Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Over the Hedge Should Go Over the Top At Box Office.
DreamWorks Animation treated ASIFA to an advanced screening of Over the Hedge last night at the Writer`s Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. There were eats before and a panel of Directors and Animators after with a very enjoyable film experience in the middle.
Over the Hedge is a really enjoyable viewing experience. Some scenes are more than just enjoyable but I am not going to give any spoilers so let`s just say hyperactive squirrel on caffeine. Hedge almost completely avoids the twin pitfalls of; too many pop culture in jokes and celebrity voices for just the marquee value that has pledged other films.
Hedge should be a box office monster for DreamWorks. So much so that I have a word of warning for the directors and executives at DreamWorks, avoid the sequel temptation for just a little. Give us a couple of other movies first then return to these characters when you are fresh. They really deserve the extra care and will be better served by waiting. Saturday morning, maybe not.
The evening of film started with a wonderful short animation named First Flight and a trailer for Flushed Away.
Flight was everything a short animation should be; warm, funny, heartfelt. I am so pleased that studios are making shorts again. Some subjects don`t need a feature length and would suffer from the longer form. And how are animators going to learn their chops without short animation? I hope the powers that be decide to show First Flight with Hedge. I want to see this short a couple of more times before the award season.
As for Flushed Away, it looks really, really good. I was worried when Aardman went to CGI. But if we have learned anything in the past few years it is that story, not technique, make the difference between hit or miss. Looking forward to the latest form the storytellers at Aardman. ¶ 10:20 AM
DreamWorks Animation treated ASIFA to an advanced screening of Over the Hedge last night at the Writer`s Guild Theater in Beverly Hills. There were eats before and a panel of Directors and Animators after with a very enjoyable film experience in the middle.
Over the Hedge is a really enjoyable viewing experience. Some scenes are more than just enjoyable but I am not going to give any spoilers so let`s just say hyperactive squirrel on caffeine. Hedge almost completely avoids the twin pitfalls of; too many pop culture in jokes and celebrity voices for just the marquee value that has pledged other films.
Hedge should be a box office monster for DreamWorks. So much so that I have a word of warning for the directors and executives at DreamWorks, avoid the sequel temptation for just a little. Give us a couple of other movies first then return to these characters when you are fresh. They really deserve the extra care and will be better served by waiting. Saturday morning, maybe not.
The evening of film started with a wonderful short animation named First Flight and a trailer for Flushed Away.
Flight was everything a short animation should be; warm, funny, heartfelt. I am so pleased that studios are making shorts again. Some subjects don`t need a feature length and would suffer from the longer form. And how are animators going to learn their chops without short animation? I hope the powers that be decide to show First Flight with Hedge. I want to see this short a couple of more times before the award season.
As for Flushed Away, it looks really, really good. I was worried when Aardman went to CGI. But if we have learned anything in the past few years it is that story, not technique, make the difference between hit or miss. Looking forward to the latest form the storytellers at Aardman. ¶ 10:20 AM
