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Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2009. Show all posts

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Yona Yona Penguin 2009


Yona Yona Penguin (よなよなペンギン) is a forthcoming animated film by the Japanese anime studio Madhouse and sister company Dynamo Pictures. It will be Madhouse's first fully 3D CGI film. Famed Madhouse staff director Rintaro, known for Galaxy Express 999 and Metropolis, lead the project. French production company Denis Friedman Productions collaborated and helped fund the film.

Visual style


Madhouse has announced this film as being a "3D anime," or a film which brings an anime sensibility and design structure into the 3D CGI world. Unlike in other Japanese CG productions, such as Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, photo-realism is not emphasised. Rather, attention has been focused on giving the feel of a traditionally-made anime to a completely computerized production. As Madhouse's expertise has long been in the creation of traditional 2D animation, much of the actual 3D animation is to be done by the French animation studio Def2shoot, the Thai studio Imagimax, and the Japanese studio Dynamo Pictures, with Madhouse providing direction and storyboards.

Release

In a move away from the typical anime release schedule, distribution deals for showing the film outside of Japan have been signed with the Hong Kong based Golden Network (for release in Asia) and the French based management company Wild Bunch (for Europe). Rights to release the film in the United States are currently set to be given by Japanese studio Shochiku and Madhouse's U.S. division. Three versions of the film are to be produced: one for the Japanese market, one for the French market, and one for the English language market.[1] The Japanese version of the film, which will use the original script (it is unclear if changes will be made to the other versions) was originally scheduled for a December, 2008 release, but was pushed back to 2009.[2] The other versions remain tentatively set for release in 2009. At the 2008 European Film Market (a film trade fair held in tandem with the Berlin International Film Festival), the film was licensed by Wild Bunch for 11 European markets. The film will be distributed in the United Kingdom by Metropolitan, in France by JBK, and in Russia and other former Soviet countries by Central Partnership.

Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yona_Yona_Penguin

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

9 (2009 film)


9 is a 2009 computer-animated fantasy film directed by Shane Acker and produced by Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov. The film stars Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer.[2][3] It is based on Acker's Academy Award-nominated 2005 short film of the same name.[4] The screenplay for the film was written by Pamela Pettler. Casting for 9 was done by Mindy Marin, with production design by Robert St. Pierre and Fred Warter, and art direction by Christophe Vacher.


Plot



A Scientist creates a small mechanical humanoid homunculus (also called a "stitchpunk"). The Scientist believes humanity caused its own doom by blindly pursuing science and technology. Using a talisman, he gives life to the doll (9), then dies.

9 (Elijah Wood) awakens in the Scientist's workshop, finding the talisman. Outside, society has been destroyed, and the Earth left desolate. Seeing someone below, 9 tries calling out but is unable to speak. He grabs the talisman and runs outside. He comes across 2 (Martin Landau) who gives him a doll's voice box. They are attacked by the 'Cat Beast' which captures 2, taking him toward three tall shapes. As he is running away, 9 tears his shoulder, and eventually passes out from exhaustion.

When 9 awakens, he meets one-eyed 5 (John C. Reilly) who has sewn 9's shoulder and brought him to a church. 9 meets the stubborn and irritable 1 (Christopher Plummer) and the large, brutish 8 (Fred Tatasciore). 1 says the machines have destroyed everything, and 5 takes 9 to the watchtower where he can see where 2 was taken; he and 5 go to save him. After a fight with the 'Cat Beast' (who was about to put the talisman that he took along with 2, into a dormant machine). They meet 7 (Jennifer Connelly) the only female stitchpunk, who kills the machine. 9 places the talisman where the beast was about to put it, and 2 pushes him aside only, but is killed. The Fabrication Machine awakens, and after another fight, 9, 5, and 7 escape, devastated by 2's death.

7 leads them to the mute twins 3 and 4 (they communicate with flashing lights in their eyes). 9 draws a picture of the talisman after learning that the Scientist built the B.R.A.I.N. (the Fabrication Machine) for good. Instead it builds machines for evil, destroying humans. 5 tells 9 that the picture he drew is the same as what 6 (Crispin Glover) always draws. They return to look at 6's paintings, but are caught by 8 and turned into 1. Furious, 1 states that 9 only causes trouble. They are still quarreling when they are attacked by the 'Winged Beast', which the Fabrication Machine invented in the time they were gone.

The church catches fire in the fight, and the beast is destroyed in a downed plane's propeller. The stitchpunks move to a deserted graveyard. 1 admits after a quarrel with 9 that he actually sent 2 out to die,and not for a scouting mission, his excuse being that he was "old and weak." 8 and 7 are captured by another beast, 'The Seamstress' who uses 2's lifeless body as bait. 9, 6, 3, 5 and 4 have a small memorial for 2.

9 can only save 7 because 9 came too late, and the machine sucked 8's soul out; they destroy the factory. They celebrate, but 5, chasing a vinyl phonograph record that rolled down a hill, finds the machine is still alive. 5 warns the others just before the machine absorbs his life. The remaining stitchpunks run across a bridge, which cracks in half, stranding the machine being on the other side. It grabs 6, but he tells them not to destroy it, because others are "trapped inside." The machine kills him and drops his body into the chasm. 9, the only one who believes 6, does what 6 said: "go back to the source," which 9 recognizes as the room he awoke in.

In the scientist's workshop, 9 finds a box labeled "9", and opens it. A hologram appears, and the scientist shows him how to use the talisman against the machine.

9 finds the others struggling to destroy the machine with a cannon, but it only slightly damages it, forcing them to run. They hide under a box covered by a live ammunition belt. 9 tells them to use him as bait. He shows them how to use the talisman, but the machine finds them. They run, and the machine lights off the bullets with a blast of fire. The explosion throws 7 up against a wooden post and 1's hand is injured. 9 prepares to sacrifice himself, despite 7's desperate pleas. 1 pushes 9 aside and is killed instead. 9 uses the talisman and the machine explodes. 7, 3, and 4 rush over to help 9, who had been knocked out by the blast and falling debris. 7 congratulates him, but 9 says there is still more to be done.

9, 3, 4, and 7 set up memorials for the dead stitchpunks, and 9 activates the talisman once again. The spirits of 5, 2, 1, 8, and 6 appear. 1 places a hand on 9's shoulder, implying 9 did a good job, then disappears with the others into the sky. 7 murmurs that they are free now. It begins to rain; the amazed stitchpunks have never seen water before. Water droplets fall on the camera lens, and small green specks inside the drops are moving around, indicating life has survived.

7 asks 9, "What happens next?" 9 replies, "I don't know. But the world is ours now. It's what we make of it."

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9_(2009_film)

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Planet 51 2009


Planet 51 is a Spanish animated film directed by Jorge Blanco, written by Joe Stillman and starring Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Justin Long, Seann William Scott, Gary Oldman and John Cleese. Produced by Madrid-based Ilion Animation Studios and HandMade Films for $70 million, it was acquired for US distribution by New Line Cinema in November 2007. Planet 51 was released on November 20, 2009, by Sony Pictures Worldwide via TriStar Pictures. It was originally titled Planet One, but re-named Planet 51. With a budget of about $70 million (€49 million), Planet 51 is the most expensive movie produced in Spain.

Plot

Lem is just an average teenager working on getting the girl and furthering his career at the local planetarium - except that he's an alien. At least to U.S. astronaut Captain Charles T. Baker who lands on Lem's planet hoping for a quick flag plant and a hasty return to earth and his millions of screaming fans. But on this alien planet the media has tagged spacemen as brain-eating, zombie-creating monsters, causing Baker to run for his life and into Lem's house. Now it's up to the green native to get the clumsy astronaut back to his spaceship before military dictator General Grawl and mad scientist Professor Kipple manage to exterminate the Earthly visitor. Written by The Massie Twins

Cast


* Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker; in the Spanish version William Levy; in the Greek version by Sakis Rouvas
* Jessica Biel as Neera
* Justin Long as Lem and Rover (vocal effects)
* Seann William Scott as Skiff
* Gary Oldman as General Grawl
* John Cleese as Professor Kripple
* Freddie Benedict as Eckle
* Alan Marriott as Glar
* Mathew Horne as Soldier Vesklin
* James Corden as Soldier Vernkot

Source : http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0762125/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Planet_51

Friday, January 8, 2010

THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG Review

slice_princess_and_the_frog_01.jpg

Disney’s 2D animated musicals never wore out their welcome. Some studio buffoon just figured that maybe kids didn’t want singing in their animated films any more. And then that studio buffoon decided that because 3D animated films were succeeding and a recent string of 2D films had flopped that no one wanted hand-drawn animated movies any more. This is why the last Disney 2D animated musical was Mulan in 1998. 11 years later and Disney, with the support of Pixar chief John Lasseter, has brought back hand-drawn musical movies with The Princess and the Frog. But this isn’t a return of Disney animation; it’s a rebirth.

Walt Disneys The Princess and the Frog movie image (3).jpgSet in 1920s New Orleans and playing on the fairy tale of the princess kissing a frog to turn him into a prince, the film centers on Tiana (Anika Noni Rose) who doesn’t have time for princes or frogs or kisses as she works non-stop so she can afford to open her own restaurant. Unfortunately, she ends up kissing Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) because he’s a talking frog prince and, mistaking her for a princess, asks her to make him human again. This would be fine (and a very short movie) except the popular fairy tale fails to mention that if you’re not a princess and you kiss a cursed frog-prince, you’ll turn into a frog too. It’s that damned magical legalese. The two are forced to travel across the bayou together to find voodoo priestess Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis) in the hopes that she can turn them human again. The proceedings are decorated with fun music and amusing supporting characters. This is the Disney animated movie you know and love, but even better.

Before you smite me for blasphemy, let me explain that I will always love the animated Disney films I grew up with: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and The Lion King. But within the first twenty minutes of The Princess and the Frog, I knew I was entering a whole new era due to the advances in animation, creative freedom for animators, and a positive message which is both universally empowering and socially responsible. It’s no slam against the older Disney movies, and I’m not saying they’ve aged poorly or that they’re secretly bigoted (although I’m pretty sure that Pumba was an anti-semite). It’s just that The Princess and the Frog has the benefit of progress combined with filling the 2D animated musical void of the past eleven years.

Walt Disneys The Princess and the Frog movie image (2).jpgOf course, this also comes with heavy pressure of being a “test case” to see if audiences will accept this “old-school” animation after the dominance of 3D. It’s likely that young children who see this movie will have never seen a 2D animated movie on the big screen before, but The Princess and the Frog should have them hooked for life. It’s funny, the characters are memorable, most of the songs are catchy, and the animation is stunning. 2D had something to prove and Disney stepped up to meet that challenge in a big way. Once you see the film’s first musical number, “Almost There”, any irrational doubts you had about 2D animation and the will be washed away and filled with an appreciation of the creative freedom Disney animators now have. “Almost There” actually changes art styles during the musical number. Again, I love the Disney musicals I grew up with but none of them ever came close to doing that.

Not only will these kids have the privilege of seeing creative diversity in their hand-drawn animation, but they’ll also gain an appreciation of cultural diversity. From its announcement, one of the big draws of The Princess and the Frog is that it would feature Disney’s first black princess. Like the animation, it’s a lot of pressure to get it right but screenwriters Ron Clements, John Musker, and Rob Edwards absolutely nail it. It gives the black characters room to be characters as well-developed and unrestrained as any white animated character while still conscious of what’s empowering and respectful towards African-Americans. More incredible, the movie accomplishes this without ever coming off like it’s walking on egg shells and it turns what could be perceived as an obstacle into an opportunity.

Walt Disneys The Princess and the Frog movie image (4).jpgSome may scoff at the socially-conscious subtext and see it as pandering to an overly P.C. culture, but allow me to ask this question: how many mainstream movies and TV shows are out there for kids that feature a strong black female lead character? Moral lessons can come from any race, but why should only white kids be able to have the same ethnic background as their heroes and heroines?

While I relish a conversation about the role of media in perceptions of race in modern American society, you know what I like even more? Catchy showtunes! A musical can’t survive without quality music and while it’s the one part of the film that’s not quite as good as the earlier Disney musicals, Randy Newman has a strong selection of songs with “When We’re Human” and the closing theme, “Never Knew I Needed” as the standouts. Hopefully with their next animated musical Disney will bring back Alan Menken who not only provided the music for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin, but 2007’s Enchanted so that guy’s still got it.

The Princess and the Frog honors past Disney hand-drawn animated musicals by recalling their work (the film has past Disney princesses as Easter eggs), reaching their level of quality, and then surpassing it to usher in an exciting new era of hand-drawn animation.

Rating —– A minus

Posted by : Matt Goldberg

Original post : http://www.collider.com/2009/12/11/the-princess-and-the-frog-review