SNAPSHOT Through hand-built sets, custom-painted action figures and over 90 hours of painstaking animation, “Indomation” is a whimsical tribute to the filmmakers and artists who brought us the Jurassic franchise…The first stories I ever told were as a kid in the backyard with my Jurassic Park toys. Like so many Continue Reading
Movies
Destined to be a better man: The inescapable premise of Groundhog Day (video essay)
SNAPSHOT The premise of Groundhog Day is expertly constructed to drive natural, organic character change. In this video, we examine how Phil is designed to be a character that seems like he could never change, dissect how the premise of the story traps him in a world that will constantly Continue Reading
Mary Poppins quits! Funny or Die and Kristen Bell have fun with P. L. Travers iconic character
It won’t be immediately obvious from Disney’s 1964 classic Mary Poppins, although Julie Andrews is no pushover in the role, but P. L. Travers much-loved creation is quite the no-nonsense nanny. Caring and dedicated to the welfare of her charges she may be, but she also not inclined to suffer Continue Reading
Up and down: Pixar releases the storyboard for the impossibly romantic classic film’s opening sequence
It is, without any doubt whatsoever, one of the most heartbreakingly-beautiful, touchingly-romantic sequences in cinema, animated or otherwise. The opening 10 minutes of Up, Pixar’s tale of love, hope, dreams and second chances, where we see Carl and Ellie plan for the best but end up caught up, like all Continue Reading
The short and the short of it: Hedgehog’s Home
SNAPSHOT Hedgehog’s Home is an animated Film by based on the classic story by Branko Copic, a writer from former Yugoslavia, It’s a warm and universal tale that reminds us there truly is no place like home.(synopsis via Laughing Squid) I have to say it’s not the first thing I Continue Reading
Movie review: If Beale Street Could Talk
The idea that a particular geographic place can carry great cultural importance or emotional weight for a specific group of people would make sense for most of us. After all, we all find ourselves drawn, singularly or as a group, to places that speak to us or shape us in Continue Reading
Forbidden snacks: How popcorn went from forbidden to the darling of cinema bottomlines
SNAPSHOT As popcorn’s wealth circulated, theaters realized they needed to sell concessions without the street vendors as the middleman. The theaters are selling popcorn, candy, and soda. Things are going great until World War II came around and the United States entered a sugar shortage. Sugar exporters were cut off Continue Reading
Mass of movie trailers: Aladdin, Juanita, Tolkien, The Hustle, Yesterday
INTRO ALADDIN SNAPSHOT The Aladdin cast includes: Two-time Oscar® nominee Will Smith (Ali, Men in Black) as the Genie who has the power to grant three wishes to whoever possesses his magic lamp; Mena Massoud (Amazon’s Jack Ryan) as Aladdin, the hapless but lovable street rat who is smitten with Continue Reading
Ralph Breaks the Internet: Behind-the-scenes look at the creation of virus Double Dan
How do you make a truly unlikeable antagonist somewhat likeable while still keeping an air of menace to them? Most particularly, how do you do this when you’re making a reasonably-cute Disney animated feature – really, is there any other kind? – which is meant to represent the fun as Continue Reading
Movie review: Giant Little Ones
Life, as you’ve likely noticed by now, is not a straightforward undertaking. While many people of a religious or even secular persuasion may choose to argue otherwise, clinging to their black-and-white dogma like its is truth incarnate, the reality is what we think will happen or who we think we’ll Continue Reading