The popular animated movie and favorite

Thứ Sáu, 2 tháng 12, 2011

'Muppets' to rule slow post-Thanksgiving weekend

The Muppets is expected to win the weekend at the box office


After a glut of family films opened over the Thanksgiving holiday, no new movies are slated to hit theaters nationwide this weekend — leaving a clan of felt "Muppets" to rule the box office.
The post-Turkey Day weekend has traditionally been one of the slowest moviegoing periods of the year,  as Americans emerge from their tryptophan-induced hazes and begin their holiday shopping. In 2010, it was the second-lowest-grossing weekend of the year, according to Box Office Mojo.
This weekend, Walt Disney Studios' modern spin on "The Muppets" is expected to ring up about $20 million in ticket sales, according to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys. The film got off to a respectable start over the five-day holiday with $41.5 million, and should benefit from strong word-of-mouth.
Audiences who saw the well-reviewed picture praised it with an average grade A, according to market research firm CinemaScore.
The other family movies that opened Thanksgiving — "Hugo" and "Arthur Christmas" — will have to battle the popular sequel "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 1" for runner-up honors this weekend. The fourth vampire film in the successful franchise has so far collected nearly $230 million in the U.S and almost $290 million more overseas.
As for "Arthur Christmas," despite its weak opening of just $16.3 million over five days, Sony Pictures is hopeful the movie will hold up well as Christmas approaches.
The film has been beloved by critics, and audiences assigned it a CinemaScore of A-, but still it remains to be seen whether that buzz will translate into stronger ticket sales.
Sony believes the animated 3-D flick, which cost about $100 million to produce, has the potential to follow in the footsteps of 2004's family film "The Polar Express," but that may be wishful thinking. That movie had a soft opening but ultimately grossed nearly $200 million domestically — a rare feat.
"Hugo," meanwhile, will expand from 1,277 theaters to more than 1,800 this weekend. Over the five-day holiday, the pricey 3-D movie directed by Martin Scorsese started off with just $15.4 million.
But Paramount Pictures, which is distributing the movie based on the children's book "The Invention of Hugo Cabret," decided to roll out the movie slowly in an attempt to capitalize on the film's critical acclaim. On Thursday, "Hugo" was named best film of the year by the National Board of Review.
While last year's Oscar-winning "The King's Speech" followed a similar trajectory — expanding its run as it drew awards attention — that film was far less expensive to produce. "Hugo" cost independent producer Graham King between $150 million and $170 million to make, and tens of millions of additional dollars are being spent to market and distribute the picture.
In limited release, Fox Searchlight will open the NC-17-rated drama "Shame" in nine theaters in five cities this weekend, including Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.
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Nathan Fillion to Voice Hal Jordan in "Justice League: Doom"



 

Nathan Fillion, star of ABC's hit series "Castle" and long time geek friendly actor, is returning to the role of Hal Jordan in the direct to video Warner Brothers animated feature "Justice League: Doom" which is slated to be released in early 2012.  Fillion first voiced Hal Jordan in "Green Lantern: Emerald Knights" and was the first choice by many fans for the role in the live action film, spurring one fan to make a faux trailer for the film.  Bruce Timm is producing the film based on the popular Mark Waid story "Tower of Babel" and created from the last script penned by the late Dwayne McDuffie.  Kyle Rayner was the Green Lantern in the original story which focused on Batman's secret plans to deal with members of the Justice League should they go rogue being stolen and used by a group of super villains.

Voicing characters in the movie are a cast of actors very familiar to fans of the DC Animated Universe.  Tim Daly (Superman) , Kevin Conroy (Batman), Michael Rosebaum (Flash), Susan Eisenberg (Wonder Woman), and Carl Lumbly (Martian Manhunter) all return to the roles they created in the Superman, Batman and Justice League animated series.  Actor Bumper Robinson will be voicing Cyborg
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More "Justice League: Doom" Casting News




A scene from "Justice League: Doom"
Yesterday we learned that Nathan Fillion was among the cast for the 2012 DC Universe animated feature "Justice League: Doom", returning to the role of Green Lantern Hal Jordan alongside a cast of  voices very familiar to DC animation fans.  Today Warner Brothers makes another announcement about the voice casting for the direct to video release which reveals some of the villains that will be up against the Justice League and even more voice talent that will make fans happy.

Vandal Savage will appear, voiced by Phil Morris (Smallville), Olivia d’Abo (The Wonder Years) as Star Sapphire, and Alexis Denisof (Angel) as Mirror Master.  Also opposing our heroes are Carlos Alazraqui (Reno 911) as Bane, Paul Blackthorne (The Dresden Files) as Metallo, and Claudia Black (Farscape, Stargate SG-1) as Cheetah. David Kaufman (Danny Phantom) also reprises his Justice League role of Jimmy Olsen.  The voice casting for the Royal Flush Gang have not been announced yet. 

Warner Home Video will premiere the Justice League: Doom trailer during its presentation at New York Comic Con on Friday, October 14 from 3:00-4:00 p.m. in the IGN Theater. Also premiering during that session will be the Catwoman animated short that is attached to Batman: Year One, the next DC Universe Animated Movie which releases on October 18
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Blu-Ray Back Cover Confirms Nine Minutes Added to Extended Cut


 


The home video release of the Green Lantern film is just weeks away and today courtest of the DCUMoviepage we have an image of the back cover of the Blu-ray combo pack that includes the extended cut of the movie.  The details on the back confirm the previously released information about the extended cut running nine minutes longer, however we still don't know what those new nine minutes include.  However we now know that the blu-ray will include eight featurettes, character biographies, storyboards and a picture in picture commentary track when it releases on October 14th.
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Green Lantern Animated Series to Debut at NYCC


 

Fans attending the New York Comic Con in October will have the opportunity to be among the first to see the Cartoon Network CGI Green Lantern animated series.  Bruce Timm will be in attendance at the convention to unveil the new show and participate in a question and answer session with fans.

Here's the official information on the debut from the NY Comic Con

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 15 * 10:30–11:30 a.m. Green Lantern: The Animated Series World Premiere Screening and Conversation with Bruce Timm — World-renowned producer, artist, animator and Comic Con favorite Bruce Timm (Batman: The Animated Series) will be on hand to unveil Green Lantern: The Animated Series, his latest television project from Warner Bros. Animation, coming soon to Cartoon Network. New York Comic Con attendees will be treated to the world premiere screening of this all-new CG action-adventure animated series, and will take part in a moderated Q&A with an animation icon. Room 1A10 * 1:30–2:00 p.m. Green Lantern: The Animated Series Signing at the DC Comics booth #1254.

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Top 10 Live Action Anime Films



I can’t describe how many times I thought ‘whoah!’ it’s one of those moments that could only ever happen in cartoons or ‘whoa!’ that was anime level crazy! This film set out to create a literal live action adaptation of a lovable & cheesy retro cartoon anime. That’s exactly what it did. Above everything else, this movie is a visual feast that stays true to the cartoon. I think it is really unfortunate that so many critics are complaining about the visuals in this movie, because I think that they are truly fantastic. I can safely say that I have never seen another movie like this one, and I feel that so many movies are going to try to do what this movie did.



The story almost mirrors the cartoon which is based on the four nations, which rules the world and the members of each nation have the control of one of the four elements: fire, air, water, and earth.  Say what you want about M. Night but he knows how to assemble an action scene. I’ll admit there are one or two very minor things that this movie improved on over the show. On a technical level, the film is pretty much perfect. The sets, costume designs, and visual effects are all commendable. Ironically, I was so ready to rip apart Jaden Smith in Karate Kid last week but ended up loving the film, yet with Airbender, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen child acting this poor. Still, given the topic of conversation, this film actually lands a place one notch up from Speed Racer on the enjoyment scale.



There’s a fond place in my heart for Initial D. My first car in high school actually resembled the car the main character had in the original anime series. Thus, kicked off my initial interest in the world of car racing. While the anime stayed fairly close to the manga, this live action movie makes plenty character and plot changes. The storyline is basic but enjoyable, with the main characters getting a decent amount of screen time. However, what sets the movie apart is the cars! I am a car nut, and I love the way the cars, ranging from the RX-7 to the Trueno, were cleanly built and well crafted to fit the mold from the anime. Was it faithful to the anime or manga? I think the directors did very well with the film, capturing the geekiness of Takumi’s friends and the racing was just fun to watch.



The live action version of the animated short, Blood: The Last Vampire is a disjointed movie about Saya and her weird adventures in 1970 Tokyo hunting the demoness Onegin. It has almost all the elements of the anime movie in the firstpart, then some changes they inserted in the second half of the movie. I don’t want to contain spoilers, but it has more flashbacks related to Saya’s past and about her revenge. The start of the Live Action Movie was exactly the same as the Original Animated Movie. Having the train scene at the beginning was a great way to instantly pull fans of the Anime into the movie and get them into that familiar world of the Blood series. The lead actress did a good job and although slightly dissapointed overall, I think viewing this movie is necessary to cure your curiousity if you’re a fan of the anime movie.



Death Note is based on the popular manga and loosely based on the anime series of the same name. eath Note reflects why imperfect human beings should not a high amount of power because men are fallible, vulnerable to desires and prone vanity. You see an almost accurate telling of one persons corruption and descent into madness. The suspense is more cerbral than visual with a very solid structure. Death Note takes place over the span of 12 episodes in the anime, which comes out to about a running time of a little over four hours as compared to the two hours of the movie. Needless to say, I was afraid the plot or characters were going to be underdeveloped and it would all fall apart under the weight of what it was trying to accomplish. A bit uneven here and there, but overall, still a fun ride.  A must see and own for any anime fan, let alone, any Death Note fan.



Space Battleship Yamato is a live action film adaptation of the original Space Battleship Yamato anime TV series. It was released in Japan on December 1, 2010 and debuted at number 1 on the Japanese box-office, ousting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The year is 2199, and the Earth has been under radioactive siege from extraterrestrials known as the Gamilas for five years. The Earth’s surviving population has moved underground to escape the bombardment, but the contamination is slowly penetrating to reach them. The last space battleship of the exhausted Earth Defense Forces, Yamato, sets out on a journey to Iscandar, a planet located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, to acquire a device that can heal the ravaged Earth before it is too late. A great thrill ride to wrap up 2010!



I’d like to direct your attention to FUNimation’s Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, a live-action, anime-influenced extravaganza!  Shinobi is one of the few live-action films I’ve seen that have nailed the style, pacing, and tone of Japanese anime. The film is saturated with epic melodrama and poetic dialogue and leaps into motion when blades are drawn and battles are fought. Enough blood and serious violence is present to merit an R rating, but there are certainly more graphic martial arts movies out there.



Mushishi is deeply complex at times, and often drifts into the realms of the incomprehensible. Set at the turn of the 20th century, it follows a young man by the name of Ginko, who travels all over Japan, studying Mushi. As far as I could tell, Mushi, rather than being plain old insects, are tiny creatures with some kind of magical force. They’re a necessary part of life, but they often have negative effects on humans. Fans of the franchise should find lots to like here as much of the material comes right out of the anime and manga. It’s a beautiful piece of work, roaming languidly through lush leafy forests, pale misty light, and deep woodland ponds fringed with trees. The beauty of most of it makes the horrific parts even darker and more ghastly.



This is a film that is based off the popular anime series of the same name, in which Kei Kurono is nothing like the character from the anime. I think that a lot of fans are going to debate this film, but movie was two hours long and covered a lot both anime and manga sides.  A major difference I noticed also was that the action and sex is heavily toned down. The manga, after all, is famous mostly for how incredibly over-the-top it is in terms of violence, nudity, and the tendency to present humanity as being pretty reprehensible. This live action incarnation is a slightly mixed bag of sci-fi goodness for genre devotees. If you haven’t seen the anime TV series or the manga I would say read the manga from the beginning. That way you’ll really understand what the dark, twisted, cruel, ruthless, confusing, sci-fi story is about.



At first viewing I was a little disappointed with Casshern, but when I finally came to terms with what this film really was, I found myself more willing to accept it. Upon my 2nd viewing, I fell in love with the film’s mythology.  This film made me think I was watching a live action anime, which is neither good or bad. First-time film director Kazuaki Kiriya has an undeniable gift for visuals. From the luscious green trees of the “forest” to the industrial wasteland, each backdrop is brought to life with elegance and beauty. However, at the same time it can become exhausting. At the end of it all, this film triumphs and is a rollercoaster ride one will want to take.



There you go folks! Sound off in the comment section with thoughts, opinions, and of course, your OWN top 10 list. Until next time…
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I can’t describe how many times I thought ‘whoah!’ it’s one of those moments that could only ever happen in cartoons or ‘whoa!’ that was anime level crazy! This film set out to create a literal live action adaptation of a lovable & cheesy retro cartoon anime. That’s exactly what it did. Above everything else, this movie is a visual feast that stays true to the cartoon. I think it is really unfortunate that so many critics are complaining about the visuals in this movie, because I think that they are truly fantastic. I can safely say that I have never seen another movie like this one, and I feel that so many movies are going to try to do what this movie did.



The story almost mirrors the cartoon which is based on the four nations, which rules the world and the members of each nation have the control of one of the four elements: fire, air, water, and earth.  Say what you want about M. Night but he knows how to assemble an action scene. I’ll admit there are one or two very minor things that this movie improved on over the show. On a technical level, the film is pretty much perfect. The sets, costume designs, and visual effects are all commendable. Ironically, I was so ready to rip apart Jaden Smith in Karate Kid last week but ended up loving the film, yet with Airbender, I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen child acting this poor. Still, given the topic of conversation, this film actually lands a place one notch up from Speed Racer on the enjoyment scale.



There’s a fond place in my heart for Initial D. My first car in high school actually resembled the car the main character had in the original anime series. Thus, kicked off my initial interest in the world of car racing. While the anime stayed fairly close to the manga, this live action movie makes plenty character and plot changes. The storyline is basic but enjoyable, with the main characters getting a decent amount of screen time. However, what sets the movie apart is the cars! I am a car nut, and I love the way the cars, ranging from the RX-7 to the Trueno, were cleanly built and well crafted to fit the mold from the anime. Was it faithful to the anime or manga? I think the directors did very well with the film, capturing the geekiness of Takumi’s friends and the racing was just fun to watch.



The live action version of the animated short, Blood: The Last Vampire is a disjointed movie about Saya and her weird adventures in 1970 Tokyo hunting the demoness Onegin. It has almost all the elements of the anime movie in the firstpart, then some changes they inserted in the second half of the movie. I don’t want to contain spoilers, but it has more flashbacks related to Saya’s past and about her revenge. The start of the Live Action Movie was exactly the same as the Original Animated Movie. Having the train scene at the beginning was a great way to instantly pull fans of the Anime into the movie and get them into that familiar world of the Blood series. The lead actress did a good job and although slightly dissapointed overall, I think viewing this movie is necessary to cure your curiousity if you’re a fan of the anime movie.



Death Note is based on the popular manga and loosely based on the anime series of the same name. eath Note reflects why imperfect human beings should not a high amount of power because men are fallible, vulnerable to desires and prone vanity. You see an almost accurate telling of one persons corruption and descent into madness. The suspense is more cerbral than visual with a very solid structure. Death Note takes place over the span of 12 episodes in the anime, which comes out to about a running time of a little over four hours as compared to the two hours of the movie. Needless to say, I was afraid the plot or characters were going to be underdeveloped and it would all fall apart under the weight of what it was trying to accomplish. A bit uneven here and there, but overall, still a fun ride.  A must see and own for any anime fan, let alone, any Death Note fan.



Space Battleship Yamato is a live action film adaptation of the original Space Battleship Yamato anime TV series. It was released in Japan on December 1, 2010 and debuted at number 1 on the Japanese box-office, ousting Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The year is 2199, and the Earth has been under radioactive siege from extraterrestrials known as the Gamilas for five years. The Earth’s surviving population has moved underground to escape the bombardment, but the contamination is slowly penetrating to reach them. The last space battleship of the exhausted Earth Defense Forces, Yamato, sets out on a journey to Iscandar, a planet located in the Large Magellanic Cloud, to acquire a device that can heal the ravaged Earth before it is too late. A great thrill ride to wrap up 2010!



I’d like to direct your attention to FUNimation’s Shinobi: Heart Under Blade, a live-action, anime-influenced extravaganza!  Shinobi is one of the few live-action films I’ve seen that have nailed the style, pacing, and tone of Japanese anime. The film is saturated with epic melodrama and poetic dialogue and leaps into motion when blades are drawn and battles are fought. Enough blood and serious violence is present to merit an R rating, but there are certainly more graphic martial arts movies out there.


Mushishi is deeply complex at times, and often drifts into the realms of the incomprehensible. Set at the turn of the 20th century, it follows a young man by the name of Ginko, who travels all over Japan, studying Mushi. As far as I could tell, Mushi, rather than being plain old insects, are tiny creatures with some kind of magical force. They’re a necessary part of life, but they often have negative effects on humans. Fans of the franchise should find lots to like here as much of the material comes right out of the anime and manga. It’s a beautiful piece of work, roaming languidly through lush leafy forests, pale misty light, and deep woodland ponds fringed with trees. The beauty of most of it makes the horrific parts even darker and more ghastly.



This is a film that is based off the popular anime series of the same name, in which Kei Kurono is nothing like the character from the anime. I think that a lot of fans are going to debate this film, but movie was two hours long and covered a lot both anime and manga sides.  A major difference I noticed also was that the action and sex is heavily toned down. The manga, after all, is famous mostly for how incredibly over-the-top it is in terms of violence, nudity, and the tendency to present humanity as being pretty reprehensible. This live action incarnation is a slightly mixed bag of sci-fi goodness for genre devotees. If you haven’t seen the anime TV series or the manga I would say read the manga from the beginning. That way you’ll really understand what the dark, twisted, cruel, ruthless, confusing, sci-fi story is about.



At first viewing I was a little disappointed with Casshern, but when I finally came to terms with what this film really was, I found myself more willing to accept it. Upon my 2nd viewing, I fell in love with the film’s mythology.  This film made me think I was watching a live action anime, which is neither good or bad. First-time film director Kazuaki Kiriya has an undeniable gift for visuals. From the luscious green trees of the “forest” to the industrial wasteland, each backdrop is brought to life with elegance and beauty. However, at the same time it can become exhausting. At the end of it all, this film triumphs and is a rollercoaster ride one will want to take.



There you go folks! Sound off in the comment section with thoughts, opinions, and of course, your OWN top 10 list. Until next time…
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“I’ll strangle the guy who sez CRI Technicolor!”



It’s hard to drum up enthusiasm for the Tom & Jerry Golden Collection Volume One, and with good reason – it really is difficult to get excited over another Tom & Jerry DVD.



This is the first time, however, that the cartoons are presented in complete, chronological order on DVD, something that hasn’t been done since the Art of Tom & Jerry laserdisc sets eons ago. The set, which you can buy on Amazon for less than $20 U.S., features the first 37 cartoons, straight from Puss Gets the Boot to Professor Tom.
This is, essentially, almost every Tom & Jerry cartoon worth owning. Great shorts like the lyrical Mouse in Manhattan, Flirty Birdy, the most sexually charged T&J ever, the bizarrely racist Lonesome Mouse (with Jerry talking like James Cagney), and uproariously funny entries like Mouse Trouble and Kitty Foiled are all present and accounted for. Every cartoon is also completely uncut and uncensored.



By and large, they look better than they ever have on home video or television. This is due to Warner Home Video utilizing the oft-forgotten CRI negatives, which, at their best, are the elements on the MGM cartoons that look closest to their original negatives. The MGM restorations will never reach the vibrancy of those on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection or Disney Treasure releases, but having seen rare nitrate material on several MGM cartoons, the best restorations on this set are not unreasonable facsimiles. Truth be known, this is the first time I’ve ever seen a copy of Old Rockin’ Chair Tom that wasn’t a faulty composite (meaning inferior, faded source material was used for the final thirty seconds).
The MGM cartoons, in general, never had a particularly striking sense of color. The color styling of the Tom & Jerrys was always pleasingly cool and low-key, in striking contrast to the abrasive subject matter and entertaining but overbearing soundtracks of Scott Bradley. Nevertheless, there is a decent level of prime restoration going on when you can finally make out Tom’s green irises in just about every shot of the cartoon.
Unfortunately, this is not a perfect release. Unlike with other Tom & Jerry offerings, it’s not due to censorship. The huge plus in this release’s favor is the chronological and uncut presentation. Standards slipped however on the following ten cartoons, all mastered from lesser CRI elements (more on this later), so they fall very short of meeting the standards set by the other outstanding restorations contained therein. The quality ranges anywhere from serviceable to downright garbage quality. The tell-all sign is their retaining of the 1960s MGM lion logo (with no mention of Technicolor – because there was no intention of these versions ever replicating it).

                                            


I am not aware of all the inner-workings of this release. But, for the record, there is not a single set of CRI negatives for the MGM cartoons as has been perpetuated all over the Internet. Often, they have as many as two or three in existence. Some look amazing, as close to Technicolor as you can hope for, while some look absolutely putrid because they were made on the cheap (hence the later Metrocolor title cards). Puttin’ on the Dog in particular seems to be taken from faded Eastman elements. Seeing these versions mastered for Blu-Ray is akin to if WHV decided to remaster the old Turner material of the 1940s Warner shorts in high-def.
I know for a fact there are various CRI elements because MGM/UA Labs used them for the 16mm prints they distributed to TV stations and sold to collectors. Quality could vary wildly on the same title depending on how high on chemicals the lab technician was that day. Almost always, they looked absolutely fantastic. My print, struck in 1983, of Mouse Trouble looks wonderful, nothing like the embarrassing version seen on this latest release. (A comparison shot can be seen here. The digital camera didn’t get a great shot of the projected print, but the point is made.) Same goes for Lonesome Mouse and Quiet, Please!. On the other hand, some later 16s have passed through my hands that looked like hell because they were taken from what I’d like to call “Metrocolor” CRIs. One of them was Million Dollar Cat.



Perhaps it’s harsh to call the move of settling for the worser CRIs for some of the titles idiocy, but to invest thousands of dollars in brand new High-Definition transfers from source material that looks awful to begin with is pretty asinine. A lot can change in the thirty years since those pristine 16s were struck, but I have my doubts that the masters here were from the only CRI elements they had access to. Even the earlier Spotlight Collections looked better than the offending versions here. This is simply a continuation of WHV’s long pattern of ineptitude with the MGM cartoon library.
Without meaning to toot my own horn, you will never see a 100% perfect Tom & Jerry release unless either David Gerstein or I are looking over it every step of the way. This is a fact. But given that idealistic scenario will never happen, this is about as good as you’ll be getting. And 27 out of the 37 do look perfect. I’d buy it.

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The Five Most Inappropriate Cartoon Characters Of All Time

The ’80s were a wonderful time for pop culture. Disco was dead, movies were defined by “Star Wars”, and “He-Man and the Masters Of the Universe” proved absolutely anything could be made into a half-hour toy commercial. Unfortunately, the ’80s proved that last one deeply, painfully true with these five who never should have been near an animation studio.


#5) Rambo
rambo-cartoon

“First Blood” is a great action movie, but it’s also a serious study of a Vietnam veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome, unable to return to civilian life. He’s pushed too far by the abuses of small-town police and has to return to the military because he’s too psychologically broken to do anything else. The sequel threw that all out for deciding one man could single-handedly win the Vietnam war, and then the third one saw Rambo buddying with those cuddly…Afghan…Islamic terrorists.
Seems like great fodder for an ’80s cartoon, right? Death, violence, psychological trauma, mistrust of authority…didn’t the Bugs Bunny cartoons have those? No, we meant when you saw them sober. Amazingly, nobody realized just how mindblowingly inappropriate making a cartoon out of an R-rated series of movies dealing with America’s still healing wounds from Vietnam was, and this thing actually made it to air.

#4) Beetlejuice
Beetlejuice-cartoon

Speaking of death, bleakness and violence, does anything really say “kid’s stuff” to you like a movie about the afterlife and yuppies moving into a charming country house and turning it into a trendy hellhole? Because kids totally care about the tension between urban values and country living. That’s something kids discuss a lot at grade school, along with trade imbalances and the latest episode of Meet The Press.
Granted, the cartoon is actually pretty fun in that early ’90s “we can finally admit boogers exist to kids” way. But we’re just wondering how many kids went down to the video store and saw their favorite hero, Beetlejuice, on a movie cover and insisted Mommy and Daddy rent it. Although come to think of it, that was probably healthier than most of the sitcoms on in the early ’90s. What distorts your sense or reality more: one Tim Burton movie, or a season’s worth of “Family Matters?”

#3) RoboCop
Beetlejuice-cartoon

“RoboCop”, the movie, is, no joke, one of the greatest action movies of the 1980s. Movie studios saw the work of Paul Verhoeven, a Dutch director who put out brutal satires of sexual mores and social hypocrisy (read: funny movies with lots of boobs), and thought “That guy should totally be making action movies!” So they handed him a story about a cyborg cop…which he turned around into a mocking satire of everything that sucked about Hollywood action movie. The gore, the violence, the fascist tendencies that were common in the genre, the mindless consumerism, the shameless pandering…all of it.
Then everybody missed the point completely and it became an enormous hit. Verhoeven’s been getting paid for years to call people morons to their faces. Nice work if you can get it.
Anyway, the brutal satire of “RoboCop” really doesn’t scream “children’s cartoon”, but this was the ’80s! By God, if there were toys that could be sold, the studio was going to sell them, and no fruity foreign director was going to get in the way of good business!

#2) Godzilla
GodzillaCartoon

The original “Gojira” is a movie about a country trying to deal with the atomic bomb. Seriously, if you only know Godzilla from the goofier later movies, the first one’s kind of a jolt, what with the solemn choirs and the footage of people suffering from radioactivity and the woman holding her kids to her talking about how they’ll be with their dead father soon right before Godzilla stomps them flat (yes, that happened in the original).
It’s bad enough that was turned into basically a series of kiddie movies, but then the “Independence Day” guys got their hands on it and turned it into a giant iguana stomping New York for no explicable reason. Then this cartoon was made.
The cartoon’s substantially better than the movie, but still, there’s a reason that the iguana showed up in a later, real Godzilla movie…and got raped.

#1) Chuck Norris
Chuck-Norrisk-kommandos

Chuck Norris has had a lot of scary and inappropriate moments in his career, mostly due to his horribly inflated ego. “Walker, Texas Ranger” managed to handle sensitive subjects like AIDS and illegal immigration with all the subtlety of a wedgie while featuring Norris staring down a bear and revealing he keeps a rocket launcher in his pickup’s gun rack (we assure you: these are both real moments in the show). Meanwhile, he was cranking out a long series of terrible “Rambo” ripoffs mostly notable for being even more violent and stupid than the originals when he wasn’t turning out movies like “Sidekicks”, in which a teenager blatantly suffering from mental illness is encouraged to study martial arts instead of being given some anti-psychotics and told that fantasy and reality aren’t quite the same thing.
The guy has basically made a career out of beating up people he doesn’t like and announcing “I’m so awesome!” The only time he’s shown range was when Bruce Lee beat it out of him. What’s amazing is that this guy ever had a career.
Which makes “Chuck Norris Karate Kommandos” kind of disturbing, reading less like a cheap kid’s show to move toys and more like an attempt to indoctrinate kids into the Cult of Chuck. The concept was created by Norris and we’re deeply, deeply concerned that Norris really does see himself as the leader of a team of “radically diverse” karate champions fighting a secret conspiracy headed by a man named “Super Ninja”.

Deadly_Dolphin_Norris

Mark our words, “Chuck Norris: Karate Kommandos” is going to be a tragic document one day. Chuck Norris is going to burst into the Texas state house, kill a few doughy legislators with his bare hands, and then be gunned down proclaiming he saved the world from VULTURE. You heard it here first.
By Dan Seitz
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The Lion King 3D Soon Coming to a Cinema Near You and on Blu-ray 3D



Disney’s The Lion King 3D is going to be hitting 3D movie theaters on September 16th for two weeks, but the release will be available in limited number of 3D cinemas. So if you are unable to watch the new 3D version of the popular animation, you will be able to get in on Blu-ray 3D starting October 4th. The original Lion King was released in 1994 and instantly became big hit, making it one of Disney’s most popular animations and probably the one bringing in some of the highest profits, so it is no wonder that the company has decided to revive the movie in 3D. As you can guess it is a conversion from the original movie into a 3D one, so it is essentially a 2D to 3D conversion like most new movies we see in 3D nowadays. But unlike new movies that can be shot now in 3D instead of 2D and then converted to 3D, with a older classic movie you are only able to convert it to 3D if you want to bring it “back to life”… or do a remake in 3D, but that will be a process requiring a lot more time and resources.
You can say that Disney is checking the interest of the audience to see if people are going to be willing to watch an older classic animated movie on the big screen in 3D, so if The Lion King 3D turns out to be a success they may as well bring more of their popular classic animations converted into 3D. And this movie has all the chances to do it, if the conversion is really well done and the result is as convincing as if the movie was originally intended to be made in 3D format. And we have all the chances to get exactly that considering that the conversion was led by Robert Neuman as a stereographer who already has experience with making quite a few stereoscopic 3D animated movies. According to the information available the conversion of The Lion King took about 4 months to complete by a team of over 60 people, so we should be getting a high-quality 3D conversion.
Due to the fact that the movie is a hand-drawn type of animation and not computer generated 3D animation, as most recent 3D movies are made, I’m expecting that the conversion to 3D will not be that perfect. Even just considering the fact the movie has not been planned for a 3D version when was originally made and that makes some scenes harder for planning an realizing the level of depth, so that there won’t be any objects violating the stereoscopic window for example (cut by the sides or the top of the frame while at the same time they produce the feeling of jumping out of the screen). Hopefully there will be just minor issues with that of smaller objects, so that they won’t be bothersome for the audience, as you cannot just go for adding depth to the movie, you also need some things to pop-out at times for the best user experience.
Of course when having an animated movie you don’t need to add 3D to make it more realistic, after all animations do rely on stylization of the characters and scenes in order to better convey the desired emotions. Don’t forget that animations are mostly intended for younger audience and thus the extra stereoscopic 3D features in the movie should have the main goal of putting the viewer deeper into the story displayed on the screen and helping better translate the ideas of the authors of the movie. Hopefully this was done well enough in The Lion King 3D, so that instead of being WOWed by the 3D effects in the movie you will kind of forget all about the movie being a 3D one, as all your attention would be focused on the world of Simba and the adventure that lies in front of him.
Unfortunately The Lion King 3D movie won’t be hitting the movie theaters nowhere near where I live, so I’ll be waiting for the Blu-ray 3D version to become available in order to get it and watch the movie.
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Thứ Năm, 1 tháng 12, 2011

Thanksgiving’s Hot Kids Movies for 2011

As Thanksgiving approches always too quick for most of us, it's one of the most popular times for going to the movies. For a family adventure this 2011 holiday season, here’s a look at some kids movies that might be worth an outing for the entire family.
“Happy Feet Two” Rated PG
A 3-D animated movie is a sequel to 2006’s “Happy Feet” and features the voices of some of your folks’ favorite actors (Robin Williams, Brad Pitt, Elijah Wood). Mumble the Penguin now has a son, Erik, who isn’t sure he wants to dance. A penguin who won’t dance in a movie called “Happy Feet Two”? How crazy will that be.
"Arthur Christmas" Rated: PG
This is not the PBS Arthur that the little ones may may be expecting, but it's about think about an aardvark and elf who help save Christmas when technology, of all things, fails Santa.
“The Muppets” Rated: PG
Your parents will totally love you if you ask to go to this movie, because they really want to see it. Why? The Muppets remind your parents of their childhood. Miss Piggy, Kermit: What’s not to love?
“The Adventures of Tintin” Rated: PG
Tintin and Captain Haddock set off on a treasure hunt for a sunken ship commanded by Haddock's ancestor. But someone else is in search of the ship. This animated movie by the famous director Steven Spielberg, which is must see for the serious filmgoer. 
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Muppet’s Old School Special Effects

When the Muppet's made their debute back in 1969 on PBS's "Sesame Street’’, the CGI special effects so common in current movies were not possible. Even the word "muppet" is a hint of how the aminated the show's stars of Kermit and Miss Piggy, come to life though a techique of hand and puppet string operations. For the new 2011 Holiday movie releases, a new Muppet's movie is targeted to reclaim some of the old school charm to the millions of kids who grew up loving the Muppets.  

Jason Segel, director and star of this new Muppet film, hopes to mixes nostalgia into the story line, where Kermit comes out of his lonely mansion to help rescue Fozzie from a seedy Vegas bar where he performs with Muppet knock-offs so they can restore the franchise to its former glory. Puppetry is one of the oldest effects to animated objects to a life like image, and new Muppets movies remains at the top of the game. 
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Tintin's half-term adventure takes off slowly but surely

  • The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
Box office journey ... Captain Haddock (Andy Serkis) and Tintin (Jamie Bell) in The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn


Several years in the making, combining the creative efforts of box office powerhouses Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson, The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn arrived freighted with a fair amount of commercial expectation. On the other hand, Hergé's boy reporter isn't necessarily a familiar character for the pre-teen target, so it was hard to predict exactly how the film would perform.



Opening last Monday with a so-so £485,000, the film saw grosses build day by day throughout the October half-term holiday, with £640,000 on Tuesday, £1.05m on both Wednesday and Thursday, £1.11m on Friday and £1.30m on Saturday. Seven-day total is a healthy £6.76m, the biggest opening for an animated film this year. On the flipside, it only achieved that number thanks to four days of previews (totalling £3.25m), whereas Disney's Tangled debuted with £5.11m back in January, all earned over the Friday-Sunday period. Kung Fu Panda 2 kicked off its run in June with £6.19m including £3.18m in previews, on its way to a total to date of £16.83m. Tintin has opened to slightly higher numbers than the chop-sockey panda, but the school holiday was its best chance to suck up audiences, and midweek takings should dip going forward. At least it faces no direct challenge for families until the arrival of Aardman's Arthur Christmas on 11 November.


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The Movie Blog’s 10 Best Animated Films Of All Time

Best-Animated-Transformers.jpg

Making any sort of “Top 10″ list is always a tricky and dangerous thing. As I always say, all film is subjective, and that means no one on the planet will 100% agree with my list (and believe it or not, you’ll have a hard time finding people who 100% agree with your list too), and the real beauty of it is that neither of us is objectively wrong. That’s the best thing about film.
So why have these lists? Because they’re great for discussion and debate and give us as film fans yet another excuse just to think about, talk about and celebrate some of the greatest movies ever made. So why not?
Exactly 3 years ago today, I put up my first Top 10 Animated Films list, so I thought it would be an interesting exercise to do another list, and then see how it has changed from the original one I did. I’d also like to repeat something I said back in 2005:
“I should also mention that I’m NOT ranking these by technical merit. If I was, then Final Fantasy The Spirits Within would be #1. I’m ranking these by how well they performed as movies. Did they make me FEEL something, laugh, get choked up and most importantly get interested in the characters and their story.”
So with that said, I now present to you The Movie Blog’s Top 10 Best Animated Films of All Time:
Top-Animated-Spirited.jpg #10 – SPIRITED AWAY
Perhaps more than any other film on this list, Spirited Away has the magical ability to envelop you in the wonder of fantasy. I remarkably solid story, beautiful style and re-watchability. It just barely failed to make my list last time, but I seem to appreciate it more and more each year

Top-Animated-Web.jpg #9 – CHARLOTTE’S WEB (1973)
That’s one fine Pig. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t mind the 2006 version at all… but it lacked the pure heart of the original. I also think it was the first movie that actually scared me as a kid. It took me a little while to eat pork again. Clearly I got over it. I LOVE this movie.

Top-Animated-Toy.jpg #8 – TOY STORY
I’m actually a bit surprised this movie comes in this low on my list. The first legitimate hit 3d animated film was far more than just novelty. It set the standard for Pixar to make movies, not cartoons. To tell tales with wonderful characters and meaningful stories rather than just the regular tripe you can get away with easily in the name of making “kids movies”

Top-Animated-Incredibles.jpg #7 – THE INCREDIBLES
Without exaggeration I think I’ve watched this movie from start to finish about 15 times… and I haven’t yet started to get bored with it. Funny and exciting, the film is also surprisingly deep in terms of dealing with issues like aging, family, priorities and marriage. Not just your average kids movie.

Top-Animated-Ratatouille.jpg #6 – RATATOUILLE
The #1 critically rated movie (not just animated movie) of 2007, and yet was not nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars… pretty much delegitimizing the entire “animated feature” category they have at the annual awards. This was (in my opinion) one of the best films of the year and it didn’t get its due because of the medium it used. Pure rubbish if you ask me (funny how no one did).

Top-Animated-Iron-Giant.jpg #5 – IRON GIANT
One of those rare movies that I remember not even enjoying the very first time I saw it… but then I watched it again for some reason and liked it more. Then again and I liked it even more. 10 times in now and my enjoyment of it seems to continue to grow with each and every viewing. Funny how some random and heavily digitized tone talking is Vin Diesel’s best performance ever.

Top-Animated-Beauty.jpg #4 – BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
This movie is nothing short of beautiful. In my opinion the best music of any animated film, and the only animated film in history to actually be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards (well deserved too). This movie is a masterpiece that makes me look forward to being a parent someday so I can share it with my kids.

Top-Animated-Toy-2.jpg #3 – TOY STORY 2
One of the greatest sequels of all time and one of the very rare ones that actually out does the original. As the story goes, Toy Story 2 was meant to be direct to video… but as development progressed the powers that be recognized they had something pretty special on their hands and decided to make it a wide theatrical release. Good thing they did. One of the only wide release films in history to hold a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Top-Animated-WallE.jpg #2 – WALL-E
I don’t know why I doubted Pixar… but for some reason going into Wall-E I had my doubts it was even going to be any good. My dear sweet heavens it was far beyond anything I could have hoped for or imagined. A magnificent story told with movement and drama communicated with setting. Breathtaking in its scope yet endearing in its simplicity. I’m going to blow a gasket if this movie doesn’t at least get nominated for Best Picture this year.

Top-Animated-Lion.jpg #1 – THE LION KING
No matter how many times I watch it, when the movie starts with the sun peaking over the African horizon and those voices start to sing the opening to “The Circle Of Life”, something in me stirs… and it doesn’t stop until the film ends. The first time I saw it 14 year ago I knew I had just seen a movie that would stay with me forever. Still today, in my opinion, the best animated movie ever made
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    • ▼  tháng 12 (19)
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      • More "Justice League: Doom" Casting News
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      • Green Lantern Animated Series to Debut at NYCC
      • Top 10 Live Action Anime Films
      • I can’t describe how many times I thought ‘whoah...
      • “I’ll strangle the guy who sez CRI Technicolor!”
      • The Five Most Inappropriate Cartoon Characters Of ...
      • The Lion King 3D Soon Coming to a Cinema Near You ...
      • Thanksgiving’s Hot Kids Movies for 2011
      • Muppet’s Old School Special Effects
      • Tintin's half-term adventure takes off slowly but ...
      • The Movie Blog’s 10 Best Animated Films Of All Time
      • Alladin’s A whole New World in Japanese
      • Steve McQueen Bullitt Japanese poster
      • David Henrie and Bridgit Mendler Star In A New Ani...
      • Greatest Cartoon Rivalries
      • The voice of Green Lantern
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