The Caffeine Diaries
Okay, tackling some of these movies before they're totally stale in my head and all I've got to say is "I watched these."
And away we go!
Ratatouille (2007)
Let me just kick this off with a statement: I really long for the days when Disney was using traditional animation and creating gorgeous musicals. (Why, no, I have not seen Enchanted yet, and it's on the list of Things to Watch.) I grew up in the heyday of Disney's animated musicals and they were my hands-down favorite things. My mom used to let me pre-order videos from The Disney Store, when you could order a few months in advance and get a bonus watch or lithograph or something. I watched features on the process of traditional animation and was blown away by hand-painted glass backgrounds and cells. (The opening sequence to Beauty and the Beast remains my favorite piece sequence in animated movies, ever. Far more than the grander, partially computer-animated ballroom sequence later on.) It has always been my dream to voice a character in a Disney musical. I am very attached to the idea and look of traditional animation, and while I've embraced the new films done in computer animation (primarily based on the strength of the plots, and depth of humor) and respect what can be done with it, I prefer traditional any day.
However, this computer animation is obvs not going anywhere for awhile, so I'm prepared to strap in and like it too. And every film is going to get more and more sophisticated, which rules. Remember Toy Story? And the blockiness of the human characters? Perhaps that was a choice for animation style, but I think it also reflected the dexterity with computer animation at the time. So, Ratatouille, with its exquisitely rendered human forms and movement was exciting to see. There were bits when the animation was breathtaking, particularly any time the rats were wet. (Wet fur is kind of spectacular, for some reason.) Additionally, I thought that the "camera" capture movements were very creative.
I borrowed this movie from the library after it showed up on a bunch of Top 10 lists for 2007. Surprised that an animated movie from Disney/Pixar made such an impact, I looked forward to seeing it. While I enjoyed the movie as much as any recent animated movie, I wasn't blown away by it. I did like the originality of the storyline and marveled at the care that had been taken with the cooking scenes to convey a real love for the art and craft of the cooks. However, the plotline didn't flow particularly well for me, the characterization was uneven in some places, and the motivation or actions of the characters occasionally came totally out of left field. Teo didn't like it because it required too much suspension of disbelief, what with Remy being able to Linguini by pulling his hair, and then needing to control him while he'd do stuff like stirring or pouring wine. I was willing to let that stuff slide, but have to be more critical on what makes a movie a movie, which to me is almost always the characterization.
So, overall, I liked it, though I thought it was weaker than I'd assumed it would be, based on the Top 10 lists and all. Stunning animation in places and rife with visual humor, but not one of my favorite animated films.
[Note: In looking into this movie further, I did discover that Disney has a traditional, 2D animated movie in the works, set for 2009, and featuring the company's first African American princess. Should be interesting to see the switch back to traditional animation, and the full-musical style. Though, ugh, Randy Newman is set to do the songs and score, which, hate. More info here, but that's Wiki, so grain of salt and all.]
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
From one animated movie into another! To be upfront, I am not a giant "South Park" fan. I'll watch it when it's on, I often find it humorous or entertainingly "shocking," but I roomed with someone who loved "South Park" and I...did not end up loving her a lot, so sometimes the show makes me think of just how funny she thought it was. I can take the show or leave it.
I have heard from people who love the movie, and if it's good enough for Veronica, it's good enough for me. I borrowed this from the library at the same time as The Simpsons Movie (and Ratatouille, but that was a coincidence), because I thought they'd be amusing to watch together. My mind works in bizarre ways.
Overall, I liked it a lot. I've seen some other work by Parker and Stone that hadn't impressed me, but the slap-stickiness of their vision is always tempered by the animated format. They clearly had a lot of fun working without the constraints of A Show That Must Be Suitable For TV, and it shows. The movie turns into a ninety minute exercise in swearing and outrageousness, letting the characters breathe and say hilarious things. While they stayed true to the intent of the characters, it must have been a breath of fresh air for them to be able to take everything one step further.
The movie was somewhat well plotted, with some clever and appreciated subtle nods to staged and movie musicals. One of the things I've always admired about "South Park" is sheer quantity the blink-and-you'll-miss-it visual jokes and they are present in the movie. However, while Parker and Stone took advantage of feature-movie freedom, their product didn't quite work for me in feature-movie length (at least not as well as The Simpsons Movie did). The complexity wasn't there to support the length, and the movie dragged in places and relied too heavily on extended jokes that weren't really working for me. Hussein as sex-crazed Satan-lover is great at first, but it gets old pretty fast. The more subtly interwoven plots were well done, but whole scenes of the A and B plots seemed like filler, which is never a good sign.
I'm certainly glad I saw it, though I don't know if I'd be willing to sit through it over and over.
That's it for now, since this post has taken me ALL DAY to write!
And away we go!
Ratatouille (2007)
Let me just kick this off with a statement: I really long for the days when Disney was using traditional animation and creating gorgeous musicals. (Why, no, I have not seen Enchanted yet, and it's on the list of Things to Watch.) I grew up in the heyday of Disney's animated musicals and they were my hands-down favorite things. My mom used to let me pre-order videos from The Disney Store, when you could order a few months in advance and get a bonus watch or lithograph or something. I watched features on the process of traditional animation and was blown away by hand-painted glass backgrounds and cells. (The opening sequence to Beauty and the Beast remains my favorite piece sequence in animated movies, ever. Far more than the grander, partially computer-animated ballroom sequence later on.) It has always been my dream to voice a character in a Disney musical. I am very attached to the idea and look of traditional animation, and while I've embraced the new films done in computer animation (primarily based on the strength of the plots, and depth of humor) and respect what can be done with it, I prefer traditional any day.
However, this computer animation is obvs not going anywhere for awhile, so I'm prepared to strap in and like it too. And every film is going to get more and more sophisticated, which rules. Remember Toy Story? And the blockiness of the human characters? Perhaps that was a choice for animation style, but I think it also reflected the dexterity with computer animation at the time. So, Ratatouille, with its exquisitely rendered human forms and movement was exciting to see. There were bits when the animation was breathtaking, particularly any time the rats were wet. (Wet fur is kind of spectacular, for some reason.) Additionally, I thought that the "camera" capture movements were very creative.
I borrowed this movie from the library after it showed up on a bunch of Top 10 lists for 2007. Surprised that an animated movie from Disney/Pixar made such an impact, I looked forward to seeing it. While I enjoyed the movie as much as any recent animated movie, I wasn't blown away by it. I did like the originality of the storyline and marveled at the care that had been taken with the cooking scenes to convey a real love for the art and craft of the cooks. However, the plotline didn't flow particularly well for me, the characterization was uneven in some places, and the motivation or actions of the characters occasionally came totally out of left field. Teo didn't like it because it required too much suspension of disbelief, what with Remy being able to Linguini by pulling his hair, and then needing to control him while he'd do stuff like stirring or pouring wine. I was willing to let that stuff slide, but have to be more critical on what makes a movie a movie, which to me is almost always the characterization.
So, overall, I liked it, though I thought it was weaker than I'd assumed it would be, based on the Top 10 lists and all. Stunning animation in places and rife with visual humor, but not one of my favorite animated films.
[Note: In looking into this movie further, I did discover that Disney has a traditional, 2D animated movie in the works, set for 2009, and featuring the company's first African American princess. Should be interesting to see the switch back to traditional animation, and the full-musical style. Though, ugh, Randy Newman is set to do the songs and score, which, hate. More info here, but that's Wiki, so grain of salt and all.]
South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)
From one animated movie into another! To be upfront, I am not a giant "South Park" fan. I'll watch it when it's on, I often find it humorous or entertainingly "shocking," but I roomed with someone who loved "South Park" and I...did not end up loving her a lot, so sometimes the show makes me think of just how funny she thought it was. I can take the show or leave it.
I have heard from people who love the movie, and if it's good enough for Veronica, it's good enough for me. I borrowed this from the library at the same time as The Simpsons Movie (and Ratatouille, but that was a coincidence), because I thought they'd be amusing to watch together. My mind works in bizarre ways.
Overall, I liked it a lot. I've seen some other work by Parker and Stone that hadn't impressed me, but the slap-stickiness of their vision is always tempered by the animated format. They clearly had a lot of fun working without the constraints of A Show That Must Be Suitable For TV, and it shows. The movie turns into a ninety minute exercise in swearing and outrageousness, letting the characters breathe and say hilarious things. While they stayed true to the intent of the characters, it must have been a breath of fresh air for them to be able to take everything one step further.
The movie was somewhat well plotted, with some clever and appreciated subtle nods to staged and movie musicals. One of the things I've always admired about "South Park" is sheer quantity the blink-and-you'll-miss-it visual jokes and they are present in the movie. However, while Parker and Stone took advantage of feature-movie freedom, their product didn't quite work for me in feature-movie length (at least not as well as The Simpsons Movie did). The complexity wasn't there to support the length, and the movie dragged in places and relied too heavily on extended jokes that weren't really working for me. Hussein as sex-crazed Satan-lover is great at first, but it gets old pretty fast. The more subtly interwoven plots were well done, but whole scenes of the A and B plots seemed like filler, which is never a good sign.
I'm certainly glad I saw it, though I don't know if I'd be willing to sit through it over and over.
That's it for now, since this post has taken me ALL DAY to write!