Category: Animated

Posted on 2022-05-25 | No Comments |

Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001)

I’ve never seen an episode of the television show, but I was really surprised that the film preceded the first episode. The movie throws you right into the action as the boy genius and his friend travel in a makeshift rocket to launch a communications satellite into space, which unfortunately attracts the wrong type of extraterrestrials. For fans of child-friendly animation, the story is certainly relatable enough and fits well with other animated films of the era. The animation style is unfortunately early CGI with the expected quality and ugliness that accompanies that.

Oscar Nomination: Best Animated Feature

Posted on 2022-05-15 | No Comments |

Peter & the Wolf (2006)

Similar to the well-known 1946 Disney version, this is an animated rendition of Prokofiev’s similarly titled musical composition. Young Peter disobeys his Grandfather’s directive to stay out of the forest and plays with his animal friends only for the party to come face to face with a large wolf. The story is told completely through the music without any narration. While I appreciate some of the clever changes made to the story, I was less enamored with the stop motion animation style.

Oscar Win: Best Short Film, Animated

Posted on 2022-05-15 | No Comments |

Heavy Metal (1981)

The embodiment of evil known as the Loc-Nar hitches a ride to Earth with an astronaut. After murdering the astronaut, the being regales the astronaut’s terrified daughter with an anthology of tales where he defeated the forces of good. While there are some interesting bits in the various stories, the majority of the film fits firmly into a horny teenaged boy’s fever dream. There are a ridiculous amount of naked breasts and women willing to drop trou for anyone with a penis. The soundtrack is incredibly kick-ass featuring the likes of Black Sabbath, Journey, and Cheap Trick.

Posted on 2022-05-14 | No Comments |

Sing 2 (2021)

Set some time after the events from Sing, this sequel has the group of talented misfits successfully staging local musical productions while producer Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) aspires to make it bigger by performing in their version of Las Vegas. The story follows similar notes to the first with its large cast of characters and the portrayal of their various struggles interspersed with renditions of popular tunes as if it were an extended episode of Glee. New to the cast Pharrell Williams is somewhat wasted as a love interest for Tori Kelly’s elephant character Meena, while other newcomer Bono surprisingly brings heart to the story as a rock legend who retired after the death of his wife.

Posted on 2022-04-25 | No Comments |

Flee (2021)

For the first time in 20 years, Afghan immigrant Amin Nawabi shared the truth of his experience immigrating to Denmark by way of Russia with his friend, director Jonas Poher Rasmussen. Mainly told in a classic animated style interspersed occasionally with archival footage, Amin’s entire family experienced horrors together and individually in leaving their homeland, horrors that continue to resonate in Nawabi’s current life and relationship with his boyfriend. It’s an important, powerful tale, presented in a very personal way, that at least for me felt a bit removed in its narrative and visual style.

Oscar Nominations: Best Documentary Feature; Best Animated Feature Film; Best International Feature Film

Posted on 2022-04-01 | No Comments |

Panda and the Magic Serpent (1958)

With the help of his animal friends, Xu-Xian attempts to overcome obstacles placed by a local monk in order to reunite with his princess love. Known for being the first color anime and one of the first to reach United States soil, the animation is adorably rendered, particularly the two animals. Sadly the version I watched on Hoopla was a poor copy and the colors and line work are rather faded and washed out.

Posted on 2022-03-27 | No Comments |

Strings (1991)/Your Face (1987)/Yes-People (2020)

In Strings, a woman gets ready for her bath while her downstairs neighbor prepares for the arrival of his string quartet. The animation style isn’t really my type of thing as the lines and colors are quite muddied and undefined. The story is cute enough with forced interaction between the two principles coming in the form of a leaky bathtub.

Bill Plympton’s style is really not my thing. I remember similar shorts, maybe even cuts from this one, as interstitials on MTV back in the day. Your Face is comprised of a man singing Your Face is Like a Song while his face morphs and folds in upon itself in different forms. Despite being quite ugly, the morphing is done seamlessly through the song.

The cast of of Yes People is a group of people who live in the same apartment building. The dialogue consists almost entirely of various iterations of the word ‘yes’. The plot, as well as the animation, is exceptionally simple but still rather cute.

Oscar Nominations: Best Short Film, Animated (all three)

Posted on 2022-03-26 | No Comments |

Three Songs for Benazir (2021)/The Windshield Wiper (2021)

Three Songs for Benazir is an interesting documentary short about a young married couple living in a displaced persons camp in Kabul. The husband Shaista dreams of joining the Afghan National Army but his elder’s rejection of the idea means his life takes a drastically different turn. The film maintains a delicate touch by simply following the participants over the course of a number of years with no commentary except the actions of the subjects themselves.

The Windshield Wiper poses the question ‘what is love?’ through a series of otherwise unrelated vignettes. I didn’t love the aesthetic of the animation style on this one and find it rather ugly visually. The question is a bit pretentious to begin with and the film doesn’t even bother going anywhere in answering the question.

Oscar Win: Best Animated Short Film (The Windshield Wiper)

Oscar Nomination: Best Documentary Short Subject (Three Songs for Benazir)

Posted on 2022-03-20 | No Comments |

Affairs of the Art (2021)/On My Mind (2021)

The main character of Affairs of the Art is a middle-aged woman with dreams of being a renowned artist. She recounts her obsession with art by detailing her other family member’s obsessions, including her sister’s taxidermy. The story is a bit unhinged and the animation style is definitely not my thing.

In On My Mind, a man walks into an empty bar and orders a drink. When he realizes they also host karaoke, he aggressively pushes to use the machine against the owner’s preferences. It’s a bit of a cliched story and the actions of the characters across the board don’t feel realistic , but it is heartfelt and well-meaning.

Oscar Nominations: Best Animated Short Film (Affairs of the Art); Best Live Action Short Film (On My Mind)

Posted on 2022-03-18 | No Comments |

Far From the Tree (2021)

Included with the DVD for Encanto, this short follows a young raccoon as she travels with her father from their forest home to the nearby seaside. Whenever she wanders from her father’s view, he aggressively returns her to safety. With a traditional animated look and tight story telling, this was much more my sort of thing than the movie it accompanied.