They all feature prominently in the nominations for Best Animated Picture at the Oscars, of course.
So, this past weekend I was able to watch the four films I hadn’t seen that were nominated, but, I’m gonna start with the one I had seen already, so, here we go!
1.) Up
It’s been a few months since I’ve watched it, but I imagine almost anyone reading this has seen it at least once, so I’ll spare any plot summaries and just give some thoughts on it I suppose…I remember there was a lot of talk from critics about it being the best Pixar film to date when it premiered, but I think that’s been said of every new film they debut, with the sole exception being Cars (but, hey, I like Cars, so screw ‘em), and, I think it’s completely wrong. I loved the movie. I loved it so much I bought the Blu Ray and I don’t even own a Blu Ray Player. The movie has a lot of heart to it, but that’s been a pretty common in all of the studio’s releases. I think the reason people are always planting flags on whatever Pixar film gets released that year is because no studio has ever had a track record like this, not even Disney proper. I won’t go into what I believe is the best (Finding Nemo), I’ll just say that, yes this is a fantastic film, and maybe even deserves the gold it’s going to win come Oscar night, if for no other reason than Pixar has not only continued to release excellent animated films year after year, but they’ve put out films that can stand up against anything the live-action realm has to offer. Up is an action adventure film with a bit of drama and some romance thrown in. Let’s see, in the last few years has there been a movie about an older man going on an adventure with a kid across an unknown land all in the name of love? Yeah, I think it starred Harrison Ford and a ton of other big name actors, was written by David Koepp and directed by Steven Spielberg. And it sucked. Alot. So, if you ever think “I should watch that last Indiana Jones movie…” do yourself a favor and watch Up instead, because it’s actually pretty awesome.
2.) The Princess and the Frog
I know it’s ridiculous, but it irks me that Disney technically has two films nominated in the category, kind of like when two actors get nominated from the same film, it just seems wrong. Not to say that it isn’t deserved, I just feel bad for other films that I think got overlooked (Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs!). I enjoyed Princess and the Frog a great deal, particularly the music and the New Orleans setting. I didn’t really get the accusations of racism some critics lobbed its way. Maybe it’s because I’m ignorant when it comes to stuff like that, or maybe it’s because I’m white, I dunno. I didn’t see it, I just saw a pretty fun film where the bad guy gets what’s comin’ to him and the girl gets her prince. It was nice to see a traditionally animated film that didn’t suck, especially from Disney. That hasn’t happened since…well, since Lilo & Stitch. While this doesn’t compare to Stitch, it’s pretty darn good and even heart-warming in a few parts. Some of it’s a tad too much though, and really, the alligator and the firefly were my favorite characters.
3.) Coraline
Creepy. Just…creepy. I think I liked it, but I’m still not sure. Visually, yes, it was stunning, but I never could make sense of what exactly was going on, or why. I need to rewatch it, but honestly, it might give me nightmares. It reminded me of Where the Wild Things Are (which got no Oscar love, what’s up with that?!), in that it’s not EXACTLY a kids movie. I mean, it freaked me out, there’s no way I’d let anyone under the age of like, 8 see this. It’s like they gave a kid acid and then filmed everything he described. Weird, weird stuff.
4.) The Secret of Kells
The Bible part of the title? Yeah, I bet some of you were wondering where that was gonna come in, weren’t you? I’d love to tell you what The Secret of Kells is about, but other than what I learned in this article on wikipedia about The Book of Kells, I really don’t know. I have a vague idea, but I really can’t say anything about the plot with any amount of certainty. And I watched the thing. Now, I don’t mean that as a negative, because I fully believe the blame lies on me. I’m sure for people who know about the story or the Book of Kells this is probably fantastic stuff, but I didn’t understand a lot of what was happening during the film. Which makes me sound like an idiot. This next statement won’t help that…The animation looks fantastic (I didn’t understand them words, but the pictures shore r perty!) and is probably worth the price of admission alone, but I just could not follow the story…
5.) The Fantastic Mr. Fox
I saved the best for last. Not only is this my favorite animated film of the year, it’s one of my favorite films period. It’s no secret that I have a massive love of Wes Anderson’s work, so there’s probably a lot of bias in how I feel about this movie, but I’ve watched it several times now and enjoyed every single viewing. The snarkiness of the characters, the dry humour, the witty banter, and most especially how Anderson pulls you into the characters and their family until you almost forget that they’re not human and then drops in some sort of animalistic behaviour to remind you that they are just that, animals. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had watching an animated film since Chicken Run. Highly, highly recommended to anyone. I love the stop-motion here, it’s so different than in Caroline. In that movie they tried to show how fluent and amazing the technique can be (and it is), but here it’s like Anderson wants you to know that these are essentially puppets, and it really adds to the quirkiness and the charm of it. I freaking loved this movie, and while I’m sure up will indeed take home the Oscar, I believe this is far and away the better film.
