Meli and the in-laws and an army pilot and I went and saw The Chronicles of Narnia today. Observations:
I never read the books as a child, since I was always more interested in Garfield and pornography. And so, I saw the movie from the perspective of someone with absolutely no familiarity with the story. That said, I really liked the movie.
The actress who plays Lucy, the youngest (and most precocious!) of the archetypal children, is pretty beyond the usual "I'm cute because I'm a small child" attractiveness. However, there's one point early in the film where she gasps in wonder at a tree or something and for the first time reveals her English teeth in all their horrid glory, at which point I let out an audible groan.
The white witch looks just like James Spader. She had a real vagina dentata thing going.
I'm really tired of movies where the centerpiece is a bloated CGI battle sequence, but I have to say that the one in this film is pretty good. The sword-fight between Peter and the white witch was rad, despite my brother-in-law's comment that "If they want me to be interested in a battle, I need something more than a ten-year-old fighting a woman."
I'll have to see it a few more times, but I'm pretty sure the lion was supposed to be Jesus.
At the end of the movie when the kids are all grown up, Peter looks like the creepy Burger King king.
Apparently you don't get to be a Knight of Narnia until you kill a fool.
Is anyone ever going to make another animated feature that isn't all CGI? And is Over the Hedge supposed to be based on the comic strip?
yep, i think i agree with pretty much all of that.
and i liked the movie a lot too.
Well, there is apparently still a market for clay and stop motion animation, though that will remain rare.
Aside from that, no American studio will make another theatrical animated feature that isn't all CGI until a CGI animated feature finally flops. Fortunately Hoodwinked is leading the charge for an CG animated movie to fail, but who knows--people may see it anyway.
I have high hopes but strong reservations about Pixar's Cars. Aside from that, Over the Hedge looks like the strongest of the upcoming CG features. It at least has distinctive characters, a somewhat clever premise, appealing visuals, and a generally likable quality. That is surprisingly rare in CG cartoons these days.
Hey, that title is a Family Guy reference! I get it!
I look forward to when expensive CGI is cheap enough that expensive CGI will have to also be, like, clever or good to be considered expensive.
Also, my the guy who used to rent my friend/landlord's downstairs room *is* the creepy Burger King king guy.