The Corner - Week 4 - Halloween Special - Sean Reviews The Nightmare Before Christmas

An Animated Film Review: The Nightmare Before Christmas

By Sean Taylor

Muahahahahaha... good morning, day and evening readers. Kicking off my third animated film review, I bring an analysis of a film which is (I feel) appropriate considering the time of year; Halloween. This means that, in celebration of the holiday, I will be ranting to you more and taking up more of your time than usual. Yay! I hear you exclaim.

Yes, this is the night when everyone dresses up in mostly silly costumes that cost less than a pound/dollar/rouble and knock on doors, begging for moneys and sweeties. As I write this on the 31st October 2011 there are Halloweeners at my door even now, and I have decided to ignore them.

But why, I hear you cry in dismay. I'll tell you why. Although I do like Halloween very much, I don't like it enough to give strangers things for free, especially in a time of recession. Also when I was younger, what passed for a cape was actually a bin-bag – and the Halloween masks were always from last year, meaning they were never comfortable, I suffocated and they often smelled of the attic. Last year I dressed up as the Grim Reaper, and guess what? I didn't dress up the same this year. I actually intended to go over to the old folks' home and whisper in a Granny's ear “Your time has come,” but I concluded it was almost too harsh... almost. -evil smile-

Unfortunately this is also the time where the suited general-store loonies start waving the Christmas flags, and suddenly -whoa- everything is fake snow, Santa Clauses and pine trees. I believe -like so many others- that shops bring out Christmas decorations WAY too early. Perhaps this was the reason for the film I am reviewing tonight. Maybe it is now time to even get on topic. So turn off the lights, close the curtains and light a coal fire – it's time to review, Halloween style.

Tonight it is everyone's favourite Halloween/Christmas crossover, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Steering away from my usual spiel of Japanese anime, THIS epic by Tim Burton really captures the spirit of Halloween and Christmas in one fantastic movie.

As anyone will know who follows Tim Burton's work, he always likes to put a bizarre, gothic twist in his films. I have watched his rendition of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and I enjoyed it thoroughly. There could have been less singing in it though. Huh. That's maybe because it was a musical. Anyway...

The Nightmare Before Christmas goes back to when Halloween was real; that there really were monsters under your bed and witches roamed the sky on a moonlit night. The film sets this scene beautifully with all of Halloween's most prominent characters making an appearance. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a musical, and is a good one at that.

The film follows Jack Skellington, the 'Pumpkin King' of Halloween Town (Danny Elfman/Chris Sarandon) who leads a parade every year on Halloween night. But this year, Jack is tired of it, and seeks something new and exciting. He finds this in an old tree with a tree-shaped door on it, which leads him and his faithful ghost-dog Zero into a completely new world – Christmas Town. After being inspired by the sights and sounds he finds there, he attempts to recreate Christmas in Halloween Town by becoming his very own 'Sandy Claws'.

However trying to stop him is Sally (Catherine O'Hara) which, after receiving a dreadful portent of Jack's failure, believes she is doing it for Jack's own good. While all this is going on Santa is kidnapped, and the toys, the citizens of Halloween Town aren't... well, they're just not Christmassy.

My favourite character by far is Jack Skellington. He just enters the plot in such style! He is constructed in a complex and wonderful way; being torn between Halloween and a Christmas vision only he can see. Also the relationship between Doctor Finklestein (William Hickey) and Sally is fraught with emotional difficulties; if the good Doctor made Sally, does that REALLY make him her father? Sally is discontent with this, and longs to be with Jack. Jack Skellington's evil laugh is amazing. But not as good as mine. Hehehe...

Yes, ok, Jack Skellington was amazingly put together as a character (and literally) but I couldn't help thinking that Death should have been made more of a character. He seems so prominent in Halloween custom. Also the joy of Christmas simply doesn't fit with Halloween, which doesn't sit right with me but I still believe Burton pulled this off with aplomb.

The little musical number with which the film opens, 'This Is Halloween' introduces most of the characters which I thought was brilliant and the storyboard was seamless. Also, I write with great satisfaction that Marilyn Manson covered the song to celebrate the movie's 13th anniversary from its humble beginnings in 1993 (I couldn't believe it was 18 years old!). It is much heavier and less jaunty than the original, but I prefer it. This being a musical, the other songs were great, too but it was really this one which caught my eye (or ear).

To cut the head off the body of this review, The Nightmare Before Christmas was truly a wonder to behold. Stop-start motion films usually creep me out big-style (I don't know why) but this really hit the spot.

Haaaappppy Halllooowweeeennnn...

The Corner - Week 3 - Sean Reviews Resident Evil: Degeneration

An Animated Film Review: Resident Evil: Degeneration

By Sean Taylor

Good morning, day and evening readers. I'd like to start this review by apologising profusely for it being so late. Higher education's workload has kind of thrown me!

Anyway, I'm sure you're not reading this for me to explain myself. On to the movie!

Like last time's review, this film is also based on a series of video games. And yes, they are also Japanese. And no, you are not mistaken, there is a pattern emerging here; which I hope to break with next week's review due to the call for diversity on this blog. Pfft, I'm rambling again.

Yes, the film in the spotlight is Resident Evil: Degeneration which I have been meaning to watch for a long time since it's release in 2008. If any of you know about the Resident Evil series of games, you will know that it focuses around flesh-eating zombies and terrible mutations caused by the 'T-Virus' and 'G-Virus'. Therefore I have steered away from William's usual happy land of Disney and Pixar, and moved into the region of BLOOD and GORE. Which, as Halloween is just around the corner, is not completely irrelevant.

Having enjoyed the games, I had to see the film. So I did. Resident Evil: Degeneration centres around the protagonists of Resident Evil: 2 (the first one I played) – Leon Scott Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Set 7 years after the events of the second game and the horrific 'Raccoon City' incident which resulted in a nuclear strike, an unknown terrorist force is seeking to reveal the truth about Raccoon City.

The first attack is made at the Harvardville Terminal, which, after night falls and she is trapped, Leon and Claire meet again. With Claire is Rani, a little girl whom Claire has connections with, and Senator Ron Davis, a corrupt politician who knows more than he lets on...

After being saving by Leon, Greg Glenn and Angela Miller (who are members of a Special Response Team), Claire escapes with her life, at the cost of one of their team. Claire then goes on to meet Frederic Downing, head of WilPharma Corporation. After which things really start to get going.

The characters are built upon wonderfully throughout the film. Claire and Leon's relationship appears to strengthen, even managing to encounter some deja vu along the way (I spotted one instance, see if you can spot it). However the story progresses more when Leon and Angela are together, and become the main protagonists. The voice acting was also very good, with old favourites such as Paul Mercier returning to fulfil his role. The slow-mo effects, particularly the bullet time sequences are exhilarating and really give the plot a sense of style.

Despite this, I believe the structure of characters was a bit... off. Claire should have been a main character next to Leon instead of becoming a secondary protagonist. There is also one other major flaw. I remember when playing Resident Evil: 2 that I was absolutely terrified to go around that corner or enter that room. There was only one reason for this; sound. The music and background noise in the old games completely set the scene and, well if it can scare me, it's definitely good. I didn't hear that in the movie though, which disappointed me. I think this movie has went the same way as the video games – from tense horror to full-blown action, which I do not agree with.

To round up, it was an excellent film and well worth watching, but it just didn't seem right. It focused too much on action sequences and explosions. And there are a lot of explosions.

The Corner - Week 1 - Sean Reviews Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

An Animated Film Review: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children

By Sean Taylor

Good morning, day and evening readers. Now to begin my first animated film review, I would like to present one word to you; anime.

Anime. What does the word mean? What does it embody? What is it associated with?

Now, I know what you're thinking. Anime refers to the person sitting by themselves in the corner with a rather erratic hairstyle and wearing rather dark clothes doing some rather vigorous sketching. Anime refers to that type of cartoon many find rather strange, as it appears to be populated by girls with rather high voices and boys with rather clumpy, spiky hair. Often in rather unnatural colours (which everyone seems to be fine with). Oh, and everyone's eyes are rather big.

Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against anime or the consumers of anime (as I am one myself). Nor do I find problems with the style of anime; high-octane, unrealistic fighting scenes are actually a favourite of mine.

The word 'anime' is of Japanese origin, referring to a style of animation (cartoon, if you like) which is also of Japanese origin. Most anime is derived from a 'manga', a form of comic book usually read from right to left in the traditional style. The images are drawn using the classic calligraphy 'wedge-pens' to give it that stylised look some of you may be familiar with.

I do not watch a wide range nor a vast amount of anime (I am no 'otaku'... look it up). These days I seldom have time. However, a few years ago I was introduced to a CGI movie based on a series of much-loved computer games that I enjoyed immensely. This movie stood out because, while it was animated using 3-D computer rendering, it had all the virtues of an anime.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children follows the life of an ex-mercenary named Cloud who, alongside his childhood friend Tifa, looks after two kids. Cloud, as is noted in most of his appearances through the media, is rather forlorn. I would imagine, after being a mercenary, the dullness of a delivery job seems boring and off-piste. After the short prologue, we are immediately thrust into the action as Cloud is attacked by a mysterious trio. Soon after, he learns of a disease dubbed 'Geostigma' infecting the citizens of Edge. The story then unfolds beautifully from the outset.

Throughout the story we meet a series of loveable, animated (no pun intended) and (to those who have played the games) familiar characters, each with their own part to play. The quality of the animation is breathtaking: the Japanese have long had a lead in animation in every aspect of media. The battle scenes are also wonderfully intense and thought out, especially at the film's climax when Cloud has to deal with the threat of his old enemy, Sephiroth.

The score of the movie (and the games in fact) is just an awe-inspiring epic; Nobuo Uematsu did a sterling job, and I, being a musician myself, bow to Uematsu—sensei's skill (I am still trying to learn 'One-Winged Angel' for piano!). Also, those of you who are fans of My Chemical Romance are in for a treat if you get the Japanese blu-ray edition; Gerard Way combines forces with Kyosuke Himuro to provide a scintillatingly star performance of their own devising, 'Safe and Sound'!

However, I feel that the original film could have benefited from the deleted scenes added in the director's cut, and that the director's cut itself should have been available on DVD. And Loz seemed too, oh I don't know... built and reckless compared to the other two villains; he just doesn't fit in, despite his comic relief (I'm not crying!).

To conclude then; an epic film, but the cuts and the characters needed (just a little) reviewing. Despite that, I believe we have found a true gem in the rough of animation. I believe we have found our first 'CGanime'.

Luke's Corner Update - The Corner

Due to unresolved scheduling conflicts, Luke is unable to fully commit to Luke's Corner - many of you will have noticed the erratic posting of reviews - and his responsibilities for the blog will therefore be scaled back. Luke will still be posting reviews, but to a time-frame much more suited to his needs.

But this isn't to say that Luke's Corner will be no more, instead we now have a team of reviewers who will take it in turns to review a much wider variety of animated films - bringing more diversity to the blog. Luke's Corner will now be know as simply The Corner and we are very happy to welcome two new reviewers aboard to contribute their own reviews: Heather Medley and Sean Taylor.

Heather and Sean, who have now joined the team, will, like Luke, write reviews of as many animated films, from as diverse a background, as possible and will bring a much more diverse feel to the blog - in case you occasionally tire of my reviews. Heather and Sean, who are both very competent and diligent will, along with the originator of the corner, Luke, try and bring you a review every week or so.

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Now, Luke asked me to post the below message, to clarify his role on the site:

Hello followers of A113Animation. There is currently some dispute over the corner and from now on I am allowing a few other people to post blogs in it. Unfortunately it will no longer be called Luke's Corner, but I am still here and I'm ready. I hope everyone around the world had a great summer and there will be many more blogs to come, a lot more than I have produced in the past few months.

Thank you for reading this little note.

Luke

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So, keep your eyes out, Luke will bring you a review of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs this weekend, and the next few weekends after that will be reviews from Heather and Sean.