MOVIE: A Close Shave (1995)

by benmweilertNo Comments
A Close ShaveYear: 1995Rating: PGLength: 31 minutes / 0.52 hours I think it's difficult for the third film in a series to live up to the success of its predecessors. When the first film feels a bit rough and the second is polished to perfection, the third has a lot to live up to. A Close Shave (1995) is definitely better than A Grand Day Out (1989) but I think its scarier elements hold it back from the perfection that is The Wrong Trousers (1993). After all, the levity of Wallace & Gromit is what makes it fun to watch. As is always the case in these early Wallace & Gromit shorts, the technical achievement here is incredible. Aardman makes it look so easy that you don't even realize how they pulled off stop motion flying sequences or have so many moving parts working all in tandem to make a sweater. And the reason why this is falls squarely on how engaging...
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MOVIE: A Grand Day Out (1989)

by benmweilertNo Comments
A Grand Day OutYear: 1989Rating: Not RatedLength: 23 minutes / 0.38 hours I grew up watching the Wallace & Gromit shorts on VHS. There's a certain nostalgia I have for these stop motion films that I wanted to share with my daughter. So I pulled out the DVDs I had of these shorts and watched them again. Not only do they hold up, but just thinking of the technical achievement to create a thing like this is mind-boggling. The first of these, A Grand Day Out, isn't the best of the original three, but it's a grand movie, nonetheless. Like watching a silent comedy of the early era of Hollywood, A Grand Day out has a simple (if not completely absurd) premise of going to the moon because Wallace (Peter Sallis) is out of cheese and he figures it's the best place to get some. The beauty of A Grand Day Out isn't entirely in its ability to appeal to children and...
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