Tag Archives: animation

Reviews

Ratatouille (2007)

Ratatouille (2007)We saw Ratatouille (2007, IMDB listing) last week, and it was so highly watchable that Ligia and I were tempted to go see it again right away. But you didn’t need me to tell you that — everyone and their mother is raving about this movie.

What can I say that hasn’t already been said? Brad Bird, the director/writer, along with Pixar and Disney, really hit the sweet spot with Ratatouille. It appeals to everyone who watches it. While children will love it for the characters and the action, adults will love it for the plotline and the dialog. Let’s not forget the little touches, the refinements in animation that endear the movie to those of us who notice them. Take for example the little curls in movement at the end of an action, the natural fluidity of characters and objects, the camera-like effects such as aperture and movement blur, the beautiful, glossy look of textures — oh, I could just advance the movie frame by frame and go on and on…

We know the movie ends well — it’s a Disney movie, after all — so we know the little rat is going to make it somehow. Ah, but getting there is all the fun here. Just how he makes it makes the movie! What thrills, what delights, what explosions of animated flavor, oh it makes me smile when I think about them! 😀

You’ve got to see this movie. I plan on renting it from Netflix when it gets out and watching it over and over again, savoring it like a rare, aged piece of Brie. Talk about age — Peter O’Toole just gets better and better with time. His portrayal of Anton Ego was spot on, just right, couldn’t be improved. Can’t wait to see it again!

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Interesting animals

The olm is a cave salamander completely adapted to the dark environment where it lives. It has no eyes, and is completely without pigmentation. Early discoverers thought olms were baby dragons. These salamanders live in a group of caves in the Balkan mountains.

Do you know what animal has the strongest punch in the world? Look no further than the stomatopod, an ocean creature that punches its prey to knock it out.

Have you ever seen a giant snail? Given the various parasites all snails host, I’m not sure I’d play with them. This brave woman’s got a giant snail on her arm. Yuck.

This horse is amazing. It’s called Blue Hors Matine, and the rider is Andreas Helgstrand. I have never seen a horse move like that. Even the commentators are left speechless.

The bower bird is a truly amazing animal. It builds an elaborate nest, complete with assorted objects of various shapes and colors, in order to attract a mate.

If you didn’t think crows could use tools, think again:

Have a look at this fantastic battle between a herd of water buffalo and a pride of lions. If you watch till the end, you’ll see how the buffalo attack the pride in numbers in order to retrieve a captured calf. The poor thing not only has to resist the lions, but a crocodile that grabs onto it from behind as well. It’s a heroic battle, and that little calf is a true survivor.

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Animation videos

I’ve been holding onto these videos for a while, and finally got the chance to post them. The first is Dr. Seuss’ Green Eggs and Ham. I’d looked around for it for the longest time, and never could catch it when it was on TV. Found it on YouTube. 🙂

This is a video that involves animation, and it was a sort of mockumentary done with Dizzy Gillespie. Supposedly he’s hired to do the music for a new product, but the director isn’t happy with what he hears.

If you like Gumby, then you’ll like Mr. Morph. Here are two videos with him.

Do you like 80s cartoons? I know I do, and I miss them. It was so nice to sit down on Saturday and Sunday mornings and watch cartoons on all major TV channels! Now all we’ve got is mostly crud, on both the Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Gone are the good old cartoons…

This video mixes live footage with some pretty innovative and artistic animation.

This is a nice little clip of computer animation showing a worm crossing a road.

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Reviews

The music of Franz von Suppé

By coincidence, I heard two pieces written by Franz von Suppé within the last 24 hours, and realized he’s always been one of my favorite composers, although I never knew his name. If you’ve watched cartoons, then you’ve definitely heard his Light Cavalry Overture, and chances are you’ve also heard his Jolly Robbers Overture. They’re both popular pieces, both are fast-paced, and both will make you smile when you hear them.

Franz von Suppé had to have been an optimistic, contented man to have written such beautiful music. There was no mistake in his choice of career. After all, he turned down both law and medicine for music. His father wanted him to study law in Padua, and his mother wanted him to study medicine in Vienna. I heard this on WETA yesterday, as they introduced his Light Cavalry Overture.

If you aren’t a fan of his music already, try it out. You’ll likely become a fan. And if you’re in the area, tune in to WETA. They have some pretty cool music, and the little biographic capsules they offer about composers are pretty nice as well.

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Condensed knowledge for 2007-05-14

Today’s calorie-free serving:

  • Clive Thompson from the NYT has a detailed write-up of what’s involved if small bands want to get their name out there these days. The almost-requisite MySpace page is a given… But while the web makes it easy for them to get their names out there, keeping up with the fans becomes a full-time computer job — just what they were trying to avoid when they became musicians. And at some point, the relationship reaches a plateau. A single human being can only keep up with a limited number of fans before they are overwhelmed. But the fans don’t care, they each want personal interaction. Sounds like a very non-fun experience for the musician.
  • Mandy Sellars in England suffers from a very rare condition called Proteus Syndrome. She will likely lose her legs. The article talks about her desire to experience life, and daily struggles.
  • This is good reading for us IT geeks: Top 7 things system administrators forget to do.
  • The NYT has a great profile of Walt Mossberg. The article not only talks about his career, but also about where things are going in terms of journalism when you factor in this “new media” we keep hearing about…
  • Mental_floss talks about the world’s most wanted (and expensive) poo. It’s ambergris. Yuck.
  • Look At This has posted a full-length movie called “When the Wind Blows“. It’s about an elderly couple who build a bomb shelter. When nuclear war breaks out, they survive, but unfortunately succumb to the fallout radiation while waiting for the government to help them. Here’s a direct link to the video.
  • According to this article, Bill O’Reilly uses old propaganda techniques to bias his listeners toward those he doesn’t agree with. Interesting stuff.
  • A pair of falcons has made their nest in the building of the San Jose City Hall, and they’ve installed a falcon cam for us web visitors. Neat!
  • Some charlatan who claims he’s Jesus Christ incarnate is fooling plenty of people down in Orlando. Don’t these people bother to read the Bible?
  • A brave little terrier saved 5 New Zealand kids from being torn up by violent pit bulls. Unfortunately it ended up so injured they needed to put him to sleep, but the children weren’t hurt.
  • Apparently ceiling height can affect how people think and act. A taller ceiling can make you more creative and artistic. Very interesting stuff!
  • Weirdomatic has a post with examples of old, creepy ads. I don’t know, Max Factor’s beauty micrometer seems reasonable enough, given the need to look fairly perfect on screen. Have a look and decide for yourselves.
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