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My Predictions For The 2022 Academy Award Nominations

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

Yep, it’s that time of the year again. The Oscar nominations. The day when we learn of the contenders for the Best Picture and the ‘final five’ for all the other categories. Lots of talk is bound to happen about the nominees. There will also be lots of talk about the highly lauded performances that got snubbed out. The Oscar snubs are what I describe as our annual reminder that sometimes, excellent isn’t good enough. Nevertheless the nominated performances and nominated films should tell a lot about which films hte Academy could favor come the day of the Awards.

This year’s Oscar awards will be awarded on Sunday, March 12th. This year’s nominations will be happening Monday. Two weeks earlier than last year. This has been a case of an adjustment every year as it tries to get back to the way things were before the COVID pandemic. In the meantime, here are my predictions for this year’s Academy Award nominations:

BEST PICTURE

All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar:Way Of The Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
The Fabelmans
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Tar
Top Gun: Maverick
Women Talking

BEST DIRECTOR
Edward Berger – All Quiet On The Western Front
Todd Field – Tar
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees of Inisherin
Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans

BEST ACTOR
Austin Butler – Elvis
Colin Farrell – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Paul Mescal – Aftersun
Bill Nighy – Living

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Tar
Viola Davis – The Woman King
Danielle Deadwiler – Till
Michelle Williams – The Fabelmans
Michelle Yeoh – Everything Everywhere All At Once

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Brendan Gleeson – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Brian Tyre Henry – Causeway
Judd Hirsch – The Fabelmans
Ke Huy Quan – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Eddie Redmayne – The Good Nurse

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angela Bassett – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Hong Chau – The Whale
Kerry Condon – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Jamie Lee Curtis – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Dolly de Leon – Thriangle Of Sadness

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Todd Field – Tar
Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg – The Fabelmans
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Martin McDonagh – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Charlotte Wells – Aftersun

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson and Ian Stockell – All Quiet On The Western Front
Samuel D. Hunter – The Whale
Kazuo Ishiguro – Living
Rebecca Lenkiewicz – She Said
Sarah Polley – Women Talking

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Marcel The Shell With The Shoes On
The Sea Beast
Turning Red
Wendell and Wild

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Russell Carpenter – Avatar: Way Of The World
Roger Deakins – Empire Of Light
Greg Fraser – The Batman
Claudio Miranda – Top Gun: Maverick
Mandy Walker – Elvis

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Jenny Beavan – Mrs. Harris Goes To Paris
Ruth Carter – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Catherine Martin – Elvis
Gersha Phillips – The Woman King
Mary Zophres – Babylon

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
All That Breathes
All The Beauty And Bloodshed
Descendant
Fire Of Love
Navalny

BEST FILM EDITING
Eddie Hamilton – Top Gun: Maverick
Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshar – The Fabelmans
Mikkel Nielsen – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Paul Rogers – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond – Elvis

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
All Quiet On The Western Front – Germany
Argentina, 1985 – Argentina
Close – Belgium
Decision To Leave – South Korea
EO – Poland

BEST MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING
Babylon
The Batman
Blonde
Elvis
The Whale

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Carter Burwell – The Banshees Of Inisherin
Alexandre Desplat – Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Hilda Gudnadottir – Women Talking
Justin Hurwitz – Babylon
John Williams – The Fabelmans

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Carolina” – Where The Crawdads Sing
“Hold My Hand” – Top Gun: Maverick
“Life Me Up” – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
“My Mind And Me” – Selena Gomez: My Mind And Me
“Naatu Naatu” – RRR

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
All Quiet on The Western Front
Avatar: Way Of The Water
Babylon
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Elvis

BEST SOUND
All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar: Way Of The Water
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All At Once
Top Gun: Maverick

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
All Quiet On The Western Front
Avatar: Way Of The Water
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Top Gun: Maverick

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
The Flying Sailor
Ice Merchants
New Moon
Save Ralph

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
38 At The Garden
The Elephant Whisperers
The Flagmakers
How Do You Measure A Year?
Nuisance Bear

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
An Irish Goodbye
Ivalu
Le Pupille
The Red Suitcase
Warsha

Just like I did in past years, I not only did predictions for the nominees but also possible upsetters in most of the categories. Those who’ve tracked Oscar nominations over the years will be very familiar with upsetters. So here are my picks for the potential upsetters:

BEST PICTURE
Aftersun
The Whale
The Woman King

BEST DIRECTOR
James Cameron – Avatar: Way Of The Water
Baz Luhrmann – Elvis

BEST ACTOR
Tom Cruise – Top Gun: Maverick
Hugh Jackman – The Son

BEST ACTRESS
Ana de Armas – Blonde
Margot Robbie – Babylon

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Dano – The Fabelmans
Barry Keoghan – The Banshees of Inisherin

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Stephanie Hsu – Everything Everywhere All At Once
Janelle Monae – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Park Chan-wook and Jeong Seo-gyong – Decision To Leave
Ruben Ostlund – Triangle Of Sadness

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Rian Johnson – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Five writers – Top Gun: Maverick

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Inu Oh
Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
James Friend – All Quiet On The Western Front
Janusz Kaminski – The Fabelmans

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Mark Bridges – The Fabelmans
Jenny Eagan – Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Moonage Daydream
The Territory

BEST FILM EDITING
Sven Budelman – All Quiet On The Western Front
Five editors – Avatar: Way Of The Water

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Holy Spider – Denmark
The Quiet Girl – Ireland

BEST MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING
All Quiet On The Western Front
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Simon Franglen – Avatar: Way Of The Water
Ludwig Goransson – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Applause” – Tell It Like A Woman
“Stand Up” – Till

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Fabelmans
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

BEST SOUND
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness
Thirteen Lives

Those are my predictions for the nominations for the 2022 Academy Awards. The nominees will be revealed the morning of Tuesday the 24th. Lots of talk for who will be nominated expected. Lots of talk of the snubs expected too, of couse. Ya gotta love social media!

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My Predictions For The 2021 Oscar Nominations

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

The one plus about this year’s Oscar nominations for this year is that it is more likely that you will be able to go to theatres. The restrictions are down, the theatres are open and you can watch on the big screen. Like movies are supposed to be seen. However do expect to see some of the Best Picture contenders and contenders in other categories on streaming services. Once again this year, the Academy is giving grace to films that could not be shown in theatres and streamed online. And I think it will continue this way until the whole world gets this pandemic under wraps and indoor visiting becomes as close to as free as it was before this pandemic.

This year’s Oscar awards will be awarded on Sunday, March 27th. The last Sunday of March. This year’s nominations will be happening tomorrow. More than a month earlier than last year. Part of the adjustment of slowly getting back to normal. Anyways here are my predictions for the Academy Award categories:

BEST PICTURE
Belfast
CODA
Don’t Look Up
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Power Of The Dog
tick,tick…BOOM!
Tragedy Of MacBeth
West Side Story

BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
Jane Campion – Power Of The Dog
Steven Spielberg – West Side Story
Denis Villeneuve – Dune

BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem – Being The Ricardos
Benedict Cumberbatch – Power Of The Dog
Andrew Garfield – tick,tick…BOOM!
Will Smith – King Richard
Denzel Washington – Tragedy Of MacBeth

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes Of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter
Nicole Kidman – Being The Ricardos
Lady Gaga – House Of Gucci
Kristen Stewart – Spencer

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ben Affleck – The Tender Bar
Ciaran Hinds – Belfast
Troy Kotsur – CODA
Jared Leto – House Of Gucci
Kodi Smit-McPhee – Power Of The Dog

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Catriona Balfe – Belfast
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story
Kirsten Dunst – Power Of The Dog
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
Ruth Negga – Passing

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
Asghar Farhadi – A Hero
Adam McKay and David Sirota – Don’t Look Up
Aaron Sorkin – Being The Ricardos

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Jane Campion – Power Of The Dog
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Ryusuke Hamaguchi and Tamakasa Oe – Drive My Car
Sian Heder – CODA
Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts and Denis Villeneuve – Dune

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Raya And The Last Dragon

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Bruno Delbonnel – Tragedy Of MacBeth
Greig Fraser – Dune
Janusz Kaminsky – West Side Story
Ari Wegner – Power Of The Dog
Haris Zambarloukos – Belfast

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Jenny Beavan – Cruella
Massimo Cantini Parrini – Cyrano
Robert Morgan and Jacqueline West – Dune
Paul Tazewell – West Side Story
Janty Yates – House Of Gucci

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension
Flee
In The Same Breath
The Rescue
Summer Of Soul

BEST FILM EDITING
Sarah Broshar and Michael Kahn – West Side Story
Uni Ni Dhonghaile – Belfast
Andy Jurgenson – Licorice Pizza
Peter Sciberras – Power Of The Dog
Joe Walker – Dune

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Drive My Car – Japan
Flee – Denmark
The Hand Of God – Italy
A Hero – Iran
The Worst Person In The World– Norway

BEST MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING
Cruella
Cyrano
Dune
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House Of Gucci

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Nicholas Britell – Don’t Look Up
Alexandre Desplat – The French Dispatch
Germaine Franco – Encanto
Jonny Greenwood – Power Of The Dog
Hans Zimmer – Dune

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Be Alive” – King Richard
“Dos Uguguitas” – Encanto
“Down To Joy” – Belfast
“Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” – Respect
“Just Look Up” – Don’t Look Up

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Dune
The French Dispatch
Nightmare Alley
Power Of The Dog
West Side Story

BEST SOUND
Dune
The Matrix Resurrections
A Quiet Place Part II
Spider-Man: No Way Home
West Side Story

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune
Godzilla vs. Kong
The Matrix Resurrections
Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
Spider-Man: No Way Home

Just like I did in past years, I not only did predictions for the nominees but also possible upsetters in most of the categories. Those who’ve tracked Oscar nominations over the years will be very familiar with upsetters. So here are my picks for the potential upsetters:

BEST PICTURE
Being The Ricardos
Cyrano
Drive My Car

BEST DIRECTOR
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Ryusuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car

BEST ACTOR
Mahershala Ali – Swan Song
Peter Dinklage – Cyrano

BEST ACTRESS
Alana Haim – Licorice Pizza
Rachel Zegler – West Side Story

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Bradley Cooper – Licorice Pizza
Jamie Dornan – Belfast

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Ann Dowd – Mass
Rita Moreno – West Side Story

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Pedro Almodovar – Parallel Mothers
Zach Baylin – King Richard

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Joel Coen – Tragedy of MacBeth
Tony Kushner – West Side Story

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
My Sunny Maad
Sing 2

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dan Lautsen – Nightmare Alley
Linus Sandgren – No Time To Die

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Ruth E. Carter – Coming 2 America
Luis Sequeira – Nightmare Alley

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Attica
Procession

BEST FILM EDITING
Myron Kerstein and Andrew Weisblum – tick, tick…BOOM!
Pamela Martin – King Richard

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Compartment No.6 – Finland
Prayers For The Stolen – Mexico

BEST MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING
Coming 2 America

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Alberto Iglesias – Parallel Mothers
Daniel Pemberton – Being The Ricardos

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Beyond The Shore” – CODA
“No Time To Die” – No Time To Die

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Belfast
Nightmare Alley

BEST SOUND
Belfast
No Time To Die

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
No Time To Die

Those are my predictions for the nominations for the 2021 Academy Awards. The nominees will be revealed the morning of Tuesday the 8th. It will be interesting which expected ones got it and which unexpected ones got it too!

My Predictions For The 2020 Oscar Nominations

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment

This year’s Oscars may not make you want to go to the theatres, but it will make you stream like crazy. This year may have a lot of cases where movie theatres were either forced to close or limit capacity because of health regulations. This year also made may film companies send many Oscar-calibre films to streaming services since theatrical release would be harder than ever to achieve. The Academy has been very forgiving in this situation. They’ve loosened up the rules for this year in particular to allow movies that only had a streaming life have Oscar eligibility. What can I say? Nobody wanted this pandemic. Especially since many people are now labeling this period of time the ‘Coronaversary!’Has it been a year already?

In a regular year, the Oscars would have been awarded by now. Actually the last Sunday of February. This year the nominations are delayed until March 15th. Nevertheless it has still kept Oscar-trackers like myself busy. And I’m ready to make my predictions for this year:

BEST PICTURE
The Father
Judas And The Black Messiah
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Minari
News Of The World
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound Of Metal
Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST DIRECTOR
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
David Fincher – Mank
Aaron Sorkin – Trial Of The Chicago 7
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland


BEST ACTOR
Riz Ahmed – Sound Of Metal
Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins – The Father
Gary Oldman – Mank
Tahar Rahim – The Mauritanian

BEST ACTRESS
Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day – The United States Vs. Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby – Pieces Of A Woman
Frances Mcdormand – Nomadland
Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods
Sacha Baron Cohen – Trial Of The Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya – Judas And The Black Messiah
Leslie Odom Jr. – One Night In Miami
Paul Raci – Sound Of Metal

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Maria Balakova – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close – Hilbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman – The Father
Amanda Seyfried – Mank
Youn Yuh-jung – Minari

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Will Berson and Shaka King – Judas And The Black Messiah
Lee Isaac Chung – Minari
Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
Jack Fincher – Mank
Aaron Sorkin – Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Paul Greengrass and Luke Davies – News Of The World
Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller – The Father
Kemp Powers – One Night In Miami
Ruben Santiago-Hudson – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Farmageddon: A Shaun The Sheep Movie
Onward
Over The Moon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Eric Messerschmidt – Mank
Lachlan Milne – Minari
Joshua James Richards – Nomadland
Darius Wolski – News Of The World
Hoyte Van Hoytema – Tenet

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Alexandra Byrne – Emma
Ann Roth – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Trish Summerville – Mank
Bina Daigeler – Mulan
Susan Harman and David Wolsky – The Personal History Of David Copperfield

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Dick Johnson Is Dead
MLK – FBI
My Octopus Teacher
Time
The Truffle Hunters

BEST FILM EDITING
Kirk Baxter – Mank
Harry Yoon – Minari
Chloe Zhao – Nomadland
Frederic Thoraval – Promising Young Woman
Alan Baumgarten – Trial Of The Chicago 7

BEST HAIR and MAKEUP
Birds of Prey
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
One Night In Miami

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Another Round – Denmark
Collective – Romania
Dear Comrades – Russia
La Llorona – Guatemala
Two Of Us – France

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Mank
Alexandre Desplat – The Midnight Sky
James Newton Howard – News Of The World
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Soul
Ludwig Goranson – Tenet

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Fight For You” – Judas And The Black Messiah
“Io Se (Seen) – The Life Ahead (La vita davanti a sé)
“Hear My Voice” – Trial Of The Chicago 7
“Husavik” – Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga
“Speak Now” – One Night In Miami

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Emma
Mank
News Of The World
The Personal History of David Copperfield
Tenet

BEST SOUND
Greyhound
Mank
News Of The World
Nomadland
Sound Of Metal

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Birds Of Prey
Mank
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
Tenet


Just like I did in past years, I not only did predictions for the nominees but also possible upsetters in most of the categories. With this year being a year where most films were streamed, there could be upsets a pleanty. So here are my picks for the potential upsetters:

BEST PICTURE
Da 5 Bloods
One Night In Miami

BEST DIRECTOR
Regina King – One Night In Miami
Spike Lee – Da 5 Bloods

BEST ACTOR
Sacha Baron Cohen – Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Steven Yeun – Minari

BEST ACTRESS
Sidney Flanagan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Rosamund Pike – I Care A Lot

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Jared Leto – The Little Things
Bill Murray – On The Rocks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jodie Foster – The Mauritanian
Helena Zengel – News Of The World

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always
Abraham And Darius Marder – Sound Of Metal

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Ramin Bahrani – White Tiger
Jonathan Raymond And Kelly Reichardt – First Cow

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Croods: A New Age
The Willoughbys

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Phedon Papamichael – Trial Of The Chicago 7
Newton Thomas Sigel – Da 5 Bloods

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Francine Jamison-Tanchuck – One Night In Miami
Nancy Steiner – Promising Young Woman

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Painter And The Thief
Welcome To Chechnya

BEST FILM EDITING
Yorgos Lamprinos – The Father
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen – Sound Of Metal

BEST HAIR and MAKEUP
Emma

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Night Of The Kings – Cote D’Ivoire
Quo Vadis Aida? – Bosnia-Hercegovina

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Emile Mosseri – Minari

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Loyal Brave True” – Mulan

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mulan

BEST SOUND
Soul
Trial Of The Chicago Seven

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Soul
Welcome To Chechnya

Those are my predictions for the nominations for the 2020 Academy Awards. The nominees will be revealed the morning of Monday the 15th. We’ll wait and see what the decisions are!

Movie Review: Frankenweenie

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

DISCLAIMER: Okay I know this is a delayed review but I have lacked ambition in the last while with so much happening. Now I’m glad to be back and posting.

You’ve heard of Frankenstein? How about Frankenweenie? Tim Burton goes animated but can it charm like his other movies?

Victor Frankenstein is a creative boy growing up in New Holland. An only child who spends a lot of time with his dog Sparky making films and doing science experiments, his parents wonder if he’s able to make friends. His father encourages him to play baseball. it turns out to be a bad decision as Sparky chases the ball and gets hit by a car. Victor is heartbroken but not down. He still remembers the science class where his teacher Mr. Rzykruski showed the power of electricity on a dead frog. He digs up Sparky one day in hopes of bringing him back to life via electricity. It works!

However secrets don’t stay secret for long. Victor’s classmate Edgar wants to learn from Victor how to bring the dead back and even promising to keep it as a secret, albeit with fingers crossed. The two perform the experiment and the goldfish are revived but invisible due to doing something wrong. Edgar shows the other students and that sparks interest in reanimation of their own.

The children get the chance to learn about reanimation as Sparky goes missing around town. They discover Victor’s reanimation technique in the science room and attempt reanimating of their own on dead animals: Nassor on his mummified hamster, Edgar on a dead rat he found, Toshiaki’s turtle Shelley, Bob’s sea monkeys, and a dead bat Weird Girl’s cat found. The experiments go badly wrong. Edgar’s dead rat becomes a were-rat, Bob’s sea monkeys become amphibious monsters, Shelley is covered in a huge growth formula and becomes like a huge monster turtle, Colossus becomes a giant monster and Weird Girl’s cat bites the dead bat while electrocuted becoming a vampire cat.  This is especially hellish as New Holland is preparing to have its town festival.

Victor finds Sparky but notices the monsters causing havoc around the town fair. In the meantime the parents are angry at what the children have learned and Mr. Rzykruski is fired. The townspeople blame Sparky for all this madness and chase him to the town windmill. It’s all up to Victor to make things right. He does succeed in the end with results both surprising and thrilling.

One thing people will like about this animated movie is that it has the familiar charm of Tim Burton’s movies. Right at the beginning when you think ‘not another story about a creative boy who has trouble making friends’, you’ll know why. The main reason why Victor can’t make friend is because he’s one of the few normal kids while almost every other kid acts like they belong in a haunted house. This is very much a trademark of Burton and nothing new. Sure he’s done animated movies before and Halloween-style characters seem to be his specialty but he succeeds in keeping it enjoyable and entertaining. The story of Frankenweenie succeeds in being charming, haunting and entertaining.

Frankenweenie is something of Burton’s own but this animated version is not something fresh. Frankenweenie was originally a live-action 30-minute film Burton did back for Disney way back in 1984. It was intended to be both a spoof and a homage to the monster movies of the 1930’s. However this did not sit that well with Disney as they originally fired him because the movie was considered too disturbing for kids. Funny how 28 years have passed and Disney actually welcomed him back to remake Frankenweenie.

Mind you it’s not just about Tim Burton’s style of filmmaking and storytelling that makes it so appealing. It’s the way that it will oddly remind you of many of the monster movies of the past. As has been stated before, this is both a satire and a homage to the 1931 movie of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. There are additional tributes in the movie too: Elsa’s pet poodle has a hairstyle similar to the Bride Of Frankenstein; Nassor has a voice and face resembling Boris Karloff; Mr. Rzykruski is inspired by Vincent Price. Even with its stop-motion animated style all in black-and-white, it has its charm with it being entertaining to today’s kids. Adults will also find it enjoyable too.

Frankenweenie is not just another animated movie. It’s a movie from Tim Burton that offers a lot more. Fans of monster movies will like it and admire it.