In Theatres:"Sweeney Todd"(Review)

Burton's most satisfying film since i can remember.An adaption that actually works independently from the source material and has its own distinctive personality.
Visually,i got what i wanted.Very Burton-esque indeed.Depp very closely resembles the animated Victor he played in Burton's"Corpse Bride".Every frame is a beautiful painting.

What i find amazing is, using the
same characters,story, music, lyrics as the original Broadway show,Burton creates a mood and feel that is far more darker, edgier and more apt. And i think the credit for that also goes to the actors and their execution of the songs.Though the singing voices arnt as impressive as their Broadway counterparts, but it does not take away from the film.I guess actors singing is better then singers acting.

He has also done a great job of truncating and eliminating some songs, but i do wish he would have manged to keep "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd" and "Kiss Me" in!
Specially since the former shows up in the score many a times anyways.
Its surely one of my favorite movies of the year!

"Lost" In 8 Mins!?

To really get the most out of this amazing show,this is not an ideal approach,infact far from it!And a BIG "NO" in the books of any LOST-y!
BUT, here is a 8 MIN recap of the LOST so far...it does a fairly ok job..however, hopefully it will make people wanna see seasons 1,2 and 3 on DVD to really understand the whos, whats and whys of the show.(Before S4 starts in a month).
Enjoy!

70 Years-Still The Fairest Of Them All

On the 70th Anniversary of "The One That Started It All".

"Lost" Returns!

The coolest, best-est, smartest,awesome-est show ever on TV returns for the much anticipated 4th season on Jan31!
If u have NEVER seen "Lost" (u looser:-p), DO NOT watch this trailer, rent/buy the first 3 seasons and watch them first!Trust me, u wont regret it!

Autumn,Meet Winter

Autumn,Meet Winter (Explored:459 on Dec 8, 2007)
Originally uploaded by the_anim8r

"Sweeney Todd" Opening Credits

Love opening credits! Love Burton!Cant wait for the movie!

WDCC: "Devilish Diva"

2007's Villains Series Release. Ursula from "The Little Mermaid".This is my first piece from the amazing animator/sculptor Ruben Procopio. I must say, seeing this piece in person is so much better than pictures.He has a very bold style of sculpting.The piece almost seems monolithic with awesome feel of mass, weight and fat.
The moment itself is gr8, and comes with very detailed vanity with a real mirror.

The Empire State Building Celebrates A Decade Of "The Lion King On Broadway"

In celebration of the ten-year milestone, one New York City landmark will honor another! This weekend, the Empire State Building will be illuminated in honor of THE LION KING. This marks the first time that the famous tower has saluted a Broadway show. Over the next 12 months, many other exciting events will take place in New York City to celebrate THE LION KING's second triumphant decade on Broadway.

Ten years ago, THE LION KING roared onto Broadway and changed the theatre world forever. The landmark musical has been seen by 45 million guests in 63 cities across 11 countries and has received over 70 awards. The Broadway cast recording has sold over a million copies in North America. The show continues to be one of Broadway's most popular productions, thrilling audiences eight times a week in the heart of Times Square.

In Theatres:"Bee Movie"(Review)

Barry the bee, suddenly decides to sue the human race for stealing their honey.Why?? Just cause he CAN! Not cause the bees are dying, or unemployed or suffering in any way. Maybe it would help if had a strong motive for doing so, other than the fact he had nothing better to do!?
And yes..in this movie Bees CAN sue humans! I know its cartoon and all, but i could believe a rat wanting to be chef, but i could not buy into this bee suing humans business.
Jerry Seinfeld(Barry the bee) and Rene Renée Zellweger's(human florist)character don't really have too much of a chemistry either.A very under developed relationship.And how many animated movies have John Goodman and Patrick Warburton been in, in the last decade? Anyone counting?Can we shake things up a bit?!?
The whole movie just seems to be a platform from which Jerry Seinfeld can keep doing his comedy routine at 3244 words per minute.
The animation is ok.The designs are far more appealing than resent Dreamworks movies.
Though again i don't get the reason why Dreamwork's animated worlds have to be SO humanized.
Why do bees need hairdos?glasses?ties?cars and stairs to move around (though they do kinda try and justify this last issue, but didn't work for me)?
Remy(Pixar's Rataouille) never wore sewer boots,Nemo(Pixar's Finding Nemo) & his dad used the EAC ocean currents to transport and NOT an EAC Walkway belt or escalator!!
I just wish Dreamworks would respect the integrity of the world they try to create to make it more believable.
The movie wasn't bad, but just ok.Yet another forgettable animated movie!I laughed a few times.Thats about it.The plot is pretty thin and silly and extremely in-consequential.

"Where You're The Fairest Of Them All":Dream Portrait Series by Annie Leibovitz

I just learned about this series, and was blown away buy the production quality and the mood of the pics!Some really good casting too!
This is the latest edition to the other 5 pics from Disney Dream Portrait Series by acclaimed photographer,Annie Leibovitz!
It casts a gorgeous Rachel Weisz as "Snow White".

"Heima" Trailer

Sigur Ros,One of my fav bands ever. Been a fan for 5 years now. Saw them in concert at Massey Hall last year!
They r insanely good Live.Infact,could not listen to the CDs after for a while!Just could not compare to the live performances.
They have a documentary coming out next month , about their music/tour with awesome performances from the tour too.
And i just found out that the documentary is directed by Dean DeBlois, Co-Director of "Lilo & Stitch" and fellow Sheridan graduate! Exciting!

Pic Of The Day:"Empty Curves"

Empty Curves
Originally uploaded by the_anim8r

Trying to look for more shapes in my compositions now a days.

Disney+Yashraj= "Roadside Romeo"

A few months back, Disney announced they partnering with major Bollywood production house,Yashraj films to produce Original Indian animated features under the Disney brand.Thus tapping into the LARGE untapped market of Indian animation catering to more Indian sensibilities!
"Roadside Romeo"the first production has the big bollywood voices and directed by child star turned writer/director, Jugal Hansraj.
A first look is up , and i must say..i was surprised.The animation isn't bad, though the facial animation leaves a lot to be desired, but the production standards seem miles ahead of the current state of Indian animated features (Hanuman etc)

Pic Of The Day:"Steps"

Steps
Originally uploaded by the_anim8r

Taken at Hampi, INDIA. Its actually a water tank from a few hundred years back! cool stuff!

Pic Of The Day:"Fall Wall"

Fall Wall, originally uploaded by the_anim8r.

Since am taking more pics now days more than anything else.Thought i'd share one a day here!
This i took at Mont Tremblant.

WDCC: "An Irresistible Lure"

My sculpture buying has gone down...hence the lack of updates on that front.
But the good part is, thanks to my procrastination, i got to take pics of this one with the new SLR! So much fun!:-)
On with the piece. This is another super cool piece from Peter Pan(2 this year).This one is by Tim Brcukner.
When this was announced, I was taken aback by the choice of scene to translate to sculpture! But only after i really studied the scene, i saw it was oozing with character and story.

I like the fact that there is so much happening here.Each character has his own state of mind and emotion and they all are captured so beautifully!
This is just when Hook has captured Tiger Lilly in hopes to get her to reveal Pan's whereabouts.
Hook is confident,thinking he now has Pan, unaware of his nemesis following him(Croc).
Tiger Lilly, proud as ever, determined to not break or be intimidated.
Mr.Smee (my fav)...caught in the middle of this cold war...trying to mind his own business.
And last but not the least, the Croc,ever watchful, lurches on..cant wait to get Hook between his jaws!
A spectacular piece with tons of story telling!

Joined "JPG" Magazine!

One submits pics...people see/vote...if people like it...it even gets published!
Unfortunately most of my good pics are taken from older Sony point & shoot cam...and those pics arnt large enough to submit! :-(
But now that i have my new Canon Rebel XTi DSLR, i can actually put in stuff!
So i thought...why not?
Oh well..here are a few that i entered in under the 3 themes they had.If u like...vote!
Thnx

TV :"Pushing Daisies"

Happened to stumble upon this new show on TV.And i have to confess, i thoroughly enjoyed it!
Visually and aurally,it evokes a very Tim Burton /Danny Elfman kinda mood.The narrative style is very "James And The Giant Peach" meets "Amelie".
And the stories themselves are "Six Feet Under" meets a Who Dunnit? with comedy and caricature sprinkled all over it.
The show's about the adventures of a gifted pie-maker ,Ned who can bring dead people to life but not without consequences.
The show is directed by Barry Sonnenfeld & has a nice cast of relative newbies,including Kristin Chenowith from the Broadway hit musical "Wicked".

As u can tell it's an uncanny mix of ingredients that go on to bake this very very Fresh and Special Pie.(Excuse the analogy here but Pies are a central motif on the show):-)

Its fresh and a joy to watch.Its only 3 episodes old, so i suggest you catch up and get hooked on. You wont regret it!

If u in Canada u can see it online for free here:
http://broadband.ctv.ca/primetime/

Why Commercials Before Movies Is Worse Than Piracy

Found this on Digg:
"I estimate the movie industry owes me $480 for uncompensated ad watching time out of the $456 million they made off pre-movie commercials. The principle for piracy and time theft is the same. Taking an asset (a movie, or your time) without providing the due compensation for taking that asset. So where do we start the class action lawsuit?"

read more | digg story

Beleive It Or Not!

"WALL-E" Teaser Poster

My favorite Pixar Teaser poster yet!

TIFF'07: "Nocturna" (Film Review)

FINALLY saw this movie today at its North American Premiere at the Toronto Int.Film Festival! Long time in the making i guess...Amazing designs, very imaginative...was refreshing to see a 2D movie on the big screen after so long! The story was not to...(read more)o bad either, maybe a bit slow..but did not mind too much!
The highlight has to be the designs. Thumbs up!:-)

First Look:"The Little Mermaid" On Broadway

First couple of pics from the try outs being held at Denver before the show is ready and moves to Broadway on November.
Looks promising! Can't wait!:)

Happy 60th!

2 awesome videos of the Indian National anthem.The first being instrumental and the second, vocal.Both featuring some of India's legendary artists/musicians/composers/vocalists...form different states, castes, generations and musical genres!

But whats a great video without AR Rehman providing some cheeezz to go along with the great musical arrangements. The slow-mo shot of him over the rocks with his keyboard makes me wanna gag...

...but i love the nostalgia and the spirit both the videos capture! I miss home:-(
Happy Independence Day! :-)

Disneyland Paris 14th July/5th Anniv. Fireworks

NO, i did not take this pic (Iwish)! but it was sooo beautiful i had to share it!

Untitled JJ Abrams Mystery Movie!

Saw Transformers yest. More than the movie, am deeply intrigued by a new teaser trailer which played b4 it.
Its an untitled mystery movie by the creator of Alias, Lost and Mission Impossible 3, JJ Abrams.The trailer just gave the release date, "1-18-08" (unless thats the title too, or maybe is gonna be released untitled?)
It looked very interesting...i came back and tried to look it up...and found the following possibilities on IMDB.
People are guessing a Godzilla movie , "Cloverfield"? and also what I personally thought and wish for too...a "LOST" movie...
Its the same producer, Bad Robot Productions. then the monster sounds, and the movie release date which just when the 4th season of Lost starts!And there have been rumours and plans for a Lost movie going on for a while.
Or maybe its just wishful thinking.
Cant wait to learn more!
Here is a bootleg version of the teaser from Youtube. I am sure Paramount is gonna get it off soon enough...so watch it soon!

UPDATE: Its on at Apple in awesome Quicktime. HERE

In Theatres "Paris Je T'aime"

I think the biggest selling point/distraction (however u may choose to look at it) would be the diversity of the talent involved in this production (both, on and behind the camera).

A collection 18 short films from an interesting mix of filmmakers. Representing their various visions of different kinds of love in different parts of Paris. All true to their own style of film making and story telling.
From camp horror and Wes Craven to a comical love story of mimes from Sylvian Chomet(Triplet...(read more)s Of Belville),from Gurinder Chadha to Gus Van Sant.
With an unexpected cast of actors that are fun to see, Natalie Portman, Catalina Sandino Moreno(Maria Full Of Grace),Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood,Juliette Binoche,Steve Buscemi etc etc. Something for everyone.
I just wish they did not make a half hearted attempt to connect the stories, it wasn't even required to begin with. Quite the treat, and gotta love this poster!:-)

Read & Be Amused

Poor Mrs.Potts Indeed

LOL! Found this on The Disney Blog. It made me smile, so i thought i'd put it on. I feel bad for these poor actors at Disney World...but i guess its all a part of the charm! The audience didn't seem to mind as they gave an encouraging round of applause for Mrs.Potts.
:-)

"Ratatouille" Opens...

Gone are the days when there use to be ONE animated movie a year(or less) from Disney, much like an event for which one (at least me) would wait a whole year.
Now animated features are quite common place. Though the art & technology improves, the story telling and ideas seem to just go down the drain.
So , ironically, its a very grim time for a fan of this incredible art form, in spite of the abundance of "Product".
Hence, u will understand my enthusiasm for this post and the release of this little film. Though i have already reviewed it, cant help but show my support for it and encourage everyone to buy an opening weekend ticket for this film ,simply cause it deserves it and the right message needs to be sent to suits, who lets face it, run this art form.
Don't worry, you don't have to take my word for it, here are but just a few of the unanimous rave reviews from respected critics (besides the glowing ones already being flashed everywhere by Time, Variety, Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone etc)...

The film is being gushed over for its look (Chicago Tribune: “you have never seen a computer-animated feature with this sort of visual panache and detail”; Minneapolis Star Tribune: “I defy you to name another animated film so overflowing with superfluous beauty”), its story (Beaumont Review: “If rival studios ever adopted Pixar’s story process for their films, there would be no need for critics”; Associated Press: “Ratatouille is free of the kind of gratuitous pop-culture references that plague so many movies of the genre; it tells a story, it’s very much of our world but it never goes for the cheap, easy gag”), and especially its director (Slate: “Brad Bird’s best movie yet, and from the writer-director who made two of the best American animated features of the past decade… that’s something”; New York Magazine: “this puts him somewhere between Chuck Jones and Michelangelo”).

Animators As Voice Actors Too!

WDCC: "DeVil On Wheels"

I was overjoyed when i located this rare limited hand numbered 500 piece release from 2004, but then it turned out to be signed by Dusty Horner (one of my fav. sculptors), made me ecstatic!My FIRST signed piece ever!

Also,this makes Cruella DeVill the only character who features TWICE in my WDC Collection. This and "Its That DeVil Woman". But who can blame me?

This piece captures her frenzied driving when she is chasing the milk truck carrying all the dalmatians in the climax of the film.I think its cool that she isn't really seated in the car.This is a high speed chase in bad weather conditions, so she is flying off the seat as she tries to maintain her balance while very unsuccessfully trying to maintain control of the car.Holding on the steering wheel with so much passion and desperation! lol
Her huge fur coat flying like a cape as the car itself is falling apart and off balance on the snow/ice covered dirt road.
The good part about this piece is, if i ever mange to break a piece or whatever,it will only add to its authenticity. There are scratches on the car, the door is falling off the hinges, the metal bumper is out of shape etc etc.
Awesome!

l

Anyone Can Be An Animator!

Hehe, saw this on Cartoon Brew...looks like fun. i wonder how elaborate can this technique get?

In Theatres: "Ratatouille" (Review)

Just saw an advance preview screening of this new Pixar/Brad Bird movie...
In one word - "WOW"
In many ...MANY words-For me this will be a landmark film. not only does it represent Pixar's character animators at the top of their game, but it also marks the FIRST time (according to me) that character animation in CG is hitting the highs that the Nine Old Men did in the 50s and 60s at Disney...its really a gorgeous looking movie too with "heart" and a cool cool food critic voiced by Peter O'Toole (with his very apt, typewriter of death and coffin room) ,who has one of the most well written piece about Critics in general ,towards the end of the film.
The story is about achieving the "Impossible" dream, when everyone says u cant do it and about self doubt and conflict that probably every artist (and non-artist for that matter) goes through.
Though again, u have the Pixar formula with the whole buddy movie concept and what not...but i guess its amazing how they can make soooo many good movies by making variations of different degrees to the same concept!! i guess it goes to the credit...

And on a small but important side note, a personal request -
PIXAR , please,please ,oh please..stop using TV commercials/news programs to get the story/setup/ exposition established. I know it works really well, but its just too easy , and its really becoming my pet peeve against you cause you do it in EVERY movie(wherever u can justify a TV)...i mean come on, its old now, think of a new story telling device already,i know u can...PLEASE!

The end credits are very cool too and so is the short "Lifted" that plays before the movie!
Oh and i caught one in-joke..keep a lookout for a hidden cameo by Bon Voyage (the French bomber bad guy robbing the bank) from "The Incredibles"

Cant wait to see the movie again in 2 weeks on the opening weekend!

Disney/Pixar's "Up"?!?!

A clue about the ever tight lipped Pixar's next production after Summer 2008's "Wall-E".

Buena Vista (the distribution arm of Pixar's parent company, Disney), has set a 12 June 2009 release date for an animated movie called "Up".
No other details known yet, in true Pixar tradition. The name too is obviously just a code or a part of the real title.
Its rumored to be directed either by:
-Pete Doctor(Monsters Inc.)
-Brenda Chapman (Co-Director of Dreamworks' "Prince Of Egypt" and brilliant Story Artist from Disney's"Beauty And The Beast"and others)
-Gary Rydstrom (Award winning Sound Director, getting into filmaking and the director of Pixar's latest short film "Lifted", to be seen attached with "Ratatouille" in 2 weeks!)

We probably wont hear any further details abot "Up" until Wall-E is out next summer.Just like we don't know much about Wall-E until the teaser debuts with Ratatouille (so excited for it,the best looking CG film yet, for me)this month.

So let the speculation begin...

WDCC: "A Loving Embrace"

"The tearful cries of the awkward little duckling have been answered by a graceful mother swan.
The beautiful creature encircles the baby bird with her comforting wings- and for the first time, the "ugly" duckling knows that he is not ugly at all."(Thats from the WDCC Catalogue)..Siiiiigh!
lol
This is brand new first release from new "Silly Symphony Series", and is from the Oscar winning Silly Symphony short called "The Ugly Duckling".
I love the reeds and how the grey strokes of paint on the swan creates a very "2D" effect, much like the original art that inspired this piece.

A Rosy Picture...Or Two?

Blatant Rip Off? Inspired? Homage?Nothing really like it??
Whatever be the case... i may be biased but i think the Original Beauty And The Beast poster from 2001 is far more elegant, with the silhouettes being more subtle ,giving dominance to the rose , a very important prop/symbol by itself in context of the film.

Beauty & The Beast :IMAX SpecialEditionin (2001 ReRelease Poster)

I Know Who Killed Me (2007)

In Theatres: "POTC3: At World's End" (Review)

I could very well copy paste my review from last year for POTC 2 and it would quite apply to this one too(and that would not be a bad thing).
People have been going on about how long and complicated and confusing it is...though i can see why they would say that, it dont stop me form endorsing this film.
This one is deffinately darker and has some cool swashbuckling Sp FX as usual. I thought the escape from Davy Jones' Locker and the Maelstrom battle was quite creative and cool.

Now days when all franchises are being milked to death with one sequel after another,i think its not a bad when the worst critisizm for this 3rd installment in this very "Original" franchise is that it has way TOO many ideas which havnt been devloped to their best possibities.
Honestly am sick of seeing bad super hero movies and the sorts.They rely on the built in fan base for a big opening and special effects with no real idea/story at the core.Summer movies dont have to be like that.
SO u can understand my preference for a film with too many(though not fully capitalised on) ideas over the former.

The probelm (i feel)with the last 2 Pirate films seems to be that they were rushed.Rushed to meet release dates and much of the story evolved on the fly.
Though this Trilogy is now over, if there r to be more POTC movies, i hope the writers get the time to hammer out some really well thought out scripts.These 2 writers seem capable and creative enough in my opinion.
SO far they have created a coolworld with very interesting and fresh mythology /characters, & i coudl really see future POTC movies being really terrific adventure movies if done the right way!
In a nut shell,after investing in 2 Pirate movies, the concluding part was a promise well kept.I was entertained and was very satisfied with the resolution.
And yes..do stick around till the end of the End Credits, for a short scene which works as a very nice book-end to the very first scene of the very first POTC.Its really amazing how that 2 min shot alone, kinda makes it clear who the whole trilogy was about.
Perfect end to this 3 part story.

Lisa Gerrard, Live In Toronto

Last weekend was a dream come true.I have wanted to see Lisa from the day i heard her for the first time.
She is not a very commercial/popular artist, so for those unaware...Lisa Gerrard used to be one half of a groundbreaking husband-wife band called "Dead Can Dance"(DCD).
After they split up, Lisa has continued having a great solo career with collabrative albums and doing scores for films (Gladiator with Hans Zimmer being the most popular).
I dont think i can compare her music or her voice to anything or any other artist that i am aware of.
Seeing her live was as fullfilliing, mezmerising and jaw dropping as i would have hoped(And having 2nd row seats wasnt too shabby either).
DCD used instruments and sounds from around the world spanning various ages and time periods with elaborate orchestartions.
Lisa predominantly used and continues to sing in gibberish,using her spectacular goose bump inducing voice as an instrument.
I know i am really plugging her here, but i think i owe it to her, She just makes me soooo happy!
So go discover her music, she has a new album out called "The Silver Tree" and also "The Best Of Lisa Gerrard", the former also has a few pieces from the DCD era.

Here are a couple of songs that she performed at the concert...the first is "Now We Are Free" ,which she wrote for Gladiator- and "Sanvean",one of my fav pieces by her.

**(I must appologise and warn about these clips.They have a very VERY annoying sound of me breathing at times. It seems the best view was near my eyes, and my nose happens to be in the same region and what can i say, seeing her perform 10 feet from u, it aint easy to breath normally.But its worth it, if u have slightly higher tolerance threshold)**

In Theatres: "Shrek The Third" (Review)

Was not the biggest fan of the original Shrek,but it kinda grew on me over the years.Though i did think Shrek 2 was quite good. I dunno what i was xpecting from Shrek 3, but after hearing only bad things online and 43% freshness rating on RottenTomatoes, maybe i reduced my expectations.
So when i went to see it, i was pleasantly surprised.I found myself being quite entertained, and i did laugh more than just a couple of times.The designs were as ugly as Shrek stuff usually is, but had some very nice animation moments , like the Frog King dying sequence!
Am not sure if this movie "needed" to be made.Cuase Shrek 2 advanced the plot considerably from Shrek 1 but am not sure if 3 acheives the same in terms of Character deevlopment, their arcs etc etc.
All said and done, it was a fun 90min(or whatver its running time)
and it did not create any strong reactions in me (postive or negative) to write anymore about it.

And :Shrek 2 is still the best Shrek movie for me
:"Meet The Robinsons", Best Animated Movie of 2007...so far
: Of the 3 major 3-quels of the summer (Spidey3,Shrek3,Pirates3), Shrek 3 is in the lead...so far