The first imperative for a producing company is that a film be profitable, preferably obscenely profitable, but for a viewer and lover of films the most important criteria of a movie is to transport us to other worlds and into the lives of other people in an entertaining fashion. An American film director once said: “a film is an immensely likable group of people doing an impossible task”. The producers of TRON: Legacy failed to embrace any element of this quote.

A few posts ago, someone asked me if I thought Sylvain Chomet’s The Illusionist would have been a better film if it had more dialogue.  At the time, I had not yet seen it and couldn’t give an opinion.  It finally opened in Chicago, I saw it and am ready to discuss it. Unfortunately, the film is a frustrating near miss.  The lack of dialogue is not the biggest problem. More significantly the girl’s character is not fleshed out.

 

A funny thing happened on the way to my Facebook page.  A handful of professional contacts refused to be my friend, not because they didn’t like me, but because they weren’t on Facebook.  The interesting thing was that they seemed to take pride in not being on Facebook.  This reminded me of something I’ve noticed over my career, an odd anomaly about many writers and artists: They don’t like to promote themselves.  Not a good idea!  Here's why...

 

 

Write me the next “Toy Story”!

Oh, and did I mention there’s only $25,000 for the script?

I’m going to use this post to vent a little—but also to make a point specifically for the benefit of all the producers around the world who want to make animated features.

The calls for the creation of a visual effects union are coming from all quarters, but how do we really go about this and for what purpose? The idea of a union brings to mind a period of time when the American economy was based on industry and the worker realized the importance of his place in the great machine. He then flexed his muscles to assure that he was given an equitable piece of the pie. How have we lost that power? How has that other part of the machinery, “business,” so gotten the upper hand that we are bidding on jobs that we know will cost us more to complete than we make? Add to that the human cost of stunningly difficult hours and circumstances that leave us reeling after delivery and wondering what hit us. Together they combine into a perfect storm of insult and injury. It’s more akin to an addiction than a career.

When I reviewed PART 1, I said that it wasn't a complete film and that everyone needed to check back to see how I really liked it when I'd seen the whole film. I'm happy to report that the conclusion of the HARRY POTTER series is epic and ultimately satisfying. And unlike PART 1 it works as a stand-alone film too.

The film picks up where the last one left off and the more familiar one is with PART 1 the easier it will be to follow this one. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliff) strikes a deal with the goblin Griphook (Warwick Davis, RETURN OF THE JEDI) to sneak into the Gringotts bank to search the vault of Bellatrix Lestrange (Helena Bonham Carter, SWEENEY TODD) for one of the horcruxes, which hold a piece of the soul of Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes, THE ENGLISH PATIENT). Destroying them is the key to defeating You Know Who.

The decision to be a professional artist is unlike any other.  There is no single well-trod path to success and, anyway, how is success measured when it comes to an art?  Is it a dollar amount?  Is an animator who worked on, say, “Up” more successful than one who worked on, say, “Waltz with Bashir” or “Triplets of Belleville” or the game “Fable II”?   Or perhaps you consider animation to be a craft more than an art?

The Princess and the Frog has been endlessly reviewed and dissected by the media. But I haven’t read a damned thing that really said anything.So, if you care to to read what I really think about this film, read on….I’m being purposely critical, which is against my nature for the most part. But hell, somebody’s got to do it, so I’ll bite the bullet and play the part of hardened critic.

 

 

CafeFX going on hiatus is just another example of how the state of California sits by and watches a great and green business fade into the sunset.

This Disney Animation Studio flick came and went in a heartbeat despite being overseen by John Lasseter.  The published production budget was US$165 million, which means the real cost was close to US$200 million.  What the studio got for that investment was the sharpest CG animation in years from Disney and 188 merchandising opportunities.  The animation is brilliant, and the animators that did it deserve more applause than they probably received.  It's not their fault the movie is mediocre. 188 characters 'with names" in a single movie is bound to come up short because the audience can't keep up with them all. Neither Star Wars nor Tora! Tora! Tora! had so many characters.   Let's put aside the discussion about whether or not Wreck-It-Ralph is a variation on Toy Story, which I think it surely is.  The plot involves what happens when the character Wreck-It-Ralph decides he is tired of being the villain.  He goes on a game-jumping quest to be a hero, finally discovering that ("surprise!") one is never a villain in one's own life.  "To thine own self be true."  Ralph's journey includes plenty of maniacle careening around accompanied by loud video game noises.  If empathy was evoked for any character, the moment escaped me.  In other words, Wreck-It-Ralph is a concept in search of a worthwhile story.