Nick Adams on “The Adventures of Tintin”: A Series of Animated Quotes

If Hollywood ever decided to replace the famed 50-foot, hillside letters with a (3D!) Mount Rushmore knockoff, there is no doubt that Steven Spielberg would be among the four titans. For the better part of forty years, the man crossed genres as fluidly as Stanley Kubrick, though with considerable more mainstream appeal. He won Oscars, dabbled in children’s TV shows (Tiny Toons, any one?) and just generally influenced pop culture discussion with every release. Then, after 2005 with the regrettably forgotten “Munich,” Spielberg went cold. More than that, he flatly disappeared from the directorial scene—except to somewhat accidentally film “Indian Jones and the Radiation-Induced Fever Dream.” Later this year, Spielberg will released his long--though not much--anticipated film, “The Adventures of Tintin” and seemingly nobody has caught on to the ramifications.

‘The Chronicles of Rick Roll’ Movie Trailer

In this trailer to generate the interest to raise the funds for a feature film, every popular internet meme over the past 7 or so years is featured - played by their original generators.




While they said Social Network was defining of our generation, I have always disagreed because sure - they create one form of social networking - but they never show the effect that it has on our culture; moving us into the internet. Meanwhile, this film shows the effects that memes have had on our culture and just how much the internet has penetrated our lives. Thus, as stupid as it sounds, this seems to be the defining film of our web-based generation.

Review: RANGO

           In today’s Hollywood there is a tendency for movies to try and find the widest audience possible. This is a reasonable; the wider your target audience the more likely you will be at finding one and thus making bank. The problem is that the easiest way for movies to achieve this is to dumb them down. In this environment, Rango is some kind of silent revolution. It achieves this not by dumbing itself down but by being clever on how it goes about doing it. Rango manages to be: a legit a western as The Man With No Name trilogy, and at the same time family film that is fun and fit for kids and adults alike. This is a lot to tackle in a single film somehow Rango manages to juggle it all.

The first 6 minutes of RANGO

Enjoy. I sure did.



Rango - Zes Minuten Uit De Film! - 2 maart in de zalen
Uploaded by WTBBelgium. - Full seasons and entire episodes online.

Reviews: THE OSCAR NOMINEES FOR BEST-ANIMATED SHORT FILM

The short film categories in the Oscars are a bit of an oddity. They used to be much more important way back in the day when a short film usually played before the feature presentation at theaters. But today the only Pixar has maintained this tradition consistently. Thankfully, now with the Internet these short films have become available once more for all to see that is if you can find them and if someone was kind enough to share it. Otherwise, the only other way to see them is at a special screening of some kind. That is how us, here at The MovieWatch were able to see them, and here is our reviews:

Dreamworks Animation in a Development Streak

Dreamworks Animation seems to be going on through a development extravaganza. After the success of Kung Fu Panda and How To Train Your Dragon it seems that the studio has finally found a unique style that is almost free of the pop-culture references that plagued its earlier films. Furthermore, unlike Pixar who has stayed at a one-movie-a-year pace Dreamworks has been tackling two (soon to be three) projects a year. Despite the fact that the releases for this year, Kung Fu Panda 2 and the Shrek spinoff Puss in Boots, as well as the ones for 2012 and 2013 are already set the studio has announced seveal films in development that are set for future releases.

Review: SHREK FOREVER AFTER

Let's get this out of the way. No disrespect to Dreamwork's but honestly I thought this movie was going to be terrible. The Shrek franchise has been getting tired these past few years; repetitive jokes and pop culture references only go so far and the 3rd film was the greatest example of this.

So naturally, when Shrek (4) Forever After came out, I didn't run to the theater. But sitting in my living room yesterday with an academy screener in one hand and a television remote in the other, I decided to give Shrek Forever After a try. You know what? I quite enjoyed it.

Review: TANGLED

When I say Disney's back, I very much mean it. Ever since the renaissance of Disney animation ended in 1999 with Tarzan, and Disney Feature Animation fell into a mediocre movie slump people began to ask the question - "When will Disney get back on its game and dominate the animation industry again?" Clearly, this took a little while, but when Princess and the Frog was released it seemed that Disney was finally getting back on the quality horse. Now, having seen Tangled, I can very happily say that Disney is on that horse and riding it at full force again. Welcome back Disney. We've missed you.

Cars 2 Trailer Surfaces

Silly Mater. What shenanigans will he get up to next?



July 2011

Rango Trailer Arrives

Directed by Gore Verbinski, starring Johnny Depp, about a Chameleon with an identity crisis.

And it looks.... AWESOME

Tangled Teaser Surfaces

I say surfaces because hopefully this trailer only scratches the surface of a film that's seven years in the making.




There is no hint of the villain here, any other characters, or any of the plot, so I think there is a lot more in store to see. It also looks GORGEOUS.


Still think it should be called "Rapunzel" though...

Review: AVATAR

Coming out of the theater after watching Avatar, I found nothing to complain about. It is not just Cameron’s mastery over technology that makes Avatar great; it is his ability to use technology as a vehicle for great storytelling. Avatar could not have been told without the technology employed and the technology could not have found a better story to makes its debut. Here is why:

Despicable Me

Well... if this trailer told you anything. I missed it.

Review: ICE AGE: DAWN OF THE DINOSAURS

Third time IS the charm.

As a small practically independent studio Blue Sky has learned a lot in the last few years. They began with Ice Age, an entertaining and somewhat whimsy film about friendship. It was a noble attempt but Toy Story, another “road film” about friendship it was not. Next they came up with Robots, which sadly was a step down from Ice Age. But last year they came up with Horton Hears a Who, which delivered genuine entertainment, was rendered beautifully, and did not shy away from deeper meaning. The whole family could enjoy it at an equal level. Ice Age: Dawn of The Dinosaurs s stands more or less at the same place Horton Hears a Who did, though a little less deep and a little more whimsy, but certainly above all the previous installments of the franchise. What makes this film so effective is that it knows what comedy is about and how animated worlds, such as those made by Disney in its earlier years and Pixar, work.

Review: UP

Hands down, this is one of the most phenomenal animated movies I have ever seen. From animation quality, to characters, to PIXAR'S Godly render machine - everything was perfect as far as I am concerned.

Review: MONSTERS vs. ALIENS

After throughly enjoying Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar 2, I expected Dreamworks Animation to be on the road to at least something of El Dorado standards again. Something, charming and fun, not relying on references and pop culture, but on relationships of characters and the adventures on which they journey. Then Monsters vs. Aliens came out, and I quickly realized that I was wrong.

Review: THE TALE OF DESPEREAUX

Wow, its been a while since I've written. Sorry everyone. Anyway, on to the review.


The Tale of Despereux didn't start off on good terms. During the opening credits I was astounded at the amount of star talent the makers managed to acquire. Knowing relatively little about this movie, I was anticipating greatness. Of course, I should have known that star talent doesn't necessarily mean a star film.

Shane Ackers 9 -Original Short

Hello all,

Since the new movie 9 (scroll down for a couple of days to find the trailer) is based on a short, I have decided to post the original short for all to see, so everyone can better understand this movie trailer that blew my mind when Wilder posted it a few days ago.

So - without further ado - the original short by Shane Acker (God the sound design is incredible) 9:

9 Nine Shane Acker Short Animation
Uploaded by FrFKmeron

Review: BOLT

Yes.

Yes is the answer.

Yes is the answer to the question, "Can Disney make Pixar-quality movies without the actual Pixar team?

Bolt is proof. I know there are people out there who will disagree with me. I know there are things about this film that are not Pixar-quality. But I honestly believe this was just as good as any film that could have come out of their animation studios. The story was strong enough, the voice acting was strong enough, and the animation was certainly strong enough. The directors, Chris Williams (The Emperor's New Groove), and Byron Howard have brought this movie to life, and it is pounding with greatness.

Review: MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA

Before I jump into a delightfully short, yet detailed review, let me tell you - I did not see Madagascar. It didn't appeal to me back when it came out in the days before this blog's existence, and even now I probably won't go back and see it. But - I absolutely loved Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Spoilers May Occur - But Not Major Ones
Written by Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) and directed by Eric Darnell (Madagascar) and Tom McGrath (Madagascar), this film tells the story of Alex the Lion (Ben Stiller) growing up with his dad, Zuba (Bernie Mac). One day, Zuba turns his back and Alex is captured by poachers and sent to the New York Zoo. Then (the first movie) along with some of his friends, Alex left the zoo, went to Madagascar. Now, accidentally ending up in Africa, they need to figure out how to get back to New York as well as deal with family and personal issues along the way.

The visuals are great and stylized in a very delightful, and not distracting way, and the voice acting is pretty excellent. While the cast includes Chris Rock, Alec Baldwin, Ben Stiller, Jada-Pinkett Smith, and David Schwimmer, my favorite character in the film was Bernie Mac, who channeled a king as powerful as Mufasa was but with a heart that might seem even bigger. I was tremendously sad after watching the film when I came to the realization that that character will likely not be in the next installment.

This isn't a Lion King rip-off. Face it, it's pretty hard to make a movie about a pride of lions in Africa and escape similarities entirely. But DreamWorks pulls it off nicely.

The score is written by Hans Zimmer (surprise) and includes a few songs by will.i.am, who also voices the character of Moto Moto in the film. This brings me to another point. DreamWorks seems to have gotten over their ideas that an animated character needs to look like its real life counterpart. Bernie Mac doesn't sound like Bernie Mac, and will.i.am does not sound like you're watching an animated will.i.am. I have always liked the idea of actors creating voices for their characters, because it adds a lot to the film and makes each character even more authentic.

I loved the fact that you did not have to have prior knowledge of the first film to see this one. They explain the previous plot nicely in about 2 minutes and you are instantly caught up to where you should be, as any good sequel should do. All the characters are great, as is their development, and the visual gags are hilarious and simply amazing - especially since there are hardly any pop culture references (finally).

What I didn't like was the heavy inclusion of the old woman from the first movie. I thought that she was a terribly annoying and frustrating character. But every vine of gapes has a few bad ones on it, and it doesn't stop you from eating the rest of them with joy.

Remember when DreamWorks made great movies like The Prince of Egypt and Road to El Dorado? Well, Kung Fu Panda showed it and now Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa has confirmed it. Dreamworks is back on the great filmmaking track, and I have nothing but the highest hopes for their next film, Monsters vs. Aliens.