Animation Month Marathon- The End

      O you cruel dashed hopes! I had started out with 40 titles to watch this month, including rewatches, but soon it was apparent to me that I won't be able to fit in all of them. Still I had hoped that I would cover my 26 first-timers. With a lot of difficulty, I have managed to fit in only 24, with quite a bit of effort I might add. Maybe I can do another animation month eventually and finish the rest, and more, because one thing I did manage was to get a new found appreciation for animated films, outside the realm of Pixar.

These are the animated films I have seen as of 31st July, 2012-

1) My Neighbour Totoro (1988)- I think if I were about 10 years younger, I reckon that I would have really loved this film. I still liked it quite a bit, and the animation, but there’s only so much of little kid crying that I can take.

The totoro itself was absolutely adorable. Like the Disney films of this month, this seemingly happy film has quite a dark side to it. Thankfully, the catbus comes to the rescue to those who suffer, at least in this world.

Rating- 8.5/10

2) Perfect Blue (1997)- This film is famous for its Darren Aronofsky connections. While I could not find the big Requiem for a Dream reference, the Black Swan allusions were clear as a day. It was a pretty far-out animated film, to say the absolute least. Not for children at all.

I liked the way the protagonist’s mind and control over reality deteriorate over the course of the film. It actually makes the viewer equally confused. I felt that the climax was a bit weird and I don’t think I followed completely, but overall, very good.

Rating- 8/10

3) Despicable Me (2010)-  A lot of people seem to love this film. It is really sweet and quite funny, so I guess I get where they’re coming from. I like a “good” baddie, and Gru is just that. Also his minions were totally epic and if I were to fulfill my dreams of being a supervillain who can steal the friggin’ moon, I would want them to be my army too.


The three girls were very cute as well. It was a surprisingly heartwarming film. Not a lot, since there was no crying involved on my part, but enough to make you smile.

Rating- 8.5/10

4) Paprika (2006)- Now at the beginning of this film, I was beyond confused and perplexed as to what it was that I was watching and who the hell this Paprika was anyways. It was quite a while later that things started to make sense.

People compare this to Inception, but I think the only thing common to both is the whole world of dreams that they are mostly set in. Paprika is very surreal, which is what I liked about it. I love the colours of the dream parade, and also the inclusion of films in such a place. Paprika, the character was strange, but I quite liked Dr. Chiba. The animation is definitely the best part of the film.

Rating- 8/10

5) South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (1999)- I have never been an avid watcher of the television series, but that’s because I am barely a TV person. Still, even with all the Indian censorship, I liked whatever little I had seen. So I was already on board when this film started, and boy was it some super-crass, super-awesome fun!

This is one smart movie with a really nice and important message, which was astonishingly unexpected to say the least. Personally, I like it for the potty-mouthed children and the “evil Canadians” and the Disney princess-esque Satan and whatnot. It is a total riot, but a rewarding one too. Also, Kyle’s mom is definitely an uber bitch.

Rating- 10/10

6) Akira (1988)- Woah that was brilliant! This film stands alongside Fantasia for me because it showed me things that I could have never even imagined to be a part of animated films. It has fantastic action and cool bikes and huge explosions and powerful villains and badass teenagers and just so much more.

A dystopian tale, it also looks at what jealousy can drive people into doing and being. I loved both the protagonists- Kaneda and Tetsuo. The animation is just mind-blowingly amazing. I can see why people would want to make a live action remake, but then again I can see them failing miserably. The music is superb too, and it is a great movie-watching experience all together.

Rating- 10/10

7) Arthur Christmas (2011)- Aww I love Christmas movies, and especially those about the Christmas spirit and the north pole and Santa. This film is about Santa's family, and especially his younger son Arthur, who must deliver the present to the only child his figurehead dad and adept brother missed in the whole world.

There is a lot to like in this film- the varied characters that the Clause family consisted of, the hi-tech North Pole, all the elves and especially the packing expert Briony, the magical sleigh- so many Christmas elements that one cannot help but feel cheerful. It also talks about changing times. It really is an adorable film that is officially going on my favourite films to watch on Christmas list. Also I can hear James McAvoy talk all day.


Rating- 9.5/10

Updated: 8) 101 Dalmatians (1961)- I can't believe I forgot to mention this film, seeing how much I enjoyed it. Despite not being a dog person, I love all the canine friends in this film. They are actually too cute. But the cutest of them all is Roger, the male owner. His "Cruella De Vil" has been stuck in my head for a while now. Also Cruella is ab fab.


The final act does get a bit annoyingly long though. If the film had finished earlier, it would have gone to join my list of favourite Disney films. A lot of fun still.


Rating- 9/10

Animation Month Update

Hello again. This is my second update. I have fallen behind a bit this week, but hopefully I can buck up in the following weeks.

These are the animated films I have seen as of 16th July, 2012-

1)  Mulan (1998)- This is my Disney-loving best friend’s favourite Disney film, one she has been telling me to watch for the longest time. After finally having watched it, I can see why she loves it.
It is the funniest Disney film I have watched this entire month. Mulan is definitely a brilliant protagonist, seeing how her motivations had nothing to do with a prince charming, but about her proving herself and helping out her family. It looked beautiful, set in Ancient China. Though this had a scary-looking villain, the main task for our heroine is to finding her true self, which I thought was nice. Also the supporting characters, from Mushu, the dragon voiced by Eddie Murphy, to Mulan’s fellow soldiers and one very macho yet totally adorable La Shing, were all excellent. Mulan officially ties with The Princess and the Frog as my favourite Disney princess movie.

Rating- 10/10

2) Lady and the Tramp (1955)- I am not a dog person. At all. So it was a little hard to concentrate on this film. I guess it was cute, especially that spaghetti-kiss scene, but I was most certainly not the target audience for this movie. I am pretty sure that a particular scene with a dog-fight would have scarred me as a child. It pretty much terrified me still.

Rating- 6/10

3) Pocahontas (1995)- I actually liked this one, though apparently that is not the popular opinion. I think Pocahontas is the prettiest Disney princess, and her first meeting with John Smith was perhaps my favourite romantic moment in all these films. 

It was quite a stunning film too, especially in the song “Colours Of The Wind” where all the nature shots are just gorgeous. After this film, I just had to watch The New World, so I guess that would make an interesting double feature.

Rating- 7.5/10

4) Grave of the Fireflies (1988)- Unable to find the remaining Disney films in my list at the time, I decided to start off with anime and this Studio Ghibli feature was my first for this month.

I have heard a lot about how sad this film is, and it really is. It is also incredibly beautiful to look at, especially all the scenes with the fireflies, and the falling bombs that looked quite a bit like the fireflies too. There were moments I got slightly annoyed with the character of Setsuko, but by the end of it, I was very much moved. It is a powerful tale about how war affects everyone, in particular children. As I read in a review, it is not an animated film, but a war drama that just happens to be in the animated form. To see such a poignant film in this medium is quite unbelievable, but it does make us think and believe how much more can be shown in animation, and how it is not just for kids, but for anyone with a tale to tell.

Rating- 10/10

5)  Hercules (1997)- Hey male hero! Woo hoo! First off, the cartoon Hercules is probably the most disproportionate character ever. But he was quite endearing, and this film on a whole was a lot of fun. It doesn't follow the actual exploits of Hercules, for any Greek mythology geeks out there who might be outraged by the film. Instead of Hera, it is Hades who is after Hercules’s life. We see how he becomes mortal and then attempts to get back his immortality by becoming a hero. The action scenes for this are very well made. I also really liked his heroine, Meg, who could almost safely be part of 'Sex and the City: Ancient Greece Edition'. My favourite part of the film were the oh so fabulous muses and their songs.

Rating- 7.5/10

6) The Jungle Book (1967)- I really think that I have seen this before, but the tale is so well-known that I can’t be sure. But I do know the songs, and golly they are awesome!

This is a sweet movie. The characters are colourful, and it gives a sense of colonialized India. I loved Bagheera and Kaa and King Louie and Shere Khan and the very mod vultures, but my absolute favourite was Baloo. He was like the stoned uncle of my dreams. Also, maybe my favourite Disney companion. The ending is a bit blah, but a very enjoyable movie through and through.

Rating- 9/10

So that is it. See ya next week!

Animation Month Update

     

         So I decided to go on an Animation Month Marathon, where I would only (mostly) watch animated films this entire month. I have started with Disney (again mostly), and will soon move on to anime. Also I will first tackle all the unseen movies in my list, and then as many rewatches as possible.

These are all the animated films I have seen as of 9th July, 2012-

1) Sleeping Beauty (1959)- This was a bad film to start with. The main character Aurora literally has nothing except her royal title. She was a princess, which is why the fairies give her her beauty and singing talents. I just could not accept it from the starting itself, because even though Disney is known for its one-dimensional characters, this was too much. If she had not been rich, she would have been ugly and unskilled. Okay I was over-thinking it a bit, as my friends pointed it out, but I refuse to accept the reason "it's for kids". Kids are smart, and this was stupid. I loved Maleficient though, and her need to create havoc for no reason whatsoever. She reminded me of The Joker- total anarchist. Also the three fairies were awesome, although I don't know how they lived like humans for sixteen years, seeing that they were terrible at housework without magic.
I would have been so much happier if the film was outwardly about the fairies or Maleficient or even Prince Phillip. I had to look at Sparknotes to see why Aurora was significant, and it's because she is passive and pure. What the hell?! And the message was "to believe in true love". That's just daft.
The animation was gorgeous, especially towards the end. Also it has possibly my favourite Disney song- "I Walked With You Once Upon A Dream".

Rating- 5/10

2) Pinocchio (1940)- I was already in love with Jiminy Cricket when this had started. Also with the intricacies of all the things in Geppetto's woodshop.
Though this film is very colourful, there are a lot of deeper and darker aspects of it. I have heard and read a lot about how sinister Disney films tend to be, and Pinocchio definitely had elements of that. I love how Pinocchio decides to become an actor instead of going to school. Or the fact that he gets taken, along with all the other unruly boys in his village, to Pleasure Island where kids wreak havoc and smoke and drink and gamble. I could see a very grown-up message being given, which was very pleasantly surprising to see in a Disney film.
But the downfall of this film, for me, is the last act, where Geppetto has been swallowed, really randomly, by a ginormous whale and Pinocchio and Jiminy Cricket have to go save him. Although visually it was very impressive, with the underwater shots and all the action revolving around the whale chasing them, it just felt so out of place.

Rating- 8.5/10

3) Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)- Until I saw Sleeping Beauty, I have always hated Snow White the most out of all the fairy tale heroines because she seems so thoroughly useless. But I actually really enjoyed this movie, and a huge reason for it was how much I love Enchanted, because Amy Adams's Giselle is almost exactly like Snow White, but with a lot more guts obviously.
The Wicked Queen was cool, and I think her transformation is one of the best Disney scenes I have seen so far. The dwarfs were cute, and Snow White, in all her bimboness, was rather sweet.
The animation again was brilliant. The ending was so ridiculous, it was funny.

Rating- 7/10

4) Alice in Wonderland (1951)- I still think I should have been high while watching this. This book itself is so crazy, that only a crazy adaptation would have done it justice. This Disney version comes pretty close.
I loved Alice in all her haughtiness and confusion. The animation was absolutely stunning. I loved the groovy lights in the forest, and the gorgeous flowers, and the patterns and designs of the Red Queen's army.
It was really enjoyable, though I did feel a bit empty afterwards. It's not the film's fault exactly, but the story could not keep me as vested as the animation because it is so mental. That is the only sort of flaw in this excellent adaptation.

Rating- 9.5/10

5) Fantasia (1940)- Now this film was just mind-blowing. I could have never imagined a Disney film to be like this. It is so wildly ambitious and incredible- using music to create images. Such a wonderful concept, executed and brought to life so beautifully by Walt Disney. I mean if anyone was to now ask me why Walt Disney is a genius, I will tell them to watch this film.
There are eight parts in this which explore this concept. My favourites were "Tocatta and Fugue in D Minor", "The Pastoral Symphony" and the last part, "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Ava Maria". I am not that musically knowledgeable, especially in case of classical stuff, but with the images and the ideas, I was brought to tears a couple of times during this film.
This film has joined the likes of 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Tree of Life as one of the most ambitious films I have ever seen. Hell, I am convinced that Terrence Malick watched it for inspiration! It is an absolute must-see for any film lover. Consequently, I am of the belief that this film is not for children, at all.


Rating- 10/10

6) Bambi (1942)- This film is just adorable. I loved the animals and the forest and everything. It is very simple and very enjoyable. A tale of growing up, of loss and love, of man versus animals- all of that, but shown with so much love and simplicity, that I was left very impressed.
I loved all the baby animals and the process of everyone, especially Thumper, teaching Bambi about the world. This film is infamous for killing off a character, and I guess as a kid it would have affected me a great deal. My favourite part of the film was the danger at the end. I was blown away by the spectacular animation at that point. It looked like a painting. It was so beautiful and so terrifying at the same time.

Rating- 9/10

7) Cinderella (1950)- Cinderella is, I think, the most average a Disney film can get. The story is exactly what we all know, nothing happens out of the ordinary, and there is a nice happy ending.
There were a lot of talking mice in this, which was cute at first, but highly annoying later. I don't really like the way these films require other characters to fill up the time and space, because the protagonists are so dull.

Rating- 6/10

8) Antz (1998)- I took a little break from Disney and decided to watch a non-Woody Allen Woody Allen movie.
I love all the Woody-ness this film embraces- the psychoanalyst sessions, the stuttering, the need for self-worth, the confused yet brilliant female protagonist etc. Of course, this film is more hopeful and action-filled than any Woody Allen film I have seen, but it was fun. I liked the concept of social changes in an ant colony. I like the underdog, and the fact that he was an ant and voiced by my favourite filmmaker, made me like him so much more.
It isn't as brilliant as the really good Dreamworks films are, but very enjoyable still.

Rating- 7/10

9) Peter Pan (1953)- Unlike Alice in Wonderland, I absolutely adore this tale of "the boy who never grew up". And so it was a bit disappointing when many of my favourite aspects of the play, like Tinkerbell being brought back to life and Peter being more needy and slightly vicious, were removed.
This was the only Disney film I have seen that properly shied away from the darker elements, so that was unfortunate, since I do really enjoy the story.
I loved the Lost Boys and Tinkerbell in this.

Rating- 6.5/10

10) Little Mermaid (1989)- This film is believed to be the beginning of the Disney Renaissance. I thought it was really beautiful. Ariel is probably the best-looking Disney princess, with her perfect red hair and her giant blue eyes, and she was really sweet. I just think her story was terrible. The actual Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale is much more tragic, and I can understand why it was given the happy-treatment, but if you really look at it, Ariel gives everything up to get Prince Eric, which would be a lovely concept, if he did the same. And Prince Eric was actually nice, unlike the other princes who are creeps. But the story is such...
Still I really liked it. Absolutely loved Ursula, who I think is going to be my favourite Disney villain. She was so fabulous.

Rating- 9/10

11) Dumbo (1941)- God this was depressing. Even with the happy ending and the intention of turning things around for the studio after Fantasia had been a commercial bust, this was just such a sad tale.
Dumbo is probably the cutest Disney character, along with Bambi. But his ostracization because of his big ears, and his mother being taken away- it was just so sad! The other elephants were like the meanest characters ever.
This was not at all fulfilling, but it has one of the most surreal sequences that I have seen in cartoons, so that was cool.

Rating- 6.5/10







With the exception of these, I saw a great deal of Pixar shorts as well. My favourites were Day and Night and Presto.

See you next week :D

Thoughts

1) First of all- Congrats to everyone who won at Lammy this year, and all those who were nominated too. You guys are awesome :D


2) Mia Wasikowska, Zoe Aggeliki and Jena Malone are being considered for the part of Johanna MAson in the Catching Fire movie. The first two are very young in my opinion, since Johanna looks 30 in the book. Malone is an interesting choice and I can definitely see her doing something with a role like this. Obviously the biggest casting choice we are all waiting for is Finnick Odair's (one Armie Hammer please).


3) After listening to the Matineecast this week, I have decided to go on an Animation Month Marathon. I have made a list of 40 films. The films are Disney, anime, Pixar and some other films that I haven't seen yet and want to watch. This is sort of the perfect timing because August is when I turn into an adult/ a pumpkin/ 20, and I just need to embrace the inner child right now. I had originally planned to only watch cartoon films all of this month as an experiment, but I need a bit of variety and I'm already hungry for something non-Disney-like, so I'll watch random live-action stuff here and there. I really hope I can finish this in time :/


4) The world's fascination and disgust at Fifty Shades of Grey continues to grow, and I find it really hilarious now. There was this whole article on the newspaper about this here, and I really loved the way it ended- "...And what is shameful about Fifty Shades of Grey isn't the submissive sex, it's the Cinderella story.... It didn't take much for an erotic e-book to catch fire. A glimpse of stocking can still be shocking when it's used to bind a woman's wrist; it's irresistable when a handsom billionaire is tying the knot." 
It's kind of cheeky I think :P I love how people are making up dream casts for the film here, seeing that it will NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER release in India. Also Gilbert Gottfried reading it is the most hilarious thing ever!


5) Trailers- Yeah I haven't really been that enthused about watching trailers this week. Robot and Frank looks kind of sweet. I quite like the cast, especially Susan Srandon and Frank Langella. Total Recall which again looks cool, but mehh. The American Sherlock Holmes series Elementary has a trailer out. I am sorry but Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are looking at this and probably thinking "poor sods", although I do like the idea of a female Dr. Watson, and the actual possibility of all that sexual tension being realeased in a foreseeable way.


6) Finally, this is actually cool-

With all this talk about Prometheus and Alien, we look at who was underneath the monstrous black mask in Ridley Scott's 1979 sci-fi horror classic. Bolanji Badejo, a 7ft tall Nigerian design student picked up from a bar in West London to fill the title role. He worked on the film for 4 months. Spending every day wrapped in a suffocating custom fitted rubber suit, working to exude a presence of pure evil.

Despite his incredible contribution to the film’s success Badejo never received any publicity for his involvement. Ultimately, it would be his only film role.

Bye :)