Episode: “A Day of No To-Do”
Nickelodeon
“Sanjay & Craig”
Episode: “Street Dogg”
Nickelodeon
“Star vs the Forces of Evil”
Episode: “Blood Moon Ball”
Disney Television Animation
“Steven Universe”
Episode: “Jail Break”
Cartoon Network Studios
“Wander Over Yonder”
Episode: “The Breakfast”
Disney Television Animation
For full list of nominees and all the other categories go to http://variety.com/2015/film/in-contention/pixar-picks-up-25-annie-nominations-1201650793/
What do you think of the nominees? Anything surprise you?
Rankin/Bass Month Introduction
Hey guys! I just wanted to announce my Christmas series I am doing for my blog. Last year I did Scrooge Month where I reviewed 35 different versions of Christmas Carol. I thought long and hard about what to do for this year and decided it would be fun to talk about the Rankin/Bass animated specials and films, many of which are Christmas related.
Most people will be most familiar with Rankin/Bass stop motion TV specials including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Coming to Town and The Little Drummer Boy.
I love stop motion so I look forward to seeing all of these shorts again especially the one’s I haven’t seen or haven’t seen in a while.
Most of these films are from the 70s so it will be interesting to see how they age.
They also have traditional animation like Frosty the Snowman including a film I have already reviewed called The Stingiest Man in Town. I will not be reviewing that again.
Rankin/Bass Productions was founded by Arthur Rankin Jr and Jules Bass in 1960 in Japan. Many of the starting animators like Toru Hara would go on to work on Studio Ghibli with Hayo Miyazaki.
They were able to keep working with many of the same talent over the years including Maury Laws who did almost all of the music and Romeo Muller who wrote most of the screenplays. Paul Frees was also a frequent voice talent for them.
But over the years they also worked with many great stars including Andy Griffith, Burl Ives, Casey Kasem, Fred Astaire, Art Carney, Red Skelton, Walter Matthau, Danny Kaye and more.
Do you have a Rankin/Bass special that you love to watch around Christmas? I would love to hear about it and I look forward to the series. Like last year I will not be giving grades for this series as it is meant to be a joyful experience and not as critical as I might otherwise be. It’s Christmas for goodness sake!
Minions Honest Trailer
Just had to share this with you guys because they totally nailed it.
I like how they pointed out all the questions about the minions the film doesn’t answer! How much more story they could have told!
Here is my review of the film which after a recent rewatch I am beginning to think I was too nice on the film. It really is a lame movie.
November Youtube Videos
So considering I was doing Nanowrimo I think I did pretty well on my youtube channel in November. Most of the videos I shared with you already but there are a few I haven’t. Here you go! Would love your feedback. If you haven’t subscribed or given thumbs up I’d appreciate it.
This video is my monthly summary of films I saw in the theater. It was a pretty good month for us movie fans.
My Family Movie Night review of White Christmas
This is called The Chocolate tag where I get to talk about both books and movies.
My Family Movie Night Review of Chicken Run
My Family Movie Night Review of High School Musical
My Family Movie Night Review of Fox and the Hound
My Family Movie Night review of Disney Animated Short Collection
I have also been doing videos on my Top 50 Animated Countdown you will want to check out.
Pixar Review 35: The Good Dinosaur
Going into Good Dinosaur all I heard about was too things- 1. It won’t be as great as Inside Out and 2. It was a nightmare to make. Going out of the film I didn’t care how hard it was to make and having had a totally different experience than Inside Out. Different but still good. I know it’s gotten some mixed reviews but for me I loved The Good Dinosaur!! It’s unlike anything Pixar has done before but I found it magical in the way old school Disney films used to be. This is a film like Bambi or Dumbo that are about the growth of a character and are artistically ambitious at the same time.
I have seen it now twice, once alone and once with my nieces and both times I was dazzled by the Good Dinosaur. I worry that it may suffer the same fate as Rescuers Down Under. That film was about a journey of a child who is taken by a man and must find his way home with the help of Bianca and Bernard. It was technologically groundbreaking and something different from Disney but it had the misfortune of being couched between Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast so it is largely forgotten.
Let’s not let that happen with Good Dinosaur folks! Go and see it. You are in for a real treat if you do!
The Good Dinosaur is about a dinosaur named Arlo who is separated from his family after a tragedy occurs. He is a fearful creature who is even scared of a coop of chickens at the beginning of the film.
In this world the asteroid misses Earth and so the dinosaurs evolve into subsistence farmers with corn crops and even a silo. Being fronteirsman it is essential Arlo learn to conquer his fears and his father tries to teach him this.
But as I said a tragedy occurs and he ends up getting lost and having to find his way home. This is not a particularly new storytelling device but who cares? I certainly didn’t. The journey home is a favorite plotline of mine in movies or literature and as long as the characters are great and they do interesting things with it I’m on board.
Arlo meets a little human boy named Spot who I really loved. He may be my new Baymax of favorite side characters. He is brave, but sweet and simple. His bond with Arlo grows bit-by-bit and felt like a believable friendship to me.
On their journey home they face a lot of peril from both Mother Nature and predators. There are pterodactyls that are pretty scary (and a little funny)
And then they meet some raptors who are kind of like redneck poachers.
Arlo and Spot also meet a family of T-rex longhorn ranchers stolen from a western film that I loved! I didn’t know if I liked their animation going into it but I did. They swap stories about their scars and the Pa Butch, voiced by Sam Elliottm teaches Arlo an important lesson about fear and how being afraid is part of knowing you’re alive. It’s going through the fear that makes all the difference.
The Good Dinosaur is a different kind of film for Pixar. It’s a journey but it has the emotion you expect from Pixar. There is a terrific scene where both Arlo and Spot learn about each other’s family. This should make even the hardest person tear up!
The animation in Good Dinosaur is the most stunning that Pixar has done. Yep, I realize what I just said but it is true. The water alone is hard to believe. It looks so real. There are many moments where you will swear it is real photographic backgrounds like in Dinosaur but it isn’t. I normally hate gifs but look at this!
The only problem I had with Good Dinosaur is that it is pretty scary for small kids (kind of like Bambi, Pinocchio and early Disney films were). My niece is 6 and she had to be taken from the theater once because it was too scary. There are many moments of peril on Arlo and Spots journey. I mean the t-rex is the good guy if that tells you anything! That said, she still walked away enjoying the film and having nice things to say. She wished the tragedy hadn’t happened but still liked the movie. Just be forewarned small kids may be upset or scared in some sections but that’s not a reason to not see it.
There are softer moments as well with Arlo and Spot bonding and some good laughs. I particularly like a scene with a dinosaur that carries around his ‘protection crew’. And like I said the scene with the t-rex family are completely lovely.
The voice cast as usual with Pixar is outstanding Raymond Ochoa reminds me a little of the boy from Finding Nemo but a little more nuanced. Jack Bright is Spot, Sam Elliott is the T-rex Butch. Anna Paquin, AJ Buckley, Jeffrey Wright, Frances McDormand, Steve Zahn and others all do excellent work.
I tweeted after seeing Good Dinosaur the first time ‘Another triumph for Pixar’ and I stand by that. Just in animation alone it is an astonishing film but it’s more than that. Director Pete Sohn has created a story that has it all. It’s moving, sweet, funny exciting and emotional. It’s interesting because inside a conventional story journey home they do unconventional things like the Western segments and the pterodactyles. I found it to be oddly unpredictable in its own way.
Please go out and see it. I know you won’t regret it.
Both times I saw it in the 3D which I recommend to get the full experience of the visuals.
I will probably do a spoiler filled review next week like I did with Inside Out. If you get to see Good Dinosaur please put your experience in the comments.
What a special time to be an animation fan! 2 great Pixar films in a year!! Happy day!
Overall Grade- A
Youtube review
Creed Review
You guys might not know that I love boxing. I do more MMA but I really love punching out my angst and frustration!
So I was perhaps more excited to see Creed than you might initially guess.
If you don’t know Creed is the newest entry in the Rocky series (the 7th film to be exact). In this film we focus on Apollo Creed’s son Adonis or Don and his boxing journey. Apollo died before Don was born and his Mother left him an orphan.
The wife of Apollo played by Phylicia Rashad adopts Don and tries to keep him away from boxing but he feels the drive to compete in the ring. He’s had a tough life and feels because he was the product of an affair he was a mistake.
Don goes to Philadelphia to meet Rocky still played by Sylvester Stallone and convinces him to help him train as a boxer and for the big fight.
All of these elements could and probably should have been tired and formulaic but in the hands of director Ryan Coogler it is such an entertaining film. Michael B Jordan redeems himself from Fantastic 4 and is terrific as Don who is a sincere but wounded young man.
Sylvester Stallone is fantastic as Rocky. I don’t want to give any spoilers away but the character arc he takes is raw, vulnerable and moving. I cried on multiple occasions. I honestly think he should be considered for best supporting actor. It’s a great performance.
Director Ryan Coogler gives the film a surprisingly indy feel for such a mainstream franchise. The single take feel of the final fight in particular is such a great watch. I also loved how unpredictable the final fight was. I really didn’t know who was going to win or how it was going to play out.
At their heart Rocky movies have always been about relationships and this is between Rocky and Don and I found it very sweet and compelling. Without sounding corny they both kind of rescue each other.
The only real flaw I had in the film was the girlfriend Tessa Thompson I thought was kind of forgettable and I didn’t see much chemistry between her and Jordan.
But that’s about it. Creed is the kind of movie that if you like this kind of thing you will love it. If you don’t usually it still might win you over.
It’s such an entertaining film.
Overall Grade- A
My youtube review
Pixar Review 34: Sanjay’s Super Team
Hi from California guys! I am going to try and write my reviews of Creed and Good Dinosaur in the next few days but I have to fit it in with spending time with my nieces, which of course takes first priority (and taking them to see Good Dinosaur tomorrow!).
In meantime, let’s talk about the newest Pixar Short, Sanjay’s Super Team. It is a delightful short and unlike anything Pixar has really done with their shorts. It’s brighter, it explores culture and is one that isn’t based around a gag or joke.
Sanjay’s Super Team is directed by Sanjay Patel and it is based on his childhood growing up with traditional Indian immigrant parents. As a young American kid Sanjay loved superheroes, Looney Tunes and other shows and was often bored with the Hindu rituals and traditions of his parents. He said “”Our worlds were diametrically apart. I just wanted my name to be Travis, not Sanjay.”
You really get this sense of conflict in the short. Young Sanjay wants to watch his superhero show but he has to be quiet while his father prays and performs the Hindu rituals to the Gods (sorry I don’t know the specific names).
His father gets more annoyed with the TV and turns it off forcing Sanjay to come and pray with him. It’s then that Sanjay starts to daydream about the Gods becoming the superheroes from his show.
This combination of modern pop culture and traditional beliefs was really great to see, and I really liked how Sanjay learns to appreciate his father’s point of view while also developing his own ideas. I think this is great for kids to see.
It’s also refreshing to see an animated Indian, darker skinned little boy and honestly I wouldn’t mind seeing more of this father and son. They were very sweet and relatable.
As someone who was raised and still practices a rather traditional faith I really thought they got the tone right on the struggle kids like Sanjay experience as they try to figure out what they believe. It’s easy to want to throw off the old as archaic when really there is a merging of both new and old that can happen.
I think you can probably tell from the images in this post the animation is stunning in Sanjay’s Super Team. It is bright and colorful and I really enjoyed the character design of Sanjay and his father. I liked how the backdrops sparkled and looked like embossing more than paint.
I like they didn’t feel a need to explain the Gods or culture because those details don’t matter. It’s a story about generational conflict and so the source of that conflict is largely incidental although certainly beautiful here.
I loved Lava but I think Sanjay’s Super Team is even better. Let me know what you think when you see it before Good Dinosaur.
Overall Grade- A