Aidan and I saw Rango last week (also at a discount theater, incidentally. Except ours cost $5. Because we are in Silicon Valley.)
...also known as "Tropes Are Not Bad: The Movie." Seriously.
This is a great description. I'm going to quote you on that.
My favorite part was in the chase scene with the army of moles riding bats when the camera zooms in on the mole with the banjo and he starts playing "The Ride of the Valkyries". On the banjo!
Also, the bats exploded into fireballs when they crashed or were shot. 'Cause that's what vehicles DO in Hollywood.
The exploding bats were awesome. And yeah, the whole Ride of the Valkyries into the waltz whose name I forget sequence was beautiful.
Yay for discount theaters! I've definitely seen more movies up at the dollar theater than at the conventional theater in the last year. (we saw Battle LA at the conventional theater. That was a mistake. That was the most boring movie ever.)
...I counted on tvtropes. The trope page for this movie has 148 entries. Yeah.
I ended up going and seeing Rango with my family over spring break. I came out of it wondering if I missed a lot because I'd never studied existentialism. Strange fish and monologs about the nature of self...yeah.
At points I felt as if the movie was a bit too realistic; the bird with a arrow through his head kindof creeped me out. But then the snake showed up and I forgave it everything. Giant, evil snake who was completely awesome. *happy sigh*
But it definitely wasn't a kids movie, and I think that's the biggest difference from the Dreamworks and Disney CG movies of the year. Most Pixar movies are incredibly good, but still something you could take your kid. The good dreamworks is the same way, with Megamind being just fun, while How to Train your Dragon was nearly pixar-level good. The bad dreamworks are still kid movies - just with added fart jokes and some 'adult' references.
Rango went in a completely different direction. It wasn't a kids movie, except in the Grim Fairy tale gruesome kind of way. There wasn't much 'fun'
( ... )
Didja notice it had the same villain as Toy Story 3?
I agree with everything you've said here. On the existentialism note, now that you mention it I got quite a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead vibe off of it. All the deal with being an actor.
I'd forgotten that "How to train your dragon" was Dreamworks. I forgive them for all their bad bad stuff now.
I like that it was not for kids, but not in the way most things are Not For Kids. Like, they did it without any excessive gore, sex, profanity, cynicism, etc etc etc. I think I might be more impressed by that than anything else. Of course, I would show this movie to my kids. But I'd also read Grimm's to my kids so. But yeah.
Yeah, the dream sequence scene with the giant swimming fish may be my favorite scene in the movie. It scared the crap out of me. In a good way!
No, I didn't. But it shares a villain with Toy Story and Buffy...interesting.
I still haven't read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, but I really need to.
They came out with a bunch of really good movies this year. One review suggested that they've finally started just having fun with their movies, instead of doing send-ups of other studios.
It was a classic western; kids love westerns. There are cowboys and Indians and a really, really cool bad guy. I don't think I'd show it to a four-year-old, but I can see bringing the 11 year-old I babysit to see it. (Though he is a really big fan of violent video games, so maybe that's a bad example.)
Rosencrantz & Guildenster are Dead is phenomenally good. You should definitely read it. In fact, when you get back in town, you, Rachel and I should perfom it. (I used to do readthroughs every lunch in highschool).
That's good to hear about Dreamworks.
I'm starting to find that I like Westerns too. It sort of surprises me, since I thought I hated them. I think really what I hated was Once Upon A Time In The West - I seem to enjoy the rest of the genre.
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...also known as "Tropes Are Not Bad: The Movie." Seriously.
This is a great description. I'm going to quote you on that.
My favorite part was in the chase scene with the army of moles riding bats when the camera zooms in on the mole with the banjo and he starts playing "The Ride of the Valkyries". On the banjo!
Also, the bats exploded into fireballs when they crashed or were shot. 'Cause that's what vehicles DO in Hollywood.
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Yay for discount theaters! I've definitely seen more movies up at the dollar theater than at the conventional theater in the last year. (we saw Battle LA at the conventional theater. That was a mistake. That was the most boring movie ever.)
...I counted on tvtropes. The trope page for this movie has 148 entries. Yeah.
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At points I felt as if the movie was a bit too realistic; the bird with a arrow through his head kindof creeped me out. But then the snake showed up and I forgave it everything. Giant, evil snake who was completely awesome. *happy sigh*
But it definitely wasn't a kids movie, and I think that's the biggest difference from the Dreamworks and Disney CG movies of the year. Most Pixar movies are incredibly good, but still something you could take your kid. The good dreamworks is the same way, with Megamind being just fun, while How to Train your Dragon was nearly pixar-level good. The bad dreamworks are still kid movies - just with added fart jokes and some 'adult' references.
Rango went in a completely different direction. It wasn't a kids movie, except in the Grim Fairy tale gruesome kind of way. There wasn't much 'fun' ( ... )
Reply
Didja notice it had the same villain as Toy Story 3?
I agree with everything you've said here. On the existentialism note, now that you mention it I got quite a Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead vibe off of it. All the deal with being an actor.
I'd forgotten that "How to train your dragon" was Dreamworks. I forgive them for all their bad bad stuff now.
I like that it was not for kids, but not in the way most things are Not For Kids. Like, they did it without any excessive gore, sex, profanity, cynicism, etc etc etc. I think I might be more impressed by that than anything else. Of course, I would show this movie to my kids. But I'd also read Grimm's to my kids so. But yeah.
Yeah, the dream sequence scene with the giant swimming fish may be my favorite scene in the movie. It scared the crap out of me. In a good way!
Your two cents make good sense :P
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No, I didn't. But it shares a villain with Toy Story and Buffy...interesting.
I still haven't read Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, but I really need to.
They came out with a bunch of really good movies this year. One review suggested that they've finally started just having fun with their movies, instead of doing send-ups of other studios.
It was a classic western; kids love westerns. There are cowboys and Indians and a really, really cool bad guy. I don't think I'd show it to a four-year-old, but I can see bringing the 11 year-old I babysit to see it. (Though he is a really big fan of violent video games, so maybe that's a bad example.)
It was all so weird, though...
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That's good to hear about Dreamworks.
I'm starting to find that I like Westerns too. It sort of surprises me, since I thought I hated them. I think really what I hated was Once Upon A Time In The West - I seem to enjoy the rest of the genre.
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