When the hacks at Disney decided to release Hiyao Miyazaki’s works on DVD, I was intrigued. I admit I’ve heard very little about Miyazaki and his works, but I was intrigued nonetheless. I’ve seen both “Kiki’s Delivery Service”, and “Princess Mononoke”, but little did I know with these movies were an actual legacy and fan following, so when I heard his films were being released on DVD, I stopped at the store and stocked up on a few of his films. The one I did hear most about though was this, and I was once again intrigued and very fascinated with what the cartoon looked like, and it’s a truly good film.
Tag Archives: Animation
Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
The Looney tunes are still funny and “Back in Action” has that sparkle of what made the Looney tunes hours of fun. Right away, we do get a glimpse of the tunes during a brief skit in which Bugs and Daffy interact in their Duck Season Rabbit Season routine, not to mention we get a lot of fun cameos. While the plot has been done before it sure is a lot of fun to see an interesting Looney Tunes movie that not only has fun but really points out a lot of great pop culture references.
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas (2003)
I’m from the generation of movie-goers who grew up on Harryhausen epics like “Sinbad” and “Jason and the Argonauts” and I also grew up on classic animation, Max Fleischer, Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Robert McKimson, you name it. “Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas” is an epic with a great cast, and quite an enjoyable one with excellent hand-drawn animation that rivals anything I’ve seen before. It’s sleek, it’s stylish and hell, it’s damn entertaining. In yet another adaptation of the mythological tale, we meet Sinbad and his band of pirates who all specialize in something. Sinbad is a master thief and want the book of peace to sell, but on his way to take it he clashes with his old friend Proteus who wants the book as well but for more noble purposes. The two have at it, but the goddess of discord Eris captures Sinbad and makes him an offer: Take the book of peace and bring it to her and she’ll grant him paradise and luxury for his remaining years.
Hey Arnold! The Movie (2002)
I’m a fan of the “Hey Arnold!” television animated series. I grew up with it. It’s one of Nickelodeon’s banner television shows about growing up. Sadly, what we see in “the movie,” is just a glorified three part TV special that’s mashed in to a movie. And it’s a god awful closer for such a great show. What the animated series thrived on was the large cast of magnetic characters from the neighborhood, but this fails to bring anything truly magnetic to audiences to watch. “Hey Arnold! The Movie” is a half-assed effort that does no justice all around to a truly entertaining cartoon. What many of the executives at Nickelodeon do with their products when making them into feature films is completely take away what made the cartoon so likable to begin with.
Adam Sandler's Eight Crazy Nights (2002)
What if “It’s a Wonderful Life” was directed by a mental patient with severe brain damage? What if it was written by a sociopath? This is the questions asked during the viewing of a potentially annoying and incredible unnecessary film called “Eight Crazy Nights”, a film supposedly created as a Holiday Chanukah film yet barely even covers the topic of Chanukah, the meaning of the word, or the holiday. Adam Sandler is disappointing; here is a guy who has so much money and resources yet piddles it away on these irrelevant and crude films that try so hard to be funny but end up causing people to roll their eyes so much it gives them a migraine.
Finding Nemo (2003)
Pixar studios has managed to change the way people think about animated films not just by the incredible animation, but the great stories and utterly memorable characters. “Finding Nemo” is one of those films that parents can watch with their children and not want to run out of the theaters screaming at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. What shines most throughout this film is the mature and sometimes meaningful theme and moral of the story.
The voice work from the cast is great, especially by Albert Brooks who plays the inept and retentive Marlin. Meanwhile Degeneres supplies the excellent quirky offbeat and flawless voice characterization for female fish Dory. The film has an all-star cast of big name and talented character actors that voice various characters, most notably Willem Dafoe, and Geoffrey Rush. Pixar is so skilled in their ability to portray the human spirit and are adept in making seemingly mundane objects around us be portrayed as human as represented in the movies “Toy Story”, “Monsters, inc.” and especially this.
Stanton and the Pixar crew develop hilarious and memorable supporting characters that help leave a mark upon the audience. They fiddle with Oceanic life very cleverly and the comedy and adventure are awe inspiring. “Finding Nemo’s” animation in the film is practically flawless presenting some amazing and often eerily realistic animation given to the audience. When the film is bright and sunny it’s amazing, thus shown in the Coral reef scenes, and when the film is dark and murky as shown in the underwater caves in the water it’s absolutely stunning and amazing to see and such a spectacle to behold.
Pixar has created a dynamic and entertaining film for all ages that’s pleasantly accessible to all audiences with its themes about parenthood, the dangers of the outside world, and self confidence. The kids will appreciate the vivid characters and brilliant animation, and you’ll surely appreciate the witty adult humor and human themes.
The DVD has hours of great extras including screensavers, deleted scenes, a fun charades game with Crush, a commentary, and both a widescreen and full screen version of the film.
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002)
In this original animated adventure, we meet Spirit (Voice of Matt Damon), a noble and protective stallion that leads his group of horses along the mid-west. One night, curiosity takes over and he snoops around a confederate army camp. He gets too close for comfort and mistakenly gets caught by soldiers. Now Spirit will go on the journey of a lifetime, discovering the meaning of friendship, loyalty, courage and love. I was really hesitant to watch this movie, because animated movies in the theaters have been in a large slump, especially since watching “Lilo and Stitch” and “The Road to El Dorado”. But all my disillusionment was taken away when I laid my eyes on this. Boy, was I in for something spectacular.