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Junebug (Director: Phil Morrison, USA, 2005): Brilliant! An instant favourite. How did I miss such a perfect film?
Director Phil Morrison has created an incredible piece of art with writer Angus MacLachlan. Everything from the dialogue, casting, cinematography, music and direction is so carefully put together and magically real. You can’t help but believe in the characters and the story that unfolds before you.
Junebug requires a certain amount of patience from the viewer. Some of the shots might be unusually long and ‘artsy’ for some audiences but it sets a tone for certain scenes. At times the dialog is sparse but the acting speaks volumes.
The story is fairly simple but the characters are complex and very interesting. Newlyweds, Madeleine and George live in Chicago. They take a road trip to North Carolina so that Madeleine can meet George’s family and hopefully sign up an eccentric painter to Madeleine’s art gallery.
The artist in North Carolina is like a character right out of the Civil War. The film is worth watching just to hear his accent. George’s family are an interesting bunch. I don’t want to give too much away because I think the less you know, the more you’ll like the film. If you want a plot summary then check out IMDB.
I really wish there was a director commentary for this film because it raises a lot of questions and I’d love to know some of the intended meanings behind certain shots and some of the dialogue.
This is a film that I’ll be adding to my DVD library so that I can watch it again and again. It’s that good and I highly recommend it if you haven’t seen it.
TMNT (Director: Kevin Munroe, USA/Hong Kong, 2007): If you’re over the age of ten, you might not know that TMNT stands for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. If you’re under the age of ten, you might not know that TMNT was the top weekend flick with $25.45 million in ticket sales.
I found myself sitting in the a theatre with my 7-year-old son Daniel, waiting for TMNT to start. Like most 7-year-olds, he has a fascination with ninja turtles. I don’t. All I could think about were the really bad one-star reviews I had read about the film.
By the time the credits rolled, I was relieved. The movie wasn’t that bad. It’s basically a 3D version of the TV show but with really good production values. The animation by Imagi Entertainment is impressive and gave me something to admire while the turtles ate pizza and bickered.
The animation and the rendering don’t live up to Pixar standards, but so what. A 7-year-old kid isn’t going to notice or care about how realistic the fabrics are rendered or if the inverse-kinematics in the character animation is incredibly realistic.
It made me wonder who Pixar is really making their incredible films for. Why not crank out a bunch of mediocre movies like everyone else? Why raise the 3D bar with every film? The kids won’t care or really notice so long as the story is solid. Will they?
I tried to get Daniel to write a review but he thought that would be too boring. So I asked him what he thought about the film. “It was good” was the only response I could get at first. I asked him what he hated about the film and he responded with, “the long talking parts.” Hmm, okay.
I asked which movie he thought was better, Superman Returns or TMNT. I was sure he would pick Superman Returns but he quickly replied with, “TMNT. It had way more action.” My shoulders slumped forward and my chin collapsed into my chest. When I recovered, Daniel asked me if we could get the TMNT video game for PS2.
Official Film Site
Official Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Site
Tagged as:
animation,
pixar
