Tag: Animation

50 Years, 50 Movies (1992): Porco Rosso

~ Liam ~ 6 Comments

I will turn 50 in November of this year, so my project for 2023 will be to watch and review one movie from each year of my life.  The only qualification is that it has to be a movie I’ve not reviewed previously.

 

1992

Top Grossing Movies of 1992:

  • Aladdin
  • The Bodyguard
  • Home Alone 2: Lost In New York
  • Basic Instinct
  • Lethal Weapon 3

Best Picture Oscar Nominees and Winners of 1992:

Other Movies I’ve Reviewed from 1992:

Title: Porco Rosso
Release Date: July 18, 1992
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Production Company: Studio Ghibli
Summary/Review:

I’d rather be a pig than a fascist.

Marco, a.k.a. Porco Rosso (Shūichirō Moriyama) is a veteran pilot of The Great War who left the Italian air force after the rise of fascism. He continues to fly as a bounty hunter who fights against sky pirates the menace the ships sailing among the islands of the Adriatic Sea.  Oh, also, he has the head of a pig.

Of all of Hayao Miyazaki’s films, this is the one that seems more grounded in a historical reality while simultaneously immersed in fantasy. Porco Rosso is drawn into a duel with American flying ace Donald Curtis (Akio Ōtsuka).  This requires repairs to his beloved plane, an learning to trust Fio Piccolo (Akemi Okamura), the young woman who works for her family’s aircraft company and takes charge of making the repairs and improvements.

It’s a wonderfully imaginative and funny movie that is a pastiche on film conventions of the 1920/30s with a touch of feminism.

Rating: ***1/2

90 Movies in 90 Days: Boy and the World (2013)

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I’m kicking off 2023 by trying to watch and review one movie every day for the first 90 days, most of which will be 90 minutes or less.

Title: Boy and the World
Release Date: September 20, 2013
Director: Alê Abreu
Production Company: Filme de Papel
Summary/Review:

In this vividly-animated film from Brazil that sometimes resembles the artwork of Eric Carle, a small boy named Cuca discovers the harsh realities of the world. Life is idyllic for Cuca in his rural home until his father has to leave home to work in the city.  Cuca decides to look for his father and ends up on an adventure that takes him from farms to futuristic cities to industrial hellscapes.  The movie carries a strong message about the exploitation of labor, repressive government, and environmental degradation wrapped in visually-stunning animation. It wows you with awe and it makes you cry.

Rating: ****1/2

90 Movies in 90 Days: Ghost in the Shell (1995)

~ Liam ~ 2 Comments

I’m kicking off 2023 by trying to watch and review one movie every day for the first 90 days, most of which will be 90 minutes or less.

Title: Ghost in the Shell
Release Date: 18 November 1995
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Production Company: Production I.G | Bandai Visual | Manga Entertainment
Summary/Review:

In a cyberpunk future Japan, Major Motoko Kusanag (Mimi Woods) is an assault squadron leader for a public security agency with cybernetic enhancements.  She and her partner Batou (Richard Epcar)investigate an entity known as the Puppet Master (Tom Wyner) who is suspected of hacking into various cyborgs.  The more she learns of the Puppet Master the more Motoko questions her own identity.

This movie is brutally violent, but also has long periods that are almost meditative.  The animation is stunning and must’ve been mind-blowing in 1995.  The score is also magnificent.  Buuuut, there are also segments with characters providing lengthy exposition dumps and dry philosophical conversations.  For some reason Motoko has to be nude to fight and the animators are really into depicting her erect nipples, which is really sexist.  So, this is obviously an innovative and groundbreaking movie (and one that is part of a progression from Blade Runner to The Matrix), but I recommend it with reservations.

Rating: ***

50 Years, 50 Movies (2012): ParaNorman

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I will turn 50 in November of this year, so my project for 2023 will be to watch and review one movie from each year of my life.  The only qualification is that it has to be a movie I’ve not reviewed previously.

 

2012

Top Grossing Movies of 2012:

  1. The Avengers
  2. The Dark Knight Rises
  3. The Hunger Games
  4. Skyfall
  5. The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2

Best Picture Oscar Nominees and Winners

Other Movies I’ve Reviewed from 2012:

Title: ParaNorman
Release Date: August 3, 2012
Director: Sam Fell & Chris Butler
Production Company: Laika
Summary/Review:

Norman Babcock (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is an 11-year-old who can see and talk with dead people.  His talent is related to a curse of a woman executed for witchcraft in the colonial era of his hometown of Blithe Hollow, Massachusetts.  But for Norman, it means he’s considered a weird and an outcast by his family and classmates.  When the witch’s curse causes zombies to arise it’s up to Norman to find a solution along with an ad hoc crew of his only friend Neil (Tucker Albrizzi), his older sister Courtney (Anna Kendrick), his bully Alvin (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and Neil’s buff older brother Mitch (Casey Affleck).

The stop motion animation is impressive, making everyone and everything look grotesque which is on theme.  I liked the way they used a zombie story to tell a story that focuses on themes of self-acceptance and reconciliation.  On the other hand the running gags about mob mentality got tired quickly.  Overall this is a clever and entertaining movie and should be enjoyed by families with older children. It would pair well in a double feature with Wendell & Wild.

Rating: ***

90 Movies in 90 Days: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

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I’m kicking off 2023 by trying to watch and review one movie every day for the first 90 days, most of which will be 90 minutes or less.

Title: Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Release Date: December 21, 2022
Director: Joel Crawford
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation
Summary/Review:

I was surprised by the popular acclaim of Puss in Boots: The Last Wish since it came out, because sequels of spinoffs of animated franchises generally aren’t all that good. I only became aware of the character Puss in Boots recently when I watched Shrek 2 for the first time.  My linear mind felt I would need to watch the rest of the Shrek sequels and the original Puss in Boots first, but I overcame that inclination.

And I was just fine, because Puss in Boots: The Last Wish is an excellent standalone feature and if referenced anything in earlier movies I didn’t feel like I was missing out.  Oh, and the hype is real.  This is a funny, creative, visually-imaginative, and heartfelt film which has something for the whole family (except maybe the youngest children).

The adventurer Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) has lost 8 of his 9 lives and begins to fear his mortality with Death, in the form of a Wolf (Wagner Moura), literally tailing him.  He learns of a map that leads to a magical wishing star and determines to steal the map and use the wish to gain more lives.  His companions on the journey are fellow adventurer (and on-again/off-again romantic interest) Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault) and Perrito (Harvey Guillén), a kindhearted but dim Chihuahua.  They are chased by the crime family of Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (Olivia Coleman, Ray Winstone, and Samson Kayo) who are in turn pursued by the psychotic pastry chef “Big” Jack Horner (John Mulaney).

A simple summary of the movies plot would be “the real treasure is the friends we made along the way” but that would undervalue the high quality of the characterization and storytelling.  The movie is very funny and I particularly like how Puss can code switch between being a Spanish adventurer and the behavior of real life cats.  Similarly, all of the characters have moments that reference their fairy tale/nursery rhyme origins in clever ways. The animation style is stunning and changes to enhance action and fantasy sequences.  It feels like a bold choice for the filmmakers to break from just using the same style they’ve used throughout the Shrek franchise.

So, this movie probably has no right to be as good as it is.  But it is good, and I tip my hat to everyone involved for putting their best into it.

Rating: ****

90 Movies in 90 Days: The Breadwinner (2017)

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I’m kicking off 2023 by trying to watch and review one movie every day for the first 90 days, all of which will be 90 minutes or less.

Title: The Breadwinnner
Release Date: November 17, 2017
Director: Nora Twomey
Production Company: Cartoon Saloon | Aircraft Pictures | Guru Studio | Jolie Pas | Melusine Productions
Summary/Review:

Cartoon Salon and director Nora Twomey (The Secret of Kells, My Father’s Dragon) bring the unique visual style used in films based on Irish folklore to a story about recent history in Afghanistan.  Set in 2001, under the rule of the Taliban, 11-year-old Parvana (Saara Chaudry) is the middle child in a poor family living in Kabul.  When her father is imprisoned the family faces starvation due to the laws that require women and girls to be escorted by a male relative any time they are in public.

With no man in the family, Parvana cuts her hair and wears the clothes of her deceased older brother Sulayman in order to make money and bring home food for the family.  Adopting the name Aatish, she meets another girl Shauzia disguised as a boy named Deliwar (Soma Bhatia) who shows her the ropes on finding jobs.  The movie has a storytelling element as well as Parvana tells an ongoing story of a boy on a quest to save his village from an evil Elephant King.  The stories are vividly animated in a style that stands apart from the more lifelike depiction of contemporary Kabul.

It’s a beautiful film that depicts a grim side of humanity but with the inspiration of Parvana’s perseverance.

Rating: ****

90 Movies in 90 Days: Son of the White Mare (1981)

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I’m kicking off 2023 by trying to watch and review one movie every day for the first 90 days, all of which will be 90 minutes or less.

Title: Son of the White Mare
Release Date: 22 October 1981
Director: Marcell Jankovics
Production Company: PannóniaFilm
Summary/Review:

Son of the White Mare is a visually-stunning animated adaptation of ancient Hungarian folklore.  The White Mare actually has three sons, all humanoid with super powers.  The youngest and strongest is Treeshaker who teams up with his brothers Stonecrumbler and Irontemperer to find the entrance to the Underworld where three princesses have been kidnapped by three dragons.  The film is episodic, typically with the older brothers failing a quest, and then Treeshaker succeeding, and battles against new and bigger villains that anticipates video game structure.

What sets this movie apart is the bold colors and symmetrical design of the animation that feels like Mary Blair and Lisa Frank went to an acid test.  For viewers interested in literary symbolism, Treeshaker and his brothers represent masculine archetypes in a world that seems to be filled with representations of women’s genitatlia. This feels like the type of movie that was screened at midnight movies for generations of college students on hallucinogens, along with Fantastic Planet and Heavy Metal.  Turns out that it was only released in the US in 2020.  Even at 86 minutes, it feels like it goes on too long, but it’s definitely worth a watch.

Rating: ***1/2

90 Movies in 90 Days: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1959)

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I’m kicking off 2023 by trying to watch and review one movie every day for the first 90 days, all of which will be 90 minutes or less.

Title: A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Release Date: 25 September 1959
Director: Jiří Trnka
Production Company: Studio Kresleného a Loutkového Filmu
Summary/Review: Czech animator Jiří Trnka created this stop-motion interpretation of William Shakespeare’s play as his last feature film before his death.  The puppets in this film move in the jaunty motion reminiscent of Rankin/Bass productions but much more elegant.  Oddly, I’ve never seen/read A Midsummer Night’s Dream, but I’m informed that this is a loose interpretation of the play.  Trnka leans into the “dream” of the title embracing the unreality of sleep.  Unfortunately, the only version of this film I could find was on YouTube (with Spanish captions translated into English), but I bet if the film were cleaned up and released on big screens it would be fascinating to watch for all the details.
Rating: ***1/2

 

90 Movies in 90 Days: Shrek 2 (2004)

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I’m kicking off 2023 by trying to watch and review one movie every day for the first 90 days, all of which will be 90 minutes or less.

Title: Shrek 2
Release Date: May 19, 2004
Director:Andrew Adamson | Kelly Asbury | Conrad Vernon
Production Company: DreamWorks Animation | PDI/DreamWorks
Summary/Review:

Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz) have their marital bliss interrupted by a call to visit Fiona’s parents King Harold (John Cleese) and Queen Lillian (Julie Andrews!) in the kingdom of Far Far Away.  It’s basically “Meet the Parents” Shrek-style with the central premise of Shrek wondering if on ogre is good enough for a princess. They are joined on the journey by Donkey (Eddie Murphy) and meet a new ally along the way in the form of the hilarious Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas).  Meanwhile, Fairy Godmother (Jennifer Saunders) tries to sabotage Shrek and Fiona’s marriage on behalf of her son Prince Charming (Rupert Everett).

The movie is full of references to famous film moments, parodies of fairy tale conventions, and needle drops that somehow almost always work. I kind of feel like the movie rehashes a lot of the ground covered in the original, but it doesn’t make it any less entertaining.

Rating: ***1/2

90 Movies in 90 Days: Ernest & Celestine

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I’m kicking off 2023 by trying to watch and review one movie every day for the first 90 days, all of which will be 90 minutes or less.

Title: Ernest & Celestine
Release Date: 12 December 2012
Director: Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar,  & Benjamin Renner
Production Company: La Parti Productions | Les Armateurs | Melusine Productions
Summary/Review:

This charming animated movie is set in a universe populated by anthropomorphic mice and anthropomorphic bears, and where the two species hate one another.  Celestine (Mackenzie Foy) is a young mouse training for dentistry but who really wants to be an artist.  Ernest (Forest Whitaker) is a down on his luck bear who fails to make a living as a street musician.  The pair end up meeting and helping one another out of their respective jams (which burglary).  They bond and form a friendship while hiding out at Ernest’s rural house.

The movie does a good job of showing how misfits in their own communities coming together to form a found family.  It also shows the importance of artists in societies built on striving.  And of course it’s a story of overcoming prejudice against people different from oneself.  The movie is never heavy handed about any of these themes up until the simultaneous courtroom scenes at the climax of the movie that didn’t work too well for me.  The same team that created A Town Called Panic were involved in this movie, but it can’t be any more different stylistically in the hand-drawn animation that resembles watercolors and is gentle where the earlier film is chaotic.

The English voice cast also includes Lauren Bacall in one of the final roles before her death.

Rating: ***1/2