Top comment: Right ’cause a sheep can’t enjoy its sexuality without being labeled a slut! Such a double standard! Typical of this anthropocentric humanthiarcal society! Dworkin was right: all interspecies sex is rape! I long for the day this is not true and the sheep are finally treated as equals! — Al
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Yeah, that’s about it, isn’t it?
I hope the South America thing is not revealed at the end or did you just spoil UP?
And yeah, Dreamworks sucks.
Well done, whoever did this.
how about “let’s make an old-school Kung Fu movie, tribute to Drunken Master and 36 Chambers, and have the various Kung-Fu styles be performed by the animals on whose movements they are based.”
“Can it star Jack Black?”
“Okaaayyy… but no fart jokes.”
Honestly, if you’ve seen Kung Fu Panda you’ll realize that it doesn’t belong anywhere near the company of Shark Tale or the rest of that photo collage.
Yeah, in fairness, Dreamworks has produced a few very good movies. Shrek and Kung-Fu Panda are… oh God, don’t I have anything better to do with my morning?
quayec: Wiki suggests that that’s the premise, much like “rat wants to be a cook, controls human to achieve goals” is the premise of Ratatouille. Don’t think it’s spoiling anything.
And the first Shrek movie was a pretty solid piece of film.
“Let’s work satire on a number of medieval fairy tales while subtly poking fun at Walt Disney world and set it all against a classic romance storyline.”
It’s a little unfair to compare that to Antz or Bee Movie.
Wait? What? Cook? Humans? Goals? You’ve ruined EVERYTHING!
Come on, “Antz” is edgy. It has a Z.
That’s cute ‘n all, but doesn’t Buzz Lightyear make that face? And Mr Incredible? And Lightning McQueen? Though, sure, Pixar is more diverse, ’cause it also has the ‘fretting eyes’ face that Marlin, Remy and Wall-E all make.
Oh come on, Antz was brilliant.
Define Brilliant…
Woody Allen, Gene Hackman, Sylvester Stalone and Christopher Walken! And pretty good writing!
Beats the pants of Bugz.
That’s right, I called it Bugz.
For what it’s worth, Antz was way more enjoyable to me than Bugz.
I found “Bugs Life” to be more enjoyable to watch, overall. It’s the weakest Pixar film I’ve seen, but I’d watch it again.
“Antz” only came about because Jeffrey Katzenberg had been booted from Disney after green-lighting “A Bug’s Life” and wanted to steal some thunder. Further, “Antz”‘s character models were a disturbing product, lacking the smooth and appealing appearance of Pixar’s characters. The humor in “Antz” was more grown-up, as it’s a Woody Allen vehicle for crissakes, but that didn’t make it an overall better movie.
In closing, “flaminnnnng DEATH!”
Kung Fu Panda is by far the best Dreamworks movie. That means it’s as good as a not-so-great Pixar movie (i.e., Cars).
Madagascar I, Shrek I and Over The Hedge are decent too — not remotely in the same league as Ratatouille or Finding Nemo or Toy Story, but perfectly okay.
After that, yeah, it drops off pretty fast.
Doug M.
I can’t even remember the name of that stupid fish movie with Will Smith, and that makes me happy.
Saw this on /co/ over the weekend.
I remember the Will Smith/Fish movie name and I am truly unhappy about it.
UP looks like a very weak storyline that’s trying way too hard to live up to par with everything else Pixar has made in recent years and I have zero interest in seeing it.
I would say the second Shrek wasn’t bad either (I mean, come on, EVIL fairy godmother – that’s just awesome). Shrek the Third was just too much effort to watch.
I liked A Bug’s Life more than Antz. They were both formulaic but Antz was just too dry for my taste. The action was exciting. The jokes weren’t funny. Stallone was.. well.. Stallone.
With all that said I still want to see Monsters vs. Aliens.
And I’ll agree I generally do not like the more blocky Dreamworks character designs. They sometimes work, but are more unsettling than adorable.
Bug’s Life was formulaic and bland and saved only by Hopper. Definitely the worst Pixar’s done.
My God, it’s so true.
Where I really notice the difference is in casting. Dreamworks always goes after hot names, but Pixar seems to go after the voice that they think is perfect for the job. Match names to the cartoon faces above for Dreamworks, and compare those names to this list: Patton Oswalt, Albert Brooks, Craig T. Nelson, Dave Foley … and, admittedly, Tom Hanks and Tim Allen (when he was a hot commodity). I didn’t much care for Cars in any event, but Pixar certainly seems to have its priorities straight.
Granted Dreamworks’ output has become highly inconsistent, and their animation has never approached Pixar quality-wise. But circa 1998-2003, the only Pixar movie that could compete with Dreamworks from a story/idea perspective was “Toy Story 2”. This may’ve been a fluke, but still.
I find it difficult to comprehend anyone enjoying “A Bug’s Life”.
Monsters vs Aliens really is not good. I wanted it to be… but alas it is not. As for UP, yeah it doesn’t look so hot, but I thought WALL-E didn’t look good either, and it was fabulous.
There was so much more to A Bug’s Life than just Dennis Hopper
There was also the late, great Jonathan Harris who played Manny and even put a little Dr Zachary Smith into the role. Ohhh the pain!!
And I’ll take Dave Foley over Woody Allen anyday
Dammit, I’ll have no more of this! Mister Spock could TOO beat Darth Vader, Force or no Force!
Boy, seeing that Bruce Willis Raccoon from ‘Over The Hedge’ really makes me mad for some reason.
Over the Hedge was a better movie than it had any right to be.
In fairness to Pixar on casting Buzz Lightyear, originally they wanted Billy Crystal but he turned them down.
Yes, I’m pretty glad that he did.
I know that the knee-jerk reaction is to label everything Dreamworks does as bad and everything Pixar does as great, but the fact of my opinion of the matter is that Kung Fu Panda and Over the Hedge are better than a number of Pixar flicks, especially Cars and Monsters Inc. Obviously Dreamworks can’t touch the best of Pixar’s output, and they have a LOT of annoying tics (way too many celebrity voices, pop culture references galore) but you can’t lump every movie they make together. Especially since, ironically enough, there are a LOT of animators who have worked for both companies–there’s no “Pixar team” and “Dreamworks team”, just whatever collection of animators they happen to hire on a movie-by-movie basis.
That said, I remain baffled by the love for Shrek. It was a lousy movie when it came out, and it’s curdled like decade-old milk since then. Yes, I am talking about the first movie.
I’m hearing Up is really really good, even by Pixar’s standards. Apparently it’s the most emotionally wrenching movie they’ve done.
Personally I only care about these movies from a technical standpoint. My post-grad work was all in computer generated imagery and image analysis (2d and 3d). My job is also tangentially related to that field. I like to keep up with the new technology and see it in action.
That said, Pixar not only is creative with regards to its stories, but it is pretty innovative with its *techniques*, whereas Dreamworks… well, they’re just keeping up with what’s already out there. I don’t care much about what you thought of Monsters Inc. as a movie, all I cared about is the sheer amount of computer generated hair they were able to put on these models (it was pretty impressive for the year this movie was released).
@Prankster: Agreed on Shreck. First of all, I’d be a contented man if Mike Meyers never made another movie of any kind. Secondly, if you’re going to have a Scottish-sounding character, get Billy Connolly or someone qualified. But worst of all, the whole Shreck series is so steeped in pop culture references that each film’s jokes are stale and overwith before the movie hits DvD.
@ps238principal: They actually wanted Mike Myers, but he insisted on the Scottish accent. (It seems he can’t do two movies without referencing his Scottish ancestry: see also Fat Bastard in Austin Powers and the family in so I married an Axe Murderer).
Actually, if I remember correctly, they had to redo a lot of Shrek’s animation after he did the voice track to match the new accent.
I bet the Scots want to beat the shit out of Meyers when they’re sober enough and not busy with a sheep enough to know what’s going on.
Also I think Stallone was pretty good in Antz.
Listen pal, I’ll accept the fact we drink a lot, but I think you’ll find it’s the Welsh that have the fascination with sheep. And maybe the Aberdonians, but have you been to Aberdeen? It’s pretty grim….
VB code flowchart for CGI Movies:
sub CGImovie()
if creator=pixar then
goto: theatre
elseif creatorpixar then
goto: dumpster
end if
end sub
Man, the sheep in England are sluts.
Right ’cause a sheep can’t enjoy its sexuality without being labeled a slut! Such a double standard! Typical of this anthropocentric humanthiarcal society! Dworkin was right: all interspecies sex is rape! I long for the day this is not true and the sheep are finally treated as equals!
@ AI: Um… I’m pretty sure that all interspecies sex IS rape. Animals can’t give consent.
WOHOHO, guess that means we’re in for a Dreamworks movie about animals that DO GIVE CONSENT while making that face!
On a more serious note: I liked Antz waaaay better than Bugs life. The more down-to-earth visual style, the intensity of the termite war, the political overtones, the amusing interactions with humans, and the fact that they had the decency to give the ants SIX LEGS went a long way.
That said, I do agree that Dreamworks suffers from an excess of “attitude” in their animated films, as typified by the preponderance of wry smirks, whereas Pixar films tend to be more appealingly earnest.
I haven’t seen Over the Hedge, but I agree that Kung Fu Panda was a good flick. It had the potential to be really good–the relationships Shifu had with Tigress, Tai Lung, and Po were very interesting, and if explored more or fleshed out could have been great.
But instead of doing that, they spent most of the movie saying “Hey, Po is fat and clumsy! Did we mention that yet?”
Monsters, Inc. was better.
I think they just this year outlawed animal/human intercourse in Florida. They found a goat rapist, and then realized all they could charge him with was misdemeanor animal cruelty. And then when they wrote the new law some twit in the legislature had to have it explained that “animal husbandry” didn’t involve wedding vows. I swear, none of them should be allowed near a voting booth.
Oops. Apologies for the Italics. Trying for snide, not insulting.
Yes, Kung Fu Panda was excellent. (It and the original Shrek are the only Dreamworks films that I not only enjoyed, but didn’t have to cringe most of the way through. Even Over the Hedge tried way too hard.) I’m not looking forward to the sequel, though, if the Shrek sequels are anything to go by. I’d rather not see a decent movie ruined by its own shitty franchise.
My problem with Monsters Inc. is that the monsters not only weren’t scary, they were cuddly. That might seem like nitpicking, but it kind of runs counter to the entire premise. And I happen to know the Pixar people *did* intend for the monsters to be legitimately scary (while still being relatable/funny/empathetic at crucial moments, obviously) but were forced by Disney to render them as harmless cuddly things for the sake of toy sales. Because if there’s one thing kids hate, it’s cool monster toys.
You know…I saw that Will Smith fish movie too…in the theater (took my nephew) and I don’t remember the title either! D’oh!
Kung-Fu Panda was…ok. Not great. I don’t get what all the fuss is about Shrek. It’s kind of dull. In fact, I fall asleep through it. I’ve attempted to watch it a few times. I’m trying to remember if I ever made it through the whole film without falling asleep at some point….No, I don’t think so. Same thing with Madagascar. It’s just a little dull. Antz too. By Jove! I think I discovered a trend!
Toy Story I and II, The Incredibles, Wall-E, and Ratatouille are absolutely brilliant. I’ve seen them multiple times, own the DVDs and still thoroughly enjoy them every time I see them (and sob a lot).
The one Pixar abomination? Cars. That was a steaming pile.
Not too crazy about Dreamworks, I must admit. I liked Antz better than a Bugs Life. However everyone seems to have forgotten ‘The Road To El Dorado’, whih was a Dreamworks movie, and a damn fine one at that.
Aah, le mot juste! I’ve always used the “Pixar builds from the bottom up and Dreamworks from the top down” metaphor, but this cartoon is a much better expression of the idea. Just look at how PIxar has evolved its (Renderman?) shaders, versus the “off the shelf” look of a Dreamworks movie.
BTW and IMHO, “Kung-Fu Panda” gets a pass for being 12% better than Pixar’s “Cars” — and 119% better than any other DW product! “Shrek” ALMOST got a pass for having a villain named Farquaad. (Say it ten times fast.)
Now, personally, I love Cars. Is the story as deep as the other Pixar films? No. But it is a nice heartwarming story, with fun characters (heck it made Larry the Cable guy bearable) and some majestic animation. (Now I’m a sucker for Route 66 stories, so the scenery and driving parts just win me over).
Phil: I do recall Road to El Dorado and watch it often.
Bugs Life is one of the great copies of the 7 Samurai and thus deserves your respect!
All while watching Aliens vs Monsters I thought of the above comic strip…I kept noticing the characters making that face.
Road to El Dorado was fun, but Prince of Egypt was fuckin’ EPIC.
Road to El Dorado, Prince of Egypt, and Spirit:Stallion of the Cimaron were all awesome Dreamworks movies; but for some reason or lack of reason, Dreamworks is stuck on these stupid comedies. The stupid comedies would be fine, if it weren’t their only thing now. I wish they would return to doing some really epic adventure movies.
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Road to El Dorado, Prince of Egypt, and Spirit:Stallion of the Cimaron were all awesome Dreamworks movies; but for some reason or lack of reason, Dreamworks is stuck on these stupid comedies. The stupid comedies would be fine, if it weren’t their only thing now. I wish they would return to doing some really epic adventure movies.