Informal Review of Tim Burton's "The Corpse Bride" [animation]

                Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride tells the story of an awkward young man, named Victor, who is about to enter into an arranged marriage with a young woman, named Victoria, from a (supposedly) well off family. Things go awry, however, when Victor, unable to successfully say his wedding vows, runs out of on the wedding rehearsal. He flees to the woods where he practices his wedding vows and finishes by accidentally placing Victoria’s wedding ring onto the bony hand of Emily, a young bride who was killed just before her wedding. With Emily thinking he has married her, Victor must choose between escaping from the land of the dead and going back to Victoria or staying below with the very sweet, but very dead, Emily. Meanwhile, with Victor missing, Victoria parents enter her into another arranged marriage to a seemingly wealthy stranger, who wants nothing more than to take advantage of her supposed wealth.

The Corpse Bride not only tells a wonderful story using incredibly stylistic visuals, but with an impressive use of stop motion animation reminiscent of many of the films I used to watch as a child.

Growing up I was naturally drawn to stop motion animation. Every Christmas I looked forward to discovering and watching new Rankin Bass Christmas specials, and today I own almost the entire collection. I also have several fond memories of watching James and the Giant Peach and a few slightly disturbing memories of some Gumby movie that was made in the sixties. During my early teens I discovered more of Tim Burton’s films and, once I got used to his darker style, his animated films became some of my favorites. Needless to say, out in-class viewing of The Corpse Bride was not my first. It was, however, my first time viewing it specifically to study its animation. Compared to the old Rankin Bass films and even compared to the old Rankin Bass films and even compared to Burton’s earlier film The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Corpse Bride has come leaps and bounds in terms of animation. Every model moved fluidly, without any notable breaks and every character had their own specific way of moving. However, no medium is without flaws and stop motion animation is no exception. Much like very early stop motion, there are certain elements that will continue to look and move as if they are “heavy” because of the material used to make them. This is most notable in objects such liquids, hair, and some fabrics. One of the most obvious examples of an unnaturally heavy object seen in the film was Emily’s wedding veil. While it has proper physics most of the time, there are instances when it doesn’t move quite as it should.

                Regardless of its very few and minor flaws in animation, I found Tim Burton’s The Corpse Bride to be a wonderfully creative with a unique story, memorable songs, and stunning visuals. It is one of my favorite Tim Burton films to date and I am sorry that I don’t get more opportunities to watch it than I do. I would highly recommend this film to any lovers of Tim Burton or Tim Burton-esque films, stop motion animation, or untraditional musicals.

"Bringing up Baby" Review

                Charming. That’s the word that comes to mind when I think of Bring up Baby. This classic film was released in 1938 and stars Cary Grant and Katharine Hepburn. While playing golf with the lawyer of a potential patron who is considering donating one million dollars to the museum where he works, David Huxley (Grant), an uptight paleontologist, encounters an exceedingly odd woman named Susan Vance (Hepburn). From this point on, Susan causes David trouble by dragging him into various situations that he just doesn’t know how to handle. When Susan reveals that her aunt, Elizabeth Random, is the would-be patron of the museum, David allows Susan, who has begun to develop feelings for him, to try to patch things up between him and the lawyer, Mr. Peabody (or as Susan calls him, “Boopy”). However, when Susan accidentally hits Mr. Peabody in the face with a handful of rocks while trying to wake him up by pelting pebbles at his bedroom window late at night, David parts company with Susan, stating that he never wants to see her again. Not one to give up, Susan calls David the very next day to ask him to help her move her newly acquired pet Leopard, named Baby, to her farm in Connecticut. As Susan tries to keep David near her and away from his fiancé in new York she draws him into another series of sticky situations including chasing after Susan’s dog, George, who has stolen David’s rare dinosaur bone, hunting for the escaped Baby, and ending up in jail, masquerading as a convicted gang and coming toe to toe with another Leopard that has escaped from a nearby circus. However, all ends as it should with Susan giving the museum the one-million dollars and with Susan and David finally ending up together. The delightful combination of what would now be considered a “family friendly” film and Katharine Hepburn’s joyful portrayal of Susan is what brings Bringing up Baby its charm.

                Bringing up Baby has everything I think of when I think of older classic films: it’s in black and white, the credits are at the beginning, it relies a lot on visual gags and simple humor, it’s exceedingly clean, and everyone has that certain, indescribable way of talking that was very much present in the 20s and 30s. At its release, Bringing up Baby was a film that anyone would willingly go see, it was the norm, and many adult viewers still enjoy this classic film today. However, were the film released today with no changes it would likely have been marketed to a very different group: children. What was once considered the norm of entertainment for both young and old has now been downgraded to the term, “family friendly” because it is considered to be relatively “clean.” In fact, the most “risqué” scene in Bringing up Baby was a bit between David and Susan where he accidentally rips her dress in the back, revealing her slip. Thinking further on the subject of the film’s “cleanliness,” I can’t even remember there being any foul language or sexual insinuations used. Bringing up Baby and films like it were (and are) enjoyable for people of all ages, so it is a complete shame that similar films being made today are seen as childish, in part, because they are “clean.”

                The other aspect that gave a sense of charm to Bringing up Baby was Katharine Hepburn’s portrayal of the whimsical and ever absent-minded Susan. Indeed, most of the film’s comedy is a direct or indirect result of Susan’s actions. Directly, we have the character of Susan herself. She is driven, often acts before she thinks, is easily distracted, and has her own, odd way of doing things. For instance, when Susan’s heel breaks while searching for Baby she is instantly distracted by the way the absence of one heel makes her walk. Susan then begins marching back and forth, pretending to be a solider, and repeating the line, “I was born on a hill.” Indirectly, Susan’s attempts to keep David nearby by saying whatever pops into her head often leads to comical moments for others. For example, when David accidentally meets Aunt Elizabeth while wearing a frilly bathrobe, Susan creates a cover story for David (without telling him its exact details), leading Aunt Elizabeth to believe that David’s name is Mr. Bone, that he is suffering from a nervous breakdown, and that he is a big game hunter. Not only does this series of lies result in many comical moments between David and the other characters, it also drives much of the plot forward. Along with displaying fantastic comedic timing, Hepburn also displays a wonderful array of emotions from a dreamy-eyed, love struck Susan, who is playing “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” with her toes, to a completely distraught Susan, who is bawling her eyes out because she thinks David doesn’t want her around anymore. While the film’s story, dialogue, and cast were all grand, it was Hepburn’s performance that shone the most in Bringing up Baby.

                Bringing up Baby is an absolutely delightful film and I wish I had discovered it sooner. I found its clean story and comedy, which appeals to both young and old alike, to be refreshing and extremely appealing. However, Katharine Hepburn’s charming performance as Susan proved to be the icing on the cake, turning a good movie into a great one. I strongly recommend this film to lovers of old classics, good clean humor, or traditionally “family friendly” films.

"Waking Sleeping Beauty" Informal Review

                Waking Sleeping Beauty documents the history of Disney animation from the failure of The Black Cauldron through the success of The Lion King. It gives history about the company including power struggles, the rise of big names like Tim Burton and John Lasseter, the Disney Renaissance, and the advances in technology that led to the hand-drawn animation we have today. It met all my expectations of what a documentary should be and, thankfully, the subject was extremely interesting and there were no controversial topics to get me riled up.

                Waking Sleeping Beauty not only presented facts about Disney’s animation history, but it did so in an interesting way. The film began with its ending, the prerecorded speeches given at the staff premiere of The Lion King, at which point the narrator, a Disney animator who was present for the events covered in this documentary, takes things back to when he first started working for the company. While all of the normal documentary-esque elements such as interviews, photos, and news clips were present, it also kept things interesting by showing home videos, clips from Disney films, and caricatures of various members of the Disney team, presumably drawn by the animators themselves. There were several different narrators throughout the film, all of which were part of the team as well. There were very few instances throughout Waking Sleeping Beauty where I lost interest and I really enjoyed learning more about my favorite kind of Disney film.

                As usual, where Disney is involved there is magic and Waking Sleeping Beauty is no exception. Although the story was far less glamorous than the fairytales Disney is so well known for telling, it was no less engaging. I would highly recommend this film to any Disney fan or animation enthusiast.

Informal Review of "Gattaca" (Commercial and Industrial Contex)

                The indie film Gattaca takes place in a future where society is obsessed with obtaining genetic perfection. Most children are conceived via consulting with geneticists in order to customize gender, hair color, and eye color, and to ensure that they will be as healthy as possible. The better an individual’s genes, the more likely they are to succeed in the world. The main character of Gattaca, Vincent Freeman, was conceived through natural means and was predicted to have both a high possibility of developing a heart condition and a life expectancy of thirty-two years. Although Vincent never actually displayed any signs of illness, he was discriminated against and labelled an in-valid, meaning that he will never be allowed to follow his dream of traveling into space. Unwilling to give up his dream, Vincent makes a contract to take on the identity of Jerome Morrow, a former Olympic swimmer who can no longer use his legs. Vincent begins work at Gattaca Aerospace Corporation and is scheduled to travel into space, but things go awry when a murder takes place in the office and Vincent’s DNA is found at the scene of the crime.

For an independent film, Gattaca still manages to tell a complex story with decent graphics despite its potentially low production budget.

                All that I knew about Gattaca before watching it was that it was an independent film that was about genetic perfection. As I went into things completely blind, I had no expectations to shape my reaction to the film. I also know nothing about Gattaca’s distribution or exhibition, but I could definitely tell a difference in production value. Although the overall story was incredibly unique and compelling, there were times when the certain scenes or specific lines of dialogue were awkward or made no sense. There were also times when the visuals, especially some of the special effects, seemed cheaper as well. There were not very many different sets and, although this may have been an aesthetic choice, many of the scenes were very, very dark.

                Although it is hard to pinpoint the exact reasons, Gattaca had the feel of a made-for-TV movie. However, to me what matters most about a film is its story and, in my opinion, Gattaca’s story was top notch. I would definitely watch this film again and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys films that incorporate a slightly dystopian society.

Informal Review of "The King's Speech" (Character Motivations and Their Effects on Plot)

                The King’s Speech is a historical drama about King George VI’s struggle with a life-long speech impediment. At the beginning of the film our main character, referred to by his speech therapist as, “Bertie,” is not the king of England, but the Duke of York and the second in line for the throne. After countless tries with other therapists, Bertie’s wife, Elizabeth, finds Doctor Lionel Logue, who is the first therapist to have any kind of success with Bertie. Eventually, Lionel and Bertie become good friends and Lionel helps Bertie to overcome more than just his speech impediment. This friendship is especially important when Bertie’s brother, David, steps down from his position as king to marry his mistress, who is not deemed suitable for marriage by the Catholic Church because she has been divorced in the past. Lionel helps Bertie prepare for his coronation, his first official speech as king, and is present for every other speech he would go on to give in the future. One of the most prevalent features of The King’s Speech is its characters and its use of character motives to further the plot.

                There are four main characters in The King’s Speech that have clear motives: Bertie, Lionel, David, and Elizabeth. In the beginning, Bertie’s motivation is to learn to speak better so as not to embarrass himself and to please his father, who is still the king at the beginning of the film. However, after Bertie replaces David as king after their father dies, Bertie’s need to overcome his speech impediment grows from simply avoiding embarrassment to needing to speak effectively in order to be a good leader. Both forms of Bertie’s motivation move the plot forward because overcoming his speech impediment is the central conflict of the entire movie.

Lionel’s motive remains mostly the same throughout the film. Throughout the film Lionel’s motivation is to help Bertie overcome his speech impediment first as a teacher helping a pupil, then, later, as a friend who wants to see another friend rise to their full potential. Lionel’s motivation is responsible for furthering the plot in that he is the only one who can help Bertie overcome his speech impediment, which is the central conflict.

Next, we have David, whose only true motivation is to please himself no matter the cost. This selfishness moves the plot along by adding higher stakes to the central conflict when David abdicates the throne, making it more important than ever for Bertie to overcome his speech impediment.

Lastly, we have Elizabeth, played by Helena Bonham Carter. Although I did not know much about her life at the time I first watched The King’s Speech, I have seen Carter in other films. Even though it was strange to see her acting outside of her usual typecast of deranged lunatic with extremely curly hair (such as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeny Todd: the Demon Barber of Fleet Street and Bellatrix Lestrange in several of the Harry Potter films), it was refreshing to see her in a different role and it did not affect my view of the film in the least. Her motivation in the role as Elizabeth in The King’s Speech is solely to be supportive of her husband and to encourage him to do his best. While her motive seems to have nothing to do with the plot, without it there would be no plot. It was her finding Doctor Lionel without her husband’s knowledge or permission that kicked the plot into motion and allowed the two friends to meet, thus ensuring Bertie’s eventual success in beating his speech impediment and learning to speak publicly.

                Not only is The King’s Speech’s use of plot and genre amazing, its use of character motive to further the plot is even more impressive. All of the characters mesh incredibly well together and even the ones with very little screen time still have a fair amount of influence over the plot. For all the reasons listed above and more, I highly recommend this film.

"2001: a Space Odyssey" Review

                Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: a Space Odyssey is a film that makes more sense if you have read the book… Or at least that’s what I’m assuming since I have not read the book and did not understand this movie. That isn’t to say it’s a bad movie, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good movie either. Honestly I have a love/hate relationship with this particular film. In terms of keeping me entertained, it wasn’t very good, but in terms of lulling me into a false sense of security then surprising me witless it is a master.

The plot of 2001: a Space Odyssey is more than a little difficult to explain. The film begins at the dawn of man with a group of apes slowly evolving. Suddenly, a large, black rectangle, later called a monolith, appears in front of the apes’ cave. The apes gather around it in curiosity and begin touching it. Soon we cut to several thousand years into the future. The monolith has been discovered buried on the moon, which has now been colonized by the human race. Here we find Doctor Floyd, the chairman of the National Counsel of Astronautics, on his way to study the monolith. We are given a bit of exposition about how the story of the monolith is being covered up by a story of an epidemic because the government does not think the public is ready to know about extraterrestrial life. Later, Doctor Floyd goes with a team to investigate the monolith. However, as the group gathers in front of the strange structure for a group picture, a high pitched sound emanated from the monolith, causing everyone to clutch their heads before we cut once again, this time to eighteen months later. An expedition of five men and one artificially intelligent computer, called HAL, are headed on a mission to Jupiter. However, when the only two crew members on the ship who are not in hibernation, David and Frank, become concerned about HAL’s behavior and consider disconnecting him, HAL goes berserk and kills all of the crew members except for David, who eventually succeeds in disconnecting HAL. Once HAL has been disconnected, David is shown a prerecorded video stating the true purpose of the mission: the monolith has been sending a signal to Jupiter and the crew was being sent to investigate it. Finally, David reaches Jupiter where he finds another monolith orbiting the planet. He gets into his pod to investigate, but is pulled into a trippy montage for several minutes until his pod finally lands in a fancy room where David sees an older version of himself watching himself. That David sees an older version of himself eating dinner. That David sees another, older David lying in bed. The monolith appears in the center of the room and the David lying on the bed reaches his hand out toward it. Suddenly, David has been turned into a giant fetus. Fetus-David then floats alongside the Earth, seemingly gazing at it for the rest of eternity.

While completely confusing plot-wise and a bit slow paced, this movie does a lot of fantastic things including its interesting camera angles and its use of sound and pacing to build up the film’s most important moments.

                One of the most interesting choices that Kubrick made in regard to 2001: a Space Odyssey was his use of odd angles to showcase the film’s actions. With the majority of the film taking place in outer space, there are ample opportunities for things to be shown at odd angles and still have it fit within the context of the story. During Doctor Floyd’s first scene we see a flight attendant wearing special shoes that allow her to walk along the floor of the ship, despite there being no gravity. It is later revealed that this same technology can allow one to walk on any surface when we see another flight attendant deliver a tray of sip-able food to the pilots of the ship by first walking up the side of the wall, across the ceiling, then down the opposite wall to enter the pilots cabin upside down (or potentially right side up depending on how you look at it). Between the use of these shoes and the lack of the use of said shoes, we are able to witness some rather intriguing shots. Suddenly, shots at completely askew angles are commonplace and upside downs shots are not out of the ordinary. In my opinion, the scene in which this technique is best used takes place on the spaceship bound for Jupiter. At a long shot we see one of the members of the crew jogging along the side of the walls of a circular room. The camera then moves behind him for a tracking shot. The man is now right side up and, as he runs, we watch the room move around him. The best description I can give of this scene would be a first person view of running behind someone on a giant hamster that has cryogenic sleep chambers and computer terminals along the sides of it.

The next interesting use of camera angles was the various point-of-view shots that were used. The most interesting use of these shots is when we see the world through HAL’s eye (he only has one). HAL sees David and Frank through a round, distorted lens and usually from a slightly low angle shot. By the time we see things from HAL’s point of view, it has already been communicated that he may possess both the abilities to think and to feel. Perhaps HAL’s distorted view represents his distorted view of humanity.

                While 2001: a Space Odyssey’s camera angles are rather impressive, it is its ability to build up to important moments in the film that truly shines. When I stated earlier that this film is slow, I wasn’t exaggerating. This film is slow from beginning to end. In fact, when I first started the movie, I was treated to nothing but a black screen and music for several straight minutes. I actually began to worry that my PS2 turned DVD player was broken, so I hit the fast forward button until I finally saw the logo of the film’s production company. Finally, we come to the film’s title screen, accompanied by 2001’s most iconic score from its soundtrack. With each crash of the cymbals another element of the opening credits appears as the music builds up to the title screen. Once the title screen has faded, we are treated to the completely digetic sounds of the aforementioned Dawn of Man. From here we are introduced to the next technique used for build up: pacing. The number one technique accredited to 2001’s painfully slow pacing is the montage. Throughout the film there are countless montages and music is used very sparsely. While annoying at times, used together these two elements are used to invoke surprise in the viewer. For instance, Frank going out to replace part of the ship to test HAL’s prediction that it would fail in seventy-two hours is shown via an incredibly slow montage, during which the only sound that can be heard is the sound of Frank’s breathing. This scene goes on for several minutes, making the viewer think that it will be exactly the same as all of the other montages up to this point. Then, out of the blue, everything goes completely silent, grabbing the audience’s attention as we are shown a series of shots with the camera getting closer and closer to HAL before we see him sever Frank’s oxygen cord then cast him off into space to die. Throughout 2001: a Space Odyssey these slow, silent moments build up to all the most important parts of the film.

                Although 2001: a Space Odyssey is an extremely confusing and tedious film, it did employ some incredibly unique techniques that were enjoyable to watch. While your mind may be spinning, your eyes will be pleased a vast majority of the time by the diverse and unusual camera angles used and you will be caught off guard several times due to the constant build up caused by a combination of pacing through the use of montages and through the use of sound. I can’t recommend this film from an entertainment standpoint as I was bored a majority of the time I watched it, but I do highly recommend it if you enjoy thinking about how a film was made and why the director chose to employ certain techniques.

Informal Review of "Jurassic Park" (Sound)

                Jurassic Park is a film that needs no introduction, and, thus, no plot summary. This modern classic has thrilled and enchanted audiences since its release in 1993. Aside from winning an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, Jurassic Park won Academy Awards for both Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing in 1994. The film’s skillfully employed use of sound is especially evident in its musical score and in its use of sound effects.

                First, not only is the score of Jurassic Park stunning, the tone of the music always matches the feel of whatever is going on onscreen and the volume is always at an appropriate level. It softens whenever dialogue is being spoken and it swells and becomes more dynamic to add to any scene it is present in. Second, Jurassic Park uses its sound effects to its full advantage through simultaneous sounds, off screen sounds, and sound editing. Obviously, without simultaneous sounds, the film would be awkwardly silent. After all, a car falling through a tree and plummeting to the ground generally makes at least a little sound. However, it uses even this simple concept to its advantage. For instance, whenever the loud booming of the ever iconic T Rex’s footsteps is heard, something vibrates, whether it be water rippling in a cup or a giant dinosaur footprint, or Jello jiggling on a spoon being held by a terrified child. This could also be seen as a sound cue for the T Rex. Jurassic Park also utilizes off screen sounds. Before any dinosaurs are ever seen, they are first heard off screen through stomps, roars, and other dinosaur-like sounds, building a sense of urgency and suspense. This brings me to sound editing. Of course there is all of the usual sound editing, but where the film really shines is in its dinosaur sounds. Because dinosaurs no longer roam the earth, they are not available for recording sessions. As such, dinosaur sounds such as grunts, screeches, growls, and roars had to be made through editing, manipulating, and mixing sounds together. Although no one knows what dinosaurs sounded like, the sounds of Jurassic Park have thrust audiences into the Jurassic Period for over twenty years now.

                Though often taken for granted, sound is a very important element to film that we did not always have. Though silent films were decent, the addition of sound was revolutionary. Modern film would not be the same without it and Jurassic Park is no exception. While well executed sound did not make the movie, it was certainly part of its success. As to be expected, I highly recommend this film.