Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with two very positive reviews of the two big animated flicks of this holiday season. Strangely enough I've got a tough choice to make myself regarding these two films. They're both screening on the same day at the exact same time. While I'm definitely jonesing for THE INCREDIBLES more than I am for POLAR EXPRESS, I know I can buy a ticket and see it upon release almost a week before POLAR EXPRESS comes out. I love Tom Hanks and I love Robert Zemeckis and the rotoscope animation in POLAR EXPRESS freaks me out in a good way, but Brad Bird and Pixar... Arggh!!! What do you folks think I should do? Which one would you go with? Let me know in the talkback below after reading these two.
Hi Harry,
I don’t know if you've gotten any reviews for this movie yet.. but I managed to get tickets to a screening today of the Polar Express here in Toronto, ON (at the Yorkville theatre). The security (for recording devices) was tight!
Polar Express is Back to the Future man (Robert Zemeckis') next movie and stars Tom Hanks (as everyone) and no one else really that I noticed. My take on it was the animation was incredible and there were some very heartwarming and creepy moments.
This is a little early to get into the Christmas sprit, but the two boys I took (my nephew and little brother) really enjoyed this. At the end of the movie most of the people (kids) watching were clapping including the 11 and 13 year olds sitting next to me. This movie features all of the kinds of shmaltz you might expect to get you in the Christmasy mood.
The standout is the animation, I don't know why you'd animate characters that apparently you've already shot on screen (I hear this is how it went). The thing is, the results are often incredible (the expression on the boy when he realizes he's lost the bell) and at times creepy (The conductor looked very odd, and an animated Stephen Tyler?). The action in the movie was incredible including a number of wild roller coaster type scenes and a scene on ice that seemed to have everyone holding their breath until things got back on track (hehehehe).
Al in all, I thought it was a great kids movie, a timely and heartwarming message and well acted (animated?). Kind of a cross between Shrek, Harry Potter and Die Hard....
If you use this, can you call me Big Bird?
Now to make my decision that much harder... A blown away look at THE INCREDIBLES!
Hey guys,
I just got back from a screening of Brad Bird's The Incredibles at NYU. First of all, I've got to say, Disney is serious about this piracy stuff. Everyone admitted had all bags searched were subject to a metal detector, and had to forfeit any "suspicious" looking cell phones. I've had easier times getting on a airplane.
As for the movie, what can I say... I don't think the hype machine has quite kicked into full gear just yet, so maybe my expectations weren't as high as they would have been had I seen the movie on November 5, but I was completely blown away. It was amazing. Not only did the comedic elements hit just the right notes, but the action scenes were phenominal. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this movie had some of the most impressive super heero action scenes I have ever seen in a movie, animated or ottherwise.
I don't know why, but for some reason I was not informed that Jason Lee was voicing the villain Syndrome, so that was a pleasant surprise for me. The voice acting is excellent all around, though Craig T. Nelson probably could have put a little more energy into it, but that's really nitpicking.
Helluva flick. Brad Bird is god.
