Annies this year...
I actually hauled off and voted this year for them. Remember last year, when I said there was nothing worthwhile? This time it was different. My votes for best feature animation basically flitted between three movies: Persepolis, Ratatouille and Surf's Up.
The technical nods primarily went to Surf's Up, although that's not meant as a slight to the consistently good Pixar team. Surf's Up was a breakthrough. They ANIMATED the waves. They didn't use a physics model or any sort of scientific stuff. They basically hand-animated the waves as if they were characters. Which they were. The artistic awards were split between Surf's Up and Ratatouille...both were visually sumptuous.
But my big thumbs up, for best picture, best direction and best writing, went to Persepolis. Ratatouille is going to have ownage this year for sure. But nothing got under my skin and haunted me quite like Persepolis. That's one incredibly good movie. It is not likely you will be able to see it in theatres since Sony has done what they have done every time they have a really neat and unique movie that doesn't pigeonhole well: they bury it. Here's a brief rundown of the Sony boneyard of boners:
Arguably even Surf's Up could not reach its full potential because it had to do battle with The Simpsons' Movie and Ratatouille in the theatres. And people had reached the point of Penguin Saturation with the love affair with the totally unworthy Happy Feet. Too bad...it was a superior movie in every way, with characters that could act, a story that was fun to watch, some legitimate technical triumphs, and a celebration of the surf culture I grew up with living in SoCal.
What the HELL were you thinking this year, Sony?
The technical nods primarily went to Surf's Up, although that's not meant as a slight to the consistently good Pixar team. Surf's Up was a breakthrough. They ANIMATED the waves. They didn't use a physics model or any sort of scientific stuff. They basically hand-animated the waves as if they were characters. Which they were. The artistic awards were split between Surf's Up and Ratatouille...both were visually sumptuous.
But my big thumbs up, for best picture, best direction and best writing, went to Persepolis. Ratatouille is going to have ownage this year for sure. But nothing got under my skin and haunted me quite like Persepolis. That's one incredibly good movie. It is not likely you will be able to see it in theatres since Sony has done what they have done every time they have a really neat and unique movie that doesn't pigeonhole well: they bury it. Here's a brief rundown of the Sony boneyard of boners:
- Ghost In The Shell
- The Triplets of Belleville
- Ghost In The Shell II: Innocence
- Tekkonkinkreet
- Persepolis
- Paprika
- Three Godfathers
- Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Arguably even Surf's Up could not reach its full potential because it had to do battle with The Simpsons' Movie and Ratatouille in the theatres. And people had reached the point of Penguin Saturation with the love affair with the totally unworthy Happy Feet. Too bad...it was a superior movie in every way, with characters that could act, a story that was fun to watch, some legitimate technical triumphs, and a celebration of the surf culture I grew up with living in SoCal.
What the HELL were you thinking this year, Sony?