4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
4 Shots From 4 Fantasy Films
Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975, Dir. by Terry Gilliam and Terry Jones)
Legend (1985, Dir. by Ridley Scott)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001, Dir by Peter Jackson)
How To Train Your Dragon (2010, Dir. by Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois)
The best way to sum up the Live Action version of Disney’s Lilo & Stitch is with a line used in both films – “It’s little, and it’s broken, but good. Yeah. Still good.” I didn’t care for it as much as I thought I would (due to some changes in the story), but didn’t despise it enough to fully warrant a full thumbs down.
The Memorial Day Weekend battle basically comes down between Angela Bassett and her husband, Courtney B. Vance, who both have movies coming out. Vance can see seen in Lilo & Stitch as Agent Cobra Bubbles (previously played by Ving Rhames in the original, who is in Bassett’s film this weekend, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning).Remakes are shaky things, even if you stay close to the source material. The Live Action version of Lilo & Stitch feels abbreviated, for want of a better word. I enjoyed what was presented, and so did the early evening audience that consisted of families and yet, it didn’t hit every note for me. I won’t say it’s horrible, but it felt rushed for a film that has about 25 more minutes than the original.
The story is mostly the same. Dr. Joomba Jookiba (Zach Galifinakis, The Hangover) has unleashed an abomination in Experiment 626, a.k.a. Stitch (voiced once again by Chris Sanders). Stitch is nearly indestructible, highly intelligent and extremely dangerous. Already captured and forced to stand trial, Stitch escapes, steals a spaceship and ends up in Hawaii. The water is dangerous for Stitch, as he’s too dense to really float.
Lilo (Newcomer Maia Kealoha) is girl that’s considered different by most. She loves her self made dolls, saving chickens that shouldn’t be caged and doesn’t have much in the way of friends. She often gets in trouble, and this is putting a strain on her relationship with her sister, Nani (Sydney Agudong, Infamously in Love). Nani is trying to hold a job and keep the local Social Worker (Tia Carrere, True Lies and the voice of Nani in the original Lilo and Stitch) at bay.
When the Grand Councilwoman (Hannah Waddingham, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning) sends Dr. Joomba and Pleakley (Billy Magnussen, No Time To Die) to Earth on a retrieval mission, Stitch hides himself with Lilo and Nani, posing as a dog. Both The CIA’s lead agent, Cobra Bubbles, is also closing in on Stitch after his crash landing. Can Stitch find a way to escape capture and learn the magic of Ohana? Will Lilo find the friendship she’s longing for?
Lilo & Stitch keeps most of best scenes from the original – Stitch’s opening lines are there, of course, and so is his speech about his family. The theme of Ohana is still there. It still means Family, and means no one is left behind or forgotten. However, we’re taught a new word, “Kuleana” – which means “responsiblity” or “accountability”. The live action version changes the script by escalating the broken home situation between Nani and Lilo. Nani has a life she wants to live, too, but the loss of their parents and taking care of Lilo have put her dreams on hold. In a cartoon, an alien can show up and make everything right. In reality, things are a bit more complicated. It kind of pulls the fun out of things, but grounds the film in some real world consequences.
The entire story is carried on the tiniest of shoulders, and Maia Kealoha makes for a near perfect Lilo. Every scene with just Lilo and Stitch alone are great, and they end up in quite a few adventures. The CGI for Stitch and the other aliens are also very good. Disney’s obviously learned something from Paramount and their “Ugly Sonic” scandal. The same can be said for Agudong’s Nani. There really isn’t a bad acting choice in the entire lot, but the film pulls a piece off the chessboard. The Grand Counselwoman’s chief enforcer, a large sharklike alien named Captain Gantuu, is not in the film. Instead, the story removes his storyline and focus on making Joomba more the villain and Stitch the hero. Joomba and Pleakley spend most of their time bumbling through Earth’s customs, but keep most of the humor throughout. I get why the directors chose to go this way, since the sequences give Lilo more to do in them. It’s not a perfect change, but it all evens out, and the kids in the audience at my showing ate it all up (as did some of the grown ups).
Lilo and Stitch is a good watch if you’ve never heard of the story before. For kids that are new to it, it’s a treat, but it may be better to wait for the Disney Plus edition.
On a side note, I also picked up a Collector’s Edition Lilo & Stitch popcorn bucket, which contains a opening in the back to hold popcorn or other items. Stitch’s skin feels like velvet (or something fuzzy, really).
I don’t know if we fully recognize all the sacrifices parents make for their kids. A person takes on ownership of a whole little being (be it through birth, adoption or the Cat Distribution System) and somehow tries their best to keep it fed, protected, educated and loved, all while still trying to figure out their own lives. It doesn’t always work out. Some parents evade the responsibility, leaving their kids to horrible fates, while others rise to the challenge, often without fully knowing what they need to do. They’re not perfect, but parents can be pretty awesome at times, especially the ones who didn’t have to do the job.
Dreamworks The Wild Robot may very well be the best Animated Feature this year. Nothing against Disney/Pixar’s Inside Out 2 (which was also wonderful) or Flow (which looks wonderful and took the Golden Globe for Best Animated Feature), but I spent a good part of this film sniffling. It’s a very simple, yet sweet story that moves at a very rapid pace. That’s understandable, given that it’s for children, but the story is accessible for just about any adult.
When a robot named Roz (Lupita N’yongo, A Quiet Place: Day One) crash lands in a forest, she studies her environment and tries to get to know the local habitat. The animals are naturally fearful of Roz, but she eventually begins to understand their dialects. While trying to phone home, Roz runs into some raccoon thieves and a rather large bear. The resulting chase causes her to accidentally crash into and destroy a goose nest, save for one egg. When the egg hatches, she finds herself having to take on a parent role for the gosling, though she’s not fully alone. Helping Roz out is a fox named Fink (Pedro Pascal, Gladiator II), who lives by his wits and provides some wildlife know-how for survival, while keeping himself well fed. Also along to assist is Pinktail, a possum who has a litter of her own to handle. As she adjusts to her new sense of motherhood, Roz meets tons of other animals that warm up to her. She finds a new task in taking care of Brightbill (Kit Connor, Ready Player One) and preparing him to fly South for the winter.
Directed by Chris Sanders (How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch), The Wild Robot has elements for both kids and adults. The wilderness is a dangerous place, and the Circle of Life is rougher here than it ever was in Disney’s The Lion King (which Sanders also had a hand in). There are predators and prey, and the audience is made to understand this pretty quickly (though not as harshly as say, Watership Down). There’s a great deal of tenderness as well, focusing on Storytelling (which Roz learns), the friends and family we make along the way and some hardship in the way that Brightbill suffers some insensibilities with from other geese that he doesn’t quite fit in with.
I feel The Wild Robot‘s strongest points are the music and the art direction. The film looks like an actual watercolor painting, especially when viewed in the largest format possible. The pacing for the plot moved a little quicker than I expected, particularly in the lead up to meeting Brightbill. Musically, Kris Bowers (Netflix’s Bridgerton, The Haunted Mansion) has a great soundtrack that adds some weight to the scenes. With Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross out of the running for Challengers, Bowers is my hopeful pick for the Best Soundtrack Oscar.
At the time of this writing, The Wild Robot is available to watch on Universal’s Peacock service. Just make sure you bring a box of tissues and if at all possible, call or thank your Mom afterwards.
On the 20th, the nominations for the Annie Awards were announced. The Annies honor the best in animation. There’s a lot of nominees so I’m just going to share the main film-related ones below. In case you’re putting down bets on what will be nominated for Best Animated Film, the nominations below might provide some hints!
BEST FEATURE
Inside Out 2 – Pixar Animation Studios
Kung Fu Panda 4 – DreamWorks Animation
That Christmas – Locksmith Animation for Netflix
The Wild Robot – DreamWorks Animation
Ultraman: Rising – Netflix Presents in association with Tsuburaya Productions
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – Aardman and Netflix
BEST FEATURE-INDEPENDENT
Chicken for Linda! – Dolce Vita Films, Miyu Productions, Palosanto Films, France 3 Cinéma, Distributed by GKIDS
Flow – Sacrebleu Productions, Take Five, Dream Well Studio
Kensuke’s Kingdom – Paramount Pictures
Look Back – Studio Durian Distributed by GKIDS
Mars Express – Everybody on Deck, Je Suis Bien Content Distributed by GKIDS
Memoir of a Snail – Snails Pace Films / Arenamedia
BEST SPECIAL PRODUCTION
A Bear Named Wojtek – The Illuminated Film Company and Filmograf
Mog’s Christmas – Lupus Films
Orion and the Dark – DreamWorks Animation
Tabby McTat – Magic Light Pictures
Yuck! – Ikki Films & Iliade et Films
BEST SHORT SUBJECT
Beautiful Men – Animal Tank, Miyu Productions & Ka-Ching Cartoons
In the Shadow of the Cypress – Barfak Animation Studio
Ruthless Blade – Ideomotor Culture Media Co., Ltd.
The Swineherd – Fleng Entertainment and Tumblehead Productions
Wander to Wonder – Circe Films, Kaap Holland Film, Les Productions de Milou, Beast Animation, Blink Industries & Pictanovo
BEST DIRECTION – FEATURE
Chicken for Linda! – Dolce Vita Films, Miyu Productions, Palosanto Films, France 3 Cinéma / Distributed by GKIDS, Chiara Malta, Sébastien Laudenbach
Flow – Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions, Dream Well Studio, Gints Zilbalodis
That Christmas – Locksmith Animation for Netflix, Simon Otto
The Wild Robot – DreamWorks Animation, Chris Sanders
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl – Aardman and Netflix, Nick Park, Merlin Crossingham
BEST WRITING – FEATURE
Flow – Take Five, Sacrebleu Productions, Dream Well Studio, Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža
Inside Out 2 – Pixar Animation Studios, Meg LeFauve, Dave Holstein
Kensuke’s Kingdom – Paramount Pictures, Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Memoir of a Snail – Snails Pace Films / Arenamedia, Adam Elliot
BEST VOICE ACTING – FEATURE
Chicken for Linda! – Dolce Vita Films, Miyu Productions, Palosanto Films, France 3 Cinéma / Distributed by GKIDS, Mélinée Leclerc (Character: Linda)
Inside Out 2 – Pixar Animation Studios, Maya Hawke (Character: Anxiety)
The Wild Robot – DreamWorks Animation, Lupita Nyong’o (Character: Roz)
The Wild Robot – DreamWorks Animation, Kit Connor (Character: Brightbill)
Transformers One – Paramount Animation, Brian Tyree Henry (Character: D-16 / Megatron)
Well, with the 2018 Oscars finally out of the way, we can now shift our focus to the 2019 race.
As of February, that race is totally cloudy. The predictions below should be taken with a grain of salt because 1) they’re mostly wild guesses and 2) the Oscar race never starts to become clear until after the summer. You could probably argue that doing predictions this early in the year is a pointless exercise but here we are!
Best Picture
A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood
Call of the Wild
Captain Marvel
Harriet
The Irishman
The Last Thing He Wanted
Little Women
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
The Report
Toy Story 4
Best Director
Greta Gerwig for Little Women
Kassi Lemmons for Harriet
Chris Sanders for Call of the Wild
Martin Scorsese for The Irishman
Quentin Tarantino for Once Upon A Time In Hollywood
Ah, Berk. That fictional far away land where Dragons once plagued humans, until a young boy made friends with a Night Fury and changed everything.
How I’ve missed this place.
Fox & Dreamworks’ How to Train Your Dragon 2 brings us back to its dragon riding fun, taking place 5 years after the events of the first film. While the story doesn’t have the same level of depth as say, Kung Fu Panda 2, it still manages to be an enjoyable thrill ride when the dragons are taking flight.
Since this is an animated feature, let’s do visuals first. The animation is roughly the same as the original, with a bit of aging here and there for the main characters, but both the colors and the depth of field are a major standout. Cinematographer Roger Deakins (Skyfall) was brought back on board as a consultant for the lighting, focus and color tones and it definitely shows. If at all possible, this film should be seen in its 3D format. The flight sequences are a joy to behold and when they’re not flying, you shouldn’t find yourself squinting and pinching your nose too much. Chris Sanders wasn’t on hand this time for the writing and directing, although you can still see his designs all over the film.
Additionally, there were a number of technical changes that improved the process. Just as Pixar did with Renderman, Dreamworks ended up creating their own software, Apollo. Apollo uses two tools – Premo, which allowed the animators better control of characters through the use of Wacom tablets. Even more magical is Torch, a lighting system developed with Deakins’ assistance that allowed for more natural setups in animation. One of the best uses of this is when Hiccup is surrounded in a dark room and needs to use his sword to illuminate the area. It’ll be interesting to see how it’s used in other Dreamworks projects.
All of the familiar characters are back – Jay Baruchel’s Hiccup is a little older, and much wiser than in the original, with he and Toothless mapping the lands around Berk during their flights. Hiccup’s flair for gadgetry hasn’t left him, as in this film, the character is introduced almost as a medieval Batman. Between he, his father Stoic (Gerald Butler) and his girlfriend / Dragon Racing Champion Astrid (America Ferrera), they get the bulk of the screen time. His friends, played by Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Kristen Wiig, felt more like cameos than anything else here. Then again, they really didn’t have that great a part in the first film. Toothless, the Unholy Offspring of fire and darkness itself, is still as cuddly and emotive as ever, despite not being able to actually speak. Through the film, both Toothless and Hiccup find themselves growing up in different ways and their relationship is at the heart of everything here. Hiccup and Stoic still have family issues, this time centering around Hiccup preparation for becoming Chief of the town after Stoic steps down.
When Astrid and Hiccup discover dragon hunters (Lead by Game of Thrones’ Kit Harrington, whose character here still knows nothing), they find a new evil on the horizon in the form of Drago (Guardians of the Galaxy and Blood Diamond’s Djimon Hounsou), who is building a dragon army to do some harm.
Where the movie may stumble is in its last act. It felt abbreviated to me, but as this is meant for children, I suppose it’s not meant to be that long of a film. Clocking in at 102 minutes, it moves fast. For a kid’s film, Dragon 2 rises to some interesting heights that even adults would appreciate. The film doesn’t assume you need to be retold everything you may have missed in the first film, though it does reference some elements of it. The themes of the story are coexistence (between humans & dragons), leadership, friendship and family, and they’re done well.
Through the Shattered Lens 