''ParaNorman'' and ''The 39 Steps''

ParaNorman (2012 movie)

Directed by: Sam Fell, Chris Butler
Released: 2012
Country: United States

Cast: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Jodelle Micah Ferland, Tucker Albrizzi, Anna Kendrick, Casey Affleck, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Leslie Mann, Jeff Garlin, Elaine Stritch

Genres: Comedy horror, Adventure, Fantasy, Family

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review

Norman is a boy with an unusual quality: he can communicate with dead people, including his late grandmother. His parents don't appreciate this quality. He is bullied at school, being called a ''freak''.  He learns in school about a person who was accused of being a witch, three centuries ago. The ''witch'' gave a terrible curse to the seven people who had accused her, causing them to become living deads (zombies).

One day, Norman comes across his elderly and strange uncle Prerderghast, who tells him that since he can communicate with dead people, only he can save the town from the zombies by keeping the curse under control. Norman is puzzled, but after the sudden death of Prenderghast, his (Prenderghast's) ghost visits him, giving him instruction about how to keep the curse under control.

How can Norman control such a terrible curse, all by himself? There follows twists, perils, revelations, and humor.

ParaNorman was a fun watch. I liked the overwhelming humor, the comedic horror elements, the twist, and the truth. The voice actors do a great job. The visuals are also great. The scene I loved most was the final confrontation between the ''witch'' and Norman. It was superbly designed, and the scene following this, the scene at the forest, was also beautiful. Overall, it was a light and refreshing film.

3.5 out of 5

The 39 Steps (1935 movie)

Directed by: Alfred Hitchcock
Released: 1935
Country: United Kingdom

Genres: Mystery, Thriller

Main cast: Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll, Lucie Mannheim, Godfrey Tearle, Peggy Ashcroft, John Laurie, Helen Haye, Wylie Watson

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review

Before he moved to Hollywood in 1939, Alfred Hitchcock, one of my favorite directors of all time, made many films in Britain, almost none of which are particularly remembered as his great movies. However, two of his British films, The 39 Steps and The Lady Vanishes, are often considered among his great films. The 39 Steps is often considered to be one of the first movies where Hitchcock showed his common elements: the excellent suspense mixed with humor, the man struggling to prove his innocence, and one of the very memorable features of his films, the blonde heroine. This is the film where Hitchcock introduced a blonde heroine who is found in many of Hitchcock films.

In the midst of the chaos that suddenly start in a music hall,  a man named Richard Hannay meets a strange and mysterious woman who looks very afraid and requ

ests Hannay to take her to his home. Hannay, though puzzled at the woman's attitude, does so. There, the woman introduces herself  as Annabella Smith demands absolute security and solitude, and tells Hannay that she is working to unravel spies who are going to smuggle a secret very valuable to the country. But because of her work, the spies are wanting to kill her. Hannay doesn't know whether to believe her or not, but nevertheless shelters her. Late at night, when he is sound asleep, Annabella rushes to him, apparently having been stabbed by the spies, and soon dies. Hannay, confused what to do, decides to go to Scotland, where Annabella was supposed to meet somebody important. Meanwhile, word gets around that it was Hannay who killed Annabella. Now Hannay can prove his innocence in only a single way: he has to expose the spies who are planning to smuggle the secret out of the country.

Alfred Hitchcock's excellently directed film really fascinated me. I hadn't watched a Hitchcock movie for a while (the last I'd watched was Notorious, back in April), so it was great to return to his movies! I liked the depth of the situation and the characters. Madeleine Carrol, who played the first ever blonde heroine in Hitchcock films, gives a very remarkable performance. Overall, it is an enjoyable, suspenseful film and one of the earliest marks of the greatness that Hitchcock would be showing in future with such great films as Vertigo, Psycho, The Birds, Strangers on a Train, and Shadow of a Doubt.

4 out of 5

Frankenweenie (2012 movie)- Review

Directed by: Tim Burton
Released: 2012
Country: United States

Genres: Animation, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Drama, Comedy, Horror

Main cast: Charlie Tahan, Catherine O'Hara, Martin Landau, Martin Short, Atticus Shaffer, Winona Ryder, Robert Capron

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review

Tim Burton's ''Frankenweenie'' is a remake of Burton's 1984 stop-motion animated short of the same name. In 2012, he had directed another comedy horror film ''Dark Shadows'', which proved to be not as satisfying. ''Frankenweenie'' is a better movie than ''Dark Shadows''. It is a sad, funny, scary film that proves to be cute and touching.

Victor (Charlie Tahan) is a boy whose only friend is his pet dog, Sparky. When Sparky dies in an accident, Victor is heartbroken.

Victor's new science teacher (Martin Landau) shows the class the effect of electricity on a dead frog. Hopeful and excited, Victor attempts to bring his only friend back to life using this method, and his attempt is successful. He has to carefully hide Sparky from the eyes of other people.

There is a science fair to be held soon. Victor's nasty classmate Edgar sees Sparky, and knowing that it is to be a secret, starts blackmailing Victor. Victor finally shows Edgar how to do it, bringing a dead goldfish back to life (but the goldfish becomes invisible). Somehow, several other kids come to know about this, and they also try bringing dead animals back to life, for their science fair. But then everything goes wrong and starts the horrendous and horrific effects...

If the film is meant to be enjoyable and exciting and entertaining, then it is successful. If it is meant to be funny and scary at the same time, then it is successful as well. And it is very well-made as well. The black-and-white cinematography is excellent and a visual beauty (well, that's a common feature of all Tim Burton films), and the music sometimes resembles that of horror films. This is not essentially a horror film. Personally I am also confused about the genre. Is it supposed to be comedy? Sci-fi? Horror? Or is it a mixture of them all? In any way, it is a successful one indeed.

It is not a great movie, nor is it one of the best works of Tim Burton. But yes, I think it is the best work of Tim Burton since ''Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''. Both ''Alice in Wonderland'' and ''Dark Shadows'' were average entertainers, yet ''Frankenweenie'', though not a great movie, is an above-average entertainer. So, I guess, it's worth a watch.

3.5 out of 5

Fantastic Mr Fox (2009 movie)- Review

Directed by: Wes Anderson
Released: 2009
Country: United States

Genres: Animation, Adventure, Family, Comedy

Main cast: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Jason Scwhartzman, Eric Chase Anderson, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Robin Hurlston, Hugo Guinness, Willem Dafoe, Helen McCrory, Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Review

''Fantastic Mr. Fox'' is fantastic as a family film. Everybody, children and adults, will like this film. I liked this film, it's a delightful adventure comedy movie. It's nice, yes, but however, it's also nothing that special. It's good, but not excellent.

The movie was based on Roald Dahl's children's novel of the same name. I'm a big fan of Roald Dahl's works, but I haven't read that book yet. ''Fantastic Mr. Fox'' is the first animated film directed by Wes Anderson. Wes Anderson succeeds in making ''Fantastic Mr. Fox'' a charming and good movie.

This stop-motion animated is about a fox, Mr. Fox, and his family, his wife and his son Ash. The family move their house at the base of a tree. That is not a very safe place. Three scary farmers run facilities near the tree. But nevertheless, Mr. Fox doesn't pay importance to this. Instead, he makes plans to steal hens from the facilities of all three farmers, and with clever and intelligent techniques, he succeeds in his plan.

The three farmers get tired of these mischief caused by the fox and decide to kill him. As they make plans and do their works according to their plan, Mr. Fox also makes clever ways to escape, building escape tunnels. Very soon, many of their animal neighbors join them, as their homes have also been destroyed. What happens then? Well, then adventures follow!

There is a sub-plot about Fox's son Ash. He feels ignored as both his parents appreciate the talents of his cousin, who has come to their house as a guest because his father is very sick.

This animated film is delightful to watch. The characters are quite interesting and the movie is often funny. The animation is good, and the adventures that are happening in this movie are mixed with humor. The result? A wonderful comedy adventure film!

Mr. Fox is truly fantastic as the title suggests. He is voiced by George Clooney. Mr. Fox is very intelligent, very brave, and adventurous. At the beginning of the movie he had made a promise to his wife that he would never steal hens and look for a safer job. But however, his adventurous mind makes him ignore the promise and steal hens from the facilities of the mean farmers. However, his clever ideas and intelligence also helps them escape the mean farmers quite a lot of times. I liked this character.

Meryl Streep voices the wife of Mr Fox. She is a calm and cool-minded fox. Their son, Ash, is voiced by Jason Schwartzman. Eric Chase Anderson voice Kristofferson, the nephew of Fox. He is very intelligent and very good in sports, which makes Fox and his wife appreciate him. The three farmers, the antagonists of the film, are voiced by Michael Gambon, Robin Hurlstone, and Hugo Guinness.

The humor, and the adventure are charming to watch. The screenplay is excellent. Like other tales by Roald Dahl, this film is fascinating, enchanting, adventurous, and umm, weird as well.

But however- this film is enjoyable and interesting and charming, but however, it's not that special. It is a delightful entertainment, but not great.

Overall, watch this movie to enjoy the humor and adventure. It's charming and very good. It is not very long (1 hour, 27 minutes), but within that time, it turns out to be impressive and charming. Wes Anderson's ''Fantastic Mr Fox'' may not be very great, but however, it's brilliantly made and great as a family movie.

3.5 out of 5

''Corpse Bride'' (2005 movie)- Review

Directed by: Tim Burton, Mike Johnson
Released: 2005
Country: United Kingdom, United States

Genres: Animation, Fantasy, Musical, Romantic

Main cast: Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Watson, Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant, Christopher Lee

Rating: 4 out of 5

Review

Directed by Tim Burton and Mike Johnson, ''Corpse Bride'' tells a sweet love story. Corpse Bride is a stop-motion animated film. It tells a love story, and deals with a somewhat love triangle, but you start to like and feel sympathy for all three protagonists.

''Corpse Bride'' is set during the Victorian era. Victor Van Dort is a soft-spoken son of nouveau rich parents. Victoria Everglot is the gentle, soft-spoken daughter of bankrupt aristocrats. Victoria's cunning and cold parents want her to marry Victor so that they can restore their wealth.

The nervous Victor and Victoria, upon meeting each other, immediately fall in love with each other. Victor accidently ruins the wedding reharsal and then, going to a forest, practises his wedding vows, and places the ring on a tree root.

But the root is in fact the finger of a dead woman, Emily. Emily believes that Victor has married her. Victor finds himself at the Land of the Dead, with all kinds of spirits around himself. And then? He hears Emily's sad story of how she had died. But Victor wants to return to his place... Meanwhile, Victor's parents, Victoria's parents, and Victoria are waiting for Victor. Where has he gone, they wonder.

We can see that Emily has truly fallen in love with Victor. This is indeed sweet. When she was alive, Emily had loved a person. She decided to elope with him. But on the night of their elopement, the lover killed her, running away with her money and jewels. She waited under the tree until a man sets her free. She believes that Victor truly loves her, setting herself free.

But what makes us feel so amazed is that all three of the protagonists are equally sweet and likeable. Victor, Victoria, and Emily- they all seem wonderful. We start feeling sympathy for all three of them. And the ending was truly heartwarming and touching. This film is very cute.

The film is not very long in length (only 77 minutes). But within these 77 minutes, the film amuses us, amazes us, touches us.

We hear the voices of Johnny Depp (as Victor), Helena Bonham Carter (as Emily), Emily Watson (as Victoria), and many others, including Tracey Ullman, Paul Whitehouse, Joanna Lumley, Albert Finney, Richard E. Grant, Christopher Lee, Michael Gough, Deep Roy, Jane Horrocks, and Danny Elfman, who voice supporting characters.

The music and the songs are very good!

Shortly, Tim Burton's ''Corpse Bride'' is a love story that is so sweet and so touching that it brings a smile in our face! Such a nice movie!


4 out of 5

Megamind (2010 movie)

Directed by: Tom McGrath
Released: 2010
Country: United States

Cast: Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross

Genres: Action comedy

Rating: 3 out of 5

Review

I hadn't watched an animated film for a while, so I decided to watch Megamind. I don't usually like action films that much, but Megamind is a very different action movie: filled with humorous elements, and has a different story.

It is about supervillain Megamind, always ignored. When he defeats the superhero Metro Man, he falls disappointed as there is nothing to do. Then he creates a superhero, Titan, who then turns out evil. Only Megamind can save the people now from the hands of Titan...

As I mentioned, the story was quite interesting, and I found it rather sweet and felt pity for Megamind from the beginning of the movie. Poor boy, always being ignored by classmates and teachers! When he turned evil, I felt really angry at him, but when he gloriously defeated the evil villain Titan, I felt so happy!

I am not a fan of action movies, or superhero films. But Megamind is actually completely different! There is much use of action, yes, but the actions are not excessive or lengthy. They are presented, often, with humor.In fact, I think that Megamind is more a comedy than an action. Some scenes are extremely funny. Some scenes are deeply moving. 

Overall, though a superhero film, Megamind has a good story and presented in a quite remarkable way with humorous elements. A very good family movie, enjoyable,  and one of the action movies which I've found truly engrossing and enjoyable.

3 out of 5.

Brother Bear (2003 movie)

Directed by: Aaron Blaise, Robert Walker
Released: 2003
Country: United States
 
Plot synopsis

When Kenai kills a bear, he is transformed into a bear. In order to be transformed back into his human body, he is told to go to the Northern Lights, the place where the ''lights touch the earth''. On the way, he meets a talkative younger bear, Koda, who has to find his way home. After knowing that Koda's house is next to the place where the lights touch the earth, Kenai takes Koda with him, and together they travel...

Cast
  Joaquin Phoenix as Kenai (voice)
Jeremy Suarez as Koda (voice)
Jason Raize as Denahi (voice)
D. B. Sweeney as Sitka (voice)
Joan Copeland as Tanana (voice)

Achievements

The film earned an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, among other awards and nominations.

My Opinion

A perfectly wonderful film! Quite a touching movie. It is truly enjoyable, nice, and interesting. Some parts of the story are quite emotional, but others are completely enjoyable! 

4 out of 5
 

Up (2009 movie)

Directed by: Pete Docter, Bob Petersen
Released: 2009
Country: United States
 
Plot synopsis
 
Carl Fredericksen and his wife Ellie's wish had been to see the Paradise Falls. After the death of his wife, Carl, now in his seventies, is alone and feels lonely. When, after some problems, he is ordered to leave his home and is to be taken to a retirement home, he uses over a thousand balloons to turns his house into a makeshift airship, and it lifts the house's foundation. The house starts flying, and Carl, to fulfill his late wife's wish, is traveling towards Paradise Falls, and discovers that a young boy, Russell, becomes an accidental passenger. Russell, aged 8, has been trying to earn an ''Assisting the Elderly badge''. On their way to the Paradise Falls, Carl and Russell encounter a beautiful but rare flightless bird, talking dogs, and an evil old man who was Carl's childhood hero.
 
Cast
 
Edward Asner as Carl Fredricksen (voice)
Jordan Nagai as Russell (voice)
Christopher Plummer as Charles Muntz (voice)
Bob Peterson as Dug/ Alpha (voice)
 
Achievements
 
Up won 2 Oscars, including Best Animated Feature. It was also nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It won many other awards and received many nominations, including several Annie Awards, BAFTA, and Golden Globe Awards.
 
My opinion
 
A wonderful animated film! I loved it! It is a quite interesting and enjoyable film, and among my most favorite animated films. 

3.5 out of 5.

Grave of the Fireflies (1988 movie)

Directed by: Isao Takahata
Country: Japan
Original title: Hotaru no Haka
Released: 1988
 
Plot synopsis

Seita is a teenager and his sister, Setsuko, is about five years old. In the last months of the World War II, during a bombing, their house is destroyed and their mother dies; however, they survive. Though they are taken in by a distant aunt, they very soon leave the aunt's house because she is becoming increasingly hostile and mean towards them (for example, she persuaded Seita to sell his mother's food for rice). They take shelter in an abandoned bomb shelter. Now they have to fight against starvation, against diseases. But will they be able to survive?


Cast

Tsutomu Tatsumi as Seita (voice)
Ayano Shiraishi as Setsuko (voice)
Yoshiko Shinohara as Mother (voice)
Akemi Yamaguchi as Aunt (voice)


My opinion

This is the saddest animated movie I have ever seen. Grave of the Fireflies is a film that deeply touched me. Other animated movies, like Bambi, also brought tears to my eyes, so did Brother Bear (though it was not as sad), but Grave of the Fireflies completely touched me; it has a very touching theme and a touching story.  It is a very nice film. This film cannot actually be described in short, as it is such a very nice film! I loved this film. There are a very few animated films which are probably as sad as Grave of the Fireflies.

5 out of 5.

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