Stop Motion

Dragonslayer

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Dragonslayer
  • IMDb: link

Given the path of his career, it’s still difficult for me to imagine a point where anyone saw Peter MacNicol as a potential action star, even one so far in over his head as Galen. In the 1981 fantasy film, MacNicol stars as a sorcerer’s apprentice who takes on the responsibility of vanquishing a dragon after his master (Ralph Richardson) is killed. The film, relying on practical effects (including life-size segments of a giant mechanical dragon), the use of version of stop motion known as go motion, and dozens of matte paintings, holds up fairly well today. And the film’s dragon remains one of the favorites ever put to film by both fans and other filmmakers, including Guillermo del Toro.

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Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
  • IMDb: link

Disney’s live-action version of Pinocchio from earlier this year felt redundant and unnecessary. A shadow of the original animated film based on the classic story, the new version failed to capture much magic at all. Released only two months later, Guillermo del Toro‘s stop-motion version of Pinocchio breathes new life into the story you already know setting the Italian tale during the 20th Century when a grieving father’s wooden recreation of his son is brought to life. 

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King Kong vs. Godzilla

/ / Home Video
  • Title: King Kong vs. Godzilla
  • IMDb: link

King Kong vs. Godzilla DVD reviewOriginally envisioned as a stop-motion film featuring King Kong fighting a giant Frankenstein Monster, the struggling project was given to Toho Studios which saw in Kong an adversary worthy of Godzilla. The story involves a submarine which takes absolutely no attempt to avoid hitting a giant iceberg which cracks and releases the slumbering Godzilla once more. The movie is a bit unclear on if people know who Godzilla is (they know at least about his name, but otherwise the film is inconsistent about the creature’s history).

Elsewhere, a pharmaceutical company discovers Kong on an isolated island. Deciding to remove him from the island as a prize, the giant raft takes him close to Japan where he escapes as events maneuver the two behemoths into a confrontation. When the first fight proves inconclusive, and doubles Japan’s problems of now having two rampaging monsters on the loose, the locals arrange a rematch for the two at Mount Fuji (including delivering a slumbering Kong via balloons) hoping that the creatures may end up killing each other. Their battle ends with only one walking away and the fate of the other in doubt.

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A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon

/ / Home Video
  • Title: A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
  • IMDb: link

A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon movie review

Shaun the Sheep meets E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon when an alien lands outside of Mossingham. While it fails to reach the heights of 2015’s Shaun the Sheep Movie, Farmageddon works as a all-ages adventure playing on themes of the series including the give-and-take between the mischievous sheep (Justin Fletcher) and the farm’s sheepdog Bitzer (John Sparkes) as well as opening up world of Shaun the Sheep to a much wider and diverse universe.

As you would expect from a Shaun the Sheep feature, the stop-motion animation is top notch, and the story of Shaun getting into trouble with the lost Lu-La (Amalia Vitale) hits all the right emotional beats. Even the inclusion of a subplot involving an obsessed government agent (Kate Harbour) ends in warm feels. The film’s title comes from the amusement park the Farmer (Sparkes) has the sheep construct to make money off the alien craze that pops-up around town following the first sighting. There are plenty of nods and Easter eggs to sci-fi fans (my favorites being both the use of the use of the Close Encounters of the Third Kind music and the cameo from The Doctor).

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Missing Link

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Missing Link
  • IMDb: link

Missing Link DVD reviewMissing Link is one of two animated films focused on returning a mythical creature home this year. While it lacks the heart of Abominable, the latest movie from LAIKA is a fun romp.

The story centers around self-absorbed adventurer Sir Lionel Frost (Hugh Jackman) who discovers a Sasquatch (Zach Galifianakis) in the Pacific Northwest and agrees to see it to the Himalays, dressed-up as Frost’s assistant, where its distant cousins live. The villains of the peace are the members of and exclusive club that has barred Frost from entry for his ridiculous beliefs (which he hasn’t been able to prove… until now). Along for the ride is Frost’s ex-girlfriend (Zoe Saldana).

Available on Blu-ray and DVD, extras include commentary by writer/director Chris Butler, the film’s trailer, a photo gallery, and various short featurettes on the making of the film. You can certainly do better than Missing Link but there’s fun to be had on Frost’s adventure across the world.

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