Sorry About That...

Hey I am sorting through my Halloween candy right now and I just realized I don't have a review ready. Don't worry though I will review Coraline on Monday. OK I'm going to go stuff my face on candy now. Bye.

The Birds

Hey are you scared of birds? If not you will be after watching this movie. The movie is based on the book of the same named by Daphne Du Maurier. This movie has little to do with the book so I won't talk about the book much  longer. So let's start my review of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

We start in San Francisco where we meet a woman named Melanie Daniels (Tippi Herden) who goes to a pet shop to see if they have any Mynah Birds. She meets a man named Mitch Brenner (Rod Taylor) who is looking for some Love Birds for his little sisters birthday. Mitch also says that he thinks that Melanie should be in jail as he saw her in court because she smashed a plate glass window. Mitch leaves with out buying the love birds. Melanie decides to buy the love birds and bring them to Mitch. Melanie finds out that he went to his family's house in the nearby port town of Bodega Bay. She goes to Bodega Bay with the love birds. She drops them off at Mitch's house but Mitch sees her and catches up to her. A seagull cuts Melanie's head and Mitch rushes her to a nearby diner to fix the wound. Mitch convinces Melanie to stay for the night so Melanie rents a room at the house of a woman named Anne Hayworth (Suzanne Pleshette).



While at Anne's house a seagull crashes into the front door. The next day Melanie goes to Mitch's little sister Cathy's (Veronica Cartwright) birthday party. The party seems to be going well when a bunch of seagulls attack the children. They get the children to safety and the rest of the party is cancelled. That night they are talking about the birthday when all of a sudden hundreds of sparrows fly down the chimney. The cops just brush off the birds natural behavior. Mitch's mother Lydia (Jessica Tandy) goes to a local farm to talk to the farmer when she finds that the farmer was killed by the birds. Lydia goes back to the house and tells Mitch to call the police. Lydia also tells Melanie to check on Cathy at the school house. Melanie waits for the class to end outside the school. But Melanie notices a lot of crows are gathered outside the school. Melanie warns the class and they all escape the school but the crows fly after them. Melanie get's separated from Anne and Cathy and ends up in a diner. Melanie tries to warn everyone but everyone thinks she's crazy. But then a bird spills some gasoline and some random guy drops a lit match on the gas and it explodes. After that everything goes haywire.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

They find Cathy who was hiding in Anne's house but Anne was killed by the birds. They all flee back to Mitch's house where they board up the doors and windows. Everyone is on edge and they listen to the radio for reports on the birds. That night when everyone is sleeping Melanie thinks she hears a noise upstairs in the bedroom. She goes up to see what is making that noise and finds out that the birds made a hole in the roof and are flying in through the hole. The birds are overwhelming Melanie but then Mitch comes in just in time to get her out. Mitch tells Lydia to make sure Melanie is okay while he goes out to the garage to try and get the car so that they can try and get to San Francisco. Mitch gets the car ready and they all get in the car and head off to San Francisco. The End. Or is it? Alfred Hitchcock had plans for an ending that was never shot here's how it goes. They get in car bit when they make it to San Francisco the Golden Gate Bride is covered in birds. The End...

***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***

This is one of the best scary movies ever. It has a great sense of suspense and mystery and there is a lot of build up to when the birds attack everyone. All the actors also give great performances in this movie. The idea of birds attacking everyone is a scary idea. Overall I say this is one of the scariest movies I have every seen. See you next time on Halloween Night.

Goosebumps

Hey it's been a few month since I reviewed a TV show. Lets take a look at Goosebumps. The show is based on the series of books of the same name by R. L. Stine. I read a few of the books and they're pretty good. Now this show doesn't have a story line, each episode has different characters a different plots and different monsters so I will pick three random episodes and review them. Also Instead of doing the "SPOILER ALERT" thing I normally do I will right the ending in italics. Oh, and I also wasn't able to find the actor names in this one because it doesn't have returning characters so sorry. So let's start my review of Goosebumps.






Cuckoo Clock of Doom: (I did not make that title up) We meet a boy named Michael  who has an annoying sister named Terra. Michael's father buys a antique Cuckoo Clock and displays it in the living room. That night Michael decides to break the Cuckoo Clock and blame it on Terra because Terra just ruined his Birthday Party. Michael turns the head of the bird in the clock backwards. Then Michael wakes up but it is his 12th birthday again. Everything happens exactly as he remembered it including Terra trips him causing him to splatter cake all over his face. He goes to bed thinking it's all a bad dream but he wakes up on his birthday again. The writer then realizes he is ripping off Groundhog Day. So Michael wakes up on his birthday only it's his 6th birthday. This time he goes to the antique shop but his father brings him home and Michael goes back to sleep. This time when he wakes up he is a baby and he can't talk. But his father takes him to the antique store. While he is there he fixes the Cuckoo Clock at the store which makes to go forward and he is back in the present. But while fixing the Clock in the past Michael accidentally knocked off the year 1988 which was the year Terra was born which means she never existed. Michael says he will find a way to bring back Terra.....eventually (evil laughter). The End.



This episode is okay. The idea is a a really good one. But the special effects and acting are....meh. I think the best actor in all of this is the baby. So overall I semi-recommend this episode.




Revenge of the Lawn Gnomes: (I can't makes these up). We meet a boy named Joe Burton whos parents are obsessed with gardening and lawn ornaments. Joe's dad brings home some ugly looking Lawn Gnomes. The next day Joe's neighbour Mr. Mackall accuses Joe of destroying his garden. Joe claims he never destroyed the garden. But Mr. Mackall says he will keep an eye on Joe. The night after Joe stays up and sees that the Lawn Gnomes come to life and ruin Mr. Mackall's garden. Joe tries to stop them but he triggers an alarm and spot lights. Mr. Mackall comes out and talks to Joe's father and they both agree that Joe has to do garden work for Mr. Mackall. The next night Joe wakes up his sister Mindy and they both follow the Lawn Gnomes into Mr. Mackall's yeard where they set off the alarm, but this time they leave and Mr. Mackall is left alone with the Lawn Gnomes. The next day it is the day of the Garden Competition but the judges notice a Lawn Gnome that looks out of place...a Lawn Gnome that looks like Mr. Mackall (evil laughter). The End.




This episode is...silly. Evil Lawn Gnomes aren't exactly scary and the actor playing Mr. Mackall is really over the top. So if you want a goofy over the top episode this is for you.



Attack of the Jack-O-Lanturns: (nope still the real title) Two kids named Walker and Drew are getting ready for Halloween. Drew runs into her old friends Shane and Shauna who Drew introduces to Walker. Meanwhile two other kids named Tabitha  and Lee pull a prank on them. After Tabitha and Lee leave Shane and Shauna say that they can help get revenge. Drew and Walker agree with Shane and Shauna. The next day is Halloween but Drew's mother is worried because four people recently went missing. They go out anyway and find Tabitha and Lee but they can't find Shane and Shauna. They run into weird Pumpkin creatures who say they can take them to a better place. They follow the Pumpkins to a neighborhood full of candy. But after an hour or two of trick or treating they decide to stop. But the Pumpkin Creatures want them to stay forever. They try and escape the Pumpkin Creatures but they catch Drew and Walker. Tabitha and Lee get away. The Pumpkin Creatures reveal that they are Shane and Shauna and that it was a prank. They also reveal that the reason they manged to set up such an elaborate prank is because they are aliens. They also say that they eat people and they are the reason for the four missing people. Shane and Shauna board their UFO and leave...until next year (evil laugh). The End



I think this one is the worse one I reviewed so far. The acting in this isn't so good and the effects are really bad. I'm not interested in the characters or the story. The twist ending makes zero sense because there was no evidence showing that the twist could happen. So I would not recommend this episode to anyone.



So now that I reviewed Goosebumps, how is it as a show? Well there are really good episodes like The Haunted Mask, but their are also really bad episodes like Ghost Beach. The tone of the show is really stupid, silly, campy, and over the top. The special effects are on par with amateur YouTube videos and a lot of the time the acting isn't too good. Also a lot of the twist endings make no sense or are just plain ridiculous. What makes a twist ending work is having it be a surprise but having evidence lead up to it so that the puzzle pieces click together in your brain when it is time for the big reveal. This show doesn't do well in the twist department most of the time. But if you want some campy Halloween fun for the family, I think you would like this show. This has been another instalment of Keaton on Films. See you next time where I review Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.

"OH NO I FORGOT MY CARTOON AGAIN!"

The Witches

Well if I learned something from watching this, it's that Roald Dahl is scary. So since I am contractually obligated to review scary movies this is The Witches. Like I said before it is based on the children's novel of the same name by Roald Dahl. Oh and before I start I would like to say some thing. I have decided to now only do a cartoon on Fridays because it is hard to make cartoons. Enough of that though; let's start my review of The Witches.

We open with a boy named Luke (Jasen Fisher) staying with his Grandma (Mai Zetterling). His Grandma is telling him about Witches. She says that Witches hate children and that they do anything to destroy them. Luke's parents die of mysterious circumstances (they never explain how they die) so Luke now is living with his grandmother. Luke sees a woman who he thinks is a witch and tells his Grandmother about it. On his birthday Luke's Grandmother gives him two pet mice that he names Mary and William. Also as a special birthday present they are going to a hotel. At the hotel Luke meets a boy named Bruno (Charlie Potter). Meanwhile an important woman named Miss. Eva Ernst (Anjellica Huston) enters the hotel for a convention she is hosting. Luke and his Grandmother make the hotel manager think that the hotel is full of mice. Luke goes into an empty room to teach his mice tricks. But it turns out that the room is part of the important convention.


It also turns out that the women in the convention are really witches and that Miss. Eva Erst is really The Grand Head Witch. Luke hears about their plan to eliminate all children in England. They will host a big party and at the party all children will be given free sweets and in the sweets is a formula that will turn them into mice. They demonstrate the formula on Bruno. Luke escapes from the Witches but they chase him and manage to catch him. They use the formula on Luke too and he is turned into a mouse. Luke as a mouse finds Bruno and Luke decides to find his Grandmother. They find Luke's Grandmother and tell her what happened. They come up with a plan; first they try explaining what happened to Bruno's parents to see if they can help. Then they go into the kitchen and pour the formula into the soup specially made for the convention.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

Luke breaks into The Grand High Witches room where he sees several bottles of the formula. He takes it and jumps into his Grandma's purse. Talking to Bruno's parents doesn't work because they think Luke's Grandmother is crazy. Luke sneaks into the kitchen to try and put the formula in the soup. Luke puts the formula in the soup and escapes the kitchen to his Grandmother. The Witches all eat the soup but Bruno's Father (Bill Patterson) also orders the soup. Luke's Grandmother stops him just in time and convinces them Bruno is a mouse. The Grand High Witch is defeated and everyone leaves the Hotel. Luke and his Grandmother are at home coming up with a plan to take down all the Witches in America but then suddenly one of the Witches that wasn't killed is good now for some reason and she turns Luke back into a boy. The End.

***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***

I remember this movie being really scary. But now looking back on it, it's kind of silly. The first half of the movie has some good build up to the reveal of the witches and some of the make up and puppets are pretty good looking. But a lot of the actors are over the top and the witches aren't as scary as they used to be for me. Also the ending didn't make too much sense and Roald Dahl himself said he didn't like how they changed the ending. But I still kind of like this movie. I mean  yes it's over the top and not as scary as I remember but I think it could be an entertaining scary movie for the family. See you next time.

Gremlins

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night...wait wrong holiday let me try again....Happy Halloween to all and to all a scary night...sorry I just saw Gremlins I got the holidays confused. Since nothing says "Merry Christmas" like little green monsters. Let's start the review of Gremlins.









We open with a man named Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) looking for a Christmas present. He goes into an old shop in Chinatown owned by a man named Mr. Wing (Keye Luke) where Randall sees a creature called a Mogwai (Howie Mandel). Mr. Wing refuses to sell the Mogwai but Mr. Wing's son (John Louie) sells it to Randall. We cut to the town of Kingston Falls (which looks a lot like Hill Valley from Back to the Future) where we see Randall's son Billy who works at the bank. At the bank an angry woman named Mrs. Deagle (Polly Holliday) approaches Billy and says his dog destroyed her snowman and demands to have his dog. Later Billy goes back home where Randall has a gift for him which of course is the Mogwai. Randall named the Mogwai Gizmo and tells Billy three rules. Rule 1: Keep him away from water. Rule 2: Keep him out of bright light especially sunlight which will kill him. And Rule 3: No matter what you do never feed him after midnight.



So Billy is taking care of Gizmo when one day he accidentally he spills some water on Gizmo. The water makes Gizmo multiply into more Mogwai. The leader of the new Mogwai is named Stripe (Frank Welker). Billy shows one of the Mogwai to his science teacher (Glynn Turman) who keeps the Mogwai to study. Billy goes to meet his friend Kate (Phoebe Cates) who is sending Billy's neighbor Murray Futterman (Dick Miller) home. After getting Kate home Billy sees that the new Mogwai are hungry and seeing as it is 11: 40 Billy feeds them. But the next day the Mogwai turned into cocoons. The reason is they turned into cocoons is because they unplugged the clock and they were fed after midnight. The Mogwai that Billy gave to his science teacher also ate after midnight and is also now a cocoon. Billy goes to the school to see the cocoon but while he is gone the cocoons at his house hatch and out come Gremlins. Billy's mother Lynn (Francis Lee McCain) manages to kill most of them but Stripe escapes. Billy discovers that the cocoon at school hatched and the Gremlin killed his science teacher. Billy goes home to warn his mother and he finds out Stripe escaped.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

Billy grabs Gizmo and tries to find Stripe.  Billy grabs Gizmo and tries to find Stripe. Billy is too late because Stripe broke into the YMCA and jumped into the pool making him multiply. Billy tries to warn the cops but they of course don't believe him. Stripe and his army of Gremlins continue to wreak havoc on the town. They attack every one in sight and destroy everything. Billy heads to where Kate works to try and get her to a safe place. Kate works at a bar and is serving all the Gremlins who come. Kate figures out they don't like bright light and uses a camera to get out and gets in Billy's car. They hide at the bank where Kate tells Billy about the worst Christmas of her life....for some reason. Billy, Kate and Gizmo figure out that all the Gremlins are in a movie theater watching Snow White and the Seven Dawrfs. They sneak into the theater and go into the boiler room and adjust the boiler so it will explode. They blow up the Gremlins but Stripe escaped into a near by department store. Billy, Kate and Gizmo follow Stripe into the store. Stripe is trying to find some water so that he can multiply and the whole thing will start over. But Gizmo opens some shutters exposing Stripe to direct sunlight making him melt. Billy and all the rest meet back at home where everything seem to be fine. Then Mr. Wing comes and says he needs Gizmo back. So they give Gizmo back to Mr. Wing and say goodbye to Gizmo...for now (evil laughter). The End.

***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***

Gremlins is a great Halloween and/or Christmas movie. The puppets and animatronics for the Gremlins and Mogwai are very good and seem realistic. The film is also very funny and it does capture all the chaos and mayhem of what it would be like if this actually happened. The music also helps with the chaotic atmosphere that the film creates and the nice happy atmosphere of when ever Gizmo is around. I also like the build up of the Gremlins in the first act of the movie. But if there is something I didn't like is that the three rules do get confusing like for example if it is snowing in the movie why don't the Gremlins in the movie multiply when they touch the snow. Also that monologue doesn't really make sense nor does it really come back into the movie later Kate kind of just says that and no one brings it up again. But other than that I like this movie and I recommend it for Christmas or Halloween. See you next time.

"HONESTLY THIS SIDE OF THE ROAD ISN'T TOO DIFFERENT"

First Film Club

Hi everyone. At my school I started a film club and I have had one meeting in September. It is where I show a movie and afterwards have a trivia quiz in which you can win prizes. A special thanks goes to Bay Street Video who provided me with the prizes. It is a monthly thing that happens on the last Friday of each month. I don't have to much to say so I will end with some pictures from film club.

Monster Squad

Hey another movie I never heard of and randomly found in my local video store. All I know is it has the classic Univeral horror monsters, so this should be good. So let us venture into Monster Squad.











The movie starts in Transylvania with a man named Van Helsing (Jack Gwillim)

 trying to stop Dracula (Duncan Reghr). But he fails and we cut to years later where a boy named Sean (Andre Gower) and another boy named Patrick (Robby Kiger) are in trouble for drawing in science class. They say that the drawing is for their Monster Club but they still are in trouble. The rest of the club includes Horace (Brent Chalem), Eugene (Micheal Faustino), Rudy (Ryan lambert) and occasionally Sean's little sister Phoebe (Ashly Bank). Sean's father (Stephen Macht) is a cop and he is called to the station to deal with a man (Carl Thibault) demanding to be locked up because he claims to be a werewolf. On top of it all he is also called to the museum because a mummy (Micheal MacKay) has gone missing. Far off in the swamp Dracula, The Wolfman, The Mummy, Gill-Man (Tom Woodruff jr), and Frankenstein's monster (Tom Noonan) all get together so that they can find a magical amulet to take over the world.

Sean starts to suspect something when he hears his dad talking about his work and when Eugene says that The Mummy was in his closet. So The Monster Club gets together and decides to take a book that was written by Van Helsing to a Scary German Guy (Leonardo Cimino). Little side note, "Scary German Guy" is his name, it is literally what it says in the credits. So Scary German Guy says that there is an amulet that once every 100 years opens a portal into limbo. The only way to stop it is for someone to read a certain entry from Van Helsing's diary. So they say bye to Scary German Guy and decide to go find the amulet. But before that it turns out that Phoebe made friends with Frankenstein. They make a plan to take the amulet. Rudy makes some wooden stakes and silver bullets and Patrick tries to get his sister (Lisa Fuller) to read the book (because it's in German and she speaks German). Meanwhile Sean, Horace, and Frankenstein go into the mansion that Dracula lives in to find the amulet.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

They find the amulet but Dracula is angry at them. Sean and Horace meet up with the others and they get moving. The Mummy attacks them but they mange to defeat him (pretty easily now that I think about it). They make it to where Scary German Guy is and get ready to read Van Helsing's diary. So all the monsters are defeated, the portal to Limbo is opened up, Scary German Guy still doesn't get a name, and the army shows up after everything is resolved. The End.

***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***

Monster Squad was adequate. It wasn't the best but it was good enough to make an entertaining movie. The classic horror monsters are cool and it has some pretty intense action. The make up for the monsters also looks pretty good. Duncan Reghr does a good job as Dracula and the idea of movie monsters teaming up to take over the world is pretty cool. But it does seem to "borrow" a lot of characters from The Goonies and some of the monsters don't get enough screen time (especially Gill-man and The Mummy). I think something that would improve the movie is if the movie focused on the monsters more. I mean when I hear the title Monster Squad I think...................

But what I got was...........

Oh well, despite its flaws Monster Squad is an entertaining Halloween movie that is worth a watch. See you next time when I review Gremlins.

WHAT AM I LOOKING AT?

Top Ten Animated Movie Monsters

Happy not actually Halloween every body. I am to bring you another top ten list. It is of Top Ten Animated Movie Monsters. We have the more famous movie monsters like Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, and Gill-Man, but there are animated movie monsters that also deserve as much attention and fame. So here we go with The Top Ten Animated Movie Monsters.

10 Smaug from The Animated Hobbit
Dragons are scary and when they destroy an ancient civilization of Dwarfs that makes them scarier. Now I don't know why the animators made him look like a cat but if you take that out he does look pretty intimidating. Especially when he is breathing fire. If you want to steal his treasure....just rob a bank or something...wait no don't do that, that's illegal.












9 The Headless Horseman from Legend of Sleepy Hollow
Of all the books Disney has adapted into movies I never expected Irving Washington's Legend of Sleepy Hollow. The Headless Horseman is terrifying. Everything from his red eyed horse to his evil laugh (how does he laugh without a head?). I mean the scary thing is we never actually find out what happens to Ichabod Crane at the end. Bottom line: stay near covered bridges when in Sleepy Hollow.






                                                         8 Judge Doom from Who Framed Roger Rabbit

Have fun sleeping tonight

While this isn't an animated movie there are animated characters in this, and Judge Doom is an animated villain. He has weird glowing eyes, a very very very very high pitched voice, and he can turn his hands into cartoon props. Oh, and if you look at the picture on your left, you will see your nightmares for the next several centuries. He would be higher on the list but the movie isn't exactly fully animated.






7 The Mutant Pets from Frankenweenie
What happens when a dead animal gets struck by lightning? In real life it just gets burnt, but in the world of Frankenweenie it turns them into terrifying monsters. All these monsters are very creative in their appearances but my favorites are the Were-rat and the Cat-bat. Those may sound silly but they are scary when you see them.






6 The Boogie Man from The Nightmare Before Christmas
Who thought a Christmas movie would be so scary. The Boogie Man is just a bunch of bugs inside a doll basically. The idea of a monster filled with little monsters is very disturbing. Not to mention the fact that he has all those gambling themed torture devices. All I have to say is "I wish you a scary Christmas".









5 The Whale from Pinocchio
Now a whale may not be scary but what about a whale who eats people, has razor-sharp teeth, and swims at super speeds? It's like something out of a horror movie, a bit. He seems a bit too big even for a whale. Whatever he is he sure is very scary indeed.

Have some more nightmare fuel

4  The Pink Elephants from Dumbo
I don't care if you say it was just a brief dream sequence these elephants are horrible demons from another

plane of existence. I mean all they do is dance around, morph shape, and sing very cryptic songs; but still they are creepy. Especially at the end when they turn into vehicles and explode into bits....did I mention that they have no eyes?









                                                   3 Mike and Sully from Monsters inc
It figures that I would have at least one friendly monster on this list. But this duo of monsters can also be scary. After all Sully is the top scarer at Monsters inc, but like I said, they are quite friendly. Making the the perfect duo for the number 3 spot.











                                                    2 Other Mother from Coraline
Her face is made of nightmares....she puts you in the world of your dreams and then eats your soul. This lady is terrifying, especially when she turns into a giant spider. But to be fair she is a bit scarier when she is disguised as a normal person. I think it's because you know she is evil from the moment you see her....that and she has buttons for eyes.







1 Charnobog from Fantasia
He may not be the focus of the movie but he is really scary. He wakes up the dead to go up to a mountain where they celebrate how evil he is and then he re-kills them. This guy is really scary and evil. He is almost immortal. It's hard to believe that a character with such a small part would leave such an impact. This is why he is number one monster.








Well that was terrifying, I have just listed the scariest animated monsters ever. I hope you like my list and sorry if I left any of your favorite monsters out. I can't wait to see you next time when I review, Monster Squad (evil laughter).

Secret of NIMH 2: Timmy to the Rescue

OK so I never reveal my thoughts of a movie too early on but, today I will let you know that this movie is bad. I mean it is a sequel to The Secret of NIMH and the main character isn't Mrs. Brisby and instead it's Timmy who if you don't remember didn't exactly do much in the first movie. So lets see if it's really as bad I'm saying. This is Secret of NIMH 2.









The movie opens with a narrator explaining the events of the first movie and saying that there is a prophesy that a son of Johnathan Brisby will save Thorn Valley. By the way if you're wondering, no one ever mentioned a prophesy in the first movie. The movie opens with Timmy (Andrew Ducote) playing with his older brother Martin (Phillip Glasser). After that they go home to their mother Mrs. Brisby (Debi Mae West) who is sending Timmy off to Thorn Valley so that he can become the hero (even though he hasn't done much). So Jeremy the Crow (Dom DeLuise) gives Timmy a lift to Thorn Valley where he is hailed as a great hero (even though he has done absolutely nothing). Mr. Ages (Arthur Malet) and Justin (William H Macy)  train him. Timmy sets a trap for a snake but Mr. Ages is unimpressed because he said that there was no threat even though the snake defiantly wanted to eat some rodents. So Timmy decides to speed up the becoming a hero process via musical montage, so yeah now Timmy is 17 (and voiced by Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Ages and Justin decide to finally give him something to do.

So the job they give him is to blow a whistle if he sees danger. Wait, let me get this straight, the rats of NIMH treat Timmy like a hero for doing nothing and when he gets a job they tell him to blow a whistle. While on watch Timmy meets another mouse named Jenny (Hynden Walsh) who claims to be from NIMH. Jenny says that her parents are stuck in NIMH and she was sent to get help. So Mr. Ages and Justin decide not to help and not only that but they decide that Jenny can't be allowed to leave because........pineapples. Jenny tells Timmy that NIMH is run by an evil scientist named Dr. Valentine (Steve Mackall) and Jenny tells Timmy that Martin is in there and Timmy says that he got a letter from Mrs. Brisby years ago saying that Martin went missing. So wait, Timmy finds out his brother goes missing and he doesn't tell Mr. Ages or Justin? Well that doesn't sound smart. Jenny and Timmy escape Thorn Valley and find Jiminy Cricket's unpopular cousin Cecil Caterpillar (Meshach Taylor) who takes them to The Great Owl. Except it isn't the great owl it's Jeremy who teamed up with Cecil to con people out of money.....I don't know Jeremy isn't really a criminal type. So Jenny and Timmy convince Jeremy to take them to the headquarters of NIMH.

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

Timmy and Jenny go into NIMH but it turns out all the scientists have been hypnotized to think they are dogs....wait what? It also turns out Dr. Valentine is making an army of evil rats...OK this is getting weird. So they go into a big room and it is revealed that Dr. Valentine is not the one behind this it is.....Martin (now voiced by Eric Idle) ?  OK how does that work? Apparently Martin got jealous of Timmy for being the hero everyone loves and when he was captured by NIMH he took it over. Oh and then he starts singing a song that is....your worst night mares and a big bowl of Lucky Charms cereal. So after he sings Jenny and Timmy somehow set the place on fire but Timmy finds in his heart to take Martin back to Thorn Valley. So Martin is reformed, Timmy and Jenny are in love, and Timmy defended Thorn Valley from evil just as it was foretold....wait the only reason that Martin wanted to destroy Thorn Valley is because of the Prophesy in the first place...so the valley wouldn't be in danger if there was no prophesy...I hate this movie. The End

***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***

This movie is awful. The songs are either horribly written or horribly sung (or in some cases both), the animation is nowhere near as good as the original, and Mrs. Brisby is barely in it and she was the main character in the first one. I can not think of anything I like about this. This is a bad follow up to a good movie. All I have to say is I hope the next movie I review is better than this. See you next...wait It's October, that means I have to review scary movies (evil laughter).

Film Talk: Why is Stop-Motion so Great

Hi there I am really sick right now so this review is coming out late and there won't be a cartoon. So I will do a film talk about....Stop-Motion. So I guess I should get started so here we go.

Traditional VS Stop-Motion VS Digital: So there is always that debate of which style of animation is the best. Well I won't solve this question but I will say this. Stop-Motion is sort of like a cross between the other two types of animation. For example look at these three pictures.

See, in my opinion Stop-Motion looks as though computer animation was a bit less real (or fake depending how you look at it) and as though traditional animation wasn't flat.


Types of Stop-Motion: You see there are different types of Stop motion: there is stop motion with clay puppets; stop motion with wood puppets; and stop motion with metal puppets. All stop motion has it's own style. Some like to draw attention to the fact it's a cartoon by making all the characters and sets big and over exaggerated while other still let you know it's animated but still looks a bit more real. Either way every studio or director has their own signature style.






Big Stop-Motion Companies: Some companies that are famous for stop motion are Aardman (Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run) and Laika (Coraline and Paranorman). A famous stop motion director that comes to mind is Will Vinton (and his fabulous handlebar mustache). He is famous for The Adventures of Mark Twain and for animating The California Raisins.








The First Film: There have been many stop motion films over the years but one of the first was The New Gulliver which is an adaptation of Gullivers Travels. Other early stop motion movies include The Tale of the Fox, Alice in Wonderland, and Hansel and Gretel: a Fantasy Opera. Some more well known stop motion films are the Ranken/Bass Christmas specials like Rudolf the Red Nosed Raindeer and A Year Without Santa Clause. More recent famous films include, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Chicken Run, Coraline, Paranorman, James and the Giant Peach, and more recently, The Boxtrolls.




Well there you have it, why I like stop motion, and a brief history of stop motion.  Yes stop motion has been around for a long time and it's still around today, and it will be around long into the future. This has been another installment of Keaton on Films. See you next time.