Dean

Oscars 2025 Shorts Review: Animation and Live-Action

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

Once again, the Oscar short films are back to watch in a reel of the nominees. Over the last few months, I learned there are film festivals either dedicated to short films or show a lot of them and the winners they decide have some impact on deciding the Oscar-nominated films. Here’s my look at this year’s nominated short films in animation and live-action:

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM:

Papillon/Butterfly (dirs. Florence Miailhe and Ron Dyens) – The film begins with an older man named Alfred swimming off the coast. As he swims, his life flashes by. We learn as a child in Algeria, he was too afraid to swim at first but became bolder as he grew up. As a young male in France, Alfred became world class but experienced a lot of anti-Semitism because he was Jewish. He won the affection of a Jewish diver and they had a daughter. He qualified for the Olympics, but it was the 1936 Nazi Olympics in Berlin. The French teammates treated him like a brother. As the years passed, France became more anti-Semitic as they faced pressure of possible invasion, but his teammates were there. During World War II, Alfred and his family were imprisoned during the Holocaust and shipped to Auschwitz. Alfred participated in a resistance movement and miraculously survived. His family was killed. Nevertheless he still was able to live his life and became seen as a swimming mentor on the coast.

This is a story of real-life French Olympic swimmer Alfred Nakache whom the father of director Florence Miailhe used to know. The story is told through a style of animation that looks like painting animate and about with colors. The images are dazzling to see and the colors mix delightfully. It’s an excellent blend of imagery and storytelling. That’s why I make it both my Should Win pick and my Will Win pick.

Forevergreen (dirs. Nathan Engelhardt and Jeremy Spears) – A young cub is lost in the woods. His path is broken apart by a valley. He’s lost his mother. A tree decides to lay the role of parent. He shelters him and feeds him. He treats the cub as if he’s his own. The tree, who I will call Father Tree, also plants a pine cone in front of the cub and promises him it will grow up to be a big tree like him. As the cub grows, he turns into an impatient teenage jerk and is unhappy with the slow growth of the pinecone. He even shows sass to Father Tree. One day, he decides he’s a grown bear and leaves Father Tree to go across to the other side of the valley. There, he meets other young bears like him and has fun eating up other people’s garbage. Unfortunately, he accidentally starts a forest fire. All the bears run away and his life is in danger. Fortunately father tree creates a bridge of himself allowing the bear to cross. Unfortunately, Father Tree dies in the blaze. He sees baby tree has grown up into a full tree. There he’s able to create a home for his wife and children.

It’s a charming story based off a bible verse done to stop-motion animation. The stop motion isn’t as smooth but it adds to the charm to the film as is a delight to watch. The story is charming and entertaining from start to finish. It does seem more like it’s aimed for young children but some adults can take a delight in this tory and the imagery.

The Girl Who Cried Pearls/La jeune fille qui pleurait des perles (dirs. Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski) – An elderly man tells a young girl his story as a child in old Montreal. He was an orphan child who found shelter in the room of a store. The room was right across from another room a family lived in. The family situation was terrible as the father was mentally ill and the mother was verbally abusive. It was especially terrible for the young daughter. One day, the boy noticed loose pearls coming from the room. How did they come? He learned the girl cries pearls. He takes two of the pearls to the pawn shop. The pawner suspects him to be a thief. The rabbi he consults uses the Genesis story of Eve crying pearls. The pawner reluctantly accepts and gives the boy two dollars. The most he’s seen. The pawner wants him to get more pearls, but that will mean seeing the girl cry more. He doesn’t want to but the greedy pawner is angry with his sentiments. He’s able to win her love by buying her chocolate and promise her a trip to Paris. Then one day, her father is killed by a streetcar. She cries endlessly and its able to give him enough pearls to give him hundreds of dollars. As he leaves for Paris, he notices a ship crate from Japan breaking and fake pearls spilling out. As it goes back to the old man, he tells her it’s about the story rather than the object. That causes her to question the truthfulness of it all.

This is another stop motion animation film. This film from the National Film Board Of Canada is more about telling a story artistically. Narrated by Colm Feore, the story is told through the magic of its images. Though the figures appear coarsely done, it’s part of the art. The endearing story is mixed with the charming images and makes the story a delight to see from start to finish.

Retirement Plan (dirs. John Kelly and Andrew Freedman) – A young man talks about his plan for retirement. He visualizes and talks of all the things he will catch up on. Lots of things undone. He visualizes also the things he will leave behind in the process. He visualizes all the life goals he plans to achieve before he dies. He also visualizes some of the plans he has for his afterlife! Including a haunting or two!

Narrated by Domnhall Gleeson, this film plays out in what appears to be coarsely-drawn two dimensional images but the coarse drawing is part of the film’s charm. As the man talks of his plans, all the images play out of his desires, shortcomings and fantasies. It’s both charming and humorous to watch. Despite it being a brief film, it makes for a nice film to enjoy.

The Three Sisters (dir. Konstantin Bronzit) – Three sisters live on a remote island with their own separate rooms to their house. They get a delivery of food and money on a Sunday but most of it is either eaten by the seagulls and the money is accidentally lost in the deep water. One sister, the shortest, decides to rent her room out to make the money back. On the Monday, an uncooked sailor arrives to make himself at home. The small sister then goes into the middle-height sister’s room. The middle-height sister will have to live with the tall sister. Tuesday, the sisters try to compete for the sailor’s love. One gives him coffee, the other washes his clothes and the other gives him his pipe. That leads to squabbling among the sisters.  Wednesday, the fighting gets more intense but he finds the money they lost off the coast. Thursday, more fun and dancing but the women are shocked that he sees them naked. Friday, he leaves the island. What are the sisters to do? February, three men arrive, all differing heights, as they came across the rental ad!

This 2D film has its charm in the drawings but the bigger highlight is the story it tells. It tells its story without dialogue. Just minor sound effects are spoken of the people. The story will tell what they’re saying so you will get the message. It’s fun to watch from start to finish with humor anyone can understand.

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM:

Butcher’s Stain (dirs. Meyer Levinson-Blount and Oron Caspi) – Samir is an Arab-Israeli who works as a butcher in a Tel Aviv supermarket. He serves his customers professionally and with courtesy. One day, the manager brings him into the office. She mentions of the poster of kidnapped Israelis in the break room on the floor. She claims someone said it was him. She mentions surveillance cameras are broken. This comes as he has to work extra time which interferes with a family occasion. One with his sister, her Israeli husband, and their mixed son. Over time, Samir becomes more suspicious and questions who of his co-workers would do it. He goes undercover to see what goes on.  He notices one stealing items and one making the accusation and the boss admitting firing him will be hard because he’s minimum wage. In the butcher area, he confronts his co-worker who told the lies. That’s where the manager fires him. As he arrives home early he lets out his anger at his family situation. The film ends as he makes the effort to find peace.

The Israel-Palestine conflict has become a hot topic. This story tells a lot about the prejudice and increased suspicion from Israelis Palestinians face as they try to live their daily lives. It tells a story of the prejudice faced by the butcher as what he went through was something set up in the end. It also shows how it threatens peace with his family, but he chooses to go about his life peacefully. Something hard to do. The story makes you see his side of the story and what is happening now.

A Friend of Dorothy (dirs. Lee Knight and James Dean) -The film begins with the reading of an estate of an older woman. The grandson Scott is there and he’s shocked that this young man of African immigrants named JJ is here. He never knew him. The film flashes back. One day, JJ lost his football in a yard. He thinks it’s this elderly woman’s yard. He knocks to try to retrieve it. She is surprised by him. Also that he doesn’t know for sure if the football is actually in her yard. She asks him instead to help her open a can of prunes. That day, she’s impressed by his service. She also notices he has an interest in her books of plays. She makes aa deal with him. He opens her prunes on a daily basis and he can read her books. Over time he reads more. Also he notices his affection for his kind. One day she talks of how her son moved away a long time ago to another country and rarely talks to her. One day, Scott and JJ meet at her place and he’s surprised. During her daily meeting, she mentions her grandson Scott is just there to fill the void, but all Scott does is talk on his phone, does what he can and goes back to business. She also reveals her name is Dorothy. Like in The Wizard Of Oz. As the estate is read, the father inherits the house, grandson Scott inherits £50,000 to his dismay, and JJ inherits the drama collection, and something more.

This is a story about elderly neglect. Something that seems to be very common in today’s world. Nowadays it seems a lot more children are more concerned about their career pursuits in this unforgiving world and they often forget about their own parents. Despite the theme, it is a heartwarming story. The young man JJ may have come to her house to get his football, but he gets a lot more. He gets a woman who’s not afraid to let him be who he wants to. Drama instead of football and willing to admit he’s gay. Over that brief time, he becomes more of a son to Dorothy than her son and grandson are. While they’re self-absorbed, JJ gives himself to her. It makes for a nice warm story that still makes you think. That is why I declare this film my Should Win pick.

Jane Austen’s Period Drama (dirs. Julia Aks and Steve Pinder) – The film begins in a Jane Austen-style romance. Miss Talbot is finally proposed to her longtime lover Mr. Dickley. Unfortunately she menstruated and the blood spills on her white dress. Mr. Dickley thinks she was injured, but her sisters try to hide the truth from him as he appears unfamiliar with what menstruation is. Annoyed with it all, Miss Talbot takes it upon herself to tell the naive Mr. Dickley about menstruation herself, even if it means she might lose him. Miss Talbot talks to Mr. Dickley alone in a room as her family and servants eavesdrops through the door. Miss Talbot does her best to explain, but it’s hit and miss with Mr. Dickley. Then the final decision, Mr. Dickley is fine with Miss Talbot’s menstruation and will marry her. The family immediately celebrates, where we learn her name is Estrogenia!

Now menstruation humor is a very touchy subject. As a male, I refuse to tell menstruation jokes. Nevertheless, I’m fine if women joke about it. The story isn’t simply ‘period jokes.’ It is also about the naivety of the times and how people were protected from what were taboos back then. It does it in a humorous way. Some oof it may be shock humor, but most of the humor plays out well and doesn’t really. cross the line of vulgar. It’s a guilt-free guilty pleasure.

The Singers (dirs. Sam A. Davis and Jack Piatt) – A bar is full. Full of all sorts. Most of the men look like they’re weary of life. One man pesters others for either money or a drink. The bartender has had it and he says he’ll give the man a free drink if he outings an elder. The competition then spreads throughout the bar: $100 and free drinks for the best singer. Most of the patrons participate with the exception of a shy young man who actually has a good voice. The older patrons perform well without hesitation. A surprise abounds as the construction worker shows himself to be a good singer and pianist. Then the bartender delivers a moving version of ‘Unchained Melody’ that leads to a group hug from the bar. Then a surprise from one of the patrons still seated.

This is based off a 1852 short story from Russian writer Ivan Turgenev. Director Sam Davis does a great job of adapting it in the modern world and makes for an entertaining film. It makes for a great single-location short film that keeps audiences both intrigued and entertained. It can even make some feel like they’re part of the bar! Remarkable how it takes a singing contest to turn a bar full of down-on-life patrons into a celebration and a closeness with each other.

Two People Exchanging Saliva (dirs. Natalie Musteata and Alexandre Singh) – The film begins in a dystopian world with a carboard box with a living woman is tossed over a cliff by two men. The film goes back a few days. Malaise is a young woman working at a high-class department store just days before her 25th birthday. It’s a job that doesn’t look tough, but it is. All women must pass a human breathalyzer test before working. Malaise first starts serving patrons champagne. One day, she’s promoted in the women’s dress department. A wealthy housewife Angine goes looking for a dress. Malaise finds the right dress, but Angine is impressed with a lot more. Angine pays her, but not in cash. In this world, slaps taken to the face are currency. Her manager Petulante will let Malaise do her work. Over time, Petulante notices Angine coming back and coming back to Malaise. Petulant grows jealous. Angine also keeps photographs and artwork of kisses as public kissing is outlawed in this world. Soon, a woman gets arrested for public kissing. She is placed in a box sent out. A shocked Angine accidentally drops the pictures of kisses she collected. Then one day, Petulante finds out the connection between the two and has Malaise is ordered in the box. It’s as Angine goes to the clifffside where all the thrown boxes are. She finds Malaise’s body and is heartbroken. The film flashes back to a past moment of what could have been.

The story is told through black and white imagery and its dystopian world resembles the taboos and prudence of the past mixed with bizarre humor. It’s a story of two lesbians living in a prudent society where slaps are currency and public kissing is forbidden. It’s also a story of a bizarre love triangle where a boss wants to win the affection of her young worker but she’s being swayed more by her customer. Angry with her, she frames her for kissing. It’s a story told in bizarre humor of love kept private and jealous caught in the way. That’s why I pick this as my Will Win pick.

And there you have it! That’s my look at this year’s short films for the Oscars. I didn’t have the time this year to see the nominees for the documentary short but I’m sure I’ll have better luck next year.

2022 Academy Awards: Best Picture Reviews – Part Two

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

It’s something that if you see all ten Best Picture nominees, that means you would have seen 65 of the 125 Oscar nominations! Possibly more than most Academy members!

A single blog having all the Best Picture nominees reviewed would be too exhausting to the eyes. Makes sense to split the ten Best Picture nominees over two blogs. You read the first. Here is the second review of this year’s Best Picture nominees:

The Fabelmans – “Movies are dreams that you never forget.”

After I saw this film, I’ve been telling people this is a reminder that for every big-name director, there was a child with a dream. We’ve seen films before of children being enchanted by film. This is Spielberg’s chance to tell his own story. Essentially that story of Sammy Fabelman is the story of ‘Stevie Spielberg!’ It all started when Sammy’s parents Mitzi and Saul took him to see The Greatest Show On Earth and they told them of the magic of movies: from both the scientific and artistic side. Sammy tries to remake the train crash scene with his toy train set and film it with an 8mm camera… and that was the making! One thing I have to say is that what’s missing in the theatres nowadays are films that make people want to chase their dream. I don’t know about you but if I saw this film as a child, it would make me want to be a film maker. Even adults who grew up with Steven Spielberg movies and have been blown away by them would want to see the story of how it all started.

There are many scenes where one can see that this is how it all started for Spielberg. The scene with Sam biking will remind many of E.T. The scene where he does his war films will remind many of Saving Private Ryan and other war-themed films he’s done. The scenes where he experiences anti-Semitism will tell people of what inspired Schindler’s List. Speaking of which, it’s not to say the dream doesn’t have its rocky moments. We are reminded of times when the dream faced some bumpy paths. There was how his filming exposed Mitzi’s concealed love for Bennie and would lead to the friction in her marriage to Burt. There’s the anti-Semitism Sammy went through being the only Jew in his Northern California town. There’s that time Sam did not want to shoot a movie for years because it would mean using the camera Bennie gave him. It’s funny how when he was young, he insisted to his father “It’s not a hobby,” and as a teen Sam wanted nothing to do with it. I guess the message the film tries to give the audience is that if the skill is in you, the dream can’t die no matter how hard you try to end it.

Top admiration to go to Steven Spielberg. It’s not easy to do a semi-autobiographic story of the director without it getting egotistical. Instead of something egotistical, we get an inspiring story. On top of it, this isn’t any director we’re talking about. We’re talking Spielberg. His films have thrilled us since the late-70’s to now. The film showed he was the type who went that extra mile in adding affects to his films even when he was young. Sometimes I think this film is Spielberg’s gift to us.

Young actor Gabriel Labelle was great in his performance of Sam Fabelman. It was not an easy task playing a boy with film dreams but going through the frustrations of teenagerhood. He did an impressive job. Michelle Williams was also excellent in playing the troubled mother. It was not easy playing the mother that supports her son’s dream but going through a troubling marriage. Also great was Paul Dano in playing the father caught in the middle. Judd Hirsch was also great in the brief scene he played the eccentric uncle. In addition, John Williams gives a great score to go with the film.

Tár – This is a story that we often see of a toxic personality falling from the top of their game. If there’s one thing we all learn as we get older, it’s that if we want to excel and be among the top, we need to have some amount of arrogance and some amount of ruthlessness to get there. Lydia Tár is exactly that case. Yes, she’s condescending to those that think differently. Yes, she does get this feeling that she owns the show when she really doesn’t. And yes, her controlling personality does not leave her when she’s with the women she loves. One thing we often forget is that Lydia Tár’s toxic control-freak persona is something very common in show business. We see it time and time again. Most commonly from the men in show business. This film shows it’s even possible for a woman to be this controlling and manipulative. It’s very easy to try and go from the top of your game and then face the comeuppance of a downfall as your actions catch up to you. That’s the story of Lydia Tár. It got to the point everyone had to turn on her. The suicide of Krista Taylor was the beginning of the end.

The film is a straightforward story of a conductor on top of her game who faces a downfall and then finds new life in the aftermath. Despite that, it still has to capture the essence of the conductor and their music. Despite Lydia Tár being a control freak of a person, like most people at the top in arts and entertainment are, it also has to capture Lydia’s passion for music. The film itself has not forgotten about Lydia’s passion for music as it shows itself throughout the film. Music is a common theme throughout the film and it captures the essence excellently.

The brains behind this piece is Todd Field. Todd has had other films that looked like potential Best Picture nominees like 2002’s Far From Heaven and 2015’s Carol (which Blanchett also plays lead) that have “missed by that much.” This time, he finally gets it! While the two aforementioned films are timepieces, this takes place in modern times. It’s an excellent work about a toxic musician facing their comeuppance in modern times. Also making the film soar is Cate Blanchett. Her performance as a prima donna conductor owns the film from start to finish. She keeps her character interesting and helps the audiences into sharing her passions. Although Blanchett practically owns the film, supporting performances from Nina Hoss as her wife and Noemie Merlant as her angry assistant also add to the film.

Top Gun: Maverick – I’m sure the idea of a sequel to the original Top Gun had been an idea ever since the film became a hit. It was possible one could be out two or three years after the first. Most sequels are out in that time, and it’s mostly duds in such cases. A sequel thirty-six years after its original release seems like quite the gamble. Sure, there has been a lot of this retro-80’s stuff coming back and yes, there has been a lot of rebooting and remaking, but a sequel? Can a Top Gun sequel work with a sixtysomething Tom Cruise?

Peter Craig and Justin Marks were able to write a story to serve as the catharsis for the Top Gun sequel. The story ended up being a believable story of Maverick who’s on the verge of moving from pilot to teacher, but was born to fly. In the meantime, he has to teach a new generation which includes the son of Bradshaw. It’s a story that makes sense to have. In addition, it’s a story that gives the effects of flying a fighter jet. Most of us will never fly in one. The first Top Gun film was a hit because it gave the thrill of flying a fighter jet. This film continues to give us that feel without making us forget the physical toll flying such a jet can take on the passenger.

Top marks go to director Joseph Kosinsky. It was no easy task to direct this sequel; a sequel to a film that came out when he was 12. A director with proven work in science fiction was needed for a film like this an Kosinsky was the right one. He delivers a sequel that has a sensible story and keeps the action active and dazzling. The dream team of scriptwriters also did a very good job in delivering a story that’s believable and a story that isn’t too similar to the original film, like most film sequels are.

Tom Cruise returns to give his best acting in many years. Maverick was the role that made him a superstar in 1986. To play Maverick 36 years later was no easy task. It was not easy playing a man who has aged over time, but still had that young love for flying big. Tom did it very well. Jennifer Connelly was also good as Penny, but her role was not as developed. The set of young actors to play the new recruits were also very good. Miles Teller was not only good as Rooster, but he was able to steal the show from Maverick many times. Glen Powell was easily dislikeable as Hangman, Nevertheless the main attraction to a film like this is the effects. Again, this film delivers in its effect to give the audient the feel of what it’s like behind a fighter jet at supersonic speed. It’s what makes a movie like this!

Triangle Of Sadness – This is a rare case of a comedy with a message to deliver. There are a lot of themes in this film to take note of. One is social status. The story goes from the young model/influencer couple who debate about paying for a date to the various business people and socialites. They flaunt their riches, they enjoy their time without a care in the world, they all have their dinners of choice. The workers on the ship are just there to do their job. All that changes after the heavy rocking of the ship and its shooting down. The scene of the ship rocking is especially key as we see the Russian oligarch not only share control of the ship with the American captain, but also them shouting both anti-capitalist and anti-socialist sayings on the intercom.

In the aftermath, the eight surviving passengers are on an island with nothing. There’s also the theme of power. On the ship, the rich had it all while the workers did what they wer told and has basic living conditions. After the sinking the Filipino woman who was a cleaner on the ship is now the leader because of her survival skills. Power going from the bottom to the top. It also shows how even she can use her power to get what she wants and how power can even be an addiction for her.

The film doesn’t just deliver a message about classism and superficiality. It does so in a unique fashion. First it starts with a male model who makes less than his influencer girlfriend. Then it’s an argument at a restaurant which then leads them to this cruise with the mega wealthy. The cruise introduces us to them and their mindsets. Then the ship rocks furiously with everyone getting sick on board. Then the ship is torpedoed which leads to the eight survivors on what appears to be a deserted island. The time on the island gives a new structure with the former cleaning lady leading and the other survivors co-existing. It’s a clever arrangement of a story mixed with the bizarre and the disgusting to go along with it. Nevertheless the message doesn’t get lost. Nor does the story of the model/influencer couple lose its status as the prime story.

Top accolades to go to director/writer Ruben Ostlund. This is a unique tragicomedy that lampoons the rich but also reminds us how addictive power can be for even the smallest of the small. It has a lot of bizarre humor and even treads on the disgusting, but it all works when you look back on it. It’s actually a smart edgy comedy. Harris Dickinson and the late Charlbi Dean were also very good playing the couple. Their roles weren’t too deep, but they did well in playing the young and superficial pair. There were scene-stealers in this film. The most notable being Dolly de Leon as the cleaner-turned-leader. She was excellent in going from just a cleaning lady to becoming the leader with all the unfairness that comes with it! Also a scene stealer is Zlatko Buric as the Russian oligarch who helps endanger the ship with the captain.

Women Talking – If there’s one thing we’ve learned in 2022, it’s about how religion is often used to control women. That is one world issue felt big in 2022 with the loss of Roe v. Wade and also with the Women’s Revolution in Iran. Here we’re presented a story of a community whose religious beliefs create a community separate from the rest of secular society. It’s a community with strict values unchanged for centuries. This strictness causes a problem as there’s a rapist in the community threatening the women. The men have not made any effort to protect the women from this madman so they have to organize things themselves. It’s in this conversation that they have to decide, to stay and fight or to leave all at once before the men return? Even though leaving seems like the best choice, how will they do it? How will the children be raised properly? Will the boys be raised to treat women with respect? There is a lot to think about in this film. August, the university-educated token male in the discussion, serves as the image of hope for the women. He’s the one man in the community they can trust to raise the boys right.

The film is done very smartly. It presents the issue and the vote which leads to the discussion. It’s fair to say 85-90% of the film involves the women meeting in the hall for the discussion. That’s possibly the most critical part of it. While the men who dominate the community are away, the women finally get their moment to discuss things and make the choice to do something of their own choosing. When you hear them talk, it’s not simple common blabbing. These are the women speaking their fears, their anger, the hurts they’s endured, their passions and their families who mean so much to them. The discussions get very heated with all that’s happen, but they all have a bond that’s like a sisterhood that they show near the end. Even though it is primarily about the women, it’s also about August as he is their sense of hope to make the community better. He does it at the sacrifice of having to lose the woman he loves. It hurts him, but he knows it’s worth it.

The biggest praise of this film should go to writer/director Sarah Polley. Those of us living in Canada have seen Sarah develop over the years first when she was a child actor in the Road To Avonlea TV series, then seen as the next “it girl” in films like The Sweet Hereafter, Go and Existenz, only to drop acting and move in the field of writing and directing. She has come of age greatly over the years and one could call this film her crowning achievement so far. She does an excellent adaptation of the novel into a film that will get one intrigued of what will happen, what will be decided upon. I’ve often felt since the story is mostly in the same room, it can be adapted into a stage play. We’ll see. As for the acting, it’s hard to pick a standout. All the women here did an excellent almost-unselfish job of portraying their characters well. If I could pick the standouts, they would have to be Jessie Buckley, Rooney Mara and Claire Foy. A tough call. Ben Whitshaw also did an excellent job as playing the man watching, observing, and providing both wisdom and hope.

And there you go. There’s my second blog of my review of the Best Picture nominees. My predictions for the Oscar wins I anticipate to have by Saturday.

Double Movie Review: How To Train Your Dragon 2 and Big Hero 6

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

Normally I would do single movie reviews. Additionally, I never really had plans to see How To Train Your Dragon 2 or Big Hero 6. When it comes to animated movies, I mostly go to see the one or ones that look like they have the best chances of winning Best Animated Feature. All year I thought I had it all wrapped up when I saw The LEGO Movie and nothing else. Then the Oscar nominations came and The LEGO Movie was inexplicably snubbed out of that category. That led me scramming to see both movies. I saw Dragon 2 on a DVD while I was lucky to see Hero on the big screen. Here are my thoughts:

Dragon 2

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2

Making a sequel from a hit movie is always a challenge as commercial pressures will demand it. It’s sink or swim as it can either be a continuation of the original’s charm or simply a flavorless rehash of the original. Yes, the audience will distinguish between tried-and-true and tried-and-tired. We saw how Shrek burst on the scene back in 2001 but its excellence and flavor declined with each subsequent movie. Now How To Train Your Dragon has its sequel out. Will How To Train Your Dragon 2 measure up?

First off, the writers and producers did the right thing by releasing the sequel four years after the original and four years since they first started work on it as opposed to the three years between the Shrek films. For those unfamiliar with work on animated features, it takes four years to create from start to finish. The focus on the story this time is in the Fjords of Norway. The story begins with Hiccup, still awkward but well-respected. It also adds in a story where he experiences friction between his girlfriend and his father as well as an enemy he must fight.

I’m unsure if the story would remain true to what Cressida Cowell wrote in her dragon books but I do feel the story is not ‘spoiled’ as so many sequels as most sequels, both animation and live-action, are prone to do. It will continue to delight fans of the first Dragon movie too. The story was darker this time as this would include the death of Stoick and Toothless is under a spell which causes him to want to attack Hiccup. I believe the story would be more suitable for older children but one thing the story doesn’t do is lose the charm of the original. It also has its fun moments and a happy ending that should make it enjoyable for the whole family.

Now on to the technical bits. Whenever I watch a 3D animated movie, I especially pay attention to the quality of the images and effects. I know that each image has to have 100% detail in order to succeed. Any glitch or inconsistency will hurt the movie. I didn’t notice any glitches in the images. I felt the detail was very accurate from the scales on the dragon to the fire they unleashed. The characters’ mouths were always in sync with the dialogue. The film’s images also continued to give the audience a thrill-ride. Naturally when you have a film of people travelling on dragons, you would expect there to be images of the various flights and even parts in the movie that get the audience feel like they’re flying on their own dragons too. The audience will come expecting that. People come to such movies for the escape and the thrill-ride of it all. It succeeds in doing so and it does a top notch job of doing so.

I’m sure that most of you expected The LEGO Movie to win Best Animated Feature even before the nominations were announced. I did too. An interesting bit of trivia to know is that Dragon 2 actually beat out The LEGO Movie in that category to win major awards like the National Board of Review award, the Annie Award and the Golden Globe. Now with The LEGO Movie snubbed out of that category, it appears safe to assume that Dragon 2 will win the Oscar. However that snub reminds us nothing is a foregone conclusion as it is possible Big Hero 6 or The Tale Of The Princess Kaguya could pull an upset.

How To Train Your Dragon 2 was faced with the common pressures of a movie sequel but was able to overcome them to the point they again deliver a movie that’s entertaining and a thrill-ride and still maintains the charm of the original without appearing to exhaust it or stray too far away from it.

Big-Hero-6

BIG HERO 6

Now moving on from a sequel to an original. And moving from one I saw on DVD to one I was lucky to see on the big screen. This time a Disney film: Big Hero 6.

Big Hero 6 is based off of characters from the Big Hero 6 comic series from Marvel comics that first hit shelves in 1998 and went under the Marvel name in 2008. However the story for the film is nothing like the comic series. In the comic series, the characters were all heroes commissioned and created by the Japanese government. Hiro Takachiho was a 13 year-old whiz kid who became part of the team after his mother was kidnapped and creates a Godzilla-style monster hero off of his deceased father’s brain named Baymax. The comics come with the type of over-the-top violence and imagination that you would come to expect from Japanese comic books. The comics have won a following here in the US.

Here for the film, we have a much different story. Hiro is an orphaned boy who lives with his brother Tadashi in San Fransokyo. Hiro commonly gets himself in trouble as he tries to win bot-fights for money but Tadashi takes him to his polytechnic. Hiro thinks it will be the ‘nerd school’ he thinks it is but is amazed with what he sees created by Tadashis’s friends –including his brother’s creation: Baymax, the inflatable virtual doctor which is kept at home–and tries to win a scholarship in a young innovators contest held by the school. After winning the scholarship, a fire breaks out killing Tadashi and a professor.

Hiro feels alone at first even distancing himself from Tadashi’s friends but Baymax suddenly becomes a friend-like to him despite Hiro being unwelcome at first. Later as Hiro learns more new truths about what really happened at the school that night and how his brother really dies, Hiro gets Baymax and the friends to team up to get his brother’s killer. All of them don costumes in the images of the Big Hero 6 comic book characters except Baymax who has an outfit more like Iron Man.

I don’t think the movie was meant to be a film version of the main comic book characters. Remember writers can adapt stories into whatever they want. It’s obvious Walt Disney Studios wanted to do their own story with the characters and have it as a family-friendly film. It succeeds in doing so as it creates a story that’s thrilling, entertaining and imaginative. The story also has a good message for children too as justice is better than any revenge. It also doesn’t try to be too dark in the situations involving Tadashi’s death and Hiro being an orphan.

Although this is an original film, it’s not to say it was without its pressures. We shouldn’t forget this movie comes a year after Walt Disney released the phenomenon Frozen. It wasn’t simply a hit movie. It became a marketing phenomenon and even spawned a release of a sing-along version. Already you could tell there would be pressure upon the release of their follow-up. Big Hero 6 doesn’t exactly deliver to the dame length Frozen has. It has its charm and is a likable film on its own. Whatever the situation, Big Hero 6 was not hurt at the box office as it has already grossed more than $200 million and has been nominated for Best Animated Feature.

Another thing Big Hero 6 succeeds in doing is it adds to the recent resurgence to the Walt Disney Animation Studios. For decades the studios reigned supreme in the world of animated motion pictures. It had very few challengers save for Spielberg animation in the 80’s but made a comeback in the 90’s with 2D masterpieces like The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast and The Lion King. However the studios knew that the world of 3D animation was coming and it did become the case as soon Disney’s partnership with Pixar would create the 3D revolution in animated features. The flavor of the 2D movies from the main Disney Studios were running thin as they couldn’t compete with the Disney/Pixar movies. Eventually Walt Disney Animation Studios did acquire the skills and know how to create their own successful 3D animated movies starting with 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph which rivaled Pixar’s Brave that year and Frozen from last year. Big Hero 6 succeeds in keeping its comeback alive. The Disney/Pixar partnership is still there but it’s good to see Pixar now has a rival with Walt Disney Animation Studios back on its feet.

Big Hero 6 may not be a phenomenon like Frozen nor is it the best animated feature of the year. Nevertheless it succeeds in being entertaining on its own and is another plus in the comeback of the Walt Disney Animation Studios.