The Illusionist;
Made by Sylvan Chomet whom made the brilliant Triplets if Belleville this story of a magician who’s time is fading in the face of newer forms of entertainment. His diminishing opportunities take him to a remote Scottish island, where he meets a young girl who still believes in magic. Spurred on by her he continues his shows, aided (sometimes by a cranky rabbit) he takes her under his wing, but to no avail, to him, but not her his magic has passed. The film has some pathos and wonderful hand drawn imagery, the magician’s image is based on the wonderful real life French clown of the ‘50’s Jacques Tati, who wrote the original screenplay, adapted by Chromet. Unfortunately this sad tale has none of the inventiveness and over the top madness that made Triplets the Oscar contender that it was. 150 stars get a app
Up;
Pixar
makes a misstep. I don’t know who or what is responsible for this. Disney’s greasy hand on the wheel, complacency at a long string of hits, some sense of invincibility. Anyway this one is lame. A tired story; grumpy old man bonds with cute abandoned boy, they go off on a wild adventure, even the animation is unimaginative and pedestrian. They phoned this one in, too bad. Good dog jokes though. Wall E was much better 26 stars don’t get lazy.Coraline;
A wonderfully wrought children’s adventure animated feature, directed by Henry Selick (The Nightmare Before Christmas, James and the Giant Peach)from the book by Neil Gaiman. Even though the story follows a fairly conventional storyline (be careful what you wish for) the delivery of this story is so intelligent and well conceived that it is compelling until the end. Coraline, NOT Caroline as the young heroine of this feature insistently tells some of the people she meets, the parallel universe that she discovers in the old house that her career obsessed parents have moved into. Being mostly ignored by her workaholic parents Coraline discovers an unused door that leads down a passageway into the aforementioned “other” identical house in which live another set of “identical” parents identical except for two very important qualities, one these “parents” are attentive, loving, and wonderful cooks, in a way that her “real’ parents have never been, and also the have black buttons in place of their eyes, an alarming detail that Coraline is initially willing to overlook, given the aforementioned blissful environment that comes with those blank black eyes. In the beginning she traverses these two world with relative ease, ducking out whenever the inattention of her real world becomes oppressive.. However she soon discovers that this bliss has a price, at dinner one night with her ”other” family alongside her scrumptious food she is presented with a box containing two black buttons a needle and thread. Her new “mother” suggests that she try them out and come over to “their’ side so she can live with them all the time. Coraline is horrified at this suggestion and barely to escapes their insistent advances not before discovering other children who have been trapped by these demons. Relying on her pluck bravery and ingenuity she manages to escape and discovers that her real parents aren’t so bad after all. This film is brought to life using the stop animation process which adds a handmade quality to the images, the facial expressions achieved are wonderful in their spareness. Selick has achieved just the right balance in presenting this remarkable visual and esthetic delight.
375 stars
Ratatouille;
It is fitting that Disney finally joined forces with Pixar, as the animation studio that gave us string of hits, from Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Cars,and The Incredibles have taken over the American animation mantle that Disney itself once owned. In this latest offering which revolves around a French city mouse named Remy, with a taste for the finer gastronomic treats in life, flourishes his foodie talents, to save the hide of newly hired trash boy , inappropriately named Linguini, who has no flair for the culinary arts, and yet at Remy’s beckoning become the new celebrity chef at Gusteau’s a once famous Paris eatery. This film as with most of Pixar’s offerings has a funny engaging script, an intelligent storyline and wonderful characterization s, especially the imperious food critic Anton Ego, voiced by Peter O’Toole.
283 stars
Paprika;
Obviously practitioners of the art of anime have a different point of reference than the makers of lets say, Shreck, or other mass medium animated features. The thing that they both have in common is to entertain which they both do, there are cultural differences at play here as well. So viewing both these films on the same day would be jarring indeed. Paprika is a highly sophisticated futuristic tale. The plot, revolves around a machine that allows psychotherapists to inhabit the dreams of their patients, a fascinating enough premise for any film. You really have to have to stay focused in order to follow the dizzyingly elaborate comings and going in and out of the dream/reality world that is laid out before you. The visuals are breathtaking in their imagination, the story complex and ingenious and the director Satoshi Kon is obviously at the top of his game with this amazing piece of work.
300 stars
Cars;
The latest offering from Pixar, in their long string of hits. This story, in which all the characters are cars, centers around a NASCAR racer who discovers that winning isn’t everything, not a new concept, but deftly handled, with wit, affection, and heart, which are odd attributes to attach to cartoon characters, but due to Pixar’s writing acumen this applies. The visuals of the races are stunning and authentic, (director John Lassiter being a car guy) as is the rest of the computer work, which Pixar invented, and we have come to take for granted these days. All in all entertaining and fun for both kids & the rest of us. 158 stars.
THE SIMPSONS;
In their big screen debut, Americas first family of funditude hit the screen with a resounding splat (in the best way).
Wonderful hilarious writing. All 18 years are up there on the screen for us to revel in. The entire cast is in full song. Narrative? Duh! Who cares
The only worth while cultural event that this country has produced in the last decade.
2000 stars (unprecedented)
WALL E;
This latest effort by Pixar extends their winning streak. A mature story, clever writing, the usual stunning animation are all here in attendance. WALL E the lone surviving robot on a planet trashed into extinction by it long gone human inhabitants, goes about his daily task of compacting the mountains of trash left behind by said humans, who are now living a life of attended oblivion on a giant space craft some where far away. WALL E, who s functionality by some malfunction has extended 700 years past his program parameters, goes about his daily duties, attended by a lone cockroach. This routine is interrupted by the landing of a giant spaceship that offloads a robot of it’s own who’s job it to determine if any life form has re emerged on the planet. This robot is as sleek and modern as an ipod, as opposed to WALL E’s rotted industrial look. Anyway some sort of robot relationship takes place, and the ensuing adventures, coupled with the humans belated realization as to the havoc they have wrought on the planet gives what could have been a lame children’s story some weight, as well as being entertaining. There are not many flat spots in this piece, and there is some hat tipping (in a fun way) to 2001, and Mac computers, (not surprisingly)
Inventive, imaginative, with wonderful graphical animation, Pixar has taken over Disney’s mantle. 315 stars & don’t surprise the probe.
