Big Hollywood » animation

‘Tangled’ Review: Spectacular 3D Disney Adventure

Carl Kozlowski — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 19:53:13 +0000

There are many kinds of prisons in this world, some literal and some figurative but no less destructive to the basic human need for freedom. And from childhood, one fairy tale that teaches us about that imprisonment and quest to be free is “Rapunzel,” the story of a girl who’s locked away in a tower to hide her amazing golden hair from the world.

Now, Disney has finally gotten around to bringing Rapunzel’s story to life on the big screen with the new 3D cartoon “Tangled.” Since Disney scored lackluster results with last year’s Christmas-season cartoon, “The Princess and The Frog,” and realized that that film had almost zero appeal to boys, they’ve strived to make sure this new cartoon holds strong appeal for males and females of all ages.

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So here, the Mouse House wisely decided to add a heroic male character named Jake (voiced by Zac Levi of “Chuck”), who stumbles across Rapunzel (Mandy Moore) in the highly hidden tower she’s kept in by an evil woman, Mother Gothel (Donna Murphy) who kidnapped her as a child. Mother Gothel has kept Rapunzel a lifelong prisoner because of the fact that her golden hair has the magical power of imparting eternal youth upon whomever sings a special song to it, and Mother Gothel wants that power for herself alone.

When Rapunzel tricks Mother Gothel to embark on a three-day journey for supplies, she takes advantage of her new friendship with Jake and embarks on her first journey to the outside world in the hopes of discovering why a shower of lights hits the night skies every year on her birthday. The lights are launched by the king and queen she was taken from, as they hope someday she’ll see them and return to her rightful life as royalty.

As she and Jake make their way to the kingdom, they befriend a bar-ful of scary-looking yet good-natured rogues who become invaluable support as the duo are threatened repeatedly by the Stabbington Brothers, two giant and malevolent goons enlisted by Mother Gothel to force her return to the castle.

“Tangled” makes spectacular use of its 3D effects, not only in creating pretty surroundings for its characters to move through, but also to create an impressive array of action scenes that are several cuts above the norm for most animated fare. There are numerous fights and escapes along the way that pay a definite homage to Indiana Jones’ classic escapades – particularly the climactic canyon battle in “Temple of Doom.”

Levi is most impressive in translating his usual gawky charm into a full-throated action hero with a goofy side, in what appears to be a spoof on Tom Cruise. And as Rapunzel, Moore creates a vibrant heroine who maintains the high standards of Ariel in “The Little Mermaid” and Belle in “Beauty and the Beast.” In fact, one song in particular – the rogues’ anthem “I’ve Got a Dream,” hilariously led by Brad Garrett (Robert on “Everybody Loves Raymond”) is perhaps the best Disney song since “Be Our Guest” in “Beast” nearly 20 years ago.

But Donna Murphy (a Broadway musical star) as Mother Gothel is the film’s true standout voice, mixing charm and menace with equal relish while offering a sassy, full-bodied spirit to her best song, “Mother Knows Best.” Growing ever more menacing throughout the film, she gives the evil women of “Snow White” and “Sleeping Beauty” a run for their money. And frankly, so does “Tangled” as a whole.

FLORA & FAWNA: ‘Gasbags’

Marc Aramian — Sat, 08 May 2010 18:10:28 +0000

WARNING: ‘FLORA & FAWNA’ IS CRUDE (and this is even cruder than the last one)

Striving to outdo a rival celebutard at the 2010 Slammy Awards, Flora and Fawna debut a radical new eco-trend: The Booty Blast Blocker which traps CO2 emissions of a decidedly personal kind. But the ass-blast trapping trend backfires in ways the girls may never be able to live down.

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Note: This is the original webisode we created which features pretty crude animation. After seeing this, Asian power house, Cutting Edge Productions, agreed to lend a hand by animating the webisode, Sput Car, which many of you saw the last couple of weeks here on Big Hollywood. More webisodes yet to come if we can find someone crazy enough to support us.

To follow our progress, please go to www.floraandfawna.com. There, you’ll be able to buy utterly worthless Flora & Fawna gear, watch all the episodes and donate money for new webisodes. Help us make fun of these pseudo-green, self-obsessed Hollywood celebutards.

Oh, and check out Fawna’s Facebook page here.

REVIEW: Great Rental – ‘Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths’

James Hudnall — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:04:51 +0000

if you like comics and super-hero movies you can’t go wrong with DC’s latest animated film, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths. It’s a terrific translation of classic comics stories to film with a contemporary flavor.

Set during the early days of the League when they’re constructing their space station (pre-Justice League Unlimited). For the sake of this discussion, they live on Earth One. Meanwhile, on a parallel earth (known as Earth Three in the comics) there is another Justice League that’s the opposite of the one on JLA’s World. In this world, the villains are the heroes and visa-versa. Superman is a criminal thug named Ultraman. He runs a mob called the Crime Syndicate which is made up of evil versions of the Justice League. But the Justice League of that world is run by Lex Luthor and is composed of good versions of the villains in Earth One.

The good Lex Luthor has just stolen something from the Crime Syndicate. He escapes to Earth One using a device that allows him to travel between quantum realities. He needs the Justice League’s help in defeating the Crime Syndicate which has killed all the remaining heroes on his world. The Justice League questions why they should try to save a world other than Earth when they have so many problems to deal with here. But they know they can’t refuse.

Lots of fun ensues.

The Crime Syndicate is like a mob family composed of super-villains. Ultraman is the Capo with Owlman (Batman’s evil analog) and Superwoman (Wonderwoman’s counterpart) as the main lieutenants.

The animation is great. It blends computer and cell animation provides a smooth and delightful translation of comics to film. The film is produced by long term DC animation producer Bruce Timm. Written by Justice League Unlimited’s Dwayne McDuffie who is also a long time comics writer. Voice actors are great: Mark Harmon as Superman, James Woods as OwlMan, Gina Torres as Superwoman, Chris Noth as Lex Luthor. Alas, Clancy Brown didn’t do Luthor as he usually does. But this is the good Luthor, so that is understandable.

The story is spot on, lacking any of the moral relativism and nihilistic nonsense from so many movies today (except maybe in the villain the Owlman’s plans). It’s full of old fashioned good vs evil and the fights are epic.

Watching the Justice League in action against the Crime Syndicate is entertaining enough, but coupling it with the pleasure of trying to figure out which evil analogues in Earth Three go with their Earth One counterparts is fun for us comic book geeks. The movie is shot through with plenty of in jokes and easter eggs.

While the movie isn’t based on any comics in particular, unlike say Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths is largely inspired by classic stories from the old Justice League of America comics from the 1960s. But updated to the current styling of today.

The beauty of these animated superhero films (Marvel is making some as well) is that they aren’t aimed at just kids. They are enjoyable for all ages.

I can remember back in the ’80s talking to friends in the animation business, who were all comics fans. They were frustrated that they couldn’t do animated super-heroes without them being dumbed down and camped up by TV censors and producers. Those days are thankfully behind us. This film and many of the others today are faithful to their origins and do the comics justice. It’s great to see it finally happen.

There Is Something Wrong With My Television

Schizoid Mann — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:21:25 +0000

The way I see it television needs, among other things, the following:

1. Science Fiction/Thriller/Horror Channel

A short form/short film channel showcasing those genres. Independent producers, writers, creators could submit work to be aired. It wouldn’t have to be, nor should it be at the Sundance level of professionalism delivered on DigiBeta and starring Cameron Diaz doing a favor for the filmmaker because it’s her friend’s cousin, either.

We don’t want that. There’s plenty of that kind of venue and they turn down 99% of the stuff submitted anyway, mainly because it’s not the work of someone’s friend’s cousin. So forget that right away. It has to be underground, guerilla, shoestring and, most important, good. Very good. Damn good. But not expensive. How can you do that, you say?

With writing.

What happened to writing? What happened to story? What happened to acting, for that matter? Not wallpaper-chewing acting, but competent, believable acting. What happened to it? These are questions I am not asking alone. No, James Lipton is not asking them; he’s busy with that ridiculous list of moronic questions no one cares about except the extremely annoying acting students in the audience, and even they don’t care, merely pretending to so he’ll notice them. No, James might be wondering where great acting went, but he’s not really looking in the right place. But millions of viewers are. They’re asking these same questions every time they turn on the TV or go to the movies. What happened to good writing? Where are the movie stars? Where are the great character actors? People are asking. No one is answering.

The professionals are very good at the technical aspects of production. But when it comes to story, they can’t seem to get it right anymore. They can’t even get close to good. This is where lack of money helps. Focus on the writing, and of course the acting. Because good writing can be decimated by bad acting sure as there are little green apples and worms to ruin them. Then, people will take notice.

Now is a great time to write. Imagine trying to pen a script or play or short drama when Faulkner, Steinbeck, Hemingway, Hecht and the Epsteins were all at their typewriters doing the same thing. There’s no one close to that now writing for movies or television, or anywhere for that matter. No one even close. If you can write, or learn to, then start writing. The field is wide open. The problem is, no one is watching closely because they’re all trying to decide which movie to spend their money on that is least likely to disappoint and turn to regret before they’re back in their own driveway.

That’s not exactly the mindset the audience should be in, should it? That’s not the kind of thinking that the American movie-going public used to have, is it? We’re a nation of movie lovers because we were raised on the breakfast of champions, the Golden Age of Hollywood. The Golden Age is gone, but maybe not forever.

Back when the existing SciFi channel started, and it was still spelled the way Uncle Forry coined it, they aired a lot of really great stuff. Much of it was the 60s, 70s series we grew up on related to science fiction or horror (I mean the earlier horror, not the nauseating torture porn that defines the genre today). The channel aired well-known staples like Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Twilight Zone, The Outer Limits and later series such as, Night Gallery, Tales from the Dark Side and The Ray Bradbury Theater. There was also another show, not nearly as well known as those, called Dark Room which aired in the early 80s. Produced with a much lower budget, it featured stories playing on the same genres, also cast with aspiring actors, many of whom often getting one of their very first gigs. I think Dark Room was a good concept that would work on an even lower budget, non-union, level today.

In terms of broadcast quality, since many might be wondering how a shoestring production is going to be up to suitable standards to air on television. Well, here’s an example from Japan, not exactly a backward nation of media technology. One of Tokyo’s major filmmaking schools has an hour long television show which airs student films. Films. Not digital video, film. Of course, they’re converted to analog or digital for airing. But these shorts were shot and edited on film. It’s wonderful, innovative stuff these students are producing with not a small amount of blood, sweat and fear. I realize there is no way you’re going to get American kids with iPhones working with a Bolex or Arri 16 today. Nor should we want or expect anyone to. It’s expensive, difficult and, obviously, there’s no need. I don’t want to do it again, either. But the concept of underground, unrepresented, amateur but polished works getting aired on television is needed. If creators, producers, writers, filmmakers know they have a chance at getting something shown where people can see it and respect it at the same time, and it’s in a mainstream venue, such as television, they will produce.

Sure, YouTube is excellent in this way, but it’s saturated with girls jumping on beds singing into their hairbrushes. And that’s the good stuff. No, there needs to be a better alternative between the exclusive, vast and varied festivals, so many now that even a winner at anything but the biggies may never be seen again, the high-end, yawn-inspiring programming on the misspelled SyFy Channel and the stuff that washes up on YouTube. Something professional that can expose the non-professional to the world of reviews, critics and, hopefully, agents and financing. It could work.

Which leads me to something that did work and now painfully does not.

2. Music Television

Yes, television with music videos. That’s right, the kind that used to play on that cable channel previously known as MTV before it was taken over by reality shows, soft porn, more reality shows and even more lesser-than-soft porn. The channel where they actually played music videos. Yeah, that one. It was also the same place where creative animators could contribute to producing music videos and even those short, inexpensive channel IDs that everyone loved and looked forward to seeing each and every time.

And speaking of inexpensive, remember when music videos were produced on a shoestring budget, looked like they were, and no one cared? In fact, they were all the more enjoyable for it. Look at any music video produced today. You’re talking about something that exceeds a budget for a major commercial for Nike, Nissan or Sony. And that’s really what it is, a commercial. Along with being too expensive to produce for a newcomer, they’re numbingly boring.

Seems to me, that with the proper contractual agreements, a small amount of palm-greasing, and a gun pressed against the right heads, so many of the great music videos from the past- and there are thousands (MTV only started with about 200) that are not being played anywhere but on YouTube, pending removal for copyright infringement, could and should be seen and enjoyed again on a television channel. As for those present up-and-coming musical artists, you don’t have to encourage them to produce their own music videos, they’re already doing that, but with little chance of MTV airing them, they all end up on, where else? YouTube! Again, not bad, but once again, they’re lost in the whirlpool of related videos of girls jumping on beds singing into their hairbrushes, part 2, 3, and 4. No, there’s got to be a better way, a better place.

Remember, there was.

Hire some of the old VJs that are still with us, (Rest in peace, J.J.) and add in some new blood to host those greats and some new unknowns as well, and that’s all folks want from a music channel. It really is. I constantly read, and I mean constantly, people posting comments on 80’s music videos on YouTube yearning like mad for their airplay on TV again and groaning at what became of the once great music television network and how it now leaves nothing to the imagination and everything to be desired. Does anyone aside from Ashton Kutcher actually watch MTV anymore? I mean, seriously, it’s complete and utter garbage. It would be healthier to air-drop a teenager into Chernobyl than to sit them down in front of today’s MTV for the same amount of time. Don’t get me started.

Television clearly needs a lot more than these two improvements. But this a beginning. It’s true, we used to have these things, and lots of other things, too. With enough passion we can have them again, maybe even better. Then we won’t yearn for what once was. We won’t have the time.

We’ll be too busy enjoying it.

‘The Goode Family’: Animation Continues to Save Political Satire on TV

John Scott Lewinski — Thu, 28 May 2009 16:37:02 +0000

Since the election of Barack Obama, aggressive political parody has been hard to come by outside of Comedy Central. But, as noted here on Big Hollywood, ABC and Mike Judge are taking on political correctness and progressive activists with The Goode Family.

When Bush and Cheney left office, they became old news. Mocking them now is like making Eisenhower jokes, but that doesn’t stop the occasional hack like Wanda Sykes trotting out tired material. And Obama seems off limits lest anyone wants to look like a buzz kill during the ever-lengthening, forced-fed honeymoon. In fact, the only show that really dared effectively to venture into political mockery consistently this season was South Park.

Mike Judge

And spare me any mention of The Daily Show or The Colbert Report. Both shows kiss the Democratic ass (the donkey, I mean) all week until they realize how biased they’ve become. Then they scramble around to make fun of some minor Dem Congressman for 30 seconds and applaud their own objectivity. Meanwhile, Stewart rages at every conservative cause he can find with the furor (not the wit) of Murrow until he’s called on it. Then he scrambles back into his hole screaming, “I’m only a comic!”

Fortunately, The Goode Family levels the satirical skills of Judge (creator of Beavis and Butthead and King of the Hill) at the taboo supporters of global warming, racial hypersensitivity, animal rights and any other cause over-hyped by self-righteous busybodies.

When critics say it’s the wrong time to make such jokes, it’s exactly the time to make such jokes.

The Goodes live an obsessively “green” existence while obsessing over political correctness until they’re tied in knots. In other words, Judge isn’t attacking cleaning up the environment or treating others with respect. That’s all well and “goode.” He’s teasing those who over-think such choices so much and devote themselves to such thinking so blindly they lose sight of their own well-being and why they were doing it all in the first place.

It’ll be interesting to see how well a show does that deliberately ribs people who often lack a sense of humor. If the reviews we’re seeing so far are any indication, the hard left media had its nose turned up with a collective “You dare to offend me, sir…” before they even saw a screener.

Let’s hope this new show is a success because those same smug critics don’t dare touch a show like South Park because it’s too big for such a tussle. Only decent ratings will get the whiny pundits off Judge’s back now.