Visual Imprint

They might be CGI 3D giants Slight Spoilers

2009-11-05T14:18:00.000-08:00

WALL-E has found his I-Pod shaped darling, Shrek is a family man and the Ice Age gang have found a world down under (and no it's not Australia.) It's time for the new computer generated kids to place themselves in the hall of family CGI animation greatness.

The two contenders for this new position are Pixar's and Disney's "Up"

The other being Sony Animation's "Cloudy with a chance of meatballs."

I admit I could have put Ice Age 3 in this mix but sadly it does not quite fit and it is extremely forgettable. CWCM and Up however, will stay in the audiences' hearts' and more to the point, the films share alot of common ground.

Let's view the checklist; sweet male protagonist with a screwball plan, check! Sidekick who isn't as foolish as they look, check! Adorable fluffy companion who talks, check! Lastly a villain whose master plan makes you scratch your head, check!

So, with all that, you would think that they were basically the same film. But no, dear friends, these are two very different films! The animation, for starters, reflects the constrast in tale. Up shows Pixar's dedication to tone and realistic texture within their backgrounds. Paradise Falls is breathtaking with water you want to jump right into and forests you want to get lost in. The direction is also fantastic! Pete Docter follows the famous bittersweet line of Pixar filmaking with a first section that could melt the heart of the Snow Queen. Then just like it's predecessor WALL-E, Up speeds up the pace to create an unforgettable non-stop adventure that will make you giggle as much as it makes your heart race.

Carl and Russell are instantly likeable with their chalk and cheese personalities. Carl is the type of elderly gentleman who would go to a party then grumble about the noise and Russell the kind of scout -sorry Wilderness Explorer- who you would fund just to get rid of him. There lies the art of story telling because somehow together these characters fit and soon you forget they are not related and you will begin to see them as simply grandfather and grandson on a wild adventure together. That is what turns this film from crazy misadventure into family entertainment gold!

Cloudy with a chance of meatballs does the same thing but in a completely different way. While Up goes for muted colours (in the main) and quiet moments filled with expression- CWCM goes the opposite way completely. The technicolour lighting used -especially during the first food raining scene- seer your eyeballs with rainbow joy. Elastic facial features are stretched to the extreme to create surprise or anxiety. This film knows it is a cartoon and plays up to that fact. Much like the recent Peter Pan movie or a Burton extraganza no surreal trick is left unplayed as runaway televisions, mustache stealing monkeys and of course raining food litter the screen. I loved it!

Flint and Sam have an easy chemistry that is very endearing to geeky couples in the audience - my boyfriend and myself included. Steve (who, you'll be surprised to hear was played by Neil Patrick Harris of Dr Horrible fame) completely steals the show with his utter irrepressible nature. I need a Steve cuddly monkey to add to my collection!

In summary these two films definitely could be CGI 3D giants. Up pushes the boundaries in detail, using a heart warming story and well paced action to deliver a film that reminds it's audience of the good ol' days of action adventure movies. CWCM plays to it's cartoon ancestery by using fast paced wit, colourful characters and inane concepts to deliver something the Simpson production team would be proud of. Both films rock but for very different reasons. I highly suggest watching both to draw your own conclusions.

P.S. If anyone can get me Flint's Tesla poster for Christmas I would be extremely grateful! What an image!

A surrogate for a better film (SPOILER ALERT)

2009-10-09T22:19:00.000-07:00

As someone once told me, "Start as you mean to go on" and so I begin with a feature I saw last Sunday- the new Bruce Willis film, Surrogates.

For those of you who haven't recently ventured into your local cinema or skimmed the online trailers, I will summarise the basics of Surrogates. In a world in the not-too-distant future; walking about, seeing friends and interracting with the world will be outmoded in view of avatars who will do it for you. If this sounds a bit like Habbo Hotel or World of Warcraft then yes, it is but with Barbie looking robot people. Bruce Willis plays a detective surrogate called Tom Greer and his user, (also Tom Greer) who is trying to stop his wife and other innocents from getting killed by hackney-accented German characters.

Whoops, sorry... that's Die Hard! He is trying to find out who killed two Surrogates and their users with aid of a mystery weapon. The chase is on and because this is a Bruce Willis film/scifi action film, expect a lot of smash, bang, whallop!

From here on in I begin my review properly - so small spoilers are on the way. You have been warned!

From the outset there is nothing particulary wrong with this film. It's just very formulaic. If you have seen the Die Hard films, The Matrix and I,Robot - then you pretty much seen most of this film. It takes the overused concept of "Our dream selves vs ugly reality" and pretty much stretches into a script with the twists only compounding the point.

So why watch, you may ask? Well, Bruce Willis is a good start. He has obviously played this role before but there is a softness to this McClane/David Dunn character that is endearing. Heck, I like Willis and his energy on screen. Greer is a likeable protagonist and his painful past is well expressed in short references within the scenes. Another good effort comes from Radha Mitchell and Ving Rhames. Both actors really try to give it their all in very muted parts ( Detective Peters and The Prophet) but due to Mitchell and Rhames' nature they do leave an impression. Special kudos to Mitchell as she ends up playing three roles for the price of one rather well.

Surprisingly for a film I'm kindly slating, the directing is very good too. While watching the various high octane scenes, I thought about how carefully Mostow had worked on the doll like behaviour of the Surrogates. Later within the film - just like the nursery rhyme "A Ring of Roses"- all the Surrogates "all fall down". There is finesse behind the camera shots and timing of these falls. The scene gave me the impression of a town of tin soldiers in a strong breeze. An utterly brilliant scene! The special effects are also wonderful! From the scene with Mitchell's jump over a bus to a favoured moment of mine with a test dummy Surrogate. Mostow and his special effects team took time to make this world look feasible.

After all that work, the real failing of this film comes from it's own script. As my boyfriend, pointed out "you can see the twists a mile off." Sadly, this doesn't help when the film begins to drag. Another problem lies in the vast amount of characters used, which meant some actors got under used (like poor James Cromwell, who recently has been stuck with the elderly scientist role, which I guess beats "That'll do, pig!") or overused in the case of Rosamund Pike. Somewhere within that mix and with some very clever directing, Surrogates passes by and most filmgoers will enjoy it and then forget about it.

I will give it a 3 out of 5 but read some Philip K Dick if you want to see this type of storyline done better.

Welcome word weary travellers!

2009-10-05T12:55:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome to Visual Imprint the site for arts and media lovers across the world.

The main point of this trip, dear internet surfer is to hear my pointed - or should that be pointless? - electro-rants about all things film, theatre, literature and internet-based with a fair amount of visual extravaganza, suggestions and friend blog plugging.

A little about myself before we close this post for now. My name is Gen or Fyrebyrd, I'm within my twenties slowly regretting life a quarter lived and currently working within Customer Service. In between times of listening to other people rant at me, I think of my own stabs at the art world I love so much; I also write, direct, sing, act and a whole host of other talents of a similar strain.

Anyway to summarise! There will be contemplation, consideration, comparing, complaining and of course custard! So sit back and enjoy the art freak/geek girl G's.

P.S. There will be a slight chance of Spoilers coming from the South, as of course I'll be reviewing material. Full spoiler alert warnings will be posted as the blogs progress.

Visual Imprint

They might be CGI 3D giants *Slight Spoilers*

A surrogate for a better film (SPOILER ALERT)

Welcome word weary travellers!

They might be CGI 3D giants Slight Spoilers