MOVIE: The Wild Robot (2024)

by benmweilertNo Comments
The Wild RobotYear: 2024Rating: PGLength: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours Having grown up with both Pixar and DreamWorks movies, the level of quality has usually been on the side of Pixar. Whether in their visuals or their storytelling, Pixar had a special magic that seemed to outdo whatever DreamWorks was putting out. In recent years, this has flipped. There's been less heart in Pixar films, but DreamWorks has knocked it out of the park with original and heartfelt ideas. That DreamWorks has also leaned into their more "stylized" animation styles has made it stand above and apart. The Wild Robot (2024) is probably the best recent example of how DreamWorks has created a timeless story that resonates on several levels. The juxtaposition of natural and mechanical is front and center, but deeper down the themes delve into parenthood and the ability for machines to feel human emotions. As a parent, this movie hit hard with its ability to show how nurturing also...
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MOVIE: Epic (2013)

by benmweilertNo Comments
EpicYear: 2013Rating: PGLength: 102 minutes / 1.70 hours One reason I loved the film Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (1989) growing up was the different perspective it brought. When characters are tiny, a yard can be a vast forest. Steps are enormous cliffs. Danger is multiplied. This is not an original idea by any means, but shrinking down characters to experience a much smaller world seems to always have some merit. Even books like Micro have touched on this subject. Epic (2013) is merely another entry in the "miniaturization" trope, but with some good action and world-building to back it up. As with many films like this, Epic wraps its main character, M.K. (Amanda Seyfried) in the troubled trappings of a teenager who is somewhere she does not want to be. It takes an adventure in the nearby woods to appreciate her nerdy father (Jason Sudeikis) and his attempts to connect with her. This revelation is only loosely connected to the battle...
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MOVIE: How to Train Your Dragon (2010)

by benmweilertNo Comments
How to Train Your Dragon Year: 2010 Rating: PG Length: 98 minutes / 1.63 hours There are a few movies I would consider pinnacle achievements in story, animation, and heart. When I saw How to Train Your Dragon (2010) in theaters, I knew I had just witnessed something special. It felt like DreamWorks had finally grown up from the bodily humor of the Shrek (2001) era and into something that could be taken seriously. It's no wonder that I still consider How to Train Your Dragon to be one of my favorite films of all time. I have always appreciated the stories that successfully convey the "brains over brawn" mentality without being too critical of either side. This film not only emphasizes a creator/tinkerer mindset, but the importance of empathizing with nature. That it made sense to kill dragons without the full context of why the dragons behaved the way they did didn't make the "brawn" side of the equation the enemy in the way...
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