Yes the British Academy of Film and Television Arts award show was held last night and the winners were quite a surprise to say the least. But before we take a look at who took home the treasure golden face, lets take a look at the show itself.
Yet again, British author and comedian Stephen Fry hosted the festival and his performance was a little...underwhelming to say the least. He just wasn't really that funny and kept using odd phrases such as 'spank your palms together'. How where the celebrities that opened the envelopes and read out the winners? Ok, I guess. There was nothing too remarkable about them. Oh, and Oprah Winfrey (an American) presented the award for Outstanding British Film. Wrong. But before I start going off topic, lets see what everyone actually cares about; the winners.
As you may have guessed from the title, Alfonso Cuarons big budget space thriller Gravity won a good chunk of the awards which were Outstanding British Film, Best Director, Cinematography, Original Music, Sound and Visual Effects. Why don't you just go ahead and give it Best Film! Seriously, it won Best Director, along with all those other awards, and you give it to a film that only has 1 other win! Sometimes, awards really confuse me.
Of course, the big one went to Steve McQueen's historical drama 12 Years a Slave which is the film I was actually rooting for. It's just the only other award it won was Best Actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor and not Best Adapted Screenplay or Best Supporting Actress, two awards in which it was the frontrunner to win! But I am glad it won Best Film, I would have just liked it to win a few more others.
In the other awards, American Hustle won Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Lawrence, Original Screenplay and Hair and Makeup. The Great Gatsby took home Costume and Production Design. Meanwhile Blue Jasmine, Captain Phillips, Philomena, Rush, Frozen, The Great Beauty and The Act of Killing all won 1 each. Overall I am pleased with the more minor awards but less delighted with the slightly more major ones.
Well as you probably know, recently the full list of the Academy Awards, or more commonly known as the Oscars, have been released! And I certainly have a few things to say about them...In this post I will give my opinions on the awards news over the previous month and unveil a new exciting project.
The Oscars
WHY!?! Well, it's not all bad. Gravity (pictured) and American Hustle both got 10 nominations each and 12 Years a Slave garnered 9. I personally think the latter will win best picture. But one of my favourite films of the year, Saving Mr Banks only got ONE nomination! ONE! And that was only for best score! A major snub in Emma Thompson not getting nominated for best actress.
In the best animated feature category we have the perfect five: Frozen, The Wind Rises, Ernest & Celestine, Despicable Me 2 and The Croods. Wait, what! The Croods! Instead of Monsters University! A major snub there! I was furious when I read that, as Monsters University is clearly better than The Croods. Oh well... However I'm very glad that the French hand-drawn animated film Ernest & Celestine that tells the heartwarming story of a bear and a mouse got nominated as we need more diversity to the category. And I think Frozen will win.
Golden Globes
On January the 12th the 71st Golden Globe Awards were held and I'm pretty pleased with the results. Not that I'm pleased with only that, Despicable Me 2 and The Croods getting nominated for best animated film (THE CROODS AGAIN!), but Frozen won. Which is good. I haven't got much else to say about the results as they were all pretty good. Moving on!
The British Academy Film Awards
On the 8th of January, the full list of nominations for the British Academy Film Awards were announced. As we know only 5 films are nominated for best picture and one of them was Philomena. Maybe it's just me but I don't recall that one getting such good reviews compared to other films that were left out. But it has Judi Dench in it, so they immediately nominated it.
The B.A.F.F.ies
What, I hear you cry, are the B.A.F.F.ies? Well they are Billy's Animated Film Festival and my excuse at an awards show! It will nominate the best and worst animated films of 2013 and I will try to make the winners be everyones general opinion. I hope the post will come soon but for now that's The Animated Kid, over and out.
Hello, it's me again. Sorry I haven't been posting throughout December, but this is a brief summary of the major news that's been happening.
Recently I got around to seeing Frozen, and my thoughts on the film were more or less AMAZING!!! I think the animation, particularly the character animation and backgrounds, was breathtaking. I enjoyed the more somber tone of the story, and the twists that were presented. The characters to me were just PERFECT, with Elsa and Olaf standing out for being amazingly complex and hilarious, respectively. I'll try to post a full review soon.
Although not an animated film, Saving Mr Banks chronicles Walt Disney attempting to acquire the rights to Mary Poppins from the stubborn British author of the character P.L. Travers. I got around to seeing it, and I think it was very well done. Even as a Disney film, it doesn't cover itself in glory, focusing more on Travers' life than Disney. The actors really steer the film forward, especially Emma Thompson as the grouchy but complex author. Overall it is a great film with great actors and a great, emotional story.
The full trailer for How To Train Your Dragon 2 has been released and it looks like it has a lot of potential. It boasts a lot of amazing visuals, one of Dreamworks most impressive looking films yet. The story looks fairly bog-standard but is balanced out by a big spoiler! I'm not quite sure why they put that in the trailer. How To Train Your Dragon 2 looks very promising, and possibly as good as it's predecessor.
Blue Sky has officially announced that a FIFTH Ice Age film to be released on July the 15th 2016!!! Talk about flogging a dead Mammoth... I can't believe they have the guts to do that after the previous films have proved to be so bad. When the time comes, I am definitely not going to see this in the cinema, and I hope you don't too. Blue Sky need to learn to stop this series.
A new trailer for Laika's 2014 film, The Boxtrolls, has been released!
Now, it isn't your usual film trailer, showing more prominently the making of the film than the actual...film. But, with these beautiful stop-motion films I love to see behind the scenes on the sets and looking at the models.
The last half showcases some footage from the finished film and it looks just superb. Laika is one of the most innovative and inspiring animation studios there is, with their previous films (Coraline & ParaNorman) both being critical and financial successes, and this one looks to be no different.
Overall, The Boxtrolls is looking to be one of the best 2014 animated movies, and easily my most anticipated. I can't wait to watch it.
Well, here we are again with the second part of The Animated Kid's Top 10 Animated Villains, where I count down my favourite baddies from animated features! The same rules apply for this section of the list, the character has to be from a feature length animated film, no TV villains here, they must have performed some sort of antagonistic act, and I'll try not to put too many Disney villains in this. Other than that, listen to the music and enjoy! Oh, and remember, spoilers ahead!
5. Dr Facilier-The Princess and the Frog
‘I’ve got friends on
the other side!’-Dr. Facilier
The Princess and the
Frog is, honestly, one of my favourite movies, and I think it’s a real shame
that it’s not as loved as some other movies. But one aspect of the film that I
know everybody loves is the villain: Dr. Facilier. He’s a manipulative, charismatic
witch doctor who gives people faulty spells. His plan is pretty complicated,
but it involves selling everybody in New Orlean’s souls to some ghosts in
exchange for power. Sheesh.
He carries out his plan in a really cool way, from
kidnapping princes to crushing innocent, funny sidekicks with the sole of his
foot. Poor Ray! Anyway, another thing that adds to his general coolness is his
song ‘Friends on the other side’, which is sung brilliantly, and is one of
Disney’s best villain songs. His is outfit is also very detailed and slick,
fitting the character perfectly. From the first moment we see him, to his
frightening death, Dr Facilier is, hmm, how do I put it. Oh yes, in the words of Prince Naveen 'he was very charismatic!'
4. Hopper-A Bug’s Life
‘It’s a bug eat bug
world out there, princess. One of those circle of life things.’-Hopper
Tyrants. We all love ‘em.
And Hopper, the ruthless villain of A Bug’s life, is the king of them. He leads
the grasshoppers, a reasonably small gang who prey on the fears of the much
larger, weaker ants. He uses them to collect his food over the seasons,
otherwise he’ll crush them. But when Flik accidently loses all the food, he
turns his anger up to full power, whilst still keeping his cool. He wouldn’t
hesitate to kill a small child, or punch his wimpy brother.
He only fears one thing:
birds, which eventually fuels his horrid death. Kevin Spacey provides a
deliciously evil voice for him, giving the character enough crazy dementedness,
and enough sophisticated mannerisms. Even going as far as to say to a beaten up
Flik ‘you are mindless, soil shoving losers put on this Earth to serve us’.
Wow.
3. Queen Grimhidle-Snow White & the Seven Dwarves
‘Bring me back her
heart... in this.’-Queen Grimhidle
And now we go back to
the very first full-length animated film: Snow White & the Seven Dwarves.
I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t dated a bit, but one thing that hasn’t changed
its greatness is the villain of the picture: Queen Grimhidle. She is a cold,
emotionless, vain pile of emptiness. The only thing she cares about is her
beauty (but, really, is she that pretty?), and she will crush anybody who may
be more pleasant to look at than her.
She is fine with murdering a child, as
long as it’s not her doing it. Her crazy obsession soon becomes the end of her,
as she swallows a potion to transform her into a hideous witch so she could
kill Snow White without her knowing it was her. What I love most about her
character is that she barely shows any emotion, making her all the more evil.
Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the evilest of them all? Let’s find out.
2. Lotso-Toy Story 3
‘Where's your kid now, Sherrif!?!’-Lotso
A pink teddy bear!? A
pink teddy bear that smells of strawberries is at the second spot!? You’ve got
to be kidding me. That is what you might be telling yourself if you hadn’t seen
this gem of a film, but it’s his cheerful exterior that makes the sudden mood
change in the film even more rewarding. He used to belong to a girl called
Daisy, who loved him very much. But one day he was accidently left behind at a
field with two other toys, and when they eventually got back to Daisy’s house, Lotso
found out he had been replaced.
So he lied to the other toys, telling them that
the girl doesn’t love them, and he went to Sunnyside Daycare to rule over the
toys there. He is a rather disturbing character who uses his minion’s brute
strength to get what he wants, but that’s what I love about him. He is such a cold, cruel teddy bear, and probably one of Disney's evilest. I love that
Pixar took a risk with this character, and it more than paid off. And, did he
just leave the toys to die after they saved him?!?
AND MY NUMBER ONE ANIMATED VILLAIN IS...
1. Feathers McGraw/The Penguin-Wallace & Gromit in the Wrong Trousers
‘It’s the wrong trousers
Gromit, and they’ve gone wrong!’-Wallace
I KNOW, I KNOW!!! I
know this is technically cheating, as he came from a 30-minute short, but he’s
so cool! This is Feathers McGraw, international jewel thief who's also... a penguin? Wanted by police everywhere, he disguises himself as a chicken to get around. He can easily outsmart the humans around him, just by sticking a
rubber glove on his head! That alone is awesome. Although his intentions aren’t
entirely evil (stealing a giant diamond), it’s his execution that makes it worthwhile.
Like the queen, he never really shows any emotion, but this guy takes it to
perfection, never saying a word. His intelligence is clearly above average, as
he managed to rewire the techno-trousers without Wallace noticing, and manipulating Wallace so Gromit would feel like he wasn't loved and leave, with the dog being Feather's only real threat.
Also, the
final battle on the model trains is the most hilarious part of the film, thanks
to Feathers. He just fits into that bottle so perfectly! As if I couldn’t love this movie enough, Feathers McGraw takes its
perfection one step higher. So, that's it. I hope you enjoyed my list, feel free to comment, don't kill me for not including Maleficent and, until the next time, that's The Animated Kid, over and out.
Hello, I’m The
Animated Kid, and this is my first ever, top 10 list: my top 10 animated
villains!!! Yes, today, I will be counting down my top
10 cartoon villains. I’ll restrict this list to only baddies from only feature
length animated films, so no TV villains here. As the whole list would take too long, this is only 10 down to 6. I’ll try not to dominate the
list with Disney antagonists, and I think that’s all I’ve got to say! So sit
back, relax and listen to the music provided as you read THE ANIMATED KID’S TOP
10 ANIMATED VILLAINS. Oh, and remember, spoilers ahead!
10. Mrs. Tweedy-Chicken Run
‘They’re chickens you
dolt! Apart from you, they’re the most stupid creatures on this planet! They
don’t scheme, they don’t plot and they are not organised!!!’-Mrs. Tweedy to her
husband.
Mrs. Tweedy, Aardman’s
first villain in a feature length film. She runs her concentration camp
look-a-like chicken farm along with her bumbling husband with an iron fist. She
crushes all chances of the chickens freedom, and delights in doing so. But one
day, she decides to make the chickens into pies via a horrid pie machine, so
she can make more money. Now, she doesn’t appear an awful lot in the film, she
makes a huge impression in the screen time that she does have, berating
everybody around her.
Her plans might not seem that evil at first, but you can
see that she knows that the chickens have feelings and emotions, and she loves
the thought of chopping them up into pies. Heck, even in the climax when the
chickens have escaped in a plane, she will still try to kill them! Whether it’s
with an axe in her mouth, or her boot up a bottom, Mrs Tweedy is determined to
make life for everyone a living hell.
9. Scar-The Lion King
‘BE PREPARED!!!! For
what? For the death of the king! Why, is he sick? No fool, we’re gonna kill
him!’-Scar and Banzai.
The Lion King,
Disney’s 1994 critical and commercial success, the highest grossing hand drawn animated
film, often said as the best Disney film of all time. What do I think of that
statement? Well, I prefer Beauty & the Beast, but one thing that the film
really does right is its antagonist, Scar. Scar is Mufasa’s twin brother, and
the next in line for the throne. That is, until Mufasa’s son Simba comes along,
pushing Scar back even more. Scar plans to, along with his crazed hyena
minions, kill Mufasa and Simba so he can become king. Pretty basic plan, but
the thing is he accidently kills Mufasa and presumably Simba, but of course
that last part is not true.
The fact that he would send his brother hurtling
down into a stampede of wilderbeest without a single regret is just heartless. His
villain song ‘Be Prepared’ is also really cool, probably my favourite villain
song! The only reason he’s this far down the list is that when he does take
over the Pride Lands, he just doesn’t do much with his power. So be prepared
for the next instalment on this list!
8. Rameses II-The Prince of Egypt
‘I will not be the
weak link!’-Rameses II
Now here’s a truly
tragic villain. The next-in line for the Egyptian throne, he is scared that he
will mess up his father’s great empire built by slaves, so treats the poor
people as badly as his father did. When his brother Moses comes back with God
backing him, Egypt is given seven horrid plagues, smiting poor Rameses of his
son. This is the moment when you really understand the drama of the situation,
with the two being brothers and all. He is portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, of
Voldemort fame, who layers the already complex character even more.
He is so
obsessed with not disappointing his father, he loses sight of the other people
around him that he used to care for. Like a lot of the other villains on this
list, he is driven into madness at the end, charging his armies into the sea to
kill the Jews. I’m not Christian, and I don’t really root for either side in
this film (well, apart from when it comes to killing all the babies), which
makes me sympathize with him even more.
7. The Other Mother/The Beldam- Coraline
‘Black is
traditional,’-The Other Mother
Coraline, the 2009 stop-motion film
directed by Henry Selick and based off the book by Neil Gaiman. It was scary,
whimsical, dark, awesome, and was loved by people everywhere for its unique
creepiness. Perhaps this nowhere more evident when it comes to the antagonist,
The Other Mother. She spies on children who move into the Pink Palace, and
lures them into her world where everything’s better. She pretends like she
loves them, but she really wants to ‘eat up their lives’. But Coraline said no
to the buttons being sewn into her eyes, and fights The Other Mother, till she
becomes this:
AAAGH!!! Anyway, she
is a really cool villain who you just love to hate. Her plan is evil and
detestable, using her own creations to help her, and then killing them if they
disobey them, which they obviously really want to do. Teri Hatcher is a great
voice for the character, able to stretch her range to the situation that is
presented. The button eyes are a really great touch, adding the perfect,
surreal scariness to the character. It’s true: be careful what you wish for...
6. Cruella De Vill-101 Dalmatians
‘Cruella, isn’t that a new
fur coat? My only true love, darling. I live for furs. I worship
furs! After all, is there a woman in all this wretched world who doesn't?-Anita
& Cruella De Vill
Cruella De Vill. What
can I say about her that hasn’t been said already? She is the iconic baddie of
Disney’s 1961 101 Dalmatians, pursuing the poor puppies so she can get herself
a grand fur coat. So what makes this character so enjoyable? Lets start with
the voice actress: Betty Lou Gerson. She voices the character perfectly, with superb flair. As
the film progresses, Cruella descends into madness, shown most clearly in the
dramatic climax, with Cruella madly pursuing the dogs in her car, ending up
crashing in a hill.
I love crazy demented villains, and she bottles it up
perfectly to unleash it at the final battle. Her design is also slim and
slender, with a huge fur coat to top it all off. She is rarely seen without a
cigar in her hand or not abusing her two bumbling minions, Horace & Jasper,
to get them to stay in line. She is perhaps the most well-known character of
her franchise, and rightly so. Even the song taunting her evilness is still
laid-back and cool. 'Cruella, Cruella, De Vill.'
So.. until next time when I'll finish off this list, that's The Animated Kid, over and out.
I know this is kind of old news but I haven't been able to get on this recently. But anyway, here it is: the brand new Frozen trailer!
I personally think it's amazing and miles better than any other trailers than I've seen for this movie before. It showcases the more serious and dramatic parts the movie has to offer whilst still throwing in a few jokes provided by the funny Olaf the Snowman, who I never really had a problem with.
As you can see in the picture above, Olaf is dancing (to a possible musical number) alongside some trolls, whom we have, up until now, never seen before. The design is... different but I like it. The trailer also focuses on Elsa a lot more with a few pieces of dialogue and a better insight to the tragic side of the character.
They both look absolutely beautiful and sad especially the one on the top, but Anna will come in to save the day!...hopefully. We also have a very bold statement in 'experience the greatest Disney animated event since The Lion King'. That's a very bold statement but they seem to have faith in this film, so then I do.
The picture above also shows a very sweet looking moment between Elsa and Hans, which gives me second thoughts about the latter being the villain.
The second half is played to Anna's song For the First Time in Forever, which sounds great both lyrically and by Kristen Bell's singing voice.
We also see Anna's hair turning white (which results in one of the funniest moments in the trailer), which will probably become an important plotpoint later in the film. What else can I say, the animation looks great, the story looks great, the characters look great, the whole movie just looks great and I can't wait to see it in December.
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