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Post by huntsman on Dec 14, 2010 16:27:21 GMT -5
I’ve recently gone back and watched this movie, since it has been airing on HBO as of late, and the more I watch it, the more I feel – strongly feel – that it should have done so much better than it did. By all accounts, the movie bombed, but why did it bomb? It wasn’t like any other animated program that I have seen, which may have actually worked against it; the puppets weren’t as smoothly maneuvered as similar movies, but that was a design choice on their part. I thought it looked… well… fantastic. Does anybody else on here particularly like this movie?
I was really fond of the characters, particularly the children. The dynamic between Ash and Kristofferson was great, and while Ash came off as a bit too broody, it’s understandable why he felt the way that he did. He was nothing like his father, and when Kristofferson showed up and started impressing everybody, it gave him one heck of an inferiority complex. Kristofferson may have been a bit too perfect – a canon Mary Sue so to speak – but I liked the few scenes in which he showed genuine weakness. My favorite was when he began to cry underneath the train set, as despite how impressive he had been, his father was still dying and his cousin was treating him like dirt. The scene that followed, when Ash turned on the train set and the boys silently watched the train go around, was touching. Ash still didn’t like Kristofferson at that point, but he still cared about his cousin, and the fact that he didn’t even need to say anything to cheer him up was poignant.
I also liked Agnes. Too bad she didn’t have very many scenes in the movie and only spoke a handful of lines. They still deemed her important enough to accompany the main characters to the grocery store at the end, where she danced with Kristofferson. I think Agnes and Kristofferson make a cute couple; I know Ash had feelings for Agnes as well, but he didn’t really treat her very well and there just wasn’t a spark between them. On that note, there was actually an interesting debate going on around the time the movie was released. The movie emphasizes, on several points, that Ash is… “different”. The bully at school claims that he dresses like a girl, Ash told his father that he could have been born a girl, and at the end of the movie, the grape juice he drinks stains the fur around his mouth and it looks like lipstick. This caused a surprising number of people to assume that the movie implied Ash was homosexual, but hadn’t quite realized it yet. I don’t think he’s gay, because his feelings for Agnes were expressed earlier in the film, but some have speculated that he was merely trying to fit in. Food for thought, none-the-less, and reading those debates was kind of interesting.
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The Modern Major General
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Post by The Modern Major General on Dec 15, 2010 16:47:34 GMT -5
I had never even heard of this movie before you mentioned on here so sadly I have never seen it. I did check out the trailer for it though on YouTube and it looked... Well I'll be honest... It looked like something a couple of nerds threw together in their spare time as an internet video.
What I mean is the animation and visual effects were pretty bad but the story did appear to be unique. This is all I can get from the trailer. I would take the time to watch it if I get the chance.
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Post by babclayman on Dec 15, 2010 16:55:29 GMT -5
Well, I have seen this Movie a couple of Months ago, and too be honest, I didn't think much of it.
(WARNING: SPOILER ALERT!)
First off, Kristofferson was just a Gary Stu! I mean think about it, He is always the Best at everything, He is abler to make a Champion Record in a Game which he has had NO experiance in before, Everyone seems to Treat him like a God like "WOAH! You're Awesome!", along with him having the "Perfect Conscience Thought" due to Meditating. And then he gets all Emo on things, crying and all at the slightest mention of his Father.
Second of all, There were Story Elements that went Nowhere. Like the Wolf subplot, All through the movie, they were saying "I'm Scared of Wolves, I'm Scared of Wolves." And then when one actually shows up...It does nothing, just does the Power Salute and runs off...Woah! That build up lead to Nothing. The Wolf thing wasn't even in the book.
Also, What Morale is it to set up?
It goes to the original Closing, R.D. himself actually decided to change, because it set up bad morales. That being, stealing from a Supermarket. Okay, I understand it in the Book where they steal from the Farmers who destroy their Home, but an innocent supermarket. Come on, That was the first time, R.D. Ever agreed at Publishers Critic and they decide to say "It's okay to destroy the enviroment! Nature can just live in the Sewers and Eat from Supermarkets Thefts."
To show I am not Heartless, I will agree, the Animation is good. Very nicely done. But there were also WAY Too many close ups, I get it, the Animation is good, Stop forcing it in my face! I also find one of the Farmers random Freak out by destroying things, amusing as well.
I would say, this Film Deserves, 3/5 in my opinion. The Animation is good, But the Story and Writing is lack luster. =s
That is my opinions with my stated evidence.
What you Pups think on that? X3
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Post by huntsman on Dec 15, 2010 17:11:05 GMT -5
I had never even heard of this movie before you mentioned on here so sadly I have never seen it. I did check out the trailer for it though on YouTube and it looked... Well I'll be honest... It looked like something a couple of nerds threw together in their spare time as an internet video. It’s a stylistic choice. The only difference between this and… Coraline, for example, is that Coraline’s puppets are smoother and move with more fluidity. The amount of work that they put into it is the same and I don’t think a “couple of nerds” would be able to create an entire movie with the same production values. First off, Kristofferson was just a Gary Stu! I mean think about it, He is always the Best at everything, He is abler to make a Champion Record in a Game which he has had NO experiance in before, Everyone seems to Treat him like a God like "WOAH! You're Awesome!", along with him having the "Perfect Conscience Thought" due to Meditating. And then he gets all Emo on things, crying and all at the slightest mention of his Father. He only cried once. His father was dying, and despite his best efforts, his cousin was treating him horribly and even mocked his dying father. Despite all of that, he tried to brave through it, but ultimately gave in that night when he was forced to sleep underneath the train set after once again being treated horribly by his cousin. Despite being a natural – as the movie itself said he was – he was still a little boy. I think most little boys would cry if their father was dying. And he wasn’t totally perfect; he’s the one who got captured, not Ash. Second of all, There were Story Elements that went Nowhere. Like the Wolf subplot, All through the movie, they were saying "I'm Scared of Wolves, I'm Scared of Wolves." And then when one actually shows up...It does nothing, just does the Power Salute and runs off...Woah! That build up lead to Nothing. The Wolf thing wasn't even in the book. I don’t think it was built up that much. Admittedly, the scene didn’t make a whole lot of sense, but only a small amount of time was devoted towards it. Also, What Morale is it to set up? It goes to the original Closing, R.D. himself actually decided to change, because it set up bad morales. That being, stealing from a Supermarket. Okay, I understand it in the Book where they steal from the Farmers who destroy their Home, but an innocent supermarket. Come on, That was the first time, R.D. Ever agreed at Publishers Critic and they decide to say "It's okay to destroy the enviroment! Nature can just live in the Sewers and Eat from Supermarkets Thefts." The supermarket at the end was actually owned by the three farmers. Mr. Fox admitted after the cider flood that it was his fault and that he shouldn’t have stolen from the farmers to begin with, but the farmers were the ones who besieged the animals and forced them into the sewers. The scene before they went into the supermarket showed that the animals were all hungry, especially the children, and they couldn’t just walk outside to get food because the farmers were out there with guns. So the fact that they had to steal from the farmers again in order to sustain themselves in the sewers was relatively karmaic.
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Post by babclayman on Dec 15, 2010 17:20:57 GMT -5
Well, Be fair. They clearly say at the closing of the film that, Kris father was getting better.
Also, why couldn't they go to another forest, the Farmers don't know they're still down there. Also, Here's a thought, Instead of waiting for them, couldn't the Farmer gased the Sewer? I mean, he floods a tunnel, why not a more subtle approach with gas?
Also, I don't budge at "The Farmers own the Supermarket", It was still innocent in this, unlike the rough areas of a Farmers.
With the Wolf thing, you could cut all mentions of Wolves and that Wolf scene out, and there would be NO Difference to the movie whatsoever.
For the Female Teen Fox thing, she was pointless I say, she didn't help in the raids or rescue, and yet Fox calls them all "Five of the bravest Foxes". I'm like "Why her!? She did Nothing!"
Still, I stick to my opinion, has potential, but not pulled off in a way that gives it a Mediocre thought at tops.
Wonder what other Pups think. X3
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Post by huntsman on Dec 15, 2010 17:48:32 GMT -5
Well, Be fair. They clearly say at the closing of the film that, Kris father was getting better. Nobody knew he would get better at the time. By all accounts, he was on the verge of death. Also, why couldn't they go to another forest, the Farmers don't know they're still down there. Also, Here's a thought, Instead of waiting for them, couldn't the Farmer gased the Sewer? I mean, he floods a tunnel, why not a more subtle approach with gas? When they were forced underground, they didn't try to escape further because they had a shelter down there. They didn't expect to be driven out again. Once they were in the sewers, there weren't any viable exits so they were stuck down there. Perhaps if they explored a bit more they would have found something, similar to how they found the supermarket, but the farmers are still trying to kill them. As for the cider flood, it's a movie; I don't think it would have been a very good ending if they simply got gassed and everybody died. Also, I don't budge at "The Farmers own the Supermarket", It was still innocent in this, unlike the rough areas of a Farmers. The farmers forced their hand. Would it have been better for the children to starve? For the Female Teen Fox thing, she was pointless I say, she didn't help in the raids or rescue, and yet Fox calls them all "Five of the bravest Foxes". I'm like "Why her!? She did Nothing!" Well, she was in charge of keeping the younger kids out of trouble and keeping the sewers clean as well. Ash was supposed to be in charge of that, but he snuck away to join his father. However, I think Mr. Fox was just including her because she was there. Chances are, if she wasn't in the room meditating with Ash and Kristofferson, Mr. Fox wouldn't have brought her along and included her in his toast. He was simply being a good host. I still really liked her character, however. Wish she did more.
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Post by Nemo on Dec 15, 2010 18:44:50 GMT -5
Well I can just say I've heard of this movie but never seen it so I can't give a full opinion on it =/
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Post by Paws on Dec 15, 2010 19:08:44 GMT -5
I reeeally wanted to see this movie. It looked amazing. My sisters would have none of it though, and I never got to see it =(
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Post by Shadow Dearly on Dec 15, 2010 19:33:44 GMT -5
Yeah when I saw previews of this movie, I thought that it wasn't gonna be a good movie, and by seeing Bab's views on it, I can finalize the movie sucked. It didn't interest me at all
And I am a huge fan of Stop Animation, but this movie didn't interest me at all. Sorry guys
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Post by huntsman on Dec 15, 2010 19:42:54 GMT -5
Well, the movie received a 93% at RottenTomatoes. Critics loved it. It was a quality movie, but I guess it was just too… “different”, but as Mrs. Fox said, there’s something fantastic about that. They took a lot of risks, and while they could have made a tamer movie that looked more conventional, I’m glad they did what they did. I just wish their gamble would have paid off.
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Post by RaceFanX on Dec 15, 2010 23:04:09 GMT -5
Movies for Guys gave it a 4 out of 5 and they aren't exactly easy on kid's flicks either (their system judges movies on among other things car chases, gunplay, chuckes, blood & gore and "T&A"). They summed it up as "George Clooney finally made a good heist film...maybe now he'll resist making an Ocean's 14."
I paid money to see this one in theaters and I enjoyed it. The film is done by Wes Anderson and while this was his first animated film he is a stickler for details and made it work. Wes has a quirky sense of humor and it worked well. The cast was good, it's always nice to see Bill Murray still working and the previously mentioned Clooney had fun with it as well.
I also enjoyed the rougher animation style they used, which did lend itself to several nice gags. If the movie had used a smoother one it likely would have looked like a cheap Aardman ripoff trying too hard so it was probably for the best.
Overall it's a fun movie, some of my favorite bits were the opening scenes that set the characters, the "whack bat" bits and a rather exciting climax including some horsing around with a BMW motorcycle.
I'm surprised how much firepower Boogis, Bunts and Bean brought in over the movie. However minus what must be written off as one somewhat lucky shot about midway through the movie it appears neither them nor anyone in their organization can hit the blindside of a barn when it comes to firearms (at the climax they manage to hit everything BUT Ash!).
Of note the story itself is a bit longer than the book. On the DVD Anderson talks about how he liked the book but thought it was a bit of a one-act story. This is why the movie starts before the book, has the book's plot about stealing from the farmer's in its midsection and finishes differently with that whole supermarket bit.
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Post by RaceFanX on Mar 3, 2011 1:39:20 GMT -5
Anyone else notice when the farmers have to move a station wagon they very clearly break into car with a coat hanger?
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Post by quazie89 on Apr 1, 2011 8:16:01 GMT -5
I thought this movie was pretty good, but maybe not as good as the critics said it was, though that could be just because I wish Bill Murray had a bigger part in it. I was really looking forward to seeing it because of him. My favorite part, actually, was the wolf scene at the end. I just thought that was so funny for some reason. I crack up every time I see it. I will have to watch this movie again sometime.
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Post by Belchic on Sept 15, 2011 23:35:21 GMT -5
I'm starting to watch this movie right now. So far, the animation looks pretty cool. The voice acting is also pretty decent.
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