|
|
Post by Salzmank on Aug 26, 2022 21:23:27 GMT
HBO Max, which I get through my cable subscription, has a ton of DC Comics animated movies. Lots of people love these, but I think their quality is inconsistent. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight (2018) has a great premise (Batman vs. Jack the Ripper) and actually does a better job with that premise than the comic it’s based on. But the two-part adaptation of Batman: The Long Halloween is a mess, not to mention a travesty of the source material. And a bunch of these are like that: one good, one bad. Last night I tried watching Superman vs. the Elite (2012), an adaptation of the excellently titled but ultimately underwhelming Superman story “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way?” I tried, as I said, but the goofy animation and Pauly Perrette’s vocal performance as Lois Lane turned me off, so I turned it off. I’m not sure exactly what about Perrette’s performance so annoyed me, but for one thing she really didn't seem interested. Instead I watched Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006), which has a boring title but is much better.  This is done in a similar style to Superman: The Animated Series, which I watched when I was a kid, and has many of the same voice actors: Tim Daly as Superman, Dana Delany as Lois, David Kaufman as Jimmy Olsen, George Dzundza as Perry White. I’ve written before that Superman: The Animated Series, as much as I have nostalgia for it and as great as the character designs and voice acting are, often lacks good storylines or dialogue. It certainly has some decent episodes (“Obsession” and the Mr. Mxyzptlk eps are fun), but nothing as great as Batman: The Animated Series’s “Heart of Ice,” “Perchance to Dream,” and “House and Garden” or Justice League’s “Legends,” “A Better World,” and especially “For the Man Who Has Everything” (which does the character work for Supes that The Animated Series should have done). Brainiac Attacks does provide a good story and good dialogue. Script is by longtime animation writer Duane Capizzi, who the year before wrote the surprisingly good (and surprisingly dark!) The Batman vs. Dracula. It’s not some immortal example of screenwriting, but it’s solid and does a lot of character work for all of the regulars—Clark and Lois, of course, but also Jimmy and Perry. Capizzi even throws in a neat little twist about three-quarters in. It’s not a shocking surprise or anything, but clearly Capizzi put some effort into this and didn’t blow off working hard just because it’s intended for kids. Brainiac Attacks definitely isn’t perfect. The animation looks cheaper, cartoonier, than S:TAS. It’s too cartoony, in fact, for one of the show’s best features, art-deco backgrounds. Brainiac here is a boring villain, existing mostly for Superman to punch him. Powers Boothe, rather than the show’s Clancy Brown, voices Lex Luthor—and turns him into a comical villain closer to Gene Hackman’s portrayal—but the character design is the same, which comes off as incongruous because the design makes Lex look so evil. The movie’s best aspect is Dana Delany’s vocal performance as Lois Lane. She’s my favorite Lois: Her voice is perfect for the character, giving her a wisecracking ’30s sound mixed with an evident kindness. Just great. (Delany would also have been a good choice for a live-action Lois.) Here she clearly knows she’s got good lines and so gives her all. If Brainiac Attacks had been edited into a 22-min. episode of the show, it would have been one of the best Superman adaptations. As is, its flaws balance with its strengths, at least for me. If only Capizzi wrote an episode of the show. |
|
gw
Junior Member
@gw
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 550
|
Post by gw on Aug 27, 2022 4:46:18 GMT
I've seen a lot of DC direct to video animated films. I didn't even finish Superman vs. the Elite because the villains were so corny. Brainiac Attacks was decent but Superman: Unbound is the better Brainiac animated movie. It involves a shrunken city while SBA is more conventional in plot.
|
|
|
|
Post by merh on Aug 27, 2022 21:07:16 GMT
We went to League of Super pets in July.
Sister was watching Sleeping Beauty. I walked by to hear ""Hail to the Princess Aurora" so now I have it stuck in my head.
|
|
|
|
Post by Pangolin on Sept 15, 2022 23:12:13 GMT
Pinocchio (1940)
|
|
|
|
Post by theravenking on Sept 19, 2022 12:25:02 GMT
Batman - Gotham Knight (2008)I watched this for Batman Day and it was okay. It's a series of interlinked stories by different directors. While the animation is excellent I would've rather watched 2-3 longer stories, because as it is these are basically just some short vignettes from Bruce Wayne's life without much substance. 6/10 |
|
|
|
Post by Salzmank on Sept 26, 2022 18:18:43 GMT
Some more superheroing: The Batman vs. Dracula, 2005, dir. Michael Goguen. And yes, that “the” in the title is unnecessary and annoying.  I don’t see this movie mentioned that much even among Batman fans, but I remembered it as “surprisingly good (and surprisingly dark!).” And it held up on a rewatch—mostly. The best part is the first 10 minutes, which have a lot of atmosphere and good writing. The writer was Duane Capizzi, who also wrote the Superman movie I reviewed above. The fight between Bats and the Joker is nicely done—lots of good backgrounds, quick cuts, and funny lines—as is Joker’s apparent death scene, which is surprisingly gruesome for a children’s movie shown on network TV. Penguin’s resurrection of Dracula is just as good—and dripping with atmosphere. The movie has some good things after Penguin resurrects Dracula, but it never reaches the heights of that opening, I think. To be fair, one sequence is a major shocker for a children’s TV movie: Vampire Joker in the blood bank, gulping down hemoglobin. I was a kid when this movie came out, and I remember that scene scaring me. Even 17 years later, it’s a bit of a jolt. Not sure how that made it in—it’s more graphic than anything I remember in the PG-13-rated and dreadful Long Halloween adaptation. Again, the first 10 mins. suggest a great movie, but the rest of it is decent without ever reaching greatness. Even in a kids’ movie, does Batman really need to write “ALUCARD” to figure out it’s “DRACULA” backwards? (Actually, could vampire movies eliminate “Alucard” altogether? It was old hat when Son of Dracula did it in 1943.) While that may seem like nitpicking, the movie has a few moments like that, where things are overexplained or dragged out. Capizzi’s plot is also predictable. He threw some welcome surprises into the Superman flick—not here, where the plot proceeds mostly as you’d expect. Compare with Batman: The Animated Series, also a Batman adaptation for children but one that had better plotting and did less handholding. On that note, I couldn’t stop thinking how well the character designs, backgrounds, and voices from B:TAS would fit this movie. As good as the atmosphere can be, the animation here is brighter and the designs cartoonier than B:TAS’s. And, though Rino Romano and Kevin Michael Richardson are fine as Batman and the Joker, respectively (I actually quite like Richardson’s offbeat take), Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are just better. I’m criticizing more than I intended. I actually enjoyed this flick for most of the running time, and I’m happy that a Batman vs. Dracula movie is this good. I just wish it lived up to the promise of its opening. |
|
gw
Junior Member
@gw
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 550
|
Post by gw on Sept 27, 2022 3:56:25 GMT
Some more superheroing: The Batman vs. Dracula, 2005, dir. Michael Goguen. And yes, that “the” in the title is unnecessary and annoying. I don’t see this movie mentioned that much even among Batman fans, but I remembered it as “surprisingly good (and surprisingly dark!).” And it held up on a rewatch—mostly. The best part is the first 10 minutes, which have a lot of atmosphere and good writing. The writer was Duane Capizzi, who also wrote the Superman movie I reviewed above. The fight between Bats and the Joker is nicely done—lots of good backgrounds, quick cuts, and funny lines—as is Joker’s apparent death scene, which is surprisingly gruesome for a children’s movie shown on network TV. Penguin’s resurrection of Dracula is just as good—and dripping with atmosphere. The movie has some good things after Penguin resurrects Dracula, but it never reaches the heights of that opening, I think. One sequence is a major shocker for a children’s TV movie: Vampire Joker in the blood bank, gulping down hemoglobin. I was a kid when this movie came out, and I remember that scene scaring me. Even 17 years later, it’s a bit of a jolt. Not sure how that made it in—it’s more graphic than anything I remember in the PG-13-rated and dreadful Long Halloween adaptation. Again, the first 10 mins. suggest a great movie, but the rest of it is all right without ever reaching greatness. Even in a kids’ movie, does Batman really need to write “ALUCARD” to figure out it’s “DRACULA” backwards? (Actually, could vampire movies eliminate “Alucard” altogether? It was old hat when Son of Dracula did it in 1943.) While that may seem like nitpicking, the movie has a few moments like that, where things are overexplained or dragged out. Capizzi’s plot is also predictable. He threw some welcome surprises into the Superman flick—not here, where the plot proceeds mostly as you’d expect. Compare with Batman: The Animated Series, also a Batman adaptation for children but one that had better plotting and did less handholding. On that note, I couldn’t stop thinking how well the character designs, backgrounds, and voices from B:TAS would fit this movie. As good as the atmosphere can be, the animation here is brighter and the designs cartoonier than B:TAS’s. And, though Rino Romano and Kevin Michael Richardson are fine as Batman and the Joker, respectively (I actually quite like Richardson’s offbeat take), Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are just better. I’m criticizing more than I intended. I actually enjoyed this flick for most of the running time, and I’m happy that a Batman vs. Dracula movie is this good. I just wish it lived up to the promise of its opening. The reason for the 'The' is that it's based on a show called 'The Batman' that needed a different title to distinguish it from other animated Batman shows. It's done in the style of that particular show so it is titled accordingly. |
|
|
|
Post by Salzmank on Sept 27, 2022 13:33:54 GMT
Some more superheroing: The Batman vs. Dracula, 2005, dir. Michael Goguen. And yes, that “the” in the title is unnecessary and annoying. The reason for the 'The' is that it's based on a show called 'The Batman' that needed a different title to distinguish it from other animated Batman shows. It's done in the style of that particular show so it is titled accordingly. Oh, I’m aware. I still find it unnecessary and annoying. EDIT: Maybe “clunky” is a better word choice than “annoying.” The title doesn’t trip easily off the tongue. |
|
|
|
Post by Pangolin on Oct 4, 2022 5:19:17 GMT
|
|
paislene
Junior Member
@paislene
Posts: 1,172
Likes: 503
|
Post by paislene on Oct 4, 2022 23:05:41 GMT
I'm watching Rings Of Power at the moment and enjoying it very much ,
and I have a number of disney-style animation movies . Epic is a great
movie with similar themes to Amazon's terrific new Lotr series .
|
|
|
|
Post by PreachCaleb on Oct 5, 2022 13:09:24 GMT
Monster House. It's a great film for the Halloween season.
|
|
gw
Junior Member
@gw
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 550
|
Post by gw on Oct 8, 2022 6:15:34 GMT
Watched Kings and Cabbages. It's a stop motion political drama adapted from the short story collection of the same name. It is entertaining but suffers from being interlinked stories more than a coherent overall narrative. It was directed by Maria Mouat. It has interesting use of graphics. Some inappropriate scenes later in the movie which is only slightly over 50 minutes long. I give it a 7 out of 10 for now.
|
|
gw
Junior Member
@gw
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 550
|
Post by gw on Oct 8, 2022 22:30:39 GMT
I just watched The Yeti Adventures. It is somewhat entertaining. Maybe I'm used to the character and plot stereotypes but it makes up for some of them with moments of wit. But the movie has geographic and linguistic inaccuracies that bog it down. That and the yetis aren't very interesting characters and drag the film down a bit. I'll give it a 6 out of 10.
|
|
gw
Junior Member
@gw
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 550
|
Post by gw on Oct 13, 2022 3:36:34 GMT
Saw Aquaman King of Atlantis several days ago. I didn't care for the first of three segments and turned it off. After picking it up the next day however, I started to like it more as it got into part 2 and by part 3 it began to come together story wise and had an explosive finale. I don't know what to rate it but overall it was a fun comedy.
|
|
gw
Junior Member
@gw
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 550
|
Post by gw on Nov 4, 2022 3:37:31 GMT
I watched Pompo the Cinephile with a friend. Some heartfelt moments but it was sort of cinema 101. 6/10
On Halloween I watched Wendell and Wild, Henry Selick's latest stop motion film which was cowritten by Jordan Peele. It was a fun film despite exploring so many different characters that it didn't dig as deep into any of them as it could have. I give it an 8/10 for now and I'll probably watch it again and see what I think on a rewatch.
|
|
|
|
Post by politicidal on Nov 6, 2022 1:44:25 GMT
|
|
gw
Junior Member
@gw
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 550
|
Post by gw on Nov 11, 2022 2:27:21 GMT
Saw that but never posted about it. Good film with enough adventure to keep it interesting. I give it an 8 out of 10. |
|
|
|
Post by Archelaus on Nov 12, 2022 1:00:07 GMT
Ditto. Midway while watching the film, the premise was reminding me of How to Train Your Dragon. However, the themes presented in the film were more about blind loyalty from the upper class instilled unto the lower classes for their own greed. There was also a witch character in one scene that's never mentioned or seen again. Other than that, the animation and voice acting was terrific. I hope this film is remembered during Oscar season.
|
|
|
|
Post by politicidal on Nov 12, 2022 2:50:28 GMT
Ditto. Midway while watching the film, the premise was reminding me of How to Train Your Dragon. However, the themes presented in the film were more about blind loyalty from the upper class instilled unto the lower classes for their own greed. There was also a witch character in one scene that's never mentioned or seen again. Other than that, the animation and voice acting was terrific. I hope this film is remembered during Oscar season. It reminded me of a lot of things like HTTYD with a dash of Moby Dick and Pirates of the Caribbean, but it mixed them together just right.
|
|
gw
Junior Member
@gw
Posts: 1,478
Likes: 550
|
Post by gw on Nov 14, 2022 2:05:33 GMT
I watched My Father's Dragon today. It started off okay, became boring soon. The main character, Elmer, and his mom lose their store due to a lack of business during what was probably the Great Depression but which is left unexplained. They move from a small town to a city called Nevergreen. They want to open a store across the street from their attic apartment in an abandoned storefront. He gives a cat some milk in their apartment despite a no pets clause after it's shooed away by some children performing in front of the storefront. One thing leads to another and the cat leads him to an island which is kept afloat by a dragon.
I don't want to spoil any more so I'll stop talking about the overall plot there. But it has good and bad parts. The two leads are interesting, as are most of the island's animal residents. But the monkey villains are pretty dull in both actions and design. It manages to overcome that weakness somewhat and has a more believable ending than Song of the Sea which has too much unexplained magic and forced sibling love, but it can't fully shake being weakened by some of its duller characters. I give it a 7.5 out of 10. Good, better than the director Nora Twomey's prior movie, The Breadwinner, at least in my opinion but it could have been better.
|
|
