animation – Page 3 – cinemescope

100 Word Review – The Lego Movie (2014)

April 12, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., ComedyTagged 21 Jump Street, adventure, Alison Brie, animation, Batman, children, Chris Pratt, Christopher Miller, Comedy, Elizabeth Banks, family, Lego, Phil Lord, Stop Motion, Unikitty, Will Arnett, Wyldstyle4 Comments

Everything is awesome.

There is nothing not to love about this film. It may be aimed at children, but once you get passed the obvious marketing ploys there is enough in it for everyone.

Emmett (Chris Pratt) is an average construction worker who accidentally gets stuck to the Piece of Resistance and finds himself helping Batman (Will Arnett), Wyldstyle (Elizabeth Banks) and Unikitty (Alison Brie) to save all of the worlds from Lord Business (Will Ferrell).

Written and directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the team who directed 21 Jump Street (2012), this stop-motion animation is delightful from beginning to end.

100 Word Review – Despicable Me (2010)

April 7, 2015Posted in 100 Words...Tagged adventure, animation, children, family, Moon, Pharrell Williams, Steve Carrell1 Comment

A truly family-friendly film is hard to find, but Despicable Me manages to walk that line between fart-gun jokes and making adults not want to tear their eyes out at the thought of watching that film one more time.

Gru (Steve Carrell) is a bad guy. With his hoard of yellow tic-tac shaped minions, he plans to commit the ultimate crime: stealing the moon! Somehow, he finds himself adopting three young girls who turn his world upside down.

This is a wonderful happy film, that will leave you humming its songs (music by Pharrell Williams) and repeating its oh-so-quotable lines.

100 Word Review – Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)

April 6, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., FantasyTagged adaptation, animals, animation, Bill Murray, Darjeeling Limited, Fantasy, George Clooney, Grand Budapest Hotel, Jason Schwartzman, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Roald Dahl, Stop Motion, Wes Anderson3 Comments

Based on Roald Dahl’s classic children’s story, with an all-star cast (George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Bill Murray), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Darjeeling Limited) chose stop-motion animation to adapt this to the big screen.

And he made the right choice. The combination of quirky animation, eccentric characters and utterly delightful use of language make you feel as though you are living the book.

There are some unfortunate Hollywood stereotypes that sneak into it. All the evil farmers are British and the animals are all American. However, it still captures the charm of the original story.

100 Word Review – Howl’s Moving Castle (2004)

April 2, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, F-Rated, Fantasy, Romance, Sci FiTagged adventure, animation, Anime, Billy Crystal, Christian Bale, Comedy, Fantasy, Hayao Miyazaki, Lauren Bacall, Romance, Sci Fi, steampunk, Studio Ghibli4 Comments

This is my favourite Studio Ghibli feature.

Set in a steampunk world in the midst of war, we follow Sofi as she’s cursed by the Witch of the Waste and finds herself caught up with the mighty sorcerer, Howl.

There is a dubbed version, with the vocal styling of Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall and Billy Crystal. They do a fantastic job, but the best way to watch it is in the original Japanese.

As with all Hayao Miyazaki’s animation, it is beautiful and perfectly compliments this fantastical story.

Don’t dismiss this as a children’s film; it is so much more.