The Top 10 Animated Films Ever Made
Posted: July 25, 2008 Filed under: humor, movies | Tags: aladdin, animated, bambi, cars, cartoon, david spade, dc, disney, emporers new groove, film, finding nemo, flushed away, incredibles, marvel, monty python, nascar, nightmare before christmas, pixar, prince of egypt, robin williams, shrek, simpsons, snow white, steven spielberg, top 10, who framed roger rabbit 11 Comments »When you start naming “Top 10″ anythings, you’re bound to ruffle some feathers. Which I think is cool. I love this kind of conversation, so feel free to leave comments. Believe me, it was hard for me to not just list every Pixar film that’s come down the line because those guys can do no wrong (except Cars
And this is probably one of the only “Top Animated Films” lists that won’t include Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
So here we go. The best in animation, according to me….
10. Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
There is a moment in this film that always blows me away. Jack Skellington has gone off to become the new and improved Santa Claus and his #1 fan Sally is home lamenting because she knows something’s not right. While Sally is singing her ballad she steps through a gate and swings her head to the side. That moment right there is so smooth…so perfect…it’s almost hard for me not to believe it’s not a person in a big Sally costume. And there’s also the Oogie Boogie song.
9. Flushed Away
I’ll admit it. I haven’t liked anything else this guy has done. And yes, that includes the Wallace and Gromit series. So my expectations for this were pretty low. Not only did this movie blow me out of the water, it also made Kate Winslet more attractive. The fun action peppered with jabs at America (and the UK) cracked me up. This movie probably would have ranked higher on my list if the characters didn’t look so much like those Wallace and Gromit idiots.
8. The Prince of Egypt
Like The Nightmare Before Christmas, there’s one scene in this film that sticks in my head, but with a much larger emotional attachment. It comes at the climax of the film when Moses parts the Red Sea. That whole scene…the animation as the water rushes into the sky, the swelling music…and then the eerie silence…it gives me chills just writing about it and gets my heart beating like Ed Grimley in the presence of Pat Sajak.
7. The Emperor’s New Groove
How is this cartoon not more popular than it is? Hey, I’m not the biggest David Spade fan either, but when he’s on, he’s on. And in this film, he’s on. Emporer’s plays like a Disney film done by the kids of the filmmakers: sick and tired of the schmaltz and cheese, they’re gonna show us that cartoons can be sarcastic, too. A cartoon that knows it’s a cartoon and says What the heck. Let’s just have fun with this one.
6. The Simpsons Movie
Admit it. You were just as shocked into hysterical laughter as I was to see Bart’s junk.
5. Shrek
I can still remember thinking to myself Cartoons aren’t supposed to be this irreverently funny while I was in the theater holding my side trying to stop laughing so I could hear the next joke. Like The Emporer’s New Groove, Shrek takes the world of children’s stories and pokes it in the eye as it dumps ice cubes down its shirt.
4. The Incredibles
Are you kidding me? Superheroes more believable than their Marvel or DC cousins, an amazingly animated landscape, harrowing action (it’s hard to beat that jungle chase scene), all delicately painted around a couple struggling to keep their marriage together…wow. Well done, Pixar.
3. Aladdin
Just the fact that the animators were able to keep up with Robin Williams’ mile-a-minute freestyle is a feat in itself. Disney loves putting our heroes in a spot where you think There’s no way they can get out of this. But when I watched this, I remember saying OK really, there’s no way he’s getting out of this one. One of these good guys is gonna die.
2. Finding Nemo
Man, when things come together at Pixar, they really come together, don’t they? Everything from the casting down to the most intricate detail in a random air bubble was spot on. This is one of the few films you could pop into your player, press pause at any spot and the image frozen on your screen will be the very essence of art. You’d just look at it and say Wow. That’s beautiful. And hey, any film that is clever enough to incorporate the old Monty Python “Bruce” sketch gets extra credit.
1. Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Only Steven Spielberg would be able to get Warner Brothers and Disney to shake hands and agree to let their greatest cartoon characters appear side by side in the name of good moviemaking. Considering this was done before the computer animation technology we have today, it’s amazing how they got this film to work.
Yes, those are actual guns and beer bottles floating around in the air, not CG recreations, and the way they orchestrated the chaos in the Ink & Paint Club is beyond me. Roger Rabbit is a movie that loves movies and is a love letter to an era that may be gone but won’t soon be forgotten.
Yay for cartoons.
Still in Florida
Posted: February 4, 2008 Filed under: humor, romance | Tags: 28 days later, 28 weeks later, film, horror, movie, zombie 7 Comments »Last night Sarah and I were watching 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to the zombie-type horror flick 28 Days Later. We had to turn the movie off halfway through.
Not because it was too scary (and it was).
Not because it was too intense (and it was intense, too).
Not because it was bloody and gory and violent (check, check, and check).
No…we had to stop the movie halfway through because we couldn’t keep our hands off of each other.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you know the honeymoon hasn’t ended.
Shut My Mouth
Posted: January 21, 2008 Filed under: friends, humor, romance | Tags: cooking, correct, elijah wood, et, film, henry thomas, imdb, internet movie database, lord of the rings, marriage, measure, movie, pasta, quesadillas, ratatouille, recipe, relating, relationships, right, right way, steve martin, trust, wrong 5 Comments »Life is filled with all kinds of opportunities to learn and one thing I’m learning is to keep my mouth shut. Or, more specifically, when to keep my mouth shut.
As much as I think of myself as an easy-going and carefree guy, I almost hate to admit that I actually have a lot of routines and have become a creature of habit. You have to do something this way or that way. Well, you don’t have to do it a certain way but there are certainly better ways of doing something.
Or at least that’s the mindset I realize I have. Or had. Have. But I’m trying to shake it.
Marriage will definitely show you areas you need to work on and brings to light all of those rough edges that may need smoothed out a bit. Sarah, whether she wants to or not, has been teaching me that I don’t have all the answers or know all the “right” ways. I know. You’re probably as surprised as I am, because I pretty much thought I had everything figured out.
The biggest area I’ve been challenged on, oddly enough, is cooking. Sarah approaches the kitchen differently than I do and I can learn something from her outlook. Let’s say the subject is a pasta dish. I’ll go online or check one of my cookbooks and find out what I need. If it calls for a cup of sauce, I’ll measure out a cup. A half teaspoon of garlic warrants a half teaspoon. I follow the directions step-by-step and am usually rewarded with a tasty meal.
Sarah tackles it entirely differently. If Sarah wants to make that same pasta dish, she jumps in and just….starts to make it. Tackling it from a I-think-this-is-probably-what-goes-in point of view, mixed with a what-if-I-put-this-in approach straight from Ratatouille she goes to town. Measuring cups and measuring spoons are nowhere to be found.
I found myself warning Sarah about doing it “that way.” You can’t just throw things in there and hope it’s the right combination. That’s not how it’s done, shouldn’t be how it’s done, and is only a recipe for disaster.
And sometimes I was right. Sometimes there was too much garlic or things would burn. But being right never brought the satisfaction I would normally get from proving myself correct and I wasn’t sure why.
Some girl once told me that Elijah Wood (he played Frodo in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) played the little kid from E.T. I told her that no, that kid’s name is Henry Thomas. And she insisted it was Elijah Wood. We went back and forth and I finally had to email her a link to IMDb (Internet Movie Database) to prove I was right. And that felt good. I showed her.
But in the case of Sarah and her cooking, I never felt good or vindicated when it turned out I was correct in my warnings.
And I don’t think I should.
It shouldn’t be about who’s right or wrong (or more specifically if I’m right or wrong). I was thinking about this early this morning and realize now that every time I tell her that she’s doing it wrong, her method is incorrect, it sends the message I don’t trust you.
And the most ironic thing about it? I end up criticizing one of the things about her I love most: her zeal for life, the fact that she goes into it knowing she can do it – the fact that she can’t never enters her mind — doubt never settles in long enough to tell her otherwise. I could use a little bit of that myself.
Last night Sarah wanted to make quesadillas. I’ve never made them myself but have been in the kitchen when my uncle John made them. The point is I’ve never made them myself. And yet for some reason when Sarah said she was going to try to cook them in the oven I still felt the need to point out they are cooked on the stove top in a griddle.
And then I stopped.
I wasn’t helping. I wasn’t doing any good. If anything, I was taking the joy of cooking out of it. And even though my tone was friendly what I was saying was wrong. She’s showing love by cooking my dinner and all the thanks I had to offer was to let her know she wasn’t doing it the right way?
I was instantly angry with myself. Who was I to say what’s right and what isn’t? How long ago was it when I was trying things for the first time and they didn’t always turn out like the picture on the box? It wasn’t so long ago that I should have forgotten about it already.
I decided to shut my mouth and let Sarah do her thing. And she rocked it out. I don’t even know how she ended up making them and I didn’t ask. I ate an entire plateful and even had some of hers that she couldn’t finish. She did an amazing job and I was again upset that I would ever think to tell her she was wrong.
I’d like to blame the fact that I was sick all weekend for my lack of tact and thought, but why make excuses? To paraphrase Steve Martin, sometimes I’m just a big dumb guy.
Feeling Festive
Posted: January 12, 2008 Filed under: friends, humor, movies | Tags: failures of ed, festival, film, hiram ring, rumschpringe, short, very short film festival 3 Comments »Today I am submitting to my very first film festival ever. My buddy Hiram Ring gave me the heads up about a week ago and I thought I’d give it a shot. It’s the Rumschpringe:Winter 2008 Very Short Film Festival and my package is all ready to be sent out.
In case you’re curious, the film I am submitting is my comedic (hopefully) short film, The Failures of Ed. I’ll keep you posted if I hear anything back. Wish me luck!
“Sicko” sickos
Posted: July 5, 2007 Filed under: movies | Tags: documentary, europe, film, health care, michael moore, movies, sicko, transformers Leave a comment »I went to see the new Michael Moore documentary “Sicko” today. I’m not always a fan of Moore as a celebrity or personality, but I have to admit he knows how to put together a film, whether I agree with his point-of-view or not. In his latest outing he takes a stab at the state of America’s health care coverage. Don’t worry…it’s not nearly as boring and banal as my description makes it sound. In fact, it’s probably my favorite movie by Moore, besting even his “Roger & Me” debut. By the end of the film I found myself wondering the same thing I’ve been wondering for some time now:
1. Why DOESN’T America have free universal health care?
2. I now have yet another reason to go to Europe.
I was also very impressed with Lancaster today. At the 1:00 showing the theater was almost to full capacity and a large portion of the audience appeared to be teenagers. I have to admit I was sure they would cause a ruckus during the movie after learning they weren’t in the theater showing “Transformers” but I was pleasantly surprised. You couldn’t have asked for a better crowd.
On the way out I was walking behind an elderly couple and the woman commented on how she too was surprised at the large number of young people in the audience. Her (I assume) husband harrumphed in response, “Young people aren’t going to change anything. It’s the old people who will.”
An oddly pessimistic reaction from someone who, judging by his snail-like walking pace and trembling voice, only has about 4 months to start changing things before he drops dead.
Cast List
Posted: April 26, 2007 Filed under: friends, movies | Tags: failures of ed, film, movies, shorts, the coffee shop, the heist, the poker game Leave a comment »Without giving too much away, I’d like to announce a confirmed cast of characters who will be appearing in one of four upcoming short films written and directed by Yours Truly. This of course is not a final cast list and I’m not saying who is appearing in what. I will say that they have been confirmed to appear in one of the following shorts: “The Failures of Ed,” “The Heist,” “The Coffee Shop,” and/or “The Poker Game.”
I’ll keep you posted. I know I’ve been going on and on about these projects for some time with very little to show for it, so I’m hoping these random info tidbits will give you a bit of the fix you’re jonesin’ for.
Current projects cast roster (in alphabetical order)
David Beaman
Sarah Beaman
Alex Blowers
John Blowers
Lisa Blowers
Bob Boxell
Amy Hartman
Ben James
Mindy Lapp
Arni Placencia
Ed Placencia
Ray Placencia
Todd Sattison
Matt Stine
The Wedding Album
Posted: April 3, 2006 Filed under: humor, movies | Tags: august rush, central park, extras, film, fox, robin williams, set, wedding album Leave a comment »My first time on a film shoot in a while and it was nice to be back in the saddle again. Today I was on Wall Street shooting some scenes for a new television pilot (I believe for FOX) entitled The Wedding Album. If I am correct, its a romantic comedy about the ongoing adventures in love of a wedding planner.
We shot in a huge building (used to be a bank, I don’t know what they use it for now) that was all set up and decorated for a wedding party. Call time this morning was 7am. YIKES.
I got up extra early to ensure I would find my way there. They gave us the address to check in at but didn’t tell us that the actual address was a block and a half away on a different street. Good thing I left early.
The last few times Ive been on a shoot Ive played attendees of high-class occasions so I had to wear a suit and tie. It was nice today to be playing an electrician so I could wear the same crappy jeans and T-shirt Id wear on any other day.
It was an interesting psychological study to see people dressed in cool hip clothing playing floral designers gathering together in one clique and looking down on the people dressed as caterers or servers. The guy who was chosen to be the head Floral Attendant, with his gaudily bleached hair and Im-Jonathan-from-Bravos Blow Out attitude, believed he had been cast as the King of the World (or, more appropriately for him, the Queen) and began to prance about the set ordering people around. I enjoyed watching people roll their eyes at him and defying his power.
The first half of the morning was a little boring, as I didn’t do anything. Usually I dont mind doing nothing as its a movie set and nothing is usually what happens, but they had us waiting on set away from the holding area, which means away from my Soduko puzzle book Id brought along.
We broke for lunch and imagine my horror when they announced they werent providing lunch for us. That was a first. And, of course, the reason for my horror was I was carrying zero money. So during the lunch hour I did Soduko puzzles and secretly wondered why the lady in charge of the extras was in such a bad mood.
After lunch they put me in the background of a scene featuring a rigged table that crashed to the floor (with wedding cake on top of it). I don’t care if I am ruining the storyline or giving something away by revealing the cake doesn’t make it to the end of the show. Maybe next time they’ll think twice about not getting me a sandwich for lunch.
After that, they grabbed me out of the bunch to carry some flowers in a scene. According to the onlookers I got some good screen time in that scene so that was nice. After that they had me in a scene working on a speaker and in another scene working on a table.
All in all it was a good day. I was a little grumpy for a bit because I was hungry but I still enjoyed myself. I was on the set until 8:30PM and I didn’t mind a bit. A lot of people were ready and eager to leave, but since we get paid overtime I didnt see what the big rush was.
Needless to say I came home exhausted. I have a 3-day shoot coming up next week for the new Robin Williams movie, August Rush. I don’t know if hell be in any of the scenes were shooting but they are overnight shoots and take place in Central Park. I wonder if anyone will be there to walk me home.
The Truman Show
Posted: February 21, 2006 Filed under: humor, movies | Tags: alec guiness, blazing saddles, film, james coco, movies, murder by death, peter falk, peter sellers, phillp seymour hoffman, truman, truman caopte Leave a comment »I actually made it out to the movies yesterday afternoon. I went with Cohen to see Capote starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman (hey, look at that, the two people I’d like to see get the Oscar this year have very similar names: Hoffman & Huffman).
I really enjoyed it. I thought Hoffman did a great job and, although I wasn’t 100% sure what the film would be about going into it (I didn’t know if the film focused on Truman Capote’s entire life story or just a segment of it) I really enjoyed how the story unfolded.
Even though it was fairly serious material, the only real knowledge I had of Truman Capote beforehand was the fact that he was in the slapstick movie classic Murder By Death with Peter Sellers, Alec Guiness, Peter Falk, and James Coco. True, seeing that older movie helped me appreciate just what a dead-on job Hoffman did, but it also kept me giggling as I remembered Capote cavorting around as the character Lionel Twain in what was basically the movie Clue ten years before Clue actually came out.
Capote: Check it out if you can.
Murder By Death: Netflix it. Punny and cheesy, but it was supposed to be. In my opinion, a classic. Why this isn’t mentioned in the same breath as Blazing Saddles is beyond me.
Hollywood and New York
Posted: October 13, 2005 Filed under: humor, movies | Tags: film, garbage, hollywood, movies, new york city, trash Leave a comment »If there’s one thing that living in New York has revealed to me, it’s the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of how the city is portrayed in film.
If I’m watching something on TV that is set in New York and one of the characters is hanging out on the street or walking down a sidewalk, it is suddenly very obvious to me if they are the only one walking down that street. It’s such a small, minute detail but I am amazed at how startlingly obvious that seems to me now, because you’re never the only one. I was out last night walking around at 3am and I wasn’t alone, so don’t even get me started on the daytime.
The other thing that struck me is often times in movies when someone gets thrown out of a restaurant or an establishment, they often land on a huge pile of garbage bags that are conveniently lined along the sidewalk. Oddly enough, that is true. I always thought that was just a device Hollywood made up but lo and behold, I was mistaken.
So the next time you’re watching a movie set in New York pay attention. If the characters are outside and alone, then it’s wrong. If they’re thrown onto trash bags, then everything is fine.
The 48 Hour Film Project
Posted: July 11, 2005 Filed under: friends, movies | Tags: 48 hour film project, chicago, film, giordano, hexxd productions, landmark century centre cinema, movie, prop Leave a comment »I had a chance to hook up with a cool group of people involved in this year’s 48 Hour Film Project this weekend and had a blast, a blast I say! This is an annual nationwide (or actually worldwide) project and Chicago’s weekend was this weekend (to see when it’s coming to a city near you, check out the link above).
For those of you unfamiliar with the concept, here are the basics: You get a team of people together and all meet together on Friday night. At 6:55 pm you are assigned a genre of film you must make. Also, everyone is give a prop, character, and line of dialogue that must be somewhere in the film (these elements are all the same for every film, only the genre is different). Then at 7 the countdown begins and you have until Sunday at 7:30pm to write, film, edit, and turn in your 4-7 minute fully-produced film.
I saw an ad online for a group of people looking for others who’d like to help with their film and got in touch with Keith and the rest of the group from Hexxed Productions. I was there Friday to witness the drawing of the genre and the announcement of the elements and it was exciting. We figured there were about 20 different teams who signed up (one of them from Ft Wayne IN!).
The elements this year were as follows:
Character: J. Giordano, Detective
Prop: Measuring Tape
Line: “Take it back”
Also, since this year was the first year of the Project being in Chicago we also had to include somewhere in the film evidence that we shot in Chicago (anything from a landmark in the background to a Chicago phone book lying on a table). The genre category we drew was “Action/Adventure.”
We were off to Keith’s place where our small band gathered to work through the night (there were eight of us that comprised the entire cast and crew if I remember correctly). They had gotten together the night before to brainstorm possible ideas in every possible genre, so we had a good place to start from with our genre. We batted around ideas for a while and went with a story about a famous actress being chased by the paparazzi. After coming up with a basic plotline, we then had to write the script and storyboard the shots. Because our film included a character watching herself on TV, the first thing we had to do was film that show-within-a-show. We shot that and then finished writing the rest of the film.
By 6am Saturday morning we were ready to go. We shot all through the day and that evening we were off to edit, record ADR, and plan out any pick-up shots we still might need. I was even given the opportunity to direct a quick pick-up scene and was really pleased with what we got! I was there until about 1:30am until all that remained was the editing and we left Keith (and John) to do their magic.
It’s such a weird feeling to be there during the whole shooting process and yet not know what the final puzzle will look like when all the pieces are together. You have an idea, but not much more without seeing it all cut together with music, etc.
I talked to Keith yesterday after he turned in our film and he sounded very excited about it. He seems to be pleased with the final product and I am stoked to see it. Some of them gathered ysterday to watch it, but I want to wait and see it for the first time on the big screen, which is also a little nerve-wracking (please, God, don’t let me suck!).
For those of you in the Chicago area, there will be two screenings of the film this week on the silver screen. They split all of the entries into two groups; we are in Group A. The screenings are taking place at Landmark Centruy Centre Cinema, 282 N Clark St. Group A films are being shown at 7:00 on Tuesday night and 9:15 on Wednesday night (Group B is the opposite, at 9:15 and then at 7). Tickets are 8 bucks apiece (more info here), so come on out if you can!
By the end of the weekend, yes, I was worn out and tired but I was also inspired to do more. I came home and watched a bunch of things I had produced in the past and wished I had something new to edit.
Ya know, if you do something non-stop and it wears you out and by the end of the weekend you want to do more, then that’s a pretty good sign you’re doing what you love to do.
