Partly Cloudy
Director: Peter Sohn
Year: 2009
Stars: n/a
This is a Pixar short that is being shown in the cinemas before the main feature, Up. Having seen it at the cinema I thought I'd review it here, along with Up. It tells the tale of a lonely cloud that makes babies (which a hard-done-by stork then carries) for the less cute creatures of the world, which have a tendency to attack the stork. Engaging and fun, it's a good introduction to Up and the world of Pixar.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Up (3D)
Director: Pete Doctor, Bob Peterson
Year: 2009
Stars: Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordon Nagai, Bob Peterson
And onto the main feature... the first 10 minutes of this are brilliant. Drawing you straight into the story, you'll wonder how you've managed to be emotionally manipulated quite so quickly.
In a sense, the less you know about the story before it starts, the more you will enjoy it. So suffice it to say that the plot involves an old man and a young boy, and a house that flies - all things you probably already know from the trailer.
The film looks beautiful, and whilst the remainder of the movie might not draw you in quite like the first ten minutes, it's still incredibly enjoyable. Amazingly, even when all the characters are being annoying, you'll understand why and still like them. Well, I did.
The only problem I have with Up is that it's not really necessary to watch it in 3D. Of course, that takes nothing away from the story, but why make something in 3D if you're not really going to use it? Pixar said they didn't want to use the usual tricks of having things jump out at you, and I fully respect that. But most of the beauty of the film would be apparent in 2D - it doesn't use the 3D. After having seen the way Coraline used 3D, this just isn't quite up to standard.
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Showing posts with label Short. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Short. Show all posts
Friday 10th July
The Great Train Robbery
Director: n/a
Year: 1903
Stars: n/a
Having been influenced to find out where the gangster genre began by watching The Killing earlier this evening, Dan and I were led to this 1903 film, The Great Train Robbery. Admittedly, it is only 10 minutes long, but upon watching it you begin to realise how many of the things we think of as inventive and different in modern cinema are anything but. You can see the origins of a lot of them right here.
Being such an old movie, it's freely available to watch on YouTube. The quality isn't great (what were you expecting? It's over 100 years old), but it is worth watching. It focuses on, you guessed it, a train robbery - starting off with tying up the station master and ending the way all great gangster movies do (if you don't know how that is, you really need to go and watch a couple of gangster movies).
Considering this film is only 10 minutes long, it's amazing how much of it has stayed with me. It's hard to rate this as it's so different to films as we know them today, but the fact that it has contributed massively to so many modern films, and that this is still recognisable today, means I can only really give it 5 stars.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Director: n/a
Year: 1903
Stars: n/a
Having been influenced to find out where the gangster genre began by watching The Killing earlier this evening, Dan and I were led to this 1903 film, The Great Train Robbery. Admittedly, it is only 10 minutes long, but upon watching it you begin to realise how many of the things we think of as inventive and different in modern cinema are anything but. You can see the origins of a lot of them right here.
Being such an old movie, it's freely available to watch on YouTube. The quality isn't great (what were you expecting? It's over 100 years old), but it is worth watching. It focuses on, you guessed it, a train robbery - starting off with tying up the station master and ending the way all great gangster movies do (if you don't know how that is, you really need to go and watch a couple of gangster movies).
Considering this film is only 10 minutes long, it's amazing how much of it has stayed with me. It's hard to rate this as it's so different to films as we know them today, but the fact that it has contributed massively to so many modern films, and that this is still recognisable today, means I can only really give it 5 stars.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)