Movie Review - Rise of the Guardians

Rise of the Guardians

Starring: Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Jude Law, Isla Fisher, Hugh Jackman, Dakota Goyo, Khamani Griffin, Kamil McFadden, Georgie Grieve, Jacob Bertrand, Dominique Grund, Rich Dietl, and more.

Directed by: Peter Ramsey Screenplay by: David Lindsay-Abaire Based on the book The Guardians of Childhood by: William Joyce and Based on the short film the Man in The Moon by: Joyce and Reel FX. Original Music by: Alexandre Desplat Art Direction by: Max Boas.

Premise: Jack Frost knows nothing of where he comes from or of his past. Unlike most of the other supernatural beings he knows about, he's the only one not visible to people. Yet this has never stopped him from having fun. But when he's dragged up to the North Pole without being asked, he's told an old evil is on the rise again. This evil is threatening the world's children and must be stopped by the Guardians. And the Man in the Moon has chosen Jack to be one of them. But Jack wants nothing to do with that. (Rated PG)

Review:

1) Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Great performances all around. Alec Baldwin was a lot of fun as North. Hugh Jackman as the Bunny was hilarious. Chris Pine made Jack Frost a very sympathetic character, who wants to belong despite what he says.

2) Animation - Total Thumbs Up: Dreamworks once again delivers some amazing animation in their newest film. From the very beginning the detail and the beauty of what is being presented shines through. The snowflakes and patterns of frost were gorgeous. I loved the added detail of frost on Jack's pullover shirt. They do some amazing things with the Sandman's (Sandy's) sleeping sand and Pitch's nightmare ones.

A lot of fun visual gags are interspersed throughout the film - the Yeti with the bad color timing, the helper elves that are usually not so much help as hindrance, the Eater Island guard stone eggs with turning expressions. There's a lot to see and take in.

Each of the legends' homes are fun and unique - I especially adored Bunny's place, which was somewhat reminiscent of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." The walking eggs were too cute! And Sophie was utterly adorable.

3) Story - Total Thumbs Up: Though the main story line is what you'd expect from the previews, there are other stories happening simultaneously, which gave the film a lot of emotional depth. Even better, though the characters at first glance appear to be ones we know - Santa Claus, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy - it becomes evident quite quickly that these well known supernatural icons are not as you'd expect. That alone brought half the fun of the film. A Santa Claus with tattoos who's more than willing to get into fights, an Easter Bunny who is lean and tough, Yetis making toys instead of elves - a re-imagining of all those things which we are familiar into something different yet still very much the same.

Like the animation, the story too brings with it all manner of little surprises that add a lot to the experience - Tooth and her fairies and their fan girl sighs over Jack's teeth; Cupcake, a hefty girl others fear but who's real love is for cute, lacy things. There were a lot of ying and yang type comparisons throughout as well - between Sandy and Pitch, Jack and Pitch, what's inside versus the outside wrappings.

Conclusion: "Rise of the Guardians" is a fun film for both kids and adults. Make sure to sit through part of the credits, too! A super cute extra section is tucked away in there. And if you've ever had the slightest inclination of crying at a film, make sure to take a least one set of tissues with you. You might just need them.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Full Price of Admission.)

Mind Sieve 9/10/12

I'm baaack~!

You know I HAD to. Supernatural Season 8 Promo. May it be good. :P

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters...say what? And with Jeremy Renner? I'm so there. :P

Per Tor.com this Star Wars spoof was done a long time ago (yes, in a galaxy far far away~!). I'd never seen it but it was cute. COPS and Star Wars unite for Troops.

Rock Jocks Theatrical Trailer - this could be cute!

As Long As You Love Me Parody from the Key of Awesome. Even has a Star Wars section! lol.

The Expandables 2 Part 2 - yeah, if the film left you wanting a little more, here you go. Hee!

The Rocketeer Animation - Fanmade. This was adorable! Wish there was more.

Matt Smith & Karen Gillan - Dr Who vs. Nerdist - celebrity bowling! Yeah, I wasn't going to look at this, then I thought, naw, do it for a minute. Watched the whole thing. Laughed my buns off. lol. Tons of fun.

Tom Hank's Electric City - very gritty, very noir, and it's animated!

3 Reasons Why Coercing Readers Into Newsletter Subscriptions Is A Bad Idea by Roni Loren. Makes sense.

This is how one of my publishers is using social media (plus it let's me give it an extra plug! :P) - The 2012 Zumaya Publications Trivia Scavenger Hunt. Heh heh heh. (What?)

The Business Rusch: A Good Offense from Kristine Kathryn Rusch.

A Warning To All Writers Who Need Help Indie Publishing from Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Scary stuff!

I think I got a little carried away - but so much good stuff to share!

Movie Review - ParaNorman

ParaNorman

Starring: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Tucker Albrizi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elain Stritch, Bernard Hill, Jodele Ferland, Tempest Bledssoe, John Goodman, Alex Borstein, and more...

Directed by: Chris Butler and Same Fell Written by: Chris Butler Cinematography by: Tristan Oliver Original Music by: Jon Brion

Premise: Norman can see and talk to ghosts, but his family doesn't believe him and the kids at school think he's a freak. Then he meets his reclusive uncle, who tells Norman he has a duty he has to take on - keeping the witch asleep so she won't raise the dead. Except the instructions Norman gets from him aren't complete and he's not able to figure out what to do before the dead rise from their graves! (Rated PG)

Review:

1) Voice Acting - Total Thumbs Up: All the voice actors were great. Kudos to Kodi Smit-McPhee and Tucker Albrizi for their portrayals of Norman and Neal. Yet the most fun came from some of the side actors, like Tempestt Bledsoe. Her character, Sheriff Hooper, was quite funny.


2) Artwork/Animation - Total Thumbs Up: "ParaNorman" is the work of Laika Entertainment. I'd originally thought the film was purely CGI art, but it was more than that. "ParaNorman" is actually a work of stop motion photography! Each of the puppets has an inner metal skeleton to help pose the puppet for each frame. The official website stated that just the zombies rising from the grave scene took a year to film. Dang.

Add to the great puppetry some beautifully and super detailed sets as well as added special effects, and the results are quite amazing. There were many, very well done, visual gags that added a lot of flavor to the film.


3) Plot/Story - Thumbs Up: While the main gist of the story was predictable, there were still several surprises in the plot. These surprises made for nice plot twists and take the story in a direction at several places that the audience will not anticipate but totally appreciate.

There was a lot of subtle humor sprinkled throughout the film. The scene with the man waiting for his chips to come out of the vending machine then seeing the zombies coming for him and his reaction to the situation was hilarious. There were also several in-jokes to give more fun to the adults. The Scooby Doo reference made me laugh out loud it was so unexpected. Homage was even given to the old black and white monster movies, the lettering styles and posters very much like those in that era. One of the sneakiest jokes was about the Puritan zombies and their seeing a poster for a witch casino, advertising all the vices they'd come to the new world to get away from. By seeing such a thing in the middle of their town, I am sure they felt cursed indeed.

Conclusion: A fun movie with plenty of fodder for the adults as well as the kids. The few gross moments will definitely give the kids a nice thrill.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Matinee Price)

Movie Review - Brave

Brave

Starring: Kelly MacDonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Julie Walters, Robbie Coltrane, Kevin McKidd, Craig Ferguson, Sally Kinghorn, Eilidh Fraser, Peigi Barker, Steven Cree, Steve Purcell, and more.

Directed by: Mark Andrews, Brenda Chapman, and  Steve Purcell Story by: Brenda Chapman Screenplay by: Mark Andrews, Steve Purcell, Brenda Chapman, and Irene Mecchi Original Music by: Patrick Doyle

Premise: All of her life Merida has been trained by her mother the queen on how to be a proper princess. Yet Merida cares nothing about those things being happiest when she's out in the woods riding her horse and shooting arrows. So when the queen arranges for the sons of the king's three vassals to come compete for Merida's hand in marriage, Merida uses the word of the law to take matters into her own hands not thinking about the possible consequences. And when she uses a bit of magic to try to change things, matters only grow worse. (Rated PG)

Review:

1) Voice Acting - Total Thumbs Up: Kelly MacDonald was precious as the independent, free spirit Merida. As the queen, Emma Thompson was able to come across as both strict and loving. Julie Walters was a lot of fun as the Witch/Woodcarver. But it was Billy Connolly as Fergus, Merida's father, who put in a lot of the film's fun! While the two principals carried the weight of the problems between daughter and mother, it is all the side characters that make the film such a delight to watch.

2) Artwork/Animation - Total Thumbs Up: Pixar always does marvelous work with their animations and their expertise shows in every frame of the film. With sweeping vistas or running views through the woods, we're immersed in Merida's world, one full of Celtic flavor and magic. I do not envy those placed in charge of animating Merida's flowing, curly hair!

The expressions of the characters are easy to read and mesh well with the voice actors's talents. Even better, they impart many feelings visually, especially from those characters who can't or don't speak.

Merida's three brothers are hilarious and so very cunning. Fergus and the lords are used to great effect for comedic relief.

3) Plot/Story - Total Thumbs Up: The story doesn't turn out to be quite what you expect, so some surprises were in order. It is a personal tale, with personal stakes, not the kind which will have dire consequences to the world. Some viewers might be slightly disappointed in this, as the previews slant the expectations about the story to be more far reaching. But there's so much to love about the film, hopefully the lack of a world ending type plot won't detract from their enjoyment of it too much.

All the characters, even those in the periphery, were given great depth and viewers will get a sense of who they are very easily. Even the young suitors for Merida's hand get given hints of who they may one day become, of the potential still hiding inside each of them.

Conclusion: A fun film with something for everyone. It moves at a good pace and intermingled with a lot of fun or funny moments. Don't be surprised if you need a tissue at the end. And make sure to sit through the credits, as there is just a bit more for the audience at the very end. Definitely worth seeing.

Rating: 4.25 out of 5 (Hubby's Rating: Worth Paying Full Price To See It Again)