inspiration(animation+film): mega movie blitz
I know, I know, it’s been a minute since I’ve written anything. My bad. 
 Months have just flown by in a snap. Now it’s April, and seeing as how this is my birthday month, I figured now was as good of a time as any to get back on track. Over the last month or so, I’ve been watching quite a few animated movies. I was going to blog about them separately, but I thought it would be more interesting to make this a super post. So here goes.
WATCHMEN
Ok, so the first movie up at bat isn’t an animated film at all, but it contains computer graphics, so I’ll allow it. I wrote a blog a while back about the awesomeness of the trailer, and I was counting down the days until the release of the movie. At the time of that post, I had yet to read the graphic novel but I was intrigued enough by the trailer to do so. I ended up loving it and reading it twice. If you haven’t read it, I would highly suggest you do so. It is a richly layered story that is both engaging and thought provoking.
ANYWAY, back to the movie. I went on opening night with the fanboys and got to see it again a few days later on IMAX. Overall, I thought that Zack Snyder did a very good job given the extremely dense text. He stayed pretty faithful to the comic, both in storyline and visuals. There were some scenes in the movie that were ripped straight out of the graphic novel, and I thought that was a nice touch.
Funny enough, the very thing that I loved about the trailer is what I hated about the actual movie: The music. I found the music choices to be extremely jarring and distracting. Some of the song choices were too iconic (“Hallelujah”, “All Along the Watchtower”). Technically they fit perfectly within their respective scenes, and that is what ruined it for me. The songs seemed TOO obvious and at times made the movie feel campy. I understand that some of these songs were from the time period, but I didn’t feel like it was necessary do that. I also know some songs like, “All Along the Watchtower”, were taken from references within the graphic novel, but I still didn’t like it in the actual film. Bottom line: Watchmen was very good, but I probably would have liked it even more if it was as successful as meshing the music and visuals together as well as the trailer.
CORALINE
I’m usually good about keeping up with upcoming animated films, but I only found out about this movie after reading a behind-the-scenes article in Wired magazine. The amount of detail and patience that goes into stop motion films never ceases to amaze me. From tiny, hand-knit sweaters, to tree blossoms fashioned out of painted popcorn, Coraline is visually stunning.
What made the movie even cooler was seeing it in 3D. I’ve seen 3D movies before. The effect is usually cool for a few minutes until you start getting a headache, and then it just gets old. There is now a new 3D technique being used called, “RealD” , which is a LOT more successful. First off, previous so-called 3d movies were not all in 3D. Usually there was only 20 minutes or so of 3D effects, and the rest of the movie was normal. An icon would pop up telling you when to put your 3D glasses on or take them off during certain scenes. It did not make for a seamless movie going experience. On the flip side, I watched Coraline with my 3D glasses on the entire time. The effects looked more natural and realistic, and it never hurt my eyes. I was very impressed.
Oh yeah, and the story is great, too. 
If you’re not familiar with it, it’s about a girl who feels neglected by her parents and comes to discover an alternate world where she finds the perfect version of her parents. Or so she thinks. It may be too late to see it in 3D, but I would highly recommend checking it out when it comes out on DVD. In the meantime, visit the film’s official YouTube page for interesting vids about the process.
MONSTERS VS. ALIENS
Seeing Coraline in 3D impressed me so much, that I was curious to see another film using the same technology. It was just as cool. I went to see the movie on a night when I was in a crappy mood. I was hoping it would be a pick-me-up, and it did the trick. It’s a cute film that’s entertaining and funny, and the animation was very well done. It also comes with the message, “be comfortable with who you are”, so you can’t go wrong with that.
WALL-E
I, like most other sane people, am in love with Pixar films. They are extremely well crafted and usually become instant classics. That being said, I had NO desire to see WALL-E in the theater when it first came out. The trailer looked boring, and I didn’t think Wall-E was that cute. I knew that as a Pixar film it had to be good, but that still didn’t pique my interest. It was only after I started hearing everyone rave about it that I decided to give it a chance. I tried to catch it in the theater but never got around to it. Then, there was a huge wait on Netflix, so that delayed me from seeing it even more. Finally, I broke down and bought it last week during Virgin Megastore’s “going out of business” sale. I’m really sad about that….but, I digress.
Yes, I LOVED Wall-E. I was in yet another crappy mood (I had a rough week lol), so this made for a perfect calming evening. I turned all my lights off, curled up in a blanket and watched a robot love story. I was worried that the repetitive cries of “Wall-E” and “Eva” would get on my nerves after a while, but it didn’t bother me. In fact, I was amazed that a movie with minimal dialog (and minimal action in some parts) could keep from being boring. The animation was gorgeous. I definitely regretted missing it in the theater, but I bought it on blu-ray, so that was a good runner-up. I’m very happy to have it as part of my DVD collection.
BOLT
I actually did want to see this movie in the theater, but I never got around to it. I wish I had, because I found out it was in 3D, as well. It turned out to be a sad, yet adorable movie. It is about a dog who believes, with every fiber of his being ,that the tv show he’s a part of is real. He then gets let loose into the real world by accident, and he thinks he’s still a crime fighting dog with super powers. Watching the poor, delusional dog try to figure out why he no longer has heat-vision will make you laugh and break your heart lol. And if you watch it for no other reason, Rhino the hamster is hilarious!
So, there you have it folks. It’s my mega movie blitz in a nutshell. Oh, and in case you think I’ve been sitting on my butt, watching movies all day, I’m about to launch a few websites…so stay tuned. One of them will be a relaunch of my site, Fotogirl.net, on my 30th birthday!
I know everyone and their momma has been talking about this trailer, but I don’t care. I had to get on the bandwagon and join in on the chorus of “oohs” and “ahhs”. I will start by saying that I have not had a chance to read the graphic novel, so I didn’t know much anything about the story upon viewing. A quick Wikipedia search (and a geeky friend) remedied some of that, but I will still be getting my hands on a copy in the near future. The trailer didn’t give the non-fanboy any hints either, and yet I was still intrigued. Am I easily swayed by shiny, pretty graphics? A little bit. No Judging. I was able to see it on an IMAX screen though, so I doubt many could blame me.
It wasn’t the graphics alone that reeled me in. I’ve gushed before about my love for the perfect music/visual combo, and this trailer is a wonderful example of that. The song used is an old Smashing Pumpkins B-side, “The Beginning is the End is the Beginning”. The dark mood of the song meshes beautifully with the gritty graphics, and is only enhanced when certain actions on screen fall in line with the beat. I always know a good combo when I’m dying to hear the song long after the images fade, and when I do, it causes the images to instantly replay in my head. Seeing as how I’m listening to the song as I write this, I can safely say that this trailer was a success in that regard. If you haven’t seen it (or want to see it again), take a peek below.
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