WHY! WHY!

As of this fall, the Mr. Cranky website is closing down, so now's your last chance to check out some of his best reviews. Heres a link to the goodbye post. I'm so sad. Goodbye Mr. Cranky 

Wall-E Review

Well, I finally made it down to the theater and saw Wall-E, and before I begin writing this review, there were two things in the theater that distracted me that could have effected my experience of the film. First, the screen was horrifically small, as was the theater, and the screen's aspect ratio of either 1.77:1 or 1.85:1 did not match the 2.35:1 ratio of the film, causing some of it to be projected onto the curtains. Second, sitting behind me was a group of children who seemed to feel it was their sacred duty to narrate everything that was happening in the film. Fortunately, they let up for some of the beginning and most of the middle and end otherwise I would not be here writing this review, but instead rolling around in the grave. Now with that rant done with, lets get down to the review.

Director Andrew Stanton's Wall-E has some amazing components: amazingly effective robot characters who managed to progress the story with little dialogue, a creative world, and an interesting and satirical plotline. Stanton, who directed Finding Nemo, has created a world completely unlike his colorful reef world, but both his bleak wasteland and his vibrant space worlds teem with the imagination and attention to detail that made his previous film so enjoyable. In fact, although I felt at first that unlike last year's Ratatouille, Wall-E did not top the other P.I.X.A.R films with technological and storytelling prowess, Wall-E's world is one of the most thoroughly designed of all P.I.X.A.R worlds. One of my favorite subtle moments of the film is where the titular character enters an abandoned super store. Behind him is a banner that reads "evacuation sale".  However, the ending of Wall-E almost ruined all the amazing preceding material for me, because, like many endings today, and like the movie itself, the epilogue seemed too short. Stanton certainly gave audiences a spectacular final action scene, but the emotional climax was cut painfully short, perhaps to go easy on the minds of younger audiences, however, the final plot-device was a brilliant idea and to see it tossed aside after minutes was anticlimactic and almost ruined the picture for me. But, perhaps my criticism is unfair. Wall-E's space scenes have incredible scope, it had a big budget, a big box office and big ideas, but for some reason it didn't feel big. It didn't quite reach the epic status some of the scenes seemed to be grasping for, because in the end, Wall-E is a simple love story with a lot of special effects, side characters and subplots that seem to distract from the emotions that, when focused on, are handled so well. It may be unfair to say so, but it seems as though Wall-E sets up a spectacular world populated by incredible characters, but doesn't quite take any of it far enough. Wall-E seems too big to be a kids movie and I felt that something important was lost through the child filter, while in other P.I.X.A.R films, nothing is. For all its incredible imagination, emotion and majesty, Wall-E feels incomplete. However, I feel as though I will enjoy it more when I see it again in the comfort of my own home. When I first saw Cars I was disappointed by its preachiness, length and lack of humor, but when I saw it on DVD all the subtle humor and depth came through to make it an enjoyable experience. During my viewing, Wall-E seemed to light, humorous and short to deal with its serious themes, but it seems like it could grow on me a great deal when I am not taking it at face value, too overwhelmed with the spectacle unfolding but not fully unfolding on the big screen to notice the subtleties that are hinted at amongst the action sequences. I had considered giving it a 7.8, but for now I give it an 8.4. When the DVD comes out, I'll do a "thoughts on" post giving me thoughts on a second viewing. As for the present, the score stands at 8.4.

I am also trying to see "The Dark Knight" bear with me, it may take me as long to see it as it did to see Wall-E. 

Shak Budisen Commentary

Shak's Aikido made the first season of Shak Budisen complete, even though it is only three episodes, now I have compiled them all and recorded a commentary track And here is the complete first season, the second season will begin as soon as I feel like it
Coming soon is a new series of post, the thoughts on series. Sometimes when I see a movie, it's really too late for me to review it, but sometimes viewing a film for the second time or seeing it later than others can still make me think, so these scoreless reviews will begin soon on my favorite older films and the ones that will be remembered as black holes of suckiness and bad filmmaking.

Shak Budisen Episode 3 is Here and Sooner Than Expected

Here it is
I made this one pretty quickly. The Has-Beens was too complex so I made this fairly simple piece with only Shak and Danny. Shak is like evil now. Poor Danny and his misplaced hero worship, but hopefully Shak and his Aikido flaming punch can uphold the American dream.

News on Future Updates and Game of the Week

Game of the Week to Last For the Week was a Thursday feature but I've gotten behind on that just like my Samurai Jack reviews, so it will become just Game of the Week and will be posted hopefully once a week on any day. I haven't been able to see the movies that I've wanted to see for a while because the nearest first-run movie theater is about an hour away, and so I haven't gotten around to it. But, Wall-E is playing at a people's theater closer to home, so stay tuned for a review. Until then, here's the game of the week.
Game: Treasure of Cutlass Reef
Why: Its addicting and fun. The ships move kinda slow though.
Play it

Shak Returns!...sort of

Ok, Shak Budisen and the Has-Beens was too ambitious and had too many characters so it fell through. The idea I had for the next episode will be a fairly simple episode featuring only Shak and Danny. But I was too lazy to start it so I made this "teaser" short with Shak and Danny. Here it is

Slick Cape: A Cartoon for CHILDREN and Stuff

Slick Cape is based on a fake children's book I made and features some of the worst animation I have ever done. I thought that children's book plots were so simple it would be easy to do one of my own and satire the genre. Of course, it's a bit more cynical than typical child's fare, but it still features one of the key basics: a virtually nonexistent plot-line based on a trivial object or character. Of course, there are great children's books, and there are the ones that keep the kids occupied, and then there are the ones like Slick Cape, you buy them for a dime at a grocery store and then dump them at some kid's birthday party. Anyways, here's slick cape. Enjoy, if you feel like it 

Be Kind, Rewind Review

Michel Gondry's films are usually brilliant, surreal, and sad, so when I saw Be Kind, Rewind, and saw that it seemed to be an straightforward, American, feel-good comedy, I was a bit disappointed. However, a little less than half way through the film, it becomes a bit more imaginative and salvages what at first glance seems to be a stupid premise with some funny spoofs. However, despite the fact that the film is basically a behind the scenes parody of the making of a Gondry film, the overall feel lacks his typical imaginative flair. Also, although Jack Black receives top billing, his character is merely a distraction. He is basically a catalyst for certain events in the movie who occasionally goes off on some sort of Jack Black comedic tangent. The film is about Mos Def's character, even though he has secondary billing, and his struggles with finding a creative identity and his relationship with his store, town, and father figure. However, the story and jokes are mostly formulaic, and the film is sustained mostly by Gondry's direction, the original elements of the story, and the feeling Gondry manages to instill even with a fairly cliche plot. Overall, I give it: 7.75

Game of the Week to Last for 6 Days: Stinkoman

Yes, I was late. But anyways, here's the game. 

Game: Stinkoman 20x6

Justification: A humorous side scroller that also has quality. 

Play it: Stinkoman 20x6

As a bonus, check out the cartoon where this character was created (Strong Bad Email: Japanese Cartoon)

Viacom Sucks, This Video Rocks

This is incredibly wrong, and I'm sure glad I didn't waste my ticket money on Indiana Jones 4 and Kung-Fu Panda. Check out this video at its source and be sure to add your comment to the growing list on YouTube. As for this video, it's a well crafted argument, and I'll be curious as to what Viacom has to say for themselves. Until then, let the boycott begin.

Persepolis Review

 I had high expectations for Persepolis and it definitely met them as a story that balanced a dark setting with a great human story. The fact that it is animated is not at all distracting and is successfully used to the benefit of the film, which also uses conventional film techniques in an animated setting for surprising effectiveness. The film is also one of the most accurate portrayals of a young child growing up I have seen in a film, and the music is excellent. Although it is a dark time and setting, Persepolis teems with life and death and never seems dull or cliche. Also, as it is a memoir of a person who is still alive, the ending would be abrupt but is tied together by the color scenes in an airport (the rest of the film is black and white). The ending lines are very simple but finally bring the memories together for an excellent film. Overall, I give it 9/10.

Note, I don't include summaries in my reviews because if you haven't seen the film you probably don't want to know what happens in it, and if you have than you don't need to.

Hand-Drawn Shak Budisen

Here's what Shak looks like when he's not in flash.

Happy 5th of July!

Happy 5th of July, the day before our favorite day of the year: 6th of July. Get out your fire crackers and your tub of lard and get ready to party!

Game of the Week to Last For the Week: Flash Sonic

The Game: Flash Sonic

The Justification: Although there are tons of flash Mario games out there, there is only one competent Sonic flash game out there. I played this game before I had ever played a real Sonic game, and aside from the sense of speed, its pretty comparable.

Play it: Here

Cat the Movie 2 Production Has Started

I have started shooting for Cat the Movie. When it is finished I will post a film profile and some clips. Well that's it. Yeah, my last couple of posts have been lame.

Wall-E Box Office

The first film of the summer I want to see in theaters is out. Here's some info on its box office from Rotten Tomatoes and the Box Office Guru. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/wall_e/news/1738128/box_office_guru_wrapup_wall_e_and_jolie_box_office_power_couple

I haven't been especially motivated to write anything, so just read this instead or whatever.