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.

Film Talk: The Dr. Seuss Movies

Hello welcome to another Film Talk. Today I am talking about the movies based on the works of Dr. Seuss. I have already reviewed two movies based on his works so I will keep those ones brief. Oh, I also found my pastels. So lets go.

The Man Himself: Theodore Geisel became a children's author under the pen name Dr. Seuss. All of his books are classics and some of my earliest memories are reading his books. Almost everyone has read a book by him. I think my favorite Dr. Seuss book is The King's Stilts. But I am here to talk about the movies so here we go.






The TV Specials: The TV specials based on his work are the best. The ones I remember most are The Grinch, The Lorax, and The Cat in the Hat. All of them are very well done and have good morals. I think The Grinch is the best because of Boris Karloffs energized performance and the song You're a Mean One Mr. Grinch.









The Grinch: Now for the first of the live action movies. I personally really don't like it. Jim Carry is way too over the top to be the Grinch, the moral feels a bit jumbled, and all the Whos look really creepy. But the set is nicely decorated. Other than that I still don't recommend this movie.








The Cat in the Hat: I already went on a rant about this one in my review but here is my opinion. It goes against everything the book stands for Mike Myers  is severely unfunny and I can't think of any redeeming qualities. DO NOT WATCH THIS MOVIE!








Horton Hears a Who: Why do people put Jim Carry in Dr. Seuss movies? He is way too over the top to play any of these characters. But the world of animation is better suited for the wacky design of Dr. Seuss than the world of live action. But still they get the character of Horton totally wrong. But if you find it funny I guess you could give it a watch.








The Lorax: I reviewed this one already but here I go. I find that they made The Once-ler too "hip and modern" and that the moral got kind of confused and did they really have to rip off Wall-E at the end? I'm sorry I'm still angry about that. Anyway I think this is a bad movie but if you really want to give it a watch.














So in conclusion there are very few good Dr. Seuss movies. You'll probably be better off with the TV specials or the books. Dr. Seuss was a great author and his books are still loved even to this day. So this has been another film talk see you next time.

REJECTED HORROR MOVIE # 72 CURSE OF THE SLIME SANDWICH 

Film Talk: A Look at Madcap Comedy

Time for another Film Talk. This time it is about madcap comedy. I will be going over the history of it and comedians and movies that made it famous. Time to start.

Comical Genius: There are many great comedians who are famous for madcap comedy: The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, The Marx Brothers and so on and so forth. But I am not familiar with all of them. So I will talk about the ones I am most familiar with.





The Marx Bothers: Groucho, Chico, Harpo, and Zeppo Marx have made some great comedies, like Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera. They all had different styles of comedy: Groucho used snappy one liners, Chico used trickery (and a fake Italian accent), Harpo used slapstick, and Zeppo was the straight man who played off the others' wacky personalities. All making a perfect comedy team.





Abbott and Costello: About and Costello are hilarious. Abbott is the smart trickster and Costello has no idea what Abbott is up to. Their best work is their crossovers with the classic horror movie monsters and their famous Who's on First routine. By the way, in the monster movies did you know that sometimes they got the original actor to play the monster (like Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney Jr)?


It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World: This one is great. A cross country madcap race to find buried treasure. That is awesome. The slapstick is all perfectly timed. It has one of the funniest climaxes ever. Not to mention cameos from Don Knots, Buster Keaton, Jerry Lewis, The Three Stooges, and many more.


Buster Keaton: One of the best silent movie actors next to Charlie Chaplin. His best work is probably The General. He does some very impressive stunts. If his movies where made nowadays the stunts would probably be done with computers.








Charlie Chaplin: His comedy is hilarious. He is a master of slapstick. In fact, one time I actually paused the video because I was laughing so hard. His best work is probably The Kid.







This has been Film Talk. Hope you like it. All these people are funny. Sorry if I left out any of your favorite comedians. Next I am reviewing The Princess Bride.

 CLOWN FORMAL ATTIRE

Film Talk: Is Traditional Animation Dead

Hello welcome to a new part of my blog I like to call Film Talk. It is where I discus and debate about movies. I may only do it every once and a while or I may never do it again. Today's topic is: "Is traditional animation dead?" Let us begin.

My Opinion on Animation: I like animation. It can take you to all sots of places but it is expensive to draw. I think that computer animation is nice but is only good for animating non-human things. Like say bugs or monsters. When it animates humans it does tend to look very plastic. Good examples are the early Shrek movies or Hoodwinked. The technology has gotten better so it does look less plastic. But I think even as flat as traditional animation is it does come off as more three dimensional.




Foreign Films: There aren't that many traditionally animated movies in North America. But in other country's there are a lot of traditionally animated movies like AninA and The Triplets of Belleville. But the question is, will computer animation take over there as well? My answer is maybe, it doesn't seem to be going away. However there are a fair share of foreign computer animated films. So the only solid answer I can come up with is maybe.




Was Traditional Animation Just a Phase in the Industry: Maybe it was just something like silent films that was popular for a decent amount of time but was gradually replaced. However with silent films you are missing one of the five senses. So I don't think traditional animation was a phase; it is still alive in TV shows.



 Is Computer Animation Just a Phase in the Industry: Most fans of traditional animation will say yes. But even as an animation fan I will say no. Because some people thought that talking pictures would just be a fad and now almost every single movie coming out has sound. So it seems that computer animation is here to stay for now.






 Will It Make a Comeback: Probably not. Nowadays computer animated film seem to bring in more money. So most animated films are computer animated. So un
til some studio executive says "I want to make a traditionally animated film" we aren't going to get one. But things do make comebacks like handlebar mustaches. So maybe it will make a comeback but most likely no.

Conclusion: So really I have no idea if traditional animation is dead or not. It is mostly looking like it is. But foreign films and TV shows are keeping it alive. Honestly it looks like traditional animation is finished. But you can draw your own conclusion. This has been Film Talk.

MEL DOUGLAS AKA MR. WHAT ARE YOU WEARING