igor (2008)

Thanks for checkout out our Igor review. If you’d like to watch a video version of the Igor review you can view it at the bottom of this post.

The world of 3D animated films is getting more and more crowded. There is still one undisputed king of the hill when it comes to 3D animated movies… and that’s clearly Pixar. I find myself having a hard time getting too excited about any animated film that doesn’t come from them these days (although as Kung Fu Panda demonstrated, there are exceptions).

On the surface, Igor looks like a poor mans version of a 3D animated film. Frankly from the trailer it looked more like a student film from one of those animation schools you see advertised on Spike late at night. But hey, it’s got John Cusack attached so how bad can it be right? Well…

THE GENERAL IDEA

The idea for Igor is actually a pretty creative one. In a country called “Malaria” the people were once happy and prosperous farmers until mysterious clouds covered the land leaving it in permanent darkness. To survive, the country changed industries from farming to evil mad science!!!! Now the celebrities are the best evil mad scientists… and in Malaria if you are born with a hunch back, your name is changed to “Igor” and you become assigned to an evil scientist as their stupid and slow witted assistant. However, one Igor (John Cusack) is actually quite brilliant and dreams of being recognized as the greatest mad scientist in the world… if he can get people to look past the fact that he’s an Igor.

THE GOOD

As mentioned above the basic premise of Igor was a very creative one. Not only is the idea a funny one, but it also introduces the themes of class and rising above your situation to achieve your goals (which is always nice). The concept of having a main character (Igor) who is such a good person, who just happens to aspire to be really evil was hilarious.

The character “Scamper” (voiced by Steve Buscemi) was fantastic. Scamper is a rabbit who also happens to be one of Igor’s first and most successful experiments. You see… Igor made Scamper immortal. The rub is that Scamper is a suicidal noir existentialist who is constantly trying to kill himself. That may sound really dark (I guess it is), but the results are hilarious.

It’s hard not to get attached to Igor. The character himself is the center of the charm of the film. He’s endearing, yet flawed and Cusack’s voice (even though I’m not a huge fan of movie stars doing voice work) seemed to nail who this little guy is.

Who knew blind orphans could be so funny?

THE BAD

How many times have we seen movies with a great starting idea… but then ultimately fall flat because of a weak story to flesh it out? Sadly, Igor is one of those movies. The movie really is just a premise filled in with mostly weak attempts at humor (aside from Scamper) and dumbed cliches.

The main “love interest” in the movie is Eva (not to be confused with Eve from Wall-E), who is to be Igor’s greatest creation. She’s basically Frankenstein with a twist… instead of turning out evil, she’s actually very “good” and thinks that she’s an actress. Sadly, it plays out just as stupid as it sounds.

I know Igor is just a kids movie, but if other kids movies can some up with viable conflicts, limit plot holes and build things towards a solid ending… why can’t this one?

Speaking of being a kids movie… there were a few moments in the film where I thought to myslef “If I were a parent here with my kid, I’d be uncomfortable with some of the stuff in this movie”. There is lots of talk about murder and death and suicide that may be a little too dark for having your 7 year old kid at.

OVERALL

Igor is a poor movie in most respects that ends up being palatable due to some solid charm and the humor brought by the Scamper character. Not a good movie… but one you may find yourself enjoying watching nonetheless. Overall I give Igor a 6 out of 10.

You can watch the video version of this Igor Review below:

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corpse dead (2005)

Plot Summary:

Victor and Victoria are more than slightly nervous about their looming arranged marriage, until they meet. For the first time, both find hope that a ray of light will come shining into their gloomy and loveless worlds. On the eve of their wedding day, the faltering groom-to-be walks through the woods practicing his vows. Finally, the words come perfectly, and he places the wedding ring on what he thinks is a branch. Unfortunately, the branch turns out to be the finger of a corpse - a corpse bride - and she is not about to give up her new husband.

Now married to of one of the dead, Victor finds himself among the morbid creatures of the underworld. He must now try to find a way to make things right, so he can return to his true love. Despite the ghastly circumstances, Victoria vows to help him.

Victor’s decomposing bride turns out to be quite sympathetic, though, and Victoria must deal with evil forces at work in the land of the living, as a mysterious newcomer manipulates the strange events to assure that things go his way.

In true Tim Burton fashion, “Corpse Bride” is darkly romantic, and full of everything macabre. His characters represent the scariest prototypes of Halloween lore, but they are crafted in as benign a way as possible. Only Tim Burton would attempt to make a flesh-eating maggot an endearing character. He turns everything upside down in stop-motion animation, and the scariest and coldest creatures on the outside just might be the some of the warmest on the inside.

Note to Parents on "Corpse Bride"

Although the story is animated, many of the characters are decomposing and gruesome. Images of corpses and skeletons, though they are usually dancing and singing, will be scary and very unsettling to young children. The movie also contains many frightening and suspenseful scenes which are intensified by scary music.

The bitter-sweet storyline incorporates mature themes such as death, forced marriage, suicide and murder. The grave circumstances surrounding the murder of the corpse bride are discussed, and during one scene in the movie, someone is stabbed with a knife. The actual stabbing is not shown, but several characters chase each other with knives or swords. Also, one man dies by poison.

"Corpse Bride" Content Overview

The following contains some of the most prominent examples of possibly scary or offensive content in the movie:

Violence (Medium)
-Lord Barkis holds a knife to Victoria's neck.
-Lord Barkis goes after Victor with a sword.
-After a man suffers death by poison, several dead people follow after him menacingly.

Sex/Nudity (Low)
-The corpse bride wears a revealing wedding gown.

Profanity (Low)
-The word "damn" is used.

Alcohol/Drugs (Medium)
-The dead people are often shown in a bar with drinks being served in mugs.

Bad/Disrespectful Behavior (Medium)
-Both Victor and Victoria's parents want to marry them off for selfish reasons.
-Victoria's parents say she has a face like an otter.
-Lord Barkis wants to marry Victoria for her dowry.

Scary Scenes (High)
-Scenes listed under violence may be scary for children.
-When Victor places the ring on the corpse bride's finger, her hand comes from out of the ground and grabs him. She chases him through the woods.
-The decomposing dead body of the corpse bride, especially her eye that pops out when the maggot in her head wants to talk, and other characters may be very unsettling and scary to children.
-The dead people crash a wedding dinner, and at first the scene is suspenseful and scary, but it turns out to be humorous in the end.

Sad/Distressing Scenes (Medium)
-The story is told of how the corpse bride was murdered.
-The corpse bride is heart-broken when she finds out that Victor is in love with someone else.

Discuss "Corpse Bride" with Your Family

• After seeing "Corpse Bride," kids may have questions about death and the afterlife.

• Kids may also have questions about arranged marraiges. During one scene in the movie, Victoria's mother asks her, "Do you think your father and I like each other?" She then replies to her own question, "Of course not."

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toy story (1995)

Ever wonder how toys apparently get from one place to another with no human help? Toy Story, Disney's first feature-length foray into computer animation, postulates that they do it all by themselves. Toys have their own magical world which comes to life any time the lights are out or people aren't around. Any who doubt this should take a look at Toy Story. You'll never again feel quite the same way about Mr. Potato Head, Monkeys in a Barrel, or Slinkies.

Of course, the visual aspect is the centerpiece of Toy Story. The computer-generated effects are a marvel. Rich in unexpected detail (the grain of a wood floor, fingerprints and chipped paint on a door, reflections in polished surfaces, and so on...), this colorful and brilliantly-rendered aspect of the film would alone be worth the price of admission. It's something of a bonus that the characters, dialogue, and story provide entertainment value of their own.

Toy Story is a buddy movie/adventure tale with an understated lesson about the value of friendship. Parents might also be able to use some of what transpires to encourage their offspring to put away toys after playtime. While the screenplay isn't a marvel of originality, it is capable of holding the attention - light, undemanding fun that never gets too immature or syrupy. There's also quite a bit of intelligent wit that will go above the heads of younger viewers - that stuff's for Mom and Dad.

The two main characters are toys: cowboy Woody (voice of Tom Hanks), the old-time favorite, and space ranger Buzz Lightyear (voice of Tim Allen), the battery-operated newcomer. The supporting cast includes a dinosaur (voice of Wallace Shawn), Mr. Potato Head (voice of Don Rickles), a piggy bank (voice of John Ratzenberger), a slinkie (voice of Jim Varney), Little Bo Peep (voice of Annie Potts), and an army of tiny plastic soldiers who scout out the new arrivals on birthdays and Christmas. The humans who appear in Toy Story are intentionally rendered to look artificial. In this movie, people are "unreal"; all the vividness and multi-dimensionality is saved for the toys. But that's a typical convention of animation.

Toy Story opens with Buzz's arrival. Woody is upset that this high-tech neophyte has usurped his rightful place on the bedspread and in his six-year old owner's play time. The disgruntled cowboy comes up with a plan to eliminate Buzz, but it backfires, and soon the two rivals are out in the real world, forced to help each other in their struggle to escape the clutches of a toy-torturing juvenile delinquent.

How does Toy Story compare to Disney's more conventional animated features? They're really very different types of productions. This film is less artistic and more technologically impressive. Despite a few Randy Newman songs, it's not really a musical. Of course, the target audience is the same, and everything from Disney embraces "family values", but it's difficult - and unfair - to make an effective contrast of the two film making styles.

The one big negative about Toy Story involves Disney's overcommercialization. Already, Woody and Buzz dolls line store shelves. Burger King is coming out with figurines. It won't be long before the movie is drowned in hype. So, from the perspective of pure entertainment, it's a good idea to see Toy Story before the deluge of promotions becomes so excessive that it turns off every adult. Frankly, the movie deserves a less ignominious fate than the marketing overkill which will surely overcome it.

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Leading the new wave of fully computer-animated features, Toy Story portrays the secret life of toys with energy, humour, great characters and real feeling. Woody the sheriff (Tom Hanks) is the nominal leader of Andy's (John Morris) toys purely because he's his favourite plaything. Andy rushes around his room building towns out of cardboard boxes, creating adventures and crashing cars together -- just like most kids. However, as soon as he leaves the room his toys spring to life and resume their parallel life. Along with Woody there is Bo Peep (Annie Potts), who secretly adores Woody, Mr Potato Head (Don Rickles), who just wants a Mrs Potato Head, Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), Hamm (John Ratzenberger) and a host of other trinkets. Unfortunately Andy's birthday is due anytime, an event which pushes the toys neuroses to the fore. After all, they could easily be usurped in Andy's favour by new, super-duper acquisitions. Enter Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen).

With flashing lights, retractable wings and a mission to save the Universe, Buzz soon becomes the favourite of both Andy and his toys, much to the disgust of Woody. The catch is that Buzz doesn't realise that he was made in Taiwan; he really believes that he's just temporarily crash-landed on a strange, new planet. As Buzz gets busy repairing his spacecraft (the box he came in), Woody feels ever more shunned, particularly when Andy changes his posters and duvet to the latest Buzz Lightyear editions. However, one evening Woody is determined to be the toy taken to Pizza Planet and he (accidentally) knocks Buzz out of the window and into, what seems to be, oblivion. The other toys accuse Woody of foul play and villainous envy, forcing him to try and retrieve Buzz.

By good fortune Woody manages to find him and with more luck than planning they make their way to Pizza Planet, hoping to be reunited with Andy. They almost succeed but Buzz becomes fascinated by a rocket shaped crane machine, crawling inside and forcing Woody to follow him. The inhabitants, little green men with three eyes, have evolved a religion where the crane is their god and whoever it picks up is one of the chosen few (who go onto a better life). Regrettably the next player is vicious neighbour Sid (Erik Von Detten), a kid who takes great pleasure in dismembering his sisters dolls and blowing toys up with rockets. At Sid's house there is a collection of mutilated and Frankenstein like creations, the results of his experiments, and it looks as though Buzz and Woody will be next! They must return to Andy (before his family moves house) and escape the destructive clutches of Sid, but how?

Toy Story is an outstanding movie, not only for its ground-breaking effects but because it is the funniest film that I have seen in a long time. Throughout the entire 80 minutes (it certainly feels like more) there is a constant thread of humour, utilising one-liners, character jokes, action comedy and subtle referential aspects (often several of these methods together) which work on two levels, appealing to both adults and children simultaneously. Although the tale is an old and simple one, of the power of friendship, it's what the creators have done with these elements that gives Toy Story such a stunning and lively script. The individual characters are interesting, witty, pitiable and completely entrancing, often playing off the voices that give them life to include external references (which it's a joy to pick up). Add fantastic 'camera' movement (such as following Buzz's view as he attempts to fly) to this rich broth and the result is satisfying, overwhelmingly enjoyable and worth watching again (immediately!). [Sure, Toy Story may not be the artistic/cinematic equal of The Seventh Seal but it is incredibly fun and a classic in its own right].

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Toy Story uses state of the art computer effects to tell its story

Toy Story

Toy Story is one of those few gems that comes around once in a decade. Last decade was Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which combined real actors with animated characters convincingly. However, Toy Story blows Roger Rabbit away. The animation in this movie is so sleek and new that Disney can put another trophy on its mantle (after a thoughtful critic (sarcasm intended) noted that Disney did produce the film, I have since changed my review). What is also different about this movie is the story. It has one of the best plots ever for a cartoon and much better than lots of the live action movies out today. Since the film is a visual experience, I won't be giving away much by telling you the story.

The movie opens with a shot of a bedroom. The room is filled with toys and, after the boy leaves, the toys come to life. When I was a kid, I always believed that toys would come to life after I had left the room. This movie uses that imagination in a very creative way. The head of all the toys is Woody, a pull-string cowboy, who is the kid's favorite toy. He is voiced by Tom Hanks.

As the boy's birthday comes about, the toys worry that they will be replaced with the new toys. So Woody sends his (toy) soldiers out to look at the gifts. They use a baby monitor to send messages back to the bedroom. They hide in the plant and watch the birthday party. The boy gets a mysterious gift, but they don't know what it is. They boy runs upstairs with it. He pushes Woody off the bed and replaces him with the new toy.

Woody climbs onto the bed and sees the new toy: Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Tim Allen). Buzz comes to life and thinks that he is the actual Buzz Lightyear. Woody knows that he is a toy and tries to convince him that he is one. Buzz won't believe it and gets the admiration of the toys by showing them that he can shoot a lazer and even fly. Woody becomes extremely jealous and angry. However, when Woody pushes Buzz out a window, the toys turn against Woody. This is where the fun of the movie begins.

They both end up at a kid's amusement place where Buzz gets trapped in a crane machine with a whole bunch of aliens. They like him but then the evil kid from next door comes to the machine. He sees the Buzz Lightyear and wants it. He gets the toy and takes it home. Woody knows what will happen to Buzz if he doesn't save him.

The sequence in the evil kid's house is the most original I have ever seen. There are mismatched toys that the boy has rearranged, including an erector set with a doll's head, a fishing pole with legs, and some other crazy, but scary toys. The escape is a great one and is filled with excitement.

Toy Story, made by Pixar, is an ingenious film with wonderful visual treats for the eye and some very funny parts. You can't see the film once because there is so much to look at. I keep finding different things that I had missed the first time I saw it. It's almost like a Where's Waldo puzzle, only better. The movie took 4 years to make, but I hope they make more like it. This has to be one of the best films of the year.

Toy Story is rated G. There is nothing offensive in it, though it might be a little scary for younger kids in the evil kid's house. The movie is filled with visual gags but none are vulgar. The humor is more of an adult-type humor but kids will enjoy the visual style of the film and even, maybe, the story.

**** out of ****

Reviews by Boyd Petrie

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lilo& stitch (2002)

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Tells the story of a young girl’s close encounter with the galaxy’s most wanted extraterrestrial. Lilo is a lonely Hawaiian girl who adopts a small ugly ‘dog,’ whom she names Stitch. Stitch would be the perfect pet if he weren’t in reality a genetic experiment who has escaped from an alien planet and crash-landed on Earth. Through her love, faith and unwavering belief in “ohana” (the Hawaiian concept of family), Lilo helps unlock Stitch’s heart and gives him the one thing he was never designed to have – the ability to care for someone else.

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Only a week ago I deplored the wretched "Scooby-Doo" as a blight on the nation's theaters. My fellow critics agreed. Checking the Web sites that monitor reviews, I find that at RottenTomatoes.com the movie scored a 26, at Metacritic.com a 27. Passing grade is 60. The American public effortlessly shrugged off this warning cry and raced to the box office to throw away $54 million.

Now here comes a truly inspired animated feature named "Lilo & Stitch." How will it do? It's one of the most charming feature-length cartoons of recent years--funny, sassy, startling, original and with six songs by Elvis. It doesn't get sickeningly sweet at the end, it has as much stuff in it for grown-ups as for kids, and it has a bright offbeat look to it.

If "Scooby-Doo" grossed $54 million in its first weekend, then if there is justice in the world, "Lilo & Stitch" will gross $200 million. But there is not justice. There is a herd instinct. On Monday a man on an elevator asked me what I thought about "Scooby-Doo." I said it was a very bad movie. "My kids want to see it," he said. Yes, I said, because they've heard of nothing else all week. But, I said, there is a much better animated family film opening this weekend, named "Lilo & Stitch," that your kids are sure to like much more than "Scooby-Doo," and you will enjoy it, too. Take my word, I said; I do this for a living. Take the kids to "Lilo & Stitch." I could see from the man's eyes that he was rejecting my advice. How could I possibly be right when $54 million said I was wrong? How could human taste be a better barometer of movie quality than the success of a marketing campaign? Prediction: This weekend, more parents and their children will dutifully file into the idiotic wasteland of "Scooby-Doo" than will see the inspired delights of "Lilo & Stitch." That will be a shame. "Lilo & Stitch," produced by the same Disney team that made "Mulan," is a toothy fantasy about an alien monster that accidentally finds itself adopted as the pet of a little girl in Hawaii. The creature, named Stitch (voice by Chris Sanders), was produced by an illegal genetic mutation, and is so horrifyingly hostile that it's been locked up by its inventors. It escapes to Earth, is mistaken for a very strange dog, and adopted by Lilo (voice by Daveigh Chase), who essentially uses her innocence and the aloha spirit to confuse and even civilize the creature.

This all takes place against a cheerful background of pop-culture references, including scenes spoofing "Men in Black," "Jaws" and "Godzilla" (with Stitch first building a model of San Francisco, then destroying it). And the film firmly positions itself in Hawaii--both the Hawaii of tourist kitsch, and the Hawaii of the aloha spirit. The plot revolves around concepts of ohana, or family, since Lilo is being raised by her big sister, Nani (voice by Tia Carrere), who is disorganized and not always a perfect substitute mom, and is up against a disapproving social worker named Cobra Bubbles (voice by Ving Rhames).

Nani works as a waitress in one of those "traditional" Hawaiian musical revues, where her boyfriend David Kawena (Jason Scott Lee) is a fire dancer. Lilo takes Stitch to the show, and Stitch is much confused, especially after David sets the stage on fire, but even more confusing episodes are ahead, as the little girl teaches her alien pal how to be an Elvis imitator.

Lilo and Stitch of course have trouble communicating, since Lilo is very young and Stitch speaks no English, but the alien, who is a quick study, picks up some words and, more important, some concepts that challenge its existence as a destructive being. Lilo and Nani are learning, too, how to be a family and take care of each other, but the movie doesn't get all soppy at the end and is surprisingly unsentimental for a Disney animated feature. It keeps its edge and its comic zest all the way through, and although it arrives relatively unheralded, it's a jewel.